Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Local Insecurity

Little did I know that buying a car would not be as easy as I thought...

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit, but I have been in New Car Hell and every spare moment has been spent driving to Bumble - aka Gwinnett! My garage has had 5 different cars in it in the past 3 weeks - crazy, eh?

I took my car to Gwinnett to have them install the "extras" that were included in my purchase price and that should have been the end of it, right? They gave me a rental car for a day and I didn't have a care in the world...Then I picked up the car!

The next day (and for a couple of days after that), the newly installed security system was going off at random times for absolutely NO reason! The car was locked up tight in my garage and then suddenly, the horn is going nuts! I had to deal with this all weekend and it was pissing off my neighbors...My doorbell rang a couple of times.

Last Tuesday, my dad swapped cars with me and was going to handle getting the alarm fixed - but alas, Honda had to order a new device...So we had to wait until Friday. So Friday, I was too busy at work, so my dad was nice enough to drive the car to Bumble to have them fix it. It took an hour or so and by Friday night, I had my car back - safe and sound in my garage! After about 5 hours, the alarm started going off...Again! Dammit!

I spent Saturday on the phone, mostly fighting with Honda trying to get them to just take out the damn alarm (honestly, I didn't want it anyway). Well, they refused. I basically told them that they had ONE CHANCE to fix it and then they were either taking out the alarm, or taking the entire car back. I think that got them listening.

Monday night after work, I headed up to Bumble to leave my car - yet again. As soon as I pulled in the service bay, my Service Guy was at my car introducing himself. He made quick work of me and called over my Sales guy and some flunky. The flunky pulled up in a brand new (sticker still on) Element - almost the identical car to mine. They removed the sticker and had me sign some paperwork and the loaner was mine while they figure out their mistake with the alarm.

So we shall see...No word yet on my car, but basically I told them to keep it until they could either figure out what was wrong, or take the damn alarm OUT!

Otherwise, not too much going on at work. My team and I are working really hard trying to get all our initiatives underway. I've been spending the rest of my extra time helping organize a baby shower for a friend at work having triplets! The shower is Friday afternoon, so lucky me gets to work only a half day Thursday to make the cake...Did I mention how awesome my new boss is?

That's it for now, kids! I'll do better and post more often - promise :)

Thursday, January 12, 2006

The Nameless Wonder

So the car is in the shop as we speak, getting his other accessories added to him (Fog Lights, Security System, Honda MusicLink and Floor Mats) and I am stuck with a brand new Mazda 3 in the parking garage downstairs. I feel empty without my new wheels, but it is only for 1 day - I will suffer through!

A few days with the new ride and I still have yet to come up with a suitable name for him...here is a visual for you all (please ignore how crappy the driver looks - it had been a long day).



Hopefully, once my car is in one piece, a name will just come to me...suggestions are still welcomed!

Sunday, January 08, 2006

The Pressure of a Name...

First, a little backstory...

I love my car. I adore my car. My car has taken very good care of me through many crazy nights and long trips (including Atlanta to SF in 2002). I bought it in September 1998 and it was so very appropriate for me seeing as it was Purple. This was my first foray into SUVs as I had been a sedan girl previously. But after years of riding higher in Angie's vehicles (except for the Miata), I knew I wanted this loftier view of the world.

My Jeep, known to his friends as Ingo, went on many road trips, late night Tom Foolery and still managed to get me from home to work or to wherever I was trying to go. I paid him off over a year ago and was really enjoying not having a car payment...then the flood gates opened.

In 2005, I spent what felt like millions of dollars on repairs. No body work or anything, but this was leaking or that needed to be replaced or something or other needed an overhaul...YIKES! And here I was, about to roll over 90,000 miles on my old friend and that means about $1000 worth of service AND I should get the brakes replaced (shoes, drums, whatever). Not the way I wanted to start the new year!

I knew this would be the year to get a new car - I made a deal with my dad when I bought the car (and loved it), that I would not still own it when 100,000 rolled over on the dash. Couple that with the service costs, and that meant it was time. So we started talking cars.

Jeep no longer makes my car (bastards), otherwise this would have been a no-brainer for me. I'm not too keen on the Liberty (really heavy and not enough room inside), but I really like the Grand Cherokee (so would you if you had $28k to drop on a car). So off to Edmunds.com I went.

With the input of every guy at work (no joke), I put together 5 or 6 Compact SUVs to take a look at. I had my favorites, but I wasn't being too vocal about them at this point. Then, up walks my friend Stephanie, who sees that I am not exactly focused on my work. We have a quick chat about cars and I mention the Honda Element, and she pipes up - "Oh, I just bought one of those!" Talk about timing! Stephanie said she would have it at work the next day so I could take a gander.

I LOVE this car! Sitting it Stephanie's Element just sealed the deal. I knew I liked it, I have been interested ever since they released them, but I was never really that fond of the two-toned, plastic trim body I saw around town. Well, they made a change for 2006 - it's called the EX-P (P equals paint). Pretty!

My dad did the leg work for me contacting Internet Car Salesmen to schedule test drives and such and we ended up at Gwinnett Place Honda at 11am yesterday. We met with Joel (the Internet Guy) and we immediately stepped into the Tango Red EX-P I was interested in buying. I tooled around Gwinnett for 20 minutes and put the car to the test. We returned to the dealership and then the fun began (insert sarcastic tone here).

This is why I take my dad car shopping - I don't know how to haggle, and I don't know enough about the process to really be effective. I sit back and listen and throw in my 2 cents when it comes to accessories or the like.

It was a nice experience, but I hate that it takes 5 hours to buy a car. But all said, we got an excellent deal and they took poor Ingo away from me. I almost cried. I know he was just a car, but it is hard when a vehicle treats you right for 7 years and then you just give it away like he were nothing (sniff, sniff).

Enter my new friend, INSERT NAME HERE. That's right, I have yet to come up with a name for my new ride. I am at a loss, really. The last time I was even thinking about a car, I figured I would name him JD (see Scrubs, Tuesdays at 9pm on NBC), but this car is Dark Red, not Scrubs blue.

So HELP! Any suggestions are welcome - in fact, I need some creative ideas to ponder while I roll around town, listening to my iPod or XM Radio (yup, it came with both). Help me out friends - I could really use it. (I'll post a picture in this post later on)!

So welcome to the newest member of the Lindy fleet and I'll just ignore the fact that this means I now have a car payment monthly - ARGH! Everything has a price, right?

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Another New Year Begins...

...and it all feels exactly the same.

It's been good so far - I have been very productive in cleaning up my office in preparation for taxes and getting as much trash out of my house as possible (no, this doesn't include any people). I have plans for the next few weeks that make me smile and an overarching feeling of happiness...not sure where that came from!

I rang in the new year with friends - good friends - and that always makes me smile. I have good people around me at work (I'm working on that for home too) and I just feel like this is my year.

Last year was not so great - the only real highlight being the birth of my nephew (look at him, isn't he a cutie!)

My best friend moved 3000 miles away (see, don't blame her for this as I did the same in 2002) and we seemed to have miscommunicated our way out of an 11+ year friendship. My grandmother has deteriorated and has little will to even get out of bed most days, and my medical problems increased when my asthma (somewhat dormant in the past) has decided to get really bad and cause me lots of pain and stress!

It was a dull year for men - a couple of prospects, but very little follow through on my part. Work was nuts, but at least I got a new boss (and a promotion) who seems to get me and not have major mood swings every 30 minutes.

See what I mean - 2005 was not-so-great. In the interest of fairness, here is Maggie and she always loves me...so no day is ever non-redeemable!

I tried to stick to my resolutions, but I don't think I did a very good job. So this year is different! I have one major resolution and while it may have many sub-parts, it is an overarching strategy that will make the most sense for me:

Stay Happy!

I think this is accomplishable. I am a mostly happy person anyway, but I vow to "pull an Angie" and not let stuff bug me. Let it roll off the back, I say!

Work is work and there is nothing I can do to change most aspects of it. I have a great job, am well-respected, and I enjoy what I do and am usually happy with my accomplishments. I promise to leave work at a reasonable hour and leave work at work!

Go to more movies! I only saw 33 movies in the theatre last year and this is an all-time low for me! I have new movie-going buddies and I intend to see what I can, when I can and not think about how tired I am!

I will go to bed at a reasonable hour (okay, yeah maybe). I'll try on this one, okay, but no promises. I just find that I am happier when I have enough sleep. Ask anyone - they will tell you that a Grumpy Lindy is not a fun Lindy! This also ties into reading more - I love to read, but have not taken the time to unwind at the end of the day and read...but I will!

More Hockey and Baseball! I love them both - I love going to games. I just haven't gone much in recent months. I plan to do this more and with people who enjoy it as much as me :) Do you notice a trend here – basically Spend More Time with Friends!

Overall - this should cover me pretty well. I know I will be traveling a lot (SFO, Pasadena, The Philippines, India), but I won't let this get me down! Life is sweet and too short...and 33 is right around the corner!