May 18, 2006 :: I'm flossy

Or maybe I'm not...

Since over a month has passed, I have decided that the beloved Prelude is beyond all hope, and needs to be retired. It's like when a horse breaks her leg - you don't patch her up with a cast and have all the other horses sign it wishing her well. You take her out back and have her shot, even if she won more races and birthed more champions than anybody else. As a society, we're quite comfortable with euthanasia for animals, it's people we haven't come to terms with. Not to get off-track, I am euthanizing my car.

So then the question becomes, what to replace it with? Although the 'lude was a whole lot of fun to drive, there were a few things about it that nagged at me - the incredibly small trunk paired with an even smaller trunk opening, such that some of the few things that could actually fit in the trunk couldn't get in through the opening; the incredibly facetious backseats that were designed only to lower insurance rates; the compromise that is front wheel drive. So I figure my next car needs to preserve as much of the "fun to drive" factor (I believe that's what "fahrvergnugen" was supposed to indicate, but one only wonders why they thought that word could ever apply to a VW) while giving me legit backseats (maybe even four doors) and a trunk. Front wheel drive is a plus in the snow and ice and rain, but that car sucked so much on poor traction surfaces (even after I got my Pirelli P-Zero Neros, which rocked) that a rear wheel drive car couldn't be much worse.

There is also the complicating factor of my own vanity. As I get older, as I move on to my new job at the end of the month (with it's slight raise but tantalizing potential for bonus pay), part of me wants a car that reflects my own perceived newfound status. Now, I'm no fool, I won't be buying anything new. But a few bucks extra on a used car might be worth the trouble. The problem is, the cost of the car is only part of the cost of owning a car - the insurance and maintenance can really eat up that extra monthly money that could otherwise have been spent on top-shelf liquor and attractive, supple women.

So I'm considering a few alternatives, but they can probably be summarized by two of the choices:

»    2003 Nissan Maxima GLE
This is the sober, functional yet still somewhat fun choice. It's cheaper than the other choice by a good margin. The car is still somewhat stylish, yet it won't stand out in anybody's crowd, even if I try to spruce it up with custom wheels and tint or something. But with the likely payments and insurance costs, I won't be breaking my pockets on it.

»    2001 BMW 530i
I know what the "TMV Dealer Retail" number says on the page; it's wrong because I've priced them. They run a couple grand more than the Maxima, but then I must consider what everyone's said to me about BMWs: The maintenance costs will kill you. So then I check out certified used prices, and those cost about six grand more than non-certified. And with the warranty they carry and the amount of miles I drive, that would cover no more than three years' worth of driving. So is it possible to have six grand worth of service on a car in three years? If so, that would make the certified plan worthwhile. But then that doesn't factor in insurance, and it's busting out of my self-imposed budget. But it sure would be nicer than a Maxima.

Complicating the transaction, I think I can get a markedly better interest rate on a loan on the certified car: 3.9% vs a likely 6.2%. So maybe that balances out more than I think, I have to go do the math.

Meanwhile, I have to consider that my current car's trade-in value would be mostly apologetic - as in "I'm sorry sir, but your car is only worth $300. And that's a gift considering we'll have to pay the junkman to haul it away." So I have to gin up a downpayment that I wasn't planning for until a couple years from now. I could use emergency funds for it, but that would be wrong, and I won't tempt fate in that way. Luckily, I have a freelance project waiting in the wings that could more than take care of that, plus the laptop I'm going to need very soon.

So I figure I have about a month or two to decide which way to go.

posted by Rainmayun at 5:26 PM -

Another blog template

check it out yall... I really only made this post so you wouldn't feel obligated to leave offtopic comments about it under other posts. Please don't feel obligated to comment at all, unless you notice something that's broken.

I know I haven't updated the Haloscan comments template yet; I'll do that tonight when I get home.

posted by Rainmayun at 4:59 PM -

May 02, 2006 :: Vegas outtakes

» There seems to be more silicon here than in Silicon Valley. Vegas is on a par with Southern California and Texas now, it seems, for who has the most implants. And the richer the hotel, the more plentiful (and bigger) they seem to get. At some point, a woman who's 5'10" and a size 2 ought to know that grapefruit-sized triple Ds just don't look right or remotely natural. And I didn't even set foot in a strip club.

» My sister and brother-in-law were having a field day with that, too. Every time some woman with ridiculous enhancements would walk by, one of them would say "bigger!" (sort of the same way the Parkay dish says "butter!")

» My cousin with the cute baby that I had never met before? She's rather fine. Even my uncle had to comment on her ass. That made me feel like a dirty old man. Then again, her grandmother and my grandmother were sisters. That means we share approximately 3.125% of the same DNA, if I did the math right. So I'm not sure if leering at her is immoral or not. I am sure that, had I met her in a different setting, the full court press would have been on.

» I think I successfully dodged a street scam. In front of the Mirage hotel, there is a beautiful waterfall display. As I was walking down the strip toward the mall, an elderly Asian couple who seemed barely to know English held a camera and looked around for help. The sidewalk was not crowded, but most people were coupled up or in groups. The lady stopped me and asked if I would take their picture. I was already suspicious, but I'm a nice guy, so as I took the camera (and the man tried to explain to me where to push the button), I switched my wallet from my back pocket to my front pocket, just as a young white couple walked far too close to me than was necessary. I think the guy saw me switch the wallet, and I moved to a position that was away from the couple as the man pointed out to me that I needed to move for the light anyway. I think he was trying to distract me. I still have my wallet, and they got a picture they probably will never print. Then again, maybe I'm just paranoid.

» I found $5 on the floor in Macy's. It didn't quite cover the cost of the boxer briefs I had to buy when I "discovered" my additional day of stay. I can't believe I spent $22 on a pair of underwear, but I guess this is what women go through at Vickie's every day. They are some super high tech mesh fabric for summer wear, and I'm wearing them today. I do have to say, they are quite comfortable... they might just become my summer draws of choice. But I won't be buying a drawerful at $22 apiece.

» Las Vegas' Airport has free wireless access. That's fabulous! It's a great way to pass the time while waiting for a flight. Unfortunately, where my gate is, there aren't a lot of electric sockets. I see one guy in the perfect seat, but he already has his laptop out. I walk closer to see if I can angle myself, and a couple of women sit down on the other side of the socket. Damn. He's not even using the socket! So I walk around from gate to gate (it's a circular rotunda with maybe 6 gates in it) and bench after bench has people asleep. At first I thought they were homeless, then I realized homeless people probably can't get past TSA security. Then I realized they are hapless travelers who decided to spend the night in the airport. Sympathetic employees probably placed the blankets on them. So I decided not to curse them under my breath for taking up all the benches near plugs, and I sat on the floor near one.

» And just for kicks, I decided to see if porn sites were blocked on the free public wireless. Nope, every bit gets through. You gotta love Vegas!

posted by Rainmayun at 12:05 PM -

May 01, 2006 :: Flight #777

No joke, that was the "lucky" number of the flight I took out here to Vegas on Thursday. After all the tribulations and stress of the previous two weeks, I was actually looking forward to the trip.

The family reunion was great... I saw relatives I haven't seen in many years, some since I was a child, and some that I had heard about but never seen at all. I took a lot of good pictures at the picnic, and we got a few more at the banquet too.

Of course my mom picked up my (2nd? 3rd?) cousin, who was 7 months old, and ran around with her all over the place. In fact, most of the women there did.... she is adorable. Eyes like saucers. But only my mom brought her over to me and said "See, this is what life could be like if you were married with kids!" It apparently wasn't relevant that the baby's mother (2nd cousin?) wasn't married. But not many others stressed me out... my great aunt Mary always had kind and wise words for me when I was little, and now was no different... she told me to take my time, and when I am ready, I'll be ready.

I also learned quite a bit about my family history that I didn't know before... how my grandfather finagled to propose to my grandmother over a bucket of chitlins (there definitely is a story there), a boxer named "Dynamite" Jackson, a 1920's Hollywood cheesecake model with a mysterious death (and the attendant rumors), a Big Easy lawyer and judge from the 1800s, and some other things I knew but got more detail. So maybe the maverick nature of my life isn't just random, it's genetic. And we finally settled the dispute over which Native American tribe we were mixed with (it's Creek, and not Cherokee or Blackfoot).

Of course, I had to screw up my return flight. For some reason, I thought it was Sunday at 1pm (which the original flight last week was). Woke up at 7am to find out I had already missed my plane, which was also at 7am. Got dressed, ate breakfast, checked out & cabbed it to the airport, waited an hour and a half in line at the ticket counter to change my ticket. Then the counter agent pointed out that my flight was for Monday, not Sunday. Then I remembered I had gotten Monday to avoid paying an increased fare when the ticket got changed the first time. So there I was, in Vegas, no room and no nothing. The agent offered to put me standby for a $100 change fee, but I said screw that, I'd just fly out when I said.

McCarran Airport has free wireless internet, so that was a start. I plugged up my laptop, went to hotels. com, and found a room at the MGM Grand for $101 with all taxes and fees included. Not bad, so I booked it and waited around the airport until check-in time. Of course, I'd used up all my underwear, so I went to the mall and bought some underwear.... and some shirts and some more shirts. Then went to the Venetian and bought some fake hazelnut gelato... I swear gelato isn't supposed to have milk in it, but it was good anyway.

So then I came back to my room at the MGM, showered and then decided... what the hell, I hadn't gambled any since I got here, so why not go play a few dollars on the slots and then go to bed early? So I took $40, played for a while on one stingy machine, and then played on a Lucky 7s quarter slot for a while... eventually it hit for ... let me see... one purple 7 and 2 triple plays on one quarter, so that's... 80 x 9 = 720 divided by 4 = $180. I hadn't spent all of the $40, so I got a voucher for $192.75, cashed it in and went promptly back to my room. It won't quite cover all the costs of the day (I think I spent $130 on clothes), but it's close enough to make me feel good.

Hopefully I'll catch my flight on time tomorrow. I have a standing rule about not scheduling early morning flights out of Vegas, but I need to get home and get back to work sometime! So let me go to bed.

posted by Rainmayun at 1:02 AM -