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Gift from Hil Part 2 - 2014-12-30
A Gift from Hil - 2014-12-28
There was A LOT of turkey. - 2014-12-04
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11:22 a.m. - 2010-04-06
Beep! Beep! My car went Beep, Beep, Beep!

Sigh� I have all this good stuff going on and yet I want to simultaneously flee the house forever and take up a new life and identity in some boring corner of one of those flat rectangular states out west, yet I also want to crawl back upstairs, get into bed and pull the covers over my head and stay there for a week. No making me a happy contented critter today, that's for sure. And with no specific cause beyond the continued bad sleep and worse dreams to pin this foul/anxious/droopy/snarly mood on, I'll go with the ever popular:

"IT'S HORMONES, DAMMIT!!! I CAN'T HELP IT!!! AND I AM NOT GOING TO APOLOGIZE ONE MORE TIME FOR SOMETHING I HAVE TO DEAL WITH FAR MORE THAN POOR WIDDLE YOU HAVING TO PUT UP WITH MY CRANKY ASS!!! I HAVE TO LIVE INSIDE THIS SEETHING CAULDRON AND IT AIN'T PLEASANT!!! GOT IT???"

There. That was cathartic.

Let's move on, shall we?

Yesterday we took the train into the city, the three of us bound for the auto show at the Javits Center. It's not a long walk from Penn Station. Neither was where we had lunch. In fact it's right across the street from Madison Square Garden/Penn Station. Since we knew eating at the Javits would be stupid expensive for crap vendor food when we got to the street I declared we were having lunch immediately and then eyeballed the many, many eateries available. Always up for bbq, I thought the place on the corner looked promising. They had menus outside and when I saw they had fried okra the decision was made. Brother Jimmy's was fun. Along with my okra I got sweet potato fries and a catfish po' boy that was to die for. Mick and Wolf enjoyed their lunches too, Mick-a pulled chicken wrap and Wolf had his usual chicken fingers. The vinegary Carolina bbq was a nice change from my preferred sticky molasses based bbq. Mick, the food novice, was surprised to discover there such variety in the land of bbq and I had a good time giving him a bit of an education about dry rubs, wood types, and the nearly endless kinds of sauces. I was also tickled to score some pretty damn authentic southern bbq in the heart of Manhattan. I'm no expert or anything, but you can usually trust the fat chick when it comes to knowing good food.

Guh! Can this day get any suckier? The ex just stopped by for a chat, to drop off the week late child support and to show me pictures of his new wife. Yeah, the ex got remarried some months back. She and her kids live in Brooklyn and the f-ing ex still lives in my backyard. At least part time. His business is based up here and he's gotta be where the work is. At least that's his story. I don't want to know how he works things out with his new wife, not my job to figure out my ex's love life. As long as he pays his share and sees Wolf often enough, it ain't none of my concern. I will say the new Mrs Shithead is very pretty though. Hence the pics. I'm thinking the ex needed a "Nar, nar, nar! Lookee what I got!" moment. Whatever, dude. In the end she's the one who has to put up with your dumb butt. If she's pretty at least she'll have something left when you're done trashing her life, house, vehicles, and credit score. Been there, done that, barely made it out alive. Good luck, new Mrs Shithead, you're gonna need it.

So, the auto show. It was fun. Beastly hot in there though. Saw a lot of cool cars. I finally got to sit in a Mini Cooper and damn if my fears weren't correct. It's not so much the headroom, my head didn't brush the ceiling or anything, but how I'd have to sit to see well. Can't do it. The roof curves down too far into the windshield, so I'd have to lounge back like a low rider to get max visibility and I am not comfortable sitting that way behind the wheel. I sit up very straight. Dream car shot all to hell. Oh well.

I'd gone down specifically to see and sit in the new Ford Fiesta anyhow. The leg box is a bit snug, but otherwise I really, really like this car. If it doesn't drive like a total bow-wow I think I've found my next car. It's either that or the Mazda 3. I already know how zippy those are. And the space and amenities for the price are fab. Buying a new car is really up in the air right now, but it never hurts to do some research and have something in mind.

Mick, who's not been without a car payment since he was 20 years old, is frothing to get something new. For me. He's stunned that I've only ever had one brand new car, and that was a stripped out Ford Festiva with 12" tires and no radio. I mean sure, I'd love to have a brand new car of my very own, even the Festiva was bought so Mike's commute to Yonkers would be cheap (42mpg, dig it). But I also like the idea of living without a car payment. Mick's truck is paid off in November and the idea of our only out-go being the mortgage and our living expenses is just too seductive. After getting in that credit card suck-hole after Wolf was born and it taking years (and a lucky inheritance) to claw my way out, I've come to hate debt like horses hate snakes. I'd rather drive our hand-me-down Escort until it falls to bits around me and then buy a new car. 4 or 5 years from now. Maybe longer if the Escort can hack it.

I already did the cool sports car thing. Yeah, I bought it used, sold it to myself actually and made myself a hella good deal on it. But it was still one bad ass of a machine and had all the toys and an engine that made every motorhead who saw it weep with envy. So I already got that out of my system. My self-image isn't bound to what I drive anymore. Perhaps if I had to commute to work and spent a goodish part of my day in my car I'd feel differently about it, but where the hell do I go? The store? Wolf's school? The gym? Feh. If I put 40 miles a week on my car it's a lot. As long as my car goes where I want, doesn't die at stoplights, and has a decent radio I'm good.

Okay, I'm still in one whopper of a piss-poor mood, but at least I'm okay with my ride.


Skulking off to have some morning hate with the laundry. ~LA

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