Yay! It's snowing!!! -- Wait.
Dec. 31st, 2003 02:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
weaselmomIt has been snowing like it means it since about 9 p.m. and we currently have over four inches of the stuff. S and I holed up in the computer room and cranked the heat, which frankly didn't do much to warm up the place because I insisted on having the window wide open three feet from us so I could watch the snow fall. It alternated between the small, stinging flakes you get as the temperature drops and the fat, lazy feathers that are big enough to cast a shadow as they near the ground. S promised me that at 1 a.m. he would stop gaming and we could go outside and play. True to his word, he took me out for over an hour to go Walking in a Winter Wonderland, or as close as you can get in a suburban apartment zone. Nevertheless, it was so beautiful and peaceful. Of course we had to shatter that peace with late-night goofiness:
Today's lesson: Do not stand under a snow-covered tree and look up, as S is biologically incapable of not shaking the tree really hard and then running away, giggling.
Some of you may remember that S's truck broke down during Fragfest on Saturday, and he had to abandon it in north Seattle. On Monday we had it towed to Greg's Japanese Auto. Today (Tuesday) they informed us that his timing chain had broken and completely destroyed the engine. This isn't something that can be fixed--they have to put in a new engine. He decided that he didn't want to dump any more money into the old truck, as our Cunning Plan was to buy another vehicle within the next 12 months anyway. This just forced our hand, as it were. He had already done most of the research and knew he wanted a Dodge truck. We visited a couple of dealerships and ended up buying a 2004 Quad Cab. We looked at some used ones, but really they were expensive enough that we wouldn't save that much money, and we would possibly be buying somebody else's problems, and the vehicle would have a shorter lifespan, and it wouldn't be exactly what he wanted (features, color, etc.). And you know what else? S has never had a brand-new vehicle, and damnit, he deserves one. We were able to benefit from year-end pricing and rebates and had a good down payment, although no trade-in, of course. We both feel as good about the transaction as we could, considering we were forced into it by circumstance and the economy is still a scary place for making major purchases. It would have been nice to do it on our own schedule, and this will put us very tight financially, but those are the breaks. Also, I don't think we'll be getting ferrets this year, because I want to make sure that we (S, really, but it affects both of us) can make the car and insurance payments and then see what the budget looks like...
However, here is the issue (for those of you who are still awake): This dealer didn't have exactly the truck S wanted, so they were having one driven up from Portland. Tonight. The same tonight in which it is snowing all over the Pacific Northwest. I don't think we'll be seeing this truck anytime soon.
- Obligatory snowball fight, in which no harm was done because quite honestly we both throw like girls;
- Laying odds on which vehicles would fail or succeed in making it up the hill in front of our place;
- Waving at the snowplow crews, who honked back, no doubt shaking their heads;
- Trekking up to the Park-n-Ride lot, where we made strange little snow kami figures and left them on top of vehicles to greet car owners whenever they make it back;
- Making the world's most spastic snow angel, which didn't even have a head(!);
- Walking past the woods and speculating on how the squirrels and mice are holding up in the weather.
Today's lesson: Do not stand under a snow-covered tree and look up, as S is biologically incapable of not shaking the tree really hard and then running away, giggling.
Some of you may remember that S's truck broke down during Fragfest on Saturday, and he had to abandon it in north Seattle. On Monday we had it towed to Greg's Japanese Auto. Today (Tuesday) they informed us that his timing chain had broken and completely destroyed the engine. This isn't something that can be fixed--they have to put in a new engine. He decided that he didn't want to dump any more money into the old truck, as our Cunning Plan was to buy another vehicle within the next 12 months anyway. This just forced our hand, as it were. He had already done most of the research and knew he wanted a Dodge truck. We visited a couple of dealerships and ended up buying a 2004 Quad Cab. We looked at some used ones, but really they were expensive enough that we wouldn't save that much money, and we would possibly be buying somebody else's problems, and the vehicle would have a shorter lifespan, and it wouldn't be exactly what he wanted (features, color, etc.). And you know what else? S has never had a brand-new vehicle, and damnit, he deserves one. We were able to benefit from year-end pricing and rebates and had a good down payment, although no trade-in, of course. We both feel as good about the transaction as we could, considering we were forced into it by circumstance and the economy is still a scary place for making major purchases. It would have been nice to do it on our own schedule, and this will put us very tight financially, but those are the breaks. Also, I don't think we'll be getting ferrets this year, because I want to make sure that we (S, really, but it affects both of us) can make the car and insurance payments and then see what the budget looks like...
However, here is the issue (for those of you who are still awake): This dealer didn't have exactly the truck S wanted, so they were having one driven up from Portland. Tonight. The same tonight in which it is snowing all over the Pacific Northwest. I don't think we'll be seeing this truck anytime soon.
