november freezes everything in sight
Nov. 26th, 2018 04:00 pmNovember has been a shitshow. To some extent it's been a continuation of a shitshow that started in October due to some of my own poor choices (deliberately vague), but it's also had Just Too Much going on. And work has been ridiculously busy as well, which means I don't have that time as downtime to sort through the Just Too Much.
But some of the ridiculousness is finally starting to let up. The condo sold a couple weeks ago, at asking, more or less immediately. Not as much as I'd hoped to get, probably not as much as we would have gotten if we'd sold in the spring, but eh, it's still free money. And now I have my home back, for a little while.
And I took my citizenship test last Tuesday. Twenty questions, multiple-choice. This was the last real hurdle in the citizenship process: now I just wait for "two to five months" for the actual ceremony.
I also now own a car, for the first time in seven and a half years. I recall the process as being less stressful last time, but then last time I knew I'd need a car and was willing to finance it, and also I knew what kind of car I wanted (Saturn 3-door coupe) and had found a bunch of them around the DC area. This time I didn't really have a sense of what I wanted other than "under $7500," "traction control," "fun-ish to drive," and "not white or brown." Paradox of choice.
So I spent a lot of time last week and the weekend before poking on Craigslist at used cars, trying to get private sellers to respond to messages, and visiting sketchy used-car dealerships. Among other things I test-drove an Infiniti, which was perfectly nice and had no soul, and a Ford Fusion, which was tempting but had a lot of cosmetic issues that suggested the potential for more serious underlying problems, and an Acura that's basically a Civic that I really wanted to like but that I just couldn't get comfortable in. And a Toyota Solara convertible that was seriously tempting, but taking a ragtop up to the land of ice and snow seems like an exceptionally poor life choice, especially when I don't have a garage for it.
I developed a solid distaste for used-car lots, which surprised me until I remembered that all my previous car-buying experience had been a) at new-car dealerships and b) with Saturn dealers, which were notorious for low-key sales and customer friendliness. This came to a head on Saturday, in the rain, at a used-car lot that appeared to be run out of the back of a minivan, where I tried out a very cheap SUV that was cheap for a reason or rather several, did not test a Mazda because the guy gave me the wrong key and I didn't feel like arguing with him, and sat in a too-expensive white Volvo and ... didn't hate it.
So while I drove to another dealer who didn't actually have the car I wanted available yet, they were just advertising it, Erin found a different (black) Volvo that looked promising: all-wheel drive, traction control, heated leather seats, etc. On her advice I called the dealer to make sure they had the car. Which turned out to be the right decision, because it was at their offsite location. We drove out there, and they had it out and ready for me. And... it fit, and looked nice, and felt comfortable to drive, and was priced near the top of my range.
We went inside to look at the Carfax report (couple claims, but nothing too serious, and also pretty regular maintenance). The guy wanted to sell it to me for about $8000 after taxes and fees and whatnot. I hemmed and hawed and said something about how I'd take the night to think about it, and Erin came right in with "Our budget's $7000, total."
Ten minutes later he sold it to me for that.
So. I am now the proud owner of a black 2005 Volvo S40 T5 with, near as I can tell, just about all the options. The stereo is gonna require some additional parts to get it to talk to my phone, and either the wiper blades need replacing or the windshield needs some serious scrubbing. Plus proper winter tires and rubber floormats and such. So far, though, I'm pretty happy with it.
Its name might be Hactar. I'm not sure yet, and may not be for awhile.
But some of the ridiculousness is finally starting to let up. The condo sold a couple weeks ago, at asking, more or less immediately. Not as much as I'd hoped to get, probably not as much as we would have gotten if we'd sold in the spring, but eh, it's still free money. And now I have my home back, for a little while.
And I took my citizenship test last Tuesday. Twenty questions, multiple-choice. This was the last real hurdle in the citizenship process: now I just wait for "two to five months" for the actual ceremony.
I also now own a car, for the first time in seven and a half years. I recall the process as being less stressful last time, but then last time I knew I'd need a car and was willing to finance it, and also I knew what kind of car I wanted (Saturn 3-door coupe) and had found a bunch of them around the DC area. This time I didn't really have a sense of what I wanted other than "under $7500," "traction control," "fun-ish to drive," and "not white or brown." Paradox of choice.
So I spent a lot of time last week and the weekend before poking on Craigslist at used cars, trying to get private sellers to respond to messages, and visiting sketchy used-car dealerships. Among other things I test-drove an Infiniti, which was perfectly nice and had no soul, and a Ford Fusion, which was tempting but had a lot of cosmetic issues that suggested the potential for more serious underlying problems, and an Acura that's basically a Civic that I really wanted to like but that I just couldn't get comfortable in. And a Toyota Solara convertible that was seriously tempting, but taking a ragtop up to the land of ice and snow seems like an exceptionally poor life choice, especially when I don't have a garage for it.
I developed a solid distaste for used-car lots, which surprised me until I remembered that all my previous car-buying experience had been a) at new-car dealerships and b) with Saturn dealers, which were notorious for low-key sales and customer friendliness. This came to a head on Saturday, in the rain, at a used-car lot that appeared to be run out of the back of a minivan, where I tried out a very cheap SUV that was cheap for a reason or rather several, did not test a Mazda because the guy gave me the wrong key and I didn't feel like arguing with him, and sat in a too-expensive white Volvo and ... didn't hate it.
So while I drove to another dealer who didn't actually have the car I wanted available yet, they were just advertising it, Erin found a different (black) Volvo that looked promising: all-wheel drive, traction control, heated leather seats, etc. On her advice I called the dealer to make sure they had the car. Which turned out to be the right decision, because it was at their offsite location. We drove out there, and they had it out and ready for me. And... it fit, and looked nice, and felt comfortable to drive, and was priced near the top of my range.
We went inside to look at the Carfax report (couple claims, but nothing too serious, and also pretty regular maintenance). The guy wanted to sell it to me for about $8000 after taxes and fees and whatnot. I hemmed and hawed and said something about how I'd take the night to think about it, and Erin came right in with "Our budget's $7000, total."
Ten minutes later he sold it to me for that.
So. I am now the proud owner of a black 2005 Volvo S40 T5 with, near as I can tell, just about all the options. The stereo is gonna require some additional parts to get it to talk to my phone, and either the wiper blades need replacing or the windshield needs some serious scrubbing. Plus proper winter tires and rubber floormats and such. So far, though, I'm pretty happy with it.
Its name might be Hactar. I'm not sure yet, and may not be for awhile.