The Coffee House

[vintagesnaps]

Good grief Leo! you're supposed to put a penny in the tread and if it's below Lincoln's head... or something... well anyway, good grief! Sorry otherwise it's time for a new car, hard to give up something with sentimental value.

Boy is it hot and I'm in the AC, it's been running nonstop this afternoon. What can I not cook for dinner? lol will see what's in the freezer I can nuke. I hope it rains tonight, preferably without anything getting severe.

 

[Gary A.]

No a/c today ... The heat wave is subsiding. Gary grilled up some chicken, slapped some cheese on top to melt then piled on sautéed onions, kale, tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, pecans and cashews.

 

[Designer]

I made tacos.

From a kit.

 

[medic2230]

I made tacos.

From a kit.

I had Taco Bell.

 

[Gary A.]

Gary likes tacos.

 

[limr]

Mmm, I had some really great fish tacos when Buzz and I made our mad dash to Burlington. I could go for some fish tacos soon.

 

[medic2230]

It was little man's suggestion today after we went to the trampoline park.

I'd love some really good fish taco's right now.

 

[jcdeboever]

I got off work, no dinner, went on a service call to fix a computer, got a quick golf lesson, came home and ate potato salad and some chicken. Walked the dog, kicked the cat, and got yelled at by the wife for some stupid crap that is meaningless. Man, she needs a chill pill or a perfect husband...maybe both.

Now she's getting rubbed...the cat....

 

[medic2230]

My wife brought ice cream home. I let the dog out to walk himself. I don't play golf and all the computers are Apple's so, no need to work on them.

 

[jcdeboever]

My wife brought ice cream home. I let the dog out to walk himself. I don't play golf and all the computers are Apple's so, no need to work on them.

Ha, I actually fixed an Apple tonight. Hard drive took a dump.

So your wife tells at you to?

 

[jcdeboever]

In the shop getting tires balanced and rotated, oil changed as well. Outside is thunderstorm with hail. Truck windshield replaced an hour ago, and we have an appointment with the used car folks tonight.

I have an appointment for Friday for Lucille. When I got back from Kansas City, I realized that my front tires are stripped to hell - one down to the fabric and the other down to the metal cord. Buzz got totally freaked out and insisted that we put my snows on the front until Friday. At that point, I'll have 2 new tires mounted and I might need an alignment. It's also inspection time.

It might be Lucille's last inspection She's very close to 200K, she's developing new rattles every day, the CD player only works half the time (I haven't used it in years but used it again during my 15-hour trek to North Carolina), the front left speaker is totally dead, and the front right one cuts in and out (sometimes scaring the hell out of my as the volume suddenly doubles). I'm kind of tired of crank windows and of asking any passengers to please manually lock the door. I've taken good care of her so mechanically, she is sound, but the normal wear and tear on an 11-year-old car with almost 200K is going to mean that maintenance costs are only going to go up.

So yeah, Lucille is definitely in her dotage, and yeah, it's probably time for a new car. But oh, how I have loved that car!! And while I'm excited for whatever I'll have next, I am going to cry like a fool when I have to say goodbye to her

The best cars are the one's with no payment. Can always buy used tires. Funny fact about me, I have never had a car payment. My first car was paid by cash, 76 Chevy Nova. Drove that into the ground and always had a company car after that. I was in the Marine's and didn't own a vehicle. When I got out, I drove the Nova until it rusted out.

 

[medic2230]

My wife brought ice cream home. I let the dog out to walk himself. I don't play golf and all the computers are Apple's so, no need to work on them.

Ha, I actually fixed an Apple tonight. Hard drive took a dump.

So your wife tells at you to?

I thought all of them did?

Not tonight, I hid the new stash of stuff I bought today.

 

[limr]

The best cars are the one's with no payment. Can always buy used tires. Funny fact about me, I have never had a car payment. My first car was paid by cash, 76 Chevy Nova. Drove that into the ground and always had a company car after that. I was in the Marine's and didn't own a vehicle. When I got out, I drove the Nova until it rusted out.

I'm obviously not the kind of person who needs to replace her car every 3 years, like a lot of folks these days, but I also don't understand the intense aversion to spending money on a new car. There's still a car payment; they're just called "repairs" and those payments go higher as the car gets older. They might not be as regular, but sometimes, they can be much more painful.

Of course, I was very happy when my car loan was paid off, and I am saving as much money as I can for a downpayment so that I won't have to take out a big loan. But as much as I have loved Lucille, she's becoming less enjoyable to drive because of all the little things that are starting to go wrong (she's also got an oil leak somewhere, so I'm having to feed her oil on a regular basis; there's the slight shimmy because there's some play in the suspension.) I'd rather let her go before she gets to the point of pissing me off by breaking down or becoming unreliable. Don't want to end on a sour note.

I have never been of the mind that a car is just an appliance, so I'm willing to pay some money to make the experience of driving even more enjoyable.

 

[waday]

Oh, wow. I could totally eat some tacos right now.

The wife and I had some delicious ones in NYC a month or so ago. We didn't realize until we had already ordered and paid that the place only got a "C" rating.

They were still good. No regrets.


Tacos on the Block by Wade, on Flickr

 

[jcdeboever]

The best cars are the one's with no payment. Can always buy used tires. Funny fact about me, I have never had a car payment. My first car was paid by cash, 76 Chevy Nova. Drove that into the ground and always had a company car after that. I was in the Marine's and didn't own a vehicle. When I got out, I drove the Nova until it rusted out.

I'm obviously not the kind of person who needs to replace her car every 3 years, like a lot of folks these days, but I also don't understand the intense aversion to spending money on a new car. There's still a car payment; they're just called "repairs" and those payments go higher as the car gets older. They might not be as regular, but sometimes, they can be much more painful.

Of course, I was very happy when my car loan was paid off, and I am saving as much money as I can for a downpayment so that I won't have to take out a big loan. But as much as I have loved Lucille, she's becoming less enjoyable to drive because of all the little things that are starting to go wrong (she's also got an oil leak somewhere, so I'm having to feed her oil on a regular basis; there's the slight shimmy because there's some play in the suspension.) I'd rather let her go before she gets to the point of pissing me off by breaking down or becoming unreliable. Don't want to end on a sour note.

I have never been of the mind that a car is just an appliance, so I'm willing to pay some money to make the experience of driving even more enjoyable.

That's a solid perspective. My wife has to have a new one every 2 or 3 years, leasing is a huge financial loss. So I just try to lesson the severity by paying cash and hope to sell and recoup some of the damage. Cars are such a money pit. I wish she would drive a pickup truck, the loss would not be as great and way easier to sell.