Indecisiveness Strikes at the AutoMall

It's time to get a new car. The Sentra is up and running like a champ, but it would better serve Chef than me at this point. Knowing this, I ventured out to my local Carmax last weekend wanting to look at about six different car models.

After careful consideration, I am no closer to choosing one than I was before.

I like one because it's fuel efficient and newer and from a  reliable brand, but it doesn't have as many luxuries for the price. One is slightly older has more luxuries and is also reliable, but is rumored to require the sale of a kidney for upkeep in its later days. Some are new but basic, others are older (less than 3 years old) but pimped out. And frankly, I just can't decide.

So I've decided to put off the decision, because that's what all reasonable people do.

What kind of car do you drive? Would you recommend it?

30-something going on 20-something?

Chef got the new Taylor Swift album for me. Feel free to poke fun all you want. Mostly he did it because I asked him too and then because he loves to make me happy. I've been listening to it shamelessly for the past few days. I like to turn it up, roll the windows down and then watch the hipsters and Hollywood homeless look at the old weirdo listening to Taylor Swift in her Nissan Sentra. It's fun.

Part of the reason I like listening to Taylor Swift is because it reminds me of my late teens and early twenties. The whole being bad at relationships (although I don't think anyone is ever really GOOD at them; we're all varying shades of bad), hanging out with my girlfriends until the wee hours of the morning, eating at Denny's or Steak 'N Shake because they were the only things open. It was awesome.

And I don't really want to repeat it. I love getting together with my girls every now and again for some wine and good food, but I'm fairly certain that my intestinal tract and liver can't handle the kind of abuse I used to put my body through.

But more than anything, what I realize is that I didn't have all those failed relationships that most girls get to have when they're young. I spent most of my efforts on massive unrequited crushes that took up my time and energy but only left me wounded for a moment before I moved on to the next. There were a few that were stronger than others, but in the end, did I ever have those guys that I hung out with forever, made out with just as long and then dumped or got dumped? Not really. Part of that was being overweight and not feeling that I was attractive enough to land a guy. Part of it was having high enough self-worth to know that I didn't find most of these guys all that interesting.

Sometimes I wonder if I would do things differently if I were to go back. Would I truly try to be in more relationships? (Poor Chef had to deal with the brunt of a lot of my relationship naivete) Or do I just feel like I missed out on something that I probably wouldn't have enjoyed all that much in the end? Who's to say, I guess. In the end, things didn't turn out too shabby. Which is something else I also bob my head to and think about as I'm rocking out to my Taylor Swift songs.

My Car Looks like a Miami Vice Rerun

The award for bonehead move of the week definitely goes to me. I was getting breakfast for co-workers yesterday and while in the grocery store grabbed  a few items for another recipe. I put everything in my car and when I came in to work, I was loaded down with stuff so I left the groceries for later in my backseat until I could get them.

I should've known better because as soon as I set my stuff down, I got whisked into an impromptu meeting, had calls to return and BOOM! The day started. I forgot about my car groceries, which sat in the not so hot, but always sunny backseat of my car, Liam Nissan. 

One of the groceries: a pound of butter. 

So I drive home in a car that smells like it should be used to coat popcorn and my back passenger side seat is an oily mess. I research online and see that after wiping up what I can, the recommended thing to do is coat the area with baking soda or cornstarch to absorb the mess. So I do, but then I wonder if passersby will think that I had an accident and that I have a big pile of cocaine in my backseat. I know it's not likely, but my neighbor is on the cusp of an area where that probably isn't too big of a stretch, so I covered the pile of cornstarch with a towel.

So now my car is retro because it's in to coke. Or at least it feels that way. It seems like its a prop from Miami Vice (the TV show not the horrible movie). 

Does anyone have any better ideas on how to get melted butter out of  car upholstery?

A New Addition to My Life and Budget

It was bound to happen. In fact, last week Chef told me to bite the bullet and go car shopping. I didn't listen to him, which he has pointed out, and therefore was left in a minor panic attack that had to be witnessed by upper management at the AHA.

It started on Thursday morning when I went to pick up a friend who was, oddly enough, having car trouble of her own. My car had been having some noticeable transmission issues (namely getting out of first gear), but this morning was different. This morning I couldn't get it up the hill near my house. By some miracle, it got us to work. I knew that I would use my Friday off to shop for a new car. The decision was made.

I didn't have to drive it during the day, but when I hopped in to leave I could back out fine, but couldn't go forward. The Cam literally not move another inch forward without the aid of my friends and a visiting manager from work. All the while I was crying hysterically trying to figure out how to get home and to a dealership. Nothing spells desperation like pulling up in a cab.

After about 5 minutes of crying and the logic of my friends and co-workers, I got a ride to the car rental place (a mere two blocks from work) and rented the cheapest thing they had. It was a Chevy Cobalt. I got in and felt the luxury. That's when I started realizing how many things had gone wrong with the Cam.

Chef and I spent most of Thursday night researching cars, our budget, and trying to see where we wanted to go to find my new vehicle. Then after a night of ambien-induced sleep, I got up, got nervous and went to Church's chicken. Nothing says big purchase like stress eating. So I had a chicken biscuit. It was delicious.

We headed to Petsmart to get cat food and then to Carmax. I had narrowed it down to three moderately priced models the night before. It was going to be a Toyota (I mean, it did last me 15 years despite the recalls), a Honda or a Nissan. After three test drives and some serious debate, I had made my decision. I was the proud new owner of a 2009 Nissan Sentra.

I got a reliable, used car that only had 13,000 miles and one previous owner. It looked and smelled brand new without the new car price tag. It is perfect. At least in my eyes. After riding around in a 1995 Camry for the last 10 years, there are some things that are normal for a car today that are a luxury for me. Here are some examples:

• A radio-The cam lost it's radio two years ago by blowing a fuse. The junction box was located directly behind the dash and would've required too much labor to make it worth the effort.
• Getting out of the passenger seat-the inner door handle didn't work to get out. You either had to wait for me to be chivalrous or roll the window down and let yourself out.
• Getting into the driver side- The lock had been stripped because of a bad key copy.
• Oil and automatic transmission fluid use-despite no discernible oil leak the car needed oil and ATF to be added to it every other day.
• Transmission- for the last month or more, the cam needed to be really warmed up to be able to shift between gears
• the loudness- Chef was embarrassed to start my car in the morning because of how much noise it made so early in the morning
• no back lighting on the odometer, speedometer-the fuse that took out the radio eventually took out that too. I had a taplight that I used to see my speed and gas after dark.
• shocks, suspension--my car shook between the speeds of 60-70 mph on the highways and interstate

Seriously, it is a pure joy to know that the car that I'm heading out to in the morning will start, will run with no problems and that I can plug a phone charger into. Plus it's pretty and didn't break the bank. I hope I'm just as happy once I start making payments on it.

The buying experience wasn't nearly as fearful as I thought. Carmax was great, the salesguy wasn't pushy and I got my car relatively easily. They financed quickly, but what I appreciated was that my salesman recommended a person to give me a better rate somewhere else. I went to his suggestion and got a 3 percent break on the interest. It's enough of a deal to make me go back to Carmax again.

Now I need your help naming him.