The last couple posts have been about cars, so I figure I should put one more up. For now.
Kate and I, as I've said, spent quite a bit of time researching cars. We looked at consumer reports and compared features and specs on manufacturer's websites. We test drove a few cars we liked. We did all sorts of stuff. As Sam has said, Honda makes a pretty darn good car, and we found that in our research. The best value in a car (of the type we were looking at) was a Honda Fit. Relatively cheap to buy, very cheap to own.
So, on Saturday we were down in Toledo for our dog training class (we go every Saturday so that Majzy can learn to be a good little pup), and outside we saw a red Honda Fit for sale. After class we asked the instructor, Carla, and she said it was hers. This was at about 10 AM. And by 1 PM we had made all the calls we needed to make, done all the research we needed to be comfortable calling Carla and Terry to tell them not to sell to anybody else. They (thankfully) didn't want us to drive back down to Toledo to give them a good faith deposit.
We moved some money around and headed down on Wednesday morning to buy our new car. I should probably post a picture, but I don't want to go outside and take one.
And that's how the Michigan Paynes have more cars in their household than people (while we work on selling Lenny and Clifford).
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Texas this ain't
I mentioned in my last post that Kate and I went to our local Chevy dealer to test drive a car. We ended up test driving it for a couple of days while they held our truck to make sure we came back. When we came back to make the swap, our truck battery was dead. They jumped us and said it was just a coincidence, and not to worry about it.
The next day, the truck was dead again. We figured that maybe we just hadn't driven it far enough to really charge the battery. So, we got another jump and drove to Toledo about 45 minutes away. I figured that would be enough to let the battery really get a charge if that was all that was wrong, but we brought jumper cables just in case. Sure enough, when it came time to leave Toledo, we went out to the car and found the battery dead.
Thinking that we were still in the friendly South, I popped open the hood and waited for someone to stop. We were in a relatively busy parking lot, so I figured it wouldn't take long. No one stopped. People drove by slowly and rubbernecked, but no one so much as made eye contact with me. I even waved at people and got nothing.
Since we parked relatively close to the store, all the spots around us were taken, so even if somebody stopped we would have to push the truck out of the space to get a jump. So I figured I might as well push it out and see if that got somebody to stop. I pushed the truck while Kate sat inside and steered. We went out into traffic (not street traffic, but the flow inside the mall parking lot), and people just went around us. Seriously. A guy pushing an F150 with a woman and a dog in the cab and nobody even stops to ask if we're OK.
Finally someone did stop and we got a jump and got home. It just surprised me that we could be there for that long and not have anyone stop. The North is just different, I guess.
We called Trish at the Chevy dealership to let her know that our truck was just fine when we drove it in and broken when we drove it out. She told us that she didn't know what we were talking about, and it must have been our fault. I recognize that the dealership can't just fix anybody's car who says it was fine when they got there. But it would be nice if there was some sort of remorse for breaking our car or offering to make it better somehow.
We ended up going to Sam's Club and getting a new battery and everything worked out fine. Yay for things working out!
The next day, the truck was dead again. We figured that maybe we just hadn't driven it far enough to really charge the battery. So, we got another jump and drove to Toledo about 45 minutes away. I figured that would be enough to let the battery really get a charge if that was all that was wrong, but we brought jumper cables just in case. Sure enough, when it came time to leave Toledo, we went out to the car and found the battery dead.
Thinking that we were still in the friendly South, I popped open the hood and waited for someone to stop. We were in a relatively busy parking lot, so I figured it wouldn't take long. No one stopped. People drove by slowly and rubbernecked, but no one so much as made eye contact with me. I even waved at people and got nothing.
Since we parked relatively close to the store, all the spots around us were taken, so even if somebody stopped we would have to push the truck out of the space to get a jump. So I figured I might as well push it out and see if that got somebody to stop. I pushed the truck while Kate sat inside and steered. We went out into traffic (not street traffic, but the flow inside the mall parking lot), and people just went around us. Seriously. A guy pushing an F150 with a woman and a dog in the cab and nobody even stops to ask if we're OK.
Finally someone did stop and we got a jump and got home. It just surprised me that we could be there for that long and not have anyone stop. The North is just different, I guess.
We called Trish at the Chevy dealership to let her know that our truck was just fine when we drove it in and broken when we drove it out. She told us that she didn't know what we were talking about, and it must have been our fault. I recognize that the dealership can't just fix anybody's car who says it was fine when they got there. But it would be nice if there was some sort of remorse for breaking our car or offering to make it better somehow.
We ended up going to Sam's Club and getting a new battery and everything worked out fine. Yay for things working out!
Sunday, April 22, 2012
In which we drove a new car for a couple of days
Kate and I have two vehicles: a 94 Taurus (Lenny) and a 2003 F150 (Clifford). I don't generally drive much, so there isn't really much reason for us to have two. And these particular cars get about 15 miles per gallon, which is costing us a pretty penny in gas. So, Kate and I looked at new cars for a while. Deep down we knew we couldn't afford a real new car and would have to get a new-to-us car, but it was still fun to pretend for a few weeks that we would be getting a new car.
We went to a few car dealerships and talked about new cars. The first, since we have two Fords, was the local Ford dealership. They were kind of dismissive and unhelpful. Must have been a busy day or something, because the salesman didn't even offer to have us sit down. He just stood there and answered a couple questions and acted bored.
Next we went to a Chevy dealership. We talked to a really nice saleswoman named Trish (I think...). Trish was excited to sell us a Sonic, which is a new model that's only existed for a year or so (it's a much-improved version of the Aveo, if anyone wants to know). We test drove it for a few minutes, and it was really nice. Smooth drive, good get-up-and-go, etc. When we came back to the dealership, we talked about money and all that for a few minutes, but it was close to closing time and Trish could sense that we weren't really sold and were about to slip through her fingers.
Trish threw us for a loop when she asked us if we wanted to continue the test drive till the next day. We could drive it all day and have it back the next evening. I explained that it would be hard for us to make it out the next day since I would be at work till late. Rather than let us walk away, she offered us 3 whole days driving a brand new car. I think she was pretty convinced that if we drove it for a bit we would fall in love with it. I was pretty sure that I wouldn't fall in love with anything that took 15% of my paycheck for the next 6 years. We agreed to give it a try because, hey, it sounded fun. We left Clifford there as collateral and drove off in a new car.
And there's Kate in "our" new Chevy Sonic. It was a fun car that we enjoyed driving for a couple days, but in the end, we just couldn't make ourselves want it enough to go into the kind of debt that it would require. So we took it back and Trish was very sad.
We got the keys to Clifford back, and they tried to pull him around for us to go home in, but the battery was dead. They jumped us, and assured us that they hadn't done anything wrong, so it was probably just a freak accident that our battery died. Not the case, but I think that'll come up in my next post.
On the way home we stopped by a Nissan dealer to talk about the Versa. At least, I think it was a Nissan dealer. It would have made more sense if it was just a front for some illegal business, or maybe another car company trying to put people off of buying Nissan. The guy explained to us that there were all sorts of hidden fees, so even though it looked like a good deal on TV, the Versa is kind of a crappy deal. We didn't get to test drive anything there and the guy never even asked my name (which is kind of a basic sales mistake, I think).
We also tried out a Fiat Pop a few days later. Again, we knew deep down that we couldn't afford it, but it was fun to pretend. And I've got to say, the Pop was super-fun. I was surprised. It is pretty cheap for what you get, it was fun to drive, and the gas mileage was fantastic. I also liked the way they do business at Fiat: no commissioned sales people, and no haggling. The price is the price.
I kind of felt ashamed to enjoy the Fiat so much because, I mean, come on. It's a Fiat. But nonetheless, if we were to buy a new car, it would probably be the Fiat Pop.
We went to a few car dealerships and talked about new cars. The first, since we have two Fords, was the local Ford dealership. They were kind of dismissive and unhelpful. Must have been a busy day or something, because the salesman didn't even offer to have us sit down. He just stood there and answered a couple questions and acted bored.
Next we went to a Chevy dealership. We talked to a really nice saleswoman named Trish (I think...). Trish was excited to sell us a Sonic, which is a new model that's only existed for a year or so (it's a much-improved version of the Aveo, if anyone wants to know). We test drove it for a few minutes, and it was really nice. Smooth drive, good get-up-and-go, etc. When we came back to the dealership, we talked about money and all that for a few minutes, but it was close to closing time and Trish could sense that we weren't really sold and were about to slip through her fingers.
Trish threw us for a loop when she asked us if we wanted to continue the test drive till the next day. We could drive it all day and have it back the next evening. I explained that it would be hard for us to make it out the next day since I would be at work till late. Rather than let us walk away, she offered us 3 whole days driving a brand new car. I think she was pretty convinced that if we drove it for a bit we would fall in love with it. I was pretty sure that I wouldn't fall in love with anything that took 15% of my paycheck for the next 6 years. We agreed to give it a try because, hey, it sounded fun. We left Clifford there as collateral and drove off in a new car.
And there's Kate in "our" new Chevy Sonic. It was a fun car that we enjoyed driving for a couple days, but in the end, we just couldn't make ourselves want it enough to go into the kind of debt that it would require. So we took it back and Trish was very sad.
We got the keys to Clifford back, and they tried to pull him around for us to go home in, but the battery was dead. They jumped us, and assured us that they hadn't done anything wrong, so it was probably just a freak accident that our battery died. Not the case, but I think that'll come up in my next post.
On the way home we stopped by a Nissan dealer to talk about the Versa. At least, I think it was a Nissan dealer. It would have made more sense if it was just a front for some illegal business, or maybe another car company trying to put people off of buying Nissan. The guy explained to us that there were all sorts of hidden fees, so even though it looked like a good deal on TV, the Versa is kind of a crappy deal. We didn't get to test drive anything there and the guy never even asked my name (which is kind of a basic sales mistake, I think).
We also tried out a Fiat Pop a few days later. Again, we knew deep down that we couldn't afford it, but it was fun to pretend. And I've got to say, the Pop was super-fun. I was surprised. It is pretty cheap for what you get, it was fun to drive, and the gas mileage was fantastic. I also liked the way they do business at Fiat: no commissioned sales people, and no haggling. The price is the price.
I kind of felt ashamed to enjoy the Fiat so much because, I mean, come on. It's a Fiat. But nonetheless, if we were to buy a new car, it would probably be the Fiat Pop.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Post-prelim sum up
Well, folks, it's time for me to come back out of the cave for a few minutes. Last week I took my prelim exam, which is big news. I passed, which is even bigger news.
The prelim exam is a rite of passage/hazing type experience. In order to be a "PhD candidate" you have to pass the test at the end of your second year in the program. I proposed a course of research and a committee of 3 professors assessed it and me. Oddly (at least I assume it's odd to people who don't go through it - it's not odd to me), my committee didn't care at all about the research I proposed, but more about the thought behind it. In other words, my committee told me that my proposal was stupid and I should never ever ever do it, but I still passed. They cared about the fact that I had thought through experiments and written some well-reasoned plans, even though those plans were to do something tremendously stupid.
In my defense, I totally agreed with them - I thought it was stupid, too. Not as stupid as they thought, but I thought it was dumb. I guess I just misunderstood the idea of what we were supposed to do for the prelim. There were some miscommunications and whatnot to blame for that, but mostly I think it's just the hush-hush frat initiation nature of the thing. If somebody could have given me some input early on, I could have seen that it was bad. But, that doesn't matter much because I am done and I don't have to do those experiments. Which is good because they're pretty dumb.
So, what else have I done with my life while I haven't been blogging? Well, lots of things that I plan on posting about retroactively. Kate and I bought a car and are working on selling both Lenny and Clifford (which is sad because I love Lenny). We've spent lots of time training Majzy (which is going very well). We've done some homey-crafty stuff (which is always fun and sometimes useful). Hopefully I'll post some more stories and pictures as the next couple days pass.
This weekend Kate's parents are coming to visit us, so we'll be spending some family time. Should be fun.
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