I love the Soul, there’s tons of room and it gets great gas mileage. Plus, I can cram all my ham radio stuff in there and there’s still room to fit people! Which, by the way, the people in my life seem to appreciate that fact the most.

Driving it is a blast, literally. They put in a killer stereo system that will send most people running away. Which is the only part Becky doesn’t seem to like, go figure. I can plug in my iPod and jam to my hearts content, unless of course Becky’s in the car. I take it easy on her, for some reason she doesn’t like my heavy metal or rap metal taste!

Click to embiggen

And in case you’re wondering, yes I did download the “Do What You Do” song from the Kia commercial, no hamster suit yet though!

So lets check the scoreboard:

1. Anna, still coughing but otherwise ok.
2. Becky, down for the count.
3. Desi, root canal girl, whining more than usual.
4. Me, well I’m just me!

I have been playing nurse so long now I almost feel like I should be wearing some nice squeaky shoes and waking people up to take sleeping pills!

As you may remember, in October Becky’s car was totaled. After a few days we received the payout for the car and began the process of looking for something Becky liked. We were all over the place, we visited several dealerships and went through several online sites. While we found things that were interesting online they were usually gone by the time we got a hold of the dealerships that had them (no surprise there).

Then came that fateful night in November when we reluctantly set foot on the lot of Hubler Dodge, a friend of Becky’s recommended them. We saw a few that interested us, one in particular was a Mazda, nice green four door. We test drove it and loved the way it handled and looked. (Red Flag Alert: I noticed the two front tires were low and that there was a recent paper tag in the back window, I ignored these flags) We purchased the vehicle for cash outright and drove it home that night. Becky did the usual and took it to our mechanic to check the front tires and give it a mechanical once over. He called her later that day and told her that the front rims needed replaced as they were damaged and that there was valve damage to the engine, I was angry, Becky was devastated. We bought a used car as is that turned out to be a piece of junk. Then we reflected on that last red flag. It had a paper tag in the rear window already meaning someone else had bought it recently and returned it, probably for the same reason. Becky called and talked to them and they reluctantly said they would let her bring the car back and use the money we paid towards another car on their lot.

Enter nightmare number two, the Chevrolet Aveo. It seemed like a nice car, 2009 in nice shape it had the remainder of the factory warranty and we extended it by two years just in case. It was slightly more than the other so we had to finance the rest. Becky and I were pretty happy with our new purchase; it didn’t last long. That night, on the way home Becky said it hesitated a few times. We both thought it may be some condensation in the fuel lines so we rode it out. It was still doing it the next day when Hubler called, they needed us to come in and resign some papers as they had made a mistake on the loan papers, they had listed the down payment incorrectly.

I was quite angry with the whole situation so while I was fuming I read the back of the contract. Apparently if they list the down payment amount incorrectly the contract is no good. A bargaining chip. Then I went on line and looked at their inventory and I found our car still in their listing but at around $3000 less than what they made us pay for it. Now angry didn’t even begin to cover it. When we went in we went straight to the financing people. We sat down and she started pulling out papers for us to sign. I informed her that we were not going to sign anything right yet. She immediately got up and went to get the sales manager. I had printed out the web listing they had for the car. When I handed it to the manager he seemed slightly indifferent about it. He said we should have done our homework, I pointed out that they had jacked the price up by the amount of our down payment. I also let him know that I had read the back of the contract and then he was ready to do business or so I thought.

To his credit he did lower the price of the car to the advertised price but he failed to include the remainder of the factory warranty and I didn’t notice this. So we leave Hubler’s feeling slightly vindicated, we figured we could just take it in to the shop and have the problem repaired. We were wrong. When we took it in they informed us that it had a faulty oxygen sensor and a faulty strut mount. Unfortunately the warranty hadn’t even been put through yet so it was technically not covered. So we were stuck, they did call back though and decide to go ahead and do the work as the warranty would be in by the next day, they said it may cause further damage to drive it that way. When it was done we found that the factory warranty had not been transferred to us and there was a $100 deductible on the extended warranty. They “fixed it” we payed our hundred bucks and were on our way.

Two days later, it started doing it again. We called and returned the car to the service department yet again. Apparently there are two oxygen sensors and they should have replaced them both at least they waived the deductible that time again they “fixed it” and we were on our way.

Fast forward to today, I am on my way back from picking up the girls from school when the engine starts hesitating when accelerating. Then the check engine light blinked and stayed on. This is where the story ends for now. We have to call the service department yet again and have them see what it could possibly be this time.

I’ll keep you posted!

I am getting used to the new stuff, it just makes me really tired right now. Yeah I know, like I needed anything else making me tired. I think these doctors know what they are doing to me and are laughing about it behind my back.

Becky got a car to replace her little yellow focus. We got it home and she started having buyers remorse. I tried to reassure her that not only is that normal, but if you didn’t have remorse it probably is a good sign that you should have. It’s a good car, and it was in our price range, meaning that the insurance money covered most of it and all we had to pay was the taxes.

I’m going to bed now, see ya!

It started out as an innocent cold, I should have known better.

8/20/10 I notice some congestion and get the sniffles.

8/22/10 It shifts into high gear, don’t want to get out of bed.

8/23 – 8/26/10 Becky tells me I should go to the doctor.

8/26/10 I give in and go to immediate care. They tell me it’s viral and give me cough syrup and a prescription for antibiotics that I am only to fill if a fever sets in.

8/29/10 Fever!

8/31/ – 9/1/10 I start to feel better!

9/1/10 Late evening. Spend the entire night coughing unable to sleep.

9/2/10 Go to ER get an x-ray, two breathing treatments, prednisone + a script for more, a new inhaler, and a shot in the nether region that hurt like heck and still does a bit.

9/3/10 Lying awake for the second night in a row but hopped up on Albuterol this time. Realize I have not updated my blog in a while. Posted this long drawn out account just for filler on my site!

That said, I haven’t done much in the way of photos other than the lightning photos the other day. I hope to remedy that very soon. The fair is coming up and I still haven’t decided on what I want to shoot and enter for that. I may just do some more portraits as those seem to go over the best.

OK, going to sleep now, yeah right.

On the non whining front, the weather has been beautiful here lately, hot but still very nice. We’ve not had any real good storms, which is disappointing, but I guess I will survive. Maybe next season I can take a trip to Kansas to chase for a week, maybe not though.

Anna and I have been riding our bikes lately and Becky is ready to start walking again. Between the two of them, they are going to kill me.

Time for some serious Bible study, see ya!

Anna loves to ride bikes, I used to love to ride bikes. Anna wants me to ride with her, I want to cry after going two blocks. I have to plan our rides so that I have opportunities to rest and it has to keep her entertained while I recuperate. Thank God for the retention pond full of fish and geese.

Desiree is happy to just sit around and read all day, as long as the book has something to do with vampires. Twilight has really ruined vampires for me. I used to think they were cool when they started to smoke and then explode in sunlight, now they just sparkle, STUPID!

We have all had input on meals. Yes our meals have not been the healthiest fare at times, but we are trying and hey, it’s only for a week. Desi picked and cooked the meal Wednesday night, her choice was chicken sausage and fried cucumbers. Quite a surprise for me. I had tried fried pickles before and loved them, fried cukes was a first. Surprisingly we all liked them, even Anna, once she doctored them with ketchup.

Anna wants stir fry Thursday night. She wants to help cook it too. I have a feeling this is going to be a learning experience for both of us. Stay tuned to find out!

In three short hours I will be alone with my daughters for a week.

In four short hours the enormity of that last statement will sink in.

In six short hours the girls will be up for the day.

In six short hours and a few minutes the girls will realize the enormity their situation.

In six short hours and fifteen minutes I will be ready for the asylum.

Pray for Becky, pray for them, pray for me!

That was followed by quite a bit more lounging and drifting in and out of consciousness. Had a light lunch with Anna followed by some vigorous TV watching. After that we went to pick up Desi from school came back home and waited for Becky to get off work.

Out for dinner at Pizza King, yes that is what I picked for my birthday meal this year. From there we went to our church prayer meeting then back home and sent everyone off to bed. That leads us to this point, my whole day in a nutshell!

Now I am going to lie here and toss and turn for a bit.