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Trish’s relationship with her 2000 Hyundai Accent came to a close this past Saturday.  The 8 years and reasonably trouble free 130k miles made it a great car.  We recommend one to anybody.  It was replaced with a new-to-us car but first things first. 

The ball got rolling because the inspection on the car was due this month and a few things, including the exhaust system from manifold to tailpipe, needed replacement to pass.  You know the deal:  do we start looking for wheels or do we spend large $$$ to fix a big thing on an old car and hope nothing else breaks that subsequently totals what we would have spent on a new car.  Been there, done that, we didn’t like that.  Since my car is just recently paid off, Trish started poking around for something new and lining up financing.  The latter part is simple with our credit union.  Feature wise she didn’t have a lot of requirements, the biggest one being something that can hold 3 car seats. 

What?!  3 car seats?!  Chill.  We aren’t pregnant.  A trio of those Cheerio holders will make it easier for Porter’s (and down the road Jessie’s) friends and pre-school playmates to hitch rides. 

The aforementioned credit union has a relationship with Enterprise Rent-A-Car so folks can buy off-lease cars.  Our past 2 cars have been from them and the process was simple, reasonable, and unfrustrating.  Plus, if we bought this weekend the credit union would pick up our first 2 payments.  Free money!

With that done we planned to head to Enterprise on Saturday. 

As a note, unless your bank offers donuts, or they massage that sore spot out of your neck, or a junior teller fells wildebeest to roast for you while you’re filling out your deposit slip then a credit union might rock for you as well.  The service is great, the fees aren’t as exorbitant so you’ll cry less, and wildebeest is highly overrated.  Our banking needs are very simple though.

I digress as usual.

She looked at the available inventory on-line but nothing really jumped out and she didn’t expect to find a car to purchase that day.  Our contact, Kyle, being a good salesmen, found something that had just been traded in.  Or maybe “just been traded in”.  Regardless, Trish got what she wanted because we can now transport 4 car seats, 2 adults, and the all gear that accumulates around a family.

We have acquired….a Mini-van.  A 2003 Chrysler Town & Country to be exact. 

Helluva step up from a ’00 Hyundai Accent eh?  After this the next comparable step up would be to get her a Humvee.  The Hyundai was the car that dealers put in the ad to get you to come in:  inexpensive, 5-speed, power steering & brakes (manual everything else), and a cassette deck.  If your not careful reaching to the backseat you knock out a tail light from the inside.

In younger years my friends and I all thought of minivans as tantamount to a pact with Satan (or your respective view of Evil) because of the direct inference to adulthood, domesticity, responsibility, and a general sense of suckitude.  I don’t really agree but can say that I feel…different.  Like I grew up just a little bit more.  Growing pains were supposed to stop when I was a teenager dammit!

Anyway, it has 54K and looks like it spent most of it’s time going back and forth from St. Louis to KC or something.  There isn’t a lot of wear and tear on the interior.  Everything is powered with lots of buttons and whirring motors and there are enough cupholders to hold one of every cup size ever made.

The Chrysler has all kinds of options that Trish isn’t used to.  Power windows et al, CD player, cruise, remote entry/lock, and so on so we’re all button crazy (especially Porter).  The van also came with a DVD player preinstalled.  Kind of unnecessary for us* but something confusing is that it has additional RCA A/V connectors too.  Are we going to attach another DVD player?  Not.  The Gamecube?  Perhaps. 

In 2003 a factory DVD player was a pretty forward thinking and no doubt expensive option so let me take this opportunity to regain lost testosterone by going back to 1950 for what should have been a highly in demand option.   A feature so obvious and forward thinking that it’s almost retro.  An option forsaken for silly reasons like simple physics.

Now check out the option that, when Trish let’s me drive it,  will reinforce the overwhelming machismo that perspires off of me like perspiration. 

Dig the new stereo.

I’m taking it back for all of us! 

Thank you for reading.

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*You’re welcome to add to the “we’ll see how long that lasts” comments but 2 road trips to New England and back without one and we’re still a happy family.  Trish joked we should ask for money off because it’s there.  A bonus that I just thought of is that when I drive the car, err, I mean, the ‘van’ I can listen to the audio from concert DVDs.  Cool.

Today was one of those days that started off really sweet.  Like a suburban mid-30’s white boy version of Ice Cube’s ‘Today Was A Good Day’.

I woke up a bit early (hey, 15 minutes is 15 minutes), Porter got up at the same time and hung out in the bathroom doing his morning stuff (potty/brush teeth/get dressed) and he did so without having to be hassled about it. He’s learning about skeletons in school and we talked about that a little bit. We make sure that everyday he tells us 1 new thing that he learned.  Porter and I decided to be quiet so Mommy could sleep a tiny bit more.

When I got Jessie out of her crib she was still sleepy and put her head on my shoulder for a minute.  She insisted on saying good morning to Porter before getting a new diaper and some clothes which we did and they were both all smiles. As we were getting dressed she clutched the pink stuffed baby doll that she sleeps with and said, “Jess-gee bay-bee,” and held it tight. Her first little sentence! Porter was equally affectionate with Lucky Frog, whom he was taking to pre-school for Show N Share, and has been having a sleep over in the living room for a week or so. I suppose they missed each other. Simple things.

Our sweet honey love was all hugs and kisses and laughs and smiles when I took her to Mom Hotzes and I could hear her yelling her sweet, languid, “bye” while I drove slowly past so she could see me waving.

Then it was off to work cranking the Funk through easy traffic and blue skies.

Right on.

This short podcast of James Bond music was recorded a month or so ago and I’m just now remembering to post it.  The first couple of songs are pretty well known (at least within my circle of peeps) but it all flows well.  It leans heavily on the band Sex Mob but I think that’s a good thing.

Enjoy Quickie #11. 

DVDA – Sgt Baker. Matt Stone & Trey Parker’s band carrying this Primus tune (a demo) to a seemingly inevitable discofied conclusion. The mid-80′s Morris Day & The Time synthesizer in the chorus brings said chorus to life. You’ll want to shake it to the right and then subsequently to the left as instructed.

Guns N Roses – It’s So Easy (live). Since Dr. Pepper has out crazied Axl I thought it pertinent to post this b-side from Sweet Child O Mine. I got this from a blog who’s identity is lost in the link to a link to a link shuffle of casual blog hunting. I’ve heard chunks of the record and it’s not bad (later edit:  ‘the record’ in question is Chinese Democracy). More interesting to me is that Buckethead, Robin Finck (NIN touring guitarist) and Richard Fortus (Pale Divine, Love Spit Love, local guy) all play guitar on the album, Brian “Brain” Mantia (from Primus and C2B3) plays some drums, Tommy Stinson from the Replacements plays bass, um, let me see one other person I’m forgetting…oh yeah – Brian May said somewhere along the way he recorded some licks for the album.

Lori McKenna – In Your Eyes. Covering this holy song carries with it a heavy burden. I’ve heard a few attempts to honor or reinvent it and all have fallen short until this one. This doesn’t surplant Lloyd Dobler’s painful ode to Diane Cort but it’s pretty darn respectable. McKenna rearranges the tune a bit and does a good job keeping a cool vibe without over doing it. There are a few ill placed ooo-la-la-las but ooo-la-la-las are a tool to be used cautiously. She’s got a beautiful voice besides, I’ll probably check out some more of her stuff when it comes across. This comes from a record called High School Reunion, and features 80′s tunes that were in famous 80′s teen comedies.

Ween – Your Party. These guys are amazing. I’m no authority on their catalog but a band known by many as a one hit wonder (Push The Little Daisies, 1993) has been prolific and varied. From a country album (1996′s album 12 Golden Country Greats) to hard rock (2003′s Quebec) to my 2nd favourite break up song “You F*cked Up” they seem to possess much skill. This sublime song is a perfect testimony. The narrator of the song steadfastly expresses his appreciation for a party that he and his wife attended.

Tori Amos – Baker Baker. This performance from Leno in Feb 1994 solidified this song for me as the ‘Silent All These Years’ of Tori’s second album ‘Under The Pink’. The record was out for about 2 1/2 weeks or so and it was an early favourite. A melancholy song that talks directly about a greater hurt beneath the surface. This was on a Friday night and I remember watching it with Mom & Dad, me trying not to alter my breathing to let on how much the performance was affecting me. She seems to be singing to whoever the song is about. It’s intimate and brutal, her expressions conveying as much as the music. At least that’s how I view it now. See for yourself.