August 31, 2005
In Search Of Legitimacy
Once upon a time, Ardith bought a car. Okay, so she didn't pay up with cash in full. But that's beside the point. It will be completely paid for soon enough. The point is, she drove out of the dealership with keys, a paper dealer license plate which theoretically expires 9/2005, and a vehicle to go with them.
"All will be well," said the nice lady at the dealership; "you will get your tags, title, and license as soon as they get through processing at the DMV."
Or at least, that's what I think she said. I don't quite remember, as it was almost a month ago. However, being that I didn't quite remember, I decided to go down to the DMV and see for myself. This was yesterday.
The DMV resides on 1st St. SW. This means it is on my side of the river, and also fairly close to the Tall Buildings Of Downtown Cedar Rapids. And also that it's mostly surrounded by road construction.
15 minutes of trying to find a road that still led to the Linn County Administration Building later, I found the Linn County Department of Motor Vehicles. I waited in line, and asked the nice lady what I needed to do to get a set of real license plates, waited while she looked for my paperwork, waited while she called European Motors to see if they had my paperwork, and then listened while she told me that she was sure I'd get my paperwork and plates soon, and to just keep using the dealer tag.
Which I shall do. I mean after all, what are the chances that they lost all my paperwork? Slim to none, right?
August 16, 2005
California
So, I went to California. I'd never been farther west than Tulsa, OK before. Given this fact, my one overwhelming impression was this:
"Hey, the sky's still blue out here!"
XD
No, actually, it was gorgeous. I was about 3 hours south of San Francisco, which oddly enough, is wine country. Which means the hills are lovely, and I wanted very badly to be driving my car out there. Next time I go, I think I'll drive cross-country. It'll be a blast. I'm selling tickets now...
Anyway, after I got picked up at the San Jose airport, I was kidnapped and taken to San Francisco by aliens. We drove over the Golden Gate bridge, stopped at Fisherman's Wharf, and drove through a couple of blocks of Chinatown. It was sooo great, although it only served to increase my determination not to ever live in a big city. Traffic was horrible. And the streets were every-which-way. But I can now say I've been to San Francisco. And the aliens decided they'd rather not conquer Earth just this century.
And then we made it to the Miller's and crashed.
It was a busy weekend; lots of wedding preparations, lots of insanity, lots of Cory making sure he was in every freaking picture ever taken. I think he will end up in a reality TV show. And he will now want to kill me for saying that. XD
Morgan and Caleb's wedding was gorgeous. It was outdoors, the weather was lovely, and Julie has pictures. And I'm just going to link their blogs on my sidebar so I don't have to type so much HTML.
Sunday afternoon we mostly played Halo 2. And I'm going to give myself an Xbox 360 for a Christmas present. Maybe an early Christmas present. See, it can be my new gaming machine, and then I can get out of installing XP on either my PC or my laptop. Yes. I like that plan. And no, this has nothing to do with the fact that a 6-year old girl can stomp me into the ground playing Halo 2.
Where was I?
Oh, yes. And then later that evening we went to this barbeque place in town which claimed to be Texan. With several Texans in tow. Or rather they had us in tow. Anyhow, much fun was had. Again, more details given by Julie and Cory. I haven't laughed that hard in ages.
And then the next day I flew home. But not before the airline people scared my by telling me at the counter that one of my flights was cancelled and then that it was merely switched to another plane. Don't DO that to me!
Oh, and by the way, it's very annoying that all the food places in the airport close at 9. What are people like me who sort of forget to eat lunch supposed to do? Suffice with the $3 box of snacks they are now calling the in-flight meal? I think not. It's a disgrace, that's what it is.
As is the fact that I can't change CDs in my car when there's anything in the front cup holder. I sense a conspiracy to keep me from changing CDs while driving. I shall have to research this further. But now I must finish my shopping list.
August 09, 2005
Allow Me To Introduce You
...to my new car. It loves me already, I can tell. It's a 1999 VW Jetta, and I think I already mentioned the part about it having a V-6. Which means I shall have to work harder to keep from speeding. And now that it's officially in my possession, I can gloat about it. It's a manual, of course, and waaaay more fun to drive than the Corolla. Which is saying a lot, since I had loads of fun driving that.
See below for pictures which I stole off the dealership's website. And further commentary.
Outside:
It looks very good for six years old. The outside, at least, has been very well taken care of. I actually have to worry about people putting dings in my door now. The color was an added bonus; I would have bought it no matter the color, I think, but I really like that shade of green.
Inside:
The inside is well-kept-up, as well. An interior I will actually feel compelled to keep clean. XD
It should get fairly good gas mileage, although I won't know that for sure for another month or so. Between 23 and 28 mpg, I should think. All things considered, I'm insanely happy.
And there you have it. Ardith's First Car.
August 07, 2005
New Stuff
I write this from my happy new laptop, as I put a new motherboard and CPU in my desktop. It's working quite, quite well so far. I have Debian on it, and still need to do some little things like get the dvd player installed, but so far so good.
I also put a deposit on something from Germany with a V-6 engine in it. More details later, when I actually get it in my possession.
Oh, and it's green.
Back to the screwdrivers and cables...