Category: Good Things

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Okay, One thing finally broke my way…

As of Thursday I no longer have a leased car. Whew!

While I’m not planning on driving all over Hell’s half acre, (especially with the price of gas,) I’m happy to not have to worry about the mileage on the vehicle anymore.

That means that if I have to take a trip I won’t be worried about the miles, and I can just freakin enjoy myself.

And I still have a car! I was tuning my bicycle up just in case.

In other news, I lucked out because the buyout of the lease versus the blue book value of the car left me about 18K Above Water. How often does that happen? At the credit union I was like, “The car is worth 18K more than the lease buyout? Are you sure about that? Whoo Hooo!”

I’d looked at other vehicles and when I compared their prices and MPG it became obvious that the math worked out best for me to keep what I’ve got and drive it for another 10 years. I’m very happy with this car, and its got most everything I want. It’s comfortable and well, BMW isn’t making them like this anymore.

I’ll also put my 31.5 MPG average against most all of the new vehicles too!

So that’s a load off my mind and has improved my outlook on life in general.

Now I gotta figure out a way to make money.

I’m going to Scarlett O’Hara that for the time being… “I’ll think about it tomorrow.”

Now it makes perfect sense why 4 different BMW dealers and BMW Financial have been lighting up my phone since January. They were looking at sliding me into another lease and making a hell of a profit on my lease return. Trouble with that, is that most of the current line of BMW products I don’t like. Those that I did like were fabulously expensive and didn’t have all the options I wanted, apparently due to the chip shortage.

I’m sure that the telemetry my car was sending to BMW was a factor too. They could see that I was way, way, under the milage for the lease and that of course increases the resale value.

Sorry guys!

BTW you really should get some people on your phones that don’t require a universal translator to understand. Of the 4 dealers, the only one that was clearly comprehensible was a guy from Orange County. Not only that, his message was direct, to the point, and he wasn’t hemming and hawing with a bunch of chatter in the background.

As it happens, that is the dealer I’ll be working with from here on out. The local dealerships have all kinda gone to shit since they’ve been purchased by larger multi-dealership conglomerates.

That’s a pity too.

One of them used to be family owned and while they were family owned, they were freaking fantastic. Sales, & Service were both top notch and the job was done right the first time. Sigh… 10 years of doing business together flushed down the tubes over a 1 year span.

I won’t darken their door if I can help it, not even to purchase windshield washer fluid.

I guess I’ll have to make an appointment for two new rear tires in the coming months… I was putting it off in case I had to turn the car in. Hey! I’m not gonna plunk down a chunk of change for tires I’m not going to use!

The next routine service, I’m going to get a new 4 series keyring… Just to celebrate!

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Another article filled with the beauty of English…

I stumbled across a new site.

The main site home page is at brownstone.org

While perusing the site and reading I ran across this article from Jan 29th 2022.

It Was All There in the EUA. Why Couldn’t They See it?

The beginning of the article is interesting as it discusses the EUAs for the COVID vaccines. As I read the article, I thought, “Yep, this is a lot like the way I felt…”

Hey, it’s nice to see I wasn’t the only one reading the data and questioning the apparent disconnect between the published material and the endless news cycle.

Where the article really grabbed me was in the section titled.

From Orality to Literacy…And Back Again

The author, Thomas Harrington presents some interesting takes on society and its evolution.

As with any such article, I don’t have to agree with him, but he made me think. I also learned a couple of new words that I honestly don’t recall ever seeing before. For that alone, I am grateful I took the time to read the piece.

It’s been a very long time since I felt I had to have a “real” dictionary at hand.

It’s an even rarer event when I am unable to make a reasonable guess at the meaning of the words used from context within the sentence, or from a words roots.

I found myself smiling as I opened my dictionary and looked up the definitions. Upon reading the meanings I once again found myself marveling at our language and how often there is a single word that conveys an exact meaning, which otherwise might require a paragraph.

Others who take the time to read Harrington’s article may read it and think, “WWDucat is an idiot.” So be it. But at least I’m man enough to admit it and learn new things.

I suspect that when the words I looked up are encountered they’ll be obvious.

There is no shame in pulling out your Webster’s! If you’re like me, you’ll get lost in the beauty of words and language for more than a few minutes.

Have a great day.

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It’s Winter!

The winds are gusty, the sky is cloudy, there’s a slight drizzle, and snow is expected later in the morning which should last into the early afternoon.

The dog hates gusty winds and he’s hiding out in his “room”. I expect that when he sees snow falling he’ll change his mind.

In his world, snow trumps gusty winds.

I’ve pulled out towels to dry him off. I’m guessing that he’s going to be running in and out all day. His winter coat isn’t fully developed. So he’s going to play outside as long as he can stand the cold, then come inside to warm up. Yeah, I live with the equivalent of a 4 year old human child.

Later in the year he’ll prefer to be outside for hours on end.

I admit that watching him zoom in the snow always makes me smile and laugh. He’s so full of joy when the magical white stuff falls from the sky.

I hope the rain doesn’t make you blue. Stay warm and dry, and if you’re out drive carefully.