My 'Stang Is Dead; or, Whiny Car Salesmen

First of all, my precious red Mustang is no more. A little ran a stop sign and plowed into me this past Saturday and now I am without wheels. A man without wheels is not a man... might as well call me Pete. The price of the repairs vastly exceeds that of the value of the car. Damn.

So anyway, Jill and I were trying to check out a new Prius today. Really good stuff until we had to deal with the salesmen. The guy out on the lot was good but damn if that money "closer" guy wasn't the biggest weanie. I can't believe how they try to high ball you with ridiculous offers and then magically give you "good news" on how it is suddenly 50% lower a month with a 5% decrease in rate. Whatever... losers. And then don't cry after we say NO.

But there is a sense of power there as we just left them. I felt like saying, "Hey, thanks for the popcorn." Oh. "And be a man and stop crying!" THUMP.

I think Jill seconds this testimony.

Her map, my map!

I've been to a few states and countries too!

More importantly, how many places has Commute Bunny been to?

Fun Maps

According to this map, I have visited 15% of countries! John has made me measure my travel by the # of states/countries/continents that I've visited.

Our goal: hit all 50 states! during our life. I've made it to 34 states....66%! Not bad.


I also want to hit all of the continents. I need to hit Asia (should be easy...I'd love to see the Great Wall, the beaches in Thailand or Vietnam, and Kyoto in Japan). I also need Antartica. John and I have our eye on a cruise that takes you to Antartica.

I always have the travel bug. Thanks to work, I may make it back to either Spain or Sweden this summer. Both countries rank on my top of the list. I was in Sweden two years ago...in the summer. John went at Christmas time. Boy, what a difference! I stayed in Stokholm and loved the city. It was beautiful. Truly a wonderful city. Plus, Stokholm's the only place I've ever seen/eaten licorice flavored ice cream. Wonderful!!

And Spain....oh, I love Spain. I love the culture and the lifestyle. I love the ham (serrano jambon) sandwiches and the sangria. I love the architecture...the meshing of Muslim and Christian buildings.

Gotta run...John's on the radio!

Shame on You, Earthlink!

The five months that we have had Earthlink DSL have provided us with multiple experiences of personal frustration, agonizing waits, and annoying Indian accents! Puh-lease, stop this non-sensical outsourcing of phone calls. Being put on hold while talking to people named "Jessica" and "Ken" might be humorous for about ten minutes but the subsequent glacial waits are intolerable. Terrible customer service. I'd complain via e-mail but that probably goes to the tropical subcontinent as well.

As Cherry Bugg would say, THUMP.

Money vs Time

Every morning, as I get ready for work, Meredith, Matt, Al, and Ann join me. (I really miss Katie but that's a topic for another post).

This morning there was a snippet of a story about a Brit that was told by the Royal Hospital in some town (I love that the hospitals are called Royal!)...he was told that he had pancreatic cancer. Now, if you didn't know this...pancreatic cancer is seriously deadly. It's awful. It progresses quickly and there aren't many options for treatment. So....back to the story....he was told he had less than six months to live. Learning this news, he went out and lived the high life. Fine dining every day, treating family and friends to lavish gifts, not paying his mortgage.

Well, lo and behold, he didn't have cancer. He had pancreatitis. He is going to live! Hallelujah! He'll live but he's now flat broke and sueing the hospital. UGH!

So, how does this relate to my life? Well, it doesn't really except that John says we must be prudent this summer and not go on a vacation. Sure we'll see my folks and maybe swing by the Grand Canyon but nothing more. Boo to John. I want to live the lavish life and go on a great vacation!

While I know he is right, I hate saving $$$ for future great plans. I think I like to live 6 months out. If it's not happening within six months, it's no fun to save for it. Again...boooooo!!! When it comes to money and time, it seems like the more time you have to wait, the less fun it is to pack away the bucks.

Delayed Disappointment (Darn Reality Shows)

I don't watch many reality programs. They're so damn contrived with their editing and all... but Jill and I do watch The Amazing Race. We actually taped them all (God bless our DVR but that's a blog for another day) and the first and last episodes were the only two we watched "live" (as live as a reality program gets). Anyway, after all this time we were somewhat disappointed that the dysfunctional dating team won. As Cherry Bugg would say, "THUMP." Then again at least the team with the midget didn't win... dare I ask Raffi if they set back Armenians by at least 200 yaers.

I'd love to participate in something like that but after our venture from Tanzania to Los Angeles over 40 hours in four countries... that was good enough for me.

Virgin Atlantic flies from London to Nairobi now! No offense to Kenyan Airways but didn't you guys just crash a plane? I guess I shouldn't kick an airlines when they are down.

Anyway, I guess I should get back to what I do most on Sunday nights: crossword puzzles.