I N T H E N I G H T K I T C H E N
Last Saturday, we went down to the Subaru dealership to talk to them about trade-ins and used cars. We had three cars in our possession: T.'s Honda that he's had since college which he owns outright, the Subaru that we bought a couple years ago and are making huge payments on, and my little MG which sits ever-so-quietly in the driveway awaiting a new starter. Three cars is a little much, no?
So, earlier this year we tried to sell the Honda, figuring that we'd get more cash that way. We "sold" it to an ex-coworker of mine. There were some bumps and snags along the way in this deal and after a month we still had not been paid for the car and they were in possession of it. What ended up happening is their financing with the bank fell through and they were unable to secure other financing. We had to take the car back.
Fast forward a couple months and we've moved into a cheaper place and are trying to cut down on all our expenses. We decide that maybe the better deal is to keep the Honda and completely eliminate our car payment. So, we put an ad in the Oregonian for our Subaru. The problem is, we want to sell the car for more than people want to pay. We have some equity in the car at this point so as much cash we can get over what we still owe then the better off we are. Obviously.
We lowered the price and got a few more nibbles but no bites. Only one person came and actually test drove the car. We started thinking. Neither one of us really wants to rely on the Honda as our only reliable source of transportation. Maybe we should trade in both of the cars which would give us a pretty good value to put down on another car? We decide to explore what this would mean.
We go to the dealership to look at smaller Subaru's. We look at some thrashed used Subarus. We think about what we want and need. We get talked up and down by a salesman. He thinks we should consider leasing a car. The payments are much lower and we could get something brand new. He brings in a ruthless finance guy who I started referring to as "The Cleaner." We talk numbers and it starts to sound okay.
We walk out. That's of course when things get dicey. Up to this point the sales guy and everyone else is willing to chat us up. They get really pissed when you decide to leave. Always be prepared to come face to face with the rottenness of humanity when you step onto a car lot. However, you have to stick to your guns.
We get home and consider the options. I look up online the value of our trade-ins and the pros and cons of leasing a car. We calculate our budget for the next year by looking at income and expenses to see if we can still save for a house if we go this route. It seems like we can. So, T. calls them and dickers the price a little bit. It all sounds good.
We return to the dealership and go through the most tricky part of getting a new car which is signing all the paperwork and not getting suckered in to special deals and add-ons and watching what they try to sneak in and out of the deal. A word of advice here: never go into this on an empty stomach and bring your own calculator. We learned the first lesson from our last car-buying experience and the latter on this one.
By the end of the night, we handed over the keys to our cars and drove off in a plucky new Subaru Outback Sport.
I wish I could say that we didn't get suckered but of course we did. We ended up with a couple thousand more that we would have to pay off at the end if we wanted to keep the car. That's not nearly as suckered as we got our first time around so at least we're learning. However, that is nowhere near the point of this story.
The point of this story is that T. got fired from his job yesterday. There was no warning. They told him that he "wasn't a good fit." He had a 90-day review a couple weeks ago in which they had not much to say to him. They certainly gave no indication that he was in danger of losing his job. Unfortunately, they asked him what he thought so far of the company and his positiong. He told them.
The sad reality is, though, that T. really
wasn't a good fit there. He was frustrated with many aspects of the job and he was bored. He has picked up a lot of marketing acumen over the past few years and they seemed intimidated by that. He also felt that a lot of his work was made pointless by their lack of organization and planning. I think they picked up on that and his review clinched it. Maybe there's other things I don't know about but I suspect that that would be enough.
So, the first thing T. did was see if we could get our cars back. They were still in the process of solidifying the paperwork on the deal and still had not gotten to verifying our income. Thankfully, they told us that we could completely undo all of it. In fact, when we got to the dealership last night, our old cars were parked out front and The Cleaner handed everything back to us, including the check that we wrote to them. We thought for sure that there would be some sort of fees or something that we'd have to fork over. I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop on that one but at the moment we're in the clear.
I couldn't stop bubbling up in rueful laughter at the whole thing. I mean, it's all so ridiculous. The timing is just so comic. And, that damn Honda! We cannot get rid of it. I told T. that if we do finally sell it, he's sure to get hit by it. The car does not want to leave. Which, I guess is a good thing because we'll need to be keeping it for awhile now.
So... what now?
I've been interviewing for a job that I don't really want. At this point it looks like school will not be happening at all for me next term. There's a company here in town that I like who has been advertising for an art director. They've had the ad out for ages and have interviewed a bunch of my friends but, apparently, haven't done anything about it yet. I suspect they are either really picky or waiting for funding. I sent them an email last week and haven't heard back. If I need to return to work full time then I'd rather go with a company that does something creative that I'm interested in than the company I've been interviewing with.
This is all going to come down to timing at this point. I'm still in discussions with the company about particulars. I probably won't get final answers until next week. The creative company is a long shot. If they haven't hired anyone yet then I don't know what. Which pretty much sums up everything in my life right now: I don't know what. It's getting harder and harder to pretend that I'm in control of my life.
The punches keep coming and we keep rolling. Happy Thanksgiving everybody.
11:29 AM link
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The cat came back, the very next day.
The cat came back (we thought he was gone).
But the cat came back -- he just wouldn't stay away.
7:58 PM link
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With one great puff, the house of cards came down.
5:51 PM link
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Oooh!Gathered at midnight last night with a group of friends. We headed towards the Gorge in caravan formation, bound for Rooster Rock. We got there just after 1 a.m. and found parking easily. We walked across the bridge over I-84 and headed towards the beach. We positioned ourselves on a picnic table and watched as the stars zoomed across the sky, from all directions, sometimes two at a time skipping across the atmosphere. What luck to have a clear night in Oregon! Impossible luck. But damn it was cold. Even in my multiple layers, my fingertips froze and my knees shivered. Got to bed at 3:30 and did dream of shooting stars and comets.
1:46 PM link
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