Next car?

I’m leaning towards getting a new car this month. My Saturn and I have been through a lot over the years. It’s been just the two of us for over 12 years – a good run. And we’ve known each other since the beginning (it’s a ’94). I’ll hold off waxing poetic until it’s a done deal, but all this raises the question of what replaces such a great car. Here’s the criteria:





1. Reliable car for the next 12 years.


2. Relatively good mileage. I mainly have highway miles due to good public transportation, so not essential.


3. Handles REALLY well. I love driving. Driving for me is an experience, not a mode of getting from point A to point B.


4. Used car, but relatively new so I don’t have to deal with repairs for awhile.


5. Flexibility of use. Did I mention this is the car for the next 12 years. It should be able to handle career success and family success.


6. Not too flashy.






For me, the end goal is a Jaguar (preferable an XJS). This has been the goal since my teenage years and remains unchanged. I might be 90 before I finally get it, but one day.





Between now and then, I was thinking a BMW might be a good fit. Although I do remember my father (and the car talk guys) dissing BMW drivers. So I hunted and hunted and read and read and I found the perfect car for this next chapter in my life. At least on paper, I’ve yet to test drive the thing. It’s commonly referred to as the Japanese BMW. Here it is:



It’s the G35 from Infiniti. Not too flashy. I couldn’t afford it new, but used, maybe. And I want the first generation version. Sedan, preferably not AWD. I haven’t decided, whatever the car is, if I go the way of automatic or stick with a standard. I figured with the used market it’s better not to have too many absolutes. The best thing about it? The thing that makes the choice so obvious in retrospect? Math! I love math, numbers, and I haven’t done a thorough search but how many cars reference mathematical terms. It’s a perfect match!!!

Weavils? Carpet beatles? BUGS!

I can't quite get back into the rhythm of things yet. Vacation was great but I need another one to recoup. I barely made it to Saturday and just rested and knit all day. Didn't really do much of anything but didn't nap which was unexpected. Sunday I went over to a friends and helped remove wall paper for a new nursery. We got one wall done. There are four walls. But I won't go into her problems this post is about mine. So here's the low down:



1. Got back Sunday night (a week ago) and went to work every day but was tired and a bit jet lagged (maybe - not ever sure what jet lag feels like versus just being tired from seeing sites). I'm still not sure what I did last week at work - a bit of a fog.



2. Somehow ended up with a week filled with three doctor visits which ate into my work week.

a. My dermatology appointment I was running late and then found out I couldn't see the doctor for the mole removal since my company just switched insurance and now I'm on an HMO which means I need to get a new referral even though one is on file. Frustrating and a waste of time. Not dealing with that one for awhile.



b. Vet visit for Winston - not his favorite thing. See previous posting. It's only gotten worse each time. Now I know to split them up and not try to bring both cats in at the same time. At least his bowels were in good shape although he's scheduled for some dental work this week.



c. Speaking of dental, I got squeezed in by my dentist to look at my recent filling that was starting to cause some serious pain. The word root canal was thrown about some but the visit readjusted my bite and I might be ok. Fingers crossed.



3. Another vet visit Saturday for Walter which warrants his own number in the list of misery. He's a great guy going to the vet and is the opposite of his brother. He snuggled in my arms the whole visit and was scared but good. Near the end I noticed as the vet was lifting him to put him on the scale something on his inner thigh. We investigate and he's chewed off all his fur and there's this massive rash. She thinks it's allergies which she was already diagnosing moments earlier from his throwing up and poop issues (which he's had his whole life, but the poops got worse while I was gone). In the end I left with steroids and the special hyper-allergen cat food for him to try out - he's a picky eater and feeling like a terrible parent for not noticing the whole week I was back. But we were snuggling mostly – not grooming. Next time I’ll know to do a quick inspection upon my return. But the fact that he’s been allergic to his food his whole time is also not great. The doctor said it can get worse as time goes along. Of course the food isn’t cheap. But he doesn’t eat much, just need to keep in away from his brother. Which brings me to the second to last point…



4. This morning I bring a bowl of the new dry cat food upstairs to the loft for Walter to eat and go to remove the old food that’s giving him allergies. I immediately notice a place where it looks like he threw up but has all these “things” around it. Upon closer investigation, they are skins of small worms. No worms though. But a lot – like 30 or so. I start to clean up and go to get his food and notice more and they’re moving. Mostly next to the food not in it. And there Walter was so happy I was visiting the loft and completely oblivious to the infestation. Just rolling around. Hopefully he hasn’t been eating them. I just did some googling but don’t know what I’m looking for and didn’t spend too much time studying them this morning. I'm putting my money on carpet beatles. Of course it’s 90s and humid this week so will love spending my evening cleaning. I think I’ll need to go through everything up there to make sure I get rid of them all. I remember seeing one of the skins months ago over by the bed, so think they aren’t associated with the food – just finally discovered it. Right now it looks like I’ll do a thorough cleaning including renting a steam cleaner and I’m inclined to replace the mattress up there. It’s up off the floor, but still.



5. And finally, on my drive out to my friends yesterday, everybody and their neighbor could hear me coming. My poor car is in need of a serious muffler change and the brakes were soft and the driving was wobbly. It is an old car – 13 years, and I’ve been thinking the time will come to say good-bye.



Man, when it rains it pours. All these things have serious cha ching implications and I don’t like heat. So here I am at work, trying to get ready for a big meeting tomorrow, seriously behind because of the jet lag last week, thinking about the bugs at home eating my house, while trying to figure out exactly how much money I have for cat dental work and an allergic cat (it seems like that should be an oxymoron) as well as a new-used car. At least work has AC so I’m not suffering yet from the weather and I like my current knitting project. It’s Rossan by Debbie Bliss, knit up in sunflower yellow yarn (forgot the name so will have to add it later). Of course I really should be casting on for the four babies due this year.




P.S. I was going to get some pictures to post but realized they would just be of bugs and Walter’s rash so have an excuse this time for a picture free post.

Chinatown Cheers

... "Where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came". Or so goes the song from the infamous Boston bar. I've got my only little version here in Boston that I have to blog about before I lose the moment.



So I'm back in town, haven't had a chance to go grocery shopping yet so not much in the way for packing lunch - still not back into the staple of PB&Js and need to give tuna a rest. So had to run to grab a bite again today and not wanting to pay for a $8 sandwich I made a run for chinatown to pick up a vietnamese sandwich. I asked if my coworkers were interested and they'd never heard of the sandwich. Granted I didn't either until I started working near by.



What I like about the sandwich - it has a vegetarian option and is hard to replicate at home - some of the veggies are marinated in something. Plus they're cheap. So figured I'd pick up three - two for me and one to share with folks so they could try it.



What I like about the store I go to is that you walk in and it's a crowd with all these old chinese (maybe vietanemese) men sitting around at these small tables drinking coffee. It's basically a bakery with some tables. And you feel like you're in another country - rarely hear english and when you do it's beginner english. Every now and then I'll see a westerner. Well, I don't go often, but I think it's because I've introduced friends to the place. Anyways, one of the ladies who makes the sandwiches remembers me. I order the sandwich with "no hot" and I also don't like the salty fish sauce. Maybe that's why she remembers me - she can never understand why I don't want the fish sauce. In the past she's tried to convince me it's good for me and I should have it. Today, I walk in and she does a little wave and says it's been a long time. It was so sweet and slightly awkward. I was suprised she remembered me. She got my order going right away while helping others with the bakery part. I've never really carried on a conversation with her as the language is a barrier, but I was touched.



Well, I'm awkardly bouncing around the store as there's no convienent place to stand and still be out of the way. I'm contemplating one of the pastries but luckily decide against it. I had just brought some cash with me and not my wallet. So I was super embarrased when she hands over the sandwiches and asks for $8.25 and I only had was $8. She was sweet and waved away the extra. I felt awful after her being so sweet and remembering me. I planning on going next week so will make it up then, but she doesn't know that so I feel bad until then. Still, overall it gave me the nice warm fuzzies.

Home from Europe

I could have sworn I had posted more posts over the last month. All in my head apparently. Although I'll sometimes write them elsewhere, and they never make it to blog land.



Anyways, was just gone for two weeks. I was able to swing it so that my last trip to Abu Dhabi was at the end of the month so on my way back, I had a long lay over in Europe - a week long.



First, I have to mention two things about Abu Dhabi - the weather and driving. I arrive around midnight after 24 hours traveling (on paper but not technically). Our plane deboards such that we exit onto the tarmac and board a bus. I leave the comforts of the front cabin, to walk out to the top of the stairs and my glasses fog up. I'm hit with a wall of humidity. Hot humidity. It felt like walking into a sauna. It was crazy. I was wondering if I would make it. Surprisingly I was the hottest in europe where it wasn't as hot or humid and everywhere wasn't super ACd. I did end up having to have an outfit cleaned while in Abu Dhabi though. I went out on site one morning (early before it got 'hot' - it was still hot). By the end, my clothes were soaked. Though not as bad as it could have been the week before. It cooled down for my visit - not that I could tell. It was still hot. Even at night. The weird thing though was I can't remember if it was hot the last day I was there on Friday. Either it wasn't or I just got used to being hit by the sauna wall everytime I was outside.



The second thing was that I rented a car this time. I knew my way around, actually didn't use a map and was able to wing it. So I get in midnight, pick up my rental car and it's about 1 am. I hop onto the highway to head to the center of town. Not much traffic, but as I'm coming down the entrance ramp, the cars on the highway woosh past - super fast. That's the thing. It's not chaotic driving, people use lanes and respect lights. It's just, as one person put it, you have to have 10 eyes on the road - defensive driving. There a few folks that just drive really really fast. Like 120 mph fast. So you're on the highway going 60+ mph (or more) and all of a sudden you hear a whoomp. It's the change in air pressure as a car wizzes by twice your speed. Not too bad, just need to not get in the path of the car.



The other part of driving is the floating. Speeders and floaters those are the two things to watch for. There are a lot of random drivers. You see this in the US some. You're driving along and someone floats from their lane into yours. They're not paying attention and are oblivious to others. It's entertaining once you get the hang of it. Really not that bad, although I really just drove from the airport to the hotel, and then from the hotel to the site a few blocks away. Did end up driving around some on Friday but that was more normal city driving.



Then off to Frankfurt for a few days of site seeing. I was a little worried as I hadn't booked a place as I wasn't sure whether to stay in frankfurt or travel beyond. Glad I stayed as moving around can wear you out. I was still tired after three days of walking around though. Actually the first day was torture. I have it written down so will have to post the recording of the Saturday. Check in wasn't until 3 pm. My flight arrived at 6 am. I was extremely tired as I'm not an all-nighter kind of girl and didn't sleep much on the flight.



Bought a museum pass which was a good deal and enjoyed my hotel. It was a last minute find - modernly revamped hotel near the train station and center of town. I lucked out that it was in a good neighborhood, as there were a lot of not so good neighborhoods near by. Also, it had a wonderful breakfast included - no american spread. Tons of selections - great fresh brown bread and real cheeses and meats and eggs and fruit - all great european quality. Really good to start the day filled up. My room was wonderful - not for everyone. I think it was about 6 feet wide. But everything fit - very compact and small but cozy and well built.



Then off to Stockholm to meet dad and B at the airport - they got in a few hours before me and we made it to our hotel in the town north of Stockholm where B grew up. Just 15 minute train ride from the center of Stockholm. Ended up hurting my left foot - the top is sprained. Not sure when, where or how. Lots of sight seeing, but will save that for another entry accompanied by pictures. At least that's the plan.



Got home late last night and couldn't wait to see the boys. We had a little love fest even though they weren't great in their kitty litter department. I've got some cleaning to do when I get home. But good to be home although still trying to adjust back into this world. Funny how being away seems like another reality.