The other big change that just happen with I bought an NEW
CAR!!!!! Well, not bought, but leased a new car. Hey it's the first time I have ever driven a
brand new car that no one else has ever owned.
While the end of the year may be the best time to buy a car in terms of
getting a good price, but it really it the worse time to shop for one. Trying the find the time to do all of the
Christmas stuff and finding time to go to the different dealerships was a real
challenge. Also it seemed like every
time I was free to go to a dealership the sky would open up and pour snow
everywhere, or it was Sunday. In
Pennsylvania you can't sell cars on a Sunday.
The impetus to buy a car wasn't just because I had a little
bit of money from finally settling with the insurance company after my car
accident from last august. It was
because Goldie, my old 2001 Honda civic was once more acting up. First the muffler separated from the
exhausted pipe. I was able to fix it
with a clamp, some muffler tape and YouTube video. Then it started to overheat again. I found out the radiator reservoir was
empty. Once I filled it up with coolant
and water, it seemed fine and I don't know why it was empty. After that I started looking in earnest and
borrowed my mom's car. Having literally
been burned by this sort of issue this summer, I wasn't going to take chance.
My original plan was to wait till my tax return came in and
I had a big chunk of money to put down to find a car. With that out the window, I started looking
at used cars. I went to one dealership
to look at a used 2009 Civic. I figured
I'd stick with Honda, because despite the issues I had with it, I loved Goldie
and she had given me 140,000+ good miles.
She only had 23,000 when I bought her, for a really good price. That car didn't owe me a thing.
From the moment I went to the dealership red flags started
going off. First even though I had made
an appointment, the car was not ready when I got there. Turned out the battery was dead and they had
to jump it before I could give it a test drive.
Then I saw it didn't have a sunroof, which it was listed as having on
their website. The test drive went well
enough and I would have been fine with the car.
Red flags started again once we brought the car back and they started in
with a really push soft sell, that nearly spilled over to a hard sell. Even after I told them I, would need to think
about it and that I don't make any time of big decisions after a long day of
work. Then they brought over a super
sleaze manager. I felt like I need to
check that I still had all my fingers after shaking his hand. Sufficed to say, I didn't leave wanting to
buy that car, even though I kind of liked it.
This led me to dread going to look at any more cars. I also was worried about my credit score and
what kind of loan I could get. I imagined
finding a car I loved and thought I could afford, only to have them tell me
that they couldn't sell me a car. Of course
my depression got a hold of this notion and multiplied 1000 times, where I
almost had a panic attack at the thought of looking at another car.
I had just read the Nerdist Way by Chris Hardwick a nerd self-help
sort of book. In the book he talks about
how knowledge is the key to conquering fear.
Taking that advice I called the bank where I had gotten the loan for
Goldie all those years ago. The woman I talked
to was great. We ran some numbers and I
was pre-approved for a loan. I now knew
exactly how much I could spend and that if one dealer couldn't make it happen with
those numbers another one would.
When I went to the dealership the next day, I made sure to
tell them that it was just a fact finding mission and that I kind of shut down
when people are pushy even in a passive aggressive way. Mike Winter over at the Kia in Limerick took
that to heart and showed me a bunch of cars without being push or making me
feel like I had to decide on one then and there.
I ended up leasing a 2014 Kia Forte for him a few days
later. On the way home I was trying to
decide what to call my new car. The name
Shadow just popped right into my head.
Over the next few days of driving the car I knew I made the right
decision. It's a really nice car and because
it only had 47 miles on it I'm not worried about anything going wrong with it
and getting stuck some place.
As I write this I also realize that it was good for me to
get out of Goldie. She was filled with
the ghost of the past. I was trapped a
bit in her with memories both good and bad. With Shadow, I have but a weeks'
worth of memories, all good, and nothing holding me back from moving forward.
New Year's Eve is tomorrow and I can't help but think about
the past year. To be honest a lot of it
is blur of depression. It was such a
tough year, as I outlined in this post, but I want to take this opportunity to
thank all of the people who were there for me this year. Without the love and support of my friends
this year, I really don't know how far in a hole I would have fallen. I most certainty would not have been in a
place where I could have not only written a comic book, but gotten it printed
and used it to get more lettering. I was
incredibly fortunate to have such kind and support of friends. To everyone who help me, both year and years
past, thank you.
May you, dear reader, be as lucky as I am and may we all
have a wonderful 2014.
