Fun with Auto Salesmen

Tuesday-On the 10th, I got acupuncture so I don't remember the rest of the day except it probably involved looking for a new (used) car. From the 11th to the 16th I was mostly working with a day off on Sunday so that I wouldn't go insane. Working on a documentary is not lucrative and it's a lot of work. Working on two at the same time is even more work. So I needed that Sunday to veg. But what I probably did is look for cars...again and clean the hardwood floors.

(For info on the two documentaries I was working on, go to www.natural-leaders.com and http://www.freebatteredwomen.org/mariasuarezisfree.htm for the story on Maria Suarez.)

Spent the day looking for a car...again, this time without the benefit of acupuncture and a midday nap. Drove all the way up to Burbank and those Valley regions and it was incredibly annoying. We, and by we, I mean Daryl, test drove three Honda Civics, 2001, 2002, & 2003. (I rode in the passenger seat and turned the interior car lights off and on and checked to see if the seat belts worked. Not a big job, but important in it's own small way... Hey, I gotta look like I'm doing something in the car other than saying, "Is the air conditioning on?" And, wouldn't you know it, one car's seat belt didn't work. So there you go.) We didn't have our loan yet, so all we were doing was seeing what we (Daryl) liked to drive. We told the salesman, nice guy, by the way, that we liked the 2003, but at $15,999, we were going to look elsewhere, since our loan is only for $10,000. He went inside to get his card for us and he was followed out by a guy in a suit asking us to sit with him to figure out a way we could get the 2003 Honda Civic for under $12,000. He did his car salesman math, which I understood, but ignored because a car like that usually goes for around $15,000, not $10,000, I don't care what kind of calculus he's using. Then he asked us if we'd like to have a 72 month payment plan with a monthly payment of around $285. Still, I'm not interested. We, and by we, I mean Daryl, tell him we're still not going to buy a car today. We leave with the salesman's scratch paper of calculations and are in the parking lot heading towards our rental car, when another salesman runs out after us begging us to go back in. I'm serious here, they really wanted to unload that car. We, and by we, I mean Daryl, rebuff him politely and giggle a little in the car. Daryl wanted to see what kind of math gymnastics they'd do to sell us this car.

And we finally, finally found a car that Daryl found worthy of driving. As good as Civics are, Daryl never felt they had that much pick-up (or get up and go). When we tried to go to a Honda dealership, they didn't have any Civics in our range but they suggested a Nissan Sentra and a 2003 Mazda Protege. Daryl drove the Mazda last and got so excited by the car that he looked about ready to pop. Once again, we were going to leave and got stopped by a salesman. The car was going for $10,999, we were told, incorrectly, that it was going for $9,999 and then when we tried, once again to leave, the salesman offered us the car for $8500. We very nearly went for it, but it didn't have power windows or locks so I told Daryl that we should wait until we get the car we like. Now that I know he likes the way this car drives, I want to look at all of the other options available for this type of car.

Oh, and I cleaned the floors again. Hardwood floors require a lot of cleaning. Also, it doesn't help that we have a cat that sheds like the dickens. But now I know what they're talking about in all of those Swiffer ads. What they don't tell you is that it takes about six or seven of those wipes to clean two rooms.

Actually cooked in the new kitchen. By cooking, I mean, something more than heating up frozen food. Made vegetarian Indian food, masoor dal, ghisoda, and brown rice. Found a Indian dessert place nearby and most of their desserts are gluten-free. Score!