So, I recently bought a new car. I should say I FINALLY bought a new car. This time around we opted for somewhere in between our last purchase methodology.

Two purchases back, we decided to get “awesome” cars, but get them used so we could get them cheap. We’d fix them up and bring them back to life we thought. I bought a ‘85 Chevy Corvette. Heidi got a ‘89 Jaguar Vanden Plas. Both of these vehicles were our “dream cars”. In reality, these cars SUCKED ass since they were so old. I know, it’s a shocker. We dumped so much money into these things it wasn’t even funny.

The last purchase we made, we opted to go the economical, responsible, and reliable route. We both purchased ‘01 Hyundai Elantra GTs. They were reliable. They had 10 year warranties. They were brand spanking new! They were paid off! We paid cash on the barrel for those bad boys. It was fun! We felt like we were the smartest people on the planet. In reality this wasn’t a terrible choice, but it wasn’t the best either. At least for me, I didn’t “like” my car. I just knew it was “smart”. Anyway, I beat the shit out of my car. In it’s defense it handled it pretty well. But, we learned that warranties are only as valuable as the company that backs them. Jim Click here in Tucson SUCKS. Take that to the bank, Jimmy!

Paying cash spoiled us. No car payments for 8 years, and the only way out of those cars was to take on a car payment. When repairs for those cars started amounting to $8,000 a year, we thought it would be a good idea to look at new vehicles. In fact, our mechanics sat us down and said, “Dude… Get rid of those cars. We feel bad taking all this money from you.” That was a pretty good red flag for us to go check it out.

We took our beaters down to Car Max. Heidi drove off with an ‘08 Ford Focus, and I drove off in an ‘05 Mazda RX-8. Slightly used, but in great shape. We both LOVE our cars for different reasons now. And the car payments are cheaper than the repairs on the older cars we had. Win Win, baby!

The holidays are upon us. That’s good, right? I’m finding myself a bit depressed tonight… I’m not sure why, but that’s pretty typical of me around this time of year. So, this year, I’m not going to let the crappy, seasonal depression and gloomy bullshit get a grip on me. First and most important reason is that I have plenty to be thankful for and happy about. I think this blog will be a perfect place for me to remind myself of all the good things going on. I’m going to try to stop in here every other day or three during the holidays and write about good things.

Let’s see! I have a ton to be thankful for, no doubt. I’m gonna pick a few to remind myself about today.

My family. I have a wonderful support system in my family. “Family” is defined by common goals, shared experiences, and commitment in addition to the obvious blood related definitions. I’m thankful that I’ve been lucky enough to have such a wonderful family. You all know who you are. I’m thankful that I’ve been able to share my life with such wonderful people who seek to build me up and who will always be there when I need someone.

Good employment. We are in tough economic times right now all over the world, and I am one of the lucky ones to still have employment. I have friends who are not employed right now, and friends who’s job takes them to foreign countries where their lives are threatened each day. Things could definitely be much worse, and I know it.

Are you feeling the holiday blues creeping up on you? Try to think of something positive, and write it down. :) It just might help. This post is already helping me feel better. :)

Happy Holidays!!

Today I left the house while my son was crying because he missed me. Nothing really stops you in your tracks like that. I had to step back and assess what’s going on in my life. I’m very busy with my moonlighting (more on that in another post) these days and since there are only 24 hours in the day, something has to give. Lately it’s been sleep and family time.

So, I made Wednesdays the official day of play. My son nodded that this was a good thing but the tears were still there. I’m not one to give him whatever he wants, but I think one devoted day amongst the other days, where he gets maybe an hour of daddy time lately, maybe is not too much to give. We’ve also been doing this thing where we go to the park on Saturday mornings. He gets to ride his bike, Heidi gets to walk, and I get to study. It’s getting a bit cold here lately, so not sure how much longer this will last.

That’s all for now. I just wanted to vent a little about how much I miss my family. I work so much because I love them so much, but it’s a bit of a catch 22.

Hi there, gang. I’m baaaack. Oh my gosh, you say! Is he going to actually pretend to be a blogger again! Why yes, dear netizen, I am going to pretend to be a blogger. I noticed that my F-List internet celebrity status might have dropped to the G-List, so I thought I’d pop back in here to see if I can pump more random, useless drivel into the internet.

Shall we start a poll on how long I will last this time? Will it be just this one post? Maybe I can make it back to being a monthly contributor? Maybe if I shoot for the stars I can pop an article in here once a week again? Who knows. When you live in Failureville, all roads lead to ImprovementTown. So, I’m going to give it a shot. This is supposed to be something my son can look back on when I’m committed to dust and think to himself, “Damn, only if my dad spent his energy on something worth while, I might have a nice inheritance now…”

Since I’ve been gone for awhile, and I don’t have time to catch you up on everything, I’m going to give you the speed version of the current situation.

I still love my day job. I still have a side business. My son is doing well. My wife is still a hottie. More importantly, she still thinks I’m pretty ok and hasn’t decided to leave me for David Hasselhoff. My son took off his training wheels. We bought new cars. We still love our new house. I’m tired.

That’s it for now hopefully there will be more later. :)

…And we’re off to Bartlett Lake! Rain is in the forecast, so we’ll see how this turns out! Should be good fun, with a bunch of nerdy guys like me. I think someone is brining one of those crazy ass board games too. No, not Monopoly… The games make Monopoly look like checkers. LOL I usually don’t partake in these games now, since we have COMPUTERS. But, I did my share of nerdy board games back in the day. Starfleet Battles for the WIN! :)

So, I got to take my son to school for the first time today. Well, the first time for his Kinder years. He was trying to be so brave, and almost made it, till I had him come give me a hug. He broke down and started crying. He quickly recovered once I reminded him that he was supposed to be a brave soldier. LOL

It was great to go see him there… a big boy… all grown up… … :( Where did my little boy go!? :( I feel really bad for him because I know it must be so overwhelming to him. He doesn’t understand all the good this is doing for his character, etc. Ehh, by the end of the day he’s forgotten the trauma of the morning so it’s all good. I feel really bad for Heidi though. Having to go through that every morning… well, not every morning, but you know. It’s tough to watch your son feel so scared and nervous and not rescue him…

I can’t wait to go pick him up at the end of the day! :)