2001-11-26 - 11:51 p.m.

New Car, Finally

Hooray! Today Lily and I finally picked up our new car. After waiting nearly two weeks, it had finally arrived at the dealership.

I was under the impression that it was going to be a simple, fast procedure - I hand them a check, they hand me the keys. Whoa sport, not so fast.

First of all there is all this paperwork to take care of. But after that, I swear the salesman took the better part of an hour showing me how the car works, all the little features it has.

Comparing this car to the Little Red Wagon is like comparing the LRW to a bicycle. Really. A quantum leap forward.

Like I said before, I'm not much of a car guy, but it sure is something to be riding in a new car for the first time in 13 years. This car is just so much better than the old one, but that's really to be expected.

Of course, I really don't think this is MY car. It feels like I'm borrowing someone else's. I suppose that feeling will wear off in time.

There are certain habits that I developed while driving my old car, and it's hard to let them go, even though they were inconvenient. The shoulder harness part of the seat belts never retracted properly and so I had to remember to feed them back in after I got out of the car. When I leave this car I start to turn around and reach for the shoulder harness - and of course it isn’t there any more. It retracts like it's supposed to. That's just one little example.

Oh, speaking of the Little Red Wagon - it's going to be staying at the Manager's house now. When I told him the Honda dealership had offered me $50 for it he instantly doubled their offer. Sold American!

Actually, the car is still mine but it's going to be staying up at his house for a while. If the Manager needs it, he can use it. Who knows, I may even actually sell it to him.