The photo here was taken by my niece Arrianne. She has a wonderful eye.
I'm doing okay, really. Sorry that last post was a bit of a downer. Happily, I didn't stay in that place. I haven't been writing much here, though, because I am trying to get up to speed on a book project. The first-half delivery due date is looming, and I mean to meet it. So that's where my energy has been going lately, and one can't stay wallowing in melancholy too long if one means to meet deadlines in the book business.
We also need to find a used car. We spent yesterday in the used car lot of Jeep dealers. I feel completely unequal to this process. I don't know when I'm getting a good price quote and when I'm getting ripped off. I study the Carfax like there's no tomorrow but I don't know which manufacturer safety recalls matter and which don't. My husband is comparatively casual about all this, or maybe he has more comfort with the process. In any case I feel as if all the research is on me, because I'm the one who cares most. We're looking for a reliable SUV that's maybe four or five years old, 4-wheel-drive, in good condition with no outstanding recalls, and roomy enough to fit my man, who is a big tall guy and who will be doing most of the driving. He is partial to Jeep Grand Cherokees because he likes how rugged they are and he knows the cab fits him and plus we had one that was four years old when we got it and it lasted us another 14 years! I kind of like how they look, too, but I'm open to anything that's a good deal. Advice from any quarter is welcome!
In other news, my son met the parents of a young lady he's been "seeing" and that apparently went well. Also, my daughter gave a public presentation on campus on Friday, a paper titled "Gramsci's Model of Intellectual Responsibility," which she wrote in and around her step team performance the previous evening. Who is this child? How does she know such things? The young man she has been seeing also had a presentation on Friday, his for a national entrepreneurial competition entered by hundreds of college students across the country and he won! Something about a new algorithm for determining scholarship grants. I will never understand the details. I barely understand the word algorithm. I just know it was a big day on all fronts.
All is well.
I just read Mr. Moon your requirements for a car. He said that first of all, he doesn't especially like Jeep Cherokees because they are not always dependable. The car that comes to his mind is a Toyota 4runner. He's says that previously owned ones are hard to find and are not cheap but they last a very long time and end up being the better value. He's a firm believe that "a good deal" up front is often in the long run, not a good deal at all.
ReplyDeleteSo. There's what The Car Guy had to say.
I'm so glad that you are doing a bit better, my dear friend. I am so proud of you for working to meet your deadline. You are a professional!
And such good news about your children and the people they are "seeing." Courtship. I love it. And I love you.
Mary, thank you for consulting your car guy! In my research I've been coming to the same conclusion, that there are other good options out there that may be even better than the Jeep Grand Cherokee, even though the one we had served us well. What does the Car Guy say about a Toyota Highlander and a Honda Pilot. Those might be my current front runners, based on not much science! Love to you, friend.
DeleteI am pretty sure he likes the HIghlander and I will ask him about the Pilot. I will warn you about Carfax- only accidents which have been reported are in their records. Which means that a car could have been damaged and repaired on the downlow and retain structural damage. Mr. Moon uses a paint meter to go over cars he buys to make sure that this is not the case. Golly. I wish he could help you.
DeleteI was obsessed with Gramsci when about your daughter's age - how wonderful for all this news.
ReplyDeleteMy friends who have cars you detail and love them include the Honda Pilot and the Toyota Landcruiser. Toyotas are a bit more than other vehicles but they are made to last - my truck is 13 years old and going very strong, and it gets a bit of abuse. Also a friend loves her RAV4 but I'm less excited about that. The Pilot we had to drive one year in a very bad snowstorm and it handled better than anything I'd ever driven (and remember I'm from Alaska, so lots of snowstorms in my past).
Nola darling, why am I not surprised that you were obsessed with Gramsci?! I think you and my daughter, both of you passionate about social justice, would devour his Prison Notebooks. I learn a lot from my girl. Honestly, I made it all the way through college and grad school without ever hearing his name. So much for being and English major and journalist! Although I notice he started out as a journalist so really, I should have encountered him at some point. Well, now I have. And thanks for the great car suggestions!
DeleteOh my. Your kids. My kids. Sometimes I'm just so amazed. Life is so interesting like that.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the car thing. I know zero re SUVs. I have a 2008 Prius and I hardly drive so I'm pretty sure it will last forever.
And good luck with the book. I'm feeling so disordered I can't even open my mail right now. BUT I did pay my taxes. Hooray for that. Maybe today is my day.
Denise, paying taxes is huge! There was a period during March when it seemed I was unable to do anything more than wander around the house, but I did manage to get my taxes done, and I count that as the height of productivity! We do what we can, and what we must. Sending love.
DeleteThinking of you. And your kids are wonderful, like their mother- smart as hell, engaged, compassionate. Good luck on the car, I also hate car shopping. Hopefully you will find something that is solid as a rock and cute.
ReplyDeleteMaggie May, our kids are smart as hell, it's true! And how beautiful yours are growing, too! Isn't it amazing that these beings issued from us? I marvel at it. As for the car, you clearly understand the importance of cute! xo
DeleteHow lovely and I hope your project goes well.
ReplyDeleteThank you, e!
DeleteI thought immediately of Mr. Moon when I started reading your post, and there you go! Recommendations!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, I wish we lived near Mr. Moon. I'd buy from him with serene confidence.
DeleteWow! Your kids are so amazing and so capable. As you know. :) Who is Gramsci, I wonder, and what is his model of intellectual responsibility?
ReplyDeleteAs for used cars, I'm afraid that like many city dwellers I have no valuable advice at all. I am terrible at the whole car-buying thing.
Steve, Antonio Gramsci, as I have learned was an Italian journalist during the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini. He went on to found the Italian communist party, was jailed for his activism, and while incarcerated wrote a series of volumes called Prison Notebooks, which deconstructed the origins and types and functions of intellectuals in society. I had never heard of him, but my daughter gave me the Cliff Notes version. She loves to cook and bake and she thought her future might lie in hospitality but I see her getting more and more drawn to social causes. She gets excited by this sort of theory because it has a social justice context. It's fascinating to watch this consciousness unfold.
Delete