New Wheels!

So to celebrate the fact that I may be losing my job, Mary Lynn and I went out and bought a new van today! They were having a sale at KIA on last year’s models so we went. Of course, the ad was a week old and those were all gone, but they still had $3K in rebates on the ’05 so we went with the new Sedona.

Why KIA? Well ML had done the research and the Sedona had the best crash test results of any van in its class, so that’s good. Also, I’ve been driving KIAs since 1988 in the form of a brown Ford Festiva named Bosco, and then a red Ford Aspire named Smash Mouth – both of these tiny cars were built by KIA for Ford. I’ve had good luck with them, ‘cause they’re pretty dependable. Well, the Aspire had a weird thing with the ignition key switch for a while (stranding Kelly in Boston for a week once – Sorry!), but once I got that replaced it’s been swell. I call the Aspire “Smash Mouth” because I got into an accident with a taxi cab and the front end got all smunched (I drove away, the cab had to be towed – Smash Mouth: 1, Chevy Caprice: 0. ;-). That was several years ago and I haven’t had it fixed ‘cause I didn’t have the deductible at the time, then after a couple years the old insurance just cut me a check to close the account. Paid bills with that and since then have just been waiting until I had a spare three grand to get it fixed. Might be while yet.

The van is a beauty – ruby red with a grey interior, power windows & locks, keyless entry, CD, 3.4 liter V-6, etc. Everything but power seats and leather which we didn’t need anyway and jacks the price up by two grand! We’re even getting a new lift for Mary Lynn’s scooter installed on the same loan. That’ll be a help.

Did we need a new van? Yes! Or rather ML needed it (she’s actually needed it for about three years now). For her to get to her job at Sears, I have to leave work, buzz home to pick up her and her scooter, drop them at Sears, and get back to work (the lift in Smash Mouth is in sections and my sweetie just can’t lift them anymore). This works because we’re two miles from my job and one and a half miles from Sears. This takes me about 40 minutes what with traffic, stop lights, and loading and unloading the scooter. It’s okay with my boss though ‘cause he is a smoker and I pointed out that this probably took me away from my desk about half the time he’s outside feeding his addiction.

Anyway, in another week or so ML will have her own wheels! Yea! This will give her independence once again, similar to the independence she gained when we first got her the scooter almost 10 years ago. It also restores the independence she lost when we moved from Chicago to Schaumburg last year. Prior to that, she could travel all over town on the EL.

All I gotta do now is make payments for the next six years. Wheee!