Tony’s Journal

While killing time before Bo on Friday, I saw a Volvo at a little used car lot, so I stopped and inquired. The next morning I took it to the Estate’s trusted mechanic up on Six Forks (I hate that road) and they gave it a clean bill of health. There were some records with it indicating that it had been well kept, too.

So I went back and bought it. Put it on a credit card. Since it was Saturday, we couldn’t get the Bill of Sale, title transfer, tag transfer, etc done, so we drove it to my house, leaving the rest for Monday. For the next two days I was paranoid that a constable would pull me over for some reason and the only evidence I had linking me to the car was a tiny credit card receipt. Didn’t keep me from taking it out, though, as Melissa and Cherry were in town and I wanted to show them my new ride.

So as of Monday, it’s all registered, tagged, etc. Cream Puff IV is in my driveway and I will sell it soonish, but first I am gonna have my brother help me harvest some of its organs.

Here are some specs on it since I feel like typing them:

• 161K (yeah that’s kind of a lot but it’s well maintained)
• a 95 (aka before Ford bought Volvo and ran them into the ground)
• nice, cold A/C
• eight freaking speakers
• leather upholstery in pretty good shape
• keyless entry
• headlights that point in the same direction (ok this is really only noteworthy when compared to the CP4)
• nice tires (actually the exact same really nice model that I put on CP4 in March, strange)
• sunroof & moonroof
• six freaking air bags (2 front, one on each door. . . Volvo. Drive Safely.)
• was probably used to run drugs (it had 60K put on it in the last 2.5
  years)
• them little wiper blades for the headlights (yeah no point I know)
• traction control
• heated seats
• dual zone climate control (this is very important for a single dude, it is potentially a major selling point when wooing I think)

I like the 850. It rides really smoothly. The paint color is a little outrageous for a drab dude like myself but that’s okay. A couple of little things need work, but they’re very minor. The interior smells like smoke and leather, but it’s not too bad, and I will work on that. I didn’t get a tremendous deal on it, I paid a fair price. This annoys me, because I really try to nickel and dime everything, but if I get some good use out of this car, it’ll be worth it. Besides, I paid cash for it. I don’t want a car payment, and I don’t need a car payment.

From 2007-05-19 Cr…

Tags: General Thoughts by Tony
3 Comments »

Soooooo on Saturday night I was heading up Six Forks, The Road that God Forgot, with Drew and Reid. We had gone to a hobby shop so JP could get some Warhammer stuff, and I needed stuff at Costco. We were going up to meet my dad for dinner. So up Six Forks we went, in the steady rain.

I braked moderately hard for a yellow at this here intersection — one of those gun it or hit the brakes decisions, and after I stopped, I looked in the rearview mirror and had about enough time to think “that dude is going too fast” before THUD went the dude’s Camry into the back of Cream Puff IV.

Luckily, no one was hurt. My brothers were more startled than anything, it would seem, but everyone had a cool head. The dude who hit me, Terry, was luckily a nice guy. Also luckily, my car was not affected as far as drivability goes. His was pretty jacked up (Camry vs Volvo) but we were both able to drive to a BB&T to get out of the rain and wait for the cops. He estimated that he hit me at 25, and it was likely a little slower, but the Volvo kept us safe.

The rest of the story is unremarkable, since the officer was nice and Terry was nice, and of course it wasn’t my fault, so I felt no stress due to that. But holy crap it took forever to get an officer there.

First I called 911. It just rang and rang. I think that should not happen. I hung up after 8 rings or so. What if someone had been injured?

Next I called the operator. The automated voice asked me to “please enter the number you would like to call.” THANKS A LOT.

Then I sent a text message to Google: “raleigh police department” and it replied with an answer. That one worked after 5 rings, getting transferred, ten rings, someone answered and got the info, and then it was another 40 minutes before the officer arrived. I mean, damn.

Anyway, I’m still driving the Cream Puff now. Technically it’s not street legal due to one busted tail light, but I’m a-driving it anyhow. If I get pulled I hope common sense prevails.

Re: where to go from here, I have two options. The car is financially a “total loss” due to the number of body panels that were bent, and the tailgate getting stove in and is now unable to be opened. It doesn’t look that bad, but the estimate the adjuster came up with to repair is $3100, and the value is $3300, and that means totalled. I pretty much expected this. So, the options:

• Take a check for $3300 and let the other guy’s insurance company tow it, giving me a rental in the meantime until I get a new car.
• Take a check for $3062 and keep my car with a salvage title.

Option 2 seems clearly better. I wouldn’t actually keep the car for long, I’d sell it on Craigslist or some such. But I can get more than $238 for it, I am fairly certain, because the car runs fine.

Once I mail in that paperwork, my attention turns to finding a new Cream Puff. This will be VI since Drew just traded in CP III for CP V a few weeks ago.

Volvo. Drive Safely.

Tags: General Thoughts by Tony
No Comments »

Yesterday I got way more done than I ever reckoned.

It was supposed to rain all day, and I was planning to continue my Junk Holocaust. I actually have a 35-gallon trash can in my living room right now, collecting the flotsam of years of being a pack rat. But then I woke up, and what? It’s sunny? So I went out and:

• Mowed the lawn
• Weed whacked the edges (so windy I didn’t need to blow off the clippings)
• Washed my car, Rain-X’ed the glass and windows, waxed it, and used some of that Tire Wet stuff
• Added oil to my engine
• Cleaned out my front gutters (yum)
• Scrubbed my front railings
• Transplanted tomato, jalapeno, and habanero plants into my “garden”
• Repotted my tiny ficus and oregano plants

Also I made a cheesecake that turned out pretty well.

Tags: General Thoughts by Tony
2 Comments »