Why is it that I always end up here on the last day of the baseball season? Where was I last year? Time flies.
The past year has been busy. I added a girlfriend to the mix in the new home I purchased. She brought her son and ALL of her stuff. It's awesome though. There's plenty of room and she's a wonderful woman.
So we have been very busy setting up the house in the style we both love and getting the yard in proper order. So I guess that's where the time has gone over the last year.
In a previous post, I had discussed purchasing a new ride. Well, with the woman moving in, we had to make an adjustment. One of the first things we did was jettison her Acura ISX. While it was a nice enough car, it was a lease and with my lady now making a commute, we decided to try and escape the lease. We figured that it would be easiest to attempt to convert the lease at a Honda dealer. Success! Paid a little money for the lease but was then able to get her an Accord. We purchased the four cylinder since it it peppy enough and gets outstanding gas mileage. We considered the six, but with half our commute in stop and go, the price, two cylinders and extra gas would be a waste.
So, I am still driving the '08 Silverado. It's doing pretty well at 91,000 miles, but soon comes the belt. And the timing chain/belt. And yet ANOTHER round of brakes. I will be on round four of brakes. I swear I'm not harsh on the brakes! I just can't find some good disks and pads that will last!
So, I'm once again considering a change and this time I think I know where I'm going. I'm a little hesitant to purchase and have two car payments, but I figure I'm about to drop a thousand dollars or so and that could just as easily go to a new ride.
I've done a little research and have narrowed my choices to three rides. The Kia Sorento, the Hyundai Santa Fe, and the Mazda CX-9. Each offer pretty good gas mileage (a hell of a lot better than the Silverado!) and can handle some of our favorite activities.
Well, it's dinner time. Pasta e Fagiole tonight. Homemade for that rare cool Southern California night. I'll discuss my choices in greater detail in my next post, as well as baseball. Cause it's my favorite sport and it's playoff time.
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Commuting...
Living in Southern California has some very distinct advantages. Mountains to the beach in an hour, endless sunshine. Warm weather throughout the year. Lots to see and do.
However, the traffic. Oy vey...the traffic. I have many friends who commute and their refrains are all the same: That damn traffic...! I have a friend that works in Irvine and his commute to home, if he's lucky, is around one hour. On a good day.
Thus far in my life, I have been able to avoid the dreary, lockstep Commute of the Damned. I work in the same town I grew up in and currently live. This has made my life, or rather more specifically, the quality of my life dramatically different from my friends. I'm home at a reasonable hour, able to spend time with the kids by just a phone call and picking them up from their mother's house. I could go to the gym in the afternoon if I'm so inclined. Shopping is easy, since there are ample big box adventures within easy driving distance.
So why, oh why, would I ever post about this wonderful setup? I mean, after all, it comes off as bragging a bit, no? Well, in my finite wisdom, I have decided to move out of town. After my divorce and in order to save money, I rented a room from a friend and have been living there ever since. My main purpose has been to save money and buy a house. That time has come.
My other, more secondary reasons were to move to another city to avoid seeing The Ex and her minions as well as to move out of the city in which I was born.(I mean really, it's a big frickin' world and I move across town???) For a city so large, it really is quite small. In essence, I felt that it was necessary to find another city to stake my claim. The result? A beautiful new home and a commute. In a Chevy Silverado (2008). Not exactly a fuel sipper.
Along with my new home, I've decided that I need to invest in an economic fuel-friendly ride. Thus far, I have looked at the Honda Civic, a mainstay of the low-cost, high mileage culture. Also, it's main competitor, the Toyota Corolla has been given a look. I hate the Corolla. 'Nuff said. The Civic is hard to swallow. When I was a mere youth, my first real car purchase was a Toyota Celica. It was a beauty. White with black trim. A hatchback, even. Even had a phony phone antenna on the rear glass. Yep, that's how I rolled.
I digress. The Accord was my second car and my almost-twenty-year-old daughter is currently driving the Honda Civic that my parents purchased for her. So a Civic really seems like a step back in time for me.
As such, I am expanding my search. I've decided to do some research on the Kia Forte and Mazda 3. I like both and they both have interesting features and costs that make them very appealing. I should be commencing with the research shortly.
As I type this, the Detroit Tigers are leading in Game Six of the ALCS, 2-1 in the top of the 7th. Go Tigers. It's better than the alternative.
I'll end this by saying that I'm excited at the eventuality of "beginning" my life in my new house/city. It's been a difficult three years, but it's time. And my girl says I look sexy when I blog. Ha! Who knew??
However, the traffic. Oy vey...the traffic. I have many friends who commute and their refrains are all the same: That damn traffic...! I have a friend that works in Irvine and his commute to home, if he's lucky, is around one hour. On a good day.
Thus far in my life, I have been able to avoid the dreary, lockstep Commute of the Damned. I work in the same town I grew up in and currently live. This has made my life, or rather more specifically, the quality of my life dramatically different from my friends. I'm home at a reasonable hour, able to spend time with the kids by just a phone call and picking them up from their mother's house. I could go to the gym in the afternoon if I'm so inclined. Shopping is easy, since there are ample big box adventures within easy driving distance.
So why, oh why, would I ever post about this wonderful setup? I mean, after all, it comes off as bragging a bit, no? Well, in my finite wisdom, I have decided to move out of town. After my divorce and in order to save money, I rented a room from a friend and have been living there ever since. My main purpose has been to save money and buy a house. That time has come.
My other, more secondary reasons were to move to another city to avoid seeing The Ex and her minions as well as to move out of the city in which I was born.(I mean really, it's a big frickin' world and I move across town???) For a city so large, it really is quite small. In essence, I felt that it was necessary to find another city to stake my claim. The result? A beautiful new home and a commute. In a Chevy Silverado (2008). Not exactly a fuel sipper.
Along with my new home, I've decided that I need to invest in an economic fuel-friendly ride. Thus far, I have looked at the Honda Civic, a mainstay of the low-cost, high mileage culture. Also, it's main competitor, the Toyota Corolla has been given a look. I hate the Corolla. 'Nuff said. The Civic is hard to swallow. When I was a mere youth, my first real car purchase was a Toyota Celica. It was a beauty. White with black trim. A hatchback, even. Even had a phony phone antenna on the rear glass. Yep, that's how I rolled.
I digress. The Accord was my second car and my almost-twenty-year-old daughter is currently driving the Honda Civic that my parents purchased for her. So a Civic really seems like a step back in time for me.
As such, I am expanding my search. I've decided to do some research on the Kia Forte and Mazda 3. I like both and they both have interesting features and costs that make them very appealing. I should be commencing with the research shortly.
As I type this, the Detroit Tigers are leading in Game Six of the ALCS, 2-1 in the top of the 7th. Go Tigers. It's better than the alternative.
I'll end this by saying that I'm excited at the eventuality of "beginning" my life in my new house/city. It's been a difficult three years, but it's time. And my girl says I look sexy when I blog. Ha! Who knew??
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Sept. 29, 2013
Here I sit, brokenhearted.
Meant to...aw what the hell.
You know the drill.
Today was the last day of the regular Major League Baseball season. Being a die-hard baseball fan, I feel like I lost a friend. Like that friend that lived across the street that you could call your very best friend, baseball is like this to me. Sadly, like that friend, it moves on; sometimes to places far, far away. Like the friendship, it always ends with a promise. A promise that you'll meet again.
Baseball is that friend. It is at once a sport, but at the same time a living, breathing entity that waxes poetic. Filled with strategy, a game within a game. A team sport built on failure to hit the ball successfully seven out of ten times. A No-Hitter on the last day of the season! Whatagame! It's now gone. None but a handful of teams left to continue on for the World Series. My team (that is, the team I root for) has had a very disappointing year. A year made all the more disappointing by way of the aspirations placed upon it at the beginning of the year. This was a "World Championship Team", was the common refrain. But that pitching...ohhh that pitching.
Now it's left to the decision makers to analyze the errors and correct them. This team is built to win now. It's owner is willing to add to payroll. If only he can stay out of the way and let the baseball people to what they're supposed to do. What they're paid to do.
I guess all that's left to me is to find some team in the postseason to root for and hope they survive. Is it the Tigers of Detroit? The Rays of Tampa Bay? The Athletics of Oakland? The Indians (racist?) of Cleveland, or the Rangers of Texas? (Please God not the Rangers. Please.) Being the fan of an AL team, I pretty much only watch whatever team plays my local team. But here, I would like to see the low budget teams advance...underdogs of a sort, so go A's and Rays!
Over in the NL, well let's go with...ummm....Pirates? Sentimentality reigns with this pick.
The action all begins tomorrow, so I'll be tuning in. When my team is not in the postseason, it's like I have to go through detox. I don't get to watch MY team, so I ease off that precipice gently by watching the other teams advance. After a few weeks, I should be free of the vice-like grip of baseball and left to move on and wait and hope til March.
Til later...
Here I sit, brokenhearted.
Meant to...aw what the hell.
You know the drill.
Today was the last day of the regular Major League Baseball season. Being a die-hard baseball fan, I feel like I lost a friend. Like that friend that lived across the street that you could call your very best friend, baseball is like this to me. Sadly, like that friend, it moves on; sometimes to places far, far away. Like the friendship, it always ends with a promise. A promise that you'll meet again.
Baseball is that friend. It is at once a sport, but at the same time a living, breathing entity that waxes poetic. Filled with strategy, a game within a game. A team sport built on failure to hit the ball successfully seven out of ten times. A No-Hitter on the last day of the season! Whatagame! It's now gone. None but a handful of teams left to continue on for the World Series. My team (that is, the team I root for) has had a very disappointing year. A year made all the more disappointing by way of the aspirations placed upon it at the beginning of the year. This was a "World Championship Team", was the common refrain. But that pitching...ohhh that pitching.
Now it's left to the decision makers to analyze the errors and correct them. This team is built to win now. It's owner is willing to add to payroll. If only he can stay out of the way and let the baseball people to what they're supposed to do. What they're paid to do.
I guess all that's left to me is to find some team in the postseason to root for and hope they survive. Is it the Tigers of Detroit? The Rays of Tampa Bay? The Athletics of Oakland? The Indians (racist?) of Cleveland, or the Rangers of Texas? (Please God not the Rangers. Please.) Being the fan of an AL team, I pretty much only watch whatever team plays my local team. But here, I would like to see the low budget teams advance...underdogs of a sort, so go A's and Rays!
Over in the NL, well let's go with...ummm....Pirates? Sentimentality reigns with this pick.
The action all begins tomorrow, so I'll be tuning in. When my team is not in the postseason, it's like I have to go through detox. I don't get to watch MY team, so I ease off that precipice gently by watching the other teams advance. After a few weeks, I should be free of the vice-like grip of baseball and left to move on and wait and hope til March.
Til later...
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