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.