It’s the end of the day, I just finished a project and I need to kill a bit of time before I can get out of here. Got another…oh, I’d say 10-15 minutes on the clock before I can bug out. Let’s see, first order of business will be to get some eats. [...]

After a lot of wrangling with the dealer over prices, and then more wrangling with ourselves over the finances, we’ve gotten ourselves back on track and are scheduled to take delivery of our new Mazda6 s 5-door on Saturday. We’re going to end up financing through the dealer, not a third-party bank like Capital [...]

As you may know, I’ve been waiting since last Wednesday or Thursday for my insurance company to get to the “next step” in processing my total loss claim so that we can get this whole silly mess put behind us. The woman who was assigned to our case was not even in the office [...]

My wife and I went back to the Mazda dealer on Saturday to take a car out for a 24-hour test drive. On our way we were saying we liked the bright red color, but upon arriving my wife decided she really liked the Steel Gray Metallic—the very color I’d first had my heart [...]

First of all: I admit it, there are no pics! The weather was shit yesterday evening when I got to the dealer; all dark and cloudy like it was going to rain any minute. Decided to forget the camera and just enjoy the drive. After all, I knew I’d be coming back [...]

Went down to the body shop this morning and picked up the last of our personal effects and the license plate from the wrecked Vibe. Pulled the community access sticker and gate barcode from the windows, took the cargo nets and blankets out of the back, and retrieved the Buddha pendant and Chinese talisman [...]

Just in case there was any doubt (which there actually was), I got a hold of the insurance company this afternoon and confirmed that the Vibe is totaled. I was told that the case had just come in and was waiting to be assigned to a “loss counselor”…LOL…okay, that’s not the term they used, [...]

As the stone gray stormclouds roll in off the Gulf of Mexico, and the ominous growl of thunder begins to build in the distance, I find it a somewhat dismally fitting occasion to announce that my wife’s 2003 Pontiac Vibe shall never again roam these streets. The accident it suffered on Friday night, while [...]

Looks like the Oddball Posting Challenge for July 2004 has fallen flat on its face—there will not be “a post a day” as I had hoped. However, the failure is not without extenuating circumstances. This Friday night, on the way home from work, my wife was involved in a car accident right outside [...]

Excessive deliberation. Beating around the bush. Too many cooks spoil the broth. Whatever you want to say, this day has been full of it. Yesterday was pretty hectic, but a lot got accomplished. But today…well, today I found myself scurrying from one impromptu meeting to the next, and everywhere I [...]