Ballzaks, Blizzaks...Same Difference

As much as I enjoy spending money, there are always those things in life that you hate to buy but know you need...like socks...or bras...or a trip to the dentist.  My latest purchase falls into this category...SNOW tires...aka "Blizzaks" (or thanks to a Freudian slip on my part, calling them 'Ballzaks' which now entitles me to endless amounts of teasing and jokes from my Alaska friend...I didn't KNOW...but now I just think of 'blizzard' and I'm able to keep the name straight).

The timing actually worked out well because I had ANOTHER flat tire last weekend...I think it was the same tire that was previously patched...but still...I think it was just time to get new tires...

Bring on the snow...!?!

Old Yeller & Murphy

I was not one of the kids in high school who got her own car the day she turned 16.  But I was able to drive one of the two family vehicles pretty much whenever I needed a car...it usually meant my mom was left at home without transportation but I think she was okay with that because it just meant her taxi days shuttling us around were done.  My preference was to drive our yellow Ford Courier pick-up truck, very similar to this one here, minus the awesome orange racing stripe.

 Source

I can't remember if it was a 1980 or 1982 (little Ford Courier trivia for you...they stopped making these in 1982, which I learned reading on the site carlustblog.com) (seriously, there is a website for EVERYTHING!!) but we'd had it since I was young...when we got ours (used), it did have the camper shell, but by the time I was in high school, the shell was off so it was just a regular old pick-up truck.  Instead of the orange racing stripes, picture strips of rust going up vertically on each front panel just behind the front tires...and THAT's what our truck looked like when I was 16.  Everyone at school knew who owned this truck.  Our nicknames for it were 'Lil Rusty' and 'Old Yeller'.

That's the only vehicle I've ever driven that was given a name....until now... :)

I've decided my 'new' Ford is being christened "Murphy"  can you guess why?

 This lovely message appeared on my dashboard as I drove home from dinner last night...

Murphy's Law: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong"

I rest my case. :)

I Have to Laugh

This is what I was greeted to this morning as I left to get to work...

I didn't freak out, I started laughing...because it's just becoming comical to me that I am having so many issues with my 'new' vehicle.  And I'd like to take a moment to share why I'm thankful this morning:

 ~ I have a really kind co-worker who drove out of his way to come and pick me up
 ~ the same kind co-worker got out the car jack and attempted to get the tire off so we could bring it to work and have our mechanic fix it, so I was able to observe how to work the car jack (in the event I need to use it on my road trip).  We (well, let's face it...HE...I just stood there and watched) was not able to get the tire off the wheel or frame or whatever it's called
 ~ I work in a place that has a mechanic on-site
 ~ our mechanic said if we couldn't get the tire off relatively easily it means the tires hadn't been rotated in a LOOOOOONG time (have I mentioned lately that I will NEVER ever buy a car from the same dealership again?), but thankfully with the help of a rubber mallet he was able to pop it off, bring it back to the shop and repair the tire in a matter of minutes
 ~ the downpour of rain held off until we were able to get the tire off and get ourselves back inside AND I didn't actually waste time doing my hair today, opting for the lazy day baseball hat option so the rain can come down as much as it wants and it won't make a difference to me one way or another
 ~ my tires are going to get rotated
 ~ when I went back to my house with the mechanic to get the vehicle, I realized I had left my front door WIDE open (maybe subconsciously I was hoping to get robbed, lessening my decision making in what to take / what to get rid of and what to leave behind?!?), but was able to shut it and it appears people in Parker CO are not the B&E (breaking & entering) type.

Hoping tomorrow is less eventful, but full of just as many things for which I can be thankful!  :)

Sigh...........

Do you ever have those days you wish you could re-wind, but then realize, nothing would be different if you could do it over anyway, so you just have to suck it up and deal?  Or 'put on your big girl panties' as others might say?  Today is one of those days for me...and really it started last night...when I opened up my mail from my county and found out my property valuation went DOWN over $23,000...YIKES!!  Many of my fellow facebook friends commiserated with me, so I know I'm not alone...and others have seen values go down even more than that, but still...it hurts... And as one friend / former co-worker, so kindly pointed out..."That's just the valuation...it's probably worth even LESS than that right now..."  Wow, thanks Scott!  Appreciate you pointing that out... :)

And today, my lovely 'new' vehicle was taken in for what I thought would be a couple hundred dollar routine repair, only to find out it's more likely going to be a couple THOUSAND...something I was not prepared for / expecting to have to cover at this point and time.  I've had this car for 7 weeks now...and when I bought it, I was told that it had been 'thoroughly' inspected by their mechanics....and now they don't understand why I don't want to bring it back to THEM for additional repairwork...hmm...wonder why I wouldn't want to do that?!?  So I'm basically up a creek without a paddle to put it nicely...lesson learned...I just wish they didn't have to be such expensive lessons sometimes.

I went online and changed my 'review' of the business I purchased from...the review that they asked me to write before I'd even owned the car for more than 2 seconds.  So if you're in the market for a used vehicle in CO, I'd be happy to tell you where NOT to go...just let me know!

Here's hoping for a better tomorrow!

"To Do" List

This weekend I was able to cross off another of my major 'to do' items from my list for my upcoming move to Alaska. If you recall from this, my very first post, there were 3 major things on my "to do" list...

1. Find someone to rent out my Colorado condo
2. Find a job in Anchorage
3. Purchase a vehicle to get me up there

Well, now, all that's left is for me to find a job!!  After several weeks of on-again, off-again car hunting, and having a heart to heart with myself in coming to terms with what I WANTED to buy vs. what I could realistically AFFORD to buy, I found the necessary four wheel drive vehicle I will need to get up to Anchorage.  I'm so thankful to have this off my plate (car shopping is NOT something I enjoy) and I'm really pleased with my purchased.  Please meet my "new" 2007 Ford Explorer:

Now...about that job... :)