The school year has come and gone. Thank goodness! I am exhausted! However, life has still been busy. This past week began with me teaching my very first college course. I am officially an adjunct faculty member within the College of Education. I have been excited about this prospect, but I was also a nervous wreck. The first week has been a blast!
The weekend before the final week of school (2 weeks ago), I decided it was time to add to my family. Sadly, it also meant I had to let go of a very loyal and dedicated member of my family. I made the decision to finally let go of my beloved 2001 Pontiac Aztek.
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| Yes, my Aztek really was this color! |
I have had this vehicle since December of 2001 when my previous car decided to drop its transmission. It has been the best car I have ever had. My Aztek (which has loving been referred to as "The Short Bus" since I got it) had over 192,000 miles on it and had only been in the shop for minor repairs twice in 11 1/2 years. But, the time had come to let it go. Over the past few months the front windows were breaking down, I lost the glass on my passenger side mirror when I hit a plastic trash can, and the air conditioner decided to die a few weeks earlier. I knew it wasn't going to be long before I had to get back out there and purchase a vehicle. I just didn't plan on it being at the beginning of summer!
I went to the car dealer to look at the Jeep line. I don't know why I made that choice. Jeep had not even been on my radar until I drove a Jeep Patriot that I had rented for a business trip several months back. When I got to the dealer I test drove this 2012 Patriot. I loved the green color, and it rode very well. I decided to play Let's Make a Deal. After about an hour of back and forth on the price and the allowance for my trade-in, I decided I would not pursue the green Patriot. The payments were going to be too high for my salary. Yes, I had set a limit, and this was going to be substantially over that.
I knew they had a slightly used Patriot in excellent condition. I took it. The price was right (about $13,000 - $14,000 less that the green Patriot), and I will have it paid off in just 3 years! (That is the best part in my eyes!) I purchased an extended warranty to keep me covered for another 50,000 miles! So I reluctantly handed over the keys to the Short Bus and said goodbye to my wonderful friend. Then I got in my new vehicle and drove off the lot.
Here I am two weeks later, and I am loving my new baby, which I have decided to call Ruby...for obvious reasons. She is less room than my Aztek, but it was more than I needed anyway. I am loving the new color of my car. I am no longer in a very conspicuous yellow Aztek. I am now is a much more inconspicuous ruby-colored Patriot. I am harder to spot on the street. Everyone knew where I was at when I had the Aztek. It became part of my identity. Now I can traipse around town (and beyond) without worrying about being seen out in public.
This is a huge adjustment coming my way. I haven't had a car payment in 6 years. Now I am back in the debt pool, but the plan to pay it off in 3 years makes me feel better.
I guess we can say that this is my birthday present to myself. (For those of you keeping track, my birthday is in 15 days...June 24th!)
So everyone, please say hello to the new woman in my life...RUBY!
