Yes, I know I’m not blogging….
When we told my son that we were heading for another road trip, after having just returned from a trip to the mountains last weekend, his question was, “Must we always be on the move?” I feel the same way. I’ve got a fair amount of legal work this morning, and a whole lot more domestic stuff that needs to be done before we leave. In theory, we could just throw stuff in the car and run away, but I hate coming home to mountains of stale, dirty laundry; sticky kitchen surfaces providing a playground to ants; and just general disarray. I’m a homebody so, when I return from a trip, home should be a haven, not a mess. I also have to take care of tax matters (we’re only 11 days from deadline, right?), as well as car matters.
I did mention, didn’t I, that I got a new car? I didn’t want one. My old car was perfectly fine as far as I was concerned, but it was leased, and Honda wanted it back. I was planning on getting precisely the same car — same low-ish model level — only to have a dealer offer us a price that was too good to pass up on the next model up. I therefore am now the proud owner (not lessor, owner), of a brand new luxury Honda Odyssey — not the touring model, which is the highest, but one step down. Part of me delights in the luxury, but a whole lot of me is dismayed by the excess. I simply don’t need so many doodley-bops.
What I do like about the new car, though, is the fact that it’s actually a much better vehicle than my old Honda. Aside from the much improved safety features that are standard on all Honda Odysseys (side impact airbags, etc.), the suspension is better, so I feel safer and more stable driving the car. The shocks (which I guess are part of the suspension) are also better, so the car is a much more comfortable drive. I also love the side view mirrors, which are about 30% bigger and dramatically increase my sight lines. The car also has significantly better fuel usage than my old car, and that’s nothing to sneeze at nowadays.
As for the toys — well, it’s nice to have a good sound system, and I think that the DVD player an absolutely necessity considering both the amount of car pooling I do (I have zero fights amongst my elementary school aged passengers with the video running), as well as the long car trips we often take. The navigation system I could do without. I had already bought a $150.00 Magellan Maestro at Costco and adored it. The little Magellan is easier to use and easier to view than the fancy built-in one the Honda offers. Still, I’ve passed it along to my mother, so someone is very, very happy.
And that’s what’s going on. I just don’t feel like commenting on the political scene. As far as I can tell, barring the occasional outrage (the Absolut Vodka ad, new revelations of Air America stupidity, more Obama flails), things are just coasting along pretty much the same as always, both at home and abroad. Nothing big distinguishes today from yesterday. If something I see or hear today changes me in the belief, I will, of course, get back to you.
I won’t be doing any blogging tomorrow, since we’ll be in transit. After that, I don’t know. I won’t have internet access where we’re staying, but there is a very nice coffee house not too far away that offers wireless access. Since I go into withdrawal if I spend too much time without blogging, I’ll probably be trotting down there for a nice hot cup of chocolate and some manic typing.
