In the end, replacing the car proves fairly simple: I research cars on the Consumer Reports website, and when I find a model I like, I submit a request through Costco’s auto buying program. They refer me to dealers that aren’t that close by, but a look at the Yelp reviews usually tells me why.
Mr. Faraway comes for the weekend, and doesn’t complain about having to sit in the back seat while I test drive cars, and casually mentions he’s a prosecutor to the various salespeople, just in case.
If nothing else, I find it reassuring, and settle on a car very quickly: the exact same model of Subaru I had before I met The Departed. The trusty, reliable car that he never had a nice thing to say about; the car that as its last service to me, helped to pay the bill to liberate me.
This time, though, I got the heated seats and hands-free cell phone thingamabob, figuring it made more sense to pay for it up front than pay for not having it over time, with traffic tickets.
After the repairs to the Mini and buying my way out of the Mini and into the Subaru, my vacation budget is gone. The hoped-for Alaska cruise will not happen this year, I tell The Child, but she’s okay with that when I suggest another plan, to go visit the Grand Canyon.
All her friends have been there, and she hasn’t, so she this is something she needs to do. All my husbands have been there, too, but I haven’t.
Perhaps this year, it’s time.
Leave a Reply