Car Pics

New car. Color is "Purple Haze", but seems to look black here. You can tell better when you're standing beside it.

Rear doors open 90°. That can come in handy.

Huge gauges on the dash. Won't be able to ignore how fast I'm going.

Car search is over

After much mental debate and test driving 3 different models, I've finally made a car decision. Tomorrow I will be picking up my new car: a 2007 Pontiac Grand Prix. It's actually very similar to what I have now, which is probably why I like it. The visibility was much better in this car, plus it has a in-dash 6 cd changer, XM satellite radio (free for 3 months), OnStar (free for a year), remote car starter (great for coming out of work in winter). I also decided to put an extra year of warranty on it so that I am covered for all of the 4 year period of my lease. It raised my payment, but I am likely to need more work done on it as time goes on.

As for the color... it's the return of the Purple Car. :)

I'll post some pics this weekend.

Muppet Show - Season 2

will be out on DVD August 7th. Click here for details.

Car search update

The car search has been interesting. Not as easy a time as I thought it would be.

Last Thursday, I test drove the Pontiac G6 GT, basically the equivalent offering from Pontiac of my older Grand Am GT. I figured I was going to like this car, and I did, but I didn’t love it. I have a few issues with the seats, the steering wheel position, and where to lean my arm while I drive. Minor, but I found it a bit annoying, and those things can gnaw at you over time. I will likely be doing another 4 year lease, so I want to make sure I like what I’m getting.

On John’s advice to test drive at least one other car, I went back to Saturn and test drove the Aura XR. Nice car, but again, I didn’t love it. It is not as sporty as the G6, but it did have some extra options and functions. Unfortunately, the XR model is a higher price and a bit more than I wanted to spend. Since I didn’t “love” the car, I am not really willing to spend extra money on it. I can afford the XE model, and add a few more options to get it closer to where I wanted it to be. I need to actually drive the XE model to feel the differences though, so I will probably go back to Saturn and try and drive something closer to what I would actually get.

I am also going to take a Grand Prix out for a test drive. I’m not sure I’m all that serious about it, but it will give me a different driving experience and hopefully help me to nail down what I do and don’t like or want to sacrifice.

I’m arranging to take a used G6 home for a couple of days (hopefully over the long weekend) and truly test it in real-world conditions. That should be enough time for me to get a true feel for it.

The pickiness and issues are surfacing mainly because I really like my current car. I liked it so much that I leased it two times in a row. After 7 years with the same car, I’m comfortable with it. I know where everything is, how it handles, and it just fits me. I can’t tell if the issues I’m having with these new cars are because I am change-resistant and comfortable with 7 years of the Grand Am, or if I truly don’t like the features of the new cars. That’s the question I need to answer. Hopefully test driving a couple more cars and having the G6 for a few days will help me figure that out.

Jim Emerson's 102 Movies to Become Movie Literate

Stolen from Chris. Numbered movies are the ones I have seen.


2001: A Space Odyssey
The 400 Blows
8 1/2
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Alien
1. All About Eve
Annie Hall
Apocalypse Now
2. Bambi
The Battleship Potemkin
Blue Velvet
Bonnie and Clyde
Breathless
3. Bringing Up Baby
Carrie
4. Casablanca
Un Chien Andalou
Children of Paradise
5. Chinatown
6. Citizen Kane
7. A Clockwork Orange
8. The Crying Game
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Days of Heaven
9. Dirty Harry
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
10. Do the Right Thing
La Dolce Vita
11. Double Indemnity
Dr. Strangelove
Duck Soup
12. E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial
Easy Rider
13. The Empire Strikes Back
The Exorcist
14. Fargo
15. Fight Club
Frankenstein
The General
16. The Godfather
17. The Godfather, Part 2
18. Gone With the Wind
19. Goodfellas
20. The Graduate
Halloween
A Hard Day's Night
Intolerance
It's a Gift
21. It's a Wonderful Life
22. Jaws
The Lady Eve
Lawrence of Arabia
M
Mad Max 2
23. The Maltese Falcon
24. The Manchurian Candidate
Metropolis
Modern Times
25. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Nashville
The Night of the Hunter
Night of the Living Dead
26. North by Northwest
Nosferatu
On the Waterfront
Once Upon a Time in the West
Out of the Past
Persona
Pink Flamingos
27. Psycho
28. Pulp Fiction
Rashomon
29. Rear Window
30. Rebel Without a Cause
Red River
Repulsion
The Rules of the Game
Scarface
The Scarlet Empress
31. Schindler's List
The Searchers
The Seven Samurai
32. Singin' in the Rain
33. Some Like It Hot
A Star Is Born
A Streetcar Named Desire
34. Sunset Boulevard
35. Taxi Driver
The Third Man
Tokyo Story
Touch of Evil
36. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Trouble in Paradise
37. Vertigo
38. West Side Story
The Wild Bunch
39. The Wizard of Oz


A few glaring omissions there in what I haven't seen.

Quick update

I'm feeling pretty much back to normal, so the antibiotics seemed to have done the trick. The occasional nose-blowing or remnant cough, but no big deal.

John arrived safely and it's really great to have him home again. We haven't really done much other than hang out at home, but we've both been tired, so resting is good.

I'm going to test drive 1 or 2 more cars before making my final car decision. Going to try and test drive another car tonight. I test drove the Pontiac G6 last Thursday night and I liked it, but John is correct when he says I need more to compare it to than just my current car. So I will try a couple more.

Feeling better

By the time Friday morning came around, my cold from hell felt as though it was moving down into my chest and getting worse. I was getting worse and not better, and I think it could have turned into pneumonia had I not gone to see a doctor. I went to the doctor on Friday and didn't have any trouble convincing her that I needed medication to get over this illness. Started the meds on Friday, just in time, I think. Too bad I hadn't been able to start them earlier in the week.

Yesterday I was feeling noticeably better, but as expected, that feeling lasted pretty much only when I was resting. Getting up to walk down the hall was tiring. These drugs are hefty and make you tired and weak. I skipped church yesterday on recommendation from my mother. I also had to miss Cinco, which really sucked because I feel like I don't get to see anyone anymore.

Today I am another notch better. My cough is sounding fairly weak compared to what it was. I am going to try and get a few things done today, including laundry. I may make a quick run to the grocery store, but that is as far as I want to venture.

Sneezing is good, right?

My cold has gone into sneezing stage. I am sneezing all over the place, steadily going through my box of Puffs Plus. If I had to talk all day, I would be coughing more. I took yesterday off as a sick day, as I did today, and will tomorrow as well. I've got to get well before John arrives next week.

At this point, I am not sure if I'm going to make it to Cinco de Mayo. I don't really want to sneeze & cough all over people who aren't sick. It will depend on my progress, and whether or not the doctor gives me any medication tomorrow.

In the meantime, I am catching up on a lot of TV. Makes me feel lazy, but I can't really do anything else. I've checked in with work but I am not working from home. I need the break from it so I can rest. Friday and Monday were stressful and I think one of the reasons why I've had this cold come back full-force.

At least the gunk is coming out of me rather than staying in me. I just hope it ends soon.

I give up

I'm getting worse again, so I called my doctor this morning.  She is normally booking into June 4th, but I caught a cancellation for this Friday.  I'm guessing I'll still be sick by then.

 

I need the codeine cough syrup.  Someone give me the codeine cough syrup.