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Das Auto
We made a rather large purchase on Thursday. We bought a 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI “clean diesel”. You see, the lease is almost up on our Saturn, but we were going to wait to purchase one when we used up the miles. However, there is a 6-9 month waiting list in this area for the TDI. We were on the list, but we anticipated using up the lease’s miles in a couple of months, and we didn’t really want to be without a second vehicle for a long time (Wanda and I have chronic tardiness issues in the morning, so carpooling yields mixed results). We were looking at used TDIs, but you don’t save much on buying a used one because of supply issues, so we thought it would make sense to buy new (even thought we vowed never to buy a new vehicle again, we seem to keep failing that resolution).
Apparently, Van Dyn Hoven Imports had an extra one come in, and they called people on the list to see who wanted it, first come, first serve. It was probably a naughty purchase because we’ll have 3 vehicles for a couple of months, but at least I’ll have a car right away when I use up the Vue. It’s white, which we generally don’t like as a car color, but the Jetta doesn’t look too bad in white, so we pulled the trigger.
Driving it is like making sweet love. It’s a turbo-charged diesel with a lot of torque, so it’s pretty zippy. It also gets in the low 40′s for mileage on the highway. Satellite radio, in-dash 6-disc changer/mp3/aux input, V-Tex upholstery, seat warmers, bluetooth, moon roof, and standard smugness upgrades. They recommend oil changes every 10,000 miles (which I wasn’t aware of), and we get free maintenance (oil changes, etc) for 3 years. And for those who care, it meets Tier 2/Bin 5 emission standards.
I wish our Saturn lease was up…
We also saw the new Volkswagen CC hotness while at the dealer, which makes Bryant Gumbel look like Malcolm X. Too bad they don’t make a diesel version for the U.S. (yet).
November 8th, 2008 
Tags: No Air in Oshkosh
Today I drove down to West Bend to help my sister-in-law’s boyfriend move his stuff into their apartment. When I got to Oshkosh, I remembered that one of my tires was very low on air pressure, so I decided to fill it. I ended up going to SIX different gas stations looking for air.
I went to a Shell station first, which had a broken pump. I then went to a BP nearby and discovered some guy was unloading a truckload of tires and checking the air in each. I didn’t want to wait for him. I got back on the highway and took the next exit. I went to some Open Pantry first – no air. Then I went to a Mobil station nearby. They had air, but it was $0.50 for 5 minutes. I had 55 cents with me – one quarter and three dimes. I inserted the quarter then the dimes. The dimes kept falling out. At that point I noticed it only took quarters, and there was no coin return, so I lost my original quarter and also still could not get air. WHO CHARGES FOR AIR ANYWAY?
I finally gave up since I was sick of hunting and my wife was getting increasingly annoyed at me being off schedule. When I got to Fond Du Lac, I decided to give it another shot. I took the first exit that looked like it might have gas stations. I found another Mobile – no air. I then drove to my 6th gas station, a Kwik Trip, and they had a free, working compressor. Yay!
Conveniently, I discovered that my tire pressure gage has gone missing from my vehicle, but the tire was obviously quite low, so I just filled it up to where it “looked good” and figured I would do it right later.
On the bright side, moving the belongings went smoothly, and they treated me to a Prime Rib Ranchero at Quiznos. It was absolutely delicious (though very spicey and expensive).
New Jeep
We bought a new vehicle this past weekend. It’s a 2007 Jeep Commander, 4.7L V8, silver. Some time ago, we vowed not to buy new vehicles anymore because they depreciate too quickly. Our Oldsmobile was having troubles starting, and it burned a lot of oil. We had been planning on getting a new vehicle within the next year, so we decided to stop at the Jeep dealer to do a test drive in the snow (to see how it handled). We had no intention of buying a vehicle that day, but being last year’s model, it was an incredible deal. It actually cost us less than our Saturn Vue, which is half the vehicle. I wanted a truck, but Wanda always wanted a Jeep, so we compromised and got a Jeep (just kidding dear!). I’m looking forward to towing the boat with it this summer. The FWD Vue sometimes struggled pulling it out of the water.
Wanda primarily gets to drive it, and she loves it. I had been driving the Oldsmobile, while Wanda had the Vue for awhile. It’s good to have the Vue back. However, the Olds was paid off. It sucks having two car payments again! We had been saving up though, so we were able to put a substantial amount of money toward a down payment. Also, the insurance on it is surprisingly low.
Long Day
It was a long day – I worked until 11:00pm today. I was excited to get home, but thought I would hit up McDonald’s for their “two fillets-o-fish for $3″ lent deal thingy. On my way, I hit a pointless detour. There was a cop on the side of the road with some bloke, and he (the cop) had placed several unnecessary road flares on the road. Not sure why he felt blocking both lanes for a simple traffic stop was necessary, but I took the detour nonetheless.
Unfortunately, anyone familiar with the Appleton area knows that detouring Hwy 441 to get from the North side to the South side requires driving through town, through many red lights (gotta stop those College Avenue cruisers!). Doh!
I finally arrived at McDonald’s #1 (Memorial Drive). It was closed. I then took 441 Northbound to McDonald’s #2 (Calumet St). I went through the drive-through and began to order. “Two fillets-o-fish, please,” to which the lackey behind the speaker replied, “I’m sorry sir, we’re on our late night menu now.” What the hell does that mean, and what exactly is on the McDonald’s “late-night menu”? I see a breakfast menu, and a lunch/supper menu, but I see no “late-night menu.” Annoyed, I drove off to McDonald’s #3 (College Ave). It, too, was closed. What the hell? Those third-shift folks must be awfully skinny.
Frustrated and desparate to eat, I went to trusty ol’ Taco Bell. It was open, of course. I ordered the usual, and they didn’t even screw up my order this time!
In the end, I went home, ate my dinner, and watched King of the Hill before retiring to bed.
Lottery
I see the Powerball jackpot is up to $240 million now. I usually buy a Wisconsin Lottery ticket whenever I get gas. I know, “the lottery is for those who are bad at math,” but you certainly can’t win if you don’t try, plus it’s sorta fun. 
I very rarely play Powerball because the odds are way too high. I’d rather have a tiny chance at winning $30,000 than a near zero chance of winning millions. For this reason, I usually play Badger 5. Hell, there’s a 1 in 7 chance you can win your $1 back, which I’ve done several times. I even won $50 about a month ago, which more than payed for my tickets this year (Doh, only one number a way from paying off my home equity loan!).
When the Badger 5 jackpot is low, I’ll occasionally play SuperCash, which has a fixed jackpot of $250,000. However, the odds aren’t nearly as good and I haven’t won my dollar back very often. The Wisconsin Lottery is cool because if you collect $5 worth of losing tickets you can play their Super 2nd Chance drawing for $1000. I haven’t won that one yet, though. 
Do you play the lottery? If so, which drawings and why?
***Update***
Well, someone in Oregon one the Big One. $340 million bones. I still think the odds of Powerball are a little silly, even before they made them more difficult to win. I was listening to WTAQ this morning and the morning commentators bought something like 120 tickets between them, and didn’t hit the Powerball number (which alone pays $3) on one of them. I’ll stick with my Badger 5, me thinks. I hear they’re also increasing the Supercash jackpot from $250k to $350k.
With this ring I thee wed…
Well, we did it. Wanda and I got married on the 4th of July of this year. We just got back from spending a week in Jamaica where we got married at the Beaches Boscobel resort. It was a lot of fun, although the weather was very hot and the Jamaican people have no sense of punctuality. How ironic it is that on the eve of our country’s independence I gave up mine. Pictures will be coming soon after I get them organized and posted.
Update: Our wedding pictures are finally online!
Wedding Fun
For those of you who don’t know, Wanda and I are getting married the 4th of July of this year at Beaches Boscobel in Jamaica. We are really excited! On a related note, we had Kevin’s bachelor party last night. A good time was had by all – especially Kevin. One more week until his wedding!
Bathroom Social Time
Why is it people feel the need to talk to me while I’m peeing? It has gotten so bad I’ve been forced to seek alternate bathrooms at work so I don’t run into people who want to chat. The other day I was going to the bathroom when a giant leech latched on to me. Even though there were partitions between us, he started talking about work. When we were finished, he continued talking. So I got stuck in the bathroom having an irrelevant chat about work (not a functional chat, but more like gossip and off-the-wall commentary). Not exactly one of my favorite topics.
Note to world: I don’t like to socialize while I’m urinating.
LEGO Mindstorms Rubik’s CubeSolver
Recently I was made aware of JP Brown’s Serious LEGO web site. Most impressively, he describes how he created a Rubik’s CubeSolver robot out of LEGO Mindstorm parts. It’s simply amazing what some people are capable of while others feel compelled to compete for this year’s Darwin award. Oh the humanity!
The Matrix
If you haven’t seen it yet, check out The Meatrix. Even if you don’t believe in animal rights, it’s still a neat animation.
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