Yesterday, I took some time off from work to go to the bank to work out financing deals. Apparently, asking for a loan to finance car repairs just isn't enough money to bother with writing a loan application, so David and I put some other debts and the purchase price of a commuter car all together, and suddenly we were on the way to the approval process. After we left the bank, we picked up Charlotte and then drove to test drive the smart car. I really like it, and it'll be coming home with us in a couple months. We're buying it from a tennis friend of David's, and even though it is practically new (Jim has only had it for a few months), it already has a nickname and a personality (Jim corrected me when I referred to the girl as a "she." Apparently it's a "he" and his name is The Bruiser).I was driving home, thinking that perhaps buying a small commuter car wasn't exactly wise just as we are heading into the snowy season, when I'll need to drive the jeep more often any way. We had just filled up the gas tank in Roanoke, and were ignoring the 3.99 we paid per gallon, figuring it was just anticipatory price gouging because of Hurricane Ike. As I drove past the gas station in New Castle, I almost had to pull over: regular gasoline had already climbed to $4.85, with midgrade at $5.15.
If this is what happens when a hurricane hits on the other side of the country, what is going to happen when we all start using home heating oil?
Suddenly, the timing of a purchase of a 45 MPG commuter car didn't seem silly at all.
Graeme spent the night at a friend's house, his first-ever sleepover, and a much anticipated event. I spoke with the friend's mother this morning, and discovered Graeme had informed her he would be staying "the whole weekend." Uh, no.
We picked Graeme up, despite his best efforts to convince us it was fine to leave him, and the boys and David are heading to Old Salem Days while I make up the time I was out. There is a demo by Ethan's karate school. Ethan isn't on the demonstration team as yet, but he did manage to get a new stripe on Friday.
