A new car!

Well, new to me. It's a 2007 Toyota Corolla. Please don't fall asleep while reading this. Yes, I know it's the most boring car on the face of the Earth, but to me that's its biggest advantage. It's a stealth car. Since it's so nondescript, no one really sees it. While driving to the dealer, I wanted to point one out to the children as an example, and I couldn't find one. It's one of the best selling cars in America for 20 years, and I could find a single one on the road. Most likely, dozens surrounded me, but I saw right past them.

Since I remain completely comfortable with my nerdiness, I have nothing to prove to anyone by purchasing a flashy car. I simply wouldn't be happy driving a nice car. As it is, it's hard to believe that I finally own a car that doesn't leak anything. Let's catalogue my former cars:

• 1972 Plymouth Valiant - the AK-47 of cars; only six moving parts (two of which are wood)
• 1981 Ford Mustang - not a good Mustang year
• 1985 Toyota Corolla - not too proud to drive Mom's old car, and nearly to 200k miles
• 1988 Subaru wagon - I had the only one not plastered with PETA stickers
• 1988 Honda Accord - I got rid of it just in time

Evidently I only buy cars made in years in which we had a Republican president.

It was hard for me to find an acceptable vehicle, despite my obvious indifference to style. In addition to an upper price limit, my only non-negotiable criterion was that the vehicle have a manual transmission. This factor alone excludes me from 90% of the used car market. My sad devotion to that ancient technology is my way to rage against the dying of an automotive light. In addition, it's also an anti-theft device. The Richmond market is terrible, BTW. I had to go all the way to Stafford to find what I wanted. It's a former lease vehicle, so it was dealer-maintained. The only real option was cruise control, which is nice.

Sadly, it also had a blue car tree, which gave it a hideous stench. Why do people buy those horrible things? The real problem is that no one reads the label. You're supposed to leave it in the bag, and pull down the bag to expose one branch per week, but everyone takes it completely out of the bag. Therefore, you get 10x more noxious fumes than intended. I handed the item back to the dealer before I left, and ran with all four windows open until I had ventilated properly.

I also have an electronic key fob for the first time in my life. Weird.