Aug 11, 2008

Gotta love that new car smell

This weekend, I picked up my new car. It's a maroon '06 Chevy HHR, and oh, how I love it.

Perhaps my perspective is a bit askew, here. I've been driving a 2-ton pickup for a year and a half, with a tape deck, vinyl seats and no air conditioning. Now, I'm in a car with leather, A/C, CD player, sunroof, keyless entry, remote start...all the bells and whistles. I fear I'm going a little mad with power.

When I really think about it, the only perk the truck had over the new car was extra leg room. However, everything worthwhile in life requires a little bit of sacrifice.

I'm buying this car from my folks, or more to the point the BANK is buying from my folks and I'm buying it from the bank. This is my first major purchase in five years that wasn't a verbal contract. On the upside, this is gonna work wonders for my credit. On the downside, it's gonna be much harder to sweet-talk an extension from my debtors.

This means that the budget is gonna be stretched thinner than usual. I'm gonna try to float by for a few months with all of the perks I've grown accustomed to, like cable TV, name-brand cereal and a social life. One thing that's definitely gotta go is the smoking. I'm quitting on August 18, the day after my birthday.

Why not just quit now? Well, because I want to enjoy my birthday to its fullest without having to battle will power the whole frickin' day. Another reason is because i started smoking after a special occasion (Y2K, long story), and I'm gonna quit it after a big occasion. I also plan to quit with the same brand that i started with: Camel Red Lights. Yep, I'm that much of a graphic designer that I chose my brand of smokes by the cool packaging.

This is gonna be a trip; a life-changing experience. An exercise in discipline, and a long-overdue one. Let's see how this goes

2 comments:

The Drakes said...

Congratulation on the new vehicle! I looked for you on I-40 :). Good Luck on the quitting smoking. Give us any tips that work. I love my cigarettes, and could not stand to think with parting with them.

Nathan McKinney said...

This country isn't divided by red and blue, it's smoking vs. non smoking. I have always been on the non smoking end of the stick. I hate smoking. With an asthmatic spouse, I hate it now more than ever. Models are cute, until they light up. Cool guys are cool, until they light up. Smart people look pretty freaking stupid with a cigarette.

I know that this point of view pisses off all the smokers in the world, but as long as smokers have the right to kill themselves over something as stupid as cigarettes and pollute my air in the process, I intend to feel this way.

That having been said. Good luck quitting. You have always been a cool guy in my eyes and I have a ocean full of respect for you, but that will improve greatly when you quit that dumb-ass habit.

Oh, and kudos on the new vehicle.