Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Hick's Gotta Keep On Truckin'

A while back, Hick and I had an argument (I know, it's hard to believe, isn't it) about car vending machines. I told Hick he was crazy, that just because you see a commercial with a car vending machine doesn't mean there really IS such a thing! Seriously. Like that car insurance commercial with those annoying people (who look computer-generated to me) standing in front of the Statue of Liberty, when in reality there's nothing there for them to stand on at that location. You know, the current commercial with the bicycling dude with giant calf muscles.

Anyhoo... I was extremely disappointed when my research revealed that there really ARE car vending machines! Not only do I think that's really stupid, but it meant I had to concede that HICK WAS RIGHT and I was wrong. If that's not a sign heralding the apocalypse, I don't know what is! You'd think Hick could have been more gentlemanly about my unfortunate misinformation. Rather than bringing up the topic with the ex-mayor my sister's husband on a trip to the casino while I was held captive in the shotgun seat of A-Cad.

Anyhoo... on Tuesday, I thought of that car vending machine again, when I saw THIS:


Heh, heh! Now that's MY idea of a car vending machine. Not real cars. Just toys. Or models, as grown men call their toy cars. I didn't mention this to Hick, though. I didn't want to spoil his day by reminding him of that time HE WAS RIGHT, and I was wrong. Oh, wait...

No, I didn't want to bring up anything that would distract him in his state of euphoria sitting in the car dealer's office buying a new truck!

Okay, it was a USED new truck. Still. It was Hick's new grown-up toy. That's it, behind the mini car vending machine!


Ain't he a beauty? It's not leaking, and nobody took a pee there where that puddle is. That was water running out of the truck bed when the worker parked it there, according to Hick. I saw it online Monday night, showed Hick, and he went to drive it Tuesday morning before I was even out of bed. We've been casually looking, for about a year, for a replacement for the 1999 Ford F250 4WD Extended Cab Long Bed, which has 190,000 miles, some rust, performance issues, and has been with us for the majority of The Pony's life.

No, it's not NEW, new. However, a 2011 Chevy Silverado with 60,687 miles on it is nothing to sneeze at. It's a one-owner truck, from a local guy, who bought a NEW new truck on January 4th, and traded this one in. Has its owner's manual and everything. Another guy was going to buy it on Saturday. He'd completed all the paperwork, and was sitting in the office signing the loan papers when he said, "I don't think I want to stay at my job for five years. Never mind. I don't want it after all." I bet THAT guy would never have paid $1000 for shoe inserts at The Good Feet Store!

Hick is a bit hard-headed, and I don't blame him. The offers for his two trade-ins were $1303 for the F250, and $782 for the 2002 TrailBlazer. Hick told the guy, "No hard feelings, but I'll keep my trade-ins. I'd rather give them to somebody who needs them, like my neighbor Tommy, than give them to you for that price!" Hick came home, and was telling me this story. Also, that the salesman only came down $500 from the asking price. "We'll find another one."

I figure we were meant to have this truck. Nothing else has come close to being what we wanted. You know this one wouldn't last long. That's why I told Hick, "If you want it, go do it." Hick called the guy back, with another offer, and said that we would finance through the dealer if he could get us the rate our credit union offers. Another return call from the salesman, and we were off to start the paperwork at 1:00. I didn't notice until we were sitting in the office that Hick was wearing a bright red long-sleeve t-shirt. Isn't that cute? He was color-coordinated with his new truck! Just another sign that this one was meant for us.

Hick plans to park the F250 and the TrailBlazer up at his Storage Unit Store lot with a FOR SALE sign in the window. The owner lets people do that, if they have a storage unit there. Right now two campers are sitting out front.

I haven't yet settled on a name for the newest vehicular addition to our family, but I'm considering "SilverRedO."

12 comments:

  1. You survived the process!! We recently bought our own red vehicle recently and I was never so happy to survive my husband's search for a car. This had become an obsession for him.

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    1. We'd been casually looking. Online. A stealth visit to car lots after closing. No sense of urgency. When I saw this one, I knew it fit our needs.

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  2. I like the Big Red Dog. Or Dawg, if you're into the vernacular.

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    1. Like T-Hoe is a Tahoe, I figured this Silverado could become SilverRedO.

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  3. I like SilverRedO!

    I'm pretty sure I mentioned the car vending machine in a stupid headline a while back, wondering how long it would take to drop in 35,000 worth of quarters.

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    1. Yes, and that was the day after I discovered Hick was right! The Ex-Mayor says they give you a giant coin to put in the machine, once you've paid for the car.

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  4. That's a spiffy looking truck! Very nice. I really like the model cars vending machine though. I'd love to have one of those. My brother's grandson would have something to play with when he comes to visit. With his mum of course. five year olds don't ride the buses alone.

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    1. I don't think that's really a vending machine, but that's what it looked like to me. The CARVANA people should make a toy model! It would be good advertising, and I'm sure people would buy it for their kids.

      I think a five year old would love something like that. I'm pretty sure Hick would also like something like that.

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  5. I vote for Red Rider. I can see you heading to a casino in the new to you truck. And EWW! that guy with the big calf muscles.

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    1. Yes, that would be a good way to break it in! One of Hick's storage unit cronies said that the guy with the big calves has a spare tire around his middle. I'll look for that next time I see the commercial.

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  6. I like bright colors on vehicles. HeWho tends to get me bland colors like taupe or tan and they blend into the color of the road. People are always pulling out in front of me. I want to be seen! I keep telling him I would love a neon green vehicle. Red is good. Yellow is one of the first colors you notice in a car lot, this is why school buses and taxis are yellow Red is the next color, but I hear that red is the color that gets pulled over the most. I like the name! Linda's name is a good one, too. Me, I just call it my car and his truck.

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    1. I've had two yellow cars, and two red ones, both picked out by me. Oops! A-Cad is maroon, which is kind of red, too. Our Suburbans and Yukons and Tahoe have been silver and black. Nothing flashy, but they're a big car, like SiverRedO himself.

      I DID get pulled over several (!) times in my red cars. And yellow, too!

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