Saturday, December 31, 2016

Replacing the poomobile

The poomobile was totaled in the accident on December 23. Once Progressive alerted me that they were going to pay it out, I had 72 hours to give up the rental vehicle or I would be forced to pay for the rental out of my own wallet.

I had to find a new (to me) vehicle, and pronto.

I have spent an extraordinary amount of time and effort improving my credit in the last couple of years and it ended up paying off in what turned out to be essentially an emergency situation. I easily qualified for a new loan.

I went shopping at Mercedes Benz of Tucson. I didn't have plans to buy a new Mercedes (I don't make that kind of money). But, they have a fantastic selection of used cars and I'm acquainted with Natasha Rogerson, one of the salespersons at the dealership. She was a guest on the tv show a few years ago and we're friends on Facebook.

Four hours at the dealership from start to finish and a hug later, I drove off in a 2014 Volkswagen Jetta GLI Autobahn. The experience of purchasing a vehicle there was amazing. I've had the vehicle several days now and the car has exceeded every expectation I had.

I have asked for suggestions on Facebook as to what name it should get. I've had interesting suggestions like Black Beauty, Black Stallion, and the funniest one was Melenamobile. Melena is the condition where there's blood in your stool and it turns your poo black. (It can also happen after taking an over the counter medication like Pepto Bismol). Kind of a take off of poomobile. I haven't decided yet but that's currently my favorite choice.

2014 Cadillac, one of the vehicles I considered.
It's a beautiful car but the interior is a bright yellow/tan color
and it's kind of obnoxious

2015 Jeep Renegade, another vehicle I considered
It's a nice little truck but Jeeps don't have the best
reputation for being reliable

I looked at this 2014 Chrysler 300
It's a gigantic car, I felt it was too large for me

2014 Volkswagen Jetta GLI Autobahn
Winner!

Sitting at Natasha's desk while she went to the sales manager's office

A few of the new Mercedes in the showroom
wrapped in gift bows for the holidays

Cars in matte finishes are all the rage these days.
This new Mercedes is $137,000

They have their own water!

This stunning new Mercedes convertible
has a sticker price of only $250,000.
For that price, it should do sexual things to me while I drive.

Coffee spilled on Natasha's desk.
It's fake!

Swag bag I got from Natasha

The Jetta has lights on the dash that I have never seen
including that round green light which is actually a shoe
in the middle, which means push on the brake pedal
before pushing the keyless start button.
DRL indicates Daytime Running Lights are on.

The Jetta at my house, front view.

The Jetta's butt

The Jetta has a really big trunk.
I could put several adult bodies in there.

Interior, and because it's sunny it looks grey in the photo
but it's actually black.

Back seat, the red stitching is part of the accent
that comes with the Autobahn package

Jetta, side view.
I'm back in business thanks to Natasha and Mercedes Benz of Tucson!
Vroooooooom!

Thursday, December 29, 2016

Final goodbye to the poomobile

I had to hunt down the poomobile after the accident to get the license plate off the car as well as make sure I had all of the items I own out of the car.

I ended up after several stops at Insurance Auto Auction on east Irvington. They brought the car out on a forklift for me to go through. It's officially totaled but fortunately for me, the insurance company for the guy that caused the accident will pay what the car is worth and gap insurance will cover the rest.

This is the Chevy Trax I had for a few days as a rental
from Enterprise Rent-A-Car

Sitting in the waiting area at Insurance Auto Auction
for them to retrieve the poomobile so I could get the
license plate and other items from the car

One last look at the crash damage to the poomobile.
It looks like the collision estimators made marks on the car
to indicate the areas that sustained damage.
They had to put plastic wrap on the top to keep rain out
as well as a big piece of tape to keep the trunk closed

Squiggles seem to indicate where the body buckled
in areas forward of the trunk

The car is going to be sold for salvage.
Goodbye poomobile, you were nice reliable transportation
around Tucson and for our trip to Vegas
in the summer of 2016

Sunday, December 25, 2016

Christmas Day 2016

Anthony and I went to Patty's (his mom) for Christmas brunch. Anthony's aunts (Lisa and Joann) and his brother Michael and Serena (Michael's girlfriend) were also there.

More presents and a delicious meal.

Joann and Anthony

Serena and Michael

Patty, Serena, Michael, Joann

Some of the eats

Bacon!
Woohoo!

View looking north from Patty's back door

When you push the button it plays Schroder's theme

Kitchen-ing

My brunch food

Eating action photo

Another eating action photo

Anthony's dressed for winter

Haaaaaaaaaaay

Anthony's operating my camera now...
Lisa, Patty, Michael

Stud... muffin

No, I didn't fart although you would never guess
based on the looks on their faces

Michael does this funny voice as "Father Christmas"

Father Christmas is thirsty

Father Christmas with the Christmas tree

Serena and Father Christmas

Time to hand out presents

Patty's excited about this gift

Opening a gift card

Patty, Anthony, Serena, Michael

Anthony and I got her a Nook e-reader

"I'll show you how to use it"

Woohoo! Olive Oil!

My view of everyone

"So, you push this and this happens"

Meanwhile, back at our house....
Lucky chews on Santa.