Upside Down
My life has been upside down the last few weeks. It’s so unsettled I can't remember the date it started, only the moment a deer came out of the grass and my car knocked it into next week. The deer and my car both went to their final resting places. Losing a car is a bad deal for a single old guy living in the country. My insurance company gave me a rental, but you can’t walk to the corner grocery store and buy a car so the rental runs out before the new car will get here.
As life experiences go, buying a car under duress is one of the worst partly because buying a car in general is a horrible experience. The price of a car is only revealed to you after two or three hours of mental gymnastics because the sticker price is only the beginning of your torment as you discover fees and add-ons and endless badgering about financing.
I dipped my toe into those waters this week because I thought I’d found a deal only to discover the hidden fees and that everyone is selling the same car for the same price. So I went back, hat in hand, to a no-haggle dealer I’ve frequented in the past, and he found me a car. The price will be the price, and I’ll have wheels once again. Of course, I still get to kick myself for not using him in the first place but I’m an adult learner, and I’ll just chalk this up to experience, although I’m beginning to doubt I’ve ever learned anything. Every time I think I’m smart, I realize I’m still dumb as a stump.