Eyes and the Car

Yesterday was busy.
First up was an eye appointment with my new Optometrist.  She had asked Dr. Kilmore to send her my records... well, he sent only the last 2 visits.  She has no idea how high the pressure was in my eyes prior to my laser surgery.  Right now I put one drop in one eye.  The pressure in that eye is around 17.  The untreated eye has a pressure of 21.  That's below the pressure used to diagnose Glaucoma.  So, I'm stopping the drop in one eye so we can see how high that pressure goes.  Makes one wonder if I really needed those expensive drops Kilmore prescribed.
And, of course, I also picked up my new car.

You can see my old, plastic Nova checkbook in my pocket!  That's an antique!

It's metallic gray (really sparkly) with a gray leather interior.  Brindle Boxers don't go well with black leather.  Faulkner took $3K off of the MSRP/  Not quite down to the Kelly Blue Book price, but a lot better than the initial cost.  It comes with 'remote start' for those cold mornings.  There's an app which will let me start it up, and turn on the defroster.  Nice.  And, in case you're wondering, I'm not going to name it.  It's an inanimate object.  I didn't name either on of my bikes, and I love those babies.

The only hit I took was getting rid of the Rogue.  Leasing was great since I never had to worry about the mileage.  However, low lease payments don't decrease the $$ owed.  Trade-in value was $9 less than Kelly Blue Book trade-in quote.  That's not bad.  Still, there was a balance due and the trade-in didn't quite cover that balance.  I could have always turned in the car.  They prefer you to either buy out the lease, or an other, and so make the disposition expensive.  Turning in the Rogue would have been even more expensive.  I knew going in this was a bullet I would have to bite.

If you look to the right, you can see the algae growing on my neighbor's garage

Believe me, it's much better to take this hit now rather then pay lease payments for the rest of my life.  Now the payments begin.  I plan on having it paid off in 3 to 3.5 years.

Skill Sets

Welcome to my Saturday, the last day of my work week.  I am so looking forward to my three days off... in a row.
There's a clinic at the store today - Installing a Tile Floor.  Originally I had been slated to helm this public training session - until I told them I didn't know a damn thing about installing a tile floor.  Clinics are a great way to give the public some rudimentary skills, but at our store customers want a 'hands on' training session, which normally runs for at least 2 hours.  I have never laid a tile floor in my life.  Watching a 'how to' video several times is not going to provide me with a skill set I do not possess.  If I were to decide to have a tile floor installed in my kitchen, I would pay someone to do it.  So... I told them I wasn't going to do the clinic.  So... they went to the Flooring Supervisor and asked if he was up the the challenge.  His response:  "are you freaking nuts?  I don't know anything about installing tile!"  The clinic is now being run by one of our appliance / plumbing / flooring guys.  He's managed this type of clinic before.  I suspect he will now become our 'tile clinic guy.'
An update on my progress through "Assassin's Creed, Odyssey" - I've just been to the Oracle at Delphi, which is pretty neat.  I once wrote a short story about a modern day man who visits the Temple at Delphi and for a while begins to prophesize.  I did a couple of hours research on the Oracle and Ubisoft seems to have got the layout down perfectly.  Their only misstep was in having the Pythia in a large room.  Historically, it seems, she was in a small, basement room lit only by oil lamps... lots of oil lamps, sitting on a three legged stool over a fissure from which fumes burbled upward. 

That's right, experts are fairly certain she was gassed most of the time.  I wonder how she listed that skill set on her resume.
And thanks to some outstanding Customer Service from the manager of Faulkner Subaru in Mechanicsburg, it looks like I will definitely be picking up my new Crosstrek on Monday.  The paper signing should begin a little after 11 in the morning.  I'm actually beginning to get excited.  I've been leasing for so long, the idea of purchasing is a bit invigorating.  Sure, there will be monthly payments, but I'm making those now and they purchase nothing but time.  In a few years, the loan will be paid off and I will 'own.'
Finally, my friend Steve asked out my book sales were doing.  He was surprised when I told him I wasn't tracking them.  I told him that at this point there is not too much I can really do... except start on the next one, which takes place in Paris during the last few stages of the Tour de France. 

Bad Times

Monday, Monday, Monday.  Some of you begin your work week.  This is my 2nd day off, of course then I am going to have to work for 5 days, but then I have 3 off.
I went to see "Bad Times at the El Royale," last evening.  I enjoyed it... immensely, and not because Chris Hemsworth is either shirtless, or has his shirt unbuttoned when ever he's on screen.  I'm sure a lot of people will go see this movie because of that.  If you're one of them be prepared, he plays against type.  This is the story of 7 people who show up at a seedy motel on the outskirts of Lake Tahoe.  Sometimes they are good, sometimes they are bad.  Sometimes the bad people make the right decisions, and sometimes the good people make bad choices.  There are twists and turns along the way.  Cynthia Ervio has a standout performance as Darlene Sweet, a backup singer who wants to be a star.  I wouldn't be surprised if you hear her name, and that of Jeff Bridges during award season.

And I've been looking at new cars.  I'm going to buy this one, rather than lease.  As I get older, having a car payment is not something I want, so purchasing is my best option.  Color is very important.  Colors I absolutely will not drive:  black, white, silver or blue.  Interior color needs to be geared towards dogs.  I had a CR-V with black interior and I had to wipe it down every time I took the dogs somewhere.  I can be very particular at times.  One of the Subaru dealerships I've been working with has a gray Crosstrek with a light gray interior.  That will work.  So, I sent them an email.  We will have to see how things pan out.
Finally, my brother posed a picture of that Crazy Christian minister Turkey released just in time for the midterms.  This minister is supposed to be praying with the Idiot Jerk in the White House, however, he's kneeling in front of the Idiot Jerk.  I think this is what they call Evangelical Porn.

November

Here it is Friday.  Payday for me.  I like payday.  Money in the bank, you know?
About a month ago I had stopped in at the Subaru dealership to check out the 2019 Crostreks.  I was told they wouldn't be arriving until... November.  Last week an old Navy friend of mine posted on Facebook how his wife was picking up her new car the next day... a 2019 Crosstrek.  Being the curious type, I went to my dealer's website... and they have 175 2019 Crosstreks in stock.  Hhhmmm.  The 'sales professional' I'd been talking to had promised to notify me when their 2019 stock would be available.  I haven't heard anything.  Of course, he had wanted to sell me a 2018.  I'm sure they still have a number of last year's models in their inventory.  Still, a sale is a sale, isn't it?  Anyway, I've decided to wait until they offer 0% financing.  Then I will look over their online inventory, pick the one I want, and drive 25 minutes to Apple Subaru in York.  I will go through them.  Give them the sale.  I'm thinking I like the Cinnamon color.

Isn't it interesting how the Republican leadership has remained mum on the Manafort and Cohen?  Of course they can't say anything, they're still trying to swallow back that vomit they all burped up.  One might suspect they, like Cohen, are debating with themselves as to whether they will take a bullet to support the Idiot Jerk in the White House.  Cohen didn't.  Trey Gowdy didn't.  Paul Ryan said "fuck that shit... I'm going to go do some naked yoga," (pictures at 11).  And what about that douche named Duncan out in California?  Both he and his wife have been indicted.  They used campaign funds to pay for vacations.  What did you expect from a Republican who supports the Idiot Jerk?  And they can't get him off the ballet... too late.  Oops. He's not even going to get a chance to take a bullet for the Idiot Jerk.  I wonder if he's in a plea deal yet.  Bet he blames it all on his wife way before November arrives.  No doubt, just like me, he's waiting for the 2019's to show up.
November is going to be a very sparkling month.
This is how life works.