Writing was a bust for both Monday and Tuesday. Monday I got an early call from Steve Beck and yesterday I got an early call from Connie Morgan. That's the first time she has initiated contact with me since 1995, at least. Almost 21 years. I hurt so bad for so long that it's funny now. I feel almost nothing about any of that. I just know that whatever was bothering her had absolutely nothing to do with me. To be sitting here writing about this and feeling so calm and balanced about it is amazing to me. I must really have done my homework well!
Connie and I met for dinner last night after dropping off Joe's lamp at ARtZone 208. We ate at Sockeye, the place that fired Mark. I don't go there often but sometimes it's just the choice because it's handy. We had a good dinner and the chat was fairly light. I didn't know that she had been born in LA, El Monte, she said, or that her family had lived down there working with Pep and Colleen after they moved down. Well, no wonder my mother went down, too! Of course she would. But when did she do that? Connie said her folks went back to Baker in 1955, right after she was born. That must be when PeeWee got the job with Dubey Ranch (I don't know how to spell that name).
Well, that was interesting. I took off on Google and read about ranches for sale in Eastern Oregon. There's one in Baker, The Salmon Ranch. almost 42 acres in the foothills, right up against the treeline and six miles from town. $650,000 is all. Wow! But I didn't find out anything about the Dubey Ranch in Keating. I posted a question on FB for Jane Ross and Mike Morrisey, those guys ought to know something. So I'll find out more later.
Another thing I'm trying to decide is if I want to buy a new car right now or soon. I went and test drove a Fiat yesterday --- that's the car I keep thinking about the past few years. I can get a brand new one with everything I want on it for $12,000. It's a 5 speed, so it will be good on gas and easily set up to pull behind an RV. What I don't know is, how expensive are they to fix. I haven't had an import car since I bought the Starlet in Hermiston the summer of 1981 just before I drove down to Hanford to move in with John. More then once he commented on the fact that I showed up at his house with a leased car and a few boxes of stuff. I think it still rankles him that I made off with so much of his stuff and his money after a 20 year marriage. I don't think he ever believed I earned any of it. But then, what he thinks of me is none of my business any longer. And that is such good news!
I do like the idea of a new car. My insurance will only go up $25 a month and I'll still keep Sybil. I can keep her for the rest of my life and that's such a relief! I checked on Kelly Blue Book and right now she's only worth about $1000 as she sits. Which is sad. But she runs and drives great and still looks good, so she's worth more than that to me. I sure have gotten my money's worth, that's for sure! And yet there's a part of me that would love to have a new car. Is that the part of me that wants to be distracted from the job at hand? The job of doing all the boring writing it will take to put a book together?
I feel like I need to finish my debt consolidation first. I paid off the Sears card since they sent me checks to transfer a balance for 0% for a year or 3.99% for 20 months. I plan to transfer the balance from the Capital One card, which is stupid high interest, and then get it paid off that time frame. The Wells Fargo card is back up to over $800 now with the charge for the furnace repairs but those rates are low, 6.99% for the first one and 5.99% for the new charge. I paid $1.88 in interest on it last month. I can continue to pay $50 a month just like I've been doing and have it paid off in about 18 months or close to it. I can then pay $150 a month on the Sears card have that paid off in about 15 months. So I'm freeing up about $200 a month that I was paying on credit cards and that could go towards a new car. But I don't want to be in debt with a car for the next five years! AND I don't know if I would even qualify for a low enough interest rate to make it worth while. If I wait and save more money, I wouldn't have to finance so much and I could get a better rate.
I'm good at putting off buying a new car. I've been putting it off for over ten years now and just think of all the money I've saved!
Well, this has been fun, discussing the pros and cons of buying a new car. Nice to get it out of my head and onto paper. I named the blue Fiat already so I know I'd like to have it --- BeeBop or BB, the Blueberry BeeBop car. No more four doors, though. The back seat would be difficult to access. No more picking up hitchhikers, although I haven't done that in years. But it gets great gas mileage and it's solid on the snow, got a nice wide wheel base. My bike rack would fit, too, I checked that out yesterday. So now I'm sitting on the fence --- I'm 50/50 about buying that car. If it's just a distraction, I should be able to work through it, but I have been thinking about a blue Fiat for over two years.
I know! I'll think about it again later! Yaaaay! Bye for now ~
No comments:
Post a Comment