Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Party Like It's 1999

Retail gas prices keep falling. It's crazy. I paid $1.45 for regular unleaded when I filled up yesterday. This morning I saw $1.39 at Conoco. That's like 1999 prices. At this rate, I would be a fool for not buying that new Hummer after all. The only question that remains is H1 or H2? The H3 is for wussies. I'm a purist, so I'm thinking H1.

Speaking of car stuff, I just spent bushels of money on my convertible. It went in for an oil change and malfunctioning horn recently. You would think the horn would be covered under warranty, but it wasn't. $1100 later, I have a car that looks the same as it did the day it went in for service. However, the next day, I lowered my top and the rear window rips. $1200 later I have a new convertible top. At least that gave me a clear rear window that I can now see out of, instead of the glaucomic view I previously had. I was told by the dealer that my tires were old and needed to be replaced - at a cost of $1500. Ha! I thought. But an examination of the rear tires told me the dealer was right and the treads were too thin to pass inspection. Off I went to Costco. The cost? - $1200. It's probably the only time I'll ever wish I had the 16" wheels instead of the 18's. At least the new top arrived in time to prevent the freezing rain from entering my cockpit last night.

$3500 total. Sheesh! Kate tells me I could have purchased a lightly used Pontiac Grand Am for that amount. Truth is, I could have purchased 2 Grand Ams. A red one for those sporty days, and a white one for when I want to be more discrete. I think I would favor the red one. Why be discrete when you have a G-Am. Exactly.



1 comment:

Emily Sue Orrick said...

Yikes Alvin...reading about your car expenses makes me appreciate my lovely company caravan more than ever!