I have survived the great sinus infection of 2009. I'm still sneezing, hacking, coughing and blowing my nose at an alarming pace, but at least the pain is gone and that is all that matters to me now. I am not kidding. I have never been so miserable. I was IN BED for a week. In pain. At least once a day I would break down in tears because I didn't think I could take it anymore. Needless to say I didn't much feel like writing, because it probably would have been 100% complaining. I know I usually do that anyway, but at least normally I can kinda be funny.

So one of my very first outings since my near-death experience has been the dreaded task of car shopping. Yes, my friends, the time is come that the old Trailblazer is getting heave-ho and I'm going to move onto smaller and better things. We went to 3 or 4 dealerships yesterday and I got to test drive a few prospects. It was then that I realized I have a problem.

USUALLY I haaaaaaaate car salesmen. Like with a burning passion. They are harrassing, pushy and generally talk to me like I have a learning disability. But yesterday, things were different. They were nice. They were kind. They were respectful. They were FUNNY. They...made me...like them. (gasp.)

I have two theories. 1) I live in a place that people are just flipping nice all the time, there is no getting around it. BUT, I'm going to go with my #2 theory, because this IS car salesment we're talking about here-- they are desperate. Desperate doesn't even begin to describe it. In fact, at the Mazda dealership, I am quite certain they would have broken out into show tunes right there on the showroom floor had I requested a special performance of Cats or Hairspray to get me in the "buying mood".

Anyway- back to my problem. It's like I formed a little bond with all of them. I wanted to help them. I wanted to help them make a little money and possibly keep their job. I mean, let's face it, it's got to suck big balls right now to be a car salesman. Anyway- it's just easier when you hate them and want to make them bleed by getting every single penny out of the deal that you can. (I still have to do THAT. Times are tough, people.)

So far, the front runner is this little beauty:



The problem is, the one that they had available in my price range, was this one:



In the picture it looks pretty blue, right? I mean...it's not offensive or anything. Just blue. But in reality, out in the daylight, that mo fo is BLUE. And it's bad. It's like staring directly at the sun, if the sun were blue. My exact words were "I love this car, but there is no way on earth that I would EVER buy this color. Ever." You'd think that would pretty much solidify my opinion on the situation, right? Wrong. These guys are goooood. They even got the General Manager involved (who would have surely joined in on the chorus line) on trying to sell me this blue devil. My favorite line of the entire day had to have been "but it's lovely...it's just like the color of your eyes! They would match!"

Oh for f's sake. It matches my eyes?? I said "yes and if it was a shirt I might be interested (not), but it's a CAR. I don't need a car to match my eyes." 

Anyway. No matter which car I end up buying, I have this guilty feeling that I am betraying my other new "friends". Can't I just buy 4?

ps I know I still owe a cruise update. I will do that soon, when I get some pictures ready.