New Ride

Posted on January 8, 2011 by Jill

So before Christmas, I finally bit the bullet and traded in the Jillmobile.

It needed to be done – I was getting tired of taking her into the shop every few weeks… Not to mention, the cost.

I think I would have liked to get another pickup, but when I saw the price of used ones, I knew that was out of the question. I went with my next best option: an SUV. They can haul pretty much what I need from Home Depot, they can pull a trailer and are priced much more reasonably. After much research, I had narrowed down what I would have preferred, but discovered that what looks good in reviews doesn’t necessarily match real life.

I ended up getting a Jeep Liberty. It’s still old, but it has a lot less miles than my Dakota had. It had a few issues, but the place I bought it from is being good about taking care of them. All-in-all, I am pretty happy with it so far. There’s not as much room in the back as I had with my pickup, but I love the way it handles in the snow. The inside is really well laid out – it’s very roomy and comfortable. And the engine looks pretty accessible, so I’m hoping I won’t have too hard of a time taking care of a lot of the maintenance myself. I think my biggest complaint is the gas mileage – it’s pretty awful… I think it’s worse than I got with the Dakota. I’m going to keep track of the gas and mileage for another few weeks, just to see if my first mpg results are the same. I’m really hoping I made a mistake somewhere

I hate having a car payment now, too.

Here’s hoping that I get many good years out of the new Jillmobile!

Thursday Bullets

Posted on January 6, 2011 by Jill

So the holidays are over – routine will hopefully fall back into place and I will start posting more regularly…

I don’t know if it’s just the stress from the holidays or it’s just my turn, but I’m getting whatever it is that’s going around. I hope it comes and goes quickly

What is it with the guys that have the plows on the front of their trucks – why do they have to ride the center line all the time? I always feel when one is coming from the opposite direction that I have to move over until I’m practically in the ditch or it’s going to take out the side of my truck…

What don’t guys understand about ‘No’ when you don’t want to go out with them? If I’m not interested, I don’t want to waste my time and energy playing games. Don’t try to pressure me – it makes me not want to go out with you even more.

As I alluded to a couple of weeks ago – I’m getting my garden catalogs already… I am itching for spring to get here already I can’t wait to get my garden growing again.

So I had the chance to work on my tractor. I found the damaged hoses, but there was absolutely no way I could access them to get them out and replace them. The hoses were cut by one of the fan belt pulleys that was rubbing against them. Why would anyone design an engine like that? I managed to temporarily patch them up until the warmer weather, when it will be easier to take the radiator off to get in there and properly make the repair. They still leak a bit, but I think (hope) that I will be able to get through the winter, barring any other disasters.

Someone did something for me that I did not need and did not want. I (thought I) was gracious and a few days later sent over a thank you card and a some cookies. Is it wrong for me to be aggravated that I was reprimanded for not calling that same day to say ‘thank you’? Do me a favor and don’t try to be nice if have expectations.