Slow Progress

I am slowly establishing myself back in the US. I started out the day buying a printer. I was holding out and going to Kinkos to print resumes, but that was getting old. This morning, I called Sweetie and he said, "I think we can afford a printer." Well, yes. We can (at least we could at that point in the day. Read on). But, but, but...I have this problem. Buying a printer is my most dreaded shopping experience. It's so incredibly stressful, because I know that whatever I get, it's going to be a lemon AND it's going to consume mass (and expensive) quantities of ink cartridges. That's just the way it goes. Basically, it is cheaper to buy a BRAND NEW PRINTER (which comes with a fresh set of ink cartridges) than it is to replace the cartridges in your printer. Seriously. The old guy at OfficeMax didn't believe me, but the price tags on the cartridges back me up on this.

Anyway, I bought one on the spot, spinning the roulette wheel of the printing world. And sure enough, when I got home and looked it up on the Net (big mistake), that particular model is completely panned by virtually everyone who owns it. Lovely. Not only that, but the customer service number is a TOLL number. Can you just imagine -- being put on HOLD at YOUR EXPENSE for 30 minutes before finally being connected to some completely incoherent service rep somewhere in New Delhi? Ayeyeye. Oh well, I hooked it up nonetheless and printed out a resume.

My next shopping experience



I have also determined that I need to buy a car soon. I have been sharing a rental with my mom who is temporarily back in town, but when she leaves, I need wheels and renting indefinitely doesn't make sense.



I wanted to get a hybrid, but guess what -- three-month waiting list. I don't have three months.



Plan B -- smallish car with great gas mileage. I read a few things about the Honda Fit and when I read that it has twice the cargo capacity of a Civic (my other top choice and what I previously owned before moving to Japan 5 years ago), I was intrigued. After all, I have another 61 kg. of luggage arriving tomorrow via DHL. I need to transport that stuff to my next temporary dwelling somehow and UHauls are not my forte.



I submitted some quote requests for the Fit last night online, and today ran down to the local dealer to take a look. Well, it turned out that they had already sold the ONE Fit they had in stock. I was able to take a peek at it as they prepped it for the owner, but it wasn't even the model I wanted, so it wasn't entirely helpful.



After further discussion with the dealer, I realized that my chances of getting a 2008 Fit were fast disappearing and that they were selling them even before they arrive on the lot. Not only that, but Civics are in extremely short supply as well, as scads of people try to replace their gas-guzzlers with more economical vehicles.



My mom convinced me that I HAD to immediately drive up north 21 miles to a dealer who had three in stock. So, we did. And guess what, they were all sold. The salesman said he had one "on the way" that day. But, when we walked out to the lot, I noticed a rogue Fit Sport and he said, "Oh! Maybe that's it!?" It was -- had literally just arrived.



Long story short, I took it for a short test drive (first person EVER to drive it) and though it felt VERY SMALL and not as sexy as the Civic and was not at all the color I wanted (there are only two in blue in the entire STATE and those would have been sold before I ever got to them), I decided to buy it on the spot. No negotiating possible, sadly. These things are selling themselves. Every review by an actual owner that I have read has been most favorable, and in the end, it's $2,000 cheaper than a Civic.



Sweetie will have to be the one to get the sexy car! I'm sure he will not protest:-) I've gone for practical!

The Interminable Job Hunt
I am persevering with the job hunt, but it is getting exhausting and demoralizing. I am not taking the rejections personally (and in fact, in most cases, I never know if they ended up hiring someone or not), but I'm just getting bored and tired. I often go back to my grand idea to start a company with all my brilliant, underutilized friends and seek world domination.