Busy, busy, busy, sticker shock, busy

[greatbearmd]

I've been rather busy lately here, along with Jeff and Kodi, so not much time to formulate coherent posts and multimedia to describe it all. A brief summary: The weekend was a back-to-basics camping trip to Hillside. By back-to-basics, I mean we camped in our tent rather than the uber-trailer. Two reasons, primarily the spot we were assigned was

Comments

[sfmini]

I remember when I bought my Expedition, I don't think I skipped an option. WHen I wrote out the check my biggest thought was that I was spending more for a vehicle than I paid for my first house!! I had only a slight gasp when I paid $29k for the MINI last summer. My first new car was a 1977 Honda Civic. $3300.

Storms in tents mean prime snuggle time. Unless the wet dog is in there!

[greatbearmd]

My Dodge was $17.5k in '89, and I got it loaded, with the diesel option being the biggie at $2300 bux. A lot for the time, but more than worth it, and I did not flinch at all then. Getting the equivalent nowadays is about 42k, and adding what I want pushes it up to the fiddy mark. Granted, it buys a lot of truck, but it's not chump change by any means. I paid the same as you did for my MINI as well.

I have to say that the storm in the middle of the night was very 'entertaining'. The sound of the thunder in those mountains is completely unlike how a typical storm sounds here. One strike will roll on forever, and then the next one is a single, short "BOOM" with practically no echo. I can sit and watch/listen to a storm for hours. Being that I was hit by lighting as a kid, I feel a strange connection. lol

[sfmini]

Wow, I hadn't remembered storms in the mountains in forever. Yeah, they do roll on forever. I also remember heat lightning was strange to look at, seeing silhouettes of the hills. I miss sounds here. We don't have any naturally occuring sounds. Just traffic. I've seen one thunderstorm here in 4 years. Fog doesn't make a sound and it sure gets boring quick ;-)

[greatbearmd]

I hear ya. Not to brag, but I can pay it all off in cash if I wanted to, but I dont like the thought of dipping that much out of my savings in case some more drastic emergency need creeps up. Part of my calm, cool demeanor (lol) comes with having my 'security blanket' in savings. I've had to tread along the ragged edge of not being able to afford stuff because of some issue(s) and it makes me edgy.

[greatbearmd]

I've been there too, and hated it. I made sure to build up a buffer of sorts for lean times. Last I needed it was when I was on disability and I was not getting paid (long, anger-inspiring story). It was ten months of potential hell, but I managed.

[cutepacub]

I saw something in the newspaper the other day that Chrysler Corp was now offering a lifetime warrenty on their powertrains. I am not sure of the specifics of it, but I'll be checking that our when the Bonneville is due for trade in. We have a special program at work for employee pricing on Ford's and GM's as well. It's a hefty discount!

[gregbearphl]

Great to see you both. Yes, it's was a nice weekend and I heard that the Woods got a lot more rain than we did. Oh, BTW, you forgot to mention that the theme of the Village People party was Alice in Wonderland, complete with hopping nekkid bunnies. I guess Hillside had to have something really gay to balance out all the butch wrestling and car stuff.

[djmadadam]

The Woods Campground, Lehighton PA

1-1/2 hours south of Hillside along I-476, closer to Philadelphia, but a bit north of Allentown. Bears weekend happens to be this weekend. I'm DJing there next over Labor Day Weekend.