Catching Up

Well, to be honest, I'm not even sure why I'm going to continue writing this. I never did continue the 'book' I started writing on my last post, but no one reads this, so perhaps it will serve as more of a history/diary than I originally thought. Rather than sharing this kind of stuff with friends/family - it will act as a reminder to me.

Since my last post, quite a bit has occurred. I was able to get my 2nd signature on my application to the Free and Accepted Masons of Utah for the 1st or Wasatch Lodge. I'm very excited about this - and now it's a matter of handing the application in, and then hopefully during the first meeting they have in September my name will be read and to quote my friend I'll be visited by "the 3 wisemen". 3 Masons that from what I understand, will spend time with me over the course of a month to get to know me, and decide whether I would be a good match for the group.

A few posts back, I mentioned that the Stray Cats & ZZ Top were coming in concert. 2 tickets to the concert were given to me for my birthday, and I took my best friend Justin B. He and I have been rockin out to the Stray Cats since we met at high school. The concert absolutely rocked! I recall growing up in Colorado, at the age of 8yrs old, listening to one of their albums over and over with my friend at the time Gero. I guess you could say that I've literally been waiting to see them in concert for 25yrs! ZZ Top definately stole the show, and not even the Pretenders playing in the middle of the 2 of them with their "anti-war, anti-SUV, non meat eating, tree hugging, free love, treebark tea loving weirdo's" could ruin the concert. It was definately a great time.

Back in July, I got a great early b-day present, by a series of extremely unexpected circumstances, I sold the Durango (which I have loved these past several years), and traded it in for a 2002 Lincoln Townecar LS. And since I'm arguing/talking with myself at this point - "yeah yeah, I know it's a Ford". I had started the whole car search looking for a used Mazda3 hatchback. I wanted a blue one, with the Grand Touring package (leather, sunroof, power everything, etc) - but apparently they were very popular cars, as I couldn't even find one that would've been a 'close-enough' match that I would've settled for. The only one anyone was able to find that was exactly what I was looking for was located in South Carolina! So I was shown the Lincoln, and it blew me away. It's a darker blue, with metal flakes - giving it a great look. Leather interior, top of the line Alpine sounds system, chrome rims, and get this 40k miles! The car is in perfect condition - it had come from California so there was going to be very litte rust if any (there was none), no dings, no scratches, no problems with the interior. Honestly the car is perfect but books at between $24-$26k - which was much more than what I was willing to pay. I was looking for a Mazda because they were cheap, didn't look too bad, and got great gas mileage (that was teh biggest concern). By sheer circumstance, the salesman I ended up working with happened to be the son of a gentleman I work with - and admire. He's a brilliant wireless engineer that's been playing in the WiFi world since the mid-70's! Chad (salesman) called his dad (Gary), and let him know I was down there. Gary did a great thing, and asked Chad to take care of me, get me a great deal, etc etc. What was even better, was the fact that Chad was already doing that. To shorten this up a bit - they gave me almost $5k for the Durango(!!), and sold me the Lincoln for $14.9k! Gas mileage has gone up, car payments have dropped by a little over $200/mnth, insurance goes down - it's fantastic! Once I can get the rest of my life straightened up financially - I'll be saving money hand over fist with this car.
And yes, this is exactly what my car looks like - even the same color! I could probably go on for quite awhile about my new car - but one last thing: it only had 40k miles on it! A better deal I probably could've never gotten, thanks to Chad Smith for really hooking me up and helping me out. I never saw myself driving a 'luxury' car like this - but the more time I spend in it - the more I wonder how I tolerated driving all those other things over the years (besides the Vette of course..)

Again - enough book. I'll try and be a bit more consistent in my postings to myself - cuz I never have any idea what's going on in my life.. ;)