Ridin' in Style

I did indeed manage to register the car yesterday in one shot. A shot that included needing a piece of documentation that I didn't actually know I needed but that my father had included with the title and I had thankfully brought along anyway, so thanks, Dad! Also a shot that required me to explain to the DMV person why exactly I was not required to pay sales tax, and then the same explanation from her manager, before she would reduce my amount owed from $715 to $131.

ANYWAY.

Yes, I registered the car in one trip to the DMV and GOOD THING because the driver of the car-hauling truck called around nine yesterday morning to say SURPRISE! I'm supposed to be there on April 20th, but it looks like I'll be there at eight o'clock tonight instead!

Except he actually ended up not getting to the appointed truck stop meet-up place until about 9:45 p.m. because of delays. Let me tell you, there is no surer way to feel shady than to meet with a guy in the parking lot of a truck stop at night. Yikes.

BUT! The car was successfully delivered and I got my maiden voyage in it as I drove it straight to the mechanic to drop it off for the required New York state inspection*. As I drove, I noted several fun things.

For one thing, the Subaru has an outside temperature read-out in the dashboard. Which is how I learned that it was 35 degrees outside. Oh. No wonder I was so damn cold as we were doing the auto hand-off in the parking lot of the truck stop.

For another thing, I had NO IDEA there were so many radio stations in the area. See, the antenna on the Nissan snapped off several years ago, so my radio reception was less than stellar. In fact, I could only pick up four stations. Two, once I got into the Small City. But apparently, there's a whole wide world of radio listening out there! A world that I can now be a part of. How broadening.

For a third thing, I really hate having to stay up past nine o'clock and by the time we got home around 11 p.m., only the sight of the adorable clothes for Cubby and the box of See's Candy peanut brittle for us that my mother had generously stowed away in the back of the car could have kept me from crawling into bed immediately. But the lure of peanut brittle and tiny sandals was strong and did manage to keep me awake for another five minutes before we collapsed into bed.

Anyway, this collection of entirely too many run-on sentences was really just my announcement that yes, I now have a legitimate, fully functioning car to call my own. And HOORAY for that.

* Obviously, the mechanic was not THERE at 10:30 p.m., I just left it for the inspection to be done today.