Gimme some Money.

That about sums up my needs at the moment. Between needing a new roof, a new water heater, a water softener, heating oil, six tons of coal and a new car, I am about to start knocking over liquor stores on the weekends.

In the spirit of sharing inconsequential things in my life with total strangers, here's a picture of my new car:



It's a Honda Fit, and I had to wait about a month for it to be shipped over here from Japan because they don't make them here yet. I've had it for about a month now, and I think I really like it. It gets about 38 mpg if I'm careful, and about 35 if I'm not. It's halved my gasoline bill, and dropped my monthly payment by about 90 bucks. It also holds a lot of shit. The other day I filled it with twelve 2x10x6 pieces of treated lumber, some 2x4's and a bunch of other crap. A few days before that, I hauled about eight 50lb bags of salt for the water softener. It will hold a couple of backpacks and other assorted camping gear, which is the main reason I liked it. The interior is pretty nice, considering it's the cheapest car Honda sells, and it has an AUX port for my ipod. Yes, I upgraded to the sport model just because of that feature.

There are a few things I don't like about it, however. 109 horsepower, for one. It really could use an extra 20 horses. Also, the gas pedal spring is weak. So just the normal weight of your foot presses it down. You have to hover your foot, which is tiring on longer trips, and if you don't use the cruise, you tend to pick up speed unintentionally. Speaking of that, this is the first thing I noticed when I test drove one:



That's the speedometer in a car that has 109 hp. I would say Honda was overreaching a bit, because I can't think of a single way this car could break the 100mph mark. Oh wait -- yes I can.



The water softener purchase was because our hard water was wrecking everything in the house that has water running through it. The boiler, the ice-maker, the washing machine and our first dishwasher all succumbed to the appliance equivalent of arteriosclerosis.

The new water heater was necessary because the aforementioned hard water also completely crapped up the copper coil inside the boiler, and as a result, our hot water slowed to a trickle. I decided that I couldn't go through another winter taking showers that felt like I was being pissed on by a demon with a prostate problem, so thank you jeebuz for Lowe's "12 months no interest for anything over $299" deal.

On the plus side, I'm getting really good at sweating copper pipe, and I consider that solid training for when I become a plumber. You can't outsource that. My friend Yort and I have decided we're going to quit working in IT and just start a plumbing company. Here's our new logo:



I am actually glad Yort is giving serious thought to a career in plumbing, because I think he would make a really shitty fireman, judging by this photo of the 3rd Annual June Burning of the Christmas Tree:



I don't know why he feels the need to burn my christmas tree. I just let him. It's easier that way.