This weekend we actually set foot on a car lot (actually several). We've been talking about replacing one of our vehicles for years now but talking is as far as we got. I've been driving a Honda CRX since November of 1986. How many times have I already posted that on this blog? My current CRX is an 89 which I have been driving since May 90. I am financially anxious and ultra-conservative. I don't care how much they'll loan me. I want to take out the tiniest loan possible. Where did this financial paranoia come from? And is it really a problem that a person doesn't want to borrow tons of money?

The car shopping wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I had built it up into such an ultra-nightmare that almost anything could have happened and it's wouldn't have been worse. But car salesmen are their own species. The first guy they put on us was young enough -- I could have given birth to him. We must have asked too many questions because they graduated us to the next guy who had more info, but definitely wanted to sell a car. It was like I got to look inside and test drive one and they were ready to make a deal. I wanted to look inside EVERY Camry on the lot. Oh, but they have to go in and get the key and you can't get the mileage w/o the key. Isn't this totally unorganized? But I did drive one and got a good look at a bunch. And I was very clear about not giving out my phone number. I'm not completely insane.

At the next lot I looked at a bunch of Accords. They were almost all 5-speed and I prefer an automatic. They were also the ugliest colors. There were a couple of decent Camrys on this lot too. For the third act we stopped at the airport and went to the Hertz lot and this introduced a whole new dimension to our search because the cars were a bit newer and a couple thousand $$ more than the top end of our budget. Now I don't know what to do or what I want and everyone is kind enough to put doubts in my mind like buying a used car is the curse of the new millenium. I will be driving this CRX FOREVER.