Unimportant Stuff

The week has been nothing short of spectacular, weatherwise. I wouldn't even mention that except that it's August, and this is Washington, and we don't generally get any hospitable weather at all until the middle of September.

If this is because of El Nino, I say bring it on. Our skies are clear and perfectly blue, the air is clean, the high temperatures have been in the 70s all week long. I have no reason to associate that kind of weather with Washington, but I do, because it makes walking around my neighborhood so pretty.

Despite the pretty weather, we're still suffering from rather grim drought conditions. Vegetation is curling up and dying all over the city, which is kind of sad to see. Some days I feel like my little bit of lawn is the only patch of healthy growing stuff for blocks around. The trouble is that I wish it would die.

My "lawn" is ugly, spindly weeds, and I do not possess enough gardening talent to get rid of them. I tried pulling them up, but that didn't work. I also tried to smother them, but these weeds seem to have a tenacious hold on life.

I hate them for it. I've just about decided that it's worth any price to have some landscaper come in, pull them out and replace them with something that's easy to maintain, but that doesn't need mowing. Of course, I'm sure there are plenty of things I'd rather spend that money on...

Like a new clutch for the Satrun. I hate the Satrun almost as much as I hate the weeds. Its only virtue is that it runs, but right now it doesn't run very well. I know it needs a new clutch, and since I don't personally work on cars, I'll have to have it done.

Because there's not a new car in my immediate future. I'm still going back and forth as to what I want when I finally do buy a new car, but it'll be a while, so I'm liable to change my mind.

The contenders are the VW New Beetle Convertible, in Snap Orange; and the Subaru Forester. I don't have a color preference on the Forester. I keep going back to the idea that I could buy a Subaru now and probably drive it for the rest of my life. The Forester seems like the logical heir to the Volvo wagons I grew up with, but the Beetle is so cute, and I've wanted one ever since I drove a 1972 Beetle Convertible for a year. It was falling apart, but it was cute.

There's something to be said for having a cute car. But there's also something to be said for a car that you can use to move a dresser.

So there's my conflict. I guess that when car-buying becomes practical, I'll have to decide. In the mean time, I'll just agonize.

Well, not really, but you know what I mean.

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