Well, thank you for asking.
There are several reasons, actually. Three reasons, to be exact.
They are pretty lengthy stories, so they will have to go in installments. Like Harry Potter or Twilight. But I promise I won't turn the last one into an annoying two-parter. Its a long story, but I promise it's exciting-ish. I'm done being boring for awhile.
Why Arli Was Boring
Chapter One: The Car
The year was 2007. I was a senior in high school. And I was buying a car. (That's the end of the cheesyness, promise). As you may or may not know, things got a little tight for my family when I was in high school. It's a long story, but it involved my dad getting real sick. I bought most of my own things to try to help out. I paid for my own cell phone, clothes, etc. So, I bought my own car when I was 17. I worked several jobs (receptionist, babysitter, nanny, car-hop) to save up for it. Which, I will tell you, makes you appreciate your car a WHOLE lot more. I was never in an accident and I never got a ticket (well, one accident, but it didn't count. Long story. Apparently, I have a lot of those). Being 17 and on a budget, the new, nice cars that all my friends had were pretty much out of the question. I was on a pretty strict budget ($5,000) and didn't exactly qualify for a loan. So, after shopping around and parental approval, I ended up rocking this around the streets of south Texas:
A 1999 Honda Accord. Oldest and newest? Not so much. But it was a GREAT car. This car had fewer problems than most of my friend's much newer cars. Seriously, if you can get this car, I would highly highly highly recommend it. FANTASTIC CAR. I digress. Anyway, so, this car was great. It never had any problems. Granted, it had no CD player. Or remote to unlock it. Or working power locks. But, I drove it for 5 years and put almost 70,000 miles on that baby. We went to and from Colorado twice, New Orleans 3 or 4 times, and more trips home from college than I care to count.
This past spring, the A/C finally died. In Houston, this happens a lot. Because it is hot as hell (not a figure of speech, please take me literally) and 1000% humidity all the time. The air weighs 100 pounds. Needless to say, driving with out air is not so much fun. Especially not in August. Oh. My. Lanta. We would have fixed it, but the new A/C system was worth more than a 12 year old car with 198,000 miles on it. So, we waited.
Then, driving home from work one night in September, I did this:
Remember that time I was all, "Hey, I never got into an accident"? Well, so... yeah. Needless to say, I went out with a bang. I T-boned a lady after being blinded by a car who had it's brights on. Not okay (insert soapbox speech about how blue halogen headlights should not be legal, write your senators, etc). I was pulling out of a parking lot going about 15 mph, and she was going down a through street going about 65. Shown above is the aftermath. Well, the parts of the car that weren't scattered all over the road. Her car was dented little, but relatively unscathed. Perks of driving a ginormous SUV, I suppose. Thankfully, everyone was okay. I tore a muscle or something in my shoulder, and the other lady had a very mild concussion, but considering neither of us were wearing seat belts (I'm terrible, I know, lecture me later), it's a small miracle how okay we were. My car was totaled. Completely. But, no air bags deployed, and nothing came into the driver's cab of the car. No glass broke. Such a reliable, safe car. I hate so much that I lost it, but I am so thankful that it saved me. And so comes to close the life of Arli's first, beloved car.
And now we begin the car shopping. My parents generously offered to let me use one of their cars so we didn't have to make a hasty decision (I love living 40 minutes away from them). Which we needed, because I hadn't done this before. So, I'm not a new car person. I like the old and the reliable. Also, it's cheaper. Thankfully, I did have some money saved in a rainy day fund, so we had a sizable down payment. However, when you have very little credit (I don't do credit cards), buying a used car is more than a little difficult. We had a pretty terrible experience for a few weeks. Salesmen trying to scam us into crazy high interest rates, pressuring us into newer and more expensive cars instead, or into leasing. Finally, when I was about to give up, I found THE ONE.
And this concludes Chapter One. Stay tuned for Chapter Two: The Oppourtunity. Coming to stores near you. (Is it bad that I have enough free time to name these? Nah...)
(Disclaimer: My camera is acting funny, so those photos are stock photos and not pictures of the actual cars. Same cars and colors are represented though. Except for the wreck picture, which was taken the day after on my phone. That one is for reals.)
