I found myself getting upset about the lack of Ford SuperDuty XL trucks an extended cab at DePaula and Metro Ford so I could test drive one next month. Actually DePaula has one, a red one without skid plates and a rear-locker, but that’s not what I ultimately want. Every other dealer not on bus line has them, but I wanted to test drive one before striking up dealer. I guess a regular cab or crew cab SuperDuty isn’t going to drive much different then an extend cab. Lockers and skid plates don’t matter for test drives on the highway.
I was so angry and probably depressed about this morning, 😡 🛻 even though I’m not planning to take time off until after Presidents’ Day in four weeks to test drive a few trucks at local dealerships that I can either bike or get a bus to. DePaula and Metro are easiest to get to, as they are on Red Bus Plus line, but I can ride to other dealerships, or honestly rent a car or ask people for a ride. But new cars aren’t like houses, they don’t have to be close to work or home, so once you’ve seen one, it’s just a price and package you’re looking at, and you can get one anywhere you’re willing to get to take delivery. Most of the outlying dealerships have those extended cab trucks I’m leaning too, with the skid plates and lockers. Heck of it is, the more you research, I might change my mind again on the truck I actually want to build my next rig around. Remember, originally I wanted an regular-cab long bed.
If I’m going to spend big bucks on a truck, then I damn better get the one I actually want. Otherwise, I should just get a 20-year old Honda Civic. 🚘 They’re so frugal for delivering pizzas 🍕 out the back. Truth is while I sort of think I should test drive a SuperDuty before I buy one, not that I think they’re going to be much different then a lifted Silverado, I do think I will ultimately buy through a dealership over the phone/internet where I have home front advantage and can study the paperwork before signing to make sure I’m actually getting a fair deal.🤝 Plus I don’t want to hear from dealerships about how what I really want is a F-150 half ton with a Supercharger and digital displays everywhere, because you know, I don’t actually know what pickup truck I want. Buy online, and you can click delete. Goodbye. At least I slept soundly last night, no ads listening to podcasts at two AM for “Can’t sleep at night, what you need is BETTER HELP and SO-FAT MATTERESSES!”
I mean the cops are shooting and brutalizing the colored and poor, 👮 and I’m here worried about cab configurations and skid plates on SuperDuty trucks. As that will save democracy! Unh-uh, it’s amazing the first world problems one has. But don’t you worry about having money to buy a plastic house, they’re very good investments those plastic houses we’re told, and you can buy one in a nice neighborhood that doesn’t necessarily smell like cow shit, 🐮 and be close to work and drive your 20-year old Honda Civic there. 🚙 But I can’t even have a burn barrel or goats out back. 🐐 Honestly, usually the local cops are quite polite, the officer the other day stopped and let me cross the road on my bike, at rush hour. And while I bitch about them not doing snow or ICE removal from the bike trail, though the second half of the week haven’t bad and we’ll see how hard crusty and icy the snow we get today makes the rail trail come Tuesday.
At the same time, I keep reading about how poor most Americans are, 🇺🇸 how most people would struggle to pay a $400 unexpected bill and things like mortgages, car payments, and monthly subscriptions are a part of life. People talk about car payments sucking, but honestly when I get my rig, there will be at most two car payments – the down payment and paying off the loan the next day with a lump sum if dealerships force me to play that game to get a good price. I just make sure I know all the finance costs and run number carefully. 🏡 I’d buy a house if I could find anything that wasn’t plastic crap with an actual reasonable amount of land, anywhere near the city, but no such places exist, and certainly none without the burn ban or the gun ristrctions. I guess it’s really a first world problem to have, and not having my money tied up in a house and all the home maintance and commuting costs, allows me to save more towards that off-grid cabin. 🐐 🛢️ 🏠 🌲 I am still bitching about the $120 utility bill last month, but actually my energy usage was less compared to 1 year ago, the December bill is often highest I think because I’m often home then, doing more cooking. And I do like my electric blanket even if I do keep the heat at 48 degrees. The kilowatts and therms were about the same as last year, but the price of gas and electricity has gone up. And it’s going to be higher too if I’m home and not camping this winter, but I won’t have gasoline or insurance to pay either.
Maybe I’m bummed out a little about not being able to head out of town for the long weekend, 🏕️ but even if I had gotten some random 20-year old Honda Civic, it wouldn’t have a camper shell and truth is this weekend is expected to be pretty cold and gray. Next winter ❄️ if I have the new rig, I’ll have a diesel heater and winter camping will be great. Have a fire at night, and then climb into the comfortable warm truck cap, not having cold toes. 🦶Honestly, that night camping on Christmas Day was so bitterly cold up at Rensselearville State Forest, hardly could recommend that at all. 🎅 I like having fires and burning shit rather then washing out the bottles for recycling, ♻️ but I’m kind of turned off from winter camping at this point.
Today though, I do want to ride over to Price Chopper 🛒 and get some $1 bills from the money printing machine they have there, along with some more flour, maybe carrots and other supplies. I miss having carrots 🥕 in my pancakes. 🥞. I also want to have some cash so Tuesday, if I need to do my laundry before work at the laundromat. Not sure if I’ll be visiting my parents this weekend, it depends what Mom and Dad want to do as I don’t have a car. Probably do most of my shopping though on Sunday or Monday at Hannaford, as I really like their app, though I could also ride over to Walmart if there was anything I needed. Thinking about making a pot of chicken soup with some canned chicken, frozen vegetables and rice 🐔 I have anround the pantry but I also want carrots for that. I’m going to need more apple cider vinegar, it’s hard to believe how fast that gets drunk these days. 🍏 I just so love the flavor in water, and keeps me drinking water like a cow. 🐮 They say it’s healthy, but delicious.