benmcfadden.com

I love how we can blame anything in this world on our economic condition, regardless of how grossly inaccurate the blame may be.  In any case, I am choosing to blame my lack of ability to find the truck I want on the girl who hit me (previous post), and the economy. Ahh… that feels better. It’s not my fault anymore!

What the ‘economists’ are telling me, is that people are choosing to keep their current vehicle instead of upgrading to a newer vehicle and selling their old one to me. This is a problem, as I currently don’t have a vehicle. I do, however, have money to spend on a vehicle.  This brings up an interesting point about our true economic problem, but more about that later.

I simply want a truck equivalent to the one that was taken from me. I’m not asking for an upgrade. But I won’t settle for a downgrade.  I’ve been aggressively shopping now for a month.  I’ve looked at every vehicle on craigslist that is even remotely close to what I want. I’ve checked autotrader as well. Even went to a nation wide search on autotrader, and still couldn’t find exactly what I’m looking for.

I’ve looked at every result for 4 weeks now. Of all the vehicles that I found for sale, 13 vehicles were close enough to what I was looking for that I obtained a VIN and ran a carfax. That means they were a Chevy Silverado 1500 or GMC Sierra 1500, 2000-2007classic, 4 wheel drive, and had some power options, and didn’t look totally trashed. Of those, 2 passed my round of followup questions. That means they had a clean carfax record, were (claimed to be) in good shape, all power features worked, didn’t have 300,000 miles on it, etc etc etc. I test drove those 2 vehicles. Turns out, someone who speaks Spanish is terrible at explaining to you a vehicle’s condition in English, and a bad power steering unit and a torn seat mean “Great mechanical condition” and “Perfect interior.”

What I had, and am looking to replace:

• 2001
• Chevrolet
• Silverado 1500
• Extended Cab
• Short bed
• 139,636 miles
• Transmission rebuilt 30,000 miles ago
• Push-button 4WD
• Z71 off-road package
• Towing Package
• AC that works great
• LS series:
• -Power Windows
• -Power Door Locks
• -Power Mirrors
• -Power Seats (forward/back; up/down only)
• Cloth interior with no tears in it
• Fold down armrest/console (aka 6th seat)
• Minimal scratches on the paint
• No prior accidents or body repair
• Beautiful Victory Red paint (really, it’s called Victory Red)

The problem here is not getting the money to buy such a vehicle, it’s finding someone to take my money in exchange for such a vehicle. There just aren’t any vehicles like this out there. It’s so depressing.

Anyway, in summary maybe the problem with our economy really isn’t that people aren’t spending, or that people don’t have money to spend. Perhaps it’s that people aren’t ready to accept the money that people are willing to spend. Seems silly to me.

How hard is it to keep your eyes on the road while you’re driving? Seriously people. C’mon.  A little over a month ago, I was driving my truck, and I got broadsided by a girl going 40 through a red light. Totaled my truck.  I don’t know what she was doing for sure, but considering that the light had been red for some time (nearly 10 seconds) I do know that she wasn’t paying attention to the road in front of her. I mean, how do you miss a Big Red Truck?

Tonight / this morning (shortly after midnight) I was stopped at a red light, and I got rear ended. The girl was looking after her ferret in the seat next to her and just didn’t stop in time.  Damage to the vehicle I was driving was minimal (crinkled the bumper). She was nearly stopped. But still, wasn’t watching the road.

I drive less than average, and I’ve managed to be in 2 accidents in the past 34 days, where in both cases the other driver wasn’t paying attention, and was at 100% fault. Also, both drivers were 18 year old girls. I have strong suspicions that the first one was texting, but I cannot prove that. The second one was looking at a pet.  What is wrong here? So I ask you, why don’t people LOOK while they drive? Seriously, it’s not that hard.

No computer and no Truck make Ben something something

For those who don’t get the reference, see below:

The Simpsons -  Treehouse of Horror V (Season 6, Episode 6)