The Attitude of Gratitude

Yesterday my car was due for the first yearly inspection. You might remember my ramblings about scraping together the money for this comparatively huge and unforeseen investment, accompanied by little miracles and cosmic signs, impersonated by coins; I stumbled upon in the middle of the street, that told me to have faith in the abundance of the universe. Well, maybe not.

Anyhow, I had made the appointment with the garage, and the service staff had booked one of their rental cars for that day. But around noon I received a call from them to have me know, that the car they had put on hold for me was still used by another customer, who's car repair seemed to take longer than expected. I was to pick up a car at the car rental across the street, but they had made all the necesarry arrangements.

When I got there I found out, that I could have booked a way cheaper car, had I known this a week earlier. A nice and fancy little Smart that always reminds me of a sneaker. It would have been fun to ride that little nippy piece of technology and I could have saved money as well. But they are highly in demand and naturally there wasn't one of these models available at such a short notice - like NOW! :-)))

You can imagine my disappointment when I was "fobbed off" with a Mazda, that is supposedly the same build as my car, but a bit more affordable with way more technology. One year ago there were some people who advised me to buy this car in order to save some money. The testride didn't convince me so I stuck to my first choice, but it wasn't that bad a car, and my choice was rather driven by intuition than reason. Yesterday I didn't feel comfortable in that vehicle at all. First of all it was less spacious and everything felt like plastic. I mean even more like plastic than the plastic in my car. If that does make any sense to you.

But then I remembered that the universe has only one interest which is my well-being, my fun, and my growth (ok that makes three - lol). Why would it deprive me from a spin with a hip four-wheeler, if there wasn't any piece of the action in the deal for me? I thought about the considerable contrast between my car and this unwieldy model, when I finally got it. It was all arranged in order to show me, that my decision - based on feeling and not on thinking - last year was absolutely right. I feel gratitude whenever I drive my car and I never felt sorrry for the amount of money I could have saved by buying the cheaper version, but this assurance was even enhanced by that experience.

I admit, I am sometimes a bit slow on the uptake, but now the penny has dropped, so next year I will make the rental car arrangement on my own and get the fun-ride-sneaker-shoe, that I wouldn't like to own anyway, but just for the experience........

I had a vision

Yesterday I had a vision. At least literally speaking. I finally took a test ride with the car I consider to buy. It's fun to drive with, feels great and has an unbelievable tight turning circle. The power steering - which I never had before - is pure luxury, especially now since I bruised my shoulder and elbow lately. As for all the other things like the power and sound of the engine or the car stereo, I am not able to judge them because they gave me a car that came with all the bells and whistles, which I surely am not willing to afford even if I could. I can see their point though. They are not able to provide every variation, and of course they would like you to fall in love with one or the other gadget. I remained steadfast in my resolution only to buy the basic model with the smallest engine and an additional car stereo. That's a must for me - being a music and audio book lover. I cannot imagine even an one hour drive with just me doing all the entertainment.

But my resistance broke down when I saw the color. This model only comes off the peg in white and a dark blue. White looks nice for the first five minutes after a good car wash. So I targeted for the blue. It looked nice in the folder and real good on the internet. But in the flesh it looked dull and sad. I couldn't bring myself to even imagine me stepping in such a car every morning and being cheerful. I am a colorhappy person. I drink colors, I suck them in, and they are means or therapeutic treatment to me. So I had to deal with the heavy task of choosing the right color for me.

There is a very vibrant lime green and I really entertain a soft spot for this particular color. But would this be good for everyday use? Same goes for the wonderful magenta. These two colors are flying of the shelves now, so I figured this would not be the right choice. One lime green car in the street looks good, two look like competition. So I thought I would go for a color called vision blue. It looks very lively and refreshing, sporty and fast. And the image of two of a kind parking next to each other leaves me with the feeling of family instead of two bitches struggling for attention. ;-)))

I was about to leave when I spotted another option shown in the catalogue, but not on any car. Eggplant. I really love this shade and often wanted it on a car. So there I was - wavering again. This color looks classy and stylish. Shouldn't I go for the more timeless option? The downside: It only shows off in bright sunlight, otherwise it looks - well, brown.

So I went to my local yarn shop in order to sit on the couch along with some other customers to knit for a while and give my thoughts some rest. When I stepped in there was already one knitting friend sitting there. She never shows up that early and what came even more as a surprise, for once she was not wearing her usual autumn colors. She always goes for orange, rust, pumpkin, olive, and sometimes even brown. But this day she wore vision blue. The exact color I was on the verge of ordering. That couldn'd be just a coincidence. I think the message is clear.

This "vision" will cost me some additional money, and if I ever have to replace a fender, it will increase the amount necessary for the repair, but since money is always floating back..... I had another prove of that two days ago, when a second hand dealer who sold me a book online did not score full marks in my comment because the book was in worse shape than he had promised in his description. The dealer wrote me a mail offering a refund if I would delete my comment. I readily agreed to that. So it's not even pennies on the streets anymore ;-))).

I think I will go for my vision. Even the name is stirring me on. And it reminds me of the vastness of the sky on a clear day. Like the one you see in the picture with the fabulous tree. May there be more visions to come.


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