I bought a car

I'm writing this a few days after the fact (and back-dating the post), and I'm not going to say anything terribly interesting. But I've written you about having car troubles for the better part of a year now. (See especially this post here, for example.) And always somehow I've put off dealing with it for another day. Oh, I've collected information here and there, but I never organized myself to do a serious car hunt.

But yesterday it all came together, when I clicked on a button inadvertently on the Consumer Reports website and five minutes later got an emailed offer from a dealership an hour away on a new 2019 model I had been seriously considering. The offer was a really good price on that particular model -- doubtless because they want to get the 2019's off the lot to make room for the 2020's and it's not a sexy color.

Who cares? Son 1 drove me down there today. (At this point I had no working vehicle, and I had been walking to work for a week. Three miles each way. Uphill. Sorry, I'm getting distracted.)

Anyway, I test drove it. And two-and-a-half hours after we walked onto the lot, I drove out in a brand-new car. It is the first vehicle of any kind that I've bought since Wife and I bought a minivan in the summer of 2002. It is the first four-door sedan I have bought since December 1987 when Wife and I bought the car that finally gave out on me last year. It is the first vehicle of any kind that I have bought without Wife's pressure, initiative, and help -- ever. And it took me only 150 minutes (or ten months, I guess, depending how you look at it).

For most people this would be a minor accomplishment. They would have done it sooner and gotten on with life. But for me it feels like a really big deal. I recognize also that I had really good luck, and I am grateful for it.

I'm almost 58 years old. Do I still get to tag this post with #adulting?