New car

We test drove a car. I think this is our official entry into the market.

JW has been asking when we'll replace our ancient Saturn for over a year now. During school, I could use the excuse that we couldn't afford it. Lately my standard response is, "When it explodes."

Our car has virtually no resale value, but it's worth something to us. It's been fully paid off for close to a decade. It gets us from Point A to Point B. It still gets good mileage. It starts up almost all the time. Sure, it shakes at speeds above forty, and you can hear it coming from a block away. And one of the speakers in the stereo system has been blown for years. And it's been in about four accidents, two of which involved replacing most of the parts. So what if you can see nails on the outside where two pieces used to be connected, and there's a big crack above one wheel, and one of the side mirrors falls off if you look at it wrong. The car still works.

JW played the baby card ("what if K were in the car and something happened?") and that started to sway me. I was finally convinced when, as I got out of the car after the test drive, a piece of the door came off in my hand.

"This car has served us well," said JW. "It's taken a lot of abuse over the years. Let it die peacefully."

So I guess we're looking to buy a car. I hate buying big expensive things.