Journal - An Exciting Day!

So today, August 8, 2013, was a pretty exciting day.

Adam and I both had doctor appointments today, Adam at 10:45am and mine at 11:00am. Pretty tight schedule I know, but we got to Adam’s appointment early and they took him right in. He got a good report from his doctor and we were out of there in no time so that we actually got to my appointment 15 minutes early.

My appointment was my regular 3-month checkup with Dr. Feilmeier. They took us in pretty quick there as well, as they always do. His assistant checked my vision and pressure and everything as usual. Pressure was good and my vision has leveled off at 20/25; that’s where it’s been for the last few visits and is no longer fluctuating. Dr. Feilmeier came in and checked me all out and said everything looks great. He actually said something rather touching today. He said “You’re my favorite patient, I’ll remember you for the rest of my life.” He sounded sincere when he said it too. You know how you can tell when someone is saying something off-handedly or when they really mean it. Well, that’s the kind of guy he is. I said “Likewise.”

So we were out of there in no time at all and went up to McDonald’s to grab a bite to eat before the most exciting part of our day. But before I talk about that I need to back up a bit.

Two days ago, on Tuesday the 6th, I was at work in the parking lot at Walmart. As I was walking down one of the rows picking up carts I noticed a car that had a For Sale sign in the window. Now, I see lots and lots of cars every day naturally, and For Sale signs are nothing unusual, but this one caught my eye for a couple of reasons. First, it was a really nice looking car, and second because the owner wasn’t asking an outrageous amount of money for it: the sign said $1600. Most of the cars I see with For Sale signs are either junky or have huge price tags on them. Now, I should mention that I have not really been looking for a new car, although ever since I started working last September I’ve thought it would sure be nice to have a second car so Joni wouldn’t be stuck at home with nothing all the time. Anyway, this car was a 1997 30th Anniversary Edition Mercury Cougar XR7. It looked very nice on the outside and since the windows were down I poked my head in and saw a very nice interior as well. It had 121k miles on it, but you know a hundred thousand miles isn’t what it used to be. My ’99 Explorer has over 140k on it and runs great. This car looked like it had been taken care of so I stored the phone number in my phone and went on with my work day until I got off at 6pm.

When I got home I told Joni not to get excited but I had seen a nice looking car for sale. Joni followed my instructions very carefully and didn’t get excited at all (shya!) But I explained to her that I would have to see if Mom would or could loan us the money, then I would have to try to coordinate a day off with Brad so I could have him look at the car, then I would have to call the insurance company to see how much that would cost. A lot of different details to work out.

Well, I called Mom as soon as I had finished telling Joni about the car that evening, and she said she sure would loan us the money. First problem solved. Then I emailed Brad to find out when his next day off was. He wrote back a little later and said he was off on Thursday. Lo and behold, my next day off was Thursday as well. Second problem solved. So Wednesday morning at about 9:30 I called up the owner and asked about the car for sale. She said, “I think you have the wrong number.” Oops. I panicked for a moment before looking in my phone to see what number I had stored and I knew right away I had punched it in wrong. Phone numbers have a way of sticking in my head sometimes and I just happened to remember what was on the For Sale sign and I was a digit off when I stored the number. So I called the number and left a message on the answering machine and waited. In the meantime, I called my insurance company and asked about that and they quoted me about $26 a month, which is about what I was expecting. Third problem solved.

I worked from 2 to 7 that day and waited all day for a call back, but it never came. When I got home I called again and a man answered. I was happy to discover that I had gotten the right phone number that time. We talked for a few minutes and made an appointment for 1pm on Thursday. So that brings me back to our exciting day, today.

We pulled up to the man’s house at about 12:30, having finished our doctor appointments earlier than expected. The car was sitting outside and Joni got her first look at it and was more excited than ever. The owner, an elderly man named Buzz, came out and we talked about the car for a few minutes then he gave us the keys and we were off. I had asked him earlier if he would mind me driving it to Axtel so my brother could look at it and he had no problem with that at all. Oh, I also noticed as soon as we got there that the owner had reduced the price on the sign from $1600 to $1400. Everything seemed to be going our way.

So we drove to Axtel, a trip of 20 or so miles. The car rode great: the engine had a good feel, transmission felt good, the only problem was when I stepped on the brake it made the steering wheel shake. He had told me up front that he thought the rotors might be going bad, and when I told Brad what it was doing he confirmed that. We also noted that the car would need new tires before long. Other than that it checked out good. Brad checked out as much as he could without having a shop at his disposal and said it looked like a good buy. Just the words we wanted to hear.

We drove back to Kearney feeling very light-hearted. When we got back to the man’s house I told him we liked his car and would like to buy it. I said, “If I offered you $1300 would you take it?” He thought for about 3 seconds and said that he would. Honestly, I wouldn’t have fought very hard with him on that. So we went in and he signed over the title and gave us 3 sets of keys, took off his license plates and we were on our way with a new (to us) car. It just makes me giddy to look out the window and see two cars sitting in front of our house. And it’s nice! I don’t think I mentioned, it’s maroon with kind of a cream-colored partial leather interior. All the buttons and gadgets work, even the air-conditioning, everything except the cruise control, which isn’t a big deal. We like it very much.

I really wanted to include some photos, but I also want to wash and wax it before I take pictures, so those will be coming in the near future.

Rejoice with us in the rich blessings that have showered upon us!

Luke 11:28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” ESV

1 Peter 3:8-9 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. ESV