The Quick or the Dead

It seems I was wrong.
$19 000 will be enough to purchase a turbo diesel ST-R Navara, after all.

It's all in the timing. When perusing the Trading Post or Carsales.com, the trick is to check daily and be on the ball. If you find a potential vehicle (right car at the right price with low kms) and you don't phone straight away, you will probably find that it has already been sold by the time you get around to it.

After spending Saturday night down the coast, catching up with old friends for North Kirra Surf Club's 60th Anniversary celebrations (Steve's an ex-lifesaver), Steve returned home about 3pm and sat down at the computer to look for a new car. Jackpot! He found a likely candidate in an ad that had only been uploaded Saturday evening. A 2005 model, silver, style-side tray, turbo diesel ST-R Navara with only 150 000 kms on the clock (which is practically new for a diesel engine), at Labrador, for $20 000. It even comes with polished chrome carry bars, for carrying ladders, etc. "You'd get that for $19 000, easily" says Steve. I've said it before... his middle name should be 'haggle' - he will never pay the asking price. So he phoned the seller and asked about the car and whether he'd take $19 000 for it (yes, he would) and told him we'd be down in about an hour to have a look at it. So off we went, to a street at Labrador that Steve had driven right past on his way home earlier! Oh well... you get that!

The paintwork isn't perfect since it has been used as a work vehicle, but most of the scratches (from toolboxes and cabinets, since the current owner is a shopfitter/cabinetmaker) are confined to the inside of the tray. It has a small crease dent on the top of the right front guard, next to the bonnet. He had booked the car in to the panel beaters to get that fixed before selling.

We took it for a test drive, and as you'd expect from a four year old car, it drives perfectly well and has plenty of power. We decided to take it.

Rather than wait another two weeks (the earliest he could get it booked into the panel beaters), Steve asked him if he'd take $18 500 for it and we'd get the dent fixed ourselves. If you know Steve, you know he seems to know someone in every possible trade, and yes, we know a panel beater. He accepted our offer and we gave him $500 deposit. All he has to do now is get the road worthy done (hopefully today) and pay out the remaining amount owing on his lease to release the finance interest. Once the finance company processes his payment and advises him that it is officially "financially unencumbered", he'll give us a call and we will be able to go down to pay him, sign the transfer papers and pick up our new Navara.

At least the search and acquisition process was quick and painless... and did I mention the best bit? It's not white! Thank goodness we won't look like we own another "commercial vehicle". OK, so that might seem minor to you, but trust me, we don't really want to do that again. Not to mention white is too hard to keep looking clean!

After being Toyota owners for the last ten years, we have now crossed over to the 'dark side' and become the owners of a... gasp! ... Nissan. That might take some getting used to.

I'll post some pics when we bring it home.

♫ Money, Money, Money...♫

Nineteen grand. All hundreds. Not something you see very often. Unless of course you win lotto, marry a millionaire, or hit an investment jackpot... or have a successful career in armed robbery, I guess.

We sold our Hilux this morning. The bloke phoned during the week, said he was coming down from Childers this weekend to look at another Hilux on the Sunshine Coast, and ours, if we still had it. He asked if we had the Safety Certificate and paperwork ready to go, because he'd be bringing cash (as long as Steve'd take $19 000 for it, a grand less than the $20 000 we'd advertised it for) and if he liked it, he'd take it straight away.

We had, and he did. He checked it out, took it for a test drive, signed the transfer papers, handed over an envelope full of cash, and drove off in his new car.

Normally banks try to talk you out of hanging onto that much cash. They try to steer you towards a bank cheque (which naturally attracts a fee, so that's better for them) or at the very least, direct deposit. Consequently, we've never seen this much cold hard cash in one place.

Why do people say "cold hard cash" ?? Sure, if you're talking coins, but notes? They're neither cold, nor hard. OK, so maybe I should say a "thick wad of cash", which, let's face it, it certainly was!

Steve and I had a chuckle about it after they'd left. It was just a little bit 'gangster' - his wife pulled this envelope (albeit an ANZ Bank envelope) containing a thick wad of cash done up with rubber bands, out of her handbag. "It's all there, you can count it", she says. It brings to mind scenes from movies. People just don't do that these days, so we had to take a photo for posterity.

You wouldn't believe the cheek of some people though. We'd advertised it for sale at $20 000. It was after all, a 2004 model, with only 86 thousand kms on the clock. Car yards would have been asking over $25 000, and if the paintwork had been pristine, we could have asked a few grand extra as well. As it was, it was nicely priced. Steve received a text on his mobile that said "Mate, I got $15 000. Worth coming to look?" Steve sent a text back "NO". Another bloke sent an email saying "I've got $17 000. I'll take it without the mag wheels and tyres." Seriously? ...um... NO!

$19 000 is probably a bit less that we need to get a decent turbo diesel ST-R Nissan Navara, but still a couple of grand more than the Hilux owed us, so you have to be happy with that!

This means that the hunt for a replacement vehicle can now begin in earnest... AGAIN !

I don't even want to think about that just yet.

There goes another one!

Well, last night Cheyenne lost her second tooth! In typical Cheyenne style, this is happening with as little fuss as when she first cut her teeth as a baby. (We were very lucky with her when she first cut her teeth - no inconsolable crying, no temperatures, no sleepless nights...)

Both times now she has been eating, and she has stopped chewing, calmly handed the tooth over and continued eating. Steve and I are amazed that she has somehow managed not to swallow them.

So far there are no more loose teeth - but if the process continues at this rate then I fear that the Global Financial Crisis will hit Fairyland and the Tooth Fairy will suffer her own 'credit crunch' !

Once again , Cheyenne was excited to receive money from the Tooth Fairy. "Look what she left me!" When Steve asked her how she knew that it wasn't a he, Cheyenne informed us that "Only boys have boy tooth fairies"

So now you know!

...Gone !

Cheyenne went to the shops with Steve last night, and when they got home she was bursting with excitement because her tooth had fallen out while she was eating a Milky Way.

We hunted all around her room for the little organza pouch that I'd told her she could use to keep her tooth safe under her pillow, ready for the Tooth Fairy... but naturally, in the course of the last week, she has managed to lose it, and a full scale search turned up nothing. We settled on leaving the tooth on top of her bookcase so that the Tooth Fairy could be sure to find it.

You'd think it'd be relatively easy to photograph the gap in her teeth, but no! "Smile nicely for Mummy so I can take a photo of your teeth" She gives me a wild-eyed-mad-scientist grin. "No, a nice smile. No, not the fish-lips, either, I need to see your teeth!" OK, so then we have the problem that I'd prefer not to have permanent photographic evidence that her top teeth are wearing away (I may have mentioned that in the previous post), so I try to have her smile without exposing her top teeth. This results in several more tragically ugly faces, with lips stretched tight. "Relax, smile nicely, and maybe try to open your mouth a bit more like you're about to take a bite of something...?"

As always happens when you are trying to get a shot 'just right', the batteries are nearly flat and you can't just keep clicking away in the hope you get a decent one. How much do you hate digital camera lag ? I do. Immensely. She'd finally get the smile I wanted, but by the time the shot had actually been taken she'd moved again. I give up!

This is the best of a bad lot. OK, it's not all that bad on the whole, but it is definitely blurry around the teeth, which were, after all, the main focus of the shot. It does the job though, and you can sort of see that the tooth to the left (her left, that is) of the one she lost is also a bit loose, and is no longer facing straight.

Hopefully the middle top teeth are next. Then I'll let her smile with all her teeth (or gaps) showing in photos.

Going, Going...

I just had to make mention of Cheyenne's very first loose tooth! It's all very exciting!

I first noticed it yesterday afternoon - only because it had an odd translucent look to it. She hadn't even realised, but ever since I pointed it out she has been poking at it constantly with her tongue.

She was rather worried that it might fall out during the night and somehow get lost under her bed... or worse, that she might swallow it like one of her friends from Prep did. She was reassured by the fact that it was still safely in her mouth this morning. "But what if someone bumps me at school?", she wants to know.

I guess she is worried that if it gets lost then the tooth fairy won't bring her any money! Now there's a thought... I wonder what the tooth fairy's going rate is these days.

I had hoped that she would lose one or both or her front top teeth first (since they are wearing away at an alarming rate), but instead it is one of the bottom teeth. It's a good sign though, since surely the rest will follow relatively soon after, and maybe she will have lost the two worn ones well and truly before they wear away completely.

Record Breaker

In the immortal words of Kevin 'Bloody' Wilson (from the song Dick'taphone, for those of you who are interested)... "Ah shit, I don't believe it, here we f*ckin' go again!"

It seems that the new Hilux will not only hold the record for being the Newest Vehicle We've Owned (to date), but it will likely take line honours from the Barina, to take out the title for the Vehicle We've Owned the Shortest Length of Time.

Why?

Although a great car to drive on its own, it is only a standard diesel, and as such, is sadly lacking in enough power to tow the tinnie in the manner in which Steve is accustomed. It has been tried and tested... but sadly it did not pass Steve's test!
Towing the tinnie into a headwind on the highway and only managing to do 90 km/h with foot flat to the floor, is apparently not good enough. Towing same tinnie up the Gateway Bridge and only getting about 50 km/h in second gear ? Well, that's hilarious really, considering my Mazdabator can get slowed down to 50 km/h in the traffic but still manage to pick back up to 80 km/h before the top of the bridge... without changing down out of fifth gear !

So, with the trip to Rainbow Beach coming up in July (up and down all those hills!) and a fishing trip to Hinchinbrook planned for September, Steve has decided to cut his losses and put the Hilux on the market immediately (accompanied by much eye-rolling and "I told you so"s by me).
This will give us plenty of time to find a replacement and get it set up ready for fishing.

All that stuffing around and time wasted getting wheels and tyres, alloy tray, side steps, yada yada yada... and for what? So that it looks more presentable and will sell faster!

Time WAS wasted making this vehicle aesthetically pleasing for Steve. I will NEVER get back (that's right! Not Steve, me!) the hour or so wasted while I waited for the wheels and tyres to be fitted, nor the almost 5 hours I waited when the wheel studs needed to be replaced (waited twice as long as I should have due to the incorrect parts being delivered the first time round)... and do you think he can answer the phone when the silly woman from Kirby phones back and tell her that I've discussed it with him and "No we don't want a Kirby demonstration" ???
Of course he bloody can't! He can't even thank me for wasting my time!

Who knows what vehicle we'll end up with next. He's thinking maybe a dual cab Nissan Navara (in a turbo diesel this time), but I'm not sure I even care. I do know he'll phone me every time he stops at a car yard or the auctions or scans the Trading Post, to tell me all about the latest prospect - the whole damn process we went through in December, all over again.

I also know that next time I'm going to try and manage to be unavoidably unavailable whenever the vehicle needs to be taken to tyre shops, mechanics, etc, etc... unless I'm getting some sort of reward (monetary or otherwise) out of it!

I wonder what the hourly rate for Executive Assistants is these days???

Freedom at last!

At last the big day has arrived! For the first time in her entire life, Cheyenne bounced out of bed at 7.30am with a smile on her face.

Usually, the process of Cheyenne waking up and getting out of bed could be more accurately described as a sluggish ooze. An eyelid drags open, a hand snakes out to grab the sheet and pull it back up over her head and she invariably rolls over to bury her face in the pillow. Five minutes later we repeat the process... usually with more success the second time around. Or not. Sometimes it takes several attempts.

Not today, though. Today is the first day of Prep. Cheyenne is so excited to finally be at "big school", that she was up and ready for breakfast before we could blink. After a bowl of Nutrigrain and a glass of orange juice, she cleaned her teeth and put on her uniform, as she says, "my own self".

I know I am going to struggle with the age old question of what to put in the lunchbox. Yeah, yeah, we all know the basic food pyramid stuff. Gotta have the piece of fruit, the dairy and of course, the sandwich. No lollies or sweet cakes, but apparently the occasional snack-sized packet of chips is OK. Even a handful of Tiny Teddies is allowed, as long as there's healthy food too. So, how to keep variety, avoid potential allergy dramas (of other classmates, thankfully not Cheyenne) and provide things she'll actually eat... for five days a week... for the next 13 years ???

Today's lunchbox contained an apple and some chunks of Devon (woohoo for cheap luncheon meat knobs!) for morning tea, and jam sandwiches (currently the only filling she will eat) and a packet of rice wheel snacks for lunch. Hopefully her frozen water bottle will have thawed enough by morning tea time... OK, lunchbox packed, and we're off.

It wasn't a very nice morning for it, so not only did we have the new uniform, but we also had to break out the new raincoat as well, for the walk to school in the pouring rain..

"I can put my shoes on my own self!"

She looks so tiny in her uniform because it's so big on her.

Steve asked his boss for a late start so that we could all walk to school together for the first time. Once there, her teacher Mrs Johnson, pinned on Cheyenne's name tag and told her she could do some puzzles after she'd unpacked and put her bag away. With her art folio placed on one shelf and her ring binder on another (along with everyone else's), she found her pigeon hole, put her backpack away, and settled down to do some puzzles.

At 9 o'clock the bell rang, there were hugs all round and we left them to it. Some families were a bit teary-eyed, but not ours! Cheyenne is off to school without a backwards glance. In fact, she had to be reminded to give Daddy a hug goodbye!

I'm sure today the country is full of sobbing mothers, distraught that their babies have grown up and left them... but not me. I'm not saying it's a bad thing. It's just not my thing! I'm ecstatic! I can smell the freedom from here.

What will I do with myself for six hours a day? Hmmm.... well, I think that for the first week at least, I will do absolutely nothing. Maybe read a book or two. I've got a few Kathy Reichs novels that are sitting on the bedside table, waiting to be read.

Steve told me that once Cheyenne started school I had to get a job (what? being a mother isn't a job?? Oh, you mean "paid employment" ! ) and I will. After I have some "me time" first!

I'll let you know how that goes...