Rambling

I seem to be on a big shopping binge of late. I just bought a new TiVo, 2 CDs, a book, 56 pocketknives, a video card (computer thing), and I'm looking for a USB network adapter to hook my TiVo to my home network. I'm unstoppable.

And now I'm thinking about getting a new car. Well, not new, new. But a different, smaller, used car. Right now I drive a 97 Camry CE. CE stands for "this Car doesn't have any fEatures" - no power locks, no power windows, a manual transmission (I like this), no cruise control, and no intermittent wipers. And most frustratingly, it's enormous. I didn't used to think it was enormous when I lived in an apartment with a garage, but now I have to park it on the street amongst the tightly clustered driveways of Ocean View.

Parking near my house is one thing, but going out to some of the other parkingly challenged neighborhoods is terrible. On Friday I went to see Pedalsped with Sheila at the Tongue and Groove on Van Ness at Union. I drove around for 45 minutes looking for a place to park before giving up and going to Mitchell's instead. I saw several spaces meant for more petit cars, but the ones sized for my tubby Camry were snatched up right before our eyes (3 in total). It was extremely frustrating.

And I know, I have a scooter, the ultimate parking machine. But it's no good when the rain is coming down in drops big enough to drown in.

The surprising front runner in my car research so far: The Ford Focus ZX3. Small, cheapish, good horsepower, and ELECTRIC LOCKS. Yes, I long for remote keyless entry like most people wish for, well, I don't know. I drew a blank there and went to Google some wishes. Apparently some people wish to "gorge on porn," while others wish "all the Mexicans would speak English." I wonder if they're including the ones who still live in Mexico. Maybe for ease of vacationing?

It would be nice to learn some Spanish.

How's that for a meandering post?