Exhausting Sunday

Yesterday was a long-ass day.

First frustrating event of the day, my run. It was cloudy and breezy yesterday around mid-morning, and while it did look like rain, I figured I'd brave the chances in order to get the run done in slightly cooler temps early in the day. I had planned on doing 8 miles, so I got ready and headed out the door. At about 1.5 miles, the skies opened up and poured on me. The heavy rain lasted about 5 minutes, but by then, I was completely soaked.

However, I didn't turn around. The rain eased up and I figured I'd pressed forth -- soggy clothes and everything. Unfortunately, though, this burst of rain wasn't the last. It continued to lightly rain on me for the next mile or so, but I was just past the 3 mile point when the skies again opened up in a torrential downpour. It was raining so hard, I could hardly see, so I threw in the proverbial towel and turned around. Shortly thereafter the iPod quit (it doesn't handle being wet very well), but surprisingly, the Garmin never lost its signal.

Twice more on the way back, it rained heavily on me, and trudging through such rain in soaking clothes and drenched feet (that's the worst) was miserable. So even though I only did 6 miles, instead of the planned 8, I figured I'd worked as though I'd done extra miles and felt satisfied having just gotten through it.

So, after the rainy run, Jerry and I decided to go car shopping. Enter second frustrating event of the day. You may recall that I mentioned on Friday that I thought my car may be on its last legs? Well, it's old, has incredibly high mileage and, well, little things are beginning to go on it. We've been talking about a new car for about a year and had always tentatively planned on buying something within the next few months, so we decided to start the task yesterday. Ugh.

We went to a few dealerships and test drove some cars that we had been interested in, and after a few places, we found one that we really liked. It had everything we wanted, plus a few extras, but once it came down to the nuts and bolts of financial negotiation, we could not come to an agreement with the dealership. So, after about 8 hours of car shopping, we came home empty handed, and to be honest? I'm glad we did.

See, car salespeople want you to make a snap decision, often based on an emotional choice, but this is a big investment for us and we have to remain rational about it. (And really, a new car is about the most worthless thing you can buy: It's expensive, takes years to pay off, but depreciates in value; so it's not really an "investment.") And I'm not gonna make a decision that factors in so much money on a whim, or because I like the sunroof. Or because I feel pressured by the salesman.

This means we have more shopping to do. Maybe we'll go back out there today (I'd prefer not to -- I felt totally drained after yesterday's experience), but if not, probably in some of the upcoming weekends. I like the part where I get to look at the shiny new cars; I just don't like the 3 hours you end up spending at the salesman's little desk indoors going back and forth over percentage rates vs. rebates, and the "what can I do to get you in this car today?" No thanks.