Couple of days

Election day is looming. I can't say I care one way or the other - my pitiful single vote doesn't make a whole lot of difference. I do worry, though, that a lot of the spiteful rhetoric isn't going to evaporate like dew on a sunny day. There are seriously crazy people (on both sides) who aren't going to be able to respect the office even though they might not like the office-holder. And down that path lies social chaos.

Good things I forgot to mention the other day - filling the car's gas tank for $30 or less. Hasn't happened in a long time (and hey, didn't Exxon/Mobil have record profits yet again?).

Been in a foul mood all weekend. No particular reason, but school gives me plenty. Excessive paperwork, a massive student project that has to be "judged" by outsiders to the school, and even though it was not going to be officially graded, somebody had the bright idea of putting it on the report card. Now we math teachers have been slipped a number - 91% proficient. Beats me where they pull this stuff, but I know on a given day I don't have 91% of my kids who are compliant with the dress code. Last year I taught over 100 kids, and from what I could tell from test scores only 8 scored less than proficient. Sounds like I already hit that benchmark, but the sky is already falling and whips are cracking. Plus taking four days off means I have to prepare lessons that are basically self taught for the sub to hand out. And having seen the kids working in groups for two days - well, it is hard to believe they can do anything with OR without supervision.

Today I took some of my frustration out by visiting one of the (four) local Nissan dealerships. We bought our first car from them in 2002 and they send us all kinds of cute mailings about trading in, demand is high for our old car, etc. Reading between the lines, they want to have our debt. The latest mailing said they will give us "maximum trade in" for our current car and will get us a new car at the same or lower payments (the car is paid off, so again, good luck there). We went in armed with a few bits of knowledge - first, the trade-in for our car is around $7000. Second, our niece got a new Versa in June for around $12,000. So, we figured we might be able to get a decent deal. Found the only manual transmission car on the lot, which was an OK color and interior. Went inside to start playing the number game.

The first offer was ridiculous. They not only lowballed the trade-in, but then deducted over $1000 for things accounted for by the estimate I had online (paint, wear and tear, etc.). The "generous" manufacturer cash offer amounted to $500, which seemed less than generous. We came to realize we had picked a lousy time, since all the October deals ended on Friday and the dealers won't get November incentives until Monday. On top of this, they deal more at the end of months, when sales goals need to be met. We held firm, told the salesman in no uncertain terms where we wanted to see numbers, and exactly how they could get them there. Two rounds later we hadn't budged and the manager came in to explain margins on the smaller cars and how he would be taking a loss. I told him I would come back when they sent the "free turkey" postcards out and see if they were ready to put us in a new car. In the meantime we would visit other dealers to see how reasonable they could be. Then we had to wait for our car to be brought back around - they had anticipated we would sign the papers on the new one.

We walked out smiling, not having been forced into anything and feeling like we held the upper hand. And we just might do it again next weekend, with the dealership that sold us the Sentra. We have a plot in mind for them to assume the note on the Sentra, roll the unpaid portion into a new loan for a Versa - as long as they can meet the price we want to pay. It is fun to be a bastard sometimes.