Friend

A friend of mine stopped me at work and asked how things have been going. We hadn't spoken for a week or so, and I asked "Haven't you been keeping up by reading my Blog?" "You have a Blog?" he responded with disbelief, as if having a Blog is a pretty rare thing to do. I wonder if that means I have the Blog disease? Can I be cured? I know from personal experience that it has gone into short term remission, but cured? I told him, not only that, but I have setup a family website. Again, he couldn't believe me, so I told him to Google me. The first entry that came up was my LinkedIn profile which I use to network with other people I know. The second entry was not related to me, but the third entry was a mention of my old BBS from the late 80's that I ran called the "Grand Central Station". The forth entry was my family website: Laughlin's in PA. On the menu of the family website is a list of Blogs including mine, "One", "Two", "Three", "Four" and "Other Two". Yeah, I started all my kids with a Blog. It also lists "Two's" personal website. Anyway, he was impressed and started reviewing the websites and Blogs, and I am waiting for him to comment on at least one of my posts... Then I will know my audience went to at least two people! He told me that he was on the web also, and I should Google him, so I did. I found a website that had a video clip from when he was interviewed on TV for a news cast about a machine to help people with bad backs. Now it was my turn to be impressed! I may have created a website and write to a Blog, but I have never gotten interviewed on TV! He's famous! Well maybe not, but he has had his 15 minutes of fame... My turn! Later Lou

New Car - Part 2

"Two" is a little upset that I posted about his new car before he did. He sent me a few IM's yesterday and a comment on my last post expressing that he had the "real" story!

The rest of the story is that his car isn't yet road worthy, although it soon will be. We had to get it insured of course, which was an interesting event. The same night after we wrote the check for the car (Sunday I believe), we went home and logged onto my insurance company's website: http://www.geico.com/. I put in a few quotes: 1) Adding a car, and 2) Adding a driver. A representative from Geico wrote me an Email shortly after my request for a quote telling me that my premium had been raised to almost $1,700 for 6 months worth of coverage!

I had a small anxiety attack, not only because of the very large dollar figure, but because I didn't really ask them to change my policy yet, only give me a quote. So I immediately responded with my displeasure of changes being made without my consent.

A second representative wrote back and told me that they had to "by law" add the second driver if he was licensed, and a learner's permit was considered licensed, and if he was living in my household. I really started to sweat wondering how I was going to come up with that sum of money, or how I could tell "Two" that almost half his monthly income would be going to pay for car insurance.

Before I got too worked up I got another message from Geico in response to my quote for adding the car. I expected the number to go up even more, and was not only relieved, but elated that the number actually went down over $600! I am not sure how the insurance premium calculations work, but as long as "Two" had his own car the rate dropped considerably.

The monthly cost of insurance is now manageable, however, it doesn't manage my concerns about him being out on the roads without supervison. Hopefully within the upcoming weeks he helps me to be assured by becoming a stronger and more confident driver.

BTW: Here's second picture of "Two's" car, since he posted the same picture on his blog, that I posted previously.

New Car

I bought a new car... It's in my name.... I paid for the taxes and title transfer fees.

Ok, I confess, the car isn't really mine. "Two" bought the car... He paid for it with his own money, and he will be paying me back for the taxes and title when he gets paid on Monday. The car is, however, in my name since he is underage, and doesn't have a license yet. He's still working on both of those issues... I am pretty sure at least one of them will be resolved within 7 months.

He spent the last couple of weeks scouring the newspaper classified ads, and the local "auto trader" magazines. He called numerous people, asked questions, talked with friends, until he found what sounded like a pretty good deal.

We went to meet the owner, and see the car, and I was pleasantly surprised that the car looked in decent shape. The owner told us two bad things about the car: No key to lock or unlock the doors, and the battery needed to be replaced. Both issues can be resolved easily without much knowledge in car repair, which of course is a bonus for both him and I, since we are absolute non-experts in fixing up cars.

The owner asked if we wanted to drive it, and I was glad to hear that he was very forthcoming, and seemingly honest (yeah, I had, and may still have a little cynicism). We drove the car, and "Two" was extremely happy. The only thing that was not 100% with it was that the car had a little muffler noise which seems to be coming from a loose strap on the exhaust pipe. There were no drips coming from the engine, so no oil leaks, no radiator leaks, and nothing glaring wrong with the engine.

The car is a little old, being that it's a 1994 Chevy Cavalier, but it only has 94,000 miles on the car, which I thought was pretty good for the age of the car.

Today, "Two" and I went and signed the papers and got the new license plate. So it is now officially his property, and as soon as we can get a extra driver to go with us (or him) to pick it up, he will have it moved to our place so he can clean it up, put in the new battery, and attach the new plate.

He was very excited to place the ignition key on his keyring today.

I am very proud of him, and at the same time very nervous. My son will very soon be driving around by himself, and I will be worrying for quite some time each time he is out that he may be broke down or in an accident... Yeah, I know the car is pretty solid, and his a pretty good driver, but I believe I am allowed a little excess worry as a father... Right?

Later Lou