Hagglin'

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
I really should have done some mowing today, since we are going to be out of town until Thursday...but it rained so much the last two days that I thought it might be too muddy out there. I'm sure it was...I just never checked it out.

Ran errands with the family this morning. We went out Wendover way, stopped by mom's then came home. After we got here I worked on our budget for a bit. It's been screaming to be done for a couple of months. We've had several changes with our re-financing and getting the Nissan paid off.

After I finished that and figured out that it is going to be tight, but we are going to go ahead and get the van, I decided to go see what colors were available on the lots. I left Shena and the kids here so that I didn't have to stress about them while I bartered. After sending out about 6 e-mails, I only got two quotes. One said he didn't have the car, the other 3 blew me off...or something. Anyway, one was Vann York Honda down in High Point so I thought I'd go down there first. I met the guy I was e-mailing back and forth. I asked him how many Odyssey's he had on the lot, he said "one. I had 8 or 9 on Tuesday, I have just one Touring model right now." He also proceeded to tell me that Honda wasn't manufacturing the 2005's anymore and that what was made, was made, and if I wanted a 2005 the color I wanted, it was going to take some looking around. He was a nice guy, very laid back and mellow. Too bad he couldn't help me out. He had me a little panicked about whether we were going to get what we want or not. So I went up to Crown off Wendover because they were the others who wrote me back and gave me a qoute. The # they gave me was more than Vann York gave me, but I figured I'd be able to move it down some. Wound up being more of the same there. They had 4 Odyssey's on the lot...3 of them were Touring editions, the other was Black, so we weren't interested in that at all. I talked to the salesman for about an hour...with him trying to track one down for me and get me to commit and agree on a price and such. They wanted me to put a deposit down so that they could look for the car I wanted and have it transferred to their dealership if they found it. I told them I wasn't leaving any money, but they could call me on my cell phone if they found one that they could get in for me. I don't know how it is going to work out because, seriously, while I was there, I heard three different people come in and ask for an Odyssey. I didn't realize, but today was the last day of the month, so they were pretty hopping inside the dealership. You know on the commercials for cars they show people all over the lot and looking around and inside and stuff? I thought that was just the commercial being optimistic...but that is really how it was today. I couldn't believe it. Never seen so many people in a dealership before. Anyway, I got the guy down another $400 so that he was actually beating the Vann York price. I'm not committed to anything yet, so we'll see what happens. I still don't like working with the people at Crown. The guy I worked with today wasn't REAL pushy, but I think part of that was that I had a quote already from the internet so he couldn't exactly start at MSRP and work his way down like he wanted to. Of course he got his "sales manager" out to talk to me. The guy promised me the world and tried to make me feel guilty for asking for the price I was...then acted like he was doing me a favor by "throwing the mud flaps in, if that's what it takes to sell you this car." I just laughed to myself. The experience really wasn't too bad because I psyched myself up before I went in..."I'm in control. I know what the invoice price is. I know what the dealer kickback is. I know all the tricks they are going to try to pull to keep the price up there." I just made myself feel like I knew what I was doing and that I was the one controlling the negotiations. I certainly couldn't have done that with the boys around. I told the salesman that I thought they could do better than the price that they had offered. He said "I don't know. That price is at invoice. How can we do better than what we paid for it? I guess I'll ask my manager and see what he says." Instead, he had the manager come out and made me ask him...like he was embarassed to ask or something. This is what I told him: "I am going to be financing through your dealership. I live here in Greensboro, on this side of Wendover, so when I get my Odyssey serviced, this is where I will service it. I was hoping you might be able to see me as a 'whole package' customer and be able to do a little better than what is offered right here." This was the part where he tried to make me feel guilty "Gosh, you realize that the price you are getting is the price we pay for the car, right? But I guess I can throw in the mud flaps," (which are a Crown Honda dealer installed option, $200). The way we left it was, while I was out of town, they would look for the color I wanted, and if they find it they will call me on my cell phone and ask me if I want them to bring it to the dealership. I will just have to be sure to verify the prices again with them before I tell them to go for it. I wouldn't put it past them to get the van, get me in the office and suddenly throw on $500 somewhere. I'll keep you posted (because I know you are waiting on the edge of your seat).

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
While out on Wendover, we took the boy's to A.C. Moore where they were having some kind of "Nickelodeon Day" where they went to these different stations and did different art project thingies. It was ok. They had a Darth Vader walking around (I don't know why) that Cade was scared of. He was constantly looking behind him to see if Darth was there. They got a bunch of junk while they were there (stickers, tattoos, pencils, markers, etc.)...we had to throw a bunch away when we got here...it would just wind up all over the house.

Arellano Update
Had dinner with mom and dad tonight. We were helping them with leftovers from Sunday or something. We finished planning our trip for tomorrow.

Christensen Update
We see them tomorrow!

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 11:15 - 8:08 - I didn't even realize I slept in, didn't hear Shena get out of bed or anything...at least that I remember.

TODAY:
Breakfast: none

Lunch: leftover enchiladas, rice and beans, water

Dinner: some roast beef guiso stuff that mom made, flour tortillas, cheese, coke