We've got a winner

Song of the day: “The Caravan of Love” by the Housemartins, I think. Hmmm. Maybe I should check. Nah. Whoever sang it, it was the A-Capella version.

So...very little writing these past couple of days. Very annoying, I know, but that is life getting away with ya, I guess. The car thing has kept us incredibly busy. It feels as if I’ve been living in the friggin’ car trying to get everything arranged.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, aren’t I. Let’s start with yesterday where I subbed as a cab driver...or at least that was how it felt. Seriously, I’ve spent more time in the car yesterday and today than I have in the past six months. And that is saying something. Hah.

Anyway, yesterday started early with me heading for town hall to pay this year’s taxes...yikes. That hurts the wallet seriously. Gawd. Then I had to have copies of my passport and drivers license stamped, which cost a solid six bucks per stamp, thank you very much. I can earn money that way, jeez.

Right after I head to head down to town to check what I was supposed to do once I bought a new car, at which time I was informed that they could just change the details of the insurance and that would be it. So yeah, I was somewhat reassured when I got home and got to writing. Only managed three or four pages before it was time to head out to our appointment in town.
We were meeting with two sellers at the garage, so basically it was a face off between the Hyundai Atoz and the Opel Astra Merit.

First one was the Atoz, and the mechanic warned that the engine usually starts falling apart after 80.000 km. I liked the car, but let’s just say that it didn’t pass the test. Turned out that if we bought it fixing it was going to cost us ‘bout a thousand box to have it brought up to part, regardless of the fact that it had a new engine four or five years ago. Added to that, getting new parts would be incredibly expensive because it all has to come from Japan. *sigh*

So with that ringing in our ears...it was a family outing, the younger sibs and mom were there too...we waiting for the Opel. The seller arrived about fifteen minutes early and there we went, going over the whole thing again. Luckily this car came out of the test a lot better. The mechanic even said that it would a good choice because it was well maintained. There was about three to four hundred bucks of repairs, which had the seller agree to taking off about a hundred off the price, and paying half of the repair as long as we had it done at a garage where he could get a big discount.

And yep, we agreed to buy the Opel. I paid a deposit, we signed a little note and agreed to meet this very morning for the transfer. Which meant that we could finally go home and try to get some real work done. Like writing. The fact that I was just too tired to do much more than a page had me give up around midnight and head to bed. Seriously, buying a car is not my favorite pass time.

So anyway, this morning was another early one (a. I am getting too little sleep again b. I am not eating well. There just isn’t enough time during the day. My doctor would frown at me, I’m sure. *sigh*) because the vet was coming in to vaccinate the dogs. Now I would have liked to be there, but we had the appointment with the car seller, meaning that little brother and I headed out to meet with him and drive to the village to arrange paperwork. It’s a hassle over here in Spain, really. You need a gestor who arranges everything for a fee and that cost us another solid 160, darn it. (Usually transfer costs are for the buyer around here) But we managed it, and are now the owners of a new 2nd hand car.

By the time we got home the vet had finished with the vaccinations, meaning that they’re all set for another year or so.*Phew*

Afterwards I managed to sort through our tile piles, getting stuff ready for tenant’s future floor, before it was time for me to head for town again and arrange the insurance. Worked out fine, and the car is now officially insured. Since I was in town anyway, I drove past our garage to deliver the last bit of paperwork for the Daewoo. Oh, did I mention that the young mechanic working there asked if I could take the Daewoo from me if he took care of all the paperwork and gave me a free check up for my future car. Yeah, well, that’s what I agreed to. I saw no reason to send the little thing to the junk yard if it didn’t have to, and having a mechanic check out your car for free is a nice thing, to say the least. Heck, they even did both of them without charge, so I’m a happy gal. A friendly lot, over there, not to mention helpful. I’m very happy we found them.

Be that as it may, I dropped off the last paper, drove past the other garage (the one the seller insisted on) to see how the new car was doing and the mechanic was working on it. I assured the feller I wasn’t trying to rush him, but only came by to check if replacing the belts was on the list as well. It was, so I left and headed home. Oh, you never guess who I saw walking beside the road for the past three days, or so. Yep, the seller of the Daewoo. Guess business is not going well enough for him to cruise in his big ass car. I can’t say I’m sorry to see that, considering that they didn’t treat us at all right. (Heard a similar story from the mechanic, who got screwed over by them as well.) If they had treated us right, I wouldn’t have hesitated to return, as it is...well, we’re all set. Hah.

Which brings us to now, a time when I really should have been working on the book, but since I am scatter brained from being all over the place for the past couple of days, I figured I might as well do this blog first.

Oh, good bit of news is that my dogs didn’t make a fuss at all during the vaccinations, so, yay. They just might learn after all. Hah.

Potential disasters at the horizon

Song of the day: “Jump in the line (Shake shake Sehnora)” by Harry Belafonte. It’s been going through my head for several days now, but luckily it’s a good song.

Okay, time for a serious update, seeing as the past couple of days have been incredibly busy.
First of all, a few days ago we got a summons of city hall to come on over on Wednesday, where we got served. Yep. You heard (read) it right, served. That car accident that happened in 2009 finally got a follow up, meaning that the other party wants to see money. *sigh*

So stuff like that gets me worried, and immediately afterwards, while slugging ourselves through the paperwork, we headed for our insurance broker and asked for some advice. She assured us that it is pretty much standard when there’s an accident involved, and basically this will be something between the insurance company and the other party. Which reassured me somewhat at least, since she told me that I should just wait until the lawyer gets in touch with me. If stuff doesn’t get settled, I will most likely get a closer look at the Spanish justice systerm. Hah.

But anyway, we were just about done at the broker’s place when my phone rang and mom informed me that she and little sister were taking the steaming Daewoo to the shop...where we were informed that the cooling liquid tank burst a seam or some such and that the lack of it basically fried the engine. *sigh* I know, ain’t it fun? And that just days after the AC got fixed. You’d think we’re jinxed, darn it. This means we’re going to have to dip into the savings again, either to have a new engine put in, or to get a new 2nd hand car. Aaaargh! I hate touching the savings, in particular since it was looking like we were looking at putting a good chunk aside this very month. *double sigh* I’m sure I’ll be writing about this more in the near future, but that’s about it for now. On to the nicer stuff...it all feels like disaster just waiting to happen darn it.

The yard. We got a 6 to 8 pound harvest of peaches this year, which is totally awesome. We got a full basket of too early peppers from the yard too. Seriously, I don’t know what’s wrong with the plants but we’ve got pepper plants that are barely a hand high, carrying three to four peppers that are literally pulling it to the ground. Poor plantsies, working so hard.
Zucchinis are producing well too, giving us about two per day. Yay. Same goes for the tomatoes, even though they are going a little faster. Might get a problem with those in the near future. Once we start getting too many, I’m going to have to start canning.

My herbs are drying well in the cupboard grandpa made. Got a solid bag of Parsley now, along with a chamomile and another oregano back. Yay. This means that I won’t have to buy herbs this winter.

There was some watering of plants involved, of course, not to mention weeding of which there is always more to do. I do admit that I didn’t wind down yesterday until I headed into the yard and forgot about the most recent developments.

Writing. I did some, but was distracted a lot. I did reach the beginning of page 29 for “V.L.” so it wasn’t all bad. I had this great idea yesterday while big brother and I were getting sand again, and managed to hold onto it until I got home and was able to jot it down.

The pool is starting to see some serious action what with the sudden and rapid increase of temperature these past couple of days. In fact in the middle of the day things are starting to get sweltering. Two to three dips a day are starting to become standard.

Chamea’s stitches are doing well. She is hardly bothered by it anymore, and is once again trying to outdo Sonia (big brother’s small Cocker Spaniel). They’re mortal enemies, and have been since day one. *triple sigh*

Tenant decided to join us by the basin terrace today again, which is good since it means that she gets some extra exercise. It didn’t go all bad, and she did enjoy walking a section with big brother, which makes for a nice change for her, I think.

Well, I’ve got to get back to work. I might be able to finish that scene I started on last night, and got to admit that I am more than a little curious to see how it’s going to work out. A first kiss...maybe...?