Skip to main content

You've got your (car) troubles, I've got mine

Sometimes, it's the little things that sway the vote towards change.

As I've blogged about before, I truly value my time listening to CDs in my car. Most of my time driving since I started driving has been accompanied by music. Since I've had a CD player in my car, I've never wanted to go back to listening to cassette tapes or fidgeting with the radio. To my ears, the sonic clarity of CDs still trumps the rather padded sound of an iPod going through a car's radio. So when my CD player decided to stop playing CDs this past weekend, I decided it's time to consider getting a newer car.

Now, the CD player is not the only reason why I've considered getting a new car. Rather, this recent turn of events has been the final, final straw.

The car has been good to me since I got it in October '03. I've had many good drives in it, including the first major drive where I drove between North Dallas and Fort Worth to get my drums from the house where the band I was recently fired from practiced. There were many great trips, but I think it's time to look for a gently used, newer model that has only a few miles on it. (And no outstanding parking tickets from the University of Texas police.)

In the past four years, I've had the catalytic converter replaced twice, and a major engine overhaul that cost a pricey $1,500 to fix. So, taking that into consideration, along with the CD player situation, I think it's time to find a new set of wheels.

Of course, this will mark a turning point in my life: a commitment to pay something off over a few years. As much as I might speak of the fear of being committed to somebody through thick and thin (when I doubt that person will stick with me through thick and thin), I've been able to handle some commitment, like apartment leases and cell phone contracts. I just am all too aware of the "adult" nature of paying something off. There are plenty of reasons why adult responsibilities scare me, even at the apparently adult age of thirty, but maybe it's time to build up a credit history. Just don't ask me about buying a house.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Catherine Wheel

Originally posted: Tuesday, August 29th, 2006 Despite managing to release five proper albums, Catherine Wheel was one of those bands that always seemed to slip past the mainstream rock crowd. Yes, they got some nice airplay in their day, but people seem to have forgotten about them. You may hear “Black Metallic” or “Waydown” on a “classic alternative” show on Sirius or XM or maybe even on terrestrial radio, but that’s about it. For me, they were one of most consistent rock bands of the ’90s, meandering through shoegazer, hard rock, space rock and pop rock, all while eluding mainstream pigeonholing. Led by the smooth, warm pipes of vocalist/guitarist Rob Dickinson (cousin of Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson), Catherine Wheel featured Brian Futter on lead guitar, Dave Hawes on bass and Neil Sims on drums. They weren’t a pretty-boy guitar band, but they weren’t a scuzzy bunch of ragamuffins either. Though the band hailed from England, Catherine Wheel found itself more welcome on American air

Best of 2021

  Last year, my attention span was not wide enough to listen to a lot of LPs from start to finish. Too much went on in 2020 to focus on 10-15 albums, so I went with only a couple to spotlight. Well, 2021 was a little better, as I have a list of top four records, and a lot of individual tracks.  (I made a lengthy Spotify playlist ) So, without further ado, here’s my list of favorites of the year: Albums Deafheaven, Infinite Granite (listen) Hands down, my favorite album of the year. I was not sure where Deafheaven would go after another record that brought My Bloody Valentine and death metal fans together, but they beautifully rebooted their sound on Infinite Granite. The divisive goblin vocals are vastly pared-down here, as are the blast beats. Sounding more inspired by Slowdive, the band has discovered a new sonic palette that I hope they explore more of in the future. It’s a welcome revelation. I still love their older material, but this has renewed my love of what these guys do.  J