How cars are sold today

Well, I'm getting older, and I thought I knew how to buy a car. My first couple I bought in upstate New York. The next few I bought in Florida, while in graduate school. Then I moved to New Jersey, where it seemed much the same. You drive to where the cars are and talk to someone who wants to sell you a car. Then, after choosing one, you go away and arrange to get the money. Then you go back where the cars are and pay for it. If everything works out OK, then you drive the car away. It all seemed reasonable to me, too. But now things are different.

Here is a little background info. My daughter just got her first apartment in Manhattan. It's not fancy, but it's hers and she is happy. Then her car, which we bought in the "normal" way, began to be a nuisance to her. First it began to collect tickets while her boyfriend drove and parked it in the wrong places. That was solved by ditching the BF (there was more, but I'll leave that for another story). Then one day the car disappeared off the street. She was right at the decision point about whether to sell the car or not. So the disappearance could have been good (provided the insurance company paid). Unfortunately, the BF had come back to haunt her. He had never paid his tickets, so the car was impounded. Well, that is an adventure in New York City! Visits here and there to offices in strange places, followed by payment of large sums of money, including her former BF's tickets. She made her way through it without complaining too much. But she did decide to sell the car!

OK, so, what to do? She didn't know, but her uncle did. Her uncle lives in Flushing, and volunteered to show the car at his house. I don't know why, but it was really decent of him. So he was to show the car and my daughter was to advertise so it would sell. Well, right after paying deposits and her first rent, that was not in the cards. She didn't even have an Internet connection. So her very kind uncle started dropping off fliers and putting in Internet ads (don't tell his wife - she thought that was my daughter's job). Well, nothing much happened for a while, but then, last Wednesday night we got a call. And all hell broke loose! My daughter calls up and says there may be a buyer. Her uncle calls up and tells us the same. Daughter calls back and says "It's not enough. What do I do?" So I coach her on how to negotiate. Then her uncle calls up again and tells us the bottom line and the shocker "They want to buy it tonight!" Did daughter dear prepare for this? Hell, no! The title, manual, and extra keys are here in NJ!

So we tell him "No way! We'll come over tomorrow, when we're scheduled to go to Brooklyn." He says "No, it has to be tonight. They need the car for tomorrow. They'll pay cash!" So we hem and haw for a bit, then tell him that we'll come over. Then we ask him "Where do we do this thing?" He tells us in Manhattan, then corrects himself to say Astoria. It's 6PM by that time, and we have to conclude this quickly. So, off we go, worrying about counterfeit money, unsavory buyers, and so on. We call everyone in sight telling them we're on the way. Uncle is driving the car over to meet us. By 7:15 we're picking up my daughter and explaining things to her. Then we put the Astoria address in the GPS and head for Queens. So, traffic is fairly light and we get there in twenty minutes or so, pulling up just behind the uncle. "Not so bad," I say to myself (stupidly, it turns out in retrospect). Uncle gets on his cell phone and tells us "I can't get the guy!" So we stand around for a while, thumbs up our asses, wondering WTF. The house owner comes out in curlers and tells us the guy lives here but he isn't here right now.

It's at this point that I begin to focus on what's gone wrong with car buying. Rule 1: go to where the cars are! What the hell, the car, the seller, the uncle, and the immediate family in yet another car are all going somewhere that the buyer IS NOT! Uncle is resourceful, however, and calls one of the other people who came to his place with the buyer. He says, "I'm close by, a couple of blocks away. Let me call the guy and find out what happened and get him to call you back." So, we wait, and wait, and wait. Then uncle's phone rings and the dude calls back. "That guy will call you in a minute." So, the missing guy finally calls and tells us "I'm in Manhattan and, by the way, I'm not the guy buying the car." So now we're really in a lather. Uncle, not to be topped, calls the other dude back.

The dude tells us "Come and get me, then we'll get this thing going." I'm saying "Great, maybe this will happen." So off we go to DESTINATION 2. Well, it is DEFINITELY NOT a couple of blocks away. It is a couple of MILES away. We're following uncle and he goes through so many yellow lights, trapping us behind, that I'm beginning to wonder if we'll every catch him. Thank goodness we have cell phones. Finally we get to DESTINATION2. When we catch up with uncle, he starts up again immediately. I think he is still heading for the dude until I see that the dude is inside the car. "Where are we going," I ask my wife, who is in continual contact with uncle by now. Eventually we squeeze the address for DESTINATION 3 from uncle via the cell.

DESTINATION 3? "What the hell?," I ask, while watching my better half punch in the address. Now we are approaching the real buyers. However, they are not in Astoria, they are in Elmhurst! On and on we drive. By this time I am getting pretty snotty at the prospect of more driving in Queens. We drive and drive, past shopping centers and train stations, past car dealers and delis, past prostitutes and pimps. Finally our trusty GPS guides us to a very dark neighborhood. Yipes! So, uncle is standing on the street with the dude and two nerdy, grad student-looking people. We open up the car and get the buyer in the backseat. Daughter counts the money. She inspects it for counterfeit. She writes down the buyer's name and address. She signs over the title. She writes out a receipt for the money. Then she gets out to get the plates and registration from the car. IT WAS NOT TO BE!

So, to recap: by this time we have driven to Manhattan, continued to DESTINATION 1 in Astoria, continued to DESTINATION 2 in Astoria, driven on to DESTINATION 3 in Elmhurst, finally to conclude the sale. We thought we were done, after 3+ hours. But nooooooo, uncle proceeds to tell them that they can't leave an unlicensed car on the street or the cops will give them a ticket. I could have shot him!. So now there is a detailed, BUT INCONCLUSIVE discussion on WTF to do. I'm really pissed off at this point. This is way too much capro-copulation for me! (BTW, that's goat f__k for the uneducated.) So, the final upshot is that we all get back in the car, abandon the purchasers, and drive to DESTINATION 4 back in Astoria. I'm flaming, but resigned by this time. Uncle is picked up by his son. Daughter gets her plates and registration. We all get back in the car and drive back to Manhattan, then back home to NJ.

So, this is how to buy a car these days:

1. Get two friends, including one with mechanical skills, together
2. Rent a car and drive to where the car is (this sounds appropriate so far)
3. Drive away, promising to meet and buy the car with cash, but giving the wrong address
4. Let the guy at the address go off and do whatever he wants without telling the sellers
5. Let another guy go off somewhere else, but let him answer the phone
6. Force the seller's car to drive to three different destinations, trailing another car for support of the selling team
7. Force the seller's car to drive off to a fourth destination for parking without plates
   
8. Let the sellers go off on their own finally, to get home at a much later hour than they thought reasonable
   

Things are different now. I just hadn't realized how different they are

And tomorrow there was

It always feels good to me to come to Chincoteague. I can rest here. I can beach here. I can always see something to capture on film here. Today it was this ghost crab, stirred up by a little boy with a plastic shovel. Boy, was he surprised! So was the crab, which attracted a crowd quickly.

So were we, when it came time to purchase our Duck Stamp for the year. Normally you purchase a $15 Duck Stamp and it gets you into Assateague National Wildlife Refuge (and the beach) for the rest of the year. This year they introduced a $15 beach pass on top of that. Only the federal government could see doubling their price as trivial. Maybe it is, but it was a bit of a shock.

We found out that someone from work is down here for the week, too. We'll visit a little later in the week.

Long pull today

We started the day in Orange Park, just south of Jacksonville, Florida. There's a story, but it has some pictures, so I won't tell it now.

We had a plan at one time to slowly make our way up the coast, visiting a couple of places and people on the way. That was all scrapped this morning. We left with the intention to get all the way to Chincoteague if we could. And we did, 12 hours later.

So tomorrow it's more of this

and this
















and maybe this

So go, check out the little ponies and get sand between your toes. Fly a kite, suck on a crab, get a sunburn, swim a little!

Panhandle to eastern Florida

Today was a little longer than we expected. It took us almost 6 hours of driving to reach Jacksonville, where we will visit one of E's colleagues who is also Jamaican. Florida is a huge state. Surprisingly, after we left the resort, the rest of the island was almost desolate. People often don't realize how much countryside Florida has. Most visitors do not leave the coasts unless they are going to Disney in Orlando.

We stopped here to see E and his wife and child. E worked with my E as a technical representative, dealing with molding trials, etc. He is one of the nicest guys I have ever met. He has roots in Mandeville and goes there often to see his Mom, who is ailing. His family is nice, too, we learned.

He drove us around for hours, touring the neighborhoods of Orange Park (just south of Jacksonville, Florida) and going to see the Jax beaches. Then we passed through Ponte Vedra on the way back to our hotel. The hotel, as with many down there, was beautifully landscaped.

Day b4 Yesterday or so - Onward into Florida

This was a bit of a long day. Out of Louisiana, first we traveled through the bayous and lakes (from Lake Bigeux onward to Grosse Tete the road was elevated on concrete stilts). This is beautiful country, with patchworks of bayou, swamp, and lakes peeking through the foliage. Here we saw names from my ancient past in an environmental lab. Calcasieu and Placquemine Parish, the sites of huge waste dumping facilities. We tested them, along with other samples from all over the US, then assembled the results into a database for the biggest waste hauling company in the US.

Then on past Lake Pontchartrain and into Mississippi. Pretty country, but not much to note there. Then past Mobile and the battleship Alabama, sitting in the harbor as a historical monument.

Well, maybe there is something to note. Somewhere in Mississippi or Alabama (the latter, I think) a police car pulled out of the median onto the interstate behind us. It did exactly what I had just read about. It pulled up behind us in the next lane, paused long enough to type in our license plate, then pulled up beside us. I turned my head to see what was going on, and the trooper waved. I waved back and then he pulled forward and took off. Apparently this was an example of a phenomenon I had just read about. The cops track cars doing the speed limit, suspecting that they are ferrying drugs. If the driver does not respond by looking at the cop, the cop then pulls the car over for a search. I'm not sure what the probable cause would be. But if drugs are found, the cops glom onto the whole thing and pay for their stuff with it. Kind of justified piracy as they see it. Glad I looked over and saved myself the trouble of a search!

Finally we got into Florida, where E and I met each other years ago in graduate school. We were on our way to visit old grad school friends, G and M. We dropped off I-10 at Pensacola, finding our way along Route 98 (very slowly). It goes along a big sandbar island for miles and miles. We passed through Gulf Breeze, Mary Esther, Destin, and finally into Miramar Beach. It was kind of troublesome on the stretch through Destin. Apparently half the US population was there! Two lanes in either direction (Route 98 is the only major highway on this island/sand spit), and all lanes full of cars moving at snailish paces.

G and M live in a resort (Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort), alongside a golf course. Their home and surroundings are just beautiful (I'll try to catch up and include some pictures soon). The house is spacious and elegant and beautiful.

Our families had gotten together several times in the past, at the beach and elsewhere. From these times, G had stitched together home movies and stills into a really nice CD presentation which really brought back memories. For one, I was actually reasonably thin at the time (no longer). Our girls were young and cute, not grown up and beautiful like they are now. Derek and Patrick were entirely switched in height. To me G and M look the same now as they did then (except M's haircut now is fabulous!)

Our kids and theirs were born almost coincidentally, and it was fun tracking what had happened to each of them. The kids got along really well when we all got together.

We spent a day and a half in Sandestin, tootling around in their golf cart, visiting the beach and the resort activities. As hot as it was (in the high 90s), it is the height of one of their seasons here. The beach is a couple miles of resort roads and golf cart tracks from the house. Once you get there you are in the middle of major resort. The chair and umbrella combo can be had for $69 per day (set up by the hotel). Bring your own!

 There were lots of people and activities, but no boardwalk. That's a good thing. Bring your pass so you can show it to pee.

Our chariot awaits. These things are fun. We should have one for Chincoteague.

M cooked dinner the night we got there, then I cooked chicken and dumplings the next night. It was great to see them! It seemed like we picked up just where we left off ten years ago, the last time we got together. We have all "retired" in some measure, but three of us still have jobs of some type, just slower and somewhat more enjoyable! Life is nice when we can catch up like this. We were sorry to leave, but we have a schedule we need to keep to get home on time. Though the Post Office purports to working in rain, sleet, and snow, they do not hold the mail for longer than 30 days. Last time we did anything like this they dumped it off in boxes on our doorstep.

Moving east into Louisiana

Driving down 71 from Austin toward I-10, we could see the transition out of the limestone hills and into east Texas. It became flatter than piss on a platter. We began to see more evidence of canals and flood control efforts. The farms became huge. Water became more evident as part of the landscape.

I-10 through Houston kind of stinks. It twists and turns and merges and splits. It has construction. It has traffic. It seems to be in the city for thirty or more miles. Finally, though, you come to the Houston inner city skyline, which is quite nice.

Then it's onward into the land where the refineries and chemical plants exists. This is ugly, but it no longer stinks like it used to. Somebody tightened the valves and joints since the fugitive emissions furor in the 1990s. It's a long time since I've been down here. I didn't miss it a bit.

And finally we arrive near Lafayette, our resting place for the day. I'm tired. But, after checking in and connecting via wireless, I find that Sophie has written. Nice to hear from her. We may have a project together again.

Austin - Last day blues

Well, it had to come (the last day of our time with H and D in Austin). Still, it was a very good. We started off at 1PM or so, driving over to the Alamo Draft House on the south end of Lamar. This is a new take on theaters, at least for me (I don't go to see movies very much). The ADH is a theater that serves meals and/or refreshments with the movies. As in, draft beer, nacho chips and queso, or a full-out meal. We hadn't had lunch so we had a meal. It was pretty good. The only changes necessary are an added shelf in front of the row of seats (for the food) and a space behind each row to allow waiters to come through unobtrusively to take orders and serve. Amazingly, it worked quite well. Even payments by credit card seem fairly smooth. Go figure!

Later that night we had dinner at Wink, up on northern Lamar in the middle of town. I was still so stuffed from lunch that I couldn't eat very much. Maybe that was good; the food is quite expensive, and the portions are realistic in a very French way. This is a small restaurant run by people who care about their food. Everything was delicious and the presentations were also lovely. This dinner was a little bittersweet - it was the last night of a very entertaining and busy vacation with H and D.

After dinner we went to see another phenomenon in Austin - Mrs. Johnson's Bakery. This is on Airport Boulevard just to the west of 45th Street (north Austin). At 8 or 9PM they start baking donuts and don't stop until morning. When the red "Donut" light is on (underneath the main sign), the donuts are ready.

There is a drive-through that had several cars in line when we were there. Donuts, you say, so what about donuts? Well, I don't usually like glazed donuts, and I almost never buy donuts. But a taste will change your mind; these are like a taste of a sweet cloud. They are the lightest I have ever tasted! Wow!


















Here is a look at the goods. There is lots of variety from which to choose, more than shows here. We bought a half dozen, but could not eat them. So we were supposed to have some in the morning. We completely forgot until we were almost to Houston, headed east. Oh, no!

Here are some of the cutters that cut them from the dough. The holes are on the other roller (not shown here). This is the first time I have seen the cutters. This is clearly a big production operation. The people are really nice and give out extras for tasting.

Austin - Things are slowing down

We're reaching the end of our visit here. We'll continue along the Gulf Coast over to Florida next. We have had a great time seeing the sights and testing the restaurants of Austin with H and D.

Yesterday we visited Shady Grove, a restaurant "styled after the architecture made popular by the State Parks built in th 40's." This is a low, limestone building with a patio that is its focus.

Most people sit out on the patio, in the shade of a huge live oak. Dappled sunlight and a breeze offset the heat.

There is a bit of old, strange decor here, to go along with the memories of the early days of the restaurants. On the website you can see a picture of the "hippy trailer", an AirStream that you can use to wait for your service.

Lunch was pretty good. Nothing unusual on the menu except maybe for the green chili fries. This turned out to be really good; it was kind of plain looking, but very tasty.

There is a lot of good local beer in Austin. This place is in keeping, with several local brews on tap. After we finished, we took a little drive through the neighborhoods looking at condos, etc., for sale. Real estate is not particularly a bargain here, unless you consider the city, its parks, restaurants, music, and liveliness!

Austin - And she gives it back nicely

E's leftovers included a burnt end and couple of sausage slices. She very graciously suggested that I have the rest for lunch, topped with cole slaw. That's the sweet, selfless, paragon of virtue that I have known for lo, these many years!

All is forgiven; I'm glad I didn't "fork" you last night.

Austin - E snaps up the last bite of my burnt tip

Way out of Austin, out in the dusty hill country, about three miles past the dead armadillo on the left is a barbecue place called Salt Lick. This restaurant started on a ranch. It is unique! And tonight we have food porn to prove it!

It's all business, right from the moment you drive in. This is how it's gonna be. Don't fool around, drive in without stopping, pay in cash. In Texas barbecue heaven!

You just know, when you see this,

and this, that it is going to be right. And it is. Or was, for a significant portion of the meal.


















What you are having here is MEAT! Beef platter, sausage platter, ribs platter, or some combination of those. You'll get normal sides for this kind of a meal: ranch-house potatoes, beans, coleslaw, onions, pickles, and bread. Bring your own beer or settle for tea, soft drinks, or water. Simple, isn't it?

Just one thing, it's the best barbecue ever. The meat is all top of the line. The brisket is fork tender, crisp on the outside with burnt ends. The sausage is just the best you ever ate (direct quote from our party). The ribs are tender and juicy. The sauce, if you use it, is wonderful.

And the desserts are outstanding. A simple china bowl filled with peach and blackberry cobbler with homemade vanilla ice cream. A homemade pecan pie ala mode. Just perfect, except for one tiny detail. During dinner E reached over and forked up my dessert bite of brisket (the last piece, the one with the crisp burnt end) and ate it! I thought she was joking, or I would have jabbed her with a fork. Can you believe someone you think you know, someone who you have been married to for 32 years would do that to you? Well, she did. Hence the title.

My advice: just go here. It's the best. But be on your guard!

Austin - A Zilker Park Day

Today has been a Zilker Park day. We headed over before lunch to a bit of grilling, which to H and D always mean charcoal grilling.

But first, a bunch of piggage from the former users had to be cleaned up (ick).

Then, under the excellent hand of D, the burgers were perfectly done.

After which the hand of H adorned each lovely burger with cheese.

They went down pretty much instantaneously, to be followed by roasted corn.

Then over to the pool (spring-fed, always 68F) to cool off and enjoy the shade of a huge live oak tree.

And some loafing in the water. It was really nice.

Austin - Kerbey Lane Cafe and Symphony on the Green

Lunch at the Kerbey Lane Cafe was pretty good. This is a kind of a diner, but not in the sense of the rest of the nation. The food is kind of southwestern. We had a 25 minute wait or so before getting a table. The placed was pretty packed. Apparently there are 4 of these, all open 24-7. It's a pretty good franchise.

This was such a big lunch that we had a small picnic for dinner while waiting for the Symphony on the Green to start. This is a summer institution where the Austin Symphony plays each week for free in the open air. This week was a brass quintet with a selection of baroque and classical short pieces. The harmony was wonderful. The shortness of the pieces and the explanations by the quintet members kept the crowd in touch. The setting was the Long Center for the Performing Arts, south of Town Lake.


















Our picnic included the goat cheese from yesterday's farmer's market, along with fresh fruit.


















Some had Hooters to Go, from down the street.

As usual, the crowd included dogs.


















The quintet members played trumpet, cornet, French horn, trombone, and tuba, as well as this (some strange name I forgot - oops, H remembered it is a cornetto).

The story of the night was the kids. First one, then another, then more kids found themselves drawn to this surface. They all danced, wiggled, strutted, giggled, and generally had a good time.

The kids were gorgeous!

As the evening drew on, the light became slanted and rosy, making the kids even more beautiful. What a future Austin has!

Austin - Farmer's market, Nature Center, The Velveeta Room

We tried out the Sunset Valley farmer's market today. This is in a big stadium parking lot south of town. This place had a lot of variety, but somehow the energy was missing. There were plenty of people, but no joy. Personally, I think the missing ingredient is music. We bought nothing here, even though the food looked quite good.

Then we went back to the Austin farmer's market. The difference was striking. Even though there were no races going on, the vibe was much better. You could see it in peoples faces. There was music, including this guy promoting golocalaustin.com.

We went back to the bread booth and on to a goat cheese booth. The quality is really good. People clearly care about what they produce and sell.

There are lots of kids and babies around. Here is one safe in her Dad's arms.

Here are the prize orchids of the day. I can't believe anyone would let go of these. They are beautiful!

Then we were off on a hike to the Nature Center. This is a really nice facility, much more involved and bigger than we had imagined.

There are really lots of things to do. There is even a camp and daycare on the site.

There are some wild animals caged here, including this coyote. Some are donated. There is a pretty good collection, but it is always sad to me to see animals with their movement constricted.

 There are trails, exhibit buildings, and several outdoor play/learning areas. This is one devoted to teaching kids about paleontology. Apparently there are some items in the limestone around Austin? There are shaded gravel/sand pits with shovels and tools so the kids can experience digging for fossils.

Again there are a series of water features, starting with this pool and water fall, then cascading down a stream into another pool.

My favorite lilies are here, too.

From the nature center we hiked over to the Zilker Pool to have a soda and cool off. Then it was back up the Barton Springs path, dragging our old asses.

Around 9PM or so we went over to the Velveeta Room, a local comedy club. After a couple of starting acts we got to hear Mario DeGeorgio. He is a New Jersey guy transplanted to Austin. We were lucky to hear him, as he tours a lot. This guy is terrific. He is obviously very bright, and mixes a lot into his act. There is lots of subtlety, word play, and repetition. As we left, we bought his book and howdied him. Apparently his parents live close to us. H tells us that he left NJ in disgust. He told us he is really happy here in Austin.