Lisa and Michael

We’re going on vacation soon, and I don’t think Lisa has a clue what’s in store for her, I’ve kept it a secret for months now…

I hope you have fun, Lisa!! Love you, doll.

Lisa and I are off to Ouray, Colorado for the next few days to celebrate our 1st anniversary. It’s been exactly one year since we last went. Oh, and the pups are going, too. This will be the first real road trip for Bailout, and we’re going to try and get off-road as much as possible. More than anything, this trip will give us a chance to relax. I don’t know about Lisa, but I really need a break right now, and this trip will be a nice warm-up before the big September extravaganza!

What a fast year it has been too. I believe it has been fast for me because I am very happy. Lot’s of changes have happened this past year and I anticipate many changes in the next, but all good just like the first year. I love you Michael, thanks for being my best friend/husband. Happy first year anniversary.

It’s already been a year?! Happy 1st anniversary, baby, it has been a truly wonderful year, I am looking forward to the next 50, and then some.

I love you so much!

No name or nickname yet, so I’ll just use Rojo for now. Here’s a first glimpse of the addition:

I wanted to get a picture in before 100 miles, because I can’t guarantee it will look anything like this at 10,000 or even 1,000 miles.

I’d been talking about getting another Wrangler for as long as Lisa and the girls have been living with me. I’m sure they’ve been getting sick of me getting all doe-eyed every time a Jeep rolls by. That’s all changed, fortunately.

Thanks to the crappy economy and Chrysler on the brink of collapse, they’re giving the house away trying to sell vehicles, even popular Jeeps. Lisa convinced me it was time to go looking. I did my homework and research, contacted dealerships around New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas, and when all was said and done, employee pricing + credit union finance rebate + loyalty rebate for Scratchy + random $500 Southwest customer cash rebate + smooth negotiating skillz, resulted in a more than $4600 discount off sticker price.

Even in an uneven economy like this, you have to pull the trigger on that kind of deal.

Yesterday, we took the boys out for a drive up the mountain, and they agree it was a good buy, too.

What exactly did we buy? A flame red, 2009 JK, X S package, 6-speed, soft top, which also came with Trac-Lok limited slip rear differential and bonus wheel locks. It’s the base model, with a bit of attitude. Edmunds, KBB, Cars.com, CarsDirect.com all claim the purchase price is currently around $21,800 on the bottom end, and the buyer’s offer spreadsheet computing actual dealer invoice, agreed. We picked it up for under $20k out-the-door, so I think we likely got a very good deal.

Overall, the buying process was a pleasure*. As Lisa mentioned, I didn’t have to scream this time like I did with Scratchy. A few observations: Sales people were claiming that Jeeps were flying off the shelf in our region. The dealerships we visited had sales people milling around waiting for customers to show up, but we didn’t see many, and we car shopped on a Friday and Saturday when my guess is most people are looking. At another dealer, the “big board” showing the sales people and their monthly goals and current progress, looked more like the beginning of the month rather than the end of the month. Yikes, not very good.

So here’s hoping Lisa and I did our part in helping the economy recover. It was our pleasure.

* I leave you with this bit of advice: Always check the numbers, and take a financial calculator or laptop with you so you can perform simple loan calculations, never take the dealers word for it!

Why? In our case, the F&I guy originally quoted a $352 a month payment when it should have been $332. What gives? To have reached $352 a month, given the rate and terms, F&I guy would have had to adjust the vehicle sale price. To do so, these highly-compensated salesman will have to sell you unnecessary or expensive add-ons like extended warranties, GAP insurance, or vehicle maintenance contracts, to name a few that were offered us.

Since it would be pretty obvious and unnerving to see a payment increase, the sleight-of-hand here is to leave payment, rate and loan length alone, and increase the vehicle cost. Should the buyer notice, the F&I guy would probably just poo-poo it as simply making the numbers “work” to get the extras for the same monthly payment.

Of course, the scam here is, the F&I guy never quoted the correct payment to begin with. If I had taken out my laptop when first presented the quotes, I’d have known the actual payment should have been $332, not $352. Furthermore, had I agreed to purchase GAP and accepted the ‘free’ maintenance contract (how nice of him to offer that), and if the original $352 payment had stuck, how much would that insurance and maintenance contract cost us? A whopping $1284! A complete and total rip-off.

Needless to say, everything thrown at us was declined, leaving the F&I guy much less friendlier than he was when we started, and leaving us a contract with accurate numbers, fully verified by my trusty Ubuntu calculator set to finance mode.

(Some may claim F&I guy made a simple mistake. If he did, then he made a mistake with the $399 payment he quoted, too, since it should have been $383.)

Shame on you, slimeball finance manager, you suck.

Lisa, you rock! I love you doll, and can’t wait to drive up to Ouray with you soon to break the Jeep in.

Yes, we have a new addition to the family. Michael’s new baby joined us this past Saturday. I’m sure he will post new pictures soon, like in his next post to this website!!

I must admit Jeeps are not what I thought they were. Michael’s new baby is so much fun!! I love driving it! Most of all, I had lots of fun watching Michael study up on new car buying and going into the dealership and coming out with a beautiful new car and he still had his dignity too. He did wonderful on dealing with the dealership and not letting them get the best of him and most importantly, he did not scream this time.

Congratulations Michael! I love you!

Yes, the Mac is back, all fixed up and happy again. Funny thing, I haven’t spent much time on it since it came back from the shop!

Too many other things going on, like preparing for Spring from a Winter that never arrived, entertaining Colin and Robin, visiting the zoo and aquarium and wolfing down some corned beef and cabbage, celebrating Shelby’s b-day, enjoying Oscar and freaking out over his seizure (he’s fine!), watching the economy tank further and then start a bit of a rebound, enjoying a new china cabinet courtesy Craigslist, preparing for a business trip to Orlando and watching Lisa get excited because she’s going to come along and hang out at the resort with me, and planning for Alaska in September. I’m sure I’ve missed a thing or two.

It was also our first year filing taxes as a married couple… and I love you Lisa more today than I did yesterday. You worry too much baby! All is well.

Yes, the Mac is back and I for one am ready to see those pictures of the party. What a great time we all had and now we find that there is a wedding or maybe a wedding party to plan. Fun stuff and never a dull moment here. Happy Valentines Day Michael–what a fun day it will be!!

maybe even happier too.  It is hard to believe that three months ago today we were on a beach saying our vows.  Wow-time does fly when you are having fun.  As I sit here in our gorgeous back yard posting this post I realize that we really have had a full life in the past three months.  I guess we should quit saying that we are going to relax and just do it!  We should take more time to go on a hike or ride those bikes that have been hanging up in the garage for over a year now.  We spend lots of time together, but we really have become lazy.  Both of us have gained 8-10 pounds each in the past three months and this past Monday we weighed in and started back on the diet.  This along with the money diet leaves us with the perfect opportunity to hike and ride bikes!  Either way fat, skinny or whatever life brings us, I wake up happy to be with you every morning! Happy anniversary Michael.  It will be hard to make me any happier than you already have..but I’m sure you will!

I uploaded the wedding ceremony to YouTube tonight. The stiff onshore breeze made it difficult for the audio, but if you listen close enough, you can make out the minister’s words, as well as my and Lisa’s vows. The video, though, really gives you a sense of how great our wedding was.

It was for Lisa and I a perfect ceremony, the words were lovely and timeless, and the beach location was more than we hoped for and imagined. I look at that clear blue water and pure white sand and wish I could be back there right now. We’ve promised ourselves that we’ll try to make it back every five years or so, just to relive this wonderful moment in our lives.