In forty years I'll be retired

[austin_dern]

So my sales guy in his neighbor's cubicle (the cubicle shortage thing is part of the script, right, along with nobody having their own business cards? It can't be this much coincidence) got to work, establishing that he couldn't find the car I meant to buy in the inventory. He talked with someone and found it again. And he asked me to fill out an application form with stuff like my name, my employer's identity, and so on. I didn't have my insurance card since mine was left in the dead Sable, but I did have a letter from the insurers on some miscellaneous other business and that included the number. He tried to call my insurance company, too, but initially had problems using his `code' on the phone system concept that they have now, until the guy whose cubicle he was using had him try again. So he did call my insurance company, to get a temporary coverage letter, and I had the chance to talk with someone at the insurers and figure out what kind of deductible I needed now that there was something worth deducting. Meanwhile my mother got to wondering if the guy was new at this particular dealership.

As things progressed various people came in and out with things for me to sign, and suggesting to my father that they could find a chair for him if he'd like to sit down. He didn't want to sit down. I was beginning to remark to my parents about how this was proving to be a lot less quirky than their car-buying experience here had been, and I wondered if they still had the same decorative balloons that they did last time, when we did establish that they were routinely drained and re-filled for continuing freshness. And then my sales guy came back in and told me it was time to pop a balloon.

I'm not a natural balloon popper, since it seems pointlessly destructive to me, but apparently the gimmick they now have is the customer pops a balloon, which has some kind of prize inside. There were a lot of balloons in the showroom, but he clarified it was to be a balloon tied to one of the show cars, a rather smaller set. He didn't give me any kind of pin or other balloon-popping implement, suggesting I just do it by hand, which again is not a normal part of my lifestyle. I picked the nearest one and started squeezing, which wasn't working all that swiftly and got me wondering if I even knew how to pop a balloon. I also worried about eye protection because, yes, I'm the sort of person who worries about the potential for eye injuries in popping a balloon.

Well, it popped, and nobody was injured even temporarily. And inside was ... the lingering feeling that there was supposed to be something inside, right? There wasn't anything obviously on the car or on the floor except rubber fragments and we started examining each. The sales guy eventually found the nozzle part and the curled-up scrap of paper which promised not what I would have wished for (ten thousand dollars in vouchers), but ... pinstripes. My car's preparation and delivery would include a touch more styling.

Trivia: The 61st article of the Magna Carta provided that the barons of England were to choose 25 of themselves, who would be empowered to seize castles, lands, and possessions from the crown in order to make amends for any injustice that the King of England had, in the committee's opinion, made. Source: 1215: The Year Of Magna Carta, Danny Danziger. (I'm still curious just when the `h' got dropped out of ``Magna Charta''.)

Currently Reading: Extraterrestrial Civilizations, Isaac Asimov.

Comments

[bunny-hugger.livejournal.com]

I haven't gotten used to your new posting time yet. I checked five minutes ago and was momentarily thrown off by not finding anything.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

I'm having trouble with it too. I may go back to five minutes past the hour.

[moonfires.livejournal.com]

My '01 Subaru had pinstripes. They were kind of OK, applied by the original dealer on an "additional" invoice, but since they were at my dealer, there was no cost. Apparently dealer-to-dealer trades are made on MSRP value so all that was considered in the trade was the factory equipment. I had to get a fender replaced later, and when I picked it up, there were no stripes on it. My body guy said something about returning to get them fixed, and I said "what about removing all the rest?". They weren't paint on but adhesive and had rather faded over the couple of years. 30 minutes later I was stripe free :>. When I got my toyota, the stripes on the cars at the dealer were hideous. Since I was waiting for one to come into the dealer, I said there better not be pinstripes on it. ;>

Some colors take them better than others. My previous car was silver. My current one is blue. I don't think the blue one could wear any well.

[bunny-hugger.livejournal.com]

My parents have a pinstripe on their dark green Honda CR-V, and I actually think it looks neat. The little flourish on the end of it makes me think of the decorations on a fairground ride. (That may be a drawback for some, but it is a plus for me.)

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Mine hasn't quite got a ride-like flourish, but it is a touch of silver on a black car and looks rather nice like that.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

The dealers' original idea was to put in red pinstripes to match other detailing on the car, which is black with red parts. But they didn't have red and went with silver instead, which I think is a better-fitted color to the overall style, actually. It does mean now the car has the silver pinstripes and red alloy wheels and interior details but that works, I think.

I'm sure the pinstripes cost almost nothing to install --- why else have them as balloon giveaways? --- but it is fun to have a little extra. Reviews have suggested the car's well-designed for adding details like that.

[gafennec.livejournal.com]

Well. As long as they weren't vertical pinstripes it all should be okay.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

No, these are quite horizontal. Well, they follow the curve of the car, primarily. There's a few deliberate jogs that give it a bit of character, which I like.

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

Free pinstripes.. ooh. How nice! I am very curious now to see pictures of your car, my coati friend. I can only hope that the final post in this series will have such as the reveal.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

I do indeed have pictures and mean for select ones of them to be featured before this is all over. Promise.