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debsI am in the process of buying a new car. Big Red, whom I've had since 2000, is now 13 years old and would require at least $2,000 worth of work to keep from killing me in a fiery ball of death, so I figured that I have about 15 grand in savings, I should probably buy a car. We looked at used cars, but the ones we were inclined towards were about $11,000 and really, if I'm going to be spending that kind of money I might as well get a new car.
We've had our Ford Focus now for about seven years, and it's been a really good little car. At first I was extremely excited about the 2009 Focus sedans. I wanted to get it in black with black upholstery. Yum.
So they brought one in for us and we went down to test drive. I kind of fell in love with the outside of it. It's a very sleek little car. And then. Then I got inside.
No, really. What the shit is that.
I'm talking about the speedometer dials. Let me zoom in closer, because I don't think you can properly appreciate their extreme fugliness from that photo. Mind you, the photo you are about to see is a crappy scan from the preview literature, which makes it look like the back of the dials are black-ish. They're not. They're bright white. What the shit.
Here are my problems with these dials:
A). Seriously? The white? In an all-black car, they're fucking distracting. Larry (I'll get to him in a minute) was trying to justify them by saying "oh, they're to help keep you awake when you're night driving (and never mind that the numbers and hatch marks turn blue at night thereby rendering the white unnoticeable)", and "oh they're the European design."
Ok across-the-pond flisties: Do your cars have gigantic white dials on them? Or do they look more like this (the dial dash on our current Focus):
Just clarifying.
B). The font. Oh my god, the font. The first thing it makes me think of is some 24 year old wealthy white guy in baggy pants with a white baseball cap with the bill turned to the side, blasting his sucky rap metal while talking on his cell phone and using words like "playa" seriously. That font is everything I hate about the male gender. Hence, douchey. :(
C). That dial to the lefT? COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY IN AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION VEHICLE. So why is it there? It's THERE so that the young men who buy the car can PRETEND they're COOL enough to be driving a MANUAL TRANSMISSION. Either that, or the design department was just LAZY and couldn't be ARSED to create two separate dashboards. In either case, it is UNACCEPTABLY DOUCHEY.
Basically, they are marketing this car to young, male poseurs, but when I politely expressed my concerns/problems with the dials, Larry the sales guy wouldn't validate my opinion, stating that I was wrong, that these are much better, and that he personally likes them a lot. Well, yeah. That's because you're a GUY and kind of a DICK. He basically dismissed me because I'm female. *sigh* It's been a very frustrating experience.
My father is pretty much set on this car, and we've made the agreement that I will pay him $10,000 (which is still more than I would pay for those damned dials) and he will pick up the rest. I won't go into why my folks are even involved in this decision making process, because it's a really long story involving work, home, the dog, etc. I can justify spending $16,000 on a car that makes me angry every time I get inside. It's such a beautiful package, WHY DID THEY HAVE TO COCK IT UP SO HORRIBLY!?! I will never understand what went through the mind of that industrial designer. I would love to smack them
I'm not entirely satisfied, but I'm also trying to devise a way to create my own "face-plate" to cover that atrocious dash. Ok, I'm done talking about this now.
In somewhat related news, my folks and I went to KMart after dinner tonight to buy a bike for the Vina Moses giving tree. A nice young man helped us pick out a bike and told us to take it to Customer Service because we might be able to get a discount because it was going to charity. so we take the bike up to customer service, where the woman behind the desk pointedly ignores us until we say "excuse me," and explain what the young man had told us.
"Nu-uh, can't give no discounts," she says gruffly before turning back to whatever she was doing.
Now, there are ways to talk to customers. That is not one of them. She said it in a way that implied that we were horrible people even for asking. So I complained about her loudly on our way out of the store. Ma'am, I worked in customer service for nearly two years, you can say those kinds of things without being a complete bitch. I understand your job sucks, but that's not my fault. Calm the fuck down.
People are disappointing me in a big way this week. So, for some happy time, listen to my new favorite song, Conor Oberst's "NYC --- Gone, Gone". Dance around, it'll make you feel better.
We've had our Ford Focus now for about seven years, and it's been a really good little car. At first I was extremely excited about the 2009 Focus sedans. I wanted to get it in black with black upholstery. Yum.
So they brought one in for us and we went down to test drive. I kind of fell in love with the outside of it. It's a very sleek little car. And then. Then I got inside.
No, really. What the shit is that.
I'm talking about the speedometer dials. Let me zoom in closer, because I don't think you can properly appreciate their extreme fugliness from that photo. Mind you, the photo you are about to see is a crappy scan from the preview literature, which makes it look like the back of the dials are black-ish. They're not. They're bright white. What the shit.
Here are my problems with these dials:
A). Seriously? The white? In an all-black car, they're fucking distracting. Larry (I'll get to him in a minute) was trying to justify them by saying "oh, they're to help keep you awake when you're night driving (and never mind that the numbers and hatch marks turn blue at night thereby rendering the white unnoticeable)", and "oh they're the European design."
Ok across-the-pond flisties: Do your cars have gigantic white dials on them? Or do they look more like this (the dial dash on our current Focus):
Just clarifying.
B). The font. Oh my god, the font. The first thing it makes me think of is some 24 year old wealthy white guy in baggy pants with a white baseball cap with the bill turned to the side, blasting his sucky rap metal while talking on his cell phone and using words like "playa" seriously. That font is everything I hate about the male gender. Hence, douchey. :(
C). That dial to the lefT? COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY IN AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION VEHICLE. So why is it there? It's THERE so that the young men who buy the car can PRETEND they're COOL enough to be driving a MANUAL TRANSMISSION. Either that, or the design department was just LAZY and couldn't be ARSED to create two separate dashboards. In either case, it is UNACCEPTABLY DOUCHEY.
Basically, they are marketing this car to young, male poseurs, but when I politely expressed my concerns/problems with the dials, Larry the sales guy wouldn't validate my opinion, stating that I was wrong, that these are much better, and that he personally likes them a lot. Well, yeah. That's because you're a GUY and kind of a DICK. He basically dismissed me because I'm female. *sigh* It's been a very frustrating experience.
My father is pretty much set on this car, and we've made the agreement that I will pay him $10,000 (which is still more than I would pay for those damned dials) and he will pick up the rest. I won't go into why my folks are even involved in this decision making process, because it's a really long story involving work, home, the dog, etc. I can justify spending $16,000 on a car that makes me angry every time I get inside. It's such a beautiful package, WHY DID THEY HAVE TO COCK IT UP SO HORRIBLY!?! I will never understand what went through the mind of that industrial designer. I would love to smack them
I'm not entirely satisfied, but I'm also trying to devise a way to create my own "face-plate" to cover that atrocious dash. Ok, I'm done talking about this now.
In somewhat related news, my folks and I went to KMart after dinner tonight to buy a bike for the Vina Moses giving tree. A nice young man helped us pick out a bike and told us to take it to Customer Service because we might be able to get a discount because it was going to charity. so we take the bike up to customer service, where the woman behind the desk pointedly ignores us until we say "excuse me," and explain what the young man had told us.
"Nu-uh, can't give no discounts," she says gruffly before turning back to whatever she was doing.
Now, there are ways to talk to customers. That is not one of them. She said it in a way that implied that we were horrible people even for asking. So I complained about her loudly on our way out of the store. Ma'am, I worked in customer service for nearly two years, you can say those kinds of things without being a complete bitch. I understand your job sucks, but that's not my fault. Calm the fuck down.
People are disappointing me in a big way this week. So, for some happy time, listen to my new favorite song, Conor Oberst's "NYC --- Gone, Gone". Dance around, it'll make you feel better.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-12 06:03 am (UTC)Also, what is it with guys/dads and cars. My dad pretty much picked out my car, as well. And guess who's still paying on it? Yeah, that would be me.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-12 02:51 pm (UTC)Y'know, Larry could've probably sold me on this car if he'd handled the situation differently. If he'd been like, "yeah, you have a point, that part is unnecessary" or even if he'd just said "I understand your concerns." But no, he just plowed right on through trying to convince me. Uh, sir, you're not going to be able to convince me that these are anything but FUGLY, *sigh*
Dude, thank you for the Barney comment. Now every time I get in that car I will hear that blasted song in my head..... ;D
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-12 09:39 am (UTC)WTF? Seriously, with the white? It's so completely fugly, and not in a cute fugly Bruce way. I can honestly say that I take offence at hearing that our cars here have the cool white fugliness because I can assure you that they don't ;) Love your douchy graphic, hate Larry, hate the font, HATE THE FUGLY, hate the insane customer service at KMart, wish you didn't have this crap to deal with. If Dean saw that dashboard, he would cry. Or shoot something.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-12 02:55 pm (UTC)It's this huge sum of money and it hurts my soul to spend it on something that's not entirely right, you know? *sigh*
If Dean saw that dashboard, he would cry. Or shoot something.
The first thing to fly through my mind after seeing the dials the first time was Dean's line from 4x01:
"I told you to take care of her, not douche her up!"
Oh Dean. You speak the truth, brother.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-16 10:13 am (UTC)"I told you to take care of her, not douche her up!"
*LOVE* Oh, I heart Dean. I heart him so damn much.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-16 08:19 pm (UTC)Douchey McMayhem!! That's genius. *loves*
Speaking of Dean's awesomeness and Supernatural, how far did y'all get this weekend?
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-16 10:15 pm (UTC)I'm sorry for your fugly weather though, that sucks. :( I'm not sure what ours is doing but I'm hoping it'll hold off icing up all over the place.
We do good names ;D
Um, there was lederhosen *g* We had wiring/DVD issues and only had them on the computer, so. I'm going to watch them all though, yep. :D
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-17 05:44 am (UTC)I'll be getting an automatic because this dog is too old to learn manual shifting. ;)
Yeah, the CO2 numbers are one of the reasons I'm going with the Yaris. *pets environment cautiously*
Today the roads were better. The sun was out most of the day so it melted a bunch of it. I'm not looking forward to the CRAPfront moving in, however. Ice is my least favorite thing ever (even after Hobo Manns!!). I hope you remain ice free, too.
Too bad we can't go into a business where we make up silly names. Could earn some extra cash.
Lederhosen! It never gets old. :) Less than a month until it comes back, FTW.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-22 10:22 am (UTC)I never learned manual shifting and here, if you take your test in an automatic, you can't drive geared cars, you'd have to retake your test. Nope. Automatic all the way for me. :)
Yaris does pretty well with that. Yay for Toyotas :)
I love that ice beats out Hobo Manns *g* But it's true. He will not kill you, except maybe from epic boredom.
LEDERHOSEN. RE-HYMANATED. PORN. REALITY. EYE OF THE TIGER. This is why our show wins. Can't wait for it to come back!!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-28 02:12 am (UTC)That's interesting about having to retake the test. I don't think that's the same here in the US. But I'm probably wrong. Best to just stick with what I already know. ;)
We must never discount the ability of Hobo Manns to bring the EPIC BOREDOM. How pleased am I that he won't be at Asylum this year? So pleased. How scared am I that Jensen will haul him along to Vancouver con? So scared. :P
I want to know why it isn't January 15th right the hell NOW. I neeeeeed more show to break me out of the post-Christmas blues. SamNDean come baaaaaaack!!! *grabby hands* Oh my goodness, did you see the holiday Ghostfacers special!? It is a thing of glory.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-13 10:21 am (UTC)And, GHOSTFACERS. I ♥ them so much! I loved that, I really did. I love that they do things like that for the fans.
This is lame. I think I need food. I'm in danger of passing out ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-14 06:14 pm (UTC)Oh Hobo Manns. What would we do without you? Besides survive, that is.
I loved that Christmas thing. I would really like it if they put it on the S.4 DVDs. I don't think they will, but I'd love it. They all seem to like each other a lot, which is great. I'm so pleased AJ & Travis are coming to Vancouver con. That'll be awesome.
This is neither here nor there, but I've managed to keep pretty much unspoiled for the rest of the season (ep 18 notwithstanding), and I'm quite proud of that. Hopefully I'll be able to keep it up!
*hugs*
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-15 09:35 am (UTC)Seriously. Can you imagine him and Alan Ritchson in the same room? All life on earth would expire.
I'd love that too, but like you say, you just don't know, and they probably won't. I want more commentaries and extra things. *pout* I am so glad to be seeing them again in Vancouver. Awesomesauce.
That's very cool. And I know what you tell me, so I'm good too by extension ;) We rule.
*hugs*
(no subject)
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Date: 2008-12-13 01:54 am (UTC)I'm not sure what the going rate is for one these days, but the Nissan Versa is another great car I test-drove! I'm trying to think of others, but most were either too expensive or got shitty gas mileage.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-13 01:36 am (UTC)And, AGAIN, what is it with men and their loyalty to car brands. *does not understand*
(no subject)
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