So I need without doubt to replace my current vehicle (2004 Nissan Titan, 175K hard miles. electrical system getting glitchy) at the end of the year. I don't buy new cars (or old boats) so the replacement will be a 2011 or 12 or 13 . . . something. Ah, but what something?
The recent Wranlger Unlimited line of Jeeps (the four-doors) really please me. And I have always rather lusted for a Jeep, but never owned one. I CLAIM that I am utterly practical in such matters and, as a practical matter, I need a pickup. Well I REALLY need it twice a month or so and, having it, I certainly find good use for it every week. I've told myself I can get a trailer for the Jeep, but it's not really the same for many of the purposes I have to vindicate. The practical thing to do is to buy another truck.
Bu, man-o-man, those Jeeps are so darn cool.[For reasons of space and astronomical South Florida insurance costs, buying a Jeep and keeping the old truck won't work.]
My lovely bride is a strong proponent for another pickup. She thinks it's more practical (it is) and -- while we usually go places in her luxury cruise-mobile -- she certainly finds a full-size truck much more comfy to ride along in than a Jeep when she's pulled into my vehicle.
It's my decision to make, yet, even so, my darling bride found a way this weekend to turn the debate, in an instant. Hell, not just turn it. To end it. To murder it, bury it and strike it from all memory.
We were headed to a ballgame this weekend, darling bride in front, both sons and the Number One Son's girlfriend in the back. We stop in traffic next to (on the passenger side) a Jeep of exactly the sort I think is just the bee's knees. I said so. My darling looked over at the Jeep. Then looked over to me.
"That really is cool," she said. "It is way more cool than another pickup. I can totally see why you'd want one."
The light changed. We pulled away. She was looking straight out the windshield when she smiled this almost imperceptible smile that is one of the things I have loved most about her, lo these 25 years or so, and then she said, so quietly that only I, but not the passengers could, hear:
"I mean, I suppose you could just ask my brother to borrow his truck when we need one."
Of course I put her over my knee the second we got home from the game. But, also of course, I'll be buying another truck at the end of the year.
The recent Wranlger Unlimited line of Jeeps (the four-doors) really please me. And I have always rather lusted for a Jeep, but never owned one. I CLAIM that I am utterly practical in such matters and, as a practical matter, I need a pickup. Well I REALLY need it twice a month or so and, having it, I certainly find good use for it every week. I've told myself I can get a trailer for the Jeep, but it's not really the same for many of the purposes I have to vindicate. The practical thing to do is to buy another truck.
Bu, man-o-man, those Jeeps are so darn cool.[For reasons of space and astronomical South Florida insurance costs, buying a Jeep and keeping the old truck won't work.]
My lovely bride is a strong proponent for another pickup. She thinks it's more practical (it is) and -- while we usually go places in her luxury cruise-mobile -- she certainly finds a full-size truck much more comfy to ride along in than a Jeep when she's pulled into my vehicle.
It's my decision to make, yet, even so, my darling bride found a way this weekend to turn the debate, in an instant. Hell, not just turn it. To end it. To murder it, bury it and strike it from all memory.
We were headed to a ballgame this weekend, darling bride in front, both sons and the Number One Son's girlfriend in the back. We stop in traffic next to (on the passenger side) a Jeep of exactly the sort I think is just the bee's knees. I said so. My darling looked over at the Jeep. Then looked over to me.
"That really is cool," she said. "It is way more cool than another pickup. I can totally see why you'd want one."
The light changed. We pulled away. She was looking straight out the windshield when she smiled this almost imperceptible smile that is one of the things I have loved most about her, lo these 25 years or so, and then she said, so quietly that only I, but not the passengers could, hear:
"I mean, I suppose you could just ask my brother to borrow his truck when we need one."
Of course I put her over my knee the second we got home from the game. But, also of course, I'll be buying another truck at the end of the year.
