Crank Up That Economy

We spent the last week trying to help get the U.S. economy back on track.

That's right, we spent loads of cash. I stalled for as long as I could, but Katy finally got her Honda Odyssey. The process of buying a car can be so bizarre.

Katy spent a good chunk of last week working the phones, wheeling and dealing with "Internet sales" people from all over Los Angeles. On Saturday morning she located the color she wanted combined with a price we liked at the dealer in Bakersfield, so we drove up and bought it. In the end I think she got us a pretty good deal. How do I know it's a good deal? Because our local Honda dealer first refused to acknowledge that any dealer could possibly sell the car at that price, and then basically hung up on her.

Let's be clear - I'm not against car dealers making a profit, but I don't think it needs to be an obscene profit.

Anyway, I don't buy a car every day - but I made an even rarer purchase last week. That's right, I finally broke down and bought a new television.

The last television I bought was a 19" Magnavox I used as a monitor for my then-new computer. I was fifteen. That television died in the early 90's, and since then we've been using a hand-me-down from my in-laws. When I took it out of the cabinet last week I saw that it had been manufactured in 1983. So my "new" television was 20 years old.

That's kind of scary when you consider that I make a living as a broadcast television engineer.