So now, because we are insane and because the house deal fell through, we are car shopping. If I am going to commute for any length of time we need to get a vehicle that is cheap, will last us into having kids, is safe, and fuel efficient. Our field of inquiry is mid size sedans. I am paying forty bucks a day right now in gas at 17 MPG and a fuel efficient car could cut that in half or better.

The Toyota Corolla currently tops the list, with much consideration being given to the hatchback Matrix version – which is essentially the same car in a different body style. The hatchback would accommodate both kids and dogs in a way that the standard sedan wouldn’t. Toyota claims 38 MPRG. We are also looking at GM’s Cobalt, the Spectra by KIA, and a few others. I test drove the Scion and the Corolla on Saturday and I hated the Scion. It’s a kid’s car that reminds me of my long dead Ford Fiesta. The Corolla is safe, efficient, and boring.

Our original plan was to use my van as a trade in, but that seems unlikely. All the web page estimators of trade-in value stop at 1994 and my Town & Country is a 1993. When you factor in the damage to the passenger side door from the break in and the fact that I still start it with a screw driver, it seems even less likely that they will given me something for it on anything other than push or pull your trade-in day.

I am missing the house we did not buy. I am having non buyers regret. Oh well, I’m sure it’s for the best in this the best of all possible worlds. I mean that in the same ironic sense that Voltaire did as Candide satirized Gottfried Leibniz. Yup, that’s what it’s like to live in my head.Wait for it… it’s like playing paintball with monads.