dreadedmonkeygod . net

The weekend was another much-needed dose of mellow, with some high-stress action thrown in just to mix it up.

First, the mellow: my girlfriend and I took our dog Henri up to Ventura to bum around a bit and walk on the beach. Henri loved meeting everyone (people and dogs), and learned really quickly that she shouldn't drink sea water. (Two quick slurps, then a cough, and she never touched the stuff again.) And she got to dig all she wanted, and chase seagulls. Henri Heaven.

We're still not really sure how she'll do off the leash, so we kept her on the whole time. But in a little while, once we've let her run in less hectic environments, we'll let her run free.

Now, the stressful bit. I've been emailing local Honda dealers over the last few days, and found one that was willing to make a deal. So, after settling on a price on the car, I went to the dealer to iron out financing and a price on my trade-in.

My credit card spending over the last few years has done some real damage to my credit score. I'm repairing it (paying down revolving debt improves your FICO score dramatically), but it's still not what's required to qualify for the nicer interest rates around. But I got a great price on the car, a bearable offer on my Jetta, and a fair shake on the APR. In my world, that's a win. The payments might be higher than I'd like, but they're still within the budget. In a few months, my FICO score will be much improved, and I'll be able to refinance through my credit union at a much better APR.

A huge thank-you goes out to my incredible girlfriend, who coached me through the email process, and came with me today to the dealership. It meant a lot to me to have a level-headed, friendly face there to sanity-check my decisions. I got a very fair deal, and that's in large part because of her support and input.

I take official delivery of my new Civic tomorrow. So I've got one day to say farewell to my Jetta.