If the shoe fits...

If the shoe fits, it's out of your price range.

This, for me, in its literal and figurative sense, is VERY true. I can walk into a shoe store, ask to see a pair of $300.00 Nikes in a size 12 and they'll fit like no other shoe has fit before. Same thing at Payless Shoes (generally nothing over $35.00) only in reverse - I have to try on every pair of shoes in the style I'm looking for from 11.5 to 13 - wide and regular. I hate shoe shopping.

Side note: I once found a perfectly fitting pair of shoes at Payless. The unfortunate thing was that the left shoe was a size 12 and the right was a 13. Go figure.

The point of this, really, is about my quest for a new vehicle. I drove the one I want last night. It's a beautiful, black, 2003 GMC Sierra 1500 extended cab with full-size bed, dark grey interior with cloth bucket seats, AM/FM/CD/Cassette with Bose speaker system (including subwoofer), full center console, and a 5.3 Liter V8 engine. [insert Tim Taylor grunts here]

The problem? It stickers at $30,000+

I'm stuck with laying it all out for the dealership and letting them figure out how to make it happen, buying a Hyundai Santa Fe which my wife really likes, or waiting another year or so.

The last option is not such a tragedy. My current vehicle, a 1993 S-10 blazer, is mechanically sound and still runs well after more than 137,000 miles. It's just that it's so fun to get new things, isn't it?

So, when your back's up against the wall and there's no tomorrow, just take one day at a time and remember... the bigger they are... etcetera.
-- Jack O'Neil, Stargate SG-1