I wake up to a bright, sunny, fall day. The air is fresh, the day is clear from any worries, I start a anew as I took the day off from work. Knowing well I had a number of errands to run, I was determined to get them all done.

And so my day began…

With a speeding ticket.

It’s a speed trap really, and I should have known it given the rather obvious signs of the two vehicles ahead of me. It didn’t occur to me that them going so slowly down the hill was not because of the ineptness of the driver, but rather because they were observant enough to realize that they were being “radared” by the police up ahead.

Wanting to forge my own path down the hill, I took to the next lane to pass the two vehicles in front of me. As I was going down the hill, underneath the bridge, and driving back up the hill, I see up ahead a man standing in the middle of the road, waving his hand at someone as if he had the authority to stop traffic with his bare hands. I take a closer look as I slowed the car down, only to realize that he was indeed pointing at me, ushering me to pull over to the side.

By that time I knew that I was caught red-handed and really, there was nothing more I could do but to roll down the window and hand the officer my driver’s license, registration, and insurance cards.

I was pressed for time as I had a 10:00 doctor’s appointment. I look at the clock and it says 10:01am. “Urgh!” I think to myself, as I know well that I had to buy my Twinrex vaccination doses before even heading to the doctors. I wait patiently in the car as I look around and see two other officers attending to two other cars that had been stopped.

I see my officer coming out of his card with a slip in his hand. He approaches my vehicle and hands me the slip.

But wait. It’s not pink! It’s beige! Did they change the colour of the ticket? No. I read the top of the slip and it says “Traffic Caution.” I sigh a relief as the officer tells me that I was going 87 in a 60 zone, and that would normally be a $125 fine plus 3 demerit points. However, he continues, “you have a clean record so I will let you go with a warning. Keep this in your car as a reminder to not speed again.” He hands me my papers and lets me off the hook.

Yippee! I think to myself. But that thought quickly diminishes as I realized that I have now used up my one and only warning to a stupid speed trap that I should have known better to avoid. From now on, I must be more conscious of the vehicles around me and think to myself, “Why is he going so slow?” and not, “%#$!@!!! Can he go any slower?!”

But then again, I should have thought that to begin with shouldn’t I?

You’ve been warned. Don’t speed!

I recently started a new chapter in my life as I purchased my first new vehicle. It’s quite exciting really. Even though I don’t have it yet, I can feel the excitement in the air once I go and pick it up… that is if I ever get that chance. Due to unforeseen circumstances with my insurance policy, I ran into a little bit of a scuffle trying to switch companies. I am hoping to get this resolved shortly so that it does not interrupt my picking up my new car at the dealership tomorrow.

Buying this vehicle proved to be quite an experience. An interesting experience at that. I went in by myself thinking, I will try my utmost very best to lower the cost of the car. I figured I would have nothing to lose if I tried hard. I can happily say that by the end of the 4.5 hour ordeal, I walked out happy, and with a new car.

My current car, a 1997 Honda Civic has had its toll. It’s been a great vehicle for the past decade and it has done its job well. The interior is spic and span clean as I tend to generally keep my items in good condition. The exterior however could use some upgrades. Recently, days before I was thinking of trading it in, someone hit my car from behind, leaving a black scar on the rear bumper. Then, as luck would have it, merely days before the big day, my exhaust pipe severed in half from all the rust. It was all a sign I suppose.

Now I drive my Civic without a working muffler, a black mark on the bumper, and a host of other things that I would likely need to replace if I took it in for maintenance. Rather than spending all that money on it, I decided to trade it in when I got my new car.

After doing some research on a 1997 Honda Civic EX with about 151000km on it, I found out it was selling for about $4500 give or take a couple hundred. While I knew my car was in good condition apart from the parts needed to be replaced, I didn’t think I would be able to sell it at its current condition for that amount of money. Looking through the Black Book, it told me my value of the vehicle is estimated at $3800-$4400. I estimated I would only get about $2000 from a dealer for this car as they would need to make the car in running condition and sell it at about $4500 to make some sort of profit out of it.

So you can only imagine what I was thinking when I had my car assessed at a value of $3400. That was great news for me, although I did want it a bit higher than that truthfully. I told the dealer, I was a little disappointed in the trade-in cost and asked if he could lower the purchase price of the car instead.

After some time, I came out with $800 lower than the MSRP of the new car, a complimentary oil change, engine shampoo, wheel locks, a window etching safety option, and a $3400 trade in for my Civic. All in all, I was quite happy with my performance. Did I get ripped off? Who knows. As long as I’m happy, I suppose that’s all that matters now.

I am hoping to take it for a spin this weekend while I look at the fall colours. If the leaves are vibrant in their changing of colours, it will contrast ever so nicely with the colour of my car. A perfect opportunity for more picture taking!

Yippee for me!