Today's fortune: April 21, 2011

Today's fortune: Something on 4 wheels will soon be a fun investment for you!

Sorry about yesterday's post. After I read the fortune, "You will live a long, prosperous life," all I could think about was Mr. Spock doing the famous "Live Long and Prosper" hand gesture, the same one Jamie can't make with her right hand (it's entertaining to watch her try, though - however, if you make fun of her for it, she'll give you a different gesture).

Speaking of Jamie - she was the first person who came to mind when I read today's fortune. Unless we encounter any roadblocks, Jamie is on schedule to graduate from college this December after a semester of student teaching. It's been a difficult, decade-long journey for her, a journey that has been sidetracked by countless obstacles and hardships. But she's almost done, and I'm so proud I could bust.

A few months ago, I told her when she graduated I would buy her a new car.

Neither of us have ever had a truly "new" car before. I drive a 1998 Dodge Ram pickup. Jamie drives a 1996 Ford Explorer. We buy old, cheap cars and nurse them along until they fall apart underneath us, and then we go buy another cheap car and the process starts all over again. It's not a bad way to live life - hell, I love my truck, and I wouldn't be surprised if I drove it for another 100,000 miles - but it would also be nice to have something with a warranty and the deadly poisonous chemical known as "New Car Smell."

And not the kind that comes in the form of a tiny blue tree.

There's a bit of history here: when we bought the above-referenced Ford Explorer, we originally purchased it as a vehicle for me to drive. A little while later, though, I decided I wanted a pickup, and I told Jamie she could have the car. Jamie likes her Explorer, but at the time she was disappointed (rightly so) that she didn't get to pick out her car herself.

So the door's wide open this time. I only gave her one requirement: the vehicle has to be either four-wheel or front-wheel drive. That Explorer gets around amazingly in the snow and ice, and we've been spoiled by it. Jamie has started to research vehicles, and she seems to be quite enamored with the Chevrolet Equinox.

Hey Chevy, how about a free car in exchange for all this free advertising?

The problem is, buying a car for Jamie in December doesn't really seem to fulfill today's fortune, which uses that common ambiguous fortune cookie word "soon."

So on that note, I bought something with four wheels just for me: a new truck.

Biiiiigfooooooot! We'll sell you the whole seat, but you'll only need the edge!

Just because it runs on AA batteries doesn't mean it's not a fun 4-wheeled investment.

Sadly, after playing with it for three minutes, I remembered I'm 31 years old and I can drive a real truck. There's fourteen bucks plus batteries down the drain. Oh well - I'll give it to my Little Brother.

And since I wasn't able to buy Jamie a new car today (I would if I could, baby), I bought her some flowers and candy.

Which I'm sure she'll enjoy just as much as a new car.