I awoke this morning and found this strange, brand-new car in the driveway. Pooky says that I shouldn't feed a strange car as it will think it belongs to us and it won't go away, and I certainly shouldn't give it a name, (which I am kind of thinking I might call it Inky), because once you name it, then you won't be able to take it back to the car lot where it followed us home.

Yesterday Pooky got the idea to car shop and do some comparisons. We've been planning on getting a second car as I have this lovely commute ahead of me each day I have my internship, and we were thinking we were about 2 weeks away from making a purchase. My eye has been on the Saturn Ion, and recently we stopped at looked at the new ones.

But then Pooky felt we should look at the top-rated models in comparison, so we went to Mazda, Toyota, Hyundai, et al, and we ended up back at the Saturn lot. I spotted a deep blue Ion immediately and scurried over to it. It was a bare-bones manual transmission with A/C. The price was just right! The dealer said that cars priced under $15K are moving fast, so the chances of the car being here in two weeks was slim, and doing a dealer swap would be slim since bare-bones cars are in high demand.

We pondered the idea of buying the car now and then paying it off once my loans come through. What would be the worst-case scenario with my loans? If in the small event there would be a delay, it wouldn't be more than a month, so we weighed that against the 45 day grace period before the first payment would be due.

After having lunch (or was it an early dinner?) we came back and signed the papers. The interest rate is wicked, but not surprising to us since Pooky's credit is in rehab/recovery. Let's just say that the sooner we pay off the car, the happier life will be and the more money in our pockets instead of the bank's. But, the good news is, out of the money we had figured for a second car, by getting the bare-bones model we came out ahead of budget by $2500! Yeah! Which means my credit cards can be paid down, and maybe have something left over for the holidays.

So, that leaves me to talk about the car's name. Our older Saturn is known as the C-Berry (for "Cranberry") and I was think this one could be called "B-Berry" for "Blue Berry" but that doesn't hit the spot. My sister suggest Inky. I kind of like Inky. She also suggest Nocturne, which is cool, too. In the direct sun the car looks a deep blue, but in direct shade it takes on that nighttime appearance.

The car has OnStar which means I will find out about my car's monthly diagnostics, and in case I lock myself out or need roadside assistance, I just press a button. The car has manual windows, semi-automatic locks, CD player/radio, 5-speed manual, hydraulic assisted clutch, regular disc brakes, and cup holders. Not bad for about $14,500.

It's weird we have a new car! I keep thinking it will drive itself back to the car lot—like it hasn't imprinted itself upon us yet. I have yet to see if my cello will fit in the car. That's a concern. The new cello I am renting has a larger case and it wouldn't fit in the C-Berry with the seats folded down; I had to wedge it in the back seat.

The new cello is named Shady Bourbon. I haven't even taken it out to tune it, let alone practice! As soon as I got it we went to Pennsylvania. Today I have to crack it open and get acquainted with it as tomorrow will be the 2nd week of rehearsal and since I missed the first week, I need to get up to speed.