My grass, Hugh's Hondas, & Kenny's Cab

Was up around 715a on what proved to be a partly cloudy start to another hot day. By the time I started coffee, exercised, and walked Eiknarf it began to storm. I patiently sipped coffee and checked the radar looking for an opportunity to slip in my run. Meanwhile, Mindy was up fairly early so she could take Little Rocky to a planned appointment at Children’s hospital. I’m thinking that she left around 9am, or just before I left for my run.

According to the radar, there was a break in the storm but plenty more coming. I guesstimated I’d have about 30 minutes, which would've been just about perfect. Immediately out the door it was semi-clear directly overhead and just to our east. However, to our immediate north the skies remained dark and ominous. As I made the turn towards the north that weather moved overtop of us quickly. Soon there was high winds, lightning and thunder in the area. At approximately the one mile marker I figured I’d better high tail it home. All totaled, I probably ran 1.5 miles. In 14.5 years I have never had to cancel/postpone my run once I was afoot. But there was no way I was gonna let ego keep me out there. It was downright scary.

So, for the next 90 minutes I remained dressed in my running clothes keeping busy writing in my blog, enjoying coffee, and tidying up around the house. I’m thinking it was around 10a when Mindy returned home. I wasn’t expecting her until much later. Turned out, she left Rocky and Lindsey at the appointment and brought Landon back home with her for a brief visit. Landon wanted to play Wii, so Mindy got him all set up.

I’m guessing they were there 20 minutes when the weather finally broke and the storms moved to our east. I headed out to finish my run. Because I ran about 1.5 miles earlier, I ran another 3 miles – the typical abbreviated weekend route. I was happy to see the sunshine, although it was incredibly hot & humid. Mindy said that she and Landon would almost certainly be gone by the time I got back home, and they were. However, before I left I asked if she wanted to go to the Honda dealership with me when she got back. She did.

It felt really good to finally have my run behind me. It must’ve been around 11am. Mindy reminded me that Rachel was coming around noon to clean. Originally, my plan was to run early then take the Trooper to the Honda dealership to work on a trade deal. Now, though, I planned to wait on Mindy. Rachel arrived at noon as planned. We chatted for awhile before she got started. She doesn’t like the homeowners to be home when she cleans, and quite frankly, I don’t like being home when she cleans either. Mindy got home around 1215-1230p.

Mindy brought home Wendy’s. I ate only the burger. We left for the Honda dealership by 1245p in the Trooper. I had my folder with the internet pricing as well as many different price points, discounts, and trade values calculated to use as a reference.

I asked for and greeted Ali, their internet pricing specialist. What I didn’t know was that she can’t do the actual deals. She had to hook me up with a sales guy, Brandon. Fine. It didn’t got that well from there. First, Brandon handed my Trooper off to their used car appraiser. He was only off driving it for 5 minutes tops, maybe less. Mindy and I walked out to the lot while waiting, looking at both Accords and Civics. They had only 2 or 3 2012 Civics on hand due to the Japanese Tsunami – production slow down. Brandon, meanwhile, was supposed to be checking the inventory schedule to see if they might have a Civic that met all my specifications at one of their three dealerships. We regrouped a few minutes later where Brandon shared that he had great news! That couldn’t be good. J

Said they’d have a black 2012 Civic EX-L coming in next week. He also had ‘rough’ numbers on paper. Those numbers included the internet price I was quoted, the cost of the dealer installed accessories I wanted, the trade-in value of the Trooper, and then two different finance options. Bottom line, they only wanted to give me $1800 for the Trooper. Now, Kelley Blue Book says $5500 for fair condition. On the other hand, Edmunds.com says $4500. Edmunds is supposed to be their preferred source, and much more accurate.

 I shared my displeasure with their trade-in value citing the numbers from Kelley. But Brandon said with the check engine and ABS lights on it was too iffy. Brandon immediately tried probing for my payment range. No. What I knew was that his numbers were extremely high. Told him we would not be doing a deal based on payment, but rather strictly on price, and that my trade-in value needed to be much higher. I then stood to leave and motioned for Mindy to do the same. I did ask for a copy of his numbers then also my keys.

Mindy asked if I wanted to drive up to Germain Honda next. No, I was ready to go home. Once at home, Mindy said she would likely go to the pool. That was fine with me. I planned to cut the lawn, although I wasn’t super excited to do it in the max heat of the day. Mindy called her sister to see if she and Larry were at the pool. They were. She left for the pool around 230pm.

Just before Mindy left, I asked her to spread sunblock over my back and shoulders, or the areas I couldn’t possibly reach by myself. I told Rachel I’d be outside working on the lawn if she needed anything. She was still cleaning the upstairs when I headed out. I whacked, edged, mowed and blew. All of that took me upwards of 2 hours. I still had that nagging dry cough, and I wasn’t feeling 100% either. Still, I battled through it taking care of the lawn in the oppressive heat and humidity.

Rachel finished up around 5pm, or just as I was finishing the lawn. Before heading inside, I watered the flowers front and back. I also watered the few small areas where new grass was growing.

Mindy got home around 530p. We discussed our evening plans which included a visit to Barley’s.  I took a shower around 615p, or just after Mindy got out. We both decided to wear our new Great Lakes Brewing shirts. We left for Barley’s around 645p. Mindy texted tons of peeps letting them know we’d be there.

We were lucky and got a close parking spot. Bar was chalked full. Not a lot of seating. We also returned the jug that April let us borrow Tuesday night. Took care of that right away. I started with a Centennial, and later tried the Dad’s Little Helper. It’s a black IPA. Think it’s brewed by Rogue. We ordered food, too. I had buffalo chicken tenders. Can’t recall what Mindy ordered.

Spent lots of time talking with Steve W. and a little later Rick C. Late into our visit, we met an Arlington couple that recently moved here from Cleveland. Think their names were Mark & Shelly. They were a hoot, especially Shelly. She was very assertive, and loved dropping the ‘F’ bomb. Not very Arlington-like, but funny and interesting. Shared a handful of stories about Cleveland.

Unbeknownst to me, Mindy phoned neighbor Kenny for a ride home. She had two or three beers and was in no shape to drive. I had three, too, but could’ve driven. But given that Kenny was already on his way I wasn’t going to be stupid. Kenny showed up around 930p. We opted to leave the Honda there and ride with Kenny. While we hung out in Barley’s a strong storm raged on outside. Lots of rain and lightning.

Kenny had been out of town most of the week. I could tell right away that he wasn’t in that good of a mood. Sounded stressed over all he needed to accomplish between then and our fast approaching vacation. I asked that he look over the mapquest directions I had for our drive next Friday since he’s driven the trip many  times past. Said he would.

Kenny dropped us at home, but not before we invited ourselves down for a visit. We headed inside, grabbed Eiknarf and a couple beers then walked down to the neighbors. Josh & Rachel were over for a visit too. Chrissy headed to bed just a few minutes after we arrived. We didn’t stay long. Probably no more than 45 minutes. I drank one more beer. That’s it.

We walked home and headed for bed. I’m guessing it was near 11p.