Car Shopping Extravaganza

So Jen and I are looking for a new car right now. And since I'm on break (still...) :P I get to do a lot of the "shopping." It's been a lot of fun, actually. I got to test drive a ton of cars and learn a little more about what I like and don't like, what I'm looking for, etc. In some ways, my tastes have changed and in others, they're exactly the same.

The problem is that recently we decided that car shopping together just wasn't working because the only day we could shop together was Saturday. And the last two Saturdays have been kind of snowy around here, so we've stayed pretty close to home in terms of the dealers we went to. So last week, Jen said to me, "Why don't you just test drive the cars you're interested in, and narrow down our choices. Then we'll test drive the ones you like together." Well, I thought that was a pretty good system at the time. It made a some sense. I could eliminate a lot of the ones that I didn't like at all, and then we could focus on the ones that I really liked. Yesterday, I finished my test drives and ranked the cars I looked at based on a comparison system that I made up:

So my Tier system has to do with a combination of all of the factors I've listed below: engine performance, sound and feel; interior room and design; handling and comfort, a.k.a. suspension and steering, a.k.a. "ride", gas mileage, and price. All the cars have about the same amount of miles on them and comparable warantees (except the LaCrosse + $795 for the added warantee), so I didn't really take those factors into account.

Tier 1
06 Buick LaCrosse ($12,500+$795), v-6, 30 mpg. hwy, roomy, pretty nice ride, nice engine
07 Ford Fusion ($13,995), 4 cyl., 28 mpg. hwy, comfortable but basic, okay ride, nice engine

Tier 2

08 Ford Taurus ($16,995), v-6, 28 mpg. hwy, roomy, like driving a pillow!, nice engine

08 Honda Accord ($17,995), 4 cyl., 31 mpg. hwy, comfortable (roomy on the passenger side), bumpy ride, really nice engine (feels like a v-6)
08 Chevy Malibu ($12,900) 4 cyl., 28 mpg. hwy, comfortable, bumpy ride, okay engine
08 Toyota Camry ($18,995) 4 cyl., 32 mpg. hwy, comfortable, okay ride, nice engine. No doubt a good car, but not worth the money from my perspective.

Tier 3

08 Nissan Altima ($15,995) 4 cyl. ?31 maybe?, a little too small for me, okay ride, rough engine. I could live with it, but not at that price!

08 Hyundai Sontata (No clue 'cause I don't care), 4 cyl., about the same as the rest, too small, bumpy ride, rough engine.
08 Kia Optima Lets just say I'm not interested.
08 Hyundai Santa Fe ($13, ish) SUV, only test drove cause Jen liked it. Didn't like it at all. Not impressed with the Hyundais.

I haven't shared my tier system with Jen, yet. And here's where the flaw in our logic comes in. So I test drive the cars and, based on the shortened list, we pick one out together. My short list is probably the top 4 or so. The problem is that Jen's favorites aren't on the short list (the Camry and the Santa Fe, though she does like the Taurus). I think she's given up on the Santa Fe. But I told her about the cars I wanted to test drive together, and she asked about the Camry.

So I think we'll chuck the Malibu and make the short list the other five in Tiers 1 and 2. But the Camry's so Friggin' exepensive and even though it was nice, it wasn't amazing in ways that would make the exta money worth it, in my opinion.

Now the next discussion is who gets to drive the new car. I thought that it was decided, but apparently, it's not, as I learned this morning when we talked about my short list. Guess who I think should get to drive it. ;)

Brad, Jen, and Lilly, as promised

Our friend from Grad. School, Jess. Posted a picture of Jen and I with Lilly, which you can check out at Jess's blog.

Break continues...

I can't believe I have another 2 weeks until classes start at Columbia. I've checked it twice to make sure. But I'm thinking about calling the English Department just to triple check. Because, wow, that's a long break.

Apparently, it's because Columbia has something called a "J-session," which runs through the month of January. It's kind of like a summer class, but in the winter, if you get my drift.

So, I get to keep working on my dissertation. Just a quick update. Chapter 3 is about wrapped up for now. I'll need to do some revisions once I've moved on to later chapters, but it's in pretty good shape at this stage in my process. I've recoded most of my student data. I have data from 7 students left that I'm going to use for reliability purposes. Jen has kindly agreed to help me with that task, which I'm happy about and a little worried about. It's easy to forget how truly complicated this stuff is when you're in the middle of it. I'm worried that I'm not going to be able to adequately explain to her what to look for and how to identify it.

The other day I was talking to someone about the work that I'm doing on my dissertation--talking about searching for metaphors for learning, knowledge, and writing--and the person I was talking to asked, "Now, metaphors are the ones that don't use 'like' or 'as,' right?" It was then that I realized how truly complex these ideas are that I'm working with. Because the way that I think about metaphor now after all my reading and study doesn't differentiate between metaphors and similes. It's a completely different paradigm of thought: cognitive traits vs. surface features of language. It's so different, and I've thought about these ideas in this way for so long, that it's shocking when I remember there is this whole other way out there to think about metaphor. In fact, I really shouldn't even be using the word metaphor because I'm really looking for all different kinds of analogical discourse. (I should revise that in Chapt. 3, now that I think of it.) For example, I'm also searching for synecdoche, and I really don't differentiate between metaphor and simile because, for my purposes, there's really no reason to.

So this week's tasks will be to start in on "teacher" data--looking at syllabi and course descriptions and objectives that I can use to search for "analogical discourse." :)

So, have fun teaching, folks. I'll be joining you soon enough. I'm just happy I don't have to walk to work in the bitter cold that's coming up later this week.

Holiday Update

Well, the holidays are winding down, though I still have plenty of time on break. If I'm reading Columbia's Web site right - and there's a very good chance I'm mistaken - we don't start classes again until January 26. That means I still have at least another 2 weeks of break.

I had a pretty fun time this holiday season. And it was nice to spread things out just a little. For the last few years, it's been a mad dash to see friends and family when we come back to visit for Christmas. This year, since we're here, we got to spread things out a bit.

In addition to seeing some old friends from high school and some of Jen's classmates at her 10-year reunion, we got to spend time with our friends Jeff and Jessica and their baby Lillian. They stopped by to see us on their way through to the Quad Cities. Hopefully pictures will be available on Jess's blog soon. We had a great time catching up, and we got to introduce them to The Junction Restaurant, a quaint little hole-in-the-wall that Jen and I have eaten at since some of our very first dates. The carpet is ugly, and it smells a bit of old fried food - which I'll admit is a step up from the haze of cigarette smoke in its earlier days - but the food is tasty and the waitresses are friendly and that's all that really counts. Oh and it's cheap. :)

I also got a chance to head into the 'burbs with my father-in-law for a little golf, believe it or not. We went to a "bubble" up in Bensenville, where we got to hit a balls for an hour or so. Here's me slicing my 3 Iron.

After the bubble, we went to a nice Wineshop in Downers Grove (I think that's where it was) and had lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise.

What else? That's about it, I suppose. Had a quiet but nice New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. And today I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with my cat and maybe do a little coding. :) Tonight I play soccer. Cross your fingers that I don't blowout a knee or something what with all the extra holiday weight.