All Cars Are Girls

You’ll have to forgive me. this post-really has taken a long time to write. I have no good excuse for that, except perhaps that bubble I was waffling on about yesterday.

Which, when I think about it, is actually a really, really good excuse.

Anyway. Just before-Christmas, as money in the TinyTrainHouse slowly squeezed itself tighter and tighter, I decided that maybe it was time to do some cost cutting. And the most practical way to do that was by downgrading my much-loved but extremely petrol-hungry AWD SUV Turbo and invest in something slightly smaller, cheaper to run, and that hadn’t caused me months of unnecessary emotional heartache.

Sometimes life is, as we know, ridiculously difficult, for no other reason than it can be. And because the universe is, so to speak, a bit of a bitch.

But then, sometimes, for no apparent reason at all, things just… work. I’d like to say it happens ‘often’, but that might be a lie. So I’ll settle for saying that the Universe seems to be working with me lately, rather than engaged in a stupid arm wrestle that I just can’t win.

The universe seemed to appreciate this idea of buying a new car. Within a week of making the decision- and just begun to mull and fret over the effort required, the selling and pricing and buying and registering and what-not-  a solution, easy and practical, presented itself.

I’d forgotten- though maybe my subconscious had remembered- that my mate Bunny had, just a month or so ago, decided he was bored with the car he drove. And had gone New Car Shopping for a car just like my SUV, but had been unable to find one he liked. Obviously because the Universe was saving his small, efficient blue Lancer for me.

The Brand New Second Hand Car.

And the further we investigated the pro’s, con’s and prices of Bunny’s Car vs My Car, the more obvious the answer become. Both cars sold for roughly the same price- within $300 difference of one another. The kilometers they had both done were identical to within 50 k’s. And both were about 2000 k’s overdue for their next service.

Swapping cars was just too easy. No messing around with ads and phone calls and waiting and negotiating and waiting more. I didn’t even have to vacuum the bloody thing before I handed it over. (l probably should have. But didn’t. Because that’s what friends are for.)

Sometimes, things can be simple. Maybe sometimes I just need to let them be simple.

So- introducing our brand new second hand Car. That we’ve actually had for a while now. Despite missing my turbo, I’m loving the Lancer. Who, after some discussion via Twitter and IG, has been christened ‘Genevieve’. Because I just couldn’t pass up the suggestion of calling the car ‘Sir Lancer-lot’….

But as everyone knows, all cars are girls.

***

And further in line with the Universe being nice to me… at around that same breath-holding, just-scraping-by time of year; just when I was beginning to glance warily at the Bump’s daggy old car seat and worry incessantly at how her shoulders were just getting higher and higher against her shoulder straps (tall skinny thing that she is), I got one of PR emails. An awesome one this time, not a sucky one.

This one was inviting the Bump and myself to review the new Britax Safe-n-Sound Maxi Rider AHR Easy Adjust car seat. I think Miss Mini-Fashionista (obviously doesn’t get that from me) sums up what we thought of it, here…

Bumpy Fashionista

It was pretty damn cool.

It’s built like a veritable car seat fortress… the old one actually feels like polystyrene in comparison. It’s got so many layers of padding that it really does suit kidlets from approximately six months to around-abouts eight years old, without them ever looking like itty bitty tiny dolls with floppy necks that may just fling out of their seat at the slightest touch of the brakes. The Bump is currently harnessed in, but this seat has impressive fold-down arms for when she’s heavy and old enough.

The straps are so easy to move around, with actual buttons to release them (who would have thunk…?) and there are pockets and storage compartments everywhere.

And to complete the way too school for coolness of it all… it has speakers built into the head rest. And, tucked into it’s own little elasticised pocket on the side (out of reach of tiny fingers!) is the headphone jack. Total win.

Safe-n-Sound Maxi Rider AHR Easy Adjust

At around $529, it’s actually the kind of car seat I’d usually look at in a baby shop and sigh over and think to myself that I just couldn’t justify the expense. But having tried it, it actually feels… safer. Which is quite logical given the whole value for money equation.

And it just looks so much… cooler.

***

Tales of everyday equilibrium continue tomorrow with the story of a replacement kitten, and a missing DimSum. Stay tuned.

Tagged as: bump, children, Life But Not As We Know It, my head is an awesome place to live, stuff that makes me happy, yup this one’s sponsored