Anyway, my new car is 1999 Toyota Raum. It looks like a minivan/station wagon cross. It took five days to finalize the sale thanks to all the hoops you have to jump through. Today should be the final steps to making my car 100% drivable!
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
The Toyota Raum
Living in Japan has made me realize how American I am about owning cars. I like having my own car. I like the freedom it gives me to come and go as I please. During the week without my car I paid $15 for a cab one way from base and then still had to walk a considerable distance to my house with four full bags of groceries and a broken hand. I arrived at my house sweaty, irritated, and vowing to never do that again. I'm a fit person who could easily run the distance from my house to base, but doing it carrying all your things + stuff you had to pick up from the grocery store. No thanks.
Anyway, my new car is 1999 Toyota Raum. It looks like a minivan/station wagon cross. It took five days to finalize the sale thanks to all the hoops you have to jump through. Today should be the final steps to making my car 100% drivable!
Anyway, my new car is 1999 Toyota Raum. It looks like a minivan/station wagon cross. It took five days to finalize the sale thanks to all the hoops you have to jump through. Today should be the final steps to making my car 100% drivable!
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Craziness.
It hasn't been the best of times these past several weeks. I'm prone to bouts of dramatic why-me-ness, and that may be what's going on now......but either way my anxiety levels are through the roof.
My broken hand has been casted and made immobile for four weeks. I broke my right-hand.....and I'm right-handed. Since my left hand isn't used to being used for everything it has been aching and sore. I'm almost two weeks into the cast and can't wait to get it off.
To follow that, my car failed base inspection. It passed two years ago and I didn't make any modifications to the car, but it failed based on things that were previously approved. For example, tire size was wrong, car was too low, and headlights were aiming at the wrong spot. Repairs would have included:
4 new shocks
4 new tires and appropriately sized rims
new front bumper (current one is cracked)
new master brake cylinder
It was easily pushing $1700 for repair costs, parts, and labor. Friends all had advice about where to take my car next to get inspected/fixed, but really there comes a point when you can't/don't want to put more time and energy into your car than it's worth. How many hours am I supposed to spend waiting for various inspections? How much energy is all this really worth?
So, John and I made the decision to buy a new car. We purchased the new car for about $1700 when all is said and done. The new car has been base inspected and won't need another one until after we leave Japan. I am stressing out over the amount of paperwork and people coordinating that goes into getting rid of my old car and buying the new one. I'm hoping to have the car Friday afternoon.
My broken hand has been casted and made immobile for four weeks. I broke my right-hand.....and I'm right-handed. Since my left hand isn't used to being used for everything it has been aching and sore. I'm almost two weeks into the cast and can't wait to get it off.
To follow that, my car failed base inspection. It passed two years ago and I didn't make any modifications to the car, but it failed based on things that were previously approved. For example, tire size was wrong, car was too low, and headlights were aiming at the wrong spot. Repairs would have included:
4 new shocks
4 new tires and appropriately sized rims
new front bumper (current one is cracked)
new master brake cylinder
It was easily pushing $1700 for repair costs, parts, and labor. Friends all had advice about where to take my car next to get inspected/fixed, but really there comes a point when you can't/don't want to put more time and energy into your car than it's worth. How many hours am I supposed to spend waiting for various inspections? How much energy is all this really worth?
So, John and I made the decision to buy a new car. We purchased the new car for about $1700 when all is said and done. The new car has been base inspected and won't need another one until after we leave Japan. I am stressing out over the amount of paperwork and people coordinating that goes into getting rid of my old car and buying the new one. I'm hoping to have the car Friday afternoon.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Broken hand...
Saturday night I was going up the stairs in my house and took a misstep. I fell and my right hand tried to break the fall, but hit the wall at a bad angle, causing a fracture of the 4th metacarpal (the bone under the ring finger). I thought my finger was jammed or sprained as there was a lot of swelling and pain in the finger, but I could still make a fist. That night I had a restless night and kept waking up in pain.
Sunday, I went to an outdoor event in Tokyo still thinking it was a sprained finger. At this point I was in so much pain I thought a finger fracture could be possible, but still didn't think it was bad because I could wiggle my fingers and make a fist. Everyone who saw it said it didn't look bruised or swollen. By Sunday afternoon, I finally listened to the pain and went to the ER on base. Since there is no urgent care center (where I would have chosen to go in the US instead of the ER) the ER is the only option for weekend injuries and serious illnesses.
When I checked into the ER, I'm pretty sure the staff there thought I had a sprain or hairline fracture in my finger at most. I could move my fingers and there was no serious bruising. They sent me for x-rays to be sure. The x-ray tech thought he was looking for trauma in my finger. Once he looked at the x-ray films, he came back in my room twice to ask if I had pain in my hand. I admitted I had some, but it felt like a bad bruise. On his third trip into my room he says, "There's some bad news for your hand. I'll mark it for the doctor." I was escorted back to the triage area.
John was waiting for me in triage when I told him of my possible fractured hand. The doctor came in shortly and confirmed it was a fracture and ordered me to be splinted up. At the naval hospital in Yokosuka, everyone with a broken bone in a particular week sees the orthopedic specialist on the same day. So, tomorrow I head in to see the orthopedic specialist and find out how serious the break is, if it needs surgery, and hopefully have a hard cast put on. I also hope to get an estimated healing time.
So that's my broken bone story. Looking forward to finding out the next step and healing as fast as possible. My hand is in a lot of pain and every single task irritates the fracture. I know it's going to hurt, but I can't wait to get the bone set so the healing can start.
Sunday, I went to an outdoor event in Tokyo still thinking it was a sprained finger. At this point I was in so much pain I thought a finger fracture could be possible, but still didn't think it was bad because I could wiggle my fingers and make a fist. Everyone who saw it said it didn't look bruised or swollen. By Sunday afternoon, I finally listened to the pain and went to the ER on base. Since there is no urgent care center (where I would have chosen to go in the US instead of the ER) the ER is the only option for weekend injuries and serious illnesses.
When I checked into the ER, I'm pretty sure the staff there thought I had a sprain or hairline fracture in my finger at most. I could move my fingers and there was no serious bruising. They sent me for x-rays to be sure. The x-ray tech thought he was looking for trauma in my finger. Once he looked at the x-ray films, he came back in my room twice to ask if I had pain in my hand. I admitted I had some, but it felt like a bad bruise. On his third trip into my room he says, "There's some bad news for your hand. I'll mark it for the doctor." I was escorted back to the triage area.
John was waiting for me in triage when I told him of my possible fractured hand. The doctor came in shortly and confirmed it was a fracture and ordered me to be splinted up. At the naval hospital in Yokosuka, everyone with a broken bone in a particular week sees the orthopedic specialist on the same day. So, tomorrow I head in to see the orthopedic specialist and find out how serious the break is, if it needs surgery, and hopefully have a hard cast put on. I also hope to get an estimated healing time.
So that's my broken bone story. Looking forward to finding out the next step and healing as fast as possible. My hand is in a lot of pain and every single task irritates the fracture. I know it's going to hurt, but I can't wait to get the bone set so the healing can start.
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