It would probably be very optimistic of me to title this "My Last 'Car Trouble' Post" - so I won't.

But I'd like to think so.

I visited a bunch of used car lots yesterday, and that just made me want to take a shower. And I spent a long time looking at used cars on the Internet, and half of them were crashed and/or recent imports that will owe another couple thousand dollars in taxes before being able to be registered in the country.

I finally acknowledged that Costa Rica is a place where you get things done based on who you know. You get a much smaller selection that way, but there's at least a flying shot at peace of mind. So the one car available to me through somebody who knows somebody who I know...is the one I'm going to buy.

It's a Mitsubishi Mirage and I'm picking it up tomorrow. It's not purple, but it's going to be mine. And then I'll turn my attention to other things, of which, if I recall correctly, there are still one or two pending. Like buying mattresses for the bunk beds (Julia's currently sleeping with me and Robin on an air mattress). Like arranging for Internet service and maybe even a phone line. Like remembering that I'm meant to be making a quilt.