Saturday, February 17
Feb. 18th, 2024 12:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gottawonderToday I am grateful for:
Nice weather, sunny.
Getting up a tiny bit earlier than usual so we could get something done today.
We went first to a dealership, where my husband has found a good truck that "checks the boxes". Once he got looking at trucks, he warmed up to the idea, seeing that there WERE a few options out there that shouldn't bankrupt us.
The truck he found is used, but lightly. Low mileage, lots of warranty left on it, and all of the things we need. It's a "real" truck, not a pretty "town" truck, but still pretty nice. It will tow a horse trailer or a load of bales, has four wheel drive (which our current truck does not have), and has the full truck box (not the useless short box).
The price is very good, made better by the fact that the company my husband works for gets a good discount on vehicles through this dealership. It's not a purchase to take lightly, but the process has been well-considered.
We have had our current truck for almost 15 years, and it was not new when we got it (it's about 24 years old). It is OKAY, but there have been times when it was not quite enough truck for the work we needed, and it's not great to drive in the winter because it is not a 4x4. It would still have a bit of resale value, and there's nothing wrong with it.
Soon though, it will likely need a great deal of maintenance, and I worry that it won't be reliable. There have been lots of times when we needed a third vehicle for one of us to drive when one of our cars is in the shop, and if my husband ends up having to drive the truck back and forth to work, it needs to be reliable.
Anyhow, we're both a little bit humbled by the price tag, but it needs to happen.
This would allow us to feel like we can sell our current truck as well as release our old X-Terra that mostly sits parked in our yard, not being used hardly at all.
We decided after looking at it together today that we will get it, and we'll get the paperwork done next week.
Then we went onwards into the city to the art gallery. This weekend is the opening of an exhibit of Tom Thomson's works. They are lovely in person.
We went to a thrift store, one of the chains unfortunately, and I was in "t-shirt" mode. For all my day to day shirts I just like getting them second hand, because I can't fathom paying $25 for a shirt I'm going to wear to work in the yard with. I still like to have decent ones with no holes for going to the barn or pottery, but that I won't be upset getting manure on them.
We had a nice meal at a family owned Asian place that always feels just like the little places all over the prairie, though it had a much better menu. Most of the "prairie Chinese food" places are a thing all their own, with lots of heavily breaded things, signature red sweet sauce, and fried rice. This place was almost a bit fusion, with Thai and Indian influence.
Then we went to Home Depot, and picked up a ceiling fan that will go in the mud room. None of the ones we've looked at over the last year or so have really been perfect, but maybe it doesn't matter that much. I suspect that after a few months we won't really even see it any more. I think maybe we can be too critical at the decision-making stage, but it is also nice to get what you want if you can.
Still, it's also a bit funny because the ceiling fan in our living room is distinctly '80's, and here we are being so picky about what's going to go in the mud room.
So, it was a good day, and though I'm a bit in awe of buying a vehicle, I guess one SHOULD be a bit in awe of that.
Seychelles is an archipelago of islands East of the Continent of Africa, consisting of 155 islands.
It is the smallest African country, with just over 100,000 people living there.
Like Mauritius, there were no native inhabitants before Europeans visited the islands. Everyone there now are descendants of either the Europeans, or people brought there to work on the plantations.
"Seychelles was uninhabited prior to being encountered by Europeans in the 16th century. It faced competing French and British interests until it came under full British control in the late 18th century. Since proclaiming independence from the United Kingdom in 1976, it has developed from a largely agricultural society to a market-based diversified economy, characterized by service, public sector, and tourism activities."
The main religion here is Christianity (Mauritius is Hindu), and also has a good record of human rights and good standard of living with a Democratic government (they have an elected president).
Seychelles is affected by modern Somali piracy, and is committed to fighting it.
It has the third largest coral reef system in the world, which makes it appealing for tourism.
Most of the population resides on a group of 44 "inner islands" (mostly granitic), and many of the remaining islands are uninhabited and are conservation areas.
The Aldabra islands are part of Seychelles, known for the Aldabra Giant Tortoise, endemic to that region.
There are also seven "reclaimed" (man-made) islands that are not part of the count of 155 natural islands. For example, this island was built with funds from Dubai:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romainville_Island,_Seychelles
Instead of developing renewable energy resources, Seychelles imports fossil fuel.
"Same-sex sexual activity has been legal since 2016.[94] The bill decriminalizing homosexuality was approved in a 14–0 vote.[95] Employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is banned in the Seychelles, making it one of the few African countries to have such protections for LGBT people.[96][97]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seychelles#Culture
https://youtu.be/FHpCNsqjg9s?si=traUOYO-WS_Lle6y
Nice weather, sunny.
Getting up a tiny bit earlier than usual so we could get something done today.
We went first to a dealership, where my husband has found a good truck that "checks the boxes". Once he got looking at trucks, he warmed up to the idea, seeing that there WERE a few options out there that shouldn't bankrupt us.
The truck he found is used, but lightly. Low mileage, lots of warranty left on it, and all of the things we need. It's a "real" truck, not a pretty "town" truck, but still pretty nice. It will tow a horse trailer or a load of bales, has four wheel drive (which our current truck does not have), and has the full truck box (not the useless short box).
The price is very good, made better by the fact that the company my husband works for gets a good discount on vehicles through this dealership. It's not a purchase to take lightly, but the process has been well-considered.
We have had our current truck for almost 15 years, and it was not new when we got it (it's about 24 years old). It is OKAY, but there have been times when it was not quite enough truck for the work we needed, and it's not great to drive in the winter because it is not a 4x4. It would still have a bit of resale value, and there's nothing wrong with it.
Soon though, it will likely need a great deal of maintenance, and I worry that it won't be reliable. There have been lots of times when we needed a third vehicle for one of us to drive when one of our cars is in the shop, and if my husband ends up having to drive the truck back and forth to work, it needs to be reliable.
Anyhow, we're both a little bit humbled by the price tag, but it needs to happen.
This would allow us to feel like we can sell our current truck as well as release our old X-Terra that mostly sits parked in our yard, not being used hardly at all.
We decided after looking at it together today that we will get it, and we'll get the paperwork done next week.
Then we went onwards into the city to the art gallery. This weekend is the opening of an exhibit of Tom Thomson's works. They are lovely in person.
We went to a thrift store, one of the chains unfortunately, and I was in "t-shirt" mode. For all my day to day shirts I just like getting them second hand, because I can't fathom paying $25 for a shirt I'm going to wear to work in the yard with. I still like to have decent ones with no holes for going to the barn or pottery, but that I won't be upset getting manure on them.
We had a nice meal at a family owned Asian place that always feels just like the little places all over the prairie, though it had a much better menu. Most of the "prairie Chinese food" places are a thing all their own, with lots of heavily breaded things, signature red sweet sauce, and fried rice. This place was almost a bit fusion, with Thai and Indian influence.
Then we went to Home Depot, and picked up a ceiling fan that will go in the mud room. None of the ones we've looked at over the last year or so have really been perfect, but maybe it doesn't matter that much. I suspect that after a few months we won't really even see it any more. I think maybe we can be too critical at the decision-making stage, but it is also nice to get what you want if you can.
Still, it's also a bit funny because the ceiling fan in our living room is distinctly '80's, and here we are being so picky about what's going to go in the mud room.
So, it was a good day, and though I'm a bit in awe of buying a vehicle, I guess one SHOULD be a bit in awe of that.
Seychelles is an archipelago of islands East of the Continent of Africa, consisting of 155 islands.
It is the smallest African country, with just over 100,000 people living there.
Like Mauritius, there were no native inhabitants before Europeans visited the islands. Everyone there now are descendants of either the Europeans, or people brought there to work on the plantations.
"Seychelles was uninhabited prior to being encountered by Europeans in the 16th century. It faced competing French and British interests until it came under full British control in the late 18th century. Since proclaiming independence from the United Kingdom in 1976, it has developed from a largely agricultural society to a market-based diversified economy, characterized by service, public sector, and tourism activities."
The main religion here is Christianity (Mauritius is Hindu), and also has a good record of human rights and good standard of living with a Democratic government (they have an elected president).
Seychelles is affected by modern Somali piracy, and is committed to fighting it.
It has the third largest coral reef system in the world, which makes it appealing for tourism.
Most of the population resides on a group of 44 "inner islands" (mostly granitic), and many of the remaining islands are uninhabited and are conservation areas.
The Aldabra islands are part of Seychelles, known for the Aldabra Giant Tortoise, endemic to that region.
There are also seven "reclaimed" (man-made) islands that are not part of the count of 155 natural islands. For example, this island was built with funds from Dubai:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romainville_Island,_Seychelles
Instead of developing renewable energy resources, Seychelles imports fossil fuel.
"Same-sex sexual activity has been legal since 2016.[94] The bill decriminalizing homosexuality was approved in a 14–0 vote.[95] Employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is banned in the Seychelles, making it one of the few African countries to have such protections for LGBT people.[96][97]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seychelles#Culture
https://youtu.be/FHpCNsqjg9s?si=traUOYO-WS_Lle6y
