2001-10-12 - 8:44 p.m.

Now playing: The radio, The River, WRSI 93.9 FM. "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer."

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So I bought a new car. A 2001 Taurus. The Ford Financing Gods basically shit on me with a 13% interest rate. Percentage-wise, however, I am paying less for this new Taurus than I did for my new Taurus. I paid a 50% premium for my used green '94 Taurus - now I am paying a 33% premium for my new '01 Taurus.

Still, though...affording a $450/mo payment is going to be quite a stretch..and I don't know how much insurance is going to be. I am worried.

I wouldn't be so worried if I had a buffer of savings to rely on. All my savings are in my 401(k). I put $200 a month into that.

I may take out a 401(k) loan of a few thousand dollars to make a buffer. I know that doesn't make much sense. I wish we could settle Grampa's estate quickly so that I would know better what was possibly coming my way.

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I do love driving my car, though. I just had the disc changer installed today. The place was only a mile away from home, though, so I haven't had much of a chance to test it. Sunday's trip to Woodstock should be a good test. I'm hoping it can deal with CD-Rs well.