Well, after much thought and internal debate, I decided to be thriftier in my choice of a new car. I left work early today intending to purchase a Toyota Corolla. The Corolla is cheap ($13K) and dependable. It was certainly a wise purchase, given the fact that I still have credit card debt to take care of in the next couple years. Getting out of debt is my number one priority, and I wasn’t going to let vanity be the deciding factor on my car choice.

I left work early to go test drive a Corolla. I arrived at the dealership and quickly was able to drive one. Much like the RAV4 I test drove last week, I was sorely disappointed with the Corolla. The steering was very loose and weak, and there was hardly any power. Plus, the front seat was poorly positioned in conjunction with the steering wheel and pedals. It took about one minute to decide the Corolla was not for me.

Time for my backup plan. I asked to test drive a Toyota Prius. Aside from it’s lame aerodynamic look, everything about the Prius was attractive to me (specifically the 60 mpg). But again, I test drove it and was disappointed. The power was okay. The ride was smooth. But the car felt too big and bulky. I had a hard time parking it. Plus, it only came in tan interior, which I can’t stand.

Right when I thought it was time to go back to the drawing board, the salesman recommended I test drive a new Scion. I didn’t know too much about Scions, other than they were recommended to me by my co-workers. The salesman told me the tC replaced the Celicas (and was $10K cheaper). The Scion tC is a sporty sedan, much less gaudy than the “wannabe” Celica. It was a nonchalant, powerful sedan—just what I wanted.

I opened up the Scion and was immediately impressed by the all-black interior. It had sport bucket seats and two sun roofs (front & back). There was a lot of cargo space when the back seats were folded down (partially due to its hatchback). It only had two doors, but the back seats were very roomy. When I finally drove it, I was really impressed. There was a lot of power, and the handling was very similar to my old BMW. At a sticker price of $17K, it was $20K less than my previous car. I was definitely sold.

As the salesman got the paperwork together, I went inside and got online at one of the computer terminals. I checked ConsumerReports.org, and they had nothing but good things to say about the Scion tC. I went to the Scion website & custom built one with all the options I wanted. I discovered they did offer it in black (the salesman said they didn’t), but I was already okay with getting a dark grey one. I put on every option I was interested in, and the price was still around $20K. This was going to be sweet. An awesome car, fully loaded, still half the price of my old car.

All of my options were included in the financing, which is cool. I have to schedule a time to have them all installed. I got a rear spoiler, sporty ground effects kit (under trim), a big-ass subwoofer, fog lights, mud flaps, and a security system. I almost went for the 18″ wheels, but didn’t think one inch was worth over $1,500. I can do some other alterations in the future (like get the Supercharger).

And that was that. I returned my rental car & drove home in my new Scion tC. I’m pleased with the purchase. The total came to $23K. I plan to pay it off in about three years. Once all my debt is taken care of, I’ll start considering bigger and better things.

I saw my first live professional baseball game last night. It was the mid-season outing for my Frontline kickball team. We had 14 players going, so there was lots of participation. We met at the Vienna metro at 5 PM, arrived at the park around 6:30 PM, and found our seats right before the scheduled 7:15 PM start time. Unfortunately, there was a 2 ½ hour delay because of severe thunderstorms. We almost left the stadium, but a well-timed bathroom break allowed us to see the field staff go back onto the field. And thus we stayed.

Instead of sitting in our cheap, nose-bleed seats, we were told by a staff woman that we could go down to the bottom section to fill out the many empty seats caused by the rain delay. We had near-perfect seats, right behind home plate. We would never actually pay for seats like these, so it really turned out to be once-in-a-lifetime experience.

I don’t know if it was the crowds, the rain, the waiting, annoying teammates, or the fact that I was still not feeling physically well, but I was in a terrible mood all night. I was disappointed with how some of my teammates were acting after a few beers. Some were rude and obnoxious, and some acted like junior high kids. I didn’t have the patience for any of it, so I mentally withdrew from the group (with the exception of the two guys sitting beside me, who were analyzing the game and teaching me about the inner workings of baseball).

Because of the delay, the majority of the group left after the fifth inning. They asked me if I wanted to go with them and party at one of their houses. I told them no. Carl, Lori and I stayed and watched the game until the near end. Once it was past midnight, we decided to leave. I don’t think we minded leaving early, but we just didn’t want to leave with the others. I’m pleased to say, the trip home with Carl and Lori was pleasant and drama-free.

Oh, and the Nationals beat the Cubs.

Let’s start with the good stuff… I went to the Clarendon Ballroom last night to meet up with some friends. Keith, my buddy from work (the head graphic designer) and a couple of guys from the Vienna kickball board were going to meet me there. At the last minute, I invited Carrie from my Frontline kickball team to go, and she accepted. I picked Carrie up in Vienna, and we headed to the Ballroom. It was my first time there, so it was interesting. We saw Keith at the bar, so we joined him for some drinks. The place was really dead, so we almost left. Then Dave and Andy arrived and the DJ started playing dance songs. Carrie and I jumped onto the dance floor to get the dancing started. I totally didn’t care what I was doing. We were having a lot of fun. When I got tired, Carrie danced with Keith, then Dave. I don’t think she ever danced with Andy, because he was more interested in watching the Wizards game. (Incidentally, congratulations to the Wizards, who made it past the first round of the playoffs for the first time in about 25 years!) I had a lot to drink early on, so I tried sobering up for a while. Carrie, Keith and I decided to leave and get something to eat. We got some food at Silver Diner. Afterwards, Keith discovered a $500 parking ticket on his windshield. He mistakenly parked in a handicapped metered space, which wasn’t clearly marked. We were bummed by his misfortune. We parted ways, and I took Carrie back home to Vienna. And that’s where the fun starts…

It was late, and obviously I was tired. But I didn’t feel particularly tired or anything. A couple miles from my house, I dozed off and ran off the road. I awoke to find myself driving at an angle in the grass, heading for the tree line. I don’t know if I even hit the brakes or not, because I tried to steer the car back onto the road. Unfortunately, the embankment was too steep, and all I could do was brace for impact. I hit a tree and came to an immediate stop. Both front door windows burst, and there was foliage in the passenger seat. I heard a slight hissing from the engine or something winding down or deflating. Neither air bag was deployed. I checked myself, and there wasn’t a single pain, scrape, or bruise on me. I noticed my cell phone on the floor of the passenger side, so I reached over and called GEICO. After about 10 minutes on the phone with them, they advised me to call the Police. I did so, and they arrived in about 10-15 minutes.

They helped me out of the car (again, the angle was really steep) and asked me a few questions. I knew the drill—you’re not supposed to tell them anything that might incriminate you. But I really didn’t want to lie to the police. I’ve always believed that honesty was the best policy. I told them I had about four beers that night, but plenty of time had passed since my last drink. I told them I came all the way from Arlington and had to drop a friend off in Vienna. They asked me to take the sobriety test, and I easily passed it. First they asked me to say the alphabet between G-P. I confirmed with the officer, “G through P?” And ran through them, as if they were lyrics to a song. Then they asked me to do the finger tip test, which was just touching the tips of each of my fingers with the tip of my thumb—and doing that three times. Simple. Then came the classic “walk the line,” where I put one foot in front of the other for nine paces, pivot and walk back. Those years in the junior high marching band really paid off. Finally, the senior officer let it slip that he thought I seemed fine. Then he asked me if I would take the breathalyzer test. I asked him if I had to, and he said no. I told him I wasn’t sure of the legal ramifications of taking the test, so I opted out.

I spent a lot of time waiting around for them to fill out the ticket, and we all spent a lot of time waiting for the tow truck driver to arrive. They had to shut down the entire road to get the tow truck in position. This took forever. Eventually, they decided they needed a second tow truck, so we had to wait for that. I fell asleep a few times in the back of the police cruiser. When they finally got my car out of the embankment, I snapped a few photos with my camera phone. My biggest regret that night seemed to be that I didn’t bring my Exilim camera with me, which had a flash. When it was all finished, the officer handed me the ticket and told me he was charging me with wreckless driving. He said normally he would use a lesser charge, but this area didn’t allow for that. Although, at the court date in June, he’d recommend a lesser charge to the judge, which is cool. By now, it was 5:30 AM, and one of the officers took me home. I had to grab my CDs and kickball gear from the trunk. They must have thought it so random that I had bases and big, red rubber balls in my trunk.

I didn’t get much sleep, because my body was hopped up on adrenalin. I spent most of the morning talking with GEICO and scheduling a time for me to go see my car at the tow yard. I forgot to get the CDs from my CD changer. Plus, I want to take photos of the damage. I also spent a lot of time looking for new cars. I’ve settled on two options: Toyota RAV4 or Honda CR-V. I really want a cheap, all-wheel-drive vehicle that can hold all of my sport gear. It’s going to be great to take my bike places again. Both of the mid-size SUVs are around $20K. And they have the highest recommendations from Consumer Reports.

So that’s my day. I missed the Frontline 5K Run for the Kids this morning. I wasn’t going to run this year, but I was planning to help out as a volunteer. I also had to cancel kickball practice. I need to make it to Frontline tomorrow night, however, because the kickball team will be shown in a video during the service. We’ll be sitting together and cheering, when our picture is shown.

That’s it. Time to veg on my couch and watch some Netflix movies.

After playing seven games in two kickball divisions this spring, one of my teams finally won a game! Thankfully, it was my Frontline team that managed the feat—and boy, we were excited! We beat a new team called White Noise. They were a bunch of great people, so the entire game was fun. A bunch of my players finally stepped up and made some incredible plays, so I was really excited about how much our team is improving. Almost the whole team went to the bar afterwards to celebrate.

While at the bar, I finally got a chance to talk with the cute bartender, who I’ve wanted to talk to since last fall. It turns out her name is Kim—just like the bartender/bridesmaid from the wedding on Friday. What are the chances of that? She invited me out Friday night. I’m excited.

I only had three hours of sleep on Friday night. I had to be at the church at 8:15 AM to be a consultant at the SHAPE workshop. I don’t know what I was thinking by volunteering to do this. They sent out an e-mail on Thursday, begging people to be consultants. I accepted on a whim, not realizing that I’d be out late the night before at the wedding.

Well, I made it to the church half an hour late, and almost fell asleep during the workshop. Luckily, Dan R. was sitting at my table, and he was able to lead a lot of the discussions and get people at our table to participate. I barely did anything. I really don’t want to be a SHAPE consultant anymore, because I just don’t have the patience to sit through the 4-6 hour workshop.

After SHAPE, I went to Carrie’s house for a cookout. Carrie and her roommate Rachel are on the Frontline kickball team. Francis and I were the first Frontliners there, so we chatted for a long while. Eventually, Paul, Sean, Andrew, and Jennifer showed up, as well as a ton of non-Frontliners. Something I thought was supposed to happen at the cookout didn’t happen, so after a couple of hours, I was frustrated and decided to leave. It was probably unfair of me to bolt, but I was already pretty sick of competing over things this weekend—I wasn’t about to tolerate someone playing hard to get.

When I got home around 6 PM, I went to sleep. I didn’t get up until 9 AM this morning. I was still feeling pissed from the previous two days, and to make matters worse, I was supposed to be in the office at 6 AM this morning to help QA the new Nextel website that went live at midnight. I would’ve been way late, so I didn’t even bother going. Instead, I got a lot of stuff done at home, including catching up on TV shows. I watched the past two weeks of 24, which were amazing. I cleaned house, reorganized my files, and accomplished many other tasks. I love feeling organized.

I also started a new group on MySpace.

And to top the weekend off, I watched the first new episode of Family Guy on FOX. Man, I love that show.