Buying a Car.

Today is a fantastic day. Today is the first full day that Anna has her own car. We decided to get an automatic Ford Focus because the difficulty of learning to drive a manual along with adjusting to the tight roads is a little overwhelming and time demanding at this point in time for Anna.

But today Anna has her independence back. Neither Anna or myself would call ourselves materialistic but this day has me appreciating a car that has given Anna her freedom back. The simple things like running to the shop, visiting friends etc. are a major task when depending on one manual car and one driver.

Anna and Tommy Og are gone to Westport , and Sarah is sleeping in her bouncy chair in front of the open turf fire in the front room that looks out to a view of Croagh Patrick . The Lisbon Treaty, which was voted in in a referendum in Ireland today, is being discussed on the TV. And I am here in the dining area updating this blog...

The car is an automatic Ford Focus, 2004 sedan. It is spotless. There are approximately 70,000 miles on the clock. We bought it from a company that rents cars and also sells them. So this was a rental car and a friend of a friend found it in Tipperary town.

Great to have good friends. One of mine drove me to Tipperary Town on Thursday and I bought the car and drove it back after stopping in Galway to deliver three applications for jobs teaching media studies.

Before we left San Francisco we sold a 2003 Ford Focus automatic with 30,000 miles on the clock for 4,000 dollars. It was probably worth 4,500-5,000 dollars but we got a quick sale to a friend of a friend. The car we bought is a 2004 Ford Focus, automatic with 70,000 miles on the clock and we paid 6,500 euros for it and we feel, and are informed by a reliable source, that we got a good deal. That's how it goes. We must stop comparing things because it can be annoying!

I called the insurance company, that I had insurance on the other car with, and they transferred the insurance to the new car until we get it sorted out. Interesting to learn that we cannot have one insurance policy for the two cars (as they do in the US). We must get a whole new insurance policy for the new car and this will probably be expensive. I will post later how that goes and if it works best to put Anna's name on that policy as the primary driver.

Whatever the cost it is worth it. Anna has her independence back today and she and Tommy Og are gone to Westport, Sarah is sleeping in front of the open turf fire...

And I will take 40 winks now in front of the open turf fire with the view to Croagh Patrick through the window.