Thursday, June 11, 2009

Buying Stuff

We might be getting a new car this weekend!

We've decided on either a Kia Rondo or a Mazda 5. (Basically the same vehicle put out by two different car companies.) They're pretty compact vehicles that offer a good amount of dog and passenger space. You all know where our priorities in life lie.

Bring on the comments - this seems to be a subject that people have strong opinions on. And before you ask, yes, we have considered every other vehicle choice.

One of our friends has asked for a follow-up on our carpet buying adventure. If you remember, we wanted some sort of area rug in our living room and ended up buying from Flor, because it's high quality, environmentally friendly, and very adaptable.


Flor rates each of their carpets for the amount of traffic it can take, and the one we bought was not the highest rated kind. Nevertheless, it's held up very well in the six months since we installed it, with no visible wearing, fading, or fraying at all. The cats pick at it sometimes and that hasn't wrecked it either.

Our carpet is a series of 50 cm by 50 cm squares held together by special stickers that are provided by the company. I pulled back the carpet this morning to check on the stickers, and they are still holding strong.


None of them have come loose on us yet and the entire assembled carpet has stayed intact despite fairly heavy traffic and the occasional dog stampede. For those thinker-aheaders, you can order extra stickers if anything ever comes loose or in case you want to re-arrange the carpet tiles. We did not use up all the stickers that came free with our carpet tiles when we installed it, so we have spares.

I'm happy with it. We are still planning on buying more carpets from Flor for our bedroom, and possibly for Mark's office. Would I recommend it? Yes. If you're planning on buying it, go to the website and get on their mailing list. There are occasional sales and free shipping deals that they put out, so you could save some money that way.

K, end of review.

So it's my birthday tomorrow. Mark is going to make me some Vietnamese spring rolls to take to work tomorrow and share with Nay and Jay, and I think there's a vegan chocolate cake in the works. Chani, who doesn't care that someone else is already making me a cake, is making another. I think they will both be EXCELLENT!

My parents are coming to town too, so we are dragging them car shopping with us. They are bringing sushi for us, even though they don't like it. Isn't that sweet?!

6 comments:

chani said...

would like mark "the cake maker" reid to know that his cake will be left in the dust. i'm sorry it's not a vegan cake julie but eggs are what seperates the professionals from the husbands.

Mark said...

So sexist... just cuz I don't have my own eggs doesn't mean I can't make a decent cake.

Anyways, I'm perfectly content to sit in the dust and eat chocolate cake. Pretty much any venue will do for that ;)

Taras said...

It's repulsive to see you guys buying a new car, but while you are at it, your choices are actually pretty good. Hybrids are generally dumb, as are non-wagons.

On the other hand since you are out in buttfuck-nowhere a hybrid might make sense since they can function as a quiet/efficient generator for your entire house :) But who knows, it is likely your power grid is good enough.

You do realize that the environmental impact of buying a new car is nothing short of massive as opposed to buying a used one :)

Unknown said...

Okay, Kia is not nearly as good of a brand as Mazda, and driving a Mazda3 myself and loving it, I have to go with the Mazda. Kia is made by Suzuki I think, which is...Korea? Dont quote me. But honestly, go with the Mazda. In the chain of command it goes Honda, Toyota, Mazda, Nissan, plus the paint jobs on the Mazdas are very sparkelie! They use glitter paint so your ride is shiny as hell!

Unknown said...

OOOOOKKKKKKAAAAAYYYYYY! Listen up here! DO NOT buy a Kia unless you want it to continue to break down on you from the beginning. I have heard nothing but bad things about Kias. They are poorly built and should not be road worthy. Save yourself the headache and go with the Mazda. I have not heard anything bad about those.

Oh and HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIE! You are now officially old. Welcome to the club!

dennis said...

Listen to those above. DO NOT BUY A KIA!!! As those before me have stated, KIA's are peices of crap. They essentially fall apart as you are leaving the lot (well, may be not quite that bad...). A Mazda would be a better choice. A second hand Honda would be much better. We have had 3 honda's now and have enjoyed all three. Fuel mileage is pretty good also.

Oh, and Happy Birthday from Manitoba! :-)