To answer the "Why the Jeep" question.......

While I was very happy to be able to replace the Toyota, although I loved it..... and be able to have a car again..... I felt that no one shared in my joy, but instead seemed a bit put-off by the transaction. After listening to comments over the last month, and feeling awkward about people's reactions, I feel an urging to give some reasons, not that I need to do that at my age, but will for those outside of my world who don't understand the choice, maybe this will help......

1.) THE LONGING: I am 34 and have never had a car that wasn't either given or sold to me at a drastically discounted rate from my Mom (God bless her), or found "what a deal" as long as you don't care what it looks like from my Dad (the Delta 88).... Again, greatly appreciated that help and those opportunities, and am very grateful to have had great cars that I could not have otherwise afforded... but now I am 34 and simply picked out a car I wanted...... for the first time in my life. And although she is 5 years old, she looks and feels like a new car to me, and that makes me feel great!

1.) THE MATH: This may not make any sense to anyone else, but the car payment (especially one that doesn't start for 90 days) is a lot cheaper than a new engine. Simple math..... if I had $2000 just lying around for an engine this wouldn't be an issue, but I don't. Additionally, why not sell the Toyota while its still worth something. The blue book on the Toyota (running, of course) is a ridiculous amount, so why not sell it before the mileage gets out of control and the rust takes over the wheel wells.... Sure I could have driven it until it fell apart, (which I DID but this still doesn't make sense to some). But then I get nothing back. Sure, no car payment in that time, but also nothing to start with once it dies either. My payment hasn't increased from car to car, and I stand to make a few thousand this way.... seems silly to do anything else.

2.) THE ALTERNATIVE: Here is an excerpt from an article in the Chicago Tribune..... I am not a brat, and I am not lazy... that is not why I went out and replaced my transportation so quickly. But this would be my CTA stop, twice a day, everyday.....

By Robert Mitchum Tribune reporter
May 23, 2008

Francis Oduro came to the United States to follow in his father's footsteps and take advantage of the country's educational opportunities to study engineering.Oduro, 22, liked living in Chicago. But he was horrified by the violence he would see every night on the news, including gunplay that was unheard of in his native Ghana, his family said.

On Wednesday night, Oduro became a victim of that same violence, gunned down along the 4500 block of North Broadway as he walked to a CTA train stop from Truman College, where he had been taking classes for more than a year. Another man, a suspected gang member who police said may have been the target of the shooting, was critically injured. Early Thursday morning, officers showed up at Oduro's home bearing the grim news that the young man had died in the crossfire. About 9:15 p.m., Oduro was walking the same direction as another man down Broadway when an unknown offender between the ages of 18 and 20 opened fire, police said.

The other shooting victim was taken in critical condition to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, while Oduro was pronounced dead at the scene. Police were examining surveillance video Thursday for evidence, but no one had yet been taken into custody, spokeswoman Monique Bond said. The news left Oduro's family to grapple with the thought that their promising young relative may have merely been caught in the middle of the violence that he so feared.
Tribune staff reporter Angela Rozas contributed to this report.

Had I known I would not have a car I would have chosen a different place to live. That's just the way it works in Chicago. I simply did what I had to do, and what I wanted to do, and there is nothing wrong with that.

That's all I have to say about that.....

-Cyn