Brain Fertilizer

We are now (sort of) moved into our new home (no furniture).
But we do have internet access, so that's a good thing.

We purchased a 2002 Ford Explorer XLS for $5500 out the door. It has come in handy...but man, I wince every time I look at the gas gauge. Then again, there are plenty of Durangos and Suburbans and Excursions and Expeditions out there in addition to plenty of other Explorers. If they can deal with it, so can I. And heck, the Explorer really is the 00's version of the 70s Ford LTD station wagon we had when I was a kid. Which is why we bought it: we want to go camping with a pop-up trailer next summer.

The house is a mini Money Pit. It looked nice when all I was looking at was size, room layout, overall condition. After moving in, there are various assorted leaks and badly-done caulk jobs. They threw a cheap coat of paint and cheap carpet on top of everything, and that made it look "clean". And we got it for cheap...$82k for 1600 square feet ain't bad. But I'm going to have to spend another $2-3k just fixing their badly-done jobs, if I want to do it right (to include getting all new doors for every room). I don't think my wife will okay that budget expense right now, though...keeping the old place in Hawaii, buying more furniture to fill up a bigger house, and the down payment for the new place have all depleted our savings significantly.