Hate trying to buy a car

OK, so this is my personal rant and rave page.  And I want to rant and rave about the process of buying a car.   Grrrrrr..........

Why do dealers make it so difficult to get a price.   Don't they know what they paid for the car, how much of a profit they need to make to keep the doors open?    But I keep hearing stuff like, well there are a lot of variables we need to consider.   All I want is to get a price, even if it's not the final price, just a price so I know whether or not it's worth my time to drive 75 miles or more to sit in a dealership while they play the 'waiting' game to see if I'm really serious.   I mean really, how difficult is it?   

Why am I ranting today, well, gee, let me see.   My car is 12 years old, has over 142,000 miles on it, and is getting tired.   I still love the car, but can see the reality that maybe it might start costing me money just to keep it on the road.   And I really don't want to get stranded in one of the forests in our area cause it suddenly decides that it has given its all for me.    

Sorry I got sidetracked there.    Let me get back on the road, as it were.    I called a few dealerships yesterday, told them I was looking for a specific vehicle, and wanted to know what kinds of specials they were offering on it.   I thought that was a fair question.    I did mention to one dealer the 'online' special that was being offered by the manufacturer.   Told them I understood that there were other factors involved, but wanted to get an idea of what they would charge.  So far, we've talked 4 times, and I still don't have a price.   I get the ' What do you want to pay?"  " Are you going to put money down?"  which I had already said I would.   Are they not listening because I'm a woman?  Or is this just a big game to them?   They have the vehicle, they hold the cards and I'm the supplicant who's asking pretty please may I have a price.   Just too frustrating for words.   Now, I'm going to go with some more dealers and see if any of them return calls.  

I'll update this later on, but for now, picture this.   I'm standing on my best cookpot and beating the sales people over the head with whisk or should that be a meat tenderizer, hmmmm......  

Kinda sad today...

Actually I was kinda sad the past few days.    I resigned/quit/gave up my volunteer cooking gig at the senior center here, and last week was my last lunch there.    And I'm going to miss it.  Really, but at the same time I'm relieved.   So I guess I'm torn up between being sad and relieved. 

No more menu planning, no more shopping, no more cooking, and that is something I really enjoyed doing.   I loved the camaraderie of the volunteers, we had some good times, a lot of laughs, a couple of tears, some oops in the kitchen, and I'm thinking of the scorched sauces mostly, but nothing that was catastrophic in nature.   Our meals were served on time, mostly.   We did get a couple of delays, but really, we did good.  

The other volunteers were awesome as well.   I want to give a shout out to Don, who came in pretty much every week, and helped us out.   He's 87 I believe, and has a bad back, but shows up with laughter in his heart.   And then there is Wally, who also showed up most weeks, and also has a bad back, but did his part in the prep work.   Ginnie, who showed a real aptitude for doing whatever we asked of her.   Miss Dot, who made some awesome deviled eggs, several dozen a week, and brought them.  Miss Merle, who is legendary around here for her baking prowess.   Miss Reba who came and helped out a few times.   And Sarge, who taught me so much before he had to leave.   And we had our share of snowbird volunteers, Janey,  who fell to with a will, Miss Pat, who came in early and stayed late.   All the great people who stepped up to serve the food to the seniors, and finally, my fellow cook, Robin.   She also taught me an incredible amount.  We had more laughs, and she was one of the main reasons I looked forward to going in every week.  

Thank you to all of you, and I appreciate your kindness in letting me come in and cook alongside you all.