I picked the wrong line.

I went to Pep Boys to get my tires rotated and the front end aligned. You’re supposed to rotate every 5,000 miles, and I adhere religiously to that, since this car wears out tires long before the warranty expires, I want to make sure I dot every “i” and cross every “t” so that I’ll get a discount on the replacements. As for the alignment… I bought a lifetime one, most people don’t, figuring they won’t have their automobile that long, but I do. And why not get it done while the car is in the shop, it’s always off by a bit. As for buying the tires at Pep Boys, whenever I say this people go wild on me, tell me to go somewhere else.

Now as a result of the internet, tires are essentially the same price everywhere. So it becomes about the service. I originally bought my tires at Globe, on La Cienega, a legendary shop, but it ended up taking all day, never mind not being close if I needed rotation, etc.

So I ended up going to the Discount Tires right around the corner from my house in Santa Monica, I’d drop off the car and wait for the call that it was ready. And then Pep Boys bought Discount Tires (there are multiple chains named Discount Tires, this is the one in Southern California), and I stayed with them, because they honored the lifetime alignment! Now in reality, after a number of years, they wouldn’t honor it, and I had to buy it again, but I wasn’t going to protest that much, you have to pick your battles.

Now of course I could buy my tires at Costco, a seamless experience, BUT THEY DON’T DO ALIGNMENT! Which might warrant barely a shrug from most people, but if you’ve been driving fifty-odd years you or your friends have experienced issues with alignment, wearing tires out, and I don’t want to risk it.

Now of course, I could buy the tires at Costco and get them aligned at Pep Boys, but as I referenced, these tires are warranted at 40,000 miles, and if you get twenty, you’re doing well. These are Michelin Pilot Sports. If you’ve got a performance car, you want a performance tire, and I’m a Michelin man anyway (figuratively, not literally). And since they always give me credit at Pep Boys for the tires that didn’t reach 40,000, I keep buying my tires there.

So I had it all planned out in my brain. I found a window of time within which I could do this. And I drove all the way to Pep Boys and…

Turns out I needed an appointment.

Who knew? This never used to be the case.

This is great for the future, but right now… Turns out appointments are not hard to get, but I’ve got an hellacious schedule, I don’t know when I’ll be able to do it, I was frustrated, however…

Now that I have a Costco credit card, I decided to get gas at the Costco station on the same lot.

Yes, I have a Costco credit card. I couldn’t qualify for years. Even though my credit rating is 800. And after applying a number of times and wasting so much time in the process, I gave up. But back in August, I was at Costco and they had a kiosk, well, really just a table, with banners and other displays, trying to get you to sign up for a Costco credit card.

And if you tried, you got a reward. A hat, a Stanley-style cup or a duffel bag.

But that still wasn’t enough of an enticement. However, I had to go into the store to go to the bathroom and I ultimately got a flu shot, so I had to come back out to get a cart, and there was no one waiting at the table and I asked the girl, and she was a girl, how long this would take.

She said a couple of minutes.

I didn’t believe her, but I decided to take the risk.

Now the good part was that just by scanning my Costco membership card most of the information filled itself out instantly. I still had to answer a few questions, and then I handed the iPad back to her, starting to think about my reward, but in a matter of seconds, she said YOU’RE APPROVED!

I was stunned. What was different today?

But I didn’t want to argue.

And she wanted to give me this slip of paper so I could qualify for the discount that very day, but I didn’t want to waste any more time, it wouldn’t be that much money, and isn’t time money, or so they say? So I took my duffel bag, placed it in a cart and went into the store.

The day after the card arrived in the mail, I filled out the form to lease my new iPhone via Klarna. It wouldn’t take my Amex, but it also wouldn’t take my Costco Visa, which really didn’t add up, I thought it was a glitch. So I went to AI, which of course told me Klarna takes Costco Visa, but after it continued not to, I went back to Google and found out that no, Klarna does not take the Costco credit card. So if you’re depending upon AI…don’t.

I ended up using my debit card for Klarna, since it’s associated with Visa, even though I don’t like to use my debit card for stuff like this, since there are fewer protections, but you can’t win them all.

Now when the Costco credit card finally arrived, I found out that not only did I get 5% back on gas at Costco stations, but 4% at other stations. And there were paybacks for other purchases, like at restaurants, but what is better, Amex points or a 1-3% discount? I don’t know, I figure I’ll just go with the Amex points, to keep it simple, I don’t want to do the math every time I buy gas or go shopping elsewhere.

Now if you’re living in California, you know that gas prices are through the roof. I’m not complaining, it’s a privilege of living here, I’m down with clean air, which is why it’s so expensive, there is extra refining involved (yes, as well as a lot of taxes, save your replies). And my car needs premium gas. This ain’t one of those automobiles where you can use regular and the computer will adjust and you’ll just get a bit less performance, they make a big point in the manual if you don’t use premium, you’ll cook the engine.

In addition, my car has a small tank and gets horrible gas mileage (but like I told you previously, it’s paid for). If I’m in town, stop and go traffic, I’ll get in the 17s. If there’s a decent amount of freeway driving and cruising… Let’s just say I get 20, occasionally more, but not by much. Your jaw might drop, but this is the price you pay for performance.

And I pay the price.

And I’ve learned not to nickel and dime, because there was a robbery in the middle of the day when my friend was filling up at the Shell station on La Cienega. I used to stop in an even worse neighborhood, but not anymore. And especially since I tend to buy gas late at night…I do so in safe neighborhoods.

But I don’t want to be ripped-off.

And driving back from one of my umpteen eye appointments yesterday, I saw the price per gallon at the 76 station was $6.95. But that’s an expensive station. And then my regular Chevron, which is a bit cheaper, last night it was $6.99! I’ll pay the freight, but really, psychologically, I didn’t want to cough up seven bucks a gallon.

But now I was by Costco! With a cheaper price and % back.

So I moseyed my car over near the pumps and…

It was the longest line I’d ever seen.

Now let me see, how many pumps are there? At least twenty, they expanded it only a couple of years back.

But for the first time ever, you couldn’t even get in one of the lines in the main area, no, the line snaked all the way into the parking lot. But I decided to wait, as an experiment, to see how long it actually took.

And I’m thinking how everybody is trying to save money. I did see a couple of German cars, but in truth, if you can afford a truly expensive automobile you don’t want to waste your time to save so little money.

And the line is barely moving and then…

Everybody is waiting to get into the first few lines, no one is going to the lines further down!

So thinking that I’m brilliant, when I finally can, I squeeze my car past those trying to get into the closest lines, and I go to a marginally shorter line further down. I figure this is like parking ramps/structures, makes me crazy how people are always slowing down, trying to get a spot on a lower floor. Especially today, when there are signs telling you how many spots are available above. And they want to make use of every available space in these structures, so there’s no room to pass the person waiting for the shopper walking towards their car… So you wait and wait and finally the person in front of you pulls into the space after the shopper leaves, and you’re so frustrated you mash the gas pedal like you’re at Le Mans and…

I’m feeling satisfied.

But I am not moving.

I accept this, but then time is going by, what is going on?

And then I figure out the system…

At every row of pumps, there is an electronic sign. When I first looked, they were all covered with red X’s. I couldn’t figure out what they meant, did not think they were significant, but then one of the X’s would occasionally turn green, and that’s when I realized these X’s represented available pumps. And the reason everybody was going into the initial lines, the ones I scooted past, feeling victorious, was because those had three pumps a side, and where I was there were only two!

Everything is a learning curve, and then you die.

And I can see way up front, this guy in a black pickup truck, filling his tank, he never seems to move, I mean how much gas is he buying…I guess it’s worth it for him to buy fuel at Costco.

And it’s in the high eighties, so you’ve got to have the engine running with the A/C…in the old days, this would make your car overheat, but mine was fine, however I did burn gas.

Took me over fifteen minutes to reach the pump. But I was doing an experiment, I tried to rationalize it.

And when I got out of the car and stood in front of the pump, I suddenly felt guilty. I didn’t already have my credit card out of my wallet, I was wasting people’s time, I’d be frustrated if I was behind me.

But I insert my Costco credit card, using it for they very first time, and it’s not instant, but it is seamless, and then I go to push the button for premium and I see it’s $6.29 per gallon.

Okay, and then I fill up with 10.28 gallons. So I saved seventy cents per gallon over the normal brand name station (and you can’t risk an independent, odds are they’re not selling Top Tier gas). Okay, that’s seven dollars. But I get an extra 5%. So that’s another three dollars. So I spent the better part of twenty minutes to save ten dollars?

I won’t quite say I felt like an idiot, but I wouldn’t do it again.

Then again, if I’d picked the right line…

Lefsetz testing out the new serpentine belt!

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1773732606988416

Len Carter
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Reminds me of my “leaf blower theory”: 20 years ago, I bought a 6hp Little Wonder leaf blower. Not the big-dog 11hp. Every single time I’m out there, I think to myself: Should have gone for 11. Pay for performance. You’ll never say: “Gosh, I wish this had less power.” 

Mat Orefice
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Yup, it’s hard, but I can throw away food and even worn out clothes!
 
Mitchell Shapiro
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You have a standard transmission?! That’s what I got out of this great story

We rented one in France several years ago (that was all they had at the place we went to ) and my husband and I fought over who could drive it. It was SO fun.. I miss it. Love the clutch, the gear shift. I learned on it. 

Can we all come over and just drive yours around the block? LOL

I do want my kid to know how to drive one. Just because.

Life is short.. drive what you want if you can.

Jean Sievers
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I just had the exact same mechanical issue. Same symptoms. The battery light came on. The power steering was GONE. Temp was crazy high. Turns out I shredded the drive belt. Only in my Porsche it was $2100 (plus a $500 tow). Glad you got off cheap!?
Mark Bast
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Ten years ago we decided to downgrade from BMW’s, which we’d been driving for 15 years.   Why continue to spend all that money?  Went with a Toyota RAV 4 after test driving subarus, hondas etc.    We leased it ( I know I know).

After year one my wife and I agreed when the lease expired we’d go back to BMWs.  We didn’t feel safe at highway speed compared to the BMW, particularly in the rain.   We did…we now own an X3 again.   It’s spendy but for us we feel safer.   Also we have a local garage that has serious BMW repair chops.

When this car wears out we’ll probably test drive some more affordable options.  

Michael Alex
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I didn’t realize we were raised by the same mom, I am almost incapable of throwing out food or not taking it home from a restaurant in a “doggie bag”  for later consumption.

Alan Fenton
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Bob, I’m 81. 20 years ago had a cancer was supposed to kill me and since then I have developed a system of sorts. 

I mainly go for experiences. We’ve traveled to 25 countries in 22 years. If it isn’t fun, I don’t do it. No toxic people. 

But I refuse to live above my means. I did that in my early years and regret it. So I just spend money on things that I like, but I never spent too much. I guess you’d call me cheap. I have 11 guitars because I still play n gig, but half of them are inexpensive things that just play well. Good enough for me. Pretty much everything else I touch is kind of the same way. It works for me, and that’s great. I refuse to overpay, especially for something that is just glittery and impresses other people. That’s meaningless at my age.

I’ve had four BMWs and now I have a Kia. So much cheaper and it’s OK as my driving skills ain’t  what they used to be. At this stage, everything is a workaround. You’ll find out. 
Love your stuff, keep writing. 

Best, 
Rik Shafer

P.S. Might be Waterloo Sunset for your Subaru. 
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As a fellow old I feel your pain. We bought a VW Tiguan this summer in such a base model that you can’t even adjust the speakers front to back. Wtf? 
But, gas mileage is great, its got turbo, and we love it.
Until Monday when an engine light came on. I checked the screen and hit the diagnostic option. Nothing wrong. I called VW and the service boss asked if I had bought gas recently. Huh? I dunno, there’s four of us who drive it. She tells me that if the gas cap isn’t on correctly it sends a message to the computer and an engine light comes on. No, gas cap is seated properly. So i take it in. 
$530 for a new battery. 
But it’s pre-owned certified! Yeah, sorry, batteries aren’t covered. I’ve only had it a month.

Good luck, Bob!
-Rick Saunders
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Throwing away or wasting food is still something I have a real problem with. Growing up, we used to call my father the “human garbage disposal”. After he “cleaned” his plate, he’d check out what was left on our plates – all five of us.??There was also an old family adage that my parents used when we complained about dinner – “They fight for the heel in Sharon”. We didn’t learn until many years later that it referred to relatives in Sharon, MA, probably in the 50s and 60s, who were pretty destitute.??Best,?Tom Quinn
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I always claim that everything in life I need to know I learned from music.

Like Rick Nelson’s “Garden Party:”

“But it’s all right now, I learned my lesson well?You see, ya can’t please everyone, so ya got to please yourself”

Jim Charne
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Love that you used to have an ADS system in your car! I discovered ADS a few years back and have owned a couple pairs….listening to a pair of 780 IIs right now! Unreal sound.??Best??Jason Blynn
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2023 WRX.  Six speed… Did the engine curve upgrade from COBB.  Fantastic stereo… Sunroof but cloth seats… Heated seats, but not electric seats. They know exactly where to put their tech without unnecessary upgrades.   Quad exhaust and CarPlay… I’ll probably have it the rest of my life.  If I’m careful on the highway I can get 30 miles to the gallon but the around town brings that average way down.  

WRXPLOR!  

Matt Peyton
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I had every mercedes from e class to sl class and a bmw 328. inloved the straight 6 in my sl and bmw 328, but the service costs? Mind Blowing.?Switched to a suburu outback in 2021 and loved it. Now that I escaped to Mexico, Im driving a KIA. That Kia is perfect for the cobblestones in the village or the super highway to the beach.?I’m so glad I got the status of MB and BMW out of my system.

Stan Goman
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I do have to remind myself occasionally to just spend the f’ing money… It’s hard after a lifetime of saving and all, but if you have it and can enjoy it and can help others enjoy their time with you, well, just spend the f*cking money…

Steve Funk
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Yes I know the model. Cool car.?Glad to hear you’ve kept it on the road.?Keep on rollin’ Bob??Cheers?Simon Toulson-Clarke
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I have to say I agree with all this. Life is too short not to enjoy your ride! Especially if you enjoy driving, and as long as that car makes you happy. ??I’ve had a lot of American, Japanese, and of late, German cars. I’ve loved most all of them. So your article brought a smile to my face, as I enjoy seeing others enjoy their automobile. I think I got this from my Dad, he was an Oldsmobile man…??As a fellow Angeleno, I also resonated with your words on loving to drive a stick, and the sensibleness of driving automatics in our town. I recently sold my BMW E39 M5 a few years back. Last naturally aspirated V8 with a stick, that BMW made. Less a computer, more an automobile. I bought it after my Mom passed, as I thought, “life is short”. It was great bang for the buck. Had it 11 years where I live in the valley. God that car was fun to drive!??Now I buy the wife and kids the nice rides, and they let me borrow them. ??I’ll see ya on the 405 sometime!??Mark Haney
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Bob, one of your best reads as I’m 67 (today) (Springsteen is 77 today….wouldn’t it neat to meet him on our birthday?)?But I digress. I’ve been in your shoes. Last three cars: 1986 Acura Legend 425,000 miles; 1998 VW Passat 325,000 miles; current car 2017 Audi A4 166,000 miles. ??Good luck…Bill Nietz
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Great stuff, Bob.??Feathering the clutch? When I was a kid,  I worked in the warehouse of a local department store. The warehouse was on the second story. They had a bay door up there. In order for the forklift to reach it, they had to build a little incline on the pavement.??Now the forklift was a standard, so you had to feather the clutch on the incline. I got to be really good at it. There was a pallet load of soda cans that needed to go up. Single layer cases of 24. It was a heavy pallet. No one wanted to do it. I volunteered.??I raised the pallet up as far as the forklift would take it. The load is swaying back and forth a little. There’s also two rows of cases that are over the backstop on the forklift. That’s a no-no. Everyone is watching. I’m feathering the clutch and inching it up the incline. Just as I’m getting ready to tilt the pallet towards the open bay, I popped the clutch. I looked up and saw about 20 cases of soda coming towards me. Luckily the forklift had a cage over me. ??The boss wasn’t that concerned about the soda. It was a generic brand. Mostly just embarrassment for me. I got a little wet too.??Best,?Tom Quinn??ps – The store was Moe Black’s in Waltham, MA. It was at the same time that Aerosmith had there “wherehouse” right around the corner. Some of the guys would come in to buy wax and cleaning supplies for their cars.
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I like this Bob. It gave me a distraction from the details of my every day. Something art does to me. Thank you.

-Dan Gellert
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A great life story.?Very enjoyable and relatable.

Stevaj Varga
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Love this piece!  

Anne Buckley
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Hi Bob!?I don’t know why I enjoy your mundane stories but I do. Must be your a good writer!?Elliot Cohen
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It’s stories like this one that remind me of why I originally subscribed to the Lefsetz Letter. May you always have gas in your tank and still have a long, long way to go. 

Dirk
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Well, that was an engaging story. What a palaver!??Meanwhile, an immature pine cone fell on my windshield last week and destroyed it.  Yes they dent cars, they are like missiles, but my windshield has the satellite and camera etc. and hit the camera bullseye — resulting in a nightmare argument with my insurance co who wanted to install a regular windshield. I won, but watch out for those pine cones!??Lesley Bracker
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Bob, you may already know this but when you mentioned the AAA extra mileage charge, I pay $50 more per year to get One Hundred Miles of towing free, and boy, has that come in handy several times.  I have THREE cars, all 1997’s, all in very good shape with low milage.  I drive each one only about 2,000 miles per year, but still, stuff goes wrong, and that $50 deal has been priceless for me.  Oh, and I also have a 1955 Dodge!

Sterling Howard, founder/owner ?https://www.MusiciansContact.com
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Twilight Zone reference!?! 

It’s one of the episodes I recall the most. It was Burgess Meredith. 

I can picture that final scene. 

Good one. 

Judd Marcello
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Oi vey, Bob, that Letter is a symphony.  (I own a 2004 MINI:  I too know cars of a certain age.)

And I certainly hope you will tell us how the repair turned out.

Great writing and thank you for it!
Chaz Jenkins (Writers’ Workshop, Class of 1979 😉
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You keep referring to yourself as old. I’m 87 and could bore you to death with old man stories. 70’s that’s a dream.?My memory is mostly gone, but I still remember Middlebury.

Barney Adams
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Funny, my iPhone keeps treating this topic as a priority notification from my friend Bob who’s having car trouble. I guess after all of these years, sure, you’re a friend 🙂  Be well!

Jon Gerber
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More enjoyable than “The Odyssey”. 

Dennis Brent
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I truly loved your auto letter!
 Hope you are well my friend .Stay healthy.

much love,
Felix Cavaliere

Ron Alexenburg signed the Jacksons to Epic and more. Here we talk about his fifty year career in the record business.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ron-alexenburg/id1316200737?i=1000791441282

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/69108320-afc4-43bd-b995-d9a26769fb9d/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-ron-alexenburg

$346.78 for two serpentine belts, installed. And with oil service and checkup, a grand total of $439.03.

I haven’t had my car serviced in one day…IN MEMORY! Guess it was worth it waking up at ten to seven. They got right on it.

But I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t anxious right now. This is the bad side effect of the growing old experience, you’ve experienced too many f*ck-ups. I can’t tell you how many times I had to bring my car back to the BMW dealer for service, they could never get it right.

AND THEY KNEW HOW TO CHARGE! The above total wouldn’t even cover a minor checkup on a BMW, never mind parts and further labor.

That’s an advantage of having a cheaper car. They know they can only charge you so much. Feels good.

So I’m kinda numb. I really wasn’t expecting it to be ready today, I heard nothing until after four p.m., I figured it would take a day to get the parts.

And Betsy was going in that direction, so she gave me a ride.

And I got behind the wheel and I was exactly where I was yesterday, at 8:20 PM, before this adventure began. It’s almost like it never happened, but not really.

MY CAR

I could not afford another BMW, but after driving the so-called “Ultimate Driving Machine,” I couldn’t just buy a Camry or another car that was good transportation, but was more of a boulevard cruiser. You can’t go backward in handling/performance. Just like with car stereo.

So I kept reading about this rally car the Subaru WRX. It was featured in videogames and it was turbocharged and I figured that would satisfy my performance requirements, so I went to the Subaru dealer in Santa Monica for a test drive.

Now for those in the know, you know that the parent company of Subaru was Fuji Heavy Industries, at least until 2017, when they changed the moniker to Subaru Corporation. And as the salesman is walking me by a sign in the showroom designating this, he pointed it out, and he said it stood for “F*cking Unbelievable Japanese Import.” Kinda weirded me out, I felt like we were not on the same page, the only thing that would convince me was driving the damn thing.

Which I did. Even took it on the freeway. And the performance was fantastic, but the ride was so STIFF! I realized I couldn’t buy this car.

So what were my options… Well, there was this Acura, but it was front wheel drive and for performance you want rear wheel drive, or four wheel drive, as the WRX is.

And Subaru’s four wheel drive is not like all of its competitors. It doesn’t only kick in when you need it, it’s full-time. And the end result of this is fuel economy SUCKS!

Now they finally had to address this, they were one of the first companies to employ a CVT transmission. Which have been refined at this point, but for a number of years they were known for failures and odd driving characteristics, although they do render better gas mileage.

But I was going to get a stick anyway. I mean how can you buy a performance car with an automatic transmission?

Now at this point, automatic transmissions are even quicker than sticks. You only buy a stick if you want to row through the gears old-style. It might be considered fun, but there is no performance advantage. And my next car, whatever it is, I’m going to get an automatic. For no other reason than the stop and go traffic in L.A. Hell, when I valet my car (something that is required in L.A., don’t think that this is exotic if you live elsewhere), I have to consider whether any of these drivers even know how to drive a manual!

Now it turned out that Saab offered the same car, in a gussied-up fashion, and I could get $9500 off, even cheaper than the WRX, because there was an industry wide recession and Saab couldn’t sell them.

The Saab version of the WRX is called the 9-2x. And it came in two iterations, the Linear and Aero, the Aero being the turbocharged version.

And the interior was a bit more luxurious and the suspension was softer than the WRX (akin to a BMW), and it had the steering of the STI, you know, the Subaru with the wing.

So I bought it. What were my options?

And I was unhappy. I mean after driving a BMW…

You get what you pay for. And this Saabaru is noisy and has almost no electronics.

Yup, that’s what they call it, a Saabaru. You see GM owned Saab as well as a portion of Fuji/Subaru, and in all its wisdom GM thought since Saab didn’t have a four wheel drive automobile, this would solve the problem.

Only it didn’t, because it was way overpriced.

But with my discount…

And they only made it for two years, GM was in financial trouble and it sold its Fuji/Subaru interest. And then they closed Saab down, along with Oldsmobile and Pontiac and those with Saabs were now SOL, but not me, because my car is really a Subaru! After the warranty ran out, I started going to the Subaru dealership for service, almost all of the parts are identical (however the hood is unique and there are no more left so if the hood needs to be replaced, they total the car).

And I tried living with the factory stereo for a few weeks, but that wouldn’t do after my ADS system in my old car. So I ended up with top of the line Focals in every speaker hole and an AVI subwoofer and a JL five-way amplifier and an Alpine head unit. I’d be stunned if your stereo sounds better (and it would cost so much to replace in today’s dollars).

Now with four wheel drive, I found the 9-2x twitchy. Just move the steering wheel a tiny bit and…it required full time attention. And there was so much power, the car jumped. Today you can get this performance more broadly, but back in 2005, this was a cut above.

And people knew it. Those who knew the WRX. Which was nobody I knew, but twentysomethings. They call them “Rice Rockets,” kids customize them and race them and there used to be a competing car, the Mitsubishi Evo, which some people said was even a bit better, but I’m not buying a Mitsubishi, I mean look at the repair records, never mind the lack of dealerships.

So over time, I got into my car. Because the performance was so good. Especially in the hills, the curves of Los Angeles. And just the other day I was getting on the freeway and a Tesla jetted ahead of me, thinking I was a slowpoke, and I floored it and got ahead of him, not that I usually do this, but this guy had been tailgating me for a while.

So do I love my car?

Not really. But I rationalize it because the performance is so good. And it’s a baby station wagon, which makes hauling stuff easy. AND IT’S PAID FOR! With a lower registration fee and a lower insurance rate (but not that low, because insurers know what this car really is, and they know the kind of person who owns one is going to be pushing it, testing the limits).

And now it’s twenty one years later.

CONCLUSION

I still can’t spend any money, even though I have some right now. I waited until seventy to take social security…but my main goal is not maximizing my assets, just making sure I don’t run out. Because then what am I gonna do, who is gonna take care of me, I guess I’d kill myself.

Assuming I live that long.

And how long am I gonna live? My father died at seventy, and I’m already past that. My mother lived just shy of ninety four, but she was losing it the last few years. So should I go for the gusto now?

It’s so hard for me to do. I’m always saving. I bought this gazpacho at Gelson’s, it’s really good, chunky. And I saved it to savor it, and it turned and became sour and inedible!

Such that when I was eating some sashimi the other day, I told myself not to save any, to eat it all now, because it would definitely be worse tomorrow, and after that?

I’m getting to the point where I can throw food out, but it’s still hard.

But there are things I spend on. Like ski equipment, whatever it costs, I am not looking for a deal, I’m looking for the ultimate performance, and I can tell the difference.

And health care, I mean if you’re not alive, what difference does it make how much money you’ve got.

And my car. It may not look so great from the outside, I will never buy a black car again, although Saab/Subaru never provided a good paint job to begin with. But the performance, I don’t let anything slide, I like it to be in tip-top shape.

Now when I was debating all that money to upgrade the stereo in that last BMW, I felt the shrink I was seeing would judge me for the expenditure, I mean who else would spend thousands on a state of the art car stereo? Nobody I knew, I figured he’d come down on me harshly. But what he said was “Driving around in your car listening to music is what you love to do most!” And I popped for the equipment, and I was thrilled thereafter.

You’ve got to spend where it’s important to you. There’s satisfaction in that, if you’re always worrying, cutting back, that’s not really living.

Assuming you’ve got the money, which I did not for longer than I wish to admit.

And you don’t want to be cheap. Split the bill equally, even if they got drinks and you did not, unless they offer to pay the difference.

Tip 20%, or more.

Nickel and diming does not pay in the end, the joke is on you, all that effort for what is ultimately meaningless.

So I paid the freight on my car. I probably could have gotten it done cheaper at an independent, but they see this car every day at the dealership, at least the Subaru WRX version.

And the funny thing is I’ll get all kinds of hate mail disagreeing with me, contradicting some of the stuff above. But I’ve lived long enough to know you really only have to answer to yourself. If they’re happy, fine, but I’m not gonna change my life and style to comport with their wishes, only my own.

Onward and upward!