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Maxwell 47: Vestigial Tales of the Messy Towel Drawer


Coconut Flan

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19 hours ago, theologygeek said:

I was thinking the same thing.  I really hope it was just a matter of her not wanting a car until now, and not a matter of her not being able to afford one.  The girls should have been paid a fair wage when they did the conferences.  They were working too.  

While there may definitely be a pay inequity, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say she probably held off because she neither wanted nor needed a car of her own. The Maxes have mentioned how even the boys didn't learn to drive until they felt they had to (I'm pretty sure it was about learning, as well as having their own cars) so it doesn't seem like this was a big family priority. Since no one works outside of the home and all errands and excursions are group affairs, I'd imagine there was always a car available if Sarah needed one. And while I doubt at this stage in her life, she'll ever break free of the restrictions that have been place on her, because of her upbringing and the beliefs she holds as a result, she may be looking for a bit more freedom, hence the desire for her own car.

My first new car was a red AMC Hornet Sportabout wagon. While it was definitely a somewhat unusual choice for an early 20-something, it was practical and I loved it, but let's just say there's a reason why AMC went belly up. First, whenever it rained, the steering column would lock, which was just a tad dangerous while you were driving and second, the starter was shit and I had to travel with a rubber mallet because in order to get the engine to turn over, I had to use it smack the solenoid. Fun times, especially when you're traveling alone cross country. I have not owned a red car since.

ETA: My daughter is about to turn 31 and not only does she not drive or have a car, she doesn't have a license either (and we're all better off—trust me ?). Honestly, she doesn't need to drive. She lives in Brooklyn, works mainly from home, uses public trans (she's a human subway map) or car services, and on those occasions when she takes car trips with friends, she pays a little more to offset her inability to share in the driving. At this point, I can't ever see her needing or wanting to drive, since she's a city girl through and through. Although you never know. A friend of mine who grew up in NYC didn't learn to drive until she was 40 and moved to New Jersey.

Edited by sparkles
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1 hour ago, DonutWench said:

'm 49, and I have never owned a car in my life. I've never wanted one, so I've always made sure I live in a place where I don't need it. I hate driving anyway, so I use public transport, walk or go by bike. Makes for a much better ecological footprint, too.

Living where I do, and I suspect where they do, a car is a necessity--not a nice option. There is absolutely no public transportation where I live. My kids worked and got cars at 16 to have a life, not a fun ride. It would be nice if rural areas had even minimal public transportation but it is simply not part of the culture let alone practical. Everyone can't move to a city like NY or Portland. We have jobs in rural areas, family etc.

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9 hours ago, theologygeek said:

I had this bookmarked because I bought a yellow sports car last year.  It's pretty funny when you read what having a red car means and then compare that to Sarah.  It's what your car color says about you.  https://www.today.com/home/blue-red-or-silver-find-out-what-your-car-color-t81381  

Well I'm happy with my silver car :D 

And since it's not in the list I figure hot pink means "do your own thing and defy expectations" or "my parents bought me a girly car".

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I admit I am a conspiracy theorist.  Sarah has not been blogging as much lately. For the last 20 years she has been fi e with sharing a car with Terry and Steve.  Suddenly she buys a car. I can't hope but hope something is happening that is keeping her busy and means she will soon no longer have access to her parents car? Maybe a courtship is in the works.  

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@sparkles,  we had a AMC Hornet at one point that my brother had in vet school and we drove back on forth on our frequent trips home.  We had less mechanical issues with out Hornet.  What I remember best is that it didn't have AC, but damn it had a good heater.  If you were in the car and it was below freezing, you'd need to wear sandals as that damn heater would blast your feet.  

I didn't learn to drive till I was 35 and I've never looked back. I've even been to motocross school.   If I lived in NYC,  I would never have learned though and I would have happily depended on public transport.

My current car is a British Racing Green 2003 MINI Cooper with a Irish flag decal on the roof which I bought used.  I think what color of car you end up with has less to do with your personality and more to do with what's on the car lot.  If you buy new or order your car which is or has been popular with MINI folk,  you have more choice, but if you buy new then you may have less choice.  I wanted a MINI and mine came Carmax Atlanta and was originally came from Hank Aaron MINI in Atlanta.  British Racing Green is a "traditional" color for MINIs and Minis all the way back to the Austen days in the Sixties.  but having a BRG Mini doesn't make you traditional in any way.  My oldest daughter and her husband did have a white Prius, but when it got totaled on New Year's Day when Jeremy unavoidably ran smack into a huge oak that fell in the road, the replacement Prius was black.  They knew that they wanted a Prius and Carmax had a black one.  They're not complaining; if the tree had fallen a few seconds later it almost certainly would have killed Jeremy.  A friend and neighbor in the MINI club had a liquid yellow MINI named Tweety and she is Tweety'sMom.

My dream car is a late 40s MG-TC roadster, red, of course.  

 

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@PennySycamore about how car colors are dependent on what’s in the lot: exactly! When I bought my car 6 years ago I did a ton of research and asked around a lot and decided on a Toyota Corolla. Then the car place I chose to go to had very similar ones in either silver or mustard yellow-brown. There honestly wasn’t any real difference between them except the color and the price, and I chose the silver, even paying the extra few thousand, because the other color was so ugly and reminded me of dog sick and my grandparents living room. I ended up putting bumper stickers on it because without them I’d have no chance in heck of ever finding my car in a lot, it’s so common. Even then there are times when I’ve forgotten and had to search a parking lot for a good while. (When I use my handicapped placard to park it has the added advantage of enabling me to find my car quickly.)

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My friend’s father is a private investigator. He gets a new (used) car every few years so he can blend in with other cars. A few years back he was driving me back to a train station he had a white car. Their were a ton of white cars in the parking lot it took him a few minutes to find his car. 

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14 hours ago, Queen Of Hearts said:

I admit I am a conspiracy theorist.  Sarah has not been blogging as much lately. For the last 20 years she has been fi e with sharing a car with Terry and Steve.  Suddenly she buys a car. I can't hope but hope something is happening that is keeping her busy and means she will soon no longer have access to her parents car? Maybe a courtship is in the works.  

Why do I hope it's the concussion doctor? LOL! I so hope this is true, but she could be going to help Grandma every day or something like that too. But a courtship would be wonderful. I'm not holding my breath though.

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14 hours ago, PennySycamore said:

 I think what color of car you end up with has less to do with your personality and more to do with what's on the car lot.  

I think that's somewhat true! The purple car I had, I specifically went to get THAT car, and it's the only car I've ever bought new. The bright blue one? That's what they had. The black one? Same. 

For me, if the only options were white, silver, and beige/champagne - I'd look elsewhere. I'd never find my car! I've had a silver car, and the "spare" is champagne, but I much prefer black or a color for myself. 

If I ended up with a white or silver car I'd be printing a partial wrap for it. 

My dream car right now is 2000's Mustang (the new ones are nice too though) - preferably black with matte white racing stripes. If I was to buy a car right now though? I'd probably get a used Prius. 

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I bought my first care when I was in my late 20s, it was used and I bought it from a friend. I didn't particularly want it, but my boss told me if I wanted to continue to work for him, I needed to buy a car so I could go to meetings that everyone else was driving too as well. Whatever. It did make my life a lot easier but it is an additional expense. That car was blue. Then I bought a green Forester and had many, many, many times where I walked to the wrong same year same color Forester at the grocery store. 

Now i have a silver car because it was what was available and I needed a vehicle due to the other one no longer running. I hope that I managed to trade this one in before it dies, but cars are so stupid expensive between insurance, payments, and maintenance that I just think it makes more sense to just run it as long as possible if it's paid off. 

I wish they made cars in colors other than white (least favorite), black, green, blue and silver. I guess there are some oranges and red, but it seems like everyone is really into various shades of white/beige/black right now. If not for taxis, I'd probably pick yellow. 

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26 minutes ago, Maggie Mae said:

I wish they made cars in colors other than white (least favorite), black, green, blue and silver. I guess there are some oranges and red, but it seems like everyone is really into various shades of white/beige/black right now. If not for taxis, I'd probably pick yellow. 

I've been seeing lots of brand-new metallic brown cars around lately. Like milk chocolate brown but metallic.

I'm really not sure what I think of them, but I know it's not a color I'd choose.

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On 4/27/2021 at 1:42 AM, Caroline said:

I'm going to be 63 next month.  In the last year I've been thinking a lot about what I've accomplished in my life and how much time I have left to do more.  I know this is normal at my age, but it definitely makes me appreciate the freedom I've had in my life to get a good education, travel extensively, have a career I enjoy, marry whom I wanted, raise a child to be who she wants and needs to be, and many other things that have enriched my life.   Getting a new car when you're a young person just starting your life is a milestone.  I was 23 when I was able to buy my first car and when I was 34 I bought my first home after I had paid off all of my student loans.  I married soon after and together we bought another home a few years later. (I know that I did all those things wrong because I have had several car loans and a mortgage.)

   I'm sure that when I'm at the end of my life I'll still have regrets about things I didn't do.  I hope that Sarah doesn't have even bigger regrets because she has been denied so many of the experiences that give ordinary people in society confidence and pleasure.    Her parents are the antithesis of the kind of parents my husband and I are.  Life is short, and even Steve doesn't REALLY know where he's going when he dies.  

I don’t believe sarah will have many regrets because I don’t think she’s aware of what their is too regret!
 

I regret not going on a long planned vacation 2 years ago -  a trip that I’ve wanted to do for a long time, a couple of things came up and I decided to move it to 2020 because it would be easier - of course I regret that heavily now! Think I’ll be lucky if it happens NEXT year....

I’m not saying the Maxwell daughters are dumb or stupid or anything like that - but I think they likely lack awareness of the world. They live in a bubble. They don’t watch Tv, they don’t hear the radio or the news. Is Sarah even aware that there is a great big world out there to explore? Does she know that actually there are plenty more single women on their thirties who love to go on last minute weekend trips and just rent a cabin with their friends and chill? I doubt she’s even aware of just how much wonderful cuisine there is to try. 
 

The Maxwell girls are in a complete bubble. I’m sure in their minds it’s a happy place. It’s nice to be under a rock and completely oblivious to life. They can’t regret what they don’t know.

 

 

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You know what color of car hides the dirt the best? That beige gold color. I swear they never look dirty even when they are! I would never have a white or black car because they both show dirt. 

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13 minutes ago, allyisyourpally5 said:

I don’t believe sarah will have many regrets because I don’t think she’s aware of what their is too regret!
 

I regret not going on a long planned vacation 2 years ago -  a trip that I’ve wanted to do for a long time, a couple of things came up and I decided to move it to 2020 because it would be easier - of course I regret that heavily now! Think I’ll be lucky if it happens NEXT year....

I’m not saying the Maxwell daughters are dumb or stupid or anything like that - but I think they likely lack awareness of the world. They live in a bubble. They don’t watch Tv, they don’t hear the radio or the news. Is Sarah even aware that there is a great big world out there to explore? Does she know that actually there are plenty more single women on their thirties who love to go on last minute weekend trips and just rent a cabin with their friends and chill? I doubt she’s even aware of just how much wonderful cuisine there is to try. 
 

The Maxwell girls are in a complete bubble. I’m sure in their minds it’s a happy place. It’s nice to be under a rock and completely oblivious to life. They can’t regret what they don’t know.

 

 

Since they are effectively stuck in their current situation, it’s probably better/kinder that they are naive to all that they are missing.

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I think Sarah is somewhat aware. There are several women she met at conferences that she has remained friends with, with five children at this point. She’s flown to help them while they are heavily pregnant. Not to mention now seeing her younger brothers all launch. 

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11 minutes ago, fundiewatch said:

I think Sarah is somewhat aware. There are several women she met at conferences that she has remained friends with, with five children at this point. She’s flown to help them while they are heavily pregnant. Not to mention now seeing her younger brothers all launch. 

Just what her brothers have is enough to make her wonder "what if." And she does go to the grocery store, the doctor's office, church, even at the nursing home she was surrounded by patients/staff who'd led full lives. No matter how raised in fear, she sees others and has to think "If only..." She's held all those nieces and nephews, been the bridesmaid a hundred times. It has to hurt.

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All this talk of car colors reminds of this poem written about the same time when Henry Ford quipped that you could get a Model T (or A) in any color as one as it was black.  

Taxis

Ho, for taxis green or blue,

 Hi, for taxis red.

They roll along the Avenue

 Like spools of colored thread.

   Jack o'Lantern yellow,

   Orange as the moon,

   Greener than the greenest grass

   Ever grew in June.

   Gayly striped or checked in squares 

   Wheels that twinkle bright,

   Don't you think that taxis make 

   A very pleasant sight?

   Taxis shiny in the rain

   Scudding through the snow

   Taxis  flashing back the sun

   Waiting in a row

Ho, for taxis red and green,

 Hi, for taxis blue,

I wouldn't be a private car

 In sober black, would you?

                                                           Rachel Field

 

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21 hours ago, CyborgKin said:

Well I'm happy with my silver car :D 

And since it's not in the list I figure hot pink means "do your own thing and defy expectations" or "my parents bought me a girly car".

It means "I sell Mary Kay Cosmetics"

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5 minutes ago, PennySycamore said:

All this talk of car colors reminds of this poem written about the same time when Henry Ford quipped that you could get a Model T (or A) in any color as one as it was black.  

Taxis

Ho, for taxis green or blue,

 Hi, for taxis red.

They roll along the Avenue

 Like spools of colored thread.

   Jack o'Lantern yellow,

   Orange as the moon,

   Greener than the greenest grass

   Ever grew in June.

   Gayly striped or checked in squares 

   Wheels that twinkle bright,

   Don't you think that taxis make 

   A very pleasant sight?

   Taxis shiny in the rain

   Scudding through the snow

   Taxis  flashing back the sun

   Waiting in a row

Ho, for taxis red and green,

 Hi, for taxis blue,

I wouldn't be a private car

 In sober black, would you?

                                                           Rachel Field

 

Love that! And .... a few -- no, a LOT OF -- years ago, the company i worked for was retooling their motor pool and going from drab blue cars to white.  I did some research and at the time the common wisdom was that white would show dirt more easily, and that a white car was less visible during snow, which decreased their safety.

It also turned out that about that time people realized that the color red really does register as black initially, and that yellow is the most eye-catching color, so many firefighting vehicles were produced in high-visibility yellow and not red.  As I said, this was about 30 years ago.  The fire engines in our local house are red and many ambulances are mostly white.

And my current ride is grey with a pretty purple undertone ONLY because I panicked and bought the first one they showed me.  Not sure to this day why I was in such a rush.  My first car was a little red job and I thought my previous car -- a little red job -- would be my last. And then ole purply-grey came on the market, and ... there went my "circle of life" car story to tell.  Although I can always trade Big Grey in on a little red job anytime I feel like incurring more debt, right? LOL

 

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And what Sarah's purchase of a sporty 2-door coupe rather than a sedan says to me is, "I have no fantasy about ever needing to fill the back seat with  child car seats."

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1 hour ago, Black Aliss said:

And what Sarah's purchase of a sporty 2-door coupe rather than a sedan says to me is, "I have no fantasy about ever needing to fill the back seat with  child car seats."

And I hope Sarah is really at peace with that realization.  I think my youngest daughter who turned 30 earlier this year does not particularly want kids.  She is fine being an aunt to her sisters' kids.  

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3 hours ago, Black Aliss said:

And what Sarah's purchase of a sporty 2-door coupe rather than a sedan says to me is, "I have no fantasy about ever needing to fill the back seat with  child car seats."

Lol. I'm sure she knows she can trade it! LOL Maybe this way she's hoping a two-door will mean she gets engaged and needs a Suburban!

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3 hours ago, Black Aliss said:

And what Sarah's purchase of a sporty 2-door coupe rather than a sedan says to me is, "I have no fantasy about ever needing to fill the back seat with  child car seats."

I think the car is a four door. Regardless, it doesn't look like she bought it with the intention to haul around nieces and nephews, either. Good for her. 

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4 hours ago, Black Aliss said:

And what Sarah's purchase of a sporty 2-door coupe rather than a sedan says to me is, "I have no fantasy about ever needing to fill the back seat with  child car seats."

Hate to burst your bubble, but it's definitely a 4-door. You can just barely see the door handle for the back door in the picture.

2-doors look sporty but they're a pain in the butt. My first car was a 2-door and it was all the time shutting on people's legs (and heads!) because those doors were heavy and had a mind of their own. They were also huge so I couldn't park in tight parking spaces unless I felt like climbing out the window a la Dukes of Hazzard.

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