A lot has happened in the month since I updated. I’m hoping to write a few short posts to summarize all of the important things, but then again, I’ve been hoping to write this post for nearly a month as it is, so I wouldn’t take that as a promise.

As most of you know, I decided to buy a new car while I was in Perth. It was a cute little Honda Jazz named Ribena who lasted a very long time–and by that I mean a grand total of 2 days–before someone on the Mitchell Freeway decided to see what a Ribena sandwich would look like. It turns out, it didn’t look pretty and the result caused me months of pain and spurred a move to Brisbane. At least I can’t complain about the latter!

Anyway, after a lot of thought and research, I decided that I was willing to risk buying another car. However, I thought it a bit too risky to go for another new car–those just seem to come with a big “kick me” sign on the back–so used it was. James and I went looking one Saturday in Moorooka, which is known as the “Magic Mile” because of the number of car dealerships that line the roads there. We spent hours wandering through the various car lots, dodging used car salesmen, trying to find anything that looked of any worth that was in my price range.

Of course, we managed to find something after we decided that we would only visit one more lot. In fact, there were two cars that caught my eye, and they were two of the same model that I hadn’t even considered because I thought they were way too far out of my price range–the Subaru Impreza. One was a silver 2007 sedan, and the other was a red 2007 (but 2008 make year) hatchback. I test drove both of them and was very happy, but the newer model definitely felt better and had a number of other advantages.

As you may have guessed from the photos (which are poor because I haven’t managed to park the car in a good spot for photo taking yet), I eventually decided to go for the latter. I have to say that I’m much happier with it than I was with Ribena for the few days I had her. For one thing, I can actually drive to work here–and even park in a free parking space at the moment–so my commute time has been cut from 40+ minutes each way to about 15. For another, I know that the Impreza is a much better car, and it has a 5-star safety rating so hopefully my back and neck would make it in a slightly better state if another person decides to inspect the contents of my boot!

The only downside of the car so far is the fact that it’s next to impossible to park near my house when I come home from work. Half the time all of our off-street parking is taken, which means I am left to park on the street that is completely clogged by commuters that drive to the train station. I don’t really mind parking on the street (when I find a spot)–or at least, I didn’t until this morning. What awaited me when I walked out to my car was an interesting sight, to say the least. For some reason, someone had walked around to the driver’s side (so closest to the road rather than to the sidewalk), poured coffee on my roof, and then left the empty disposable coffee cup in the middle of it. Who does that?! And who does that when there is an empty rubbish bin on the curb right next to the car?