Ding Dong the Van is Dead

Yea! The big green van is officially gone! We sold it!!!! Somebody actually gave us money for it. I was a bit chagrined at the calls we got about it.

Darling Man worked really hard detailing the van. It sparkled. We came to realize that in the two plus years we've had it, we never washed it. Never. N-E-V-E-R. He was even able to get the petrified happy meal smell out of it.

The first call we got was from some guy who was wanting to buy it "for a bunch of nuns in Alice, TX." Seriously, this is what he said. Of course, Darling Man was very suspicious. I didn't care....as long as the nun's had dollars and not pesos, I could make a deal! The potential buyer asked me to take the van to his mechanic (way on the South side of town). So naturally, wanting to get rid of the beast, I obliged.

At the mechanic's shop, I thought I'd try to get the sliding door to shut just a little better. Remember, the door had a fear of latching. Anyway, I gave it a good slam and push, and then I couldn't get it to open again. Great. We brought it twenty miles from home to have the door jam on me. Agghhhhh!!!! After almost pulling my back out trying to open it, I was ready for my usual Diet Coke, so, "whatever" and I climbed into our lovely, 21st century, Japanese minivan with dual sliding doors, where my mom was waiting to take me back home. Needless to say, the man who was supposedly buying this for the nuns backed out because it was running rough. Yea? What do you expect for a twelve year old van that's been through four kids who jam french fries into the air vents?

Thankfully, we had a few more calls. On Sunday, we showed it to a man who brought two friends with him. They checked the engine, which any wise buyer would do, but I thought I was seeing things when I could have sworn one of the men TASTED the transmission fluid. What....?????? Yes. He did. I don't know if he was trying to intimidate us with his immense knowledge of the many types of vehicle fluids, or what, but when he offered us $800 for the van, I almost made him eat the dip stick. He actually whined about "gee, I really need a van, but all I can do is $800." Darling Man was so nice. He explained that that was just way to low. Then the haggler walked over to me and tried to convince me to accept the low-ball offer. Apparently he didn't know that Darling Man was the more sympathetic one. It didn't take me two seconds to say "NOPE. No Deal. Adios!"

Finally a second little guy showed up and paid us what we want. A-W-E-S-O-M-E!