I HATE shopping for a new car!

During a time which should be of great excitement,  I enter the process with hopes and expectations that in the 9+ years since I purchased a car things have changed - guess what they haven't.

In these tough economic times you would think auto dealerships would get a clue, again they haven't.  You see as a woman and a web professional,  I prefer to conduct initial dealings via electronic communications to reduce what inevitably will have to happen - i walk into the dealership.

Let me digress,   I have been seeking a new car for the past 9 months, not in a hurry and continually searching for the best car, at the best price and available.   I did walk onto a local dealership lot, 3 times over the last couple of months.   Know what happened,  all three times as I was reviewing the car stickers in plain view of the main showroom a salesman never approached me,  2 walked right past me and never looked in my direction.

This has not been the first time,  in my previous car purchases I have often brought along a male friend as both support (to quell my impulse buying) and for a test - who would the salesman approach first.   Of course, it was always the friend they addressed first and offered a hand.   Really.

Why is this a problem?  Well statistically,  women comprise 80% of the auto buying decisions either as an individual or as part of a family unit.  80%; that is a large percentage to ignore, but yet they do.

In my research, I have found a few cars I like and contacted the dealership through their forms with exact specifications as to what I am seeking.   What did I get in return?   E-mails with the following:

1. Contact me or come in and we will find the car you want - I did contact you and I did give you the exact car I was looking for.
2. We don't have exactly what you are looking for, but how about these, for which it included different models and color schemes I specifically stated I would not consider.
3. Generic messages about the car and current offers.
4. One responded to my e-mail 2 days after inquiry,  when I responded back I was very interested in the vehicle I received no response back.  Forwarded the inquiry to the general sales manager,  he as well didn't respond back until 2 days later,  with an apology and the car had been sold. 

Stop wasting my time,  I have specifically offered to you my interest to purchase,  exactly what I a seeking to purchase and other considerations I may be open to.   I don't want to call you,  I don't want to walk into your dealership until I am damn well ready to.   That is the whole idea of contacting you via e-mail,  get it.

But sadly they don't and are losing a lot of sales because of it,  they want you in their dealerships so they can wheel and deal you,  'speak to the manager' and keep saying I am working for you - no you are not.

And interesting new twist is now the e-mails are being responded to by women (or young girls),  I guess this is a softer gentler approach,  but when you respond to their e-mails,  the actual salesman responds - nice bait and switch.

Get with the program people,  the day of sleazy car salesman is dying and/or dead. So here are a few tips for you.

1. Respect every woman that walks into your dealership as a potential buyer and address them accordingly whether or not they are accompanied by a man, quit making assumptions.   Its as simple as a question of who is seeking a new car today and go from there.
2.  Don't treat your internet channel as a step-child or must have to do business,  in the future it WILL be your business and the faster you realize this the better off your business will be.

Still seeking my new car,  but I have patience on my side and once I find a dealership that is willing to work with me on my terms,  they will have my business.

Spring 09

What happen to March - who knows....there is only two big things that happened in March.

My grandmother turned 93 and Alexandra turned 16, my baby is getting all grown.

Kelsey came home for Spring Break, worked a little and took a trip up to Chicago with Megan for some downtown shopping.




Alex had the opportunity to go to Florida for Spring Break with friends and enjoyed the beaches of St. Petersburg. I stayed home and tended the gardens and kept praying for those warm days, they were very few.

A friend Jen and I took in the garden show and a few weeks later picked up some fabulous bulbs from the conservatory.

Alex had a soccer game in South Bend Easter weekend so I added a few miles to the trip and swung by Purdue to pick up Kelsey so she could have an Easter Brunch with us, it was a quick trip, but enjoyed by all.

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February?

Not sure where this month went, searching through my photos and calendars to see if there is any record of it. I do know, Kelsey stayed at college until the last weekend and I got to see her, she is still doing well enjoying her friends and having some college (wink, wink) fun on the weekends.

Alex pretty much decided definitely she would not play fall HS soccer, but I am paying for her to play in the Spring league, yes I am a sucker I originally said I wouldn't. She cheered more basketball games and is looking forward to trying out in April for both Fall and Winter squads.

We finished off the cheer season with dinner at Applebees, the moms took a booth as far as we could from the girls and proceeded to enjoy the Bahama Mamas on special. All our girls are drivings so we were good!

Pics from the month of February

Times R A Changin

It's been a month of changes and acceptance that things do change. Kelsey and Devon have separated, it was tough on all of us. Yes, all of us....while Kelsey was away at college, Dev came by every week to play Halo with Alex or just hang out, he was a part of our family and we lost a member.

Right on the heels of this news, Alex informed me that she would not be trying out for HS soccer in the fall. Wanting instead to tryout for the Fall & Winter cheer squad. Again, heartbroken over this news, I loved watching her play. This of course has caused some discourse over the past few weeks.

All of this is more on me, I need a few weeks to accept what has changed, figure out how I am going to proceed and act on it....this gets to be a slower process as I get older, because I get comfortable with the way things are. My children on the other hand are initiating change, embracing it and enjoying it...Good for them!

What's in store for next month? Who knows!

Alex Cheerleading

The Holidays and Happy New Year

Happy New Year All.

We had a whirlwind holiday starting with Kelsey arriving home from college and settling in for a few weeks home. We had many celebrations with Christmas Eve with her boyfriends family, Christmas morning opening presents and Christmas night with my sister in laws family.



Then it was off to Chicago for the weekend, a normally three hour drive took us 5 and half to finally arrive with my brother just a few minutes ahead of us. We never really did figure out what the issue was, but dang, it was a long drive. Both of us made the decision to head downtown instead of going around the city and that didn't even help. But we made it and began the celebrations with everyone in attendance. Over the weekend we enjoyed being a family with the welcome addition this year of my grandmother who if you didn't catch we moved to Chicago from Kansas City a year ago. She is adjusting, her apartment is finally clearing out a little as she goes through all the stuff she moved and takes the time to decide what she truly would like to keep and what can go. I always enjoy spending time with her because she always makes me laugh with her funny statements, like in response to her stuff.

"I like junk, it just kinda sticks to me" I can relate some days when I myself go into the garage and see all my junk.

And then there is the profoundly insightful statement of 'With thickening, there always comes a thinning' which she said is what her father always said. I have found in the weeks past, this is so true in so many realms. She related this us in the context of a couple of the neighborhood ladies who had become tight and now were fighting, just like high school right gram? ;)


On Sunday, after making my kids suffer through a couple of hours of me catching up with my best friend from high school, we traveled home , my day of birth, yes my present, I got to drive home from Chicago. Alex quickly made plans to go out with a friend upon our arrival home so Kelsey and I went out to one of our favorite places for dinner, it was a quiet birthday and quite frankly I was alright with that.

Back to work a couple of days, yeah like a lot of work was getting done, mostly monitoring with a lot of the people in the office out. We all celebrated the new years with our respective friends, I attend this bash at a country club that was absolutely packed so tight, probably won't do that one again but had fun with my friends and that is always good.

Now looking into the New Year and my resolutions, yeah I made a few...to break of course. I resolve to continue to work on quitting smoking, slid backwards a bit but still way down from what I was a month ago. To go along with that I am resolving to have some kind of abs this year, at least some definition right, the butt is holding up well but the belly has slacked off these past couple of years so we need to whip it back into shape. With a training center just downstairs from my office and Zoomba (dance/excercise) offered in the office and done right on the other side of my cube I really have NO excuse, but I am sure if I work really hard I can find one!

I want to wish everyone a prosperous new year and hope it is wonderful for you all.

If you haven't had the opportunity, jump over to the link that says 'Sam and Jillian'. Ms. Jillian just completed a sled dog race and I personally am in awe of her resolve. You see, she did this in -30 below, with winds that would take your hide off...truly in awe.

Believe, Imagine, Dream

Angels on the Field

Last night our HS Football team (Center Grove) played for the state championship.

I have never really been much a fan of HS football, but Kelsey's boyfriend Devon was a senior offensive lineman, so I attended the games this season with her and for him. Pretty much all season the games were boring due to the fact Center Grove dominated most of their opponents, barring one our rivals to the north Carmel.

(Devon & Kelsey after a regular season game)

This saga started last year when we took an overtime game away from Carmel for an amazing, exciting win. Fast forward to this year, Sept. 3rd with 6,000 fans in attendance, unheard of for a H.S. game, Carmel came back in the last 45 seconds to win the game against us, it was the only lost the CG football team had for the season, setting the stage for last night's state championship against Carmel.

(Kelsey & Alex in the Suite)

We headed down to Lucas Oil Stadium (the Colts) for the game, Devon's dad had gotten us his company's suite, we came early to watch the other division games but come game-time we headed over to the regular seats, managing to secure 45 yard line lower seats for the game we were all ready. The stadium was 3/4 full of Center Grove kids, parents and community members having sold 6,600 pre-game tickets, we pride ourselves that we may not be a city, but we are a strong community.

The game started and Carmel pulled ahead, going into the 1/2 we scored but were still down, it wasn't looking good - it wasn't the CG team we had watched all season, there were mistakes and as with the Sept. 3rd game it didn't look like we could close down the Carmel quarterback. The Carmel fans were taunting us with their 'championship' signs and going into the 4th quarter it really didn't look good, I must admit I was praying for a miracle, I wanted this group of boys, especially the seniors and Devon to have this win.

And that's when those angels appeared, with 6 minutes left, our student's shouting 'We Believe' and the boys never giving up, though many of the fans had, they managed to overcome a 19 point deficit in the remaining 6 minutes of the game to win the State Championship and put Carmel in their place, we were overwhelmed. They are truly Champions.

(Picture of Devon that appeared on the front page of the Indy Star Sports Section)

It was a lot of firsts, first HS state championship to be played at Lucas Oil, largest crowd to attend a HS state game and the first football championship for Center Grove....I was so excited for the seniors, for Devon and for the community!

I called mom to tell her the news not knowing she had been watching the scores online, she had last checked with 8 minutes remaining and had conceded we had lost the game. She thought I was joking when I told her we had won, it took some convincing to get her to realize it. As they say, it ain't over until the fat lady sings....


We all went back to the HS to celebrate the win, at 12 midnight the school gymnasium was packed with kids & parents, the emotions were overwhelming. Here is Kelsey, Alex and Devon with his state medal around his neck and a wonderful close to his football career!