Our (only) car...

... is a Volkswagen. Like this one, except ours is black.

Yep, we've joined my parents, my sister, and my mentor in the VW club. We couldn't find a beetle cabriolet in our price range, but since the car I learned to drive on was my parents' Rabbit, I've always had a soft spot for little VWs. When we happened to mention to our friend Régine that we were looking for a car, she mentioned that her elderly neighbour was selling his VW Polo. We set up a time to test drive it with the neighbour's son-in-law, and were satisfied with the price, the good maintenance record and the low kilometrage, so we bought it.

Living where we are owning a car seems a luxury, but after two years of car-pooling to work with a very generous colleague, Maggie wants to offer to drive herself, and to have a little more flexibility in when she travels. The boys were treated to a drive to school yesterday, since Maggie and I were going shopping together, and while I cautioned them against thinking that this would be a regular thing, D. assumed that he'd be getting a drive this morning. I swiftly disabused him of that notion, and walked both boys to school and back; we can all use the exercise, and gas isn't cheap here... According to an online archive, two weeks ago the average was $7.18 USD per gallon; that's 5,65 EUR for 3.78 litres, or around 1,50 EUR per litre, or just over $2,00 CAD per litre. With fuel prices that high, it makes sense to get a small car that's good on gas, but also to use it only when needed.

In doing some comparison shopping online I came across this old VW advert, that made me smile.

I'm still waiting to receive my new washer, dryer, stove, refrigerator, etc...