De-briefing and more

Over a family dinner, I was debriefed as to what had happened during my absence:

• The wildfires had forced an evacuation of my place, and my BMW and other things had been moved for the duration.
• Los Angeles County, during the general election, voted for a 1% sales tax increase to fund transportation improvements. That makes my sales tax rate 9 1/4 %, and honestly, I don't think Southern California deserves any more of my money than what it already gets from me.
• Gay marriage is again banned, though by a very narrow margin. Duh.

I also shared some of my South Korean and Hong Kong observations, and further stated that if 2MB and the Moonies are behind the Obama-bashing and other US right-wing initiatives in any way, they must get their behinds kicked. Also, I do feel that there is a parallel between North Koreans destroying South Korean LGBT rights under the blessing of the 2MB government, and Third World immigrants destroying Californian LGBT rights under the blessing of the Republicans. I'll stand for neither, and the fair-minded people of both areas are with me on this.

The biggest statement I can make to the world, and most importantly to myself, over these developments, of course, is to proceed with my car swap. I made sure to clean out my BMW already; documents and other items that I must give up with my car are already loaded in it (except for spare parts, which will be taken care of today), while things I must transfer to my new Hyundai have already been taken out of the car. Today, I'll drive the BMW for the first time since my return; first, it'll allow me to assess its condition, and second, I'll get to drive it to a CarMax for a written appraisal. I'll continue to drive it through tomorrow, when I finally give it up and take delivery of the Hyundai.

I've still given no one any indication of my car swap. And that's the way I intend it. Nevertheless, I can no longer feel good/ethical about driving my BMW, and life is too short to be wasted in cars like that. The only reason I can even stand driving it from now on, is only because I am driving it to get rid of it.

And one more thing. I still can't believe that Hyundai now makes cars good enough to replace my BMW! I did discuss the Genesis with my coworkers and others - and all of them are telling me about how every review raves about the car. I guess it really is time to shut up, and start actually driving the thing. Sure, I was too young and too poor to drive the Lexus LS400 twenty years ago (and I still wouldn't, as I really hate Toyota), but I'm counting myself fortunate that I can afford the Genesis now, and make up for that. If my new Hyundai inspires someone else to buy his/her own, hopefully in place of a BMW, then I'll be happy.