Car: Check

only mine has a moonroof and a black top

OK, I finally got down to it, and bought myself a car.

As is often the case with me, I had a hard time making the decision until I figured out the underlying reason for the procrastination.

You see, it goes something like this (those raised in the "God's gonna getcha for that" theory of religion will find this to make more sense; I expect some others will be left scratching their heads in puzzlement):

I quit a perfectly good job to go out and have fun.  My cancer was God's way of punishing me for having fun and worrying only about me instead of following convention and working until a proper retirement age.  Thus, to get back in God's good graces and to avoid further punishment, I was to go back to following the rules.  No more of this goofing around trying to get in touch with my teenaged-self touchy-feely stuff.  No more buying and doing fun stuff just because it's fun.  Get back to serious cars that don't cause attention and will get you around safely in winter.  Get back to work - or face continued unpleasant consequences.

I won't bore you with the various sources of the childhood experiences which led to such a conclusion.  But I will tell you, once I realized what was running around in my subconscious, I put an immediate stop to that nonsense.

I don't believe God is anti-fun.  I don't believe God put us here to mindlessly work until we absolutely cannot work any more.  And I don't believe God punishes people for following their dreams.

Instead of buying the practical, reliable small SUV I'd been seriously considering, I bought a car that will make me smile.  (I need all the smiles in my life I can get these days.)  It's a new Mini Cooper Clubman S.  It's red with a black roof and has a moonroof - not quite as much fun as a convertible, but this way I do have enough cargo space to fit luggage for two to Minnesota; I figured it was a good compromise.  I'll pick it up late next week.