It is a very tempting time to buy a new car. Years ago, I might have done so on a mere whim. The economy is horrendous, the automobile companies are a disaster and based on a few friends I know who’ve purchased lately, the deals are fantastic. I might view it as a good opportunity to finally get myself into a Hybrid vehicle. But as I make my way into my late 30s, my fiscal conservativeness continues to apply me in a tighter headlock. We probably could get a car, but we’re not. For some reason, this recession feels more threatening than the 2000-2001 recession did. Part of it has to be the new spawn that now live with us. Like they say, that changes everything. But it’s more than that – there’s a quiet nervousness about everything given the plummet we’ve seen since late summer. It’s frightening.

So I’ll continue driving my 2002 Camry. Hell, it only has 76,000 miles on it and I get it serviced every 3-5K miles. So if Consumer Reports is right, than I have another 5-7 years left on this thing. At least. We’ll see if my, um, vanity can last that long.

I see that Blitzen Trapper, one of my new bands-of-the-month, made an appearance on Conan O’Brien on Monday. Here’s the video: