Zwei wochen zum zu gehen

Ack!

All of a sudden, two weeks feels very soon. There's a lot to do, but most of it can't be done, yet.

We're still waiting on the VIN for the car. Once we get this, we can finally go complete the process by financing the transaction. Getting nervous about this one, although the consumer debt culture seems to be relaxing, not tightening ... we should be o.k.

Sort of a funny story about the financing of this vehicle. When we filled out the financing app, I put down my income from last year and all other im'potent info, fully expecting someone to ask me if I could verify that income. However, that call never came. What did come (about a week later) was a timid call from the local BMW agent saying my application had been rejected. My reaction was calm with an undercurrent of "you've got to be fucking kidding me". So, we talked about the situation a bit and it became quickly apparent that BMW wanted, but didn't want to ask for, verification of income. The concern was that I haven't had a car payment that big before.

WTF? Is it normal for a car company to just trust what we put down on that random application about how much we make? Seriously? She said we'd be fine if I wanted to put down $30K on the car ... um, no thanks.

So, when I offered to send my W2 over verifying my income from 2008, the lending agent was relieved. What a strange world ... and no wonder we've gotten upside-down in the economy if people have been able to put whatever they want down on the app without verification. I don't work that way.

Still, some part of me is worried that something will go wrong between the approval and the time that BMW has fully agreed to give me a car and trust that I will pay them back. This mostly stems from the years of being completely upside down and borderline capable of paying our bills. It's funny how some of these fears seem to be slow to leave. Credit score is high, debt is low, income is comfortable, and still I worry about acceptance from creditors.

There's a corollary here to my feelings about weight loss. Perhaps it's a symptom of my personality and nothing more. I have managed to shed myself of some 50+/- pounds since 2003 when I was a peak weight of 215 lbs. That was the year my paternal grandmother passed away (the same one talked about previously) and I regained focus on my health. I'm not sure if that's what she meant in her morphine-addled message of "you're better than this" ... but I searched for meaning in those slurred syllables and could only find my fatness as a source.

So, I attacked the problem with a vengeance. And, with Dr. Atkins at my side, I lost weight at an incredible pace. Then started running and lost even more. Today I clock in at 165+/- depending on the part of the year, pushing as low at 158 in the late summers.

However, I still feel like the fatboy. I Still see myself as that person fighting the fight. I'm out there five days a week fighting against the fatboy ... holding him off ... afraid when I look in the mirror that he'll be right there, staring at me, belly hanging out.

So, hopefully it will all be o.k. The fatboy is not coming back, no matter how many Weißbeir I enjoy. BMW is going to gladly sell us this car since we've built the foundation that shows capability to pay for it. Life will go on ... happier or not for this move, only time will tell.

As of now, I can tell you the Fatboy is jiggly with excitement ;)