Cars and Other Problems
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I had tea with a good friend, K, at the Dome in KLCC yesterday. A lot of conversation about friends, family and work. After a day at the office, a relaxing break with a good cup of tea, some tidbits and a good view (you know what I mean here) was just the thing we needed. A cup of tea at the Dome? Oh, please, make that a cup of macchiato or cappuccino. Did I get the spelling right? Maybe not. Small cups but big prices.
Now, about half an hour into the session, K asked me if I could give him an opinion on something that’s been on his mind. Fire away I said, I am good at listening and sometimes I could be good at imparting suggestions that might solve a problem or two.
The problem has got to do with transportation. His. Or rather his family.
He drives to work in a seven year-old Nissan Terrano. His better half uses a Naza Ria to ferry the kids to school, meet her friends, buy groceries etc., you get what I mean. Now, the Naza Ria is a bit too big for her daily errands, she’d love a smaller car.
“A Kia Picanto would do fine”, she said.
Now, he’s got four kids, plus a maid and let’s make one thing clear, the Naza Ria is a must for the journeys back to their hometowns in the east coast. Maybe three or four times a year. Now, one option is, sell the Terrano, get the Picanto for the wife and he drives the Naza Ria to work. But the Naza Ria is a 2.5 litre monster and it doesn’t make sense for him to drive it daily to work, plus the parking at Rohas Perkasa is a bit tight for such a machine. The Picanto is relatively cheap and Mrs. K did mention that she’d be happy with it. Less expenses, not that it mattered. Or get a Nissan X Trail instead of the Picanto, they could use it interchangeably with the Naza Ria. Or a Honda Accord. He mentioned about Honda Jazz but he was not too crazy about paying such an amount, a hundred thousand or so ringgits, I think, for such a small car. OK, reason enough.
But then he thought he might as well go for one of those BMW 3 series, at about two hundred and thirty thousand AND another car, a smaller one, for the wife. The Naza Ria would then be strictly for the whole family. But then he always wanted a Merc, and one of those E 220 or something like that goes for about two hundred and eighty thousand ringgits and it is “only” fifty thousand more the Beemer. Hey, if you have the means, by all means, heh heh. But then he thought that the expenditure might be a bit unnecessary and thinks that the Picanto option is the best. Maybe, I said. But then he has to drive the Naza Ria to work. Somehow during the discussion the Volvo XC90 popped up, did I get that right? The very fact that I could not name the models show that I am not in the market to purchase such cars. Hmmmm……
Visions of me test driving BMW’s, Mercs, Volvos and Hondas played around in my head. Hey, he asked me for advise, he might as well take me along for the test drive.
I said, “How about the BMW AND the Picanto? It’s cheaper then the Merc and you get a third car”
“It might work”, he said, “But then a Honda is cheaper than the BMW and we’d only use it in the Klang Valley”.
Makes sense.
We even asked Yasmin, a waitress at Dome, on which is the best option. She was stumped, no help really.
“Why can’t you have two vehicles, any combination, wife drives car, Naza Ria for family outing, you get a bike, park it at the LRT station and take the train to work?”
No can do, he can’t be seen riding a bike to work. Makes sense, his clients might see him, you know how these corporate people are. Well, I don’t have that image problem. Besides, he doesn’t have a license for motorbikes. Then, let me ride the bike then, a superbike please, you just pay for it.
But then, maintaining three cars is a huge task. Plus, some of the cars, the insurance and road tax might average up to three hundred a month over the year. That is not so much of a problem as he gets a monthly allowance for the car. So that’s that. We went around in circles, rectangles and every imaginable shape imaginable.
Boy, the problem some people have….. I wish I have his problem.
“Dear, do we get the pink Cadillac or the black Bentley?”
“Get the Kalashnikov, darling. It’s cheaper, tougher and doesn’t need marker plates. Plus it speaks Russian. Might come in handy should we go to Moscow.”
This guy is loaded. If I were kidnap him, do you think his wife would pay a ransom to get him back? Enough for me to get a fancy car or two? I don’t make a very ambitious criminal, do I?
So I finally suggested that he buys a Smith & Wesson and shoot himself in the head. Even Yasmin agrees.
.
I had tea with a good friend, K, at the Dome in KLCC yesterday. A lot of conversation about friends, family and work. After a day at the office, a relaxing break with a good cup of tea, some tidbits and a good view (you know what I mean here) was just the thing we needed. A cup of tea at the Dome? Oh, please, make that a cup of macchiato or cappuccino. Did I get the spelling right? Maybe not. Small cups but big prices.
Now, about half an hour into the session, K asked me if I could give him an opinion on something that’s been on his mind. Fire away I said, I am good at listening and sometimes I could be good at imparting suggestions that might solve a problem or two.
The problem has got to do with transportation. His. Or rather his family.
He drives to work in a seven year-old Nissan Terrano. His better half uses a Naza Ria to ferry the kids to school, meet her friends, buy groceries etc., you get what I mean. Now, the Naza Ria is a bit too big for her daily errands, she’d love a smaller car.
“A Kia Picanto would do fine”, she said.
Now, he’s got four kids, plus a maid and let’s make one thing clear, the Naza Ria is a must for the journeys back to their hometowns in the east coast. Maybe three or four times a year. Now, one option is, sell the Terrano, get the Picanto for the wife and he drives the Naza Ria to work. But the Naza Ria is a 2.5 litre monster and it doesn’t make sense for him to drive it daily to work, plus the parking at Rohas Perkasa is a bit tight for such a machine. The Picanto is relatively cheap and Mrs. K did mention that she’d be happy with it. Less expenses, not that it mattered. Or get a Nissan X Trail instead of the Picanto, they could use it interchangeably with the Naza Ria. Or a Honda Accord. He mentioned about Honda Jazz but he was not too crazy about paying such an amount, a hundred thousand or so ringgits, I think, for such a small car. OK, reason enough.
But then he thought he might as well go for one of those BMW 3 series, at about two hundred and thirty thousand AND another car, a smaller one, for the wife. The Naza Ria would then be strictly for the whole family. But then he always wanted a Merc, and one of those E 220 or something like that goes for about two hundred and eighty thousand ringgits and it is “only” fifty thousand more the Beemer. Hey, if you have the means, by all means, heh heh. But then he thought that the expenditure might be a bit unnecessary and thinks that the Picanto option is the best. Maybe, I said. But then he has to drive the Naza Ria to work. Somehow during the discussion the Volvo XC90 popped up, did I get that right? The very fact that I could not name the models show that I am not in the market to purchase such cars. Hmmmm……
Visions of me test driving BMW’s, Mercs, Volvos and Hondas played around in my head. Hey, he asked me for advise, he might as well take me along for the test drive.
I said, “How about the BMW AND the Picanto? It’s cheaper then the Merc and you get a third car”
“It might work”, he said, “But then a Honda is cheaper than the BMW and we’d only use it in the Klang Valley”.
Makes sense.
We even asked Yasmin, a waitress at Dome, on which is the best option. She was stumped, no help really.
“Why can’t you have two vehicles, any combination, wife drives car, Naza Ria for family outing, you get a bike, park it at the LRT station and take the train to work?”
No can do, he can’t be seen riding a bike to work. Makes sense, his clients might see him, you know how these corporate people are. Well, I don’t have that image problem. Besides, he doesn’t have a license for motorbikes. Then, let me ride the bike then, a superbike please, you just pay for it.
But then, maintaining three cars is a huge task. Plus, some of the cars, the insurance and road tax might average up to three hundred a month over the year. That is not so much of a problem as he gets a monthly allowance for the car. So that’s that. We went around in circles, rectangles and every imaginable shape imaginable.
Boy, the problem some people have….. I wish I have his problem.
“Dear, do we get the pink Cadillac or the black Bentley?”
“Get the Kalashnikov, darling. It’s cheaper, tougher and doesn’t need marker plates. Plus it speaks Russian. Might come in handy should we go to Moscow.”
This guy is loaded. If I were kidnap him, do you think his wife would pay a ransom to get him back? Enough for me to get a fancy car or two? I don’t make a very ambitious criminal, do I?
So I finally suggested that he buys a Smith & Wesson and shoot himself in the head. Even Yasmin agrees.
.
posted by dudae_simboyo at 09:38
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