A golden week

What an eventful week it has been!

I am writing this post on my parents' laptop, which is slower and more cumbersome than I would like, but their brand-new desktop is like a tortoise stuck in mud. I have one laptop I've been keeping at work, and another laptop that I had to take to get fixed because it was poorly designed, and they quit making the part I need, so I had to order it from eBay. I don't have time to go into all my frustration with that right now, but let me just say I don't intend to buy another Toshiba anytime soon.

On Wednesday this week, I was given tickets to go see Tim McGraw and Faith Hill at Vivint Smart Home Arena (formerly EnergySolutions Arena formerly the Delta Center). I know people don't just give you tickets, but it happened. That was the highest profile concert I have ever been to. Some of the Tabernacle Choir Christmas concerts have probably had more people, but these were bigger names.

I found it a little difficult to enjoy because the bass drowned out the voices much of the time. The only other concert I've been to there was Piano Guys, so I don't know if that bass problem is normal. Also, I'm a quiet man who enjoys quietude, so it was a bit noisy for me. (But I do have tickets to Lady Gaga in December.)

Now, don't let that sound like I didn't have a good time, because I did. The opening act was a singer named Cam (you might have heard her song "Burning House"). I bought her CD. But the headline act, of course, was Tim and Faith.

I was at a little bit of a disadvantage for two reasons: (1) those performers were in their heyday twenty years ago, when I was young and had the erroneous, old-fashioned notion that contemporary music was somehow inferior to other types; and (2) country is not my preferred genre. I don't dislike it; in fact there are a lot of country singers I enjoy (especially Kacey Musgraves, though she seems a bit too liberal for the typical country crowd), but Tim and Faith aren't ones I've listened to a lot.

Anyway, all this is to say that I didn't recognize a lot of the songs, and it was more enjoyable when I knew the songs. But I don't live under a rock (anymore...), so there were still plenty of songs I was familiar with: "Felt Good on My Lips," "This Kiss," "The Way You Love Me," "Humble and Kind," Live like You Were Dying," and others. It was a fun show, and I find it admirable that there's a celebrity couple that's been married twenty-one years.

I got a few short runs in this week, and I really say there is nothing so satisfying as an autumn evening trail run.

But, most significantly, Friday was my birthday. Not just any birthday, but my golden birthday: 29 on the 29th. I had hoped to do more with the number 29, but oh well. My coworker wrote me a very nice note, accompanied by some nonseasonal treats (which I could eat this week), and an awesome drawing.

I found out that Gene Autry shared my birthday, so I bought some of his Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas songs to add to my collections. 

I got more texts and Facebook messages than I have ever had wishing me a happy birthday, even though I don't tell people my birthday on Facebook. Thanks everyone!

I didn't want my golden birthday to be like any other, so I thought I would buy a car. I have been searching for cars for the past month.

See, I have heard that 29 is the worst age, and I know of people who have made bucket lists of 30 big things to do while they are 29. I have compiled a list of about 70 things I can do, though I only plan to do 30. And one of them was to buy a new car. Since my 1995 Subaru Legacy technically belongs to my parents, I figured it was time for one of my own.

I wanted good gas mileage and all-wheel drive, and I narrowed it down to a Nissan Rogue hybrid and a Toyota Rav4 hybrid. I drove both of them on Friday, and decided that the Rav was really the better option, though both were good. So we returned to the Bountiful Toyota dealer where I had test driven at the beginning of the month.

We didn't like that salesman, but I felt an obligation to work with him again. I decided I wanted the Rav, but they only had red, and I really wanted blue. He told me "there are none on the ground in Utah"; they could get it from out of state, but  it would be a big hassle and fee, so they tried to convince me just to get the one they had. I reluctantly agreed to get red. But, see, my easy-going personality makes it so that sometimes people walk all over me, and fortunately my assertive mother was with me and said we should "sleep on it"--meaning we should call other dealers to see if they had it. He and his manager were very persistent. They even told me that you don't really see the outside of the car, just the inside. (Um, what?) So we walked out, telling them we would probably be back in the morning. And right there in their parking lot, my mom called the Larry H. Miller Toyota dealer in Murray. And they had a blue one! 

So the next morning we drove out to Murray. Their sales people were much nicer and less pushy. I've been to a lot of dealers in the last month, and others were persistent, but I felt like they wanted me to get the best car for me. (A Mazda salesman even recommended Hyundai when they didn't have what I wanted.) The Bountiful Toyota ones obviously just wanted me to get theirs. So I didn't mind that we went behind their back to a better Toyota dealer.

Anyway, I won't bore you with the details of buying a car, but I'm now the proud owner of a hybrid! It charges the battery when I go down our very steep hill, and it has all sorts of crazy features--automatic braking, lane-departure alert, showing nearest gas stations and prices, too much for me to mention all right now. I'm very happy with it, happier than I expected to be. A car is a car to me, but I love this one. Anything is a step up from my twenty-three-year-old vehicle.

Oh, and not only did I get Tim McGraw/Faith Hill tickets, I also got general conference tickets. So I went to Sunday morning session. That's always fun.

It will probably be a long time before I have another week so eventful.

***

I tried to tone down pumpkinundation roundup since I could eat anything this week, but I still got some.

 Trader Joe's Pumpkin O's are like a mildly spicy Apple Jacks. I like it, but it's not super pumpkiny. 7/10.

 Trader Joe's "This Pumpkin Walks into a Bar" cereal bars are not as good as NutriGrain bars. The filling is kind of like glue. 6/10.

 It's too bad these Caramel Apple Sugar Babies have such a bad picture, because they deserve a better picture. I first had them in 2012, and I am sad if I let a Halloween go by without them. I don't like regular Sugar Babies, but the apple kind is probably my favorite Halloween candy. 10/10.

 I spent my birthday driving out to See's Candies, and See's Caramel Apple Lollypops are pretty good. They're softer and more caramely than most of their Lollypops. Not extremely appley, but still good. 7/10.

 I like Taco Time pumpkin empanadas better once they cool down. The filling tastes just like pumpkin pie, which is more than I can say for most pumpkin things. 8/10.

 Trader Joe's Greek Nonfat Pumpkin Yogurt is better than Chobani and maybe better than Noosa, but not better than Dannon. 6/10.

 Again, See's Caramel Apple Scotchmallow aren't terribly appley, but still good. 8/10.

 Twizzlers Caramel Apple Filled Twists are one of the weaker offerings of the filled Twizzlers, but they're OK. 6/10.

 Lindt Lindor Pumpkin Spice Milk Chocolate Truffles are fine as chocolate, but I don't think they're very pumpkiny, even though they have pumpkin powder. The chocolate is almost too rich. 7/10.

 My review of the Nature Valley bars says these Kashi Pumpkin Spice Flax Crunchy Granola Bars are better. It's true. They're not as crispy (though still crispy) and spicier. 7/10.

Hershey's Caramel Apple Filled Milk Chocolates are decent. Caramel and chocolate are a winning combo. The apple is a nice variation, but not necessarily better. 7/10.