I picked the car up from the shop on Wednesday. It started with getting new tires on Friday which was followed by a horrid thumping noise that developed and got worse through the weekend, coming from the front driver's side wheel well.

So Tuesday I took the car back to the tire shop and asked them to look at it. They found nothing with the tire, suggested something was wrong with the transmission arm. Huh? I called the dealer from the parking lot and asked if they could look at it. (I take my car to the dealer for service because I get a free loaner.) All the way there: quiet, no thumping. Errr.

The service guy didn't see anything obvious, but some rod or bar looked worn. Something with bushings. (I'd have to check my receipt to remember exactly what it was.) So I had that fixed and some routine maintenance done too, oil change, alignment. I didn't get the message it was ready before I left work, so I kept the loaner over night.

The loaner was a '07 Infinity G35 with sunroof. It was fun to drive, lots of new technology in it, stuff to play with, like the key less entry and push-button starter. I didn't expect Kevin's reaction when he saw this new blue car in the garage instead of "the green car." He had a cow. Practically inconsolable until I parked the G35 in the driveway instead of the garage. A lot of the time he just rolls with the change, but not this time. When he could still see the loaner from the front window and he would start fretting again. I told him the green car was at the doctor and it would be home tomorrow and the blue car would go away. He settled down and accepted it, even went out to open the garage and check things out.

I guess we'll keep our cars for a while longer and try to make sure we prep Kevin well for the change. But I really do like all those modern doo-dads!