March 5. Sunday Night.

Hi Journey.

I never can figure what Eddie really wants. He just seems to blow hot and cold. Last two weeks he's all but ignored me because he was so buried in the new shopping cart software. This weekend he's obsessed with finding a new car.

OK, not a car. A pickup. A Ford F-150, to be exact--or sort of exact; because as I found out today, there are about 150 models of the F-150 out there. You can pick from a Regular Cab, Crew Cab, Super Crew Cab, and about a half-dozen different box lengths. Then there are seats: bench seats, bucket seats, captain's seats; you name a seat, Ford makes it. Oh yeah, those were just the front seat options. In the back, you can order jump seats or bench seats; but no recliners.

He received a bonus this week for ramming through the first prototype module of his shopping cart software. So, he's on fire to buy a truck. No sense in putting a chunk of money away for a down payment on a house, or shoving a bit away in a simple CD or mutual fund somewhere. No, my Eddie needs a ride. Of course, it's not enough just to shop away a few nights as the week goes along, maybe even haul little ole' Crystal along on a few mini-dates. Oh no, nothing steady and measured like that. Eddie decides this mission calls for a head-on assault.

Yesterday I chauffeured him to four different Ford dealerships, Journey.

In between dealership two and three I blundered. It was simple Journey; altogether innocent, I swear. I asked him if he would consider buying a Toyota.

“ Toyota ?”

“Yeah. Toyota. I've had great luck with the Corolla. It's ten years old. I've replaced the battery and I'm on my third set of tires. Other than that, no real problems.”

“ Crystal , I'm not going to be seen driving around town in any truck that starts out with ‘toy' on the endgate. I need an American truck.”

“Why's that? Made in USA pride?” I hazarded.

“Maybe a little, I suppose. But mainly it's because American pickups are light years ahead of the Japanese trucks,” he said.

“For now. That big Tundra Toyota's put out is going to give your F-150 a run for its money,” I said.

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