Me: Oh, it looks like it's been sold!
Mrs. Fungus: Oh, no!
Yep. It's been sold, all right. And even more entertaining, they sold the 2012 Grand Cherokee I was also thinking about.
Not meant to be! Not a problem. Guy still tried to sell me on what he had sitting around but I don't want the red one (2wd) and I don't want a Jeep Patriot with "slight damage" and I don't want the XLT Lariat version that's $6k more.
Og just sent me a link to a black Patriot that Carmax has got, saying, "I mean I got to say I'm looking at it thinking it that's a nice car," but it's got a manual transmission, and I'm not looking to row my own gears, esp. since that cuts into towing capacity.
The punchline to all this: salesman I had been in contact with asked the other guy at the place to go with the guy who just bought that black pickup, because it had a "Check Engine" light on...so yeah, "not meant to be", and I'm fine with that!
The "check engine" light is probably something quick and stupid, and the truck has a 3 month/3,000 mile warranty on it, so it's not like it would be a big problem--but it would be irritating to buy a truck and then have to have it fixed right away.
* * *
Anyway, after that we repaired to Menards and bought the barn door. Ended up costing a bit more than I'd hoped or expected--$300 for the door and another $90 for the hardware--but once I get it stained and mounted it's going to look fantastic.
Problem: door is seven feet long and I have to put it on the luggage rack. Need 2x4s to keep door above the curved cross-rails--and FFS does no one who designs that shit think about people needing to carry actual loads, or do they just figure "curved will look better and fuck the utility"? No 4' 2x4s available, except up on a pallet some eight feet high.
Found someone to help after five minutes and he said those were "store fixture" boards and not stock. There was a pile of 8' 2x4s on the floor and I asked, "Can I get one of those cut in half?" Turns out they have a saw that customers can use, so I grabbed one and hauled it out to the saw. Nothing there to measure with, but there were some wood scraps under the saw and I used one as a measuring stick, to mark out approximately where the center of the board was, and cut it.
Ended up with two boards, one of which was 1/4" longer than the other. How do you like that?
Paid for the merchandise, walked out into a rainshower, and strapped the door to the roof of the Jeep. Drove home in the rain, got home pretty quickly, and now the door is inside. No worries about the door getting wet since it was shrink-wrapped, but the ratchet straps got soaked so I hung them up in the garage.
I think I'm going to see if I can't keep those 2x4s in the Jeep against future need. Kind of tired of having to buy lumber when I buy something big.
Of course, a pickup truck would obviate all that. Heh.
* * *
Anyway, that brings the "new car fever" episode to an end, at least for now. I'll just keep looking, as I have been, and when the time is right, it will happen. That's enough for me.