Oh, that freedom!

Obviously, the car I thought I had,.... was gone before I could pay for it.
But... I now DO have a car...
It's paid for, insured, and therefore all mine! Still some little things left to organize, but they're not taking it away from me anymore. You know, you just don't realize how much you get used to having your own car. The freedom to go where-ever, whenever you like.
My ride of freedom? A 2002 Honda Accord Coupe LE:

And shortly after that... A place to stay too.
Sometimes the sun DOES shine behind the clouds, and DOES every cloud have a silver lining.
(The great temperature here and beautiful fall colors help too ;) )

Oh, that sweet freedom!

It takes a car to get one

2 weeks in, and you won't believe the hassles I need to get through.
You know, the plan was simple enough, get a phone, open a bank account, get a car with insurance, find a place to stay, build up some credit score.
But well, things don't always go as you plan them.

It all started with getting a cellphone, the first item on the list, how hard can it be to get a number, right? Well: First question: What's you're Georgia driving license #? Err, I don't have one... can I use my dutch one? Well, no. but, actually, that wasn't a real issue, they could do without. They'd just check my credit score, or, well, try to,... as I don't have a credit score! But that was easy to fix,... with a $500 deposit!!! For like a $50/month contract! :-S

Next thing on the list: Open a bank account.
Well, without a permanent US residency, they need you to fill out this form,... which ofcourse they didn't have available at the branch office. So they'll send it to me, which means: that it will take at least another 2 weeks before I can open an account...
The account which I intended to use to make it easy to pay for the car.

Anyway, I still went online to look for a car (as I don't have a credit score, insurance on a new car would be terrible expensive, so I'm looking to buy from a private party). But, all the interesting cars, by the time I can find someone to drive me there, the cars have been sold already! It really takes a car to get one, by having the freedom to go there the moment it comes online.

Anyway, with a rental, I think I might have solved that this weekend. I think I might have found a car, but about that, more later.

PS. as you might have guessed, I haven't even really pursued housing yet.