Strange Day... but Great!

Something happened today that has NEVER EVER happened before. I got up early because Ron was calling me with the news on my Volvo, if it ran okay or not. I told him I'd buy it assuming it goes down the road okay and has cold AC. When you're in the car business, like I was, you depend rather heavily on someones accurate description of a car. You base your paying price upon it. I agreed to pay XXX amount of dollars assuming certain things about he car were in good working order. Ron never told me it was a "nice" car, but it was. A nice car is a car that just shows well. It hasn't been all redone everywhere and it's still got that fresh look to it. The Volvo looks fresh, in spite of it's 94, 000 miles, which really isn't that bad for a Volvo or a car 11 years old.

With Ron, I like to pay cash because I know that the place that he bought the car requires either cash or a cashier's check. I arranged to get enough for Ron, but my mattress will never sleep the same! I met Ron over at the dealer where he bought the car, Peoria Kia, where LJ dropped me off. I inspected my buy and frankly was pretty pleased, in spite of the fact that the top won't go down, but I'll get that fixed.

I counted out the cash to Ron and watched him count it right back to me. It was right on the money, so to speak. Without warning, I was expecting a suggestion of lunch or for us to just part company when Ron said, "I'm about to put a smile on your face". My reply was, huh? He repeated what he said and I just stood there looking at him. I had signed and order for the car, but never bothered to look at the price. Why would I? He said to look at the order and I did. He had written the order for $500 less than I agreed to pay for the car when he handed me 5 fresh $100 bills. With my mouth open, I asked why. He said, they owed me a favor and I complained about paying so much for it, so they knocked $500 off the price. My mouth still agape, because he passed the savings on to me. Who does that??? I think a new bond just formed between Ron and myself. Guess who trusts him unconditionally?

I've known Ron for 30 plus years. Today he told me that I was the first person to sell him cars when he first moved to Phoenix from Michigan. I guess we've got us some history. Ron is an unusual character. He's kind of a redneck, but as sweet a guy as you'll ever meet. All the years while everyone else was blowing their money on good times and booze, Ron was buying property. He told me today that at one point he owned 28 pieces of land. He sold his car lot on 19Th ave and Broadway for 2 point 3 million dollars and he owned it free and clear. So what do we have here? A redneck, sweetheart, millionaire and he's only 57.