“One of those interviews was with John Wright, formerly with the Times own book review department. When asked what he thought of the show, Wright said, “It was very beautiful, very different.”

But the Times published on Feb. 6 a peculiar review of Splendor (under the byline of Eric Konigsberg) that did anything but suggest the consensus response. Backed with quotes from all of three audience members who were critical, only one of whom gave his or her full name, the Times proclaimed in its headline, “A Glimpse of Chinese Culture That Some Find Hard to Watch.”

What made the Times article even more unusual was that its criticisms mimic the line of China’s communist regime, which has engaged in a behind-the-scenes campaign to have Splendor shut down. “

So, in a few weeks, I should be the owner of a new Honda Fit. I ordered the red one, although this may change. The thing is, the dealer didn’t offer me as much for my trade-in as I would have liked. In fact, it won’t help offset the price at all. It was almost as if they called my bank and asked how much I owed on the car…. So, if another Honda dealer with whom I’ve been speaking will give me more, I will cancel my order and go with them. Anyway, if the red doesn’t work out, I’ll get the black.I test drove it last week and it was pretty fun. The mileage is 30/37 which is great compared to my current 17/20 in my Freelander. That’ll help with my 90 mi daily commute. I ordered the Sport trim that has paddle shifters, a la Formula 1 race cars. Right paddle shifts up, left down. My initial impression wasn’t so good. When exiting onto an offramp, I downshifted and accidentally clicked it twice. My heart dropped when I saw the gear number go from 3 to 1. Gulp! But I was quicly relieved to see it automatically switch back up into 2nd. Nice. A smart little car. Fully loaded the thing is $16K, which I like. It was fun and peppy and I think I’m going to like having it. The carseat fit well in the back seat, which was good, as well.

So, lots of changes. New house, new car, new baby in 4 more months….. crazy days!

I’m currently leaning towards a Honda Civic circa 2001/2002. Looks like I can get something with around 40K-75K miles for $8K-$11K. It’s on the lower end if I use CraigsList.com postings, or at the higher end if I buy through a dealer at TraderOnline.com. With a dealer I have the option of trading in my car. But with the private sale, I then have to privately sell my car.

This is a bit of a hassle because if I were selling to a person, I might feel more inclined to fix the blown speaker (which means hassling with the dealer to get this warrantied item fixed). This is a hassle because LandRover Milford’s service hours are from 9 to 5. Since I have to drive 45 minutes to East Hartford to be there at 9am, this is extremely inconvenient. Not to mention leaving work at 3:30 to get there in time before they close. Also, I haven’t been overjoyed with the level of service I’ve had there. I guess I could perhaps use LandRover Guilford…..

Anyway, this is all a bit of a hassle, when I can just trade it in at a dealer and be done with it. I guess that’s what most people do for the same reasons. Edmunds.com says my car is worth about $14,400 if I sell it privately, and $12K if trading in. I owe $11K on it. So, the question is whether the extra hassle of getting it spiffed up, and sold privately is worth $2K- the difference. I guess it might depend on how high I can get the dealer to go for the trade-in. Edmunds.com further says that dealers can charge $16-$17K for this same car.

– more to come….