Monday, July 13, 2009

My moral dilemma

I have been planning what I will do when I finally finish my master's degree. Some of these things involve celebrating extensively, getting a job, buying a house, getting a dog, being a bum, and buying a car. I think I pretty much know what I'm looking for in each of these things. For example:

House: small, cheap, large trees, fenced yard. Preferably over 50 years old.

Dog: large, low shedding, easy to train, some protective tendencies.

Job: pays money. Is in Utah (preferably Utah Valley).

The exception is "car." I will most likely need a car, and I firmly believe that cars should be fuel efficient. I drive a Geo Metro right now, but that will be staying in Texas. The problem is that my dream car is an older model Jeep Wrangler, one of the most fuel-inefficient cars on the market. I have been rationalizing the desire by thinking about my future job. I am a soil scientist (saying that sounds pretentious, but I think it might be an accurate statement), and my ideal job involves visiting rural areas with questionable roads. So a Jeep would be a good choice, right? My sister has abetted the justification process by pointing out that a Jeep would be extremely useful when visiting places like Spiral Jetty, and my imagination immediately took me to the San Rafael Swell. It would be so useful! I think the justifications fit. Maybe I can have two cars....