S -X C !!! (Our new car)

Miracle of miracles, we have jumped through the red tape, and are now the proud owners of a new vehicle. After three months of research, we finally settled on a Volvo XC 90, and wound up buying the sporty version in red with white leather interior, thus her name: S-XC! Sexy!

The road to this point was rocky. Although the car market in Dobby is famous for selling the most top-end cars of any other market, there is one minor point not readily apparent when you come here: choice is an illusion.

Yes, we see Bentleys and Rolls and freakishly large Beamers and Mercs on a daily basis. Range Rovers and Maseratis are everywhere, and even Lamborghinis and Ferraris are common enough that you hardly take notice (but rather criticize anonymous owners on their color choices). All this implies an incredible amount of variety must be available.

No so. Unlike other places, where you go to buy a car and are expected to wade through a long list of optional, variable details, here you don't. Cars -- even high end--come in one or two packages, with few color choices, and while options may be available theoretically, in reality you either must wait for months to get a car with even one option changed from standard, or you must pay a fee to "break" the package, the extra for the options, and then wait a few months for your vehicle to arrive. And this is on top of routine shortages associated with a market growing as quickly as this one--many things are frequently out of stock.

But it is OK! With the restricted choices, we have been forced into selecting our passion red/white-leather-interior vehicle--a statement we might not normally make unless pushed. And now we love it.

Plus, as our friend the former rally-racer said: thank god you chose the red, otherwise you would be like some middle-aged boring-a** old fogies driving around in your extra-safe-and-geeky Volvo. Of course, with a house full of Ikea and now a vehicle designed in the same country, we might be increasing our "Swedification" exposure. But so what--you want a piece of me? Bugger-off, we have a RED car!