So I heard about a promotion Hyundai was running where they pay you a $50 visa or amazon gift card if you take one of their vehicles for a test drive.

Why not, I thought.

I fell in love with their IONIQ SEL, a hybrid hatchback that gets 58 mpg with heated seats, heated side mirrors, blind spot assist, LED headlights and various other things. I really like the cargo space, which is much more practical/usable than my small Honda Civic trunk, which my bike no longer fits inside becus they shrunk the hole between the trunk and folded down seats. As a result, I haven't done much bike riding in the last 5 years.

Hyundai also offer LIFETIME replacement of the battery (as long as you get your servicing done at the dealer); as some of you may know, the battery would likely need replacement after 200,000 miles and costs several thousand dollars, so it's not an insignificant expense. They also provide free oil changes and the price of this car after the $1,000 rebate was around $21,000, which, compared to any other hybrid, is fantastic.

I was basically regretting I purchased another sedan ever since buying it in 2013, and I wished I'd taken a little more time to research it and get a Prius instead.

Not long after I came home, my dad called and told me he wanted to stop by, which he did. We chit-chatted, and I told him in detail about the car I'd just test-driven. After I had finished, he said, well maybe this will help you make up your mind about it and he handed me a check for $5k. Talk about timing!

My dad is not in the habit of giving Xmas presents, and this is the first time I've received one from him in probably 15 years. So I was quite surprised. (My 3 siblings will also get the same thing.)

He encouraged me to get the car because, he said, I'd mentioned a few times now how the sedan didn't really fit my needs. And he likes to trade in his vehicles after about 5 years' time.

But, after feeling excited about the whole idea, I've pretty much chosen to just rein in my impulses. (And I recall how in 2013, before I bought the Civic, I also "fell in love" with a Ford Fiesta and even signed the purchase contract which I was fortunately able to undo the next day.) My current car runs perfectly and has just 60K miles on it, and I typically keep my cars for 10 or 12 years.

I suppose the IONIQ will still be around in another 5 years' time. The dealer did also say they'll be introducing a hybrid SUV in 2019, and the big appeal there is that it will have all-wheel drive, though with a substantially higher price tag I am sure.

So I just deposited dad's check and will let it sit there for the time being. There are probably better uses for that check. And I have to say that my expenses have exceed my income this year by just about....wait for it....$5,000. So by banking the money (or most of it), I should be in the black, or close to it.

After my boss asked me a few weeks ago if i would be willing to work full-time through early January, things have not been all that busy. I did work an extra 6 hours this past week, but that will pretty much be wiped out next week since Christmas falls on a Tuesday and the office is also scheduled to be closed Monday, which is also one of my scheduled work days. So next week if I get no extra work hours, I'll get all of 4 hours of work.

But just now someone at the office called and wanted to know if I could work TOMORROW...Saturday. Very late notice, but that's how it usually works around there. I had some things planned but I could use the work so will have to drive to the office tomorrow; she said i could expect to get in close to a full day.

I asked her how the Christmas dinner was last night, which I didn't go to. She said she heard it was nice. I said oh, you hadn't planned on going? She told me 3 or 4 of them had to stay back and work in the office while everyone else went to dinner!

I had a UPS delivery of my meds scheduled for today, which I guess because of the Christmas rush, has now been scheduled for tomorrow. In summer, I like to be home when they arrive so they're not sitting out in the sun all day (they're packed with ice paks) but in winter I also don't want it to freeze, either. It's inside a styrofoam container so I sure hope it will be ok.

I wanted to go to yoga tomorrow but now with work I can't. Every Saturday there is something that prevents me from going.

After going over my YTD income again today, I went ahead and did a Roth IRA (back door) conversion for $7,000. I could have done quite a bit more, but I was concerned that if I converted too much, it could boost my taxable income enough that I could end up paying a penalty for under-withholding.

For lunch today I made a big pot of pea soup, which I'll bring to work with me tomorrow.