Zoom, zoom

Sometimes, you just get so bogged down with stuff, you kind of forget to do this ... so at the prodding of a dear friend in Kansas (think like the rancher going to the pen with a cattle prod) ...

Last Monday may have the single best day in my life. In the space of seven hours, I bought a new car and had a really good date. Yes, gentle reader, you may close your mouth before the flies find their way in -- I said date.

But first, the auto-mo-byle ... some 14 months ago, I bought a Nissan Altima from a dealership in Norwich, Conn., but I never felt entirely comfortable with it -- I felt that from the moment I drove it off the lot, I was being hustled into something I never really wanted.

Todd down in Oklahoma recently bought a Mazda 3 and raved about it. I drove one and could see why. For a small car, it had some pretty good jump to it. So, I was set to trade in the Nissan for a 3, but we could not make the numbers work. They were able to make the numbers work on 2005 Mazda6 -- a car very similar in size to my Nissan.

The commercials are right -- they are fun to drive. A friend in New York also had one when they were still called the 626 and he had it for many years and said it was good. So, at about 6 p.m. last Monday, I drove away from Naperville Mazda the proud owner of a new car.

First place I go? On a date. How's that for making an entrance? Her name is Rebecca and she lives in Chicago. Met her through Match.com and we went to Starbucks for the "break-the-ice" coffee before going to Charlie's Ale House in the city's Andersonville section.

We shut down two places. We have also been spending a lot of time on the phone since. It's been a nice ride so far. I guess the best way to describe how things have been is comfortable ... I don't feel as anxious around her as I have around other women.

Yes, anxiety is a bitch.

So, maybe that's why I have been slacking off in this. Think it's a good reason?

What do you think? I'd like to know.