My new white 2007 Toyota RAV4 enjoys the sunset amongst the mesas between Virgin, Utah and Rockville, Utah near Zion National ParkDid I mention I'm now driving a Toyota RAV4?

I'm no longer a Hyundai Sonata driver. It was a great car the three-and-a-half years I drove it. But I missed driving the dusty dirt roads of southwestern Utah.

My old black Chevy Blazer 4x4 that I kept parked in Hurricane at my parents house most recently failed to pass it's safety inspection last year. I knew I could spend more money on it and get it to pass, but it had just a few too many things that annoyed me for me to want to pour any dough into it. I finally sold it to someone willing to take a fixer-upper and resurrect it.

So on President's Day weekend last month, on the Saturday before President's Day, I asked my sister Janna to go test driving new vehicles with me. The first and only vehicle we drove was a white 2007 Toyota RAV4 Limited 3.5 liter V6 4x4. I'd spotted it the evening before and had done some reading on the 'net about it. We drove it, and I knew it was to be mine.

Now my sister drives the Sonata and I drive the new RAV4.

I never knew that I'd enjoy a sun roof. It never crossed my mind. Now I'm glad to have one. In the warm late-winter southern Utah weather, it's been a blast.

My friend and coworker Cassidy recently acquired a sweet black Saab 9-3 Aero in November. (See it here on Cassidy's web site, or read Cassidy's blog entry about it here.) That Saab is a sweet, sweet ride, sunroof, quick acceleration, satellite radio, ready for bluetooth, nice stereo... Maybe it was his purchase that subconsciously inspired me to consider a change in automobiles.

It turns out my new RAV4 is bluetooth enabled. If it hadn't been for Cassidy talking about bluetooth options for his car, I probably wouldn't have even thought about it. Sadly I don't have a bluetooth capable cell phone yet.

And while I'm thinking of bluetooth, that reminds me. Since late November I've been typing on a new 17" Apple MacBook Pro with the Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2 gigabytes of RAM. It came with bluetooth built in (but again I don't have any bluetooth devices to take advantage of it yet).

I love it! I love my Mac! I still run Windows XP Pro sometimes with Parallels in coherence mode so I can balance my checkbook with MS Money. But other than that, I'm an Apple user now.

On the new MacBook, I no longer have iTunes skipping issues. I don't know if the newer versions of iTunes (I'm running 7.1.1 currently) would have fixed my problem or not on my old Windows XP notebook.

This laptop computer is beautiful. I love Apple's minimalist design. The metallic case is truly a thing of beauty. I love the backlit keyboard too when typing at night (like right now).

And the built-in iSight camera makes Skype videoconferencing fun too. I had to plug in a USB camera on the old Windows notebook.

Okay, I've ranted and raved enough about the toys. Forgive me, please, for the indulgence.

P.S. It's now 11:23 PM and I've had the television on in the background while on the computer. My ears perked up when I heard the words "Technical Maintenance Minute" emanate from the television. I looked up and on the David Letterman show (oh, I mean the Late Show with...) were three ordinary, seriously looking guys talking television tech. geek speak. What was a little shocking and sad is that I understood the terminology they were bandying about. Eeeek! I chuckled at the short skit, and at myself. Man, I'm a geek!