To Diesel or Not to Diesel

I wish I could start this post by sharing photos of our potential new home, but alas, the lease will not be signed until this weekend, so there is still a chance that things might not go as planned (but I hope not!). As soon as we've bound ourselves to a contract, I'll be back on here to share the news. What I've learned through this process? Renting is scary...at least the paperwork is! 

Well, it seems that the four of us can't get away with being well all at the same time! Dorian became suddenly feverish yesterday and I've had to keep him on regular doses of Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen to keep him feeling good. We thought we'd stay home and keep him comfortable, but the weather was surprisingly beautiful (and we needed to head to the bank anyway), so we took a walk to town centre. Myra mentioned to us during our recent meeting that England is a place where you can experience all four seasons...in one day! And she is completely right. Shortly after taking this picture with Audrey and our £1 broccoli and £1 banana loot from the farmer's market, the blue skies were gone and temperatures dropped at least 15 degrees!

It was warm enough to leave out giant parkas at home!

 For dinner, we decided to take the advice of our friend Paul (the one who used to be the Queen's guard!) and try out the British sausages that he promised would blow our minds. Paul, if you're reading this, you were...RIGHT! Maybe it was because of all the free-ranging that goes on with British animals, or maybe it's just because I bought the sausages from my favorite place in England (Waitrose)--whatever it was, we're going to have to add this meal to our weekly menu. Thanks, Paul!

So now that we might have our housing situation figured out, Stegen and I are looking into either going without a car for the next few years, or buying one to keep in case of emergencies (or Costco runs). Back in the US, diesel vehicles are few and far between. Here in England, you'll notice that most of the cars on the road are, in fact, diesel. Since I didn't know much about diesel vs petrol prior to our move, I was a little unsure about Enterprise giving us a diesel VW Golf to drive around. Then I saw the range. One small tank of diesel fuel would take us more than 550 miles?! And their engines will literally never die? Helllloooooo, diesel! Why haven't the Americans caught on to this awesome money-saving scheme yet?

Then Stegen and I sat down to watch a show and BAM--our diesel dreams were shattered. Apparently the discharge (particulates of soot and such) are damaging to the environment as well as our lungs. So the questions is: Do we choose the economical route and buy a diesel vehicle to use for the next few years? Or do we think about the future inhabitants of England (well, and the world) and try to make a "greener" choice (which also costs more "green" from our pockets)? Eh, diesel it is.