Leap Day 2000 was a pretty special day. It was of course, one of those exceedingly rare Century Year Leap Days (they come about only every 4th century, that is, once every 400 years) - but even more unusual than that, Kirsten finally got her Cabrio.

Anyone who knows Kirsten knows the story of the search for the Cabrio and doesn't need to hear it again. (Those who don't know Kirsten don't know the story and they don't need to hear it at all.) It is enough to say that it had been going on for quite some time, and that on this particular day, it ended.

She'd found a good price at a dealer out near Tysons. As soon as I got home from work we set out in the Explorer, with the dogs, to collect the car. The salesman was a young guy named Ben. He was a really nice guy -- affable, straightforward, low-key. He was so unlike the usual car salesman that he seemed entirely unsuited for the job and I found myself wondering if he actually makes any money at it. Here Ben is schooling Kirsten in the mysteries of the Cabrio's 5-part, 4 pouch, leather bound owner's manual.

Once Ben was satisified that Kirsten was worthy to own a Cabrio (the cashier's check seemed to help), he turned over the keys. In this picture, Kirsten is posing with the symbol of her ownership. (Kirsten notes her nice manicure. I for one agree that she could be a hand model.) The key is one of those fancy ones with a microchip in it that tells the car it's okay to start. You might be able to see it embedded near the base of the metal part. They also gave her a couple of cloth keychains, I guess so Kirsten can wear the key around her neck, like government employees wear their IDs.

Just a few minutes later, Kirsten was sitting in her new car.

She let me into the passenger side (i.e. Elvis's seat) long enough to take a photo of her from that side. Her smile was so bright I didn't need to use a flash.

Mike Phillips had been storing his Alfa in Kirsten's garage. As Kirsten and I set out for home, she asked me to collect Mike in the (now disfavored) Explorer and deliver him to her house so he could move it. Meanwhile Kirsten would be showing her car off to Tad & Monica. It is a little-known feature of Century Year Leap Days that on that day, the man has to do whatever his spouse or girlfriend asks -- whatever. Kind of like a hypertrophied Sadie Hawkins Day. That is why I was willing to drive with her to Northern Virginia -- Tysons -- to get the car. Needless to say, this fact gets little mention from the people who are bound by it -- the men -- until March 1. Nevertheless I had no choice but to agree to get Mike. The Alfa had been sitting for several weeks and its battery was dead so we had to jump it. Even with the juice flowing it took a while for it to start -- it is an Alfa, after all -- and I thought this photo of Mike presented a nice counterpoint to the picture I'd taken of Kirsten only 40 minutes before. Don't feel too sorry for Mike, though. He's got a pretty nice tan for the end of February.