Talking "smack" about my honey

Paul's dad called last night while I was whiling away some time on the computer.  Initially he sounded a lot like my brother.. but then he identified himself as "dad".  Luckily I had not said more than "hello" at this point (I didn't recognize the number on the caller ID beyond knowing it was an Arizona exchange).

Paul's mom was/is in the hospital again. Nothing serious I'm told.  She was feeling a bit under the weather last week and on Sunday morning asked Tom to take her in to the E.R.   Now.. I know he's probably been busy.. but can I just say how much it bothers me that they wait so long to let us know what is going on?  At any rate.. it seems it was most likely a virus, but she had some fluid retention so the doctor fiddled with her medications and kept her in for observation.  At least that is the P.R. being given to me.  She will be coming home tomorrow.

The main purpose of the call was to find out when Paul is going to be in Mesa. They had thought he was going to be there this week.  I think that was the original plan, but goodness knows nothing is set in stone in the military until you have a set of orders for it. LOL.   I told Tom that Paul was expecting to be there in  Mesa on Sunday, that I would let Paul know what was going on and I was sure that Tom and Sandy would hear from Paul as soon as he had more solid information about his trip.

So, of course I called Paul and gave him the update on his mother. I had to assure him that she was fine, it was just precautionary and they were mostly calling to find out his travel plans.  He said the same thing I thought. He was waiting to know a bit more before calling his parents. He finally had more information and is planning on calling them sometime today.

Now.. the last time that Paul was in Mesa for one of these quick trips, he was part of a group (as he will be this time) and did not have his own rental car.  His parents drove out to see him and have dinner with him. During this short trip they managed to blow out a tire on their car and had no spare.  So they ended up using a taxi to get them to Paul in time to see his demonstration (flight) and have dinner with him.   He's paranoid now about having them drive out to Mesa (about an hour drive from their house) again, so he has been pondering what to do.

This morning he catches me on line and asks how I feel about him renting a car at his own expense while he's in Mesa.  He mentions that he can rent one for between 120 and 170 for the week.  I tell him I have NO problem with him renting a car so that he can see his parents more often.. but could he please rent the cheaper car.  He says..

[10:18 A.M.]:  Yes... I am sure that I can squeeze myself into a $120 compact car.

Here's where the dissing comes in... the man is 6 ft 2 inches tall.. I totally get that the cars we buy have to allow him some comfort.. but we are talking about a rental ... it's not like he's some freakishly tall (over 6'6") giant that can't use a compact car... And it's not like he's going to be spending days and days in it.  Maybe it's just me... but I feel like he's fishing here for permission to get a bigger car.  I'm not biting the bait.  For 5 days, he can drive in a compact car.. (did I mention that the last new car HE chose was a DODGE NEON (compact car)) 

LOL.. okay.. I feel better getting that off my chest.