OK, I clicked on one of my own Blogsnob links and got sucked into a cool quiz. (Blogsnob is the last link under my Blogs of... category to the right, it has a little BS next to it and changes constantly)
I'm still amazed at how close some of these quizzes come, though I'm not nearly as much of a doormat as I used to be, thank goodness...
20 Questions to a Better Relationship
Expressive: 3/10
Practical: 9/10
Physical: 4/10
Giver: 6/10
You are a RPIG--Reserved Practical Intellectual Giver. This makes you a Rock of Gibraltar.
You are loyal, kind, thoughtful and conscientious. You're a good person. You make everyone around you happier and better, even if you yourself are not at your happiest or best. You just care so much about your friends and loved ones that you can't help giving them everything of yourself. It can wear you out, but you'd never let on.
You're successful, smart and fun to be with, but your self-esteem could use some boosting. You don't like conflict, and you don't like demanding things for yourself, so you can feel unappreciated. But then you wonder if you don't deserve to be appreciated. You do!
You have many small crushes, but it takes you ages to get to a serious stage with someone. You get so caught up second-guessing yourself and worrying if the other person really *likes* likes you that you never dare to make the first move. Generally you end up with another clever RPIG who knows one when s/he sees one. This adds up to one long courtship. Fortunately this also adds up to one long marriage.
You would never cheat. You would never hurt anyone's feelings. You are so sympathetic and give so many second chances that it takes a lo-o-ong time for anyone to get on your bad side.
Your only problem is you can be *too* thoughtful -- you can end up worrying and getting hung up over nothing.
You may be a boy scout. (I was a girl scout...)
Of the 26397 people who have taken this quiz, 6.2 % are this type.
I finally got around to adding MT-Blacklist to my weblog, I seem to have become a target for spammers lately, just killed a ton of them tonight (so all of you idiots bite me).
If any of my nice friendly readers have any problem adding comments, let me know and I'll check it out... The whole thing seemed pretty simple to install and configure, but you never know.
The new version of MovableType is supposed to come with that plugin already installed, but I haven't been able to afford to upgrade yet (and I haven't the time to mess with a major overhaul right now anyway).
Just saw my little moon cycle chart (scroll down to see) and noticed it really is a full moon. That would explain some of the weirdness that seems to be flying around the internet and eBay recently...
Inspired and plagiarized from Fluffy Battle Kitten
Thirteen random things you like:
Twelve movies that you like watching:
Eleven TV shows you watch (current faves):
Ten things about you [physically]:
Nine things about you [emotionally, mentally, spiritually]:
Eight favorite foods/drinks:
Seven things you wear daily:
Six things that annoy you:
Five things you touch everyday:
Four good bands/artists:
Three places you go regularly:
Two possessions that you love
One person you could spend the rest of your life with
Homework: A Household Meme current questions...
Pets: are they worth the added housework? How much extra work around the house (besides the work required for their regular care) do your pets create for you? Do, or did, you factor in housework when deciding to get a pet? Do the benefits outweigh the headaches, at least on most days?
They do create more housework, especially dogs, but the rest of the physical upkeep is one of the things that's making us really think hard about getting another dog. My health is unstable and my husband wants another big dog, we had two dogs (9 years and 16 years) and are kind of taking a break right now. I worry that I won't be able to keep up with a dog and a cat, because we spoil our pets rotten and proper care of a large dog is a lot of work. Our cat sheds amazingly little (she's a short-haired Burmese) and the main effort required with her is keeping her occupied and exercised, she's as hyper as a Border Collie and wants to play 24/7, she brings toys into the bedroom while I sleep in hope.
We had two outdoor dogs for nine years till one passed and the other (a black Lab) gradually became an indoor dog. She shed like crazy and we had another cat at the time also who also shed, so black & white hairs were floating around the house and my husband was vacuuming daily (he's a vacuuming fanatic so I let him). As our dog got older and it was harder for her to get up and down we had a LOT more housework for the last year or two (and were constantly worried about leaving the house even to go eat dinner) so it was a lot of stress but of course it was worth it. (See Furry Family Members for more info and photos of our pets)
I actually read on the internet that Labs are very heavy shedders and silkier haired Golden Retrievers shed less. My parents had Goldens, but they were always outside so I don't know it that's true or not. But Labs shed a lot more than you'd imagine.
us other pets that come and go so compared to her I've got it really easy.
The kitty knocks some of the litter out of her box, and occasionally throws up somewhere but is not bad at all compared to our last cat who we sometimes referred to as Exorcist Kitty and had a preference for sofas and beds. She is the first cat we've had that has her claws but she's very good about using her post except when she gets bored and wants attention. We keep a throw on the sofa for her to climb and to catch any hair.
The handiest tool I've found is a battery-operated kitty scoop that makes cleaning the litterbox much faster (it vibrates and shakes itself). I know it sounds weird, but it really works.
And then there's always the pest-control advantage of having a cat, especially in the swampy South.
But the main stress of owning a pet for me has always been the fact that I worry about them constantly. Yes, even the cat. I could never have children, I'd never let them leave the house...
Homework: A Household Meme Week 27 questions...
(I'm on a roll... and avoiding work ;-)
Which are your preferences? What do you actually have?
Carpet or hardwood floors? Carpet is comfier but hardwoods are prettier. Hardwoods with rugs on them? Most of our house is hardwoods, just the den and hall are carpeted.
Blinds or curtains? I like to use both together, but I like the way curtains look. Especially curtains with sheers. We have both blinds and curtains in the bedroom to block the light, and the cheesy blinds that were in the house when we bought it up everywhere else but the living room picture window which has a really old curtain. I'd like to get new everything in the house, some nice blinds that actually block the light. And get rid of our horrid vertical blinds in the den!
Tiles or sheet linoleum? Don't like either. Linoleum is ugly and tile is too hard (and hard to keep clean). Our kitchen has linoleum, I want to replace it with Pergo or wood actually.
Paint or wallpaper? Paint, I hate wallpaper. We have one wall in our living room with flowery paper that needs to be torn off, but most of it is covered with bookshelves. And the bathroom has a sloppy wallpaper job the previous owners did that's coming undone now.
Even more word association games, actually done on time, Wednesday Mind Hump
Unconscious Mutterings for this week
Haven't done a meme in a long time...
The final episode for awhile? I hope so (as does Sparky), but I'm supposed to give the mystery tooth another month and check back in if it's still hurting. (And the crown still has temporary cement on it) I got my final crown put on today, ouch. I was worried when I went in because I had such a bad reaction last time to the shot, so we tried pulling the temporary crown off without any anesthesia, which I wouldn't recommend.
So he gave me a lightweight shot, which didn't do a damn thing, it still hurt like hell. It's all metal sensitivity, I wouldn't mind having root canals on all of my molars just to kill all of the over sensitivity in my teeth. It's throbbing even now. Looks pretty, though, it's porcelain over gold. So now you can only see like four gold crowns when I open my mouth, three are all on one side which looks kind of strange but oh well. For some reason my front teeth have been really sensitive the last few days, just to air and cold, I may have to get some Sensodyne to use for a little while.
So other than the aching mystery tooth, the only thing I'd like to get done to my teeth is filling in some gaps in the front teeth that I've acquired from grinding. Besides sucking in air when I drink it looks a little too Madonna-esque. I really need to get my teeth re-straightened but after spending all of my teens in braces just to have them all move back forward it hardly seems worth it. Damn, I forgot to take my old nightguard in to show him. It's very close to fitting even though it's like five years old, except for one crown my last dentist put on a cuspid that made it bigger "to make my smile look better", which I didn't know till after he'd done it. (His work is what I've been having repaired and redone the last few months) But I've had several nightguards and can't keep any of them in, they drive me nuts but it's getting expensive replacing my crowns every 4 or 5 years from the grinding.
I was looking at websites recently and came across b4rb.com (ooh, she's changed her webdesign again, here is the very cool pic she had up last time), which has a very busy but interesting design, it's hard to load in some of my browsers. Opera is not loading the new design (though it worked with the last one), Netscape is loading it OK, now defunct Explorer for Mac won't load it at all. But the reference I'm trying to make is she has a problem with having a smaller than normal lower jaw (which gives her problems such as sleep apnea, see her June 16th entry, can't link to it for some reason) and after reading it and looking at some of her photos I realized I have that problem also. She does have me beat, though. I always thought it was just my overbite but I actually do have a small mouth and small lower jaw also. I also have TMJ so I can't open my mouth very wide (no jokes please, Sparky makes enough already). I think she's British, again no jokes please, I'm Irish-British-German and have the teeth and thin skin to prove it also ;-)
I remember when I was a teen and we'd have family photos done I'd always try and slide my lower jaw forward for the photos to try and look a little better, which actually made for a few very odd looking photos. I was editing some photos from one of our parties this weekend and noticed all of the photogenic girls have wide mouths and big smiles with lots of teeth, I have neither (sigh). At least I have cheekbones still.. I wonder if I have sleep apnea? I've never slept worth a damn in my life, and my husband claims I do snore some. Now he actually DOES have sleep apnea, I listen to him snore until he wakes himself up each night. He has to sleep most of the night sitting up, I can't sleep like that...
I need a caricature, though I really like my angel and spooky little girl logos I'm using on my site now a lot. I used to be an artist, you'd think I could do that sort of thing easily enough myself... Sparky just snored himself awake. Usually about this time of night he'll talk in his sleep, which is always unnerving. I used to sleepwalk as a kid but I've never talked in my sleep. I haven't been able to afford my Ambien the last week, so my sleep has suffered, though I've done better the last two days because Sparky has deliberately been keeping my bedroom doors closed (they're usually cracked to let the cat in and out), and he's been trying to restrain himself from coming in and telling me things when I'm sound asleep. He's actually brought newspaper articles in and read them off to me with a flashlight. I keep telling him besides waking me up, I don't remember anything he told me later. He went off to see a movie today (AVP) and the kitty woke me up at noon scratching at the door. I like having her in the bedroom when she'll lay down and sleep with me, but when she's hyper she tries to get in the blinds and plays with the cords for the draperies.
Not that I mind typing in the nice little boxes on my Movable Type menu, but I thought it would be nice to be able to make notes and type really long entries offline in Appleworks. Then I pasted it, previewed, all good... went back to save and ackk!! All my quotes and apostrophe's had turned into this:
& # 8 2 1 7 ; (without the spaces, of course)
It displayed correctly, apparently being HTML, but it looked awful on my end. And who knows if it looks OK on PCs, etc., I can't test for all platforms, I'm on a Mac.
So I tried saving it as plain text, RTF, in Word, in TextEdit... they all copied and pasted just the same. I could save it as HTML and it seemed to work, but only the stuff newly typed, and I got to look at the formatting which is distracting.
Finally found in the prefs "use smart quotes" and it seems to have solved the problem. It didn't convert my existing document, but it let me go in and retype the apostrophe's on Appleworks then pasted them correctly into MT.
Just a ramble, I'm tired tonight. Here's hoping that when I close and reopen the document, and restart the program that it stays nice for me.
Addendum - Out of curiousity, I was flipping through some of my archive pages (I'm trying to figure out how to make some of them just quotes instead of the full entry), and found where I had some open italics, and lots of little diamonds with question marks in them where I had a space after a URL. Couldn't see those with IE, but Opera shows everything a little differently. Started correcting them but then my eyes gave out, more things for my to do list...
I often am not sure who I am. Online and in person. I've been married twice but never changed my name though the Social Security department so legally I've only actually had one name. But I've had bank accounts with three (actually four counting my business checking) names, driver's licenses with two names, my health insurance is in my married name, but my homeowner's and car insurance are in my maiden name still. So when people ask me my name, I'm sometimes not sure how to respond.
I also have a long first name and go by the diminutive, though I have always called my brother by his full name. Just to add to the confusion, my father goes by his middle name, which is also my brother's middle name. My husband also goes by his middle name. But with banks and ATM cards, etc., I use my full name. I don't really like my full name, but my middle name is very plain so I don't use it. Though when I was in trouble my dad would call me by both names (gulp). Or when I wasn't, he would often use the diminutive of BOTH names.
I have a confusing last name but I'm hesitant to give it up. It only has two syllables but has a lot of consonants in it, including an X, which for some reason blows people's minds and renders them unable to pronounce it without making it into three syllables. My husband's name only has one syllable, which seems easy enough, but it's plural and people tend to drop the S at the end. You should see the odd assortment of free labels I get in the mail. One actually had my husband's first name and my last name, which I still haven't figured out.
My husband has begun leaning on to me to legally change my name to his, even though I do go by it in most situations. I'm hesitant to lose it, though. I'm also not really fond of hyphenating it, which is what I did last time on my driver's license. It would be confusing for things like my medical and pharmacy records, which have been switched over to my married name in the last few years since we no longer have insurance through my last job. The doctor's office has enough trouble locating my records without giving them a different letter to file them under.
I tried to change my name this time on my TDL and the new rule is you have to go through Social Security first now. I think when I do go into the SS office, I'm just going to have them add my married name to the end of my name, with no hyphen, but I want to keep my maiden name in the fray also.
I began working at my last away from home job when I was married to my first husband. I had also worked at the company before I was married, as had my brother, and my dad had recently retired after 20+ years as an executive, so our family name was well known and loved. Everyone that had been there for more than about five years knew my dad, he was one of the good people, who had been there in the days before the mergers, layoffs and imported out-of-state executives. The tenured folks all knew him as a nice man who was also very fair and competent. Plus his name was on their checks for years. Since I had never changed my name through Social Security, I had to go to work under my maiden name. And that was fine with me, actually. Then I divorced, and transferred back to Houston and went to work at the corporate offices where my dad had worked and everyone knew me. And my husband waited seven years to propose, so I had almost 15 years of working under the same name and didn't really think about changing it while I was there.
I'm not having kids, and it's unlikely my brother will be either, so we're literally the last of our family name. It's very obscure nationwide, and I'm told it was Americanized upon immigrating from Ireland, and from what I've researched, it's also scarce overseas. The story is the boat sank on the way over, so many of our ancestors didn't make it across the ocean. My brother and I are adopted, but still, I used to actually have my name on my license plate out of pride. (Wouldn't do it now, though)
My husband is also the last of his line. His sister had two daughters, but they go by their father's name. My husband's middle name is actually his mother's family's last name, just to add to the confusion. But that line has continued on.
I have a business DBA. And for even more confusion, on the internet I really lose track of who I am. I have mine and my husband's names for eBay, several domains that I receive mail through, Yahoo and Gmail accounts (which I rarely check), and I'm alternately known to some of my online-only friends by my real name, and Morticia and sometimes Tish. All of my domain emails come through my cable modem account (which is in my maiden name as is the cable bill) and into one giant inbox. I get hundreds of emails a day, which are mostly spam. I get eBay emails for me and my husband (he buys things, I buy and sell), I get emails for each of my domains, emails for his business (I do all of the email and computer work for both of us). I have a home address and a PO Box. Our phone number is actually a forwarded number because my husband wanted to hold on to his old number when we moved. And we have a fax number. And a cell phone...
So if you ask me what my name is and I give you a blank stare for a moment, you'll know the reason why.
I must be in a particularly dark mood lately, all of my recent music has been screaming, wailing, and potentially violent women, lucky Sparky, huh? And no, I haven’t gotten Courtney Love’s newest CD yet, though I admit to being a huge fan of Live Through This.
I’m currently obsessed with The Dresden Dolls, who I found at one of Borders listening stations, however they didn’t have the right CD in the slot so I ended up getting it at Best Buy instead on a whim without hearing it. The description at Borders was ‘fans of PJ Harvey will like it’, which is true I suppose. I hadn’t heard any of PJ Harvey’s newer stuff, the only CD I own of hers is from the early 90’s (Rid of Me), and the lead singer Amanda Palmer does have a deep, strong, dark-edged voice, and she has the same raw emotion. There’s also a little bit of Nina Hagen in the mix also.
We were at Borders again tonight and I actually did listen in on PJ Harvey’s latest, from the few tracks I heard before being dragged away to check out, she sounds as if she’s mellowed out a lot. I hope the same does not happen with The Dresden Dolls, this is the freshest, most original CD I’ve heard in ages. The female vocalist also plays piano (big fave instrument of mine), and she pounds away with the ferocity of Tori Amos or even Nina Simone.
The cover art (and name) originally caught my attention, it looked very 30’s cabaret but with a gothic/punk slant. The actual music is not particularly dark, more sarcastic and sometimes angry, but it does honestly sound like gothic cabaret punk. It’s not anywhere close heavy metal at all, but for weird some reason Jack Off Jill comes to mind, though actually Switchblade Symphony would be a much better comparison. The lyrics and music are all over the place but flow together nicely, from the whimsy and heartbreak of “Coin-Operated Boy”, the sarcasm of “Good Day”, the smart psychotic punk energy of “Girl Anachronism”, and a retro ballad worthy of Meatloaf with “The Jeep Song”. Every song on the album is amazing and redeems my faith in current music.
But listen for yourself, the first playing sort of caught me off guard because it was so different, but now the majority of the album is stuck in my head. And visit their gorgeous website, there are photos, downloads, videos, lyrics and more. I’d love to see them in concert, there is a video of “Girl Anachronism” on the CD and they look as wild as they sound, it looks like they’re scheduled to be on Jimmy Kimmel Live on August 19th so “check your local listings” as they say.
Speaking of talk shows, I saw Sonic Youth on either Letterman or Conan a few weeks ago and they played a track from their new album Sonic Nurse which got me hooked and I had to go out and get it. I have one of their 90’s albums also (Experimental Jet Set...) and thought they were good but they really have a deeper, richer more listenable sound now. I’m not big on guitar haze music usually, but this album will stick with you. It might be my imagination, but the recurring hook, which starts with the “hit”, “Unmade Bed”, and seems to continue through the album, reminds me or The Cars “Moving in Stereo”, but I’m a big 1980’s New Waver and part of my brain never got past 1984 musically so I’m predisposed to hearing strange things like that.
More weird and wonderful female vocal fronted albums I’ve recently been obsessed with include the Yeah Yeah Yeahs Fever To Tell, Pretty Girls Make Graves The New Romance, and The Sounds Living in America. I’m a girl band fan, I admit it.
I also got some free credit from Amazon and picked up an early Kim Deal side project, The Amps. The music is good but the recording sounds a little too garagey (that’s not a word, sorry). I had been on a Pixies, Breeders & Belly kick lately so I thought I’d pick up this one too. I think I’m going to need to break it in a bit more to get used to it. Did I mention I never listen to the radio anymore? I actually don’t even have the stations set in my car radio, I’d rather discover my music over the internet and from word of mouth.
Just for the heck of it, here are my thoughts on my "new" car. Please note, this is from the point of view of a 5'1" small female who has never owned anything put two door sports & compact cars and my comparison point is a 1991 two-door Cutlass. I'm still getting used to having a full-sized, four door car, from maneuvering it through parking lots to getting it into my garage without scraping anything. Memories of my mom driving her gigantic station wagon and having to pull into our driveway and then make a full 180 degree turn into our garage. I would stand in the garage and try and direct her in while she piloted an enormous boat of a car. I learned to drive in a boat also, my dad's 1970's Impala, but my own first car was a 1979 Camaro, which was much easier to parallel park (and had plastic bumpers so it I bumped into someone it wasn't tragic).
The 255 hp engine was another big selling point for me, being a speed freak, driving in Houston you need a car that can get out of the way in an emergency if needed, drivers here are nuts and the percentage of trucks and SUVs on the road is very high. The engine even looks beautiful, the fluid reservoirs are clearly marked, see through and color coded and the engine block is gorgeous. The acceleration on this car is amazing, I'd love to be able to get it out where I can really test it, but long stretches of open road aren't easily available any more. Years ago, especially when I worked nights and would be the only one out I could get my cars to well over 100 mph on the freeways, but there is too much 24/7 traffic now. And I'd like to keep my driving record as clean as possible since I'm now paying for collision.
My 6 foot plus husband is quite comfortable in the passenger seat as is my 75 year old father, and the three back seat passengers I've had so far have all told me the ride in the back seat is excellent. The suspension is firm but not teeth rattling, and not too cushy. You can feel the road, the handling is excellent, though the turning radius is not very good. But again it's a long car with 17 inch tires. The center of gravity is a little higher than I'd like in turns, and the driver's seat a little too firm with not much lateral support to keep you in place, but perhaps that will break in the more I drive it. And, in the future, I might alter the tires and suspension to lower the car a bit. The steering wheel is fairly ergonomic, but I need to learn to hold it slightly different. For years I've been driving with my right hand where I can steer and honk if needed and it's a bit difficult with this wheel. I also tend to drive with both feet (after having a standard transmission) and the pedals are a little bit closer together than I'd like.
Visibility is excellent except for the high head rests (all the cars have them now, it's for "our own good"). The two door cars I test drove all had very poor rear and side visibility, though if they made a Maxima in a two door I might have chosen it. The Honda Accords I tested had decent leg room in the two doors but no visibility, and no leg room in the four door models. The automatic dimming rear mirror is wonderful, it cuts all of the glare out, day and night. Even the tinted tops of the windshield are just right for blocking out glare. The dashboard controls are all very easy to see even with the steering wheel tilted all the way up, the speed and tachometer are nice big gauges and very sporty looking. The car is taller than I'd like, but it is a nice change to be able to see more at intersections without being completely dwarfed by the other vehicles. Both side view mirrors are electric and adjust from a switch on the dashboard, which is nice.
Being short, I can't reach anything in the back seat (or even on the floor) without moving my electric seat all the way back. I've bought a little mesh tote bag to put behind the passenger seat so I can throw my CD case, extra umbrella, etc., into it and reach back and pull it over to me. On my last car I could push both front seats forward easily to get back there. The only logical place I could find to put a trash bag was looped over the back of the center console. If I didn't have a front seat passenger regularly I could probably figure out a bit more ergonomic setup, and leave more things on the front seat and floor. The center console is roomy, it actually has two trays in it, and the drink holder can hold either small bottles or my large quart size of Evian, which I choose to keep with me. There are two power outlets, which will be good for traveling and for photography trips for my camera's battery charger. There is also a handy overhead holder for sunglasses.
The steering wheel does tilt but it is so minimal it's not worth bothering with except to initially set it for driving. The only reason I even mention that is because I am short and have to move the seat about 3/4 of the way up to reach the pedals. But I don't have to move it all the way, thank goodness. That was one of the selling points for me, that I actually had a bit of legroom without having the dashboard in my lap and the windshield right in my face. The adjustable electric driver's seat adjust nicely and I think the lumbar support will be great on trips. I would have liked to have the programmable memory for the seat, but it's very quick to readjust without too much fidgeting. My biggest gripe is probably that there is no place to rest my arm on the armrest. There is a sort of sunken tray where my elbow should go, because I have the seat pulled forward. I've actually tried stuffing one of my gel desk pads into it, which would work on a long trip, but then there is no place to grab the door to pull it closed. I'm also still freaked out over the fact that there are air bags, not good for short people, and I'm also a control freak about being able to see to steer in an emergency. I didn't actually want automatic brakes either, but they are another standard feature you can't get away from today. I haven't had a braking emergency yet so I have no idea if they will help or hinder me.
The air conditioning is first rate and fabulously adjustable for someone who's personal thermostat varies from minute to minute. And even with the 100 degree weather we've had this month I've been able to keep the car comfortable. The interior lighting is terrific with one overhead and two map lights. The overhead light can be set to automatic, off or on. This actually matters to me because on most of my previous cars I would actually cut the cord that led to the door so the light would NOT come on every time I opened the door. I used to have to take my own car to work a lot and would often sit in it outdoors at night working security, and the light attracted attention and mosquitoes. I still run a lot of late night errands and not having the light pop on when I don't want it to is a nice option. Haven't tried the rear window defroster yet, though I'm looking forward to it. It's so humid here it should come in handy year round with condensation. I'm still getting used to the windshield washer controls, which give you almost too many options. Same for the headlight controls, which go from auto (on at night) to running lights to on again. There are also fog lamps. The super-bright Xenon headlights seem to be upsetting some of the other drivers, but they really improve night time visibility, which I have been having problems with to the point of not even wanting to drive at night in the last few years.
The stereo system is very good, but I haven't been able to get it as fine tuned as I'd like. (I'm really finicky about front/rear speaker balance, etc.). It would be nice to have the premium sound system, which has a CD changer and automatic road sound volume adjustment. Mine has the standard 1 CD, AM/FM and a cassette player. The volume and CD track controls are on the wheel, though, which is handy. And the stereo is fairly intuitive and very easy to reach.
What else?? This is the first car I've had with an alarm and remote entry, which makes me feel very special, though it's still a little alarming to have the car honk at me every time I set the alarm. Someone on one of the review pages was complaining about the trunk hinges but I'm not sure I understand why. When you pop the trunk remotely it opens just an inch or two, but I actually prefer that so everyone at the supermarket isn't looking at my car and also when it's raining it's a good idea not to have the trunk spring wide open. It's not a particularly large trunk, but the back seats do fold down for long items, and it actually holds quite a lot. There is a cargo net, which I haven't really bothered with yet, but will probably come in handy.
The exterior is very attractive, sporty and as unique as a new model car can be these days. The alloy wheels are very nice, no more lost hubcaps, I just hope no one steals them. Years ago that was a constant problem for cars with sports wheels, we'd often find them up on concrete blocks in the mornings at the apartments where I worked, but I think they are so common now that hopefully no one will mess with them. And I have a garage to keep my car in also.
Now my husband is thinking about getting a newer car so I'll probably be researching cars for him soon. I noticed when I was looking that one of the full-sized cars, I think it was the Toyota Avalon, actually has an optional bench front seat, which he just loves, and being tall would be fine for him. My dad's Impala had a bench seat. I remember me on the driver's side and my dad with his knees pulled up to his chest and his hands braced on the dashboard while I practiced driving. We may have to stick with bucket seats after all...
Quick entry, more later when I have more time to write...
My 30 day Carmax warranty expired last week so, being a responsible adult, I made an appointment to have it checked out on the very last day of the warranty period. But I had to be there at 8am, which served me right for waiting till the last minute. I could only find three things for them to check out - the windshield washers weren't quirting even though there was fluid, the light was out in the glove box, and I wanted to make sure my headlights were aligned because people keep flashing me and one of my pet peeves is being blinded by other people's lopsided headlights.
I got there at like 8:05 (which is amazing for me, trust me) checked the car in and went to sit in their waiting room with about 5 other people. I'd brought a magazine, but CNN headline news was on so I alternated between looking up at the TV and looking down at my magazine (Real Simple, easy to scan). Being more of a reader than a watcher the scroll kept getting my attention, weirdest one that went by:
Saw a commercial for (I think) Dell with new college roommates, a little goth girl all in black meets a tan blonde vallery girl type, but it's OK because they use the same computer.
But, before my butt could give out (I'm not good at sitting in waiting room chairs anywhere, if I can't put my feet up under me I don't last long), the service guy came back and said "You're ready to go!". Being my mother's daughter, I had brought provisions for several hours worth of waiting - water, two snack bars, a big wad of kleenex, and my magazine - but they finished in less than an hour and a half. Which is great because my nose was running the entire time and I know the other people in the waiting room were glad to see me go (I went through almost all the kleenex before I left).
A hose was disconnected for the washers, the dead light bulb was changed and the headlights were fine, just really bright. Now if the car will stay true to Nissan's excellent mechanical history and be a good trouble-free car for the next ten years or so, I've got it made :-)
I also filled the gas tank up for the first time the other day. It must be huge, it took $26 worth of Premium! I think the most I ever put in my last car was about $18, and that was when gas prices were at the $2 mark. But I parked next to an older Cutlass Calais the same size as my old one when I was getting groceries on the way home from Carmax, and the new car really dwarfs my old one. It's like three feet longer, it's taller and wider also. Perhaps I should have gotten an Altima (which was what I was originally looking at in the Nissan line), I think it would have been easier to drive and might have handled a little livelier, but I think the extra room will come in handy since I am the main driver in out family and I know my passengers will appreciate it. And, come the worst, safety-wise it never hurts to have a bigger car.
I don't care what her critics say, Teresa rocks:
Someone please tell me why anyone would spend like two hours leaving 144 spam comments on a weblog and not even put the correct URL for their website? Good grief, like I'm not going to notice that many new comments...
We went out to eat with my parents tonight, it's nice being able to chauffeur them in my own car. Especially right now, my mom is recovering from a pelvic fracture from fainting from too much blood pressure medicine and my dad's back is just giving him hell. He's going to go to a pain management guy starting this week, he's had several back surgeries and a hip replacement in recent years and is not getting any help from his orthopedic doc, he also got overmedicated and was having dizzy spells. This new guy is an anaesthesiologist who can try some different things. I printed a bunch of literature for him on neurostimulation, which we're all hoping will work.
PLEASE let us get a President who is "interested in science" in office, and who is not a lackey to the drug companies. I'm trying to figure out this week how I'm going to pay for my four prescriptions, which even at Sam's Club's discount pharmacy prices are still going to be about $150. Sparky is telling me to just "do without" some of my medicines, especially my Ambien (which is $80 a month), but I'm not sleeping hardly at all with it so without it really scares me. I've tried several times to go without it for a week or so and I basically didn't sleep at all. I've never been a good sleeper, I think it's mostly the MS causing the problems, but any help at all is a blessing. My parents are paying a fortune for their medicines even with Medicare, and a gap policy. I think between the two of them they are also going to see a doctor about 2-3 times a week which ain't cheap either.
The last time one of my prescriptions expired the doctor tried to get me to come in for an $85 visit (even though I just had my physical a few months ago), and it took three phone calls to get her to renew the damn thing over the phone. I have about 8 prescriptions that I've been taking for years now, it's not like I'm asking for anything new and exciting. And I think I've just realized when I switched pharmacies last time that the new pharmacy is not giving me Fiorinal with codeine, just Fiorinal, which might explain why it hasn't really been working as well. Of course, that's the one I had to fight for over the phone, my doctor has a bad habit of not writing things exactly correct. I also need to see if I can get my Prozac split into two 20 mg pills a day instead of one 40 mg, I think the giant dose is making me sleepy.
However, I did find one way to save on two of my really mega-expensive medicines. Merck, who makes my migraine medicine (Maxalt) and the only allergy medicine I can take that doesn't contain an antihistamine (Singulair) has a patient assistance program that actually works. Because we are both self-employed and don't have insurance or Medicare, I am actually eligible for free medicine from them! And I really, honestly got it, three months worth of each. Maxalt is about $100 for 6 tablets (which is considered one months worth) and the Singulair is over $100 for a months worth. I wish the Ambien people has a program ;-) The most expensive medicine I ever got was some weekly self-administered (shudder) shots for my MS, which were about $2000 a month (I had real insurance at the time). Lucky for my finances, they didn't help me and actually made me feel worse.
My dental bills (and Sparky's soon-to-come ones, he's not in pain so he's spacing his visits further apart) are going to be the price of a semi-decent used car I'm afraid. Or a really killer Mac setup with all the bells and whistles. I'm thinking now the dentist must have hit a nerve or something with the injection on my last visit because the area he worked on is STILL numb and tender. I need to call his office again and see if there's anything they can do about this. And the mystery tooth is still worrying me.
My 30 day Carmax warranty is about to expire and I need to call them like today to get a few little things checked. Supposedly I still have part of the original manufacturer's warranty left also, it was 3 years and the car is a 2002, but the salesman wasn't sure how many months were actually left on it. One of my windshield washers isn't squirting, the light in my glove box is not working, and I think my headlights might be a bit out of alignment. It has Xenon headlights, even brighter than halogen, so I don't want to blind people. They're very nice with my night vision problems, though (which are mostly RK related), driving at night isn't as much of a nightmare anymore. I need to post my review of the car, just to get it out of my head. And speaking of cars, my first pricey insurance payment is due on Monday (gulp), I was paying just liability on the antique car but upped it to collision on this one. At least I have a good driving record, knock on wood.
I've almost gone through my first tank of gas, I think the tripometer is at 200+ miles or so, so even with the bigger V6 I seem to be getting much better gas mileage than my old 4 cylinder car did, which is nice. I haven't even tried the remote gas lid release yet, I guess I should do that before I take it in for service.
Excitement for today - I leaned on the panic button on my remote accidentally tonight while the car was in the garage still, scared the living crap out of both of us.
Geez, what a pain... I can't believe my face is still numb and swollen after almost a week, this is just SO not fair. I went to the grocery store tonight and got more soft food, flan, ice cream, danish... all the things I really need to be eating. And the mystery tooth on the opposite side is still hurting, my mouth feels so weird. Something must be infected. I'd like to know what it's like to not be in major pain or discomfort for just one bloody day, whine, whine, whine.
It's a full moon tonight and I have PMS also. Even the cat's feeling bad tonight, one of her eyes is red and itchy, poor thing. I've wiped her eye and face several times but she's still squinty. The grocery store had just two checkout lanes open and was packed. They have several self-checkout lanes open, but they all had very confused people standing in them waiting for assistance and I had a tomato and an onion to buy with no UPC bars and wasn't quite sure how to do that and didn't want to be one of the confused flashing light people. (Turns out you can self-checkout with produce, I'll have to try next time because I usually get along pretty well with the self-service lane). I wanted to get some Glyoxide (that sweet peroxide gel) for my mouth but they didn't have any. I'm tired of salt water, maybe I'll just swish some regular peroxide tonight. It's one of my "cure everything" remedies. I put it on wounds (warning, it can make scarring worse), I put it in my ears when they are aching and making me dizzy (probably not a good idea either), and have even gargled with it (just don't swallow the stuff!).
I was expecting over $100 worth of eBay payments in my PO box today, but only got $30, the big one is sitting at the post office waiting on a signature. It's registered and arrived on a Saturday so I can't claim it till Monday, oh well. Some idiot in a wrecker flashed his fancy strobing headlights at me tonight on the way home because he thought I had my high beams on, my new car has some sort of super bright headlights which I'm sure are really annoying to other drivers. I would have flashed him back, but I had a psycho in a wrecker chase me once for like 5 solid minutes because he thought I gave him the bird (I actually waved thanks at him after I had to cut in front of him because of sudden street construction) so I try not to piss wrecker drivers off. I used to have to work with them a lot as a security officer and they tend to be sort of defensive. And carry things like shotguns and crowbars with them. Not that I blame them.
I've actually never given anyone the finger, it's a very weird gesture to me. I'll curse at them, I'll honk at people (only if they do something really stupid, I'm not suicidal), but the whole finger thing is not a normal reflex for me. I'm not really coordinated fingerwise anyway, I could never play the guitar well. I can give you the Vulcan peace sign without thinking about it, but I'm a geek ;-)