Tuesday, June 05, 2007

The Joy of Tivo, The Pain of Death
and a Really Bad Day Car-Wise

Well today was the first official day that I felt like I was done with school. You see, today was a Tuesday and that usually means school. But not today. Allow me to pause a second to relish in the joy that is summer vacation. . .

. . .

. . .

Wow. I am SO very excited!!! Even though I will be working a lot (I got my manager to finally give me more hours - - next week I have 27), my time is going to be spent doing a lot of nothing. And that makes me happy. Of course, I plan on reading some books, catching up on my TIVO'd shows (more on that later), and being active, but I will not be doing homework, or reading any Shakespeare, and certainly not venturing to AVC anytime soon. That makes me happy.

On a work-related note, I have gotten the green light to begin doing the prepatory learning modules (our training at the FL) to become an Associate Manager. It is vey exciting! It would not only mean a raise (to at least $9.50 an hour - I know it's not that great, but it IS better than minimum wage) but mucho mas horas (that means "much more hours" for you unolingual individuals. . .) as well. I'll let you know how that goest when more begins to fall into place. . .

Back to TIVO. Have I mentioned how wonderful TIVO is? When I move out (God-willing by next summer) I will be putting the price of one in my budget. I don't want to think about life without it. Yes, it is that ridiculously fantastic! Well I caught up on a few shows tonight, seeing that I had nothing else on my plate for the evening. I watched two episodes of STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP, which is airing its final episodes this summer. I am still broken up over the quick deletion of this show from NBC's schedule, but whatever. The only season has been great thus far, and I look forward to how it will end. I also sped through the last two episodes of the new FOX reality show ON THE LOT, where a bunch of aspiring filmmakers try to earn a lucrative prize that includes a million dollar movie deal. The bummer part is that the show has gotten extremely blahish - - I think I'm done with it. Yes. Yes, I am.

And then I watched this week's season premiere of HELL'S KITCHEN, which is back for its third season!!! I'm so giddy about the return of this show! I love everything about it and this season is going to be incredible - I just know it!

The TIVO was good for me tonight because I had a rough day car-wise. First off, I kissed back bumpers with a Suburban in the Mall parking lot as I left work today. He was parked behind me and to the right (smack dab in my blind spot) and we both backed up right into each other. A completely mutual 5 MPH accident. His car was fine (Being a beast of a Suburban) and mine was left with only scratches and a tiny dent near the trunk - I figured it was fine. We agreed to just leave it and not worry about info or anything like that. Well when I got home and opened my trunk just to see what had happened, I could not close it! It did not latch. Apparently, in the light tapping, the bumper was moved enough so that the latch would not engage or something like that. My dad, being the savvy body-repair man that he is, did tinker with it and got it to close - however, if I am to open it (which I will avoid at all costs) then I am going to have to slam/manipulate it into shutting again.

While he was inspecting the trunk, he also checked the air pressure on my tires. Turns out, I had a tiny nail in my front right tire and it was causing a small leak. So I hurried over to American Tire Co. before they closed at 1800. I got there around 1700 and my mom had told me it might take 10 minutes to do. That was fine with me seeing that I had not eaten all day and dinner was not quite ready anyway. So I went and I ended up being there until a little after 1800 because of the business of this place. I was pretty flustered, especially since I had not brought anything to entertain myself with (e.g. IPOD, book). I ended up talking to Heather for about twenty minutes on the phone (which was nice) and staring off into the distance for the remainder of the time. But, they fixed it, and now that's better.

Here's a new goal: I want a different car by the end of the year. I presently owe about $5500 on my car and it is worth a little bit more than that (not much, mind you). I'll be down to about $4500 by the end of 2007 and if I could somehow get $6000 for it, then I could have a nice down payment on something newer. I have had the car for almost three years now (Seems longer, though) and I certainly would not mind something newer and better (and with fewer miles!). So we'll see how that goes. . .

And now on to more bad news: on Monday morning, my mom received a call from a business colleague who informed her that her long-time associate John Brooks (I mentioned him in this post back in April 2006) had passed away from a major heart attack. I am still in shock over this. I don't know how old he was, but he could not have been older than 60. He was a brilliant and caring man who did everything he could to help those whom he liked. He is the one who gave my dad and me tickets to the Easter Sunday Lakers/Suns game (very expensive tickets just given to us). It was John and his wife who took me to my first NBA game back when I was like eight or so. He drove me down to see the Lakers and Rockets play at the old Great Western Forum. I actually don't remember anything about the game (who won, the players, any plays) but I will always remember going with them and then to the Cheesecake Factory for food. His wealth (I would say he was a multi-millionaire. . . multi-multi even!) was not obvious, as he carried himself with a humility that is rivaled by few. John gave a start to many people in this valley (and to Ed, my mom's boss) and was many people's safety blankets. It is hard to imagine him not being around anymore, even though we have not talked in a very long time. But we used to. And his role in my mom's life (through their businesses) caused her to take it very hard as well. It just sucks. I hate death.

A quick bowling note before I head out for the night: I averaged 180 over ten games last night, which is very exciting. I'm starting to learn my new ball and all the things that it does. 200 average, here I come!!!

No work for me tomorrow, but I will be there on Thursday and Friday both. . . come stop by!

Have a good Wednesday!

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