Mind Vomit by the ikss ~ a journal
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Friday, Oct. 03, 2003All About My Car
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�Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead�
-Lucille Ball
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
--Theodore Roosevelt, 1918
REGISTER TO VOTE
"The time is always right to do what is right"
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
"The "seven social sins": Knowledge without character,
Science without humanity,
Wealth without work,
Commerce without morality,
Politics without principles,
Pleasure without conscience,
Worship without self-sacrifice."
--Gandhi
"We have not inherited the world from our forfathers -
We have borrowed it from our children."
--Kashmiri, proverb
1. What vehicle do you drive?
A 2002 Nissan Sentra SER
2. How long have you had it?
About 18 months
3. What is the coolest feature on your vehicle?
It�s fast...and cute...and it looks good on me.
4. What is the most annoying thing about your vehicle?
Man, where do I start? Right now it�s the fact that it�s been recalled because of some intake issue (mental note: call dealership and get that puppy taken care of).
I have had a lot of problems with this car, though. My theory is that I am being punished for not buying a hybrid, when I had considered doing so. Most of what has happened isn�t the fault of the car, exactly (well, except for when it broke down!). However, there have just been so many little �issues� with this vehicle which have made me decide that, even though I love it for many reasons, I am going to get a new car in probably a year or so.
I had my 1989 Toyota Corolla for eleven years and 200,000 miles and rarely had any problems at all. Maybe I was spoiled.
Here is a litany of my vehicle complaints, excepting the above-mentioned items, of course:
A. After having the car for not even a month, I got a flat tire which was not repairable. Ring up $110 for a new tire.
B. Within the first month, I had no fewer than three people ding my car in various parking lots. My car is red. Those little friggn� dings and scratches show up in a major way.
C. While those dings and scratches have since been buffed out, I have received several more in the last year. I am now one of those annoying people who use up two parking spaces, whenever possible. The good news is, I tend to park way out in the boonies so that I can do this without pissing anyone off.
D. The driver�s seat is extremely uncomfortable. First of all � not enough cushioning. I would love to think this pain that develops in my butt after I�ve been driving for an hour or so is due to the complete lack of fat on my ass, but we all know that�s not the case. Secondly � The way my hands now have to grip the steering wheel because of the way it�s designed causes my arm and neck muscles to become very tight and painful. This, too, happens every time I am in the car for longer than an hour or so.
E. I don�t get good enough gas mileage, especially in this day and age. 27 mpg is just not good enough.
5. If money were no object, what vehicle would you be driving right now?
Well, if money were no object I would most likely by a Mercedes Kompressor convertible or one of those sporty little Lexus� (Lexi?). However, I really should by a hybrid and that�s what my plan is for my next car purchase.
~~~
Speaking of my car � I made the guys re-wash it today. Here�s the thing: We have these guys who come to our office each Friday and wash cars for whoever wants it done. These guys also offer detailing, etc. This is not free, of course. In fact, a car wash is $15. Being the nice person that I am, I tip the guys $5 for each car wash. Thus, I am paying $20 each time I get my car washed. This is a high price to pay because I am lazy and like the convenience of having them wash my car while I work. What can I say? I'm crazy like that.
Well, about a month ago I paid for a car wash and they did a really bad job. However, the guy who runs the business was not here that day, so I just assumed it was a fluke. Last week, I had the guys not only wash my car, but shampoo my carpets. You see, I spilled a Sprite all over the passenger-side carpet a couple of weeks ago and while it didn�t stain said carpet, it made it all sticky and the carpet fibers all crusty. In addition, I pointed out the fact that the Sprite had also spilled all over the passenger side door, allowing for a noisy riiiiip! sound whenever one opened said passenger side door. They charged me $30 for the wash and the shampoo; I gave them $40, which included a tip.
So anyway, they cleaned my carpets well enough. However, the door still makes the same riiiiip! sound when you open it and they did another bad car wash job. There were still bug guts on the front of my car; there was even birdie poopie on my rear window. I had three different people say to me, on Saturday: �I thought you just got your car washed...�
So this morning, I had them re-wash my car. I don�t think they were happy to do it, but hey. Do it right the first time, I say. Especially when I just paid you that much money to do so.
~~~
Listen, kids, In case you haven't heard, I volunteer for the American Red Cross a few times a month. This morning, I received the following letter from the ARC.
I have asked everyone in my company to donate items for this project. I am putting a big box in front of my office and am planing on taking all of the donations over to my local ARC branch on Nov. 6. This makes it (hopefully) convenient for my co-workers to donate to this very worthy cause.
I mention it here because I know we all care about our troops overseas and want to help in any way we can. Obviously, our troops are not going to be home for Christmas. This is a great way to share a little bit of home with them this holiday season. I urge you all to review the ARC web page and perhaps set this up at your own office. At least consider making a donation yourself.
MESSAGE FROM AMERICAN RED CROSS:
"Bringing Home to the Troops"
Navy and Marines from the Navy's First Trained Expeditionary Strike Group have been deployed for nine months and the American Red Cross would like to show them our support. We need your help in creating care packages to send to them during the holiday season.
We are now collecting NEW items of: Personal hygiene items, Games, Books, Wrapped hard candy, DVD's/Videos, CD's, Greeting Cards & envelopes, $10 pre-paid phone cards, pens, stationary, socks, cookies, Monetary donations etc.
All items must be donated by November 7th.
If you are interested or want to help, call the American Red Cross, Greater Long Beach Chapter at (562) 595-6341 ext. 233 or 239, for more information. All items and donations may be dropped off at your closest Red Cross during regular office hours.
~~~
THE DAILY MIS-LEAD
PRESIDENT BUSH'S TAX CUTS STILL NOT DELIVERING JOBS AS PROMISED
The President's claim that, "Tax relief is stimulating job creation all across the country," is not borne out by new unemployment figures released this morning, which showed the unemployment rate stayed flat at 6.1%.
The administration predicted its Jobs and Growth package would create an average of 344,000 new jobs per month. The net gain of 57,000 jobs was 287,000 jobs short of the administration's prediction. The jobs picture for many long-term unemployed continues to remain bleak, with 2.1 million workers now counted among those who have been seeking work for more than six consecutive months -- over 23% of all unemployed workers.
Read the full Mis-Lead .
~~~
Word of the Day for Friday October 3, 2003:
pejorative pih-JOR-uh-tiv, adjective:
1. Tending to make or become worse.
2. Tending to disparage or belittle.
noun: A belittling or disparaging word or expression.
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