Wednesday, January 23, 2008

The Bubaru’s back and so is the bunny!

When I last saw this little dude, he was living in my 1992 Subaru Loyale.  Bourque the bunny - forever known as BuBu Bubaru Bunny. 

After a long protracted battle with two Mazda dealers, I traded in my brand-new Mazda for a brand-new Forester.  I should have gone back to Subaru instead of getting the Mazda… Oh well.  Its all done. I’ve got a nice, shiny Subaru and some poor fool is getting my Mazda.  I’d almost feel bad about it except “there’s nothing wrong with it.”  As long as the new owner doesn’t hit potholes, they’ll be just fine. *sigh*

We got some really bad news last night… I’m having a hard time comprehending what it all means and what’s going to happen.  I’ve always planned for the worst and hoped for the best - but thinking about the worst case scenario right now is making me sick to my stomach.  I don’t often buy into prayers and all that, but one of the girls in my knitting group prayed and burned candles for me when I was going through the worst of the job doodie.  Did she make it all pan out? Did my dad?  I don’t know - but I don’t doubt that it helped.

Send good vibes… please.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

No pic today

Not in a picturey type of mood right now… but am focusing on the future.

Came across this (Groundhog Day resolutions) on a few different sites and decided this might be a good idea.  I went though my old blog’s archives for 2007 and noticed that while I experienced a lot, most of it wasn’t productive and/or particularly happy.  (For some reason there were a bunch of deaths this summer - Hubby’s dad, a friend from high school, a co-worker’s baby was stillborn, and the Colonel.  And those are just the ones I can think of!)

That’s not to discount the absolutely amazing things that happened this year - Viz, Jeff, Bryan, Melanie - but 2007 was rough.

I’ve gotten a taste of 2008 and I’m pretty sure I know what I’m going to be working towards.  I’ll post the finished list on 2/2.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

3/366 - Unhappy Pooper

Apache decided he wasn’t a big fan of the shoulder deep snow.  Instead of wandering around the yard like Arsey, he sat down and wouldn’t budge an inch until I told him we were going back inside. 

Children!

*sigh*

Work is good.  Keeping busy and wondering how I’m going to get my homework done if I don’t start cracking down.  I did manage to sign up for my last two classes.  I won’t be walking in May due to a technicality, but I don’t really care.  I’ve already had a graduation ceremony and I don’t feel like waiting until ‘09 to walk with all the honor regalia.  Oh well. I’ll still be holding a graduation party at some point this summer.  Save the date cards will be in the mail soon.  Maybe.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

1/366 - Plum Island, MA

I’m about a week away from using New Hamster’s lemon law… Martin the Merry Mazdamobile the 2nd has decided he doesn’t like to keep his wheels balanced.  I got him in March and he was at the dealer in September and October to get balanced.  Then this week I spent $100 to have my favorite tire place look at them… the guy told me that if it’s the 3rd time they’ve been that out of balance I should really have the dealership take the car and keep it until they find out what’s wrong with it.

I was all set to just let it go as long as the car stayed in balance.  Until Friday morning.  I was getting onto 95, just about to shift gears when my steering wheel jerked to the right.  Like someone just gave it a good yank. I called the dealer I bought the car from and they were giving me a hard time scheduling an appointment.  Then the guy was like, oh you just drove through a puddle and lost control.  Yeah, it was raining, but do I LOOK like that kind of moron?  There was no puddle on the road.

I brought it to the dealership I almost bought the car from* and dealt with the owner today. I know he can’t replicate the jerk, I don’t even know if it’s related and I have no idea if the car will go out of balance while they have it, but he promised me they would do everything he could to repair it.  His dealership has never had a problem they couldn’t fix. While I’m not keen on the idea of yet another new car, I’m starting to look around.  If they can’t fix it, I don’t want another Mazda. I think I’ll go back to driving a Subaru.

*sigh*

* I didn’t buy the car from this dealership because the sales guy was a complete jerk and wouldn’t budge on the price or my trade in.  I got a better model for the same price plus a couple of grand extra on my trade in… at this rate, it probably would have evened itself out, though.

While I’m thinking about it, I still wouldn’t recommend them.  The owner’s attitude about the other dealership, while understandable, was a turn off. That was before he flipped the bird.  Yeah.  Exactly.  If they can fix it, great. But it still won’t change my mind about them.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Happy new year!

There isn’t much I can say about 2007… I made up with my very best friend in the whole world.  How the heck do you top that?!?!  You know, you make these friendships, they end and life goes on.  Maybe you know what you’re missing, maybe you don’t.  One day, life gives you the much-needed kick in the pants you didn’t know you needed, and all of sudden you find yourself wondering why things were the way they were for so long. I lucked out—I got my family back together.  It’s my first holiday season in several years where I didn’t get all maudlin over who I was missing.  Instead I thought about the people I had back in my life… A much better way to spend the holidays.

So yeah.  I’ve had a mostly wonderful 2007 and I don’t feel like dwelling on the parts that sucked. 

2008 may see a lot of things.  And it may not. I’m not even a full day into the year yet- I have no idea what I want for myself this year.  In the past three weeks, my little 5 year plan got completely derailed and I’ve had to start all over. It’s not been easy and I certainly don’t want to just decide on some random things so I can feel good about putting together a stupid list.

I’ve got my ubiquitous capture tool, clothed in a beautiful hunter green leather coat, and a wonderfully scritchy fountain pen.  I’ll be just fine.