My Journal- March - April 1996
Wed. April 24th
Yo Yo Yo Buddie! I'm BACK! And I'm rockin' with a new job! Oh... I can tell you're confused. Let me explain.I'm moving to Texas. Texas is really fantastic, and I like it there alot. As a matter of fact, if you are a faithful reader of my "journal" you know that all last week I was down there on vacation. Well, I'm back, tan and stylin'. I managed to not only relax and soak up the rays, but sneak in a bunch of interviews as well.
Uh huh... I said the "I" word. Did you know that the number one fear of Americans is public speaking? The number two fear is death. People find public speaking more horrible than DEATH! Wow. Anyway, I mention this because an interview is very similar to public speaking, and don't you agree they (interviews) can be very scary? I mean, especially when you have a panel interview and have 5 people grilling you at once.
"Is it true you graduated with high honors?"
"Yes."
"On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your HTML knowledge?"
"A '9'"
"On a average scale, what is your shoe size?"
"7 and a half"
"Why did the skeleton cross the road?"
"Because he didn't have the guts."
"Good answer."
Anyway, seriously, it does get sort of nerve-wrecking sometimes, but I was fortunate enough to escape with 5 excellent job offers.
Can't stand the suspense? Well, then let me blurt it out... I will be working with an up-and-coming ad agency in Dallas named Hadeler Sullivan Ewing (HSE). My main job will be web site design, and I start May 8th, so if you you or your company wants a really incredible web site or ad campaign, be sure to give them (us) a buzz!
Nick and I also found a really fantastic apartment; it's in a North suburb of Dallas named Carrollton. The place is great, it has vaulted ceilings, TONS of windows, a big kitchen with lots of cupboards, 2 bedrooms and 2 full baths. I fell in love with it the second I walked in. The apartment complex is called The Villas of Josey Ranch. I found it through a really great service called "Apartments For Rent Online"-- check it out if you're planning a move. You'll save yourself a LOT of time!
That's the news. Consider yourself updated! Stay tuned to my web site for notices of URL and email address changes. Later, my friend!
Friday April 12th
The Post Office. Tax Time. The Post Office During Tax Time...YIKES!
Btw, don't buy bubble wrap at the post office. They charge you $2.50 for a couple feet of the stuff. When I asked the attendant for bubble wrap he said "I'll go see if I kin find yer some" and slowly ambled off. About 5 minutes later, he returned. I was near steaming. "Here's yer bubble wrap, I kin get yer some scissors." Again, he crawled off at a snail's pace, wondering where scissors might be kept... or maybe wondering what they were.
Anyway, at least I know my mom should get her package by Wednesday the 17th (her b-day, remember?). I hope the glass doesn't break. Sure as heck I wrapped enough bubble wrap around that stuff-- even ACE VENTURA would have a hard time busting it. *hehe* ( I LOVE that scene!)
One last thing, I'm going on vacation! Hooray! All next week I will be in lovely Dallas, TX soakin' up the rays. I'm not the only one excited, though. When my friend found out I was going, he begged me to bring him back a jar of Texas sand and pebbles. Seriously. Chow!
Fri. April 5th
Guess what??!! I found out that Nissan is NOT stopping making the 300ZX. That all the talk about their demise was just a HORRIBLE RUMOR! Go to page 38 of the April '96 issue of Road and Track! There it is! You can cast your vote for the next Z-car from Nissan! Wanna vote? YOU CAN! There's two models to vote for: The YELLOW or the GREEN. Road and Track asks that you send them an email at RTletters@aol.com and place your vote. They promise to pass the results along to Nissan. Keep in mind when you vote, that I like the green one best, so if you can't decide, please vote GREEN, although if you vote yellow, I promise not to be mad. WOO-HOO!! Rock on Nissan!Tues. April 2nd
Hello! I thought I'd let you know that I'm looking into buying a radar detector. I'm looking into a good one with 360 degree (yeesh! Do you realize there is no degree symbol on a keyboard?) protection-- haha! 360 degree protection... sounds like an ad campaign for a revolutionary new maxi-pad or something.But seriously, I'd like to spend between $100- $200 and am seriously looking at the Bel 745STi since it's gotten such good ratings. One of the most important things to me, though, is that the detector is low on false readings, I don't want to be slowing down just cause I'm driving by a grocery store or something.... I might stop and buy Matt's chocolate-chip cookies!
I was wondering what kind of experiences you have had with radar detectors (recent ones), and if you recommend any certain one. I've done a little research and have discoverd that the Bel 745STi Plus, the Uniden LRD6399SW, the Valentine One, and the Escort/Passport 4600 have been rated as the Top 4 by Automobile Magazine. I haven't seen a recent test from Car and Driver, though. Could I have missed it?
Well, if I do decide to buy the Bel 745STi, I want to know what exactly the difference is between it and it's lower level models such as the 745i, the 735i and the 715i. Each model drops $50 in price as they descend. They all have the front/rear detection, road hazard alert, and I think they all have VG-2 guard (against radar detector detectors). The Shadow Technology seems to be the differentiator between the top model and the rest. From what I've gathered, Shadow Technology is just the ability to be invisible from Radar Detector Detectors that cops use, but still have the radar detector work. Without Shadow Technology, the dectector simply shuts off when VG-2 detecting is detected.
You know, am I detecting that you're defecting to my Dectector test testing? Could it be you're rejecting my detesting and reflecting Detector Detecting expecting? Maybe I ought to be respecting infecting dejecting detecting of Dectector Test Testing?
Or maybe not. Who knows? But, can you say it three times fast?
Anyway, do you think the award-winning features in the Bel 745STi are all the exact same features in the models below it besides the difference of the Shadow Technology? Because if it is, I'll get the cheapest one and skip the Shadow stuff. But what if it isn't? What if the features have been improved on the 745Sti?
Please, feel free to email me and tell me your opinions on this matter. I'm very interested. Now have a good day.
Tues. March 19th
Have you ever felt like you were slipping on your responsibilities? I do right now. So much going on at work, that I feel horrible I haven't been able to write journal entries or email friends. So if you are out there now and wondering if I am possibly dead, please let me assure (??) you that I am not. I am just a month behind on anwering email. I still think about you, though! Don't give up on me!Do you Karioke (major spelling error there, but for the rest of this entry, let's just pretend that's the way it's spelled)? Oh come on, don't say you're too shy to karioke! Don't say it's too dumb either, because really it isn't. It's actually fun whether you can sing or not. It's especially fun if you've had a few drinks (not that I would recommend more than just a few!)
And that's all I have to say about that.
My car had the nerve to break down last week... on the way to Karioke-ing! Can you believe that... I don't think it wanted me to go. So anyway, it breaks and I let it sit for a while and then I can start it up only if I give it lots of gas, then I can go for a block till I come to the next red light. Then it dies. I decide to take it to the nearest repair shop before it stalls for good and I have to toe it. What was closest? Good Year. Hmmm.. well, it has been a good year... I had no grievances with their name.
So the next morning I have a friend drive down with me so I can drop off my keys so they can fix it. They call a few hours later saying it's fixed. So I went and picked it up that night, but low and behold, it wasn't fixed. Have you ever went to the repair shop to pick up your car and it wasn't fixed? Especially if you just forked over quite a large sum for the repairs they supposedly made on it? Didn't think so. That doesn't happen, does it? By the time I got home I realized my car was indeed not fixed, so I called to complain. "Uh huh... I see, well, bring it back in the morning and we'll try again." TRY AGAIN? What is this? A scratch off lottery ticket?
Sorry, you are not a winner, please try again.OOOH kay... big inconvience... took it in the next morning and they still couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. So I go and pick it up AGAIN, so I'll have it for the weekend in case I really need it. So this morning, I took it back AGAIN and they called a little while ago and said they really fixed it this time. Oh GOOD... thanks. So, I'm about to go pick it up and we'll see. I'm sure they couldn't mess up 3 times in a row, could they?
Hmmmmm... sorry this entry sucked so much, maybe I'll be back to my normal silly self tomorrow... :-D
Thur. March 7th
Do you have pets? I do. No...not a cat, not a dog, nor a hamster or a fish... not me. I have the best kind of pet in the world...Newts, newts, and more newts! If you have no idea what a newt is, please click on one of the links and find out for Pete's sake! Warning: They're extremely cute, so don't die squeeling with happiness.
I started owning newts as a Senior in College. My first newt ever was Gator (named becaused he walked just like an alligator). Shortly after Gator's arrival in my new 10 gallon tank, I decided he (I was never sure of any of my newt's sex... so I call them all he's-- well, except for one, but that's to come) needed a friend. So I went out and bought Aero, named after his aerodynamic swimming techniques. The were both Oregon Newts.
My newts lived happily in my tank for months, then I decided I wanted a Firebelly newt, so that's when I went and bought Fran... my only decidedly female newt. Problem though... Fran was very small, being the Firebelly newt that He/She was. Fran decided one day just to up and crawl right up the wall of my tank (which didn't have a cover) and leave town. FRAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cried in terror when I realized she had left me. FRAN where are you?!!!!!!!!!! I was already late for class, but what meaning does school have when your newt is missing? I commenced to tare apart my room looking for her, yelling her name all the while, in hopes she would answer. Cries of "FRAN! FRAN!" echoed throughout my small apartment.
See, newts are amphibians, and need water to live. It was only a matter of minutes before Fran shriveled up into a lifeless little newt. Time was crucial.
Hours later, I gave up my search, Fran was gone and gone for good. No one could turn around my sorrow. No one understood the loss of one so close to me. How could it be?! What could I do?!
Well, as a matter of fact, what I did was go out and buy Chomp... another Fire belly newt. And this time I bought a cover for my tank. Ok, Ok, I can hear you wondering why I named Chomp, Chomp. Well, I did because he had a tiny little "chomp" taken out of his tail. I thought it was cute. "Yes, I'd like that newt over there swimming by the rock with the chomp in his tail."
Chomp was my fouth newt... he was a strange newt. After a few days, I noticed that the chomp in his tail was getting bigger. I told myself it was nothing. Then another week later, I found one of Chomp's fingers floating in the water. What was happening? A week later, another finger and a toe... Were my other newts eating Chomp? Was Chomp eating himself? No! After I noticed Chomp's whole leg gone, I figured it out. He was a leper. I was somewhere between horrified, confused, and in wonderment. Could newts be lepers? What's the deal? To find out, I called an amphibian specialist... (I'm not kidding).
"Well, for $50 you could bring him in and we'll have a look at him, but we've never heard of any kind of leperous newts."
Hmmmm... how much did I love Chomp? He cost me $3.99 plus tax. By the time I called the vet, he had only a right arm with 1 finger and a left leg with 3 toes left attached to his body. He couldn't really walk or swim or anything. He had virtually no tail left either. BUT he was still alive.
"$50? I groaned. But I'm a poor college student. Can't you just take him in in the interest of science?"
No. So what was I to do? I couldn't flush him down the toilet, I couldn't commit murder. But, I was afraid my other newts may catch his strange tropical disease. So I had my best friend Cretia take him and set him free in a local stream. I still-- to this day-- have the hope that Chomp is out there somewhere, crawling around with one arm and one leg, king of the stream!
Well, my newt story is getting a little long, so I will hurry to finish... shortly after Chomp left for streamy waters, Gator died. Just stopped eating. I think he was mourning for Chomp and Fran. He just gave up. Poor little guy! But Aero lived on!
I went out and bought Wink (named because he winked at me from his tank in the store). I'm proud to say that Wink is still alive today, nearly 1.5 years later! Unfortunately, Aero passed away of old age about a year ago, so I went and bought Simon (named because he looks like a Simon). Simon is also still alive and living in newt bliss with Wink. Together, they bring joy into my life. You should buy some newts too.
Really, you should. They're fun to watch, don't have teeth (don't bite), and are easy to take care of! Just let me give you one peice of advice... should your newt ever escape its tank, be sure to check the underside of your nylon beanbag chair, lest he become stuck to the bottom. For this is where I found my sweet Fran on moving day... OH PAIN AND SORROW WASH OVER ME!!!