"First World Problems"

So I finally found myself having a few minutes of free “internet time” to give you a quick update on my doings. 

Things have been kind of rough the past couple weeks and I’m a little wary of posting this because of my policy on “whiny” blog posts.  But I figured that I should let people know in case they wonder why I’m not my usually chipper self: 

First off, my orthodontist told me I have to start wearing rubber bands over my braces.  This means I can’t really open my mouth too wide (yawning is kind of difficult now) and my teeth are more tender than usual due to the extra pressure from the bands.  Plus, I look like that much more like an awkward teenager.  I’m not really sure how long I’ll have to keep them on (*at least* five weeks, maybe longer, according to the orthodontist) but I hear that it’s best to just keep them on all the time (except while eating / brushing) to keep from having to wear them too long.  

@#$%^& Hate this

Right after I heard the “great news” about my teeth, my car got “sandwiched” on the freeway after a guy a couple cars in front of me stopped a little too suddenly for the guy behind me.  It didn’t look like a big crash but after taking my car to a mechanic, I found out that it sustained about $1400.00 in repairs.  Fortunately, we all had insurance no one was hurt.  And I’m now driving a rental for the next couple of days while the mechanics repair the damages to my car.  I’m driving a (gas-guzzling) Ford Escape right now and I feel pretty big on the road.  Good news, though – the mechanic called this morning saying I can pick up my car today! 

Not Actual Accident, but you get the idea

After I got home that day, my roommate told me our apartment lost it’s internet service.  I’m not 100% sure how that happened, but my roommate told me it had something to do with the online business he’s starting & how he tried to re-direct the phone number he created for it to his cell-phone.  Apparently, he also re-routed our landline (which we use to run our DSL), cutting off our access to the world wide web.  So now I can only go online at work.  Supposedly this’ll be fixed by Friday (9/23/11), but I’m not holding my breath….!  

A few days later, I got a big scare at work.  I’d rather not mention what happened, but it’s caused a lot of us to wonder about the security of our jobs. 

So yeah…..a lot happening in the past two weeks.  I figure I’ll let the older stuff go unsaid for now…..! 

"It could be worse...!"

So I got a ticket over the weekend for "talking on a cell phone while driving."  

I apparently need to go to court(?) and pay some kind of fine.  (dunno how much) 

Needless to say, it put a big damper on my day.  

But when I got home, I saw this.....

A tree fell on this car!

...... and remembered that it's not the worst thing in the world.

My weekend - the Bad

Okay, so now the “Bad news” post.

After Warren’s & Ryan’s parties on Friday night, I woke up early (bad idea) to get my car tuned up.

While getting it serviced for a routine oil & air filter change, they found a couple of things that needed replacing – among them, my power steering valves (or something). It’s gonna end up costing me over $400 to get it replaced. And no, my extended warranty is not going to cover this.

@#$%^&*()

At times like this, I don’t know why I even go to Toyota. It seems like every time I go to get my car a routine check-up, something’s wrong with it.

WTF, TOYOTA.

Also – I bought some new dance sneakers about a month ago and while I was dancing at the Pasadena Ballroom, I noticed that the suede is already coming off of the toe on my right shoe!

@#$%^&*()

Fortunately, this is an easy fix, maybe even one I can do myself (for free!) But still, after only one month?? I only wear these on the dance floor, too!

The shoe in question

I expected better quality from you,
Aris Allen!

**EDIT** (4/27/10)
I ended up dropping my car off yesterday after work and then taking one of their service shuttles back to my apartment (cuz I didn't want to wait around - I wanted to go home). I later checked my phone and saw that they had left me a message saying my car was ready and I could come pick it up.

So I called them to request a shuttle to take me down there......and no one picked up.

I left a message and waited half an hour (this is around 8pm) for them to get back to me - of course no one did. I eventually had to call one of my friends who was just getting off work and 'politely ask' that they pick me up / drop me off.

W
T
F,

TOYOTA!