I love this job.

I think my brain just blew up. By the time this meeting is over, I'll be bleeding out of my ears.

Speaking of which, anyone see The Surrogate yet?? Good movie.

I has a Rich. :)

I am picking up the Fiance tonight!!!!

More good news...

...Fiance will be home a day earlier than expected!! Less than a week!! Yippee!!

<3

My "new" car.

On Saturday, Dee dragged me to our local dealership for a little browsing. We were immediately set upon by a pleasant man named Juan (these guys do NOT waste time, they should make an Olympic sport out of this). He showed us the 2010 Ford Fusion, and I asked if they had any 2007s or 2008s. He showed me a few, including a 2008 that was a lovely shade of red, but the one that caught my eye was a 2007 SE with a price tag under $14K. Dark blue with less than 28K miles on it, I was intrigued. I explained to him what I was looking for in a car: safety, fuel efficiency, and a low price. It already met two out of three, so he explained the safety features to me. I like what I was hearing.

After making a few ominous references to the middle-of-nowhere dealership from hell that I had recently visited (okay, I'm exaggerating, but they still suck), he finally asked me, looking a little surprised and confused at my hints, where I had gone. "Reiss Ford," said the Dread Pirate Davi. Juan's reaction was to roll his eyes. That spoke volumes right there about Sucky Dealership's reputation. I explained to him my confusion over what I thought to be my decent credit score. We sat down, go to talking, went over some options, etc etc. They came up with a figure for the trade-in value of my 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe GLS, which was $1K ovver blue book value (and, conveniently, a hundred dollars over the payoff price for the loan...sweeeeeet). After coming up with guestimated monthly payment, I decided to go home and sleep on it.

After class the next day, I went back. I was told that my credit score was not what I thought it to be (thanks for nothing, freecreditreport.com), and the obstacles standing in the way of my taking home the car that day. Without going into boring details, we managed to clear them. These people were really working hard to get me the best deal possible. The bank they were working with (who, according to the finance officer, is a bad subprime lender...I'll have to look up the exact meaning of that) would not seal the deal without a $1600 down payment. So they gave me another grand for the trade-in value, which would go towards the down payment, and I just needed to give them $600. I could live with that. Finally the finance officer sat me down, told me my actual credit score (so appalling that I will not share it with you), and even explained to me why it was that low and why the bank they were working with was going with an APR of...take a deep breath, sit down, grab the nearest bottle of liquor...19.9%.

(I can see Laggin having a stroke as she reads this. Breathe, Laggin, breathe!!)

I felt so defeated. My payments would be around $370. I wouldn't be able to afford extending the warranty. But I took the deal. Why?? As I spelled it out for Fiance (necessary, because I die of swine flu, the poor man will inherit all my ghastly debt):

1- Even with taxes and what have you figured in, I was getting the car for less than blue book value.
2- The dealership was giving me the payoff amount for my car and more ($2K more than it's worth), and I don't see anyone anywhere giving me that kinda deal; Reiss Ford was only giving me $2200 for it. The Santa Fe will be paid off, and I have a down payment.
3- The Santa Fe has 111,000 miles on it. And I'm still making payments towards it?? No thank you.
4- It's a simple loan, which means I can pay extra towards the principle without incurring penalties.
5- I plan on refinancing in six months to get my interest rate down.

I signed the paperwork, but the finance officer said he might be able to get a better deal come Monday. I did not hold out hope for this. But at least I had a "new" car.

I missed a call from his this afternoon, and listened to the voicemail later. He told me that he had indeed gotten a better deal, and that my payments were now $327 with the warranty. Happy dance, anyone?? I just needed one document, and the deal was done.

I obtained said document, and headed over there with Dee. Juan was waiting, and he brought us in to see Anthony, the finance officer. He said he had found a better bank to go through, and showed me what the numbers were now like. He ripped up the old forms, and brought out the new ones for me to sign. I asked what my APR was now, expecting something between 10 - 15%.

"Seven point seven-five," says he.

My jaw dropped, and I turned to Dee who mirrored the expression on my face. I was in shock, and I was so thrilled!! I could afford the warranty now!! My payments would only be $18 more than before!!

Juan put my new plates on my car, and even did a favor me (beyond what he had already achieved for me!!). When I was in Puerto Rico last summer, my dad bought me a car decal. It has the American flag, and next to it the Puerto Rican flag. Beneath it, in Spanish, it says "Orgulloso de las dos." It means, "Proud of the both." Which I am. When my dad bought it, I said I would not use it until I had a new car to put it on. And now I did. So Juan, being of Puerto Rican himself, was happy to put it on for me - - oh, I just realized something. I had him put it right above the break light at the bottom of my back window. My poor car has a tramp stamp!! Ha ha...Now, to come up with a name for her...One that isn't too prissy for her "tramp stamp"...I've got it. I shall name her Bella, short for Isabella. And it has nothing to do with Twilight. I liked that name long before Stephanie Meyers was writing.

As I have denounched Reiss Ford of Marissa, Illinois, so shall I praise Auffenberg Ford North of O'Fallon, Illinois. I want to thank Juan Cruz, Kim Robison, and Anthony Brinker for all their help in putting me into a new car. They were friendly and helpful beyond belief. Thank you.

2007 Ford Fusion SE 4D.
Front-wheel drive.
< 27,000 miles.
Between 25 and 31 mpg.
ABS and MP3 multi CD changer.
Dark blue.
Tramp stamp on the rear window.
Named "Bella".

PS...Juan told me to blog about this, but he might not have thought I'd actually do it. So, if you go there, and you deal with him, tell him about this post.

I am LIVID.

On Monday, I received an ad from a dealership informing me that I was a guaranteed winner of one of five prizes, and that the dealership was having a huge sale on top of that. After reading the fine print, I was convinced it was legit. So Tuesday, after work, I drove 40 minutes to the small Ford dealership. Once their, I allowed a man named Bill to show me some of their used cars. I was particulary smitten with a black 2006 Ford Fusion SEL with black leather interior and a moon roof. We took it for a test drive before we went inside to get my prize and talk financing. I wasn't really serious about buying a car, but I would like a change in vehicles, and I was curious. For one reason or another, they couldn't come up with the numbers right there. So they gave me my prize, and they let me take the Fusion for the night.

Now, as I said before, I was a guaranteed winner of one of five prizes: $100 in cash, a $250 WalMart gift card, a Ford Edge, another cash prize...and I forget the last one. I won the gift card. I was pleased.


Now, to make a long story short, it was not going to work out with the 2006 Fusion, so the dealership tried to get me to buy a 2010 Fusion. Finally, I told them this afternoon that it just wasn't going to work on my end, and Bill said that with my permission, he would keep looking around to see if he could find me a 2008 and call me if he did. I said this was fine.

I got off work and headed to WalMart to spend my gift card. I got some groceries, and then grabbed $238 worth of clothes, shoes, bedding, picture frames, a book, and a dish rack. I headed to the register, and the total was $403. I gave the cashier the gift card and told her I would use debit to pay for the rest. She swiped it, and my new total was $398.

Three hundred and ninety-eight American dollars.

I blinked, and said, "That's it?!" She said, "Yeah, it only had $5 on it."

Five American dollars.

I blinked again. I'm pretty sure I turned red. I paid the balance, and left.

My friends, I am livid. Tomorrow I am calling Bill to give him a piece of my mind. If you live in Southern Illinois, do NOT go to Reiss Ford. Avoid them like the fucking plague.

Update: I just left them the following message on their website.

On 22 September, I went to your dealership with an ad in my hand stating that I had won one of five prizes. My prize was a $250 WalMart gift card. This evening, on 24 September, I attempted to use that gift card. IT ONLY HAD FIVE DOLLARS ON IT. I cannot believe how close I was to purchasing a brand new 2010 Ford Fusion from Bill Range. I will never come anywhere near your dealership again. Furthermore, I will inform all of my acquaintances within a fifty-mile radius to avoid your dealership. I am absolutely livid, and frankly disappointed that my good impression of your employees has been shattered. 

The Good Left Undone.

In fields where nothing grew but weeds,
I found a flower at my feet,
Bending there in my direction,
I wrapped a hand around its stem,
I pulled until the roots gave in,
Finding there what I’d been missing,

But I know…
So I tell myself, I tell myself it’s wrong.
There’s a point we pass from which we can’t return.
I felt the cold rain of the coming storm.

All because of you,
I haven’t slept in so long.
When I do I dream of drowning in the ocean,
Longing for the shore where I can lay my head down,
I’ll follow your voice,
All you have to do is shout it out.

Inside my hands these petals browned,
Dried up, fallen to the ground
But it was already too late now.
I pushed my fingers through the earth,
Returned this flower to the dirt,
So it could live. I walked away now.

But I know…
Not a day goes by that I don’t feel this burn.
There’s a point we pass from which we can’t return.
I felt the cold rain of the coming storm.

All because of you,
I haven’t slept in so long,
When I do I dream of drowning in the ocean,
Longing for the shore where I can lay my head down,
I’ll follow your voice,
All you have to do is shout it out.

All because of you…
All because of you…

All because of you,
I haven’t slept in so long.
When I do I dream of drowning in the ocean,
Longing for the shore where I can lay my head down,
Inside these arms of yours.

All because of you,
I believe in angels.
Not the kind with wings,
No, not the kind with halos,
The kind that bring you home,
When home becomes a strange place.
I’ll follow your voice,
All you have to do is shout it out.

Rise Against

The Sufferer and the Witness

2006 

Kanye West vs Beyonce.

Kanye West : Terrible music. Stupid popped colors. Drinking Hennesy straight from the bottle on national television where all the kids who idolize you can see. Humiliating a young girl in front of the entire world as she wins her first Moon Man. Being such a jackass that even our President admits it out loud. I could go on, but I'm the middle of a writing frenzy.
Score: Negative-inifiniti cool points.

Beyonce: Great singer. Great dancer. Class act. Gave a poor girl her interrupted moment of glory.
Score: A bajillion cool points.

Yes, Kanye, your mother would be very ashamed of you. The higher you climb, the farther you fall. One day, you will wake up to find yourself alone, with nothing but your arrogance and your $12 million-dollar music videos to keep you company.

And so the torment begins.

Today is Day One of THE DIET for myself and the Roomie. Roomie was under the impression that the reason I'd been losing weight lately (not including this past week...I've been naughty) is because for a week or so there, I was on a grits-only kick. She made this observation as I sat with her and her GF eating breakast. They were eating leftover Chinese; I was feasting on grits, toast, and two boiled eggs.

(And before you say anything...grits, when flavored just right, are DELICIOUS. I eat the instant grits, and mix in the following after heating it up: a drop of vanilla extract, a Tsp of sugar, 1/2 Tbsp of butter or margarine, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Yum!!)

So I was telling Mom about this on the phone, and she told me about this diet that she's used. I told Roomie about it and she got all excited about it. So we're gonna motivate each other and get this done.

Last night, for our "last meal", I decided to go all out...and I made THIS. It was heaven!! But there was sooo much food left!! Next time, I'm gonna skip on the broc-stalks and onions...not my cup of tea. For the cheese, I used Colby-Jack and Provologne. For meat, we browned some ground sausage...might throw in a bit more next time.

So, I had breakfast a little while ago. Half a grapefruit, a slice of toast with 1 Tbsp of peanut butter smeared on it, and a cup of tea. I'm not HUNGRY hungry...but my stomach feels odd with so little food in it. I'm used to massive breakfasts. The other day, I made a three-egg omelette. Inside I put two slices of ham, two slice of cheese, and a few strips of bacon. On top of that, I added some shredded cheese. Yummm...

See why I need this diet?? Ha ha.

Twenty-four feels a lot like twenty-three.

The birthday wishes began to trickle in a couple of days ago on Facebook. Sister and Fiance wished me a happy birthday shortly after midnight in my time zone. My mother called me at SIX IN THE FUCKING AY-EM to sing Happy Birthday to me. I'm not entirely sure if I was coherent during that phone call. I only know it wasn't a dream because I checked my call list later when I was more conscious. Dearest Dee also called to sing to me, and then harass me once again about applying for a job at Best Buy, and to shut down any arguments I had against going out on the weekend for my birthday. I believe her exact words were, "...if I have to go over there and drag you out of your house...!" I'm a little scared now.

The cats are being particularly cute and rambunctious this morning, to the point where I must restrain myself from throwing them out a window.

This morning, in addition to the video camera I received from the Fiance last week, I found on my front porch two dozen roses, a teddy bear, a box of chocolate, and three bottles of lavender-scented bath essentials. I hope I can restrain myself from eating all the chocolate before the end of the day.

Also, I should note that for the health-conscious, you can still enjoy the recipe I posted the other day. Simply substitute ground turkey and turkey bacon for the ground beef and bacon, and use low fat American cheese.

A delicious and unhealthy burger for the hungry fat person lurking in your belly.

Fry up some bacon. Set it aside on a plate covered with a paper towel; the paper towel absorbs some of the grease.

Take a pound of ground beef and season it with the following:

Salt
Freshly-ground black pepper
Oregano
Red Pepper flakes
Old Bay seasoning
Chopped/diced/minced garlic

Throw in one egg and mix it all together with your hands.

Make a large meatball in your hands, and flatten it. Make sure it's thin while raw; as it cooks, the circumference shrinks and the patty thickens.

Toss the patty in the pan to fry (or use a grill, whatever you preference). Flip it over; when it's close to being done, put your choice of sliced cheese on the patty so it melts a bit; I like to use both Swiss and American cheddar. If I have any one hand, just before putting down the sliced cheese, I'll sprinkle some freshly-grated Parmesan onto the patty, yum!!

Toast a hamburger bun; I've used sliced wheat bread when buns aren't available. Dress the bread as you see fit. I like to use A1; my room mate goes all out with ketchup, mayonnaise, and mustard; on occasion, she'll even add jalapeno peppers and hot sauce on top of all that.

Place the patty on the bread, place the bacon on the patty, and voila!! A burger that isn't very healthy for you, but is nonetheless delicious.

For those who like spice, add more red pepper flakes as you see fit. Heck, throw in some onion powder if you want. What I've just given you is really my own personal preference, though my room mate and her girlfriend don't complain about it. Sometimes, instead of mixing garlic into the beef (or, hell, I'll just leave it be), I'll fry some chopped garlic and mix that in with the Parmesan under the sliced cheese.

Can you tell I like flavor??

The sock that set me free. And healthcare reform.

Yeah, I'm going there.

So today was my going-away for work. We stuffed our faces at Joe's Crab Shack, yum!! And then the inevitable: the presentation of my going-away gift(s).

DM stood up and began to list off my nicknames - - apparently, I have quite a few. Crazy cat lady-in-training, That Senior Airman in Your Office, etc. I received a plaque in the shape of this state, which was really nice. My first and only state-shaped plaque. (My dad has a few.) Then he shared an anecdote about an instance where an individual misheard my nickname, and thought I was called "Dobby". As in the house-elf that idolizes Harry Potter. He went on to explain the mythology of house-elves...that in order to set one free, one must present one with an article of clothing.

This is when I nearly fell out of my chair with laughter. I'm sure some of you can see where this is going.

He presented me with my very own black sock, to set me free from the Air Force. I will cherish this sock forever. I may even frame it.

Now, on to healthcare reform. Someone please tell me what is so evil about it?? I did some brief research (I like to be informed, but hate to delve to deeply for fear of getting sucked into a vortex of politcal jargon that just goes way over my head), and I liked what I saw.

That's right. I'm saying.

I like the sound of this proposed healthcare reform.

And for anyone to compare Obama to Hitler, to call his policies "Nazi" or "socialist"...man, you guys are just so full of, well, spite, for lack of a better word. And obviously have nothing better to do with your time but sit around spinning lovely insults and nasty rumours and what have you.

For someone who is currently shopping around for health insurance for the first time in her adult life...well, I say, bring on the reform!! My family's medical history is interesting. I wouldn't be pleased if I had to put a butt-load of money into a policy, only to be denied healthcare later on down the road for some piddly reason.

Out of reading material.

Damnit. Recently got hooked on The Looking Glass Wars, by Frank Beddor. Think of everything you've ever thought to be "true" concerning the story of a little girl named Alice who fell into a world known as Wonderland. Now but into a jar, seal the lead, and give it a good shake. Throw in a dash of "wtf," and what you have is the true story of Princess Alyss Heart of Wonderland. I read the first book in a day, and read the sequel Seeing Redd the next day. And now I have to wait until November for the friggin' sequel, damnit.

There have been a couple of *gulp* deadly blasts in the vicinity of the Fiance's workplace. The one that occurred today was at a different base, so he wasn't affected, but it was still the same city. There was one late last week that he actually felt in the room where they were having a meeting. It blew out the window in said room. He and his co-workers living outside the base are no longer allowed to walk to work, they have to be driven everywhere. The Taliban has claimed responsibility; they've promised to cause as much disruption as they can to the presidential and provincial elections coming up this week, in the hopes of discouraging Afghan citizens from heading to the polls.

There's no point in me freaking out. It accomplishes nothing. There's nothing I can do about any of this, so I just try to focus on positive things. At this moment he's sitting in his room playing Grand Theft Auto IV and cursing up a storm every time his character dies. And that's the way I like it.

Let me grab my coffee...ugh...

My room mate bought some clay last night, and she's working on a figurine of Maleficent for me, ha ha!! (For the ignorant, she is the baddest Disney villain ever, appearing in Sleeping Beauty.) I am making the boat that Jack Sparrow sails at the end of the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie, ha ha.

My birthday is in nine days. My going-away from work is tomorrow. The end.

There's gonna be chaaaaaanges!!

Not grammatically correct, I know. But who caaaaaares...

Today was my last day at work. My active duty service ends next month, and hopefully from there the transition to the reserves is smoooooooth. I finished up registering for the fall semester today. I am officially a full-time student at my two-year college of choice. I'm signed up for History of Religion, World Civilization I, European Civilization I, and Educational Psychology. I'm stoked!! I am absolutely taking advantage of the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33).

I suddenly have all this free time open to me. There's so much I could do!! Wash my damn car, and get the oil changed. Lay out in the sun and tan my legs (the part of my body most resistant to the sun). Get in shape. (I love Wii Fit, ha ha.) Finally finish unpacking. (Rich, I don't wanna hear it.)

Tomorrow, I go to buy my books. Hooray!!

Quiet reflections as I soar through the clouds.

Well, I was actually sitting semi-comfortably on an airplane. Icarus, I am not.

I've come to realize that I am not particularly fond of myself. My flaws become more clear to me as each day passes. I see myself reflected in the eyes of those around me, and I don't like what I see, especially when I am under stress. I am petty, whiny, selfish. I snap and lash out at others. Despite my struggle to be a better person, I can see little beyond my own wants and needs.

No one is perfect...but some are closer than others, and I'm more of an "other" than "some".

How trivial it all seems, when I write it down here, express it all in a handful sentences. It does no justice to the hours I have spent pondering the person that I am. I do what I want, go my own way always, with little regard to how my actions affect those nearest and dearest. Oh, I know I'm not the only one like this, that I too have been affected in such a way, but that doesn't make it any less wrong in me.

And for the record, Chicago-O'Hare Airport SUCKS.