mandaloo

so i got the verdict on my car.  i knew it was going to be bad when the lady took a long time to tell me what the part did and what would happen if it didn’t get fixed.  the more she talked, the more money i knew it was going to be (i could probably have done a cost estimate based on $x per word).  lo, and behold, when i asked the price, she said, “$953.”  news flash… i don’t have that much money lying around.  luckily, it’s not a part that will directly affect my engine right away (secondary air flow pump).  but… it needs to be done in the near future to pass inspections later this year.  and what’s really fun is that it’s apparently very close to splitting… meaning that a lovely noise will be emitted from my car, allowing all those to hear my approach before they even see me driving down the street.  stuff like auto repairs really stress me out for some reason.  maybe it’s b/c it’s an area where i’m totally unfamiliar with so i have this anxiety about all these parts and tubes and connections i can’t see.  i feel like i have no control over my little indicator light and it drives me batty – no pun intended.  but all i can do is try to wait it out and save money.  jeromy has called some places to find a cheaper part and there is a slight chance that brandon might be able to do the work on it… but we’ll see about all that. 

i’m going to dinner with pam tonight (after picking up my car).  i don’t think i’ll be all that jovial and/or good company tonight, but that’s fine.  i’m trying to put whatever car stress i might have out of my mind.   

i was able to help jeromy organize his closet last night.  i know that settling into a new place can be hard – and especially with boxes stacked everywhere, it can feel overwhelming. 

my little brother started college today.  speaking of bad car karma, his car broke down on the side of the road on his way to class.  something about the battery.  dad had to go get him and take him.  not a fun way to start out college.  but i think it’ll be a quick fix, so everything’s okay on that end.  it rained this morning a bunch.  it was well needed.    

i’m addicted to this liitle game called snood.  shooting little colored balls to make them all cancel out just seems to relax me like nothing else.

this weekend, i took my car into the dealership to get it looked at (since the check engine light is on).  they didn’t get to it today, so i’m kinda without a car until monday or so.  nothing much else this weekend… just taking it easy.  jeromy and i ran some errands.  bacon got to come over to susan’s house and said hello to everyone.  after that, jeromy and i met neo for dinner.  the boys are now working on some small electronics projects and i’m just chilling.

there are some concerts that i want to go to coming up but i’m kinda seeing what my financial situation is going to be.  i got my brakes fixed this week, which is nice since my car no longer makes a crunching sound when i stop.  heh.  i’m hoping my “check engine” light will be an easy fix.  jeromy and i are thinking about taking a weekend road trip to somewhere in mid october, so that will rock if that happens.  i’m also planning to go visit my grandma down in killeen during a weekend sometime in the near future.

last weekend and the majority of this week so far has been spent helping jeromy and his mom move into susan’s house.  there’s been a lot of packing and moving and lifting and sorting.  i’ve moved residences about 20 times in my life (no joke), so it’s all old hat to me.  jeromy told me that this was like his second move or something.  i can’t imagine what that’s like.  it’s one of my goals in life to be established and to eventually have “roots” somewhere.  when i have kids of my own, it’s a big deal to me that they grow up with their friends and have long-term relationships. history and such.  but at any rate, jeromy and his mom (and jack the dog, of course) are about all moved in.  jeromy still has a lot of stuff to go through, but that will come in time. 

jeromy’s been sick for the last week and a half or so.  poor guy.  i took him to a weekend clinic on saturday and the doctor said he had the flu.  he went to his family doctor again today and the guy said, “yep – you have the flu.”  so it’s just a waiting game.  i felt kinda puny myself on monday, but i slept all day and took meds, and now i’m good as new.

this week at work has been kinda a bummer… two of my coworkers had severe heart attacks and are still in the hospital.  one coworker had her son murdered and they still haven’t caught the guy.  a guy that we work with a lot at a regulatory agency had his father pass away this week.  and then my boss found out her allergist died, too.  so it’s been kinda nuts. (more…)

haven’t blogged in what seems forever (but is in actuality only about a week).  on friday night, jeromy surprised me and bought tickets to see “barnyard.”  a movie with animated talking cows has to be good – and it was.  we had a great time.   

jeromy and i went to kaitlyn’s sixth birthday party on saturday afternoon.  we chipped in together and got her three strawberry shortcake dolls, which she seemed to like a bunch.  on saturday evening, i hung out with neo, jeromy, and brad while they worked on their computers.  i made it an early night and went home around 10 or so… the boys stayed up until super late getting their cases modified.  i wound up having to do some stuff for work this weekend, too, but nothing too bad.  jeromy has been sick since saturday or so.  he, neo, jeromy’s mom, my mom, and susan are all sick this week.  sinus infections and such.  i don’t know… i’m just trying to stay well. 

my check engine light came on, so i’m sure i’ll be taking my car in to the shop on saturday morning and i’ll probably be spending more on it than i can afford right now (sigh).  i was finally feeling like i was getting ahead financially and boom – something happens.  heh.  i love my car (vw beetle), but i’ve had a lot of little electrical glitches with it… i’ve heard that they got a lot of them taken care of in the newer models, but that doesn’t help me out much.   (more…)

tonight was fun.  neo, jeromy, and i took our laptops to billy miners where we enjoyed food and free wi fi.  we then went to jamba juice where i had some cherry drink with a colorful, descriptive name or something.  i’m back at my place now with the boys.

i was thrilled to be in the office today and not outside in the heat like i have been for the last two days.  our intern for the summer will be leaving us, so we’re all going to salt grass tomorrow for lunch.  w00t.   she’s been great to have around, so we’ll all miss her.

my little bro will actually be going to the junior college in a couple of weeks.  i hope that he enjoys it and finds something he loves to do.  mom is still keeping the baby squirrel alive.  i don’t know why the stupid thing fascinates me so… it’s just funny… a baby squirrel.  he’s so freakin’ adorable.

jeromy’s little neice is having her birthday party this weekend (six years old), so we’re going to go shopping tomorrow.  strawberry shortcakes seems to have made a comeback.

i’ve lived in my apartment since march and have yet to hang pictures on the wall.  they’ve been leaning against my couch for a long time now.  maybe i’ll try to remedy that this weekend.  happy thursday.  pay day is tomorrow – rock.

went to mom’s last night and hung out for a while. i saw the baby squirrel that mom is nursing back to life.. and it’s actually hanging in there, much to my surprise. the thing is so freakin’ adorable… it’s about the size of your hand. his eyes aren’t opened yet, but from the way they were twitching, i’d say he’ll be wide-eyed and bushy-tailed in a matter of days (no pun intended).

today was rough emotionally. for multiple reasons. reasons that shouldn’t matter all that much, but somehow do. however, my physical day was exhausting, which was both good and bad. i was out doing groundwater sampling today. and it’s not hard or strenuous… but when about 2:00 pm came… it got super toasty. i was pooped by the time we got back to the office.

i went to jeromy’s to pick up my laptop and then had planned go to my house to do laundry and whatnot, and when i opened jeromy’s front door, i smelled a smell. jack (the dog) had gotten sick apparently and had pooped in his crate. i was the only one at the house and i didn’t want the poor dog to suffer, so i took him and bathed him and cleaned out his box. i was glad that i was able to do it and that jeromy’s mom wouldn’t have to mess with it, but by the time i was done, my three layers of sweat had a nice “poop” scent laying over them.

i go home and all i can think about is showering. and then i realize… no clean towels. *sigh* i just can’t win today. so i’m waiting for the laundry to finish up here in a bit so i can take a shower and de-stinkify myself. i’m so tired that i haven’t gotten anything to eat for dinner yet (i’ve been feverishly trying to pick up my apartment since it looks like my home has exploded… heh).

that’s about it. another day in the field tomorrow. i think i shall now depart in search of foodstuffs to fill my tummy.

the remainder of last week’s work week was fairly dull. the only thing of note that happened was that we threw a baby shower for a coworker on thursday. he and his wife are having their first child and it’s due in a month or so. it was super cute to see his wife’s little “bump” and to share in their excitement. i can’t imagine how having a child changes your life. i know it’s an amazing event, but man… it is such a great responsibility. it makes me happy to see children brought into healthy marriages, though. i’m glad for them.

on to the meat of the weekend… quakecon.  for those unfamiliar with this type of event, it’s basically a conference for computer gamers/lan party.  you can just go and walk around or actually bring your computer in.  i chose the latter. on thursday morning, jeromy waited in line with some people in our crew and made sure we would all sit together. so, for thursday night, friday afternoon/evening, and all day saturday, i was in the byoc with my laptop.  i got to meet some of the people that jeromy knew and always refers to. it was nice to put some faces to names and i had a great time just joking around with everyone.  some of the guys were super funny – good stuff.  there was also some people from the-spot.net that came in – i hadn’t seen some of them since the lan party that happened in tyler this last january. (more…)