Week 39: Early Mornings and Lazy Days Part 2

Let's pick up where we left off last night shall we?

So, we got my car to the Ford dealer. Once we got inside we let them know that we were looking for a second opinion after having taken it to the independent place down the street. They asked for a description of what exactly it had done before refusing to move, and so we once again explain the whole situation that had occurred in my sisters driveway Saturday night.

Based on our description they seemed to be inclined to think that it was a timing issue. They took my information and promised to look it over the following morning and give me a call. Before heading home dad and I went to look over what used cars they had available, particularly what Ford Fusions they had to offer.

Since it is impossible to look a cars in a dealers lot when they are open without being approached by a dealer, we were approached and asked if there was anything in particular we were looking for, so we let him show us the used Fusions that they had.

The had one that was kind of a shimmery tan/gold color just marked down. It was a 2007 and had brand new tires. It was right in my price range. We ended up taking it for a test drive, and once we got back sat down to fill out the paperwork to at least see if I'd be able to get financing on it either on my own or with my parents. It never hurts to at least see. Right?

By the time we left there the dealer that I had spoken to had promised to call me the next day and let me know if I had been approved for financing, and the man in the service department had promised to call and let me know what was REALLY up with my Ford Focus.

Thursday morning, I was STILL on the 6am shift, but even by my lunch had not heard anything about either car. By the time I got out of work I called my parents, who had found out that it wasn't the engine  that had gone bad in my Focus. Rather it was the timing belt, suspension belt, and the water pump which all amount to less than $700.00.

This sounded much more reasonable then a blown engine. It blows my mind that that guy said my car had a blown engine, it really does. Guess who won't be getting any more business from me...

By the time I got out of work I also had a message left from the dealer that dad and I had spoken with. I was approved for financing on the car, and all by myself too! I wouldn't need my parents to co-sign! The question then boiled down to what I wanted to do.

In all honesty, I've been drooling over the Fusion's for a while. I've really wanted one, but haven't had any reason to get one. But this one was perfect! It was the right price, in great condition and would help me really built my credit history. Plus, this whole situation really showed us all why it would be useful to have another car.

It made it difficult to keep up with four adult schedules when we only had one car between three drivers. It wasn't impossible, but definitely difficult.

As it turned out, we decided that the perfect solution would be for me to go ahead and buy the Fusion, and then my parents would repair the Focus and keep that because in all honesty it would be cheaper to fix the Focus than to buy another new used car later and my Focus is in fantastic condition, considering.

So that's what we've done. I bought myself a brand new used car and am absolutely loving it! It's funny sometimes how seemingly bad situations work themselves out sometimes. This past week has been such a strong example of the blessings that God can create in our lives, and we don't even realize it until we look back later.

It's fascinating to take the chance every once and a while to take a step back and look back at where you've been, and just see the blessings that God has created in your life. He is so good, all of the time.

But anyway, I spent the early hours of Thursday afternoon on the phone with the dealer and our insurance company ironing out details, and then that evening I went in to the dealer and signed all of the necessary financial paperwork. While I had been there when we signed the papers on my first car, this felt so different. It's strange to encounter these situations that you've never before encountered such as buying a car on your own for the first time. It's such an "adult" experience. You know what I mean? There was just something very surreal about the whole thing, but surreal in a good way.

By the end of the night Thursday I drove away in my new Fusion.

Friday, thankfully was the last day of my 6am shift, at least for last week (it starts all over again this week), and by the end of the day I was pretty tired.

Yesterday I spent most of the morning catching up on sleep and just generally lazing around. At noon I watched my Spartans beat the Central Michigan Chippewa's (45-7!!!) and then proceeded to catch up on YouTube videos in my subscription box along with my other usual Internet travels. Like the title implies, yesterday was my lazy day, and I'm sure today will include a fair bit of laziness as well. Perhaps today will be the day I finally finish reading my latest book...

I'll talk to you soon.

Focus Fail.

For each of our out of class assignments in JRN 200, we have to make it into a blog post. I have a portion of the blog that is due Thursday done, and I think I'm going to finish it tomorrow. I am also beginning to think that I choose a more complex subject for my article than I may have initially intended. However, I am happy to report that my second out of class story seems to be coming along nicely.

I'm also still working on my application for the school of journalism. I just need to finish off my resume, and write the essay about my career goals. Have I mentioned that I'm a little intimidated by the whole process?

I feel like I have a lot of things to get done in the next couple days, but my focus just isn't what I need it to be. Basically, I am aware of all the things that I need to get done, and so so rather than focus on one thing at a time, my mind attempts to focus on several things at once.

Hopefully tomorrow my focus will be where it needs to be. In the meantime I have some reading that I need to get done to be prepared for class.

Deadlines, Yikes!

It took me forever to focus on finishing the module for my Lit/Cultures class, not because it was hard, but because I wasn't interested in focusing on it. The class has the potential to be interesting, and I'm not sure why it is isn't. For whatever reason the conversations that we could be having in that class don't seem to form like they should, I'm really not completely certain why that is.

Anyway, when I was supposed to be focusing on that I couldn't focus, and then once I got that done I decided to put my computer away because it's battery was dying and I'm not near a plug at the moment. Of course at that moment I decided to focus on wrapping up my JRN 200 homework, and was SO FOCUSED on that, that I nearly forgot to blog.

That wouldn't have been good. I apologize for being a little scatterbrained at the moment. I would like to note however, that I'm really enjoying the weather this week. I was afraid on my walk to class this morning that it was going to get cold again, because with the rain it was a bit chilly. However, by the time I was headed to my second class it has already gotten warmer, and the rain has abated.

It's pretty awesome. Now, if I don't hurry up and post this my computer is definitely going to die. Deadlines, yikes

No Fatals!

It is definitely a problem when a paper is supposed to be a minimum of six hundred words long, and you've only managed to write three hundred and thirty words. It's an even greater problem when you aren't sure where else to take the focus.

This does not need to be so difficult, so why is it?

Most likely the answer to that question is that I've waited until the last possible minute to actually get this article written down. That might be why. That's probably why.

Oh well. I will get this done before I go to bed, and hopefully I will be alert enough to edit out any potential fatals. That would be awful if I let a fatal slip through...

I've got things rolling at the SpartanEdge. I've signed on to write a Book Review Blog, and so tomorrow I will finish getting that all set up. Then I'm covering a lecture early next month. Maybe if I don't do too horribly with this article that's due for class tomorrow I'll pitch it to the edge. We'll see.

So Little TIme

To be honest today hasn't been the most productive homework-wise... I finished reading the first of three chapters that I need to have read for Thursday, and have gotten out and situated my six newspapers. I plan to read through them once this is written and posted. It is the plan, or at least the partial plan. This evening I'm having supper with my family (chicken and baked potatoes) before going out for ice cream with Sarah. After ice cream I'll probably mosey on over to my sisters house.

I need to focus as getting as much of my reading done tonight before I go to sleep. I can haz focus? You'll be hearing about my success and or failure later tonight, unless I drop the ball and don't blog. I will do my best not to drop the ball!

I also need to re-program phone numbers into my phone before I go back to school. Ah, there is so much to be done and so little time available! I head back to school tomorrow afternoon, and this will be my last weekend home until my cousin's wedding at the beginning of October. It's time to buckle down and work on establishing a GPA!

Alright, back to work!

Down To The Wire

I nearly managed to forget to post tonight. Geez.

Today actually wasn’t horrible. Well except for having to get up at five thirty this morning to go to class. Then of course there was actually sitting through class… and then going to work… Ok, so it wasn’t wonderful, but whatever.

Work actually seemed to go by pretty quick since I had quite a few things to do. I like to have lists of things that need to be done. I feel more motivated when I have tasks that I can complete and then am able to just move on to the next task. It’s nice.

Alright, I’ve managed to get this done down to the wire. Now on to my philosophy exam…

The Anonymous Moron

It’s been an eventful weekend. I feel like I haven’t slept in days at this point. It didn’t help that I closed on Saturday and then had to be back to work at nine on Sunday morning for a meeting. Sleep sounds amazing at this point.

Anyway, at some point Saturday night some moron decided it would be a good idea to rifle through my car. Thank God I brought anything of value in the house the night before, and as it turns out they didn’t take anything. Though they left an obvious mess in the form of an open glove box and papers sprawled across the seats. They went through my car and both my parents cars, leaving a mess behind and all the doors ajar.

First of all, what kind of idiot leaves things in such a state that it is obvious they have messed with property that is quite obviously not theirs? Second of all, what is the point if you aren’t after something in the first place? Congratulations, you can break into a parked, unlocked car. Moron.

I imagine it’s the same anonymous moron that walked through our yard a couple days ago and apparently left their shoes behind because they got stuck in the mud. Why the hell would you, upon getting stuck in the mud, think that the solution to such a problem would be to then take off your shoes and walk through the said mud in bare feet.

Again, moron.

Stupid Essay's

Sometimes I feel like maybe I have lost my touch. In high school we were always be assigned these ridiculous papers to write. The proclamation was always the same, “This is to prepare you…”, “When you’re in college…”. But, you see, the thing is since being a college student I have had to write a vastly smaller amount of papers than what I ever wrote in high school.

This is where the problem comes in. I have to write a paper for my Shakespeare class, but I am thoroughly unmotivated to do so. Not only am I unmotivated, but I have this nagging, pervasive thought hanging around in the back of my head. I’m not sure where to even begin in writing this paper. Do I need to do research? Is the play resource enough? Is my thesis good enough? Why oh why can’t I just write?

The paper will get written, and before my Friday deadline. I am certain of this, just as I am certain that there is no way in hell that I’ll be able to make that deadline. Both of these are certainties in my mind and yet only one will serve as a truth. I suppose this just plays into the idea that in many ways we choose our own truth.

For instance, I could choose to make it true that making the deadline is an impossibility, but in choosing that truth I would be sacrificing my grade in the name of my own selfish desire not to be bothered with writing the paper. On the other hand, I can also choose for it to be true that I will make the deadline. I can choose to just write the ridiculous paper and worry about its content after I have actually put words to paper.

Regardless of what happens with the paper that I’ve been worrying over for the past week and a half, I missed blogging yesterday, which means you will be hearing from me this weekend. I will not make excuses for yesterday’s absence, though I will note that it was not a case of forgetting to blog. Let’s just say some poor planning and a flat tire were involved…

… and now I return to my essay. Stupid essays.

Excitement

I took my car in to get the heater looked at. Thankfully it didn’t cost anything for them to look at it and correct the problem since the part was under warranty. It is wonderful to have heat once again.

It was midnight before I got to sleep last night, and then I woke up this morning at five. I was wide awake, at five in the morning. How utterly annoying! But I had to be up and out of the house by six-thirty anyway, so I guess it was fine aside from the complete lack of sleep.

Despite the sleep deprivation though, I managed to go to an interview today and I think it went well. I won’t know for sure until Monday whether or not I got the job but I’m stoked anyway. She told me that out of three-hundred applications she’s narrowed it down to nine, and I am one of those nine.

Better than that though, I let her know that I plan to transfer to MSU in the fall, assuming that I’m accepted, and she said that wasn’t a problem. In fact, if I get hired in it is a real possibility that I can transfer up to their store near the campus as long as they have a position open in that store. That would be fantastic.

I’m excited, but I haven’t mentioned anything at work yet. I want to know whether or not I’ve gotten the job before I say anything. No need to get everyone in a tizzy until I know there’s any news to tell.

Darcy, The Snob

The heater went out in my car… again. Well, ok, so technically it still works, but only if it’s on its highest setting. ::Sigh::

In other news my cat is a snob. On occasion I buy her canned food, but I can’t buy her just anything. In fact the only thing that she won’t turn her nose up at is either Tuna and Shrimp or the Ocean fish mix. At any rate I bought her a can of ocean fish, but it wasn’t her usual can. In fact it was a larger can, because I had this crazy idea that she could eat a portion of it at one time and have the rest later.

She was all ready to eat it while it was in the can. In fact, she was all ready to eat it when she saw her usual dinner plate. However, once I actually scooted the plate her way she gave its contents one whiff and then stuck her nose in the air and slinked away.

Darcy is a snob. So of course, I relented and bought her a couple cans of her usual stuff. Cats.