Journal Entries
True phone conversation
Posted May 9, 2001
employee: Um, hi, um, I'm just calling to let you know I'm staying home today because I started hearing voices again. And I probably won't come back to work.
employer: Hmmm. What about Saturday? We really need somebody to cover Saturday.
employee: Um. Okay, I guess so.
Discuss this Journal entry [2]
Latest reply: May 9, 2001
No more worries about cars.
Posted May 6, 2001
Now I just have to worry about money to keep the car.
For a week, I had no car. Took the bus to work every day, rode 1.5 hours to move me only 13 miles. Had to bum a ride home from someone at work, since the buses don't run after 10 pm.
Suddenly my car is fixed! Suddenly they agree to finance me for a used car, a 1999 Chevrolet Metro! I know it's small, dammit, but it's late model. I can tell someone I own a "late model" vehicle without crossing my fingers! Ooo the thrill of it.
You'd be surprised how much room there is inside a 1999 Chevrolet Metro for someone who's 6 foot 2. (I don't know how to convert to "stone" or whatever y'all cro-magnons use to measure y'allselves.) And if I could get someone to video-tape me as I go through the intricate movements to slip one arm through the door, brace on seat, one leg slid under steering wheel, duck head and plunge and catch myself as I fall, then turn and fold and pull in all appendages that remain outside vehicle, well, let's just say Billy Blanks and his silly Tae Bo would be soon replaced by the martial art of FIT KLOWN IN KA.
So anyhow, instead of having No car, my inventory now consists of Two cars, no money, empty refrigerator, empty checking and savings accounts, and $200 debt each to my surviving parent and Melinda's surviving parent.
In the end, I know I should have done more comparison shopping, looked for a better deal, maybe should have bought something cheaper (older) than the Metro. But there's a part of me that just wants to laugh at the bank. It's an absurd victory that they even gave me financing for this. It's absurd that I now have a big rolling hunk of wealth outside in the parking lot, should make me feel like all my hard work and overtime has paid off, but we'll have to remain broke continuously just to pay for it. Did I win or not? Sometimes it feels like it, and other times it feels like I'm five years more heavily ensconced in servitude. Will the car last five years without major repairs? Will I be able to finish a novel in that time? Shouldn't I just write less on h2g2 and work on the novel instead?
Wanna buy a car?
$500
1991 Dodge Shadow
+ RUNS
+ mileage 149,000
+ 4 Cyl. 2.5 liter, 5 Speed Manual
+ Muffler only 2 yrs old, but resting in the trunk (needs exhaust pipe)
+ A/C available but not working (drained of freon)
+ Slow oil leak from head gasket
+ Parking brake does not work
+ did I mention it RUNS?
[It doesn't really count as commercial if I'm not making a profit off it, right? At this price, it's practically a donation. In the event that this journal entry gets removed for being allegedly COMMERCIAL, I'll just leave it hidden here for posterity, in the hopes that more reasonable minds will prevail in the future, or maybe one day alien intelligences will mine data from BBC's archives of censored crap, and they'll at least see how absurd things got at h2g2.]
BY REMOVING THIS JOURNAL ENTRY, THE REMOVER CONFIRMS THAT BBC TAKES THINGS TOO SERIOUSLY AND THAT NO JOKE MAY BE ALLOWED TO SURVIVE THE UNQUENCHABLE FIRE OF BBC, NO MATTER HOW INNOCUOUS THE JOKE, NO MATTER HOW IMPOSSIBLE IT WOULD BE TO SELL THE ITEM BASED ON THIS MESSAGE, WHETHER OR NOT THE MODERATOR'S VOCABULARY ALREADY INCLUDED THE WORD "INNOCUOUS."
Discuss this Journal entry [4]
Latest reply: May 6, 2001
"Good" Friday
Posted Apr 15, 2001
My car broke down, possibly for the last time, on this past "Good" Friday. I rode my bike to a used car dealership the next day to see what they had in my price range.
On the way home, I bought a Quarter Pounder for my wife. I tolder her it may be the last one we can afford on my salary, if we end up buying a new(er) car.
"I'm not making this rule myself just to punish you," I told her. "This decision has solid basis in law. Due to recent rulings such as the Totalise and Motley Fool UK case, all discussion of purchasing cheeseburgers or chalupas shall be deleted from our apartment."
It seems to have worked. On Monday, I'm going to point out to my supervisor at work how the Totalise case necessitates at least fifty cents more per hour for the job I do.
Discuss this Journal entry [4]
Latest reply: Apr 15, 2001
Deidzoeb
Researcher U96220
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