starbucks

  • It's a been a long time.....

    So I haven’t written since end of August, right before they launched this new Xanga 2.0. It’s kind of different, and I’m not sure if I like it, but that’s not why I haven’t written in so long. I’ve just been really busy with house stuff. Shortly after my last post, I received the keys and became an official homeowner, but that's when the real fun/work began. Filling a house with stuff is pretty fun & exciting, but it sure does get expensive. And I want to get everything now, but then my credit card balance will spike, moreso than it already has, and it has a sad :( . So I have to patiently wait to get my house fully furnished. In the meantime, I have to deal with my super picky HOA. I hate them with a passion. Really.

    side note: I finally have time to post again because I took a day off to take the X5 to the shop in Dublin (overheating issues), so I'm once again waiting at my favorite Starbucks.

    Since my last post, a bunch of stuff has happened that I would've normally written about, but never had the time. So my blog writing was relegated to a list format in a word doc. I'll try my best to try and go back and write full entries about the interesting stuff.

  • oh mini....pt. 2

    Every year since the original factory 4-year/48,000 mile warranty expired sometime in mid 2008 (hit the mileage before the years), the mini has averaged $1300 in unscheduled maintenance costs:

    2009 - $1100
    2010 - $1500
    2011 - $1500
    2012 - $1100
    2013 - $1300 
    Also this year, I'm going to have to get new tires, which will cost around $700, but should last about 3 years. I also have to get my clutch replaced sooner or later, since it's still the factory original with 159,000 miles on it. That's going to cost damn near $2000, so I would definitely like to wait till 2014 to have that done. Hopefully it'll hold up till then.
    Whenever anything bad happens to my car, I get mad but I'm always willing to pay to get it fixed. I mean, what else am I going to do? I've never really thought twice about it, but now that I can see it all written down like that, this is really fucking bullshit, like for reals.
    I'm not sure what the breaking point for me will be. When I had the civic, it always had some kind of minor problem, but it was always fixable. I stopped fixing it when the cost of repair was more than the value of the car itself. When one of the four cylinders lost compression, that was it for me. That's a super major overhaul. And I was ok with it, because I had the M3 waiting for me.
    With the M3, if it was up to me, I'd still be driving it today, even after the accident. I really, really, really wanted it to be fixed. But no, the insurance company decided the repairs would be greater than the value of the car, so they declared it totaled. But again, I was ok with it because I had the mini as a backup.
    But now, with the mini, there are no backup cars. Well, there's the X5, but that's not really my car, but I can use is whenever as long as my dad doesn't need to drive it. And although the repairs to the mini are costly, they still don't exceed the value of the car. Yet. It's getting there.
    The thought of getting rid of the mini has never crossed my mind. And it still hasn't. Now that I see a pattern with the maintenance and how much the yearly cost is, I can (and will) start to budget for it. Lately, I've been mostly good about cutting down on buying crap I don't need, getting my AmEx balance down, and saving money in general. I guess I'll just have to cut down some more. Though, the thought of getting a part-time job has crossed my mind. Not sure if it'll have to come to that, but we'll see.

  • The Dublin

    I'm here at my favorite Starbucks in the 925, patiently waiting for the mini's overheating/cooling issues to be diagnosed and fixed. So I'm sitting on the cushy bench against a wall, facing the rest of the store. Perpendicular to me, there are a set of 4 chairs. A mom sat down with her young son, maybe 2 years old, and of course he's doing 2 year old things, like hopping in & out of the chair, touching just about everything, and noticing everything in sight. Me, I'm listening to a couple of new songs on Grooveshark, cause I haven't downloaded them yet :) , and I currently have T.O.R.N.A.D.O. by The Go! Team, Don't Stop Me Now by M-Flo, and She's So Outta Control! by M-Flo featuring 2NE1, on loop. They're all pretty high tempo songs, so I ended up kinda nodding my head and tapping my foot to the beat. And the kid, whenever he looks over in my direction, he'll notice and kinda start imitating me. Cute. But since he's 2 and has an attention span appropriate for his age, he's notice something else and stops to attend to that.

     

    Lol....so as I'm typing this, trying to get to my point, my point gets up and walks to a different table further away from me, no longer in my direct line of view. She moved because another mom & young daughter came and sat with the mom & son already sitting next to her. Don't blame her for moving, but I can't help but laugh....Now back to my story.

     

    So then this japanese girl sits down in the chair directly in front of me, across from the little kid. She's pretty cute, and......dammit, I kinda lost my chain of thought when she moved. I was going to write about how there's an opportunity literally right in front of me, and how I was going to do my "yoozsh" (which is absolutely nothing) and blow it. So now I guess I won't get to that point, or I've reached that point in a manner of not my own doing.

     

    So now I'm kind of observing from afar. She keeps on checking her flip phone, probably checking the time, and it seems like she's waiting for someone maybe. And she's re-touched up her makeup a couple of times now. Oh god, I sound like creepy stalker status.

     

    Lol again.....as soon as I typed that last sentence, she got up & left, as if she knew what I was typing/observing. WTF

     

    So now with nothing to focus on, I'm just sitting here kind of bored. I'm not telecommuting today, I forgot to bring my hard drive of tv shows, and I forget to bring any books, so other than browse the web, I gots nothing to do. I guess the guy to my left noticed, and just tried to sell me on an "easy money" scheme. (I guess I forgot to put on my "not having it" face this morning. I've kind of been working on that, and it worked to my detriment today. Lesson learned.) I listened, and he was nice, and it actually sounded really, really simple, but I know better, and I politely declined.

     

    That's all for now, I guess....until something interesting comes up or I get the call that my car's done.