Welcome 2011

This past Christmas was probably the most disjointed one ever. Even with the craziness, though, it was a good one. I book my airline tickets about 3-4 months out. Late Christmas Eve I learned that Delta had canceled over 500 flights in and out of Atlanta on Christmas Day and mine was one of them. I called Orbitz (who I booked the ticket through) and they almost booked me on a later flight, then assured me that Delta was re-booking me. Delta did re-book me... for the following day. Which would have been okay if the storm front predicted for Atlanta wasn't also coming this way.

For whatever reason, I waited until Christmas Day to see how the weather here would do and I slept in. What I realized when I woke up is that Delta could have made their morning flights (and it appeared that my flight out of Atlanta that morning was on time, which just made me cranky). Realizing that I ran a very big risk of not flying out the next day, I canceled the Delta flight (at no charge, so I am very grateful to Delta for that and to the agents who helped me re-book) and booked on American. The cost was a bit higher, but I wanted to go ahead and fly out on Christmas Day; the little voice was telling me this was the thing to do. So, I did it. Friend WC kindly drove me to the airport. The airport was beyond quiet and the flights were good. While waiting for my connecting flight in Dallas, the shuttle service I use called and canceled my pick-up for the next day, validating my get out of town now feeling. I had canceled the second leg of the shuttle trip but had been unable to cancel online due to the changes to the reservation. At any rate, while I got in much later than I planned, I was in Louisiana on Christmas Day.

The few days there were good. Among other things, we sold my very first car... finally. It was a 1987 Honda Accord Hatchback. I loved that car, probably more than any other car I've had. And, I drove it for 10 years. However, it was time to let it go. We got a good offer for it and took it. The new owner - a young lady who will be starting community college in January. Her dad is a Honda fan and currently works at the dealership we originally bought the car at. I feel like it went to a good home and am glad that we own one less car.

Speaking of cars. Over the past couple of years, I've been monitoring the value of my car, a Toyota Matrix I've driven for 7 years and very much enjoyed. However, car prices are good and Toyota had good incentives. Add this to helping a friend car shop several months ago and I'd done most of the preliminary work. So, the Saturday before Christmas I test drove the Prius. And, I liked it. I hadn't planned on buying that day, but the trade-in on my car had gone down over the past couple of years (expected). Toyota gave me good value for the trade-in, as well as a good discount, in addition to the 0% financing. So, with a little bit of sadness mixed with excitement, I traded in the Matrix. I'm now the proud owner of a Toyota Prius III in Sandy Beach Metallic. I'd have preferred a light shade of blue or the red, but neither was available, so I decided to try a different car color. Not sure about a light interior, but so far I'm enjoying the car. I expected the gas milage to be lower in the winter due to the colder weather and running the heater, but right now I'm getting about 49 mpg and I haven't even used a quarter of tank. Stay tuned for how it goes with the car, because honestly, it just fascinates me.

The year ended on a sad note, with the death of my college roommate. However, overall, 2010 was basically a good year. I've got good vibes coming at me for 2011. I wish everyone nothing but the best in the coming year.

When car alarm systems go wonky....

Thursday morning my car was a bit sluggish on start-up. Driving to work I realized it was probably about time for a new battery. It's been about three years since the last battery, but I thought I'd put in a four year batter. However, it was a rough winter, so who knows. Left work, still sluggish. So, I added a trip to Sears for a new battery the next day - a day off so I could enjoy a four day Labor Day weekend and hunker down and organize my spare room.

I decided I'd still go to the gym. Still sluggish on start up, but I figured I could make it till the next day with the battery. Good workout. The craziness started when I went to leave the gym. The car started, but things clicked and dash lights flashed. Unsettling, but it stopped after a couple of minutes, so I headed out. Got part way down the road and the horn starts honking. Like in HONKING. Scared me to death. I pulled over. It stopped. So, I continued on. Thank heavens it's a short drive because the horn honked intermittently in three to four beep staccato rhythm all the way home, royally startling me every time it did. I realized I would not be going to Sears but to the dealer.

Fortunately, a friend offered to follow me to the dealership and pick me up. We had plans anyway, so we just altered them a bit. Well, the car wouldn't start. The horn was still beeping/blaring randomly and then the car simply wouldn't start. Made this horrible grinding noise as well. Obviously, it was going to have to be towed to the dealer. Fortunately, my friend waited with me.

I'd moved my auto service to my cell phone carrier. Kudos to them. They were friendly and efficient. I chose the service that could get here in 30 minutes. Took them a tad longer, but within an hour or so of calling, my car was at the dealer. They even followed up to make sure the two operator had arrived and all was well. Very satisfied with the service.

Curious as to what was going on? Well, apparently my "after market" security system had shorted out and drained my car battery. The dealer couldn't even start it with a jump box; it had gone into anti-theft mode. Good to know it works, but not quite as I expected. I also hadn't realized that the dealer I bought the car from had installed the security system and not the factory. I'll ask next time.

So, now I'm without an alarm system. I miss the little beeps when I lock and unlock the car, but at least it starts now. It wasn't exactly a cheap fix, but the dealer also found a couple of lights that were out and replaced those, along with a new battery.

Happy New Year!

My Christmas and New Year's have been pleasant and uneventful. I'd thought traveling on Christmas day would be pleasant and it was. The only downside was getting up at three o'clock in the morning and losing an earring during my travels. The plane left MD on time and we boarded on time in Dallas, only to have to wait for maintenance paperwork, to have the crew repeatedly count passengers, and then request two passengers move to the middle of the plane for "balance reasons." We left about 45 minutes late for a flight that only takes about an hour. In the end, we were only about 30 minutes late. Baggage arrived timely and we headed home. It never really felt like Christmas and I'm not sure if that was because I flew on Christmas Day (I've driven home on Christmas day before) or because I just never truly ramped into the Christmas "spirit" this year. Doesn't matter - it was a good day. We had our now annual Christmas seafood dinner; a small affair of just me, my Mom, my brother, and his wife.

No big plans while I was at home. My Mom wanted to show me the cabin she's working on at our farm. It is a nice space in what is an addition to the shop that has been there my whole life and then some. We were bandying about ideas for what space should be where when I asked the big question - where's the bathroom? My Mom and brother both burst out laughing. There isn't one. There's what will be a nice kitchen, smallish dining area, living area, study/office and bedroom, but no bathroom. Plans are in the making for attaching a bath house. I've seen the "compound" idea on a couple of shows on HGTV, but they were located where the weather isn't so fickle. LA has somewhat mild weather but the winters can be crazy with mild one day and downright cold the next. Not to mention thunderstorms and 100 plus degree days during the summer. Mom assures me she has ideas. Guess I'll trust her on this one. Right now it's only a space to spend a couple of days should she want to. I expect one day she may live up there, but hopefully by then the bathroom concept will be worked into the cabin concept.

On Monday, we headed to the DMV to title and tag my very first car in LA, which my Mom still occasionally drives, since registering it in MD just wouldn't be the best idea. LA is a state that also charges sales tax when you register a vehicle. Since we bought the car in LA, we took proof that we had paid sales tax - the receipt for the car. My Dad, you see, created a folder and just about anything associated with that car until I took over is in it, plus some stuff after it headed back to LA. Then the guy at the DMV says there is only eight years worth of records in the system. I'm not surprised as the car is well over eight years old. He also says that the receipt showing sales tax paid isn't good enough, we must show it was registered in the state of LA. The website didn't say this. No mind, we'd taken the folder (I didn't think we'd need to, but my Mom did) and, of course, a copy of the original registration was in it. The DMV guy was in awe. Granted the car is worth so little now that paying tax on it wouldn't have been all that much, but it was the principle of the thing.

I flew back on Tuesday. I enjoyed my visit. BC has grown and it's now even inching it's way back on to my list of possible places to live and work. It would eliminate holiday travel and let me sleep holidays in my very own bed. The flights back were good, but there was a little hitch. The cargo door got off the track in S'port and we left about an hour and half late. I originally had a two hour layover in Dallas, but as I was verifying the gate, the flight status was now boarding. I still had to make it to the next terminal. I caught the train and moved as quickly as I could. I was one of the last people to board. I just knew as I walking down what seemed like miles of jetway by myself that I'd get there and find the door closed, but it wasn't. I wasn't sure my suitcase would make, but it did. So, all was well. It's good to be home.

I hope 2009 is a good year for all.

If it's not one thing, it's something else...

We all know that there are expenses that will eventually happen. If you own a car, once you pay for it (which, thank heavens, I can say mine is paid for), there are maintenance and insurance expenses and if you move, there's the cost of titling and tagging your car in the new state. Sadly, if more than some of these occur at the same, we'll you're spending money you know you need to, but dang it, holding on to the wallet as tight as you can cause it's wimpering.

About a month after I moved, I noticed one of my back tires was low. On closer inspection, I realized not only was it low, but the tire itself was dead. I mean, really dead. I knew there had to be something in the tire for it to go as low as it was as quick as it did, so I took it to get it repaired. Sure enough, there was a screw in it. They also informed me that I needed to replace my tires. Since I'd already figured this out, not a shocker. Well, the tires turned out to be $10 more per tire than I expected, add in mounting and alignment and well, the total bill was about $200 more than what I'd hoped. Not to mention the fact that I'd had my oil changed less than a month before I moved and asked them to check the tires! In reality, the tires should have been replaced before I drove 1500 miles. I thought I was more careful than that.

So, last week was pushing 60 days in Maryland, so I got organized to get Maryland title and tags and a Maryland driver's license. First, let me say, that I think having to title a car in every state you move to is a rip-off. There should be one title that you get when you pay it off and that's it. I find out that Maryland requires an inspection, one time, before you can title. Then I discover that Maryland will also charge you sales tax on the value of your car when you title. Double rip-off; I paid sales tax when I bought it (though if you live in Maryland and go to another state with lower sales tax to buy your car, I get it). Well, Texas charges more sales tax than Maryland (by .25 percent), so I only got charged a minimum fee. Add in the license plates, but at least they're for two years. Then add in driver's license. I paid more for it here than in Texas and it will expire at the same time my Texas one would have. All those costs together - close to $400. Yep, $400. For a car that is five years old. The only positive to me is that I don't have to renew tags for two years and the license is for 5 years. But, as with everything, it just seems like all the big expenses come at the same time. And, there's more for the house coming due next month, because, yes indeed, it's property tax time. Joy.

If it's not one thing, it's something else....

Well, about two weeks ago, on a Friday night, I got in my car to head home after an evening out, and it was a little rough on the start up. I was a little concerned, but I made it home okay. Saturday, same thing. Now, I'm thinking about what could it be. And, then it hit me. The battery. The car is almost 4 years old, which means so is the battery. Sigh. I thought I'd wait until the following weekend to get it replaced, but after crossing my fingers and hoping it would start Sunday and Monday mornings, I realized that I needed to get it taken care of. I didn't want to go out to my car somewhere and have it not start. And, it was raining that Monday, so that wouldn't have been any good either. I took a couple of hours of comp time that afternoon and headed to Sears to get a new battery. Not as nice as going to a smaller business, but they are known for their batteries. Check that off the list.

That was Monday. That Friday was the day my cubicle was going to get installed. I've been there nine months, but at least I was finally getting it (I was in an open workstation; the other professionals in my department all have cubicles). We thought it would be in the morning. They started assembling in the afternoon around 2:00. To make a long story short, we had to move power poles we weren't expecting to, had to have a power whip installed for my cubicle (the original game plan was to use power strips from the outlet, but they would have been blocked by the partition wall, which is not a good thing), and move phone and data lines from where workstations were to where they were moved. Naturally, until this was done, we weren't working. In addition, the office designers ordered the wrong color overhead bin for me and a different colored wood (lighter). We all like the wood, so I get to keep it and be different, but the overhead needs to match the trim and everyone else's. We were first told a new one would be ordered. Friday, we were told the one I have would be painted. I had them install what we have because I need the lights underneath it. I may have gained a cubicle, but I've given up natural light coming into my workspace. It wasn't all wrapped up until the last Monday and I still am not sure what will happen with the overhead bin, but, in the grand scheme of things, given what we weren't aware of that we had to do, that really isn't too bad.

Then last week, I noticed that Kitty cat had sores in her bald spot, which does appear to have more fur. I probably contributed to that by using the spray the first vet gave me, but nonetheless I needed to get her to the vet to make sure it wasn't anything horrible. I did that on Friday. Bye bye to the last of my comp time. It wasn't anything horrible.

Then to top it off, yesterday I stopped by Origins and the Clinique counter only to discover both had discontinued the products I was wanting. And, neither sales person was overly friendly either. Nope, sorry don't have it. Especially, the sales person at Clinique. So much for the new Clinique. She didn't even know what I was talking about, made me feel like I was making it up, and kind of waived her hand at what they had and said this it what we have. I was so turned off by both sales persons that I doubt I'll look for replacement products from either brand. Origins does have a product I've used in the past that would be closest, but I liked the one they discontinued the best. However, by both of them not having what I wanted, I didn't spend any money.