Big props for Spark of Creation Studio here in Pacifica. I'll be traveling a lot the next few weeks for work and they are going to issue me a refund for the hip hop class I signed up for. I think most places would've been, oh well sucks to be you. So yay I get some of my money back.

As much as I tried to convince myself, I really couldn't get over the fact that the Celica doesn't have an airbag. With that little sports car I don't trust myself to be 100% all the time and I'm just afraid I'll get hurt. At least with the Dodge it'll be other people getting hurt, which I'm fully okay with (certain people especially!).

So.. I called Matt on Monday, full of buyer's remorse. I found out that my insurance would be $150 more (vs a Civic) PLUS the gas mileage with this engine (it's the bigger engine in the series) is not like the Civic either. 22-27 mpg. Which completely defeats the purpose of getting this car. So I told him I wanted to sell it and I did. To him. Turns out Matt was green with envy from the moment we wheeled and dealed this car and wanted it for himself! I've asked him about a million times if he's sure he wants to buy it.. and not buying it because he feels obliged, and he tells me he is 100% sure! Hooray. Everybody wins.

So I'm back on the hunt, sticking to my guns this time. Honda Civic hatchback. I also increased my price range another 1000 because in going back to my trusty commuter cost calculation spreadsheet, putting more money in initially into a car that is in good shape will decrease the maintenance needed over the year, allowing the break even point to shorten in the long run. I made a few offers to some folks on craigslist and I think I may have found the perfect car.. it's so cute. I've made a verbal agreement with the seller over the phone but I don't want to say too much because I don't want to jinx it! In the meantime, fingers and toes crossed.. pictures to come if it happens..

Points to consider:

Of the 77 drivers NHTSA identified as killed by airbags in low severity crashes, 75% were female. That is, for every male killed, three females were killed. For all drivers of cars and light trucks, FARS shows that for every male driver killed, 0.42 female drivers were killed. Thus females are over represented as fatalities caused by airbag inflation by a factor of 3.0/0.42 = 7.1. Of the female drivers killed, 48% were 62 inches or less (about 20% of females are 62 inches or less). Short females are more than 15 times as likely to be killed by airbags as average drivers. It was unmistakably determined that the airbag was the source of the death because the crashes were of such low severity as to not pose serious injury risk. If these deaths had been caused in an identical manner, but the crashes had been of higher severity, the deaths would have entered FARS in the usual way, and would have been incorrectly attributed to crash trauma. The conclusion is inescapable that many of the fatalities that in fact occur at the lower end of normal fatal crash severities are caused by airbags and not by crash trauma, and that the victims are preferentially short females. The net effectiveness reflects the difference between lives saved, preferentially large males, and lives taken, preferentially small females. Small females are being knowingly killed in order to save large males, a situation that society would hardly tolerate in any context other than airbags.

And another..

I dunno....

So as you can see below, I bought a new used car for commuting this past weekend. During the week I scoured the ads to find a few cars that met my criterion and they all happened to be in the San Jose area. Matt had been wanting to visit this bomb-ass coffee shop in Redwood City, and what would a trip down 101S be if we didn't stop by Fry's? Well, on our drive through Palo Alto to Fry's we passed by a long line (blocks and blocks) of used cars sitting next to the Stanford campus. Cool! More cars to look at. Matt went in to do his Fryss thing and I started calling to confirm my prospective car appointments. One sold, another guy not available, another guy barely speaks english and I couldn't understand him. Poop.

So, we decided to take a look at the used cars along the street. The very first car we stopped at was the little beaut you see below. A 1995 Toyota Celica GT (I think) hatchback advertised for $700 more than what I set as my budget. She's not perfect.. she was in a front accident where the airbags deployed and few minor parts up front had to be replaced. The title remains clean (not salvaged) and it has relatively low miles (127K). There is a dent in the front left side (seen in the pictures below) and scratches long the left side that must've happened with the accident. The air conditioning doesn't work and the antenna was broken off (accident) so no radio stations except for a wierd jazz station. Fortunately there is a tape/CD player that functions and I was lucky enough to have been left with Mexican and Chinese CDs for my listening pleasure. We also found a big huge air bulge in the left rear tire.

I was a little nervous about buying the car because of all the issues mentioned above. A lot of little problems.. mostly cosmetic. But the important part, the engine, looks like it's in excellent shape. The owner of the car kept all maintenance records and was very organized. (He kept the Wheelworks receipt with warranty so I was able to get a new tire to replace the messed up one for $15.)

Before we even test drove the car we talked money. I told the guy that the price advertised was above my budget (even though $1300 under bluebook).. and I was able to negotiate down another $500 and was able to buy the car for about half the bluebook value. Matt had a whole list of tests to check the engine and transmission and it passed with flying colors.

My goal with the car is to last another 5 years without any major repairs. That would make me happy and save a lot of money in the long run. If anyone is interested, I made a Commuter Cost Comparison spreadsheet that will calculate how much money (if any) you will save if you bought a commuter + current vehicle vs current vehicle only. With my projected calculations I should save about $1000/year after everything is said and done. After 2 years I'll be able to reap the financial benefits, hooray.

Matt and I also celebrated our 3 year anniversary this weekend! Technically, our anniversary is today. Sunday was the designated 'celebration' day and it was just about perfect. We had a nice breakfast at Salada, then went to replace the bulgy wheel on the Celica. In the same mall as Wheelworks we went to a place called The Porridge King for lunch. We ordered a BBQ pork and beef rice dish, and instead we got a mystery white meat corn and rice dish. Matt thinks it may have been fish.. not sure. In any case, it was pretty good and then we saw the outside of the bag the receipt which read $25 something. What the heck did we eat? We decided it was some sort of endangered animal. Mmmmm... endangered animal.

We came home and lounged around a bit before heading out to a nice dinner in the mountains of Woodside. The restaurant is surrounded by huge redwood trees and the dining room has glass ceilings so you feel like you're sitting in the forest. I ordered the seared scallops and Matt ordered the stuffed chicken. Now, I really really wanted to like this place.. really really. But I got terribly sick on the drive home and Matt broke out in hives. :( The restaurant got a full star review so this was very disappointing. We think the culprit was the scallops.

After getting home to recover, we exchanged presents.. he bought me a beautiful diamond necklace which I LOVELOVELOVE, and I had a card for him. Well, that's not all I gave him.. I wrote up a little flowery poem that said next weekend is the full moon and we'll be taking a moonlight kayak ride in the HMB harbor.

It was such a nice weekend.. I'm so happy to have been lucky enough to meet a guy that I fall for every time I look at him. I sometimes make a fuss about being engaged and getting married, but this weekend really made me realize that it is being with Matt is all that matters. Must remember these moments..

The denty Side.

The denty Side.
Originally uploaded by Julienne:).

The deal of the century

This is the good side the other side is a little dent

This is the good side the other side is a little dent
Originally uploaded by Julienne:).

Toyota Celica 1995

OH MY DEAR LORD.

So I've been looking for an inexpensive commuter to drive to work and around town. Doing the match, insurance would only be $25 more per year (with the same amount of coverage) and gas would be infinitely cheaper. Oh yeah, I wouldn't be contributing *as much* to global warming either..

Reading through the craigslist ads, I've come across these interesting gems:


"Economy Car" "Dependable" One Owner & Regular Maintenance Records, Well Maintained, Reliable Service. 209,000 Miles - Honda has a 300,000 Mile club for the 90's Honda Engines, some reach 400,000 miles with regular maintanence. Manual, wonderful to drive - like a space ship.

*****NOTE**** i'am a liar, car is not what it looks like. crappie job,paint don't even shine because they didn't put clear coat. trunk lid have 2 dents and major scratches that are rusted up. I got punch in the face yesterday because i had this asian guy came out from MODESTO and he lives like an hour 1/2 away.he put a big dent on my door cuz he was mad. the carfax has accident history and the title isn't in my name. i buy and sell cars.i'm a lying fag in need to be punch in the face again by the next potential car buyer.since the title isn't in my name you might have a problem at the DMV. picture was taken at sunset so it looks very nice doesn't it. thanks i took my time and pick out the best pictures, o yeah the price is firm.

More to come in my car buying adventures.

Bingo night tonight!! Let's goooooooooo bingoooooooooooo!!!

Had a nice week. On Tuesday night Isabella trotted out sound when I checked on her. She still seems a bit off at the canter, but I can't really tell. I'll ride her tomorrow and see how she is under saddle.

Later that evening Matt and I headed up to Santa Rosa to spend the day with his parents. It was his mom's birthday and his dad planned out a special day for her.. very sweet. We took our time driving up and arrived to a nice balmy 70 degrees (at 10pm). Little did we know what was in store for us. The next day after we had a lovely lunch, temperatures shot up to the mid-90s! UGH! I just about melted in the heat.

Fortunately Matt's dad had planned a day at Osmosis spa for Matt's mom and I to escape the worst temps of the day. I've spent quite a bit of time with them both and love hanging around them, but I still get a little nervous talking one-on-one with them. Actually, that applies to anyone for that matter (aside from Matt, maybe because he name is included in 'matter'). We had a bit of time before the massage so we perused through the little gift shop then changed into our robes while waiting for our masseurs. The massage was absolutely heavenly.. really one of the best massages I've ever had. My masseur's name was Consuela and after I told her my problem areas (hello, rock hard shoulders and neck), she worked in there deep to try and work the knots out. It was the perfect amount of pressure.. enough that I knew she was doing her job, and not hard enough to be ultra painful. Matt and his dad did manly things while we spa'd like visiting the manly metal scrap place.

Matt and his dad picked us up when we were done in the meditation garden (which was so pretty - with red dragonflies and koi fish that were easily tricked into thinking I was feeding them). We had just enough time to shower and get dressed up before heading out to dinner at Cyrus in Healdsburg. The restaurant was just amazing. Matt's parents went all out with the champagne, white wine, pinot noir, kobe beef to die for, bacon wrapped pork loin to die for, etc etc. I can't even name all the dishes we ordered. I think we had just as many dessert courses as dinner courses (my kinda restaurant). It was one of the best dinners I've had.. his parents have been ultra-generous and nice to me..

Oh yeah, I was wearing a nice red Anne Taylor, slightly low cut sweater top (in the heat this wasn't very fun), but as we walked into the restaurant, Matt mentioned there were two drunk girls at the bar that said I had 'stripper boobs'. What are stripper boobs? I thought those would be big and fake, and mine definitely don't look fake.. my new bras do a pretty damn good job, but fake?? They must have been wearing some serious beer goggles.

Where can I play bingo on the peninsula????

In case you don't watch TV as avidly as I do, tonight is National Bingo Night. Matt and I caught this on TV last Friday when we were spending a wild night in watching TV/playing Bejewelled (me), and watching TV/playing some war video game (Matt). I saw the ads for this show and just rolled my eyes, but since my attention wasn't 100% on the screen I let it play in the background as I worked my way up the Bejewelled ranks (up to 150 now beyotch).

The show is surprisingly highly amusing!! First off they have a bald English guy hosting the show.. now the show is called *National* Bingo Night. Wouldn't you think they'd have someone national to host the show? I guess they thought an English accent would bring up the class a few notches (well, it is bingo). The first game that came up had a chicken moving across the board every time the contestant chose the correct color of the number. A CHICKEN!!! Peekawk. That was pretty funny in itself. But the kicker was the guy in the audience who checked the audience's game cards. An old Indian dude (with a heavy Indian accent) dressed in a referee's outfit, complete with whistle, with an overly enthusiastic love.... of bingo. Each time he would have to check people's cards for bingo he would build up the suspense as much as he could.. then yell, with an overly extravagant wave of his arm, "Noooooooooooooooo BINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I've printed out cards to play along in tonight's show.

Just spoke with the vet about Isabella. After a brief lameness exam, he said she was 1/10 slightly off on the right hind when lunging. Tested positive with the hoof testers on all 4 feet, which makes him think she's just footsore (she was shod only last week, could definitely be a possibility). He did 1 indeterminate test which indicated there might be a right hock issue, just slightly. Said give it a week and see how her feet heal up. :P

Reading back at the animal communicator consultation she mentioned that Isabella was buckling on the right front (which she was) and her right hind was bothering her. I didn't bother to write down the details because I thought, whatever - her right hind is fine. :P I'm emailing her now to see if she recalls any more details. I'll wait a week and see if she's any better from the foot soreness before going further.

This guy was awesome (posted for Lizette)



And this guy.. who despite having scoliosis auditioned and managed to impress everyone. I cried when I watched him! He was so sweet and nice (and really good on top of that!).

I'm excited yet frustrated. Exrated. This Saturday I'm supposed to drag ride for an endurance ride in Oakland Hills Lake Chabot Park. I signed up Annie (who drag rode Swanton with me 2 years ago) and her boyfriend to join me for the last 25 miles of the 50. This is the ride I pulled ourselves out because I (& Isabella) was pretty pooped after getting lost up a long hot hill. Anyhoo, I'm so excited to be out there on the trail again, trailering out and saying hello to old endurance buddies. But, I'm completely paranoid and worried that Isabella may not be completely sound. She's had 6 MONTHS of rest and rehabilition to recover from whatever ailment she was suffering from that made her lame last October. If she's not sound I'll be so disappointed.. plus that would really suck because it would mean the cause was something more serious than a tendon pull. Next step.. possibly a trailer ride to a bigger vet hospital where they can do a comprehensive lameness exam. Possibly an MRI since she has already been ultrasounded and x-rayed. Well, I'll just think positive thoughts.

On the trail she seemed fine.. trotting along she felt good at the right diagonal, off and on good at the left. She's a fairly right sided horse so I'm not sure if it's due to getting back in condition.. at a fast trot she would be a bit disjointed, cantering and trotting. Hmm. We came back and I lunged her to the right, seemed even and fine. Lunging her to the left I would see a slight head bob every 15 strides or so. Nothing significant.

Ugh, positive thoughts. :P