Stop Cock Blocking Me.

I was born in California, raised in California, and will DIE in California. I love this golden state of mine so much, but living here makes it so hard for me to actually enjoy it, especially when I hit retail therapy sessions. Trying to buy things here is SOOOOO difficult. Why do I have to go through so much paper works and identification verification just to buy harmless items, yet only to get denied later?? Even one of my item that I have in my possession is still an ongoing paperwork to confirm my background checks. I've had it since July and haven't even gotten to play with it yet!!!! I'm going to bring up this retail cock blocker to someone's attention. Talk about frustrations. T_T Why can't I have my cake and eat it too?? .::EDIT::. That's ITTTTTTTT. I hit another road bump during my retail session therapy. I'm emailing my Senator tomorrow.

Car Shopping, the experience.

After my parents constant urging for me to get off my lazy butt, Philliam and I went to CarMax to do some research on what kind of car I should get. My parents were opposed to my CarMax visit, but I figured, since I want to start paying for my own car, then I should get a used one to help ME out. Parents... they are so bizarre. I did find some that I like, but they are way out of my price range and “need.’ This was at the Roseville CarMax, you know, just in case you have a good soul and decide to purchase something nice for me. Remember, I did have a terrible day yesterday. Well, I'm still feeling rather shitty today. =(

Those aren't the cars that I'm planning on getting, but WOW, right? I do want that Porsche Ceyenne someday. I even saw the 2007 Shelby that's posted on the CarMax website. Gorgeous, ain't she? Because CarMax had sold a lot of their cars that day, there wasn't much to look at when Philliam and I went there during the evening. I was hoping for some hybrid cars or any car that's good on gas. But I really want to hold on to my current broken car or buy the new model... urgh. After our car snooping, we were hungry little monkeys. We decided to visit his friend who owns a Thai restaurant in the area, but the problem was, he doesn't have her number in his new phone so trying to figure how the name, location, etc. was like finding a needle in the haystack. We even checked her facebook account to see if she posted her phone number on there, but all she had listed was her old disconnected number. So after an hour of searching and wasting gas, we decided to hit up downtown. It was a great idea because we had good 'ol soul food at Sandra Dee's and I saw a huge group of UCD students. It was nice. =) I took some pictures of the back side of a mechanics shop. I love downtown. I'm so glad I work in downtown. I'm still thinking about whether or not I should go to grad school in LA or stay in Sac. That's a topic for next time.

Who would have thought car shopping online would also be so boring, tiring, lame, makes-me-hungry, etc.?? That last picture is of me pretending to get into a car that I want. Can anyone figure out what kind of car that is? Since being back from my vacation, I have a lot of summer reading to catch up on. Someone signed me up for magazine subscriptions 3 months ago and I've been receiving them in bulk. I'd hate for the magazines to go to waste so I plan on reading them along with books that I purchased last year that I have yet to read. I can't wait when session slows down in 2 weeks! That means leisurely reading time. =)

No ride to call my own.

Ever since I’ve been back from my month long vacation, I’ve been having the hardest time getting around town. My car broke down in early June, right after I had completed my last final at school. It’s amazing how my car knew just when to croak! My car had always given me problems in the past and so much repairs/money has been put into it that I no longer have the patience to take my car to the repair shop again. I mean, why put more money and time into the car only to have it break down again and again further down the road?

There are a couple of problems that I am faced with: letting go of the old and getting a new replacement vehicle. I can’t seem to give up on my car. I’ve loved it since the day I got it back in 2006 from a private party (wrong mistake, I’ve learned my lesson) and I can’t seem to give it up for a new car (new and certified used vehicles from now on). I feel as if I am not yet worthy of getting a new car yet until I am able to afford one on my own. When my car was running, I told myself that once we were out of this economic depression and unemployment lows, I will get a nice, new vehicle to my liking. I always knew my car would die soon, but not that soon!

Considering my past problems with that car, it’s not smart to repair it (unless I want more problems haunting me). It’s now onto looking for a new vehicle. And this is where I’m stuck. I am so lazy about this. I am also stubborn about this. I don’t want any other car but the current broken one that I have. How is that supposed to help me out? I can’t seem to let it go. That’s the only car that I want. The only car that I feel is right for me. It may be the only car that I’ll ever love despite it’s jacked up transmission, dings on the doors, scratches from hoodlums, and it’s missing spare tire cover. So there’s my predicament.

I don’t feel like I should get a totally great car seeing that I will be depressed afterwards due to my low worthiness (I have a lot of issues with myself that needs to be fixed, huh?). So what kind of car should I get? Honestly, it should be a car that can take me from point A to point B. That narrows it. *rolls eyes* It should be nothing too fancy and it should be car that I won’t feel bad about giving up to my siblings later when I land a better job or get promoted in a few years. It should also be a car that no one will be jealous of because I'm not that great to be jealous of. Yes, you read that right. XD

I cannot believe how difficult it is just to shop around for a car. I don’t know which make, model, engine type, color, year, specifications, etc. that I want. Should I get a checklist for this project? I just can’t find one that fits my needs. Well, actually, if it were this 2007 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 I wouldn’t hesitate to mumble an excited YES!

mama's got a new toy + thoughts for my chicken soup

Again, I apologize for the lack of updates. My absences will be an ongoing thing since school and work are a priority, then comes social life, and then blog. I'll try to update as much as possible. But here's a nice update: I bought myself a new toy. It's a CRKT My Tighe 1090 with the outburst assisted opening. It's beautiful.... Here's my purchasing story: I called my local tactical dealer and asked to make an appointment in their store to view their merchandise. I met up with the owner this morning at 9am, we went into his store and I began the viewing. I separated the ones I liked between the ones I didn't like while asking for prices (I'm on a student budget, mind you). I remember it was love as soon as I laid my eyes on the My Tighe and I remember very well that he told me it was $70. Pricey, but I still wanted to think about getting it. So after moving the piles of "I want" around until I had finally narrowed it down to just two; I asked him again for the prices on both. He grabbed the My Tighe, glanced at it then looked at me. I always have my poker face on when I'm purchasing my "toys" and undergarments. I was planning on paying the full $70 for the My Tighe since it was LOVE, but he told me he made a mistake and it was really $50. Hmmm... Crazy, right?? I now just looked at CRKT's direct site and saw My Tighe selling for $89.99 MSRP. Sometimes, I really wonder what influences a person to give me such special treatment. But was this really special treatment or did he really mistakenly say it was $70? I like to think that he mistakenly said $70, but then I'd have to think back to all those other purchasing events such as when I would visit GameStop, I would to get new releases a few days earlier or special rates/discounts on certain games. Also, I noticed the employees would go out of their way to get me whatever I asked for. I'm not a bossy person, so it's not like I'm demanding things. People (mainly those of the opposite sex) would go out of their way to serve me. It's a funny thing. So what's making me wonder about whether or not he gave me special treatment? Well, while he was ringing me up, he asked what I did for a living, my age, what I do for fun, and somehow he coaxed me into talking about my dating life. =/ Whatever, I got my toy. He said he would call me up later next week since I put in an order for a sharp object that emits flame and lights up. I'm thinking he mistakenly said $70... But why would he go out of his way to do a special order on just one item for some lame duck like myself?

My unusual Walmart visit

Several nights ago, I made a quick run to my local Walmart. When I entered the parking lot, the very first thing I noticed were the mass amount of luxury vehicles sitting comfortably in front of Walmart. I don't believe I have ever seen that many luxury cars parked in a Walmart center. It was a surprise to me. So I parked my car in between my homies, Benz and Saab, and made my way across the lot to the Walmart entrance. As I trot my way along, I was taking count of how many luxury vehicles I had walked past (yes, I was that intrigue with this unusual event). Then I pass by some guy, who looked to be around my age, sitting in the trunk of his Mazda.

He calls out to me. "Aye yo, would you like to buy some sunglasses? Versace, Gucci, Vuitton, Coach, Fendi, Baby Phat..."

His list of (most likely, fake) designer goods were rather long. I told him I wasn't interested and continued to make my way along while he was still naming off the brands of sunglasses.

Then he yells out, "How about a black man?"

I stopped dead in my tracks, spun around to face him with a look of confusion on my face. I walked towards him, slowly (I was already pretty far from him since I have this habit of speed-walking), with a dumbfounded expression on my face. Once I was at a safe distance from him that was enough for me to speak without yelling and far enough to run away if the need arises, I politely told him, "No thank you. I can only afford to feed myself, so I cannot buy a black man from you tonight."

Smirking with cleverness from my (stupid) response, I turned to walk my usual fast pace walk, he shouts after me, "I know you don't got a black man at home. You gon need one real soon."

Ignoring him, I continued to walk. I forget to say my usual "hello" to the customer service rep that stands at the entry door since I was too busy thinking about what he just said. Why am I going to need a black man “real soon”? Let alone, why do I need a man? That was unusual. Anyway... I reEaaaAAAaallllly had to pee. So I hit the banos and saw the MOST DISGUSTING BATHROOM EVER!!!!

I have never seen Walmart's bathroom THAT dirty. Yes, it is usually dirty, but not as dirty as it was that night. All the toilets had "stuff" in it, in which someone(s) did not flush. So I go to the far end stalls on the left to check which looked cleanest and settled on the second stall on the far left. I flushed the nasty "stuff" and use triple-multiple seat coverings and squat as I did my business. No way in HECK am I going to place my bare bottom on that filthy seat, regardless of how many toilet seat coverings I had packed on. With the bathroom looking as trashy as ever, I noticed that the bathroom smelled rather pleasant. Like... spices and pine nuts and happy raccoons. As I pondered that, I looked up and saw a huge red net sack with pine cones in them. Yes, very decorative for such a filthy bathroom. At least it didn’t smell like shit.

As I was finishing up my business (I drink a lot of liquids, so I usually pee for that long), I hear two ladies walk in and exclaiming about how filthy the bathroom was. So yes, the bathroom was filthy and it wasn't just me and my clean standards judging Walmart. Something’s up at Walmart.

I walked out of the stalls and did my hand washing routine for 30 seconds and one of the ladies is looking into the first stall on the right.

She sees me looking at her and shouts “Come see this!”

Shrugging, I walk over to her show-and-tell. She uses her middle finger and points to the left side of the toilet. There on the floor besides the toilet were a huge-mongo amount of toilet paper, but sitting proudly on top of that huge-mongo amount of toilet paper was…

… a huge ball of toilet paper covered in brownish-green goo.

There goes my dinner. I ended up barfing in the sink. Thank goodness the sink was automatic because it washed away the evidence I had for dinner (I eat too much junk food). Seriously, what was wrong with this bathroom that night? I checked the cleaning schedule and saw that it was cleaned at least 3 hours from the time I was using it. I thanked the lady and walked out of the bathroom while she exclaims over the cleaning schedule.

That was unusual. I’ve never seen that bathroom in that state. I’m glad it didn’t stink! Well, my visit to Walmart ended as a happy one. I picked up the items that fell under my shopping list: witch hazel, toothpaste, mouth rinse, bikini wax, baby oil, reese’s whopper, loti-… wait a minute. What is this? Ensure? Ensure on sale?! Holy moly! Is it close to it’s expiration date? No. Well then. Better stock up on that good stuff! YUM.

So my Walmart visit was rather unusual, don't you think?