save your pennies

I can't remember where I read this, but here are a few badly summarized tips for buying gas that will supposedly save you some money in these oh-so-pricey days:

~ Buy early in the morning while it's still cool outside. Supposedly there's less vapor, or something like that.

~ Fill up while you still have half or a quarter tank left. Again, something to do with vapor.

~ Use the pump at the medium or low speed. Honestly, I didn't know there were speeds, but hey, give it a shot. And again, this has something to do with less vapor.

~ Don't fill up while the truck is there filling the tanks. I think this has to do with kicking up sediment. But other than not wanting the sediment in your car in the first place, I'm not sure how this is specifically beneficial while prices are high.

This has been a public service announcement sponsored by Rebelmeyer, Inc.

nutshell

In a month I am moving again, trying to stay in the same neighborhood, just need a *better* apartment, which will probably cost me a bit more, not to mention moving costs. Since I lost my car, I have been very unhappy with using public transportation to get to work and back and I've come to the conclusion that I am not one of those people who can get by without a car. I was going to put off buying a new one until the finances allowed it (more comfortably anyway), but now I'm thinking sooner rather than later. The GOOD news is, the finance situation soon may not be as dire as it was. I was just today offered a new job at my company, which will come with a promotion and a pretty nice raise. And I have to say that this job really just fell in my lap right when I needed it.

Life is good. Complicated and messy, but good.

car and cold

This winter has been nasty. Snow and cold and ice and more snow. Oh, and the flood that killed my car. That sucked pretty bad, too.

So, things had been going okay until about 2 1/2 weeks ago when a water main broke near my apartment, and caused flooding in the streets. This flooding was so bad that it caused a large portion of the street to collapse. It was also so bad that the water reached my car, parked about a half a block away, and rose to a level where it seeped into the interior of the car. Oh yeah, then it froze. I spent that whole day trying to get my car towed out of the mess that was my neighborhood before the whole thing turned into a giant block of ice. I didn't succeed until 7 p.m. that night, and the car was a total loss anyway. Bummer.

The next couple of days I took the train to work, which worked out okay, except I was damn depressed about my car. Plus, I had places I needed to go that weekend and no way to get there. That Thursday my Dad called me and told me he'd loan me his car so I could get around over the weekend (Love him!!). I told him I would give it back to him on Sunday, or whenever he needed it. It ended up that he didn't need it at all that next week, so I kept it and drove it to work every day. The following Thursday (after I'd had the car for a week), I had made plans to go to the parents' so my Mom and I could watch the "Lost" season premiere. Dad said that the next day, he and Mom would come out to my place of work to pick up the car, and I could take the train home from there. Well, due to the snowstorm forecast on Thursday night, I decided it would be in my best interest to spend the night at my parents' house. So I did. And I drove in to work the next day from there. But because of all the snow, my Dad didn't want to drive all the way to my work to get the car again, so he said I could keep it a while longer. Awesome!

The weather has only gotten worse. On Super Bowl Sunday, it snowed some more, and my friend and I got made fun of at the bar because we went to the window to check out the snow. Apparently some dude thought it was funny to assume we'd never seen snow before, or were not native to Chicago and had no idea it snowed here. In reality, we were gauging the amount of snow and whether it would be better for my friend to leave early (she'd driven) than stay for the whole game. 'Cuz you see, having lived in the Midwest our whole lives, we're smart enough to know to be aware of the weather conditions when we're driving somewhere. That guy was a prick.

This past Tuesday/Wednesday actually were prime examples of that need to be aware of the weather. We were expecting ANOTHER huge storm, with snow and rain and sleet and every other form of precipitation imagineable. Tuesday night I went home, half expecting to not come in at all the next day (or if I was feeling ambitious, I'd take the train). But when I woke up Wednesday, it was only raining. Where was this mythical storm? So I drove. And that was stupid. The weather worsened as I neared work, and this only put me on edge all morning. I knew it was going to get worse before it got better, and I would much rather be stuck at home than stuck at work. I ended up leaving half-way through the day, and I am super glad I did, because the snow was getting bad out in the burbs, and as I got into the city, the rainy "wintery mix" was turning to humongous snowchunks plummeting from the sky. I watched out my living room window as the snow continued to fall and the roads got worse and worse. I was happy with my decision to leave early, and it turns out I didn't miss all that much at work anyway.

But this morning, I started to think I really wouldn't mind being without a car for a while. I was giving my friend a ride to work (thank god) and when we attmpted to get into the car, we failed miserably. All 4 of the doors were frozen shut. After about 30 minutes of pushing and pulling and punching and slamming and trying to think of hot things we could use to melt the ice, we finally made a breakthrough. Literally. I threatened my friend that I was going to pour his hot coffee on the frozen door, and that was all the motivation he needed to finally pry the door open. You might be wondering why I didn't just give up and take the train. Well, that really wasn't an option today because once again, I am going out to my parents' house after work to return the car to my Dad. If I showed up without it, that might be a little odd. Not to mention, how would I get there?

So anyway, it's still cold and snowy and icy outside, but it's actually not as cold as it has been the past few winters (knock on wood). And as of tonight, I will be officially carless. Not that the one has to do with the other, but, well, in my mind, "the winter" and "the car" are now inextricably linked.

the weekend

I had a pretty productive weekend, so I guess I'm a little bit proud of myself. Though yesterday I was kinda lazy and mostly just watched bad weekend TV instead of going grocery shopping or cleaning my apartment. But hey, you can't be good all the time. Saturday I had to drive to Skokie to pick up my box o' medicine. It's weird, but sometimes FedEx will leave it in the lobby of the building, or even in front of my apartment door, and sometimes because of the nature of the package (perishable) they won't drop it off and want me to come get it. I ask for the same type of delivery every time (no signature needed), so maybe it just depends on which delivery guy I get. Dunno. Anyhow, I had to go pick it up, then drive out to the p's house to SELL MY CAR! It was such a weight off my shoulders to get rid of it. I think I got a good price, and I believe it is going to a good home. The man who bought it didn't speak English very well, so he brought a friend along (also because he needed to ride with someone so he could drive his new car back) who did most of the talking. My main concern was that I wanted it to go to someone who would fix it up and make it into a much cooler car than I ever bothered to do. And I think this guy will do that. We were both happy with the sale. Yay! So I hung out with my Dad a bit (Mom had just left for a Florida vacation with her lady friends) then drove back into the city before going out to meet 'Tatious and her hubby for an evening of Wedding Banned debauchery. We were joined by this guy and this girl, and then all hell broke loose. Okay, maybe not all hell, but a whole lotta heck broke loose! The show was a lot of fun, a highlight of which was a personal serenade by a guitarist, complete with leg up on a chair, directly in front of me.

And then we went to IHOP. The end.

new car and stuff

In case you didn't get my very excited text this weekend, I bought a new car! It's not new-new, but it's new to me. A 2005 Suzuki Reno hatchback, and it's orange. Yes, orange. I saw it on Carmax.com, fell in love, and went straight away to buy it. It's the only time in my life I haven't been waffly about buying a new car, so I decided I'd best jump on it and get it before I began to doubt myself. And so far, I'm glad I did. Aside from a few minor details (speakers are iffy; it's got buttons on the steering wheel to control the radio, which just get in my way; not sure about the gas mileage) I like it a lot. It's quiet. It's a manual and it handles pretty similar to my old Civic, so it's easy (for me) to drive. It's orange. It doesn't make funny noises. It has 4 doors. It's orange. The windshield wipers work properly without the lever being tied to my I-Pass (don't ask). It's got a CD player. It's orange. It has power steering, locks and windows. Did I mention it's orange? If you hadn't guessed, that's my favorite feature. I was insistent upon getting a car in a bright color because of a bad prior experience in a white car. I totalled my old Metro in 2001 when an enormous Caddy pulled out in front of me because he didn't see me. And I am convinced that he didn't see me because my car was white and blended in (relatively speaking) to the overcast white sky behind me. An orange car (or a red one, like my Civic) is a lot harder to miss.

So yeah. I like it.

Now I am thinking about all these other changes I want to make. I need to get my hair cut, and I am going to color it as well, to cover all the nasty grays that this job has given me. Hee. Any color suggestions? I'd consider purple if it weren't for the very conservative nature of my workplace. Also, when my lease is up, I don't think I'm going to renew. I like the neighborhood I'm in, but I have grown quite disillusioned with the apartment itself. The longer I live there, the more I feel like it's a crap hole. I don't want to live in a crap hole. Would you? Lastly (and this is slightly irrelevant, but I wanted to mention it anyway), I have joined Facebook after I received an invitation from a friend, and I'm kind of enjoying it! Maybe even more than MySpace! That may be in part due to the fact that it's not blocked at work, whereas MySpace is. I expected to find most of the same people who I've found on MySpace, since the people who are interested in those sorts of sites tend to overlap. But I have been pleasantly surprised to find a LOT of other different people! People who I am very happy to reconnect with. People who I wouldn't expect to be on Facebook, but I'm sure glad they are. And lastly (okay, the last "lastly" was a bit premature), I am really looking forward to my high school reunion.

That is all.

don't turn the engine off, don't turn the engine off ...

This past weekend was a comedy of errors. Seriously. (Maybe that's an oxymoron? I don't know and I don't care.) Jillybean and I started out innocently enough driving down to the St. Louis area for the wedding of a friend of ours. It was a long drive down there on a Friday afternoon, but not too bad since I had company. And we stopped at a few rest areas on the way, so it was broken up a bit. We arrived at our hotel in O'Fallon, and checked in. Unfortunately, I had not remembered to get directions to the restaurants we wanted to try in downtown St. Louis, so we were more or less forced to stay in our general neighborhood for dinner. This would ultimately mean that the most we'd see of St. Louis was the hazy arch from a distance of I-don't-know-how-many miles. Alas. Anyway, we had decided earlier in the day that we'd like to have some barbecue for dinner, so we asked the girl at the front desk where the best barbecue place was, and she sent us to a place called Smokey Bones, which is, apparently, a chain. But on a positive note, that was some damn good barbecue. The rest of our exciting Friday night was spent at Barnes and Noble, and then at Walmart (I needed to buy a disposable camera, seeing as how the memory card I bought for my digital camera the day before was the wrong kind and did not fit.) We are two wild and crazy girls, let me tell ya. I think that Jilly would have been up for something more exciting, but I had been driving all day and was plumb tuckered out. So after Walmart, we went back to the hotel, watched HBO for a while (Ever seen the show "Flight of the Conchords"? I am in love!!), and went to bed. Next day was the wedding. We woke up early enough to catch some breakfast at the hotel, then just chilled in the room until it was time to get ready to go (we had our leftover barbecue for lunch and somehow managed not to get barbecue sauce on either of our dresses). We drove to Belleville without incident, and the ceremony was lovely (to be discussed in further detail in a later post). The church was ginormous, too! In between the ceremony and the reception, we had about 2 1/2 hours to kill, so we putzed around the town to see what we could see. The first thing we saw was a DQ, so we stopped off for Blizzards. The second thing we saw was a psychic who was offering $5 palm readings, so we stopped, but nobody answered the door. The third thing we saw was a cutesy little antique/resale shop, so we stopped, but despite the huge OPEN sign in the window, they were closed. The fourth thing we saw was my car, in the parking lot where I'd just parked it, unable (unwilling?) to start. Damn. There is nothing more stressful than being stranded in an unfamiliar place with no idea who to call for help. We ended up walking down the street in our party clothes to a gas station to ask for help. There was a kind fellow there (a customer who was well-known to the employees) who promised to help us out and jump my car as soon as he finished buying his beer and cigarettes. So we walked back up to the parking lot, and a minute or so later, the guy and his wife arrived in their big ole pick-up truck. He helped us out very efficiently, and with a cigarette hanging stereotypically from the corner of his mouth as he growled, "It didn't even make a spark!" Since it was a Saturday, and we were in unfamiliar territory, and there didn't seem to be any sort of mechanic or otherwise who was open for business (and not a single Sears Auto to be found), we figured the only thing we could do was to drive it where we needed to go, and hope there was someone around who could give us a jump when we'd inevitably need it next time we got in the car. So that's what we did. We drove to the reception hall (even though we were early), where we ate and danced and chatted the night away - Jilly even had several admirers! And instead of going to the after party we were invited to (I was grumpy and tired ... again), we got a jump from some friends of ours, and headed back to the hotel, convinced we'd have to jump it again in the morning and keep it running all the way back to Chicago, and thankful that I had just filled up the gas tank BEFORE the battery died on me. The next morning, as expected, the car needed another jump, so the nice girl behind the front desk offered to pull her car around and help us out. Mission accomplished. Now our plan for the trip back to Chicago was pretty simple - DON'T TURN THE ENGINE OFF! I had enough gas to get us there, so all I had to do was make sure I didn't automatically and accidentally turn the engine off when we stopped for food, or for a rest stop or what have you. We had a little tag team routine where one person would get out and stretch their legs while the other stayed in the car so it didn't get stolen. We stopped for breakfast and Jilly got out to pick it up for us. We stopped at a rest area on the road and were both able to get out and rest for a while. We stopped for lunch at Culver's and once again, Jilly got out and ordered for us (cheese curds, yum). But at each stop, I had to say aloud to myself as I parked the car, "Don't turn the engine off, don't turn the engine off ..." because you don't really realize it most of the time, but reaching over and turning the key after you park is so automatic, that changing your routine can feel incredibly awkward. On the way back, I called my dad, who I figured would have a solution for what I should do with my car after I got back home. Together we decided that I'd drive out to their place in the burbs, and the following morning, he'd help me jump it and take it to the place to get a new battery. This was the best solution I could come up with, because since he had just retired the previous Friday and would no longer be going to work, he was the only person I knew who'd be available on a Monday morning to help me out. The only hitch was that by the time we got back home, my gas tank was at a point where I wasn't sure if I could make it back out to the burbs. So, I stopped at my apartment (and kept the engine running - Jilly was still with me), and we called my former roomie, who was available to meet me at the nearest gas station to jump my car after I filled up. I was informed later by my dad that technically, I could have filled up with the engine running, despite the giant signs at the gas station that said to turn the engine off. I had suspected this was true, but whatever. I didn't want to risk it. So after that long ordeal, I dropped Jillybean off at her apartment, and with much improved confidence that I'd get to my parents' safely, I drove off into the sunset. The next morning went off without a hitch - Dad jumped my car, I got a new battery that worked beautifully and didn't cost a fortune, and I breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

Next time I decide to take a road trip, I'm flying.

car love

I feel like I have a brand new car.

Well, not quite. But I feel like I have a slightly nicer car than I had before, even though it's actually the same car. Just better. Let me explain. My car is old. And when cars get old, things start to happen to them, just like people. The thing that was happening to my car (well, ONE of the things that was happening) was that the windows were fogging up WAY TOO MUCH. On a cold winter morning, I could not escape the fog on my windows. I tried every possible combination of settings on my heater, but to no avail. The defroster would clear the windshield enough for me to see out of, but the side windows would get completely fogged up, all the way to the back of the car, and then of course that fog would freeze to the window and become frost, which is not so easily removed when you're driving down the highway at 80 mph. Changing lanes and turning became not only difficult, but downright dangerous. It started doing this last year or the year before, and was getting progressively worse each winter. So I asked my Dad, cause he's a Dad and just inherently knows more about these kinds of things than I do, and he suggested I stop breathing when I'm in the car. Or build myself a garage. Seriously. These were the things he said to me. But when I told him that half the city does not park in garages, and I'm pretty sure I don't breathe any more than any of them, yet the other cars I see on the highway have delightlfully clear windows, we decided to explore other possibilities. In a sudden brain wave, he said he thought maybe it was the thermostat stuck in the open position, and that I should take it in to the shop at the dealership. So I did. And lo and behold, I do not have to stop breathing after all because it was indeed the thermostat.

So anyway, I dropped the car off on Saturday and they checked it out. They said they had the part in stock, but they'd need to keep the car until Monday. Ummmm, okay, whatever. But they had a loaner car for me to use until then. And let me tell you, driving a car with an automatic transmission and power steering is living in the lap of luxury. I felt utterly lazy because the car was doing all the work and all I had to do was sit behind the wheel and pretend to steer. However, my experience driving this unfamiliar car for three days was quite ... funny. First of all, I forgot to grab my I-Pass out of my car before I left it at the dealership (not to mention my apartment keys, but that's another story), so when I drove home, I had to go through the regular toll booth and pay in cash. So I got up to the booth, rolled down my window and had my hand hanging out with money in it, when suddenly, the little blue light came on, the gate opened and the toll-booth-lady waved me through! What?! This car has an I-Pass? Where is it? I don't see it! I opened every compartment I could find looking for the thing (which I do not recommend while actually driving), including the glove box, where I only found some papers and a mostly-gone roll of toilet paper. Hm. This car has an invisible I-Pass* ... but ... um ... doesn't have a horn.** Wait, what? How can a car not have a horn? I swear I looked everywhere on that steering wheel and did not find a horn, only cruise control and an airbag. So my weird little automatic-everything loaner car had an invisible I-Pass but had no horn. And I couldn't read the spedometer because it was digital and placed right behind the top edge of the steering wheel in my line of sight. And the wheel wasn't adjustable, so I had to continuously peek over the top of it in order to make sure I wasn't speeding, which I almost always was. And I couldn't figure out how to adjust the bass on the radio until Monday evening. But about that radio? I swear to Jeebus it had some sort of mechanism that adjusted the volume up when the car was moving, and down when it was standing still! Magic awesomeness!

So after living the good life in a weird little automatic-everything loaner car for a couple days, it was time to give it up and get my own car back. I was a bit nervous because I didn't know if the problem was going to be fixed, but honestly, I kinda missed the little bastard. So I picked it up, and 1) it heated up and the windows didn't fog up!!! 2) they had washed it!!! and 3) the radio didn't work anymore. *** I went to my parents' for dinner that night, and my Dad changed the bulb in the headlight for me, which had gone out weeks ago, and I'd bought a replacement but couldn't figure out how to get the old one out (in my defense, Dad had some serious difficulty with this as well). Then I filled up the tank and went on my way.

So I drove home last night in a car that was clean, and warm, and had clear windows, two headlights and a full tank of gas. Aside from the radio thing, I was a very happy girl.



* Upon further investigation (meaning my Dad asked the guy at the dealership when he called), we discovered that they affix all of their loaner cars with an I-Pass in the grille of the car. Again, magic awesomeness!

** I think I was accidentally on crack on Saturday night, because Monday morning, I found the horn. But they made it seriously difficult to find. In the center of the steering wheel was the silver Honda logo. Below that, stamped in the black vinyl was the airbag label. And below THAT, nearly unnoticeable, was a teeny tiny horn symbol.

*** Um, yeah, the radio actually does work, I'm just a moron.