The Car Hunt

Well my Bemmer hit 168k miles the other day. My poor baby's getting old. She hates this cold weather too. I had a little trouble starting her up on Tuesday to go to class. She still runs great, I just get nervous when she does that. She probably didn't like sitting in the cold for a few days without being started. I've been so sick this past week I could not even get out of bed. I'm pretty sure its bronchitis. I got to get my butt to the doctor Monday to clear this up. Anyways, I'm in the market for a newer car. I figure the getting is good in the car market since the economy has hit the car market pretty bad. My cars still worth a good penny so my parents are willing to help me out with something newer. My dad and I went car shopping on Friday. We were all over north Jersey looking at these Audi TT's. That car's got some ah-um's. I wasn't sold on them though. I don't hate the fact that most of them are manuals. Stick's are fun to drive. They just get annoying after awhile. However, during our car quest I came across a few Audi A4's that I liked. It was the last place we looked, at the last moment walking out three of them caught my eye. There was this one midnight blue V6 quattro, OMG. She was gorgeous! little high on the price though. But, she was only 2 grand over our max. I was hopping my "professional" wheel and dealer dad would work the guy down. No such luck. My dumb ass dad offers the guy 12 out the freaking door with a trade. I'm thinking to myself at this point "what the hell happened to Mr. Low Ball 2 lots ago?!" So of course we call my mom to see what she thought. No go on that deal. I was pissed. I loved that car. She had 86,000 miles which isn't bad on an 02' A4. My boyfriends 98' A4 has 200,000 miles on it and the bitch still runs like a champ and he's never had to replace anything major on it. Then today, I was like to hell with my dad, I'm bringing my secret weapon to look at another A4. So I met my boyfriend up in Asbury at this dealer we were at just last week to look at an S4 for him. They had the same car in silver with only 56,000 miles on it and they wanted 11,995. I brought my car for the guy to look at as a trade, and God bless my boyfriend (who instructs and races for Porsche BTW) he tried so hard to get this guy to come down on the price. Damn guy would only come down to 11,200 with my car! I was pretty bummed. I really liked this A4. I test drove it and everything, man did she handle too. After dinner we went back to the drawing board and came across a bunch of A4's in my price range, so hopefully I will hit the right one. Buying a car is so freaking stressful. Of course I can't settle for a Japanese or American car. I mean I've been spoiled with German engineering. That would be like going from Park avenue to the Park bench. And besides every single day I'd catch major crap from my boyfriend and all of his friends if I ever rolled up in a Honda. No offence, but they all race Porsche's, I just can't do it. I hope I find something soon...

Turkey Day!

So Thanksgiving has come and gone, and we have about 3 weeks till Christmas!! My Thanksgiving was kind of depressing. My mom decided she wasn't cooking this year so we had our turkey dinner at a restaurant. I did not like this at all. It felt so wrong. It was also difficult to stuff my face since my brother and I drank to oblivion the night before. I felt like crap the whole day. I was supposed to go to my boyfriends parents afterwards but, I was so sick. Not only was I extremely hungover but, this damn cold I caught off him wont go away. Its been a week and I still can't breathe. I felt awful about not going but, there was no way in hell I was driving an hour up north in holiday traffic hungover with a cold. Hopefully next year will be better. I have a feeling I am going to be hosting a party next year. Scott's dead set on moving in together after spring semester sooo we shall see. If so, I'm frying my turkey. My dad did that last year and it was awesome.

Advising Experience at OCC

Lol why do they have professors advising kids? Shouldn't that be another job in its self? It is freaking ridiculous. I went to the administration building, the lady told me to look up where the psychology advisers are. So, I go to the teacher sign up on her door. Then, I came back the next day. I then explained to her that I wanted to switch my major over to business. So She said that I needed to go talk to someone in the business dept. Okay, so she then walked me over to the business part of the building. I went to Prof. Reily's office and of course there is a freaking wait. So I looked for another professor to go to. Walked all the way downstairs. And I get this guy who has never done this before, and it was his first semester here at OCC. So I explained my situation to him and after about 15 minutes he takes me upstairs to the "big guy". I was actually surprised that he was able to explain somethings to me about the associates degrees. But still, I needed more answers. And more importantly, I needed to make sure it wasn't futile to sign up for the business classes in the spring. I sit down with Mr. Polk, who turns out to be the dean of business, economics and comp sciences. I really liked this guy. He was so helpful and totally changed my mind about the associates degree. He was very logical in his approach to help me. He went over all my classes, told me all of them were great to transfer except the health course that the associates requires you to take. So He gave me the spring 09 catalog and circled a bunch of classes for me to take instead of the health class. Then he Bs'ed for a little while about Latin. lol He had me translating a bunch of college motto's. I was quite surprised as to how much Latin I actually remembered. Anyway, an hour and a half later I had my future all planned out. Pain in the ass, but hey I got it done.

Sick as a Dog

I am going to kill my boyfriend. He gave me the worst cold ever. I feel like someone took a hose full of gook and flooded my lungs. I can't breathe at all. My throat feels like it is on fire. Totally ruined my week. And what sucks even more is Friday night my aunt and uncle came up and took us to a Yes concert at the Borgata. It would have been soooo much better if I wasn't blowing my nose the whole damn time. This whole week was shot. I can't even drive. I feel dizzy and weak. UGH! I just want to feel better!!!!! Why did my boyfriend have to kiss me!! Men suck, they really do.

Media, Ugh!!!

Why is every news channel still going on about Sarah Palin?? The elections over people! Leave the poor woman alone. They lost, big deal. Someone had to lose. They keep asking her too "are you running for president in 2012?" People seriously, she just got he ass beat to a pulp, you really think shes sure about that one? God bless her if she decides that she is. But, I doubt it will happen. Besides, the end of the world is coming in 2012. This country just voted in the Jewish prophecy of Mahad. We are so done lol, right at his 2nd turn all these ancient texts predict doom. And Mahad really pin points Obama as a sign. Funny, I wouldn't be surprised if it happens, the beacon for freedom has been going down the pooper since the 80's. That's when this country really became greedy and corrupt. Interesting, the same exact thing happened to Rome... hmmmm. Hopefully, it wont but, I don't know. Sorry if my cynicism is upsetting, I'm in one of those depressed angry moods. Fricken Boyfriend..

I hate men

Why are men so damn stupid. My boyfriend tells me monday night that he was going to come down tonight. So today I kept asking him "are you coming down?" he kept giving me one of those "I don't know yet" lines. Boy I hate that. Then I asked him "ok well you want my mom to save you some meat loaf?" He says "Yeah". Ok, so he wants meat loaf but he's not coming. Word of advice to all the men out there don't tell people to cook for you if your going to be a no show. I'm so pissed right now. He does this all the time. Why can't guys just make up there minds. I understand he has to work on this stupid house he bought, but still, let me know for Christ sakes! You working or not? He works all day with the guy that is a partner on the house with him, you have all day to see if you guys are working or not. So stupid. I think he deliberately does this to keep me home. He knows theres a sailing party tonight. I've been asking him since 11 am when I got out of class if he was coming or not. And he couldn't give me an answer till 6:45 when he was outside the freaking house. UGH! I think just for spite im going to go to this party, take a picture of it, send it to him and turn my damn phone off.

Long distance roundabout

Long distance relationships suck. They really suck when you truly love the person. It's really sad. I go through the absence makes the heart grow fonder stage even if I saw him yesterday. Why can't love be convenient? If I want to see Scott, I've got to drive 85 miles. It really blows. My poor car. Thank God its German, If it were any other car with 167,652 miles on it I probably would have poured 5k into it by now. Which I don't have so, I'd then be relying on him to drive to me. I wonder what would happen if cars still didn't exist today. Would I still have met Scott? I believe fate brought us together, but, would the same fate have existed if technology wasn't around? Hmmm, I wonder...

Changes

I just realized something about myself lol. I noticed that from Senior year of high school to my freshman year in college my maturity shot up to this incredible height. Last year I was so incredibly lazy or at lest it seemed. I missed 23 days of school. My junior year was more like 30. But, last year I never took much pride in my work. I always did what was required of me and was happy with a B or a C, with the occasional A in classes I enjoyed. I constantly compared myself to other kids. And I'd fluctuate between liking and hating myself. I dreaded going to school, hated being in the presence of so many kids that I couldn't understand. Then, all of the sudden I get into college and everything clicks. I have an A in Algebra, IN ALGEBRA. I passed Algebra in high school by the hairs on my chinny chin chin. How in the world is the happening? Firstly, I think this change happened due to my inter generational relationship. Dating an older guy definitely helps. But, I also think its the environment that has allowed me to flourish. What else could it be? I love college. Not necessarily the kids, except the sailing kids they're cool. But, the structure of the whole college life feels like me. People actually are here to succeed. No one bothers you. No drama of who kissed who and what she said. It's so relaxed. It's funny my mom was right too. All the girls that gave me problems in high school disappeared. None of them are even going to college. It's such a good feeling to drive to school and know I can finally be myself. I no longer feel afraid to voice my opinion. Sometimes I still feel as if I am envied or something, but, it doesn't phase me as much anymore. College is helping me realize that I have a real talent that most people only dream of having. I don't mean to be gloating about myself but understand I've spent my whole life wondering what was wrong with me. Why am I so different than the average girl? Why am I not girly? It feels so good to finally accept myself.

The squeaky wheel

Here's my question: do you believe that the "squeaky wheel gets the grease?" In other words, do you think that you have to be forceful to get what you want in life - or do you think that being nice and accommodating will eventually have better results, even if it takes a bit longer?

This notion can easily be corrolated to a sailing strategy. During a race, there are moments to be aggressive and moments to be consevitive. The key to success to knowing when to do one or the other. For example, When you see an opening for a prime spot on the starting line, it is wise to kick everyones butt to get it and hold it like there's no tomorrow. Everyone in sailing knows that your starting postion will determine whether you win or lose. A better example is knowing your rights. If you are on a starboard(right) tack, and someone is headed toward you on a port tack. You have right of way. They better move or else they will end up in the protest room. So, in this situation you yell and scream STARBOARD! So they know that you know the rule and can't fool you off your course. Then, if they do hit you, and they don't do a 720(two circles) you yell PROTEST! And then find people around you to ask if they witnessed it. Later, you will go to the protest room with a witness and argue your protest. If you win the protest they will be disqualified. During the Penn State regatta I attened with OCC, I sailed conservatively. The conditions were strong shifty winds and rain. People had already flipped so there was no way I was pushing the boat my first time skippering. So for the last two races Stevens Tech and I were neck and neck, leading me a little. So, I simply tacked away, out of their bad air. Then tacked at the perfect moment back toward the finnish line. I had the boat in it's fastest point of sail. and I beat Steven's for fourth place by approx. 30-40 seconds. It was sweet. But, to make the connection more clear and answer the question. It is always wise to be more of a squeaky wheel than quite. If you sail agressively all the time you probably will win all the time. You probably will look like an ass so it's not wise to do so. Considering you will most likely see these people at some point again. Same goes in life. If you're a B**** you probably will get your way most of the time. However, you will be looked at with the same rescpect that people give Amorossa on the Aprentice (no I don't watch it). Life requires a balence. You can't let people walk all over you. However, you cannot make demands all the time. When you start to squeak too much, people will tune you out or leave your life.

School or Work

Prof Lauro wants to know: If you could transfer to ANY four year college, which one would it be? What's your dream school?

As far as schools go. Right now I am not quite sure what I want to do. I plan on getting married within the next year or so. So, I am tossed up whether or not I should just go in to real estate after two years and eventually become a broker. Or, go for the four year and then go into real estate or something along the lines of business. I suppose I will probably go for the four year degree. But, as easy as this school stuff comes to me, I am really sick of it. I just want to work already! To answer the question about what my dream school would be, it's simple. Penn State. My brother is a senior at PSU for Mechanical Engineering. It would be so cool to start a family tradtion at PSU. I also LOVE the campus. It is beautiful and continually grows bigger and bigger. The students are awesome! They are all so friendly and open. The parties are a blast and abundant. From what my brother tells me at least from an engineering major point of view, the classes can be challenging. Which it is probably safe to say that a major along the lines of business will not be as rigourous as his. So a little challenge would be good. I'm pretty confident I could get in to Penn State too. My GPA right now stands somewhere between a 4.0 and a 3.6. I can get a 4.0 if I just write more of these damn blogs lol. My SAT scores were average. I got a 1540 with all the subjects added up. I dont know how to convert it to the new score though. But I know it equaties to an avgerage score. Plus, I have quite a few teachers I could go to for a letter of recomendation. However, the flip side to going to PSU is the cost. It's $38,000 a year for my brother right now. I could'nt do that to my poor dad. He'd pay for it. Then he'd have a heart attack. Unless, I could get a scholarship, It's not worth it. Not for a business degree any way. I'd rather go to Kean University. It's about 45 minutes to an hour away from my boyfriend's house. So I would'nt have to live there. I could work in real estate and go to school. I could afford it on my own. And they offer a pretty good Marketing program. That seems like my best option right now. Rutgers is really close to his house. It's only a half hour away. But, I dont like there business program. It's limmited to a more general business degree and I want to go in to marketing. Madaun a Mia! So many decissions, so little time! Tempus Fugit!

Boom + head = no good

So, today we had sailing practice. Okay, no biggie. Usually, when it's gail force winds, we stay inside and do chalk talks. Well, not today. My coach decides to make us go out. I can't explain the feeling I got when I pulled into the the yatch club and saw the team putting the boats in. I literally slowed the car down and glared at them. So, I parked my car and proceeded to tell the coach that he is a mad man. He tells me to put on my gear. So I do just that (I should have told him to go f himself but, I respect people too much). So the coach comes and picks Lisa and I (the two late comers) up off the dock. Then, as we were heading out to the course, I suppose my coach had some kind of epiphany because he decided to put 3 of us on a boat. LUDICROUS! First of all 420's are not designed for 3 people. So silly me, I obey orders and climb into this over crowded boat. So the first run went okay. Everyone bitched about how tight it was, but no injuries. Then we pulled up next to the crash boat and proceeded to swap crews. Coach put Jamie on, one of our top girls. So, I proceeded to get off. He says "no no no stay on". I give him the are you serious look and crawl back on. Now, this is were it all goes down. After our 2nd or 3rd tack, as we were tacking, I had to wait for Jamie to get over to the other side of the boat before I would any space whats so ever to sit on the rail. So as I am doing so, the boom (the long metal pole on the bottom of the sail) WACKS me in my little noggin. And when I say WACK, I mean WACK! Mind you, I have been hit by a boom before, but not like this, and not on the back of my head like this. This sucker was swingin'. With winds of 15 to 20mph pushing it along. So I yell, "F***!" and crouch into the fetal position and cry. My teammates sailed me back to the crash boat. My coach looked at me and said, "What did you do, hurt yourself?" I looked up at him all teary eyed and red and said, "Uh, yeah!" So they motored me back to the docks and I got off. I walked over to my car and sat down for a little while and smoked a cigarette. Then, I noticed I was nauseous. Then the head ache came on. Then, I went home. My mom and my brother concluded that I have a minor concussion :(. Hence, I am going to the doctor tomorrow. I'm too old at heart to deal with this crap anymore. 8-10 years ago when I was 4'11 it was fun. Now I feel drained and beat up from it. I'm sticking to my boyfriend's yatch, screw this crap. If I'm sailing from now on I'm doing so drunk and on a boat where the booms a good foot above my head.