What? TV doesn't dictate YOUR life?

I thought today was Saturday. Why? Because my TV turns on in the morning according to a set time, and always on NBC. So I wake up to The Today Show. Well, apparently the normal weekday cast (Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira, and Ann Curry) are all on assignment for the "Ends of the Earth" special or whatever it's called. So this morning, the weekend cast was on.

I thought it was Saturday. Oops.

Awash in Mediocrity

So, I finally got my new car on Sunday. Well, it's new to ME, anyway.

And as you may have guessed from the title of this entry, I got me a Toyota Corolla. Yes, I have joined the millions of people who are driving this car. And it's really not as mediocre as M.R. said! I mean, the gas mileage is already better than my old Jetta was. With a 29 city mpg rating, it beats my Jetta's highway rating! The only thing it really lacks is the sunroof, but I can live without that. Other than that, it's a reliable car with a great warranty, and I think it was an all-around great choice. Also, unlike my old car, it has a 6-disc in-dash CD changer, lots of storage space, "wood" accents, and probably won't break down every 3 weeks.

So I'm happy. I am back on the road. Now to re-conquer the highway...

I need ginko biloba

Memory is important for a lot of things. You need it to graduate school, remember important moments, get through the day and function as a normal human being. But most importantly, it should be used to remember disappointing meals.

A few weeks ago, I bought a frozen dinner that looked delicious on the box. I took it home, followed all the preparation directions, and was all excited about eating it. Bite #1 totally fell flat. Well, maybe I didn't put enough gravy or potatoes on that bite... Bite #2: equally disappointing. Well, luckily my sister is the human equivalent of a goat, so she'll eat just about anything. She finished off that meal for me. Awesome.

Today, I went to the grocery store to pick up some things and grab some lunch. I went to the frozen food aisle, picked up a meal that looked delicious on the box, and brought it back to work. "Sweet," I thought, "a nice, hot meal for this cold day..." Well, I opened the box, and the packaging and preparation directions seemed eerily familiar to me. Yeah, you guessed it. I bought that same disappointing meal that I couldn't bring myself to finish all those weeks ago. Unfortunately for me, we're in a recession (and even if the country technically isn't, I sure as hell am), and it's no time to waste food. Also, my goat-sister isn't here, so guess what... I'm chokin' that bad boy down like my life depended on it.

Marie Callendar's Country Fried Steak with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy and Glazed Carrots.
Please don't let me buy it again.

Car Shopping

I hate it.

I just want a brand new car that's fully loaded with a phenomenal warranty and free maintenance for life. And I want to pay next to nothing for it.

Is that too much to ask????

Yo Voté!!!

So I voted yesterday, and look what happened! We have a half white, half Kenyan, with an Indonesian stepfather in office! WHOO HOO!!!!!!!

And yes, I'm happy. Obviously. As I said weeks before, I knew who I was going to be voting for pretty early in the campaign, and I am a registered democrat.

But honestly, regardless of who you voted for, however you feel about the results, you should be proud to have been around for this moment in history. I was born in 1981, and I can't really remember an historical moment (a POSITIVE historical moment) like this in my lifetime. And this is monumental. I just hope that we can all drop our partisan attitudes to unify this country and pull it out of the mess it's in.

If you voted yesterday, GOOD FOR YOU! You helped make history!

Mark is Awesome

While discussing my having to get a new car...

M.R.: Toyota Corollas... best vehicles on the market jk
Me: what do you drive?
M.R.: Toyota Corolla 06
Me: lol... Oh. Do you love it? I hated my car, mostly because it was just a lemon. But it sure did protect me.
M.R.: Lemon?
Me: There was always something wrong with it.
M.R.: Well, my car is mediocre in everything. Mediocre in gas mileage, handling, price.
Me: lol...
M.R.: But hey, you always see people with their 10 year old Corollas running on the streets. And there's a reason for that. They last. 'Cause they're so medicre at everything.

The Value of Life

I was in a really bad car accident this morning. I mean REALLY bad.

I was on 495, heading south towards Virginia, in the far left lane. My car started to fishtail (it had been raining) and then started to drift into the next lane. I turned my wheel to the left to try to get back into my original lane, but the car wouldn't obey... I suppose my big mistake was when I panicked and hit the brakes, because that's when I started to hydroplane. I slid all the way over to the right, my car spun out, hit the wooded area/foliage off of the shoulder, and then just when I thought that's where my car would stop, it happened. My car flipped. Yes, my car FLIPPED OVER, landing on the hood and roof and leaving me hanging upside-down in the driver's seat.

It's very surreal, being in your car when it's overturned on the side of the highway. My first thought was to find my phone, because I wasn't sure if I would be able to get myself out of there, and I needed to call 911. When I couldn't find my phone, I tried to unbuckle my seatbelt, which took a few attempts but I finally got it off. I dropped a short distance, and then tried to find my phone again with no luck. I looked over to the window to see if I could get out that way. Luckily it was shattered, and I crawled out of it.

I just stood there, staring at my car for a few minutes, halfway crying and halfway trying to figure out what to do next. No one had stopped to see if I needed help... not yet, anyway... and I couldn't find my phone. When I finally found it, I dialed 911, but at that point a really nice couple had pulled over and told me that they were already on the phone with emergency services and that they were sending someone out there.

I examined myself as I stood there with them by the side of the road, and realized that I was totally fine... No pains, everything functioning, and only a few cuts on my hand from where I crawled out of the car over broken glass. Every emergency response person who was there looked at me with an odd disbelief. I suppose they thought I should still be stuck in the car or very badly injured. But I wasn't...

While I was in the ambulance pulling away from the scene, I saw my car. It was one of those things you see but never think that it'll happen to you. But things like that have the chance of happening to anyone. I was EXTREMELY fortunate and blessed to walk away from that accident. And I realized that I, and most people, really often conduct themselves with that, "It'll never happen to me" attitude. The truth is that I think we should all stop living our lives with that type of disregard. It happened to me, and I lived to tell the tale. But your life is really not something you should play games with. It should be valued and cherished.

LESSONS LEARNED:
1.) ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS wear your seatbelt. I'm telling you, it'll save your life. Lord knows where I'd be right now if I hadn't been wearing mine.
2.) Invest in an emergency kit for your car... something that includes devices that will cut your seatbelt and break your windows, in the event that you're trapped.
3.) ALWAYS have your phone, identification, and medical insurance card with you. You should also carry or program into your phone some emergency contacts that are clearly labeled. For example, all of my family's phone numbers are saved as "Mom," "Dad," "Sister," and "HOME" so that there is no confusion if an EMT ever had to call someone for you.
4.) NEVER take life for granted.