Posted by Rebecca
Mon, 26 Feb 2007 23:05:00 GMT
A few weeks ago I had a conversation with a friend who was purchasing some lottery tickets. He felt that the money pot was finally high enough to justify him spending a few bucks on a ticket.
He then went into a long explication of what he would do with the money if he won. He talked about paying off his debts, then paying off the debts of all his family members and the buying a new car, a house, etc.
I thought about it for a minute. I thought about what I would do if I were to come by a ridiculously large sum of money that I could spend at will.
I like the idea of paying off debts. I know I would pay off my car and my student loans, and then give everyone I know about a hundred bucks because I probably owe them that much in lunches, gas, etc.
I’m not sure if I’d pay off the debts of my family. I think this for two reasons. First, I think if possible, people need to be responsible for their own funding and livelihood. Obviously if someone in my family was in trouble I’d help them. Well, let me qualify that statement. If it was an emergency like high medical bills and no insurance or something, I’d help out. If it was something like a family member was an idiot and got themselves in trouble, I would think long and hard about letting them get away with no consequences. Secondly, I would very much want to help my family preserve their dignity by not helping them handle their finances, which I think is something they would keep private anyway.
I’d give money to my church and several other ministries, like Mission: Possible! and Shaohanna’s Hope.
Then I’d drop a ton of the money to pay for the construction of wells in African nations. Often, schools are available for children there but the kids can’t go because they spend their entire day hauling water to and from faraway wells just so their families can survive. Even then, the water is not always clean. I’d really like to help out there.
Then, if I had anything left, I’d spend it on me. A trip to New Zealand sounds perfect.
What would you spend your money on if you won the lottery? Keep it short, it is after all only a comment. :)
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Posted by Rebecca
Mon, 26 Feb 2007 23:05:00 GMT
So I accidentally deleted the Flickr badge, which would be why so many of you couldn’t find it. But it’s back up there now. Enjoy!
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Posted by Rebecca
Fri, 23 Feb 2007 14:53:00 GMT
I have the CR-V now. I have a car payment now.
But I’m happy.
I had Auto P.I. do a “Lemon Busters” inspection on my car yesterday morning and everything passed with flying colors.
So Dom took me down to the dealership, I signed 500 forms, including one really large one (large in area), they detailed the vehicle, and I drove it away.
Everything is done. Insurance, loan, all of it.
I drove it to work today and for the first time since I drove it off the lot yesterday I was able to actually focus on how the car felt while driving. I have to say, it drives very smoothly. It’s very comfortable, rides well, etc.
I learned last night that it has a V-Tec inline 4 cylinder engine. It drives like it has 6 cylinders.
I also learned that there are different types of 4 cylinder engines. Didn’t know that. Now I’m smarter.
I’m still decompressing from the entire process of being carless, searching for a car, deciding on one, buying it, and getting used to having freedom again. But I learned a lot about God, me, and the world through the process and that’s a very goog thing. Now that it’s all over, I feel like I can finally concentrate on other things.
This sounds hokey, but because I learned so much, I feel kinda like a champion. And I bought the car from Champion Toyota. So I decided to name the car Champ. I’ve never named a car before, and I didn’t grow up in a family that names cars, so it’s a little weird for me to name it, but I think the name fits.
My flickr feed on the sidebar of the page shows a few of the pictures that Dom took of me with Champ. You can click on the feed to see the rest of them.
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Posted by Rebecca
Wed, 21 Feb 2007 15:20:00 GMT
Twitchy sorta sold me a car last night.
I call him Twitchy because of his face. Even when he wasn’t talking, his face kept moving. I’ve never seen anyone with such an overexpressive face.
Seriously.
I’m pretty sure his eyebrows have minds of their own, because they never move together, and they never match the expression the rest of his face is making, nor do they at all coincide with what he is saying.
It it bizarre.
While I was smiling and nodding and simultaneously trying to not choke on the load of you-know-what that he kept trying to feed me, I was also clenching my jaw so I wouldn’t bust out laughing at his frolicking eyebrows.
Anyway.
I say he sorta sold me a car because we agreed on a price and stuff but I haven’t signed on the final dotted line yet because I’ve never seen the vehicle except in pictures. It is going to be driven from Houston by a crew today. I have a mechanic coming tomorrow to the lot in Austin to do a 600-point Lemon Buster inspection on the car. Once I have the report from him, I’ll make the final decision. I hope the final decision means I sign on the final dotted line, because I’m tired of living sans vehicle.
As for the final price, don’t ask me. It’s not because I’m unhappy with the price. It’s because I thought about it and really, it’s none of your business. Just know that I am satisfied with the deal and I trust that God answered my prayer in which I requested a fair deal for both parties. It’s all in his hands anyway.
Hopefully, I’ll be driving my own vehicle again on Thursday. Yay!
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Posted by Rebecca
Tue, 20 Feb 2007 22:56:00 GMT
“You know those boogers that you find that are really squishy, and you can only get at half of one, and it stretches out and yanks the other half out?”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.”
“I got one of those after lunch today. It felt soooooo good once it was out.”
“Yeah, it’s really satisfying, like sneezing. It’s such a relief.”
“It was awesome.”
“I believe it.”
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Posted by Rebecca
Fri, 16 Feb 2007 22:55:00 GMT
“If it’s too good to be true, then it’s not true.”
I don’t know how many times I’ve heard that phrase, and being the realist that I am, I always abided by it and ignored anything that looked too tempting.
Until now.
Don’t worry. I didn’t get scammed. I won’t get scammed. I’m way too skeptical and smart to get scammed.
But I figured out that my delicious dream car is a scam car.
Tear.
The beautiful thing is that God answered my prayers. He showed me it was snake instead of a fish, and I’m so grateful that he’s looking out for me. Because I was inches away from totally falling for it. Like an idiot.
But now, I have to start over with the car search. Sort of. I’m really tired of having no vehicle. Really.
Tired.
So, I’m back to the same place I was before. Do I spend the limit or do I spend below the limit? Do I get what I want, or do I get what I’m ok with?
Decisions. I hate them. Really, I do. But, there’s no time for me to sit here and kick myself mentally and while about how painful of a process this is.
Back to square one. Let’s go.
Vroom vroom!
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Posted by Rebecca
Wed, 14 Feb 2007 15:11:00 GMT
White-Orange
Orange
White-Green
Blue
White-Blue
Green
White-Brown
Brown
Last night I learned how to crimp heads on cat5 cable. I also learned how to punch down cat5, which was only a little more fun than crimping the heads.
The amazing thing is that, in the absence of caffeine, my foggy brain is still able to remember the color order of the wires. That is nothing short of a miracle.
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Posted by Rebecca
Sat, 10 Feb 2007 21:06:00 GMT
The internet is weird.
Last year I managed to get in contact with an old friend from high school who I always thought was troubled.
I found him via an online community, and judging by his photos, he is still troubled.
We exchanged a few email messages, and just now, when I logged into that community, I noticed that he had removed me from his friend list.
I also noticed that he no longer shows up on my instant messenger friend list, which means he must’ve removed me from that as well.
I must’ve really affronted him somehow, but then, that’s not difficult to do.
In other news, on the same community, I noticed that one of my friends became friends with my old high school boyfriend/best friend who is now himself in search of a boyfriend.
What’s really weird, is that he’s in Austin, and he’s been in Austin since 2004, and I just now found out. Well, I found out about five minutes ago.
Lucky for me, this person is not so easily affronted, at least, he never seemed to be that way. I always remembered him being sensationally funny and very sweet and sensitive. Go figure.
For my 18th birthday he gave me a sterling silver piano shaped music box that played “Music of the Night” when you open it, which at the time was my favorite song. Yeah, he was that kind of sensitive, and very thoughtful.
So I sent him a friend request in hopes that we will be able to catch up. After all, he has known me longer than most people who read this blog. He was there in person when I had bad hair, and there’s something to be said for that. And he took me to prom. So there you go.
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Posted by Rebecca
Sat, 10 Feb 2007 00:03:00 GMT
Pretty much the title says everything.
Yesterday I test drove 8 cars. When I was finished I knew what I wanted, and I was ready to do anything I could do to get what I wanted from somewhere, anywhere.
I looked all over AutoTrader, Craigslist, eBay and the classifieds. When I say I looked all over, I meant that I looked in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, College Station, Corpus Christi and Abilene.
Nothing.
Except one. That looked sketchy (exactly what I wanted at the exact price…yeah, sketchy.) I emailed that person a few questions about the vehicle and then promptly forgot about it.
This morning, I was praying on my way to work. I wanted peace in my heart over the situation, and I straight up did not have it.
Then I remembered that most of all, I want to learn to be a better steward of my time, talent, and money this year.
A better steward of money. I want to honor God with my money, which is a skill that I was not born with nor one that I saw demonstrated in my home growing up.
So it is hard. It is hard to honor God with my money. Even though I have an incredible credit score, I still feel like I am standing on the edge of a terrible precipice and if I make one wrong move, I’m dead. Period, end of story.
This morning as these thoughts were rolling through my head, I pretty much up my mind to get either a Civic or a Corolla, because they are very affordable and get good gas mileage etc.etc.etc.
As I decided to choose honoring God over pleasing myself, I felt more settled and peaceful about the decision. After all, a more affordable car meant more money each month to put into savings, or towards school debt or whatever. Good idea.
When I got to work this morning, I very quickly searched AutoTrader for the two cars that I was thinking of getting.
Then I checked my email. The woman I had contacted yesterday wrote back with information that was very pleasing. I had completely forgotten that I had been in touch with her. She has exactly what I want (CR-V) at exactly the price I want (less than what they usually go for).
She’s in Houston.
So now I have to decide what to do. I’m still going to the dealership tomorrow to try out the Corolla, and even the RAV-4, because it’s the smart thing to do and I try really hard to always do the smart thing.
I’m a little scared to drive all the way to Houston and see that the car is dirty or doesn’t drive like I want it to. At the same time, I’ve prayed and prayed that God would show me what I really wanted, because he knows better than me what I want, and that he would bring it into my path.
This Houston car could be it. It could also just be temptation. A test.
So I’m standing here, looking out over the financial Grand Canyon, and I can feel the lose sand under my feet. I’m not sliding yet, but I feel that if I move an inch in the wrong direction, I’m going to fall.
The problem lies in my heart. I have a parachute, a perfect one that works without fail. This parachute is God. But I don’t trust it. I don’t trust it because it would be just like me to roman candle on this jump.
I’ll jump tomorrow, I hope.
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Posted by Rebecca
Tue, 06 Feb 2007 22:04:00 GMT
I work a full-time 40/hr. per week job.
I maintain a serious courtship, which requires a lot of energy, and fills my Tuesday evening and sometimes other evenings.
I am actively involved in my church, which usually is a commitment of almost my entire Sunday each week, my Wednesday evening each week, and sometimes a Friday or Saturday evening or afternoon.
I am working on a degree and am in a class right now. I have between 9-12 hours of work outside of class per week. And, I’m trying to read my bible and pray every day.
I have counseling sessions every Monday evening.
I have a lot of very good friends, many who support me in my various endeavors. I try very hard to maintain these relationships, because I love and value these people greatly.
And this week, I’m in the process of buying a new car.
Before you decide that I’m ignoring you and avoiding you on purpose, please consider the fact that I love you.
Then consider the fact that because of all the above, I rarely get enough sleep and thus I don’t think clearly and I don’t remember things well.
Then consider the fact that I’m extremely stressed and much to my chagrin, I can’t be at your beck and call when you’re bored.
Then consider that you are not the only friend I have, and I’m already feeling guilty about not spending time with people because I’m stretched thin.
I’d appreciate it. Because I’m doing the best I can.
I’m just Really. Stressed. Out.
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