Hello Tiffy!

Well luckily I am feeling much better than the last time I posted! Out of sheer miracles, my car started running like nothing ever happened. I don’t know what caused the last meltdown but after driving it for a few days I have no immediate plans to get it looked at.

I should tell you that I have a second blog that I started so I can talk about my diet. I know that is not generally fascinating to people and I won’t make you sit through it but hey, if you are ever interested, here is the link:

Hello Diet!

Off to work.

Oh you are going to love this. I went out on Monday morning to go to work, and Raven would not start. I am telling you, dear Hello Tiffy reader, my life is ravaged with bad luck lately. The digital panel would go blank when trying to start the car, and upon removing the key from the ignition, the panel would turn back on. Unbelievable. Well, I just got a ride to work and got a ride home. Set up rides the rest of the week. I had no use in crying now. I can’t cry anymore. The frustration has reached a point crying doesn’t even help. Now I am just laughing. I am finding a humorous side to all of this now. It is obvious that my patience is being tested and I am refusing to give in. Well, I am trying, anyway.

At work, I am becoming some kind of crazy bitch I don’t even recognize. It seems like every day or every other day, I am getting overly frustrated at work and getting snappy with my supervisor. I have never been one to have an attitude problem. Actually, most people I know professionally would call me a very patient person. I don’t think anyone at my current company would attest to that description. It is kinda scary what happens to you when your general happiness goes into the crapper! However. I am in no way accepting defeat. I would definitely say my 26th year is the most challenging and frustrating yet, the sudden career change, the health issues and the car troubles are testing me time and time again. I know I will survive, but will it be in one piece? ….

Of course it will. I know my toast will fall butter-side-up again. It is times like this I am so happy to have a smart enough head on my shoulders to realize this is simply a phase. We are ALL going to have these kind of streaks. Sometimes, nothing goes right, and sometimes, it can last for a long time. All I can do is keep my head up. In the mean time, my motto is "The sun’ll come out, tomorrow"

# of people I have Rick-Rolled today:11

As some of you may know, I happen to be a BzzAgent. If you are not sure what that is, head over to BzzAgent and sign up. It is a great website that once in a while has special offers and you can score free cool stuff, as well as help companies spread the word about new products (I’m PRETTY sure that is the purpose of the website ;))

I got some coupons to try the new Chili’s Smokehouse bacon burgers for free. I have to say that in itself was VERY cool! I took J for a dinner date a few Fridays ago to try out the burgers. They have 3 varieties of the bacon burgers - Jalapeno, Triple cheese & one that gives a Southern twist on the burger.

If you know me, which you probably do if you are reading this, I tried the jalapeno (I am a sucker for spicy food!) I have to say it was the best burger I have ever had. Trust me I wouldn’t bother telling you about this if I didn’t love it - I already got the free burger after all and you know I am lazy! However, this product was so yummy, it is very worth it! J got the triple cheese - that was not a surprise, I already expected he would when I read about the 3 varieties and he loved his too. The bacon is like, super thick and cooked perfectly, why is it they can’t offer this kind of fare at fast food places? You know that 6 dollar burger at Carl’s Jr is nothing like this. They lie!

Oh yes, back to the subject. The burger was great and I highly recommend it. Oh in case you were wondering, I indulged in my burger on my Weight Watchers flex-splurge day - I didn’t cheat on my diet of course! (Let me tell you, this burger is NOT for the dieter!) If you happen to be on WW, You had better save up your points for this shit! It is worth it, at least! Drink a LARGE beer with it and you may just pass out from joy!

I am feeling better, thankfully. Last week sucked - but it helped with my diet. Hehe. I have lost 6 lb in 2 weeks on Weight Watchers! Not bad if you ask me. My friend A is also at 6 lbs gone. We are doing it, and it is fun this time around!

We went out tonight to try and find some green beer. We started off the night at a bar in Belmont called St James Gate. The place was too packed! We did get some green beer there but as I mentioned earlier, we are both on Weight Watchers. We needed food if we were going to drink, and this place normally has a decent menu there. Well tonight they decided they were too busy to offer any of the menu so we had 2 choices: Fish & Chips or hamburgers. We couldn’t eat that, and the place was too packed to really be comfortable anyway, so we left and went to 3rd Ave Sports Bar in San Mateo. They were nice and dead, and we shared a veggie platter and I got a veggie burger. It was pretty good! We finished the night across the street at a swanky place called Glow.

Back to food. I didn’t think I would like veggie burgers but they are growing on me! A veggie patty is 1 ww point while a regular hamburger would be 5-8, so it is really not a bad deal. Saves points for more beer! However, I did notice that while veggie patties are pretty flavorful in place of a hamburger patty, they do not please my palate by themselves! I would consider comparing it to what I think chewed up mushrooms taste like. 

You are never going to believe this, but I got the plague again. I came down with a fever mid-way through Monday, and didn’t leave bed until 8 AM Wednesday. I have a horrible cold and croopy cough that I have antibiotics for, but I am finally beginning to feel better.

J spent lots of time and effort making a bomb-ass chicken fettuccine dinner Tuesday night that he brought to my bedside, only to find out I can’t taste it. Sorry, baby.

On Tuesday I got into my car and drove to work as normal. I check my voicemail and it is J. "I don’t know why but your front right hubcap is missing, and the rim looks like someone bent it". I just about freaked! I ran out to my car and he was right, and it looked shitty!!! For anyone who doesn’t know, my car is my baby! I have wanted a VW New Beetle since I was 15 and I finally bought a used one in 2006. Her name is Raven. So as you can imagine I was very frightened that this would not only be costly but make me not able to drive.

I took Raven to Wheel Works in Redwood City for a look. They said that while the rim was bent, it didn’t appear to be leaking. They assured me I should be able to drive on it for a few more months before getting a new rim and hubcap. While it isn’t my favorite solution, I was ok with that. I was relieved that I didn’t have a new expense.

The next morning, Wednesday, while enjoying those last 15 minutes of sleep after hitting the snooze, J comes into the bedroom and tells me my tire is flat. Then I scream what am I supposed to do!? He tells me he can’t help me, he is late for work. Thanks! I am a complete moron about cars. I didn’t even know how to put air in the tires. I was on my own now, so I sucked it up and let my boss know I was working from home today.

I called the local Wheel Works in San Mateo and they said they would check it out more closely than the Redwood City guys did - for $35.00. I drive myself to the gas station down the street and hope someone is there that can help me put some air in my tire. Who do I find when I pull up to the air pump? Another girl, about my age, and just as clueless as I am. I have seen the air being put in before so I tell her I am clueless too, but I can walk her through what I have seen. Well that makes it worse, it is the blind leading the blind. Then I go inside the gas station, and the employees say they can not help me put air because it is some kind of liability if I drive away and something happens. I am asking them ok then WHAT DO I DO and they say I can ask a customer. So I look around and there are no customers getting gas, there is no one there! Luckily a few minutes later a guy pulls up in a sports car and I put on my helpless girl voice and ask him to help and he shows me how to do it. Then I take my new skills and show the other chick how to put it in. I was finally helpful. At that point I was on my way to Wheel Works.

The guy at Wheel Works told me at 10 that it would take 1-1.5 hours. OK! I call my friend A for a ride home, and wait and work from home. And wait. And wait. I call at 11:40. They said Raven is up next. Then I call at 4. They say it is done and the leak is fixed the rim is fixed. (Thanks for calling me sooner, fuckers) Hurray! Finally something good happened to me! I gladly paid the 35 dollars because if it was any worse I would have had to order a new rim and wait for that… not to mention pay like 100 for that alone!

Anyway, Raven is healthy but looking haggard, eventually I will buy her a hubcap and make her pretty again.

Dear blog,

I have many many things to tell you…..when I have time. Oh, don’t give me that look. Yes, yes I know I promised to write to you every day. A girl gets busy, ok! Get yourself a stiff drink and wait it out… it will be worth it!… maybe.

I got the insurance claim back from the surgery and it was cheaper than I expected. By this, I am actually disappointed! It sounds crazy, so let me explain why. My particular insurance has a $3,000 deductible per year. So, this means I have to pay full price for all of my prescriptions, and doctors visits have very very little coverage as well - until I reach the $3,000 limit. It is counter by calendar year. So, I knew I would have to pay full price for the LEEP, and knowing how expensive medical bills always are, I was knowing I would have to pay $3,000 at the very least, but then the rest of the year my follow-ups would be free! So while it was going to suck paying the bill I knew the rest of the year I would be good. Not true! Turns out my surgery was 1,400 dollars. So I have to pay the 1,400 and I still have another thousand to go before I am in the clear. I guess on one hand it is good to be almost at the limit on the 1st of March, but it really still sucks. I have been to the Dr for being sick once in January, and that visit plus my prescriptions so far have been about 500 dollars altogether. So my total balance right now is 1900. This pretty much sucks, because I owe 917 for taxes that is due in April. I admit I knew the taxes were coming, and I should have been saving for that. In any event, I can do a payment plan on the medical bills while I can not on the taxes so I am saving for taxes and the medical can come later. I wonder if I should rename this blog "Bitching Blog!"

It’s all good… at least I have my health..