Up For Sale

Yesterday I decided to put up my Jaguar for sale. After having it for about two and a half years I couldn't keep up with the repairs. They were just too expensive and there were far too many of them that were needed. Which is unfortunate because fundamentally the car is still tip top, it just has a bunch of aesthetic problems.

The poor thing has so many problems I don't want to list them all, but I'm going to try anyway. The cup holder is broken, apparently that's a problem on all jaguars of my era. The apolstry up top is coming down. The radio antenna no longer goes up and down, it is stuck in up but at least the radio still works. The chrome finish on the hub caps is peeling due to corrosion from driving it in the winter on salty streets. The back bumper is all scratched up and was likely in an accident before I got it. The left back brake light has a crack in the glass. The trunk has a most unfortunate dent in it. By the gas tank there is an odd coloration on the paint as though a chemical was spilled there, possibly gas I suppose. In the tank itself there is a good deal of rust, although the rust itself is not on the structure of the car. The front grill is a little loose. The inside dash is a little loose. The front right leather seat is cracking. The front right leather seat has a hole. The electrical wiring has gone bad and now the car always thinks the coolant is low and that ABS and traction control are off. The sun roof is broken because you are not supposed to try using the sun roof when it is covered in ice. There is a large stain on the back left carpet. The brake light in the back window has come off the back window and is now sitting on the dash. There are two small scratches to the back left window's tint. There is a small dent in the back right door. After driving for about 15 minutes, the oil pressure starts to sink and you will be warned about low pressure while sitting in idle.

But other than that, the car is tip top.

Homemade Masquerade

The annual costume and chili contest was held today where I work. Last year I went as the Joker and won the costume contest. But by not voting for myself in the chili competition I placed second. Well this year I won the chili competition but I lost the costume competition.

Winning the chili competition was a given because my Mom makes the best everything, and since I used her recipe, and this year executed it correctly, no one had a chance.

Losing the costume contest was a surprise. But that was because I constantly forget just how little taste and appreciation others have for fine arts and anything that requires even a modicum of skill and time. But I'm trying to be a good sport about it all and not have a fit. While I would have upended my chili in a fit of rage over losing the competition, it was completely depleted by my co-workers. I think next year I will make it exceptionally spicy. At any rate, even though I lost, I was very pleased with how my costume turned out and knew I couldn't really have done much better.

Having always like Venetian masks, this year I decided to try and make one. I'm actually not sure why I like them, because that scene in Labyrinth where I first saw them always seemed a little creepy to me as a little kid. But I got some paper mache and paint and went at it. Below are some photos of me in the final product.

Birthday Response

Having recieved her evening presents, Sarah called me up around 9:30. She wanted to say that she loved them and was really happy to get them. Then we talked for a short while to play a bit of catch up. She said that during the past week or so her life had gotten even busier. She had been thinking things would wind down some, but instead they picked up. And as a result she had little time for anything, and her parents were coming in that weekend too.

I mentioned that I wasn't even in town because I was home celebrating my 10 year high school reunion. That surprised her, because she hadn't realized yet that I hadn't delivered the presents.

Despite being told she was busier than ever, I was still elated. Sarah had both called me up and was really happy about the gifts. We didn't have any official dates planned, but at least I knew I was on solid ground. I would have asked if we could have tried to do another lunch on Tuesday, but I knew that week and this coming week I would be teaching so I wasn't going to bring it up. I had hoped she might, but that didn't happen. Still I have found her to be much more talkative, by text that is, since following her birthday. The only problem is that we have discovered that not only does she not receive all my texts, but I haven't received at least one of hers. I suppose that just means I will be calling her more often. She is busier than ever, but the texts she sends are nice enough to indicate that we do have some chance.

Double Surprise

What a busy month it has been. Let's just get right to it. A couple weeks ago Sarah had her birthday, which I was unable to be in town for. Nevertheless I was still able to get her some presents.

Prior to her birthday I hadn't heard much from her. Gurney had been right texting her an invitation to something and that would give me an idea on where we stood. But other than that one text message she responded to me with, that had really been it. So her birthday was my chance to shine a bit. And I treated it as a "if this doesn't work nothing will" sort of event. The whole time I was up in the air as to how she'd react. My plan was to leave her a gift bright and early in the morning before she headed out, and another later that night that she'd receive after coming home from her evening class. That night gift I wouldn't be able to deliver. And I wanted to leave them at her door as a surprise rather than give them to her personally. The reason being that it would take away any potential awkwardness.

As the morning wore on and I still hadn't heard from her I was on pins and needles. I was so consumed with wondering how she was going to react, I tried to do things to take my mind off it. Ha ha, I actually did some work for once. Around 10:30 I finally heard from her. She said she loved the gift and even commented on some of the particulars, which to me was great to hear because doing that made her sound genuine. It was a text message but it was still nice to get.

So that night I had my other friend who lives where I do deliver the other gifts, while I headed out of town. Again I was getting worked up on how she'd respond because this time the gifts were a little more involved. They were inexpensive but clearly required a bit of effort to get together. And later that evening she called.

Lunch Thursday Not Tuesday

Yesterday was particularly tasteful, because I was treated to an afternoon of lunch and relaxation with Gurney. Now while I'd be happy to talk about her and what she's been up to, she has informed me that all she does is skip to whatever I have to say about Sarah. So since her birthday was on Wednesday, I will humor her and give an update.

The past week has had me on pins and needles. If you haven't noticed I've been due for a fiasco for a little while now. After all I believe it had been fully over a week since my last one and that is just much too long, so I knew a good whopper of a horrible situation was just itching to come.

As I mentioned, last week had no major issues. In fact it was quite fantastic because towards the end of it Sarah made plans to join me for lunch this Tuesday past. I got put in her calander and even though she had a meeting at noon, she said she would leave early if she had to. On Sunday, while working out with her, I told her my plans on where we were going to go. And on Monday I found out that she would be unable to go.

Now she is a very busy student, so I wasn't surprised but I was a little bummed out by this. Later that Monday evening I decided that if she couldn't go with me to lunch then I wanted a hug in payment. So I walked over there and knocked on her door. She answered it, but to my surprise her Dad was there. She invited me in to meet him, and I said "hello", and excused myself saying I didn't want to interupt them, but that I did want to speak quickly with Sarah. She came out with me and when I told her I wanted a hug she said no and went back in looking none too happy.

Since then I've been gathering opinions on how to handle the situation. I've had two people say, just let her be and if she wants to talk she'll contact me. Two others said I should call her and ask if she's mad at me, and just get it all out in the open. And Gurney said I should act as though nothing bad happened and invite her to another event.

The first two people had good advice, based on Sarah's past behavior. She is very busy, but when she is free and wants to meet she will call. The next two people took a more proactive approach. This is generally how I behave but I believe it also makes me look overly sensitive and dramatic, that I overthink and worry about every little thing. This is completely true, but I can least attempt to fake that I'm not by not bringing up the subject myself. If she does that's something entirely else. And then there's Gurney's point of view. I think everyone agreed that I hadn't done anything too terribly wrong, at least the way I described it, so she probably wasn't as mad at me as she seemed if at all. So if I didn't act like anything happened, or at least that I hadn't done anything wrong, then if nothing really did happen all would be well. And that's the approach I took. I felt that even if she really was mad I hadn't done anything too terrible and didn't deserve a long silent treament. Note that typically I take her silence as a treatment when in reality she is just busy. I texted her and asked if she'd like to meet Gurney. And she responded with a sorry she can't, which was the happiest outcome I was hoping for. In this case I was just thrilled that she responded.

Today I called her and she picked up, and even though it lasted maybe twenty seconds, I think it went well, she picked up. The quickness of the call was due to her expecting out of town visitors any minute and just didn't want to be on the phone.

All of that sounded rather desperate, or maybe a little pitiful. None of that now. While I would like to hear from her, I am keeping my eyes open. But if there were anything, or I suppose in my case anyone else to mention of I would. And besides, with this beautiful weather we've been having of blue skies and warm days it is difficult to really be all that downcast about anything.

Happy Birthday Gurney.