StandingWater Creations

I move cars on the mornings that Erin leaves earlier than me. This is a result of my car having been killed by a driver who was, "Cited for several things," while driving down the road and killing my car and taking out the neighbors mailbox - all at the same time. Moving cars is interesting since we have a long driveway and I have to park one on the street since the kids upstairs both have cars that are parked in the driveway too. Today I was able to pull back into one of their spots (the wife already left) and then move Erin's car straight back and my car into her position (except more forward) before parking her car behind mine (ours).

In case you haven't heard, I am really liking the new car. Sure, one of the detractors is the automatic transmission, but I can manipulate the transmission (its designed this way) to slow me down when I am coming on traffic or approaching a light or... you know... a lot of things. On top of it, the car handles curves very well and accelerates up hills like a champ. I know, we drove up the canyon to Heber (one of my more favorite places to drive to) where we stopped at the Dairy Keene, got some food, and then drove back down the canyon home.

Erin was fine until I didn't stop quickly enough (for her) coming at a stop light at the mouth of the canyon. She was rightfully scared and annoyed at my tactics at that point (I was trying to make it through a light).

One of the things I did this morning was to check freelance email, responded to one, forwarded a couple on so I could (at least) get paid for the work done; and then tried to call another client who was (eventually) emailed because I can't seem to get a hold of her.

Then I chatted (email and not messenger) with Erin a bit about the house, open windows, and other things before making the bed, consuming my breakfast, and then heading out the door in search of my dirty little pleasure which is neither dirty nor little... I like Sobe Beverage's drink Courage and every vendor of Sobe in the Utah Valley area (and beyond it would seem) is currently out of Sobe. This happened last summer, I assumed that the bottling company (most likely Coke or Pepsi since they bottle most soft drinks) had run out and not prepared enough more for distribution - which was, in part, confirmed by a Maverick employee that insisted on trying to help me Friday night as Erin was taking her final for her current dreaded science class; as such making it very difficult to find something I really enjoy.

With all that, I just cut to the chase and went to Macy's, a local on the cheap grocery retailer and bought a couple of bottles since they seem to have had plenty every time I've gone in. I thought, momentarily, about buying them out and then thought better of it (they had a grand total of 3 bottles) since people will start getting this flavor back onto shelves in the hear future anyway.

I did come to a conclusion about how to handle the whole Spanish class cultural assignment that I have. I was going to review to the class Maria Full of Grace which is a Spanish language film about a girl who is paid to be a drug mule from Columbia to New York City; except it required me finding a Columbian to interview about aspects of the story and I am lazy. What occurred to me, in part because of a classmates comment (to me) was that I could do a Queso cheese sauce and interview a neighbor (two houses down) from Mexico about foods from Mexico which makes the assignment a bit easier. Not easy, mind, just easier.

There is a cost associated with doing that :: did it for a folklore class with a food assignment attached to it and got an "A" on the assignment :: but the assignment is definitely worth it (for me).

Back to the car (briefly): we did sign the final paperwork on the loan and had to ask for the payment dates to be adjusted to an earlier date. It was interesting to watch the financing specialist redo some of the numbers. I think he mostly deals with people who want it pushed as far out as possible.

This really goes along the lines of the Honda dealers telling us, "You don't have to worry about money." The problem both Erin and I have (especially as this is a new venture for the both of us) is that telling us not to worry about money is not really going to help. We are both going to fret over this and having to pay rent and a car payment at the same time each month didn't make sense to either of us. Especially when insurance is due at the same time.

I need to call and officially add the car to the insurance policy. Don't know what the change (per month and overall) is going to be, but am curious to see what it will result in and how our having two cars (cheaper) and two cars fully covered (more expensive) will do to our rates. Me being older, Erin being a chick, and our being married (I may see if there is a break for a kid or expecting one), makes the changes in insurance very interesting.

While doing what I do every day (surfing news websites) I came across a little-ditty about normal everyday joes who write for websites that are ad driven. This proved to be interesting (for me) because as you become more popular and write more, the content you are writing can earn you some money. Granted, it's based off of click through advertisements, but the earning potential (though, honestly, nothing to break the bank) is pretty good. I signed up for a couple sites - at least one of which allows reprinted author-owned material - and may see what the dogs of writing brings in over a period of time... thinking of how to work that into my daily writing schedule.

I think that will do it for now.

John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West

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