I finally found a wii! Well, I didn't actually find it, my friends' mom found it. However, I've been playing all sorts of fun games for the last couple weeks. But, John says I'm obsessed with my miis. Just some forewarning, you must create a mii if you want to play games. I think I've spent almost as much time adjusting and making new miis as I have playing video games. I've created miis for my parents and John's parents and all my friends who have played have created miis. They're just so cute! Oh, and when you finish editing them, they do a dance move. However, I still haven't found the right combination for my mii. It just doesn't feel quite right. Anyone have any suggestions? You can edit my mii or create your own online here.

This weekend I tried to find new volleyball shoes because my old ones have been worn out. After checking online at Dick's Sporting Goods' web site, I decided to go out to Westroads because it was a much shorter drive than the one out to Scheel's at Village Pointe (a note to the people who keep putting random the random "e" on the end of all the shopping malls to make them trendy: It's not cool. It's annoying and it looks dumb). I arrived at Dick's and I wasn't sure if they were really open because the windows in the front of the store is filled with an enormous display and the doors' windows were tinted. But, they were still open, so I went in. Their shoe department takes up and entire wall on the first floor of the store. I was thinking that surely they would have several options to pick from (as I've always had good luck in the Lincoln Scheel's store) given the appearance of the large selection. I looked for a few minutes and couldn't seem to find any volleyball shoes. So, I had to go track down a sales person. I found that there were actually very few of them in the store. When I finally found someone to help me, she pointed me at four shoes on at the very bottom of one row (two different styles in two different colors). I can understand putting them towards the bottom as it's not volleyball season, but they weren't even labeled. I think they were under the heading "running" rather than even "court" or something similar. So, I asked to try on my size in the two styles. She went in the back and came out, handing me a 1/2 size smaller than the size I asked for while telling me "We don't have anything in your size or any of the three larger sizes. We've had these shoes out for a long time and we're out of stock on almost all of them." I was nice and I simply said no thanks, but seriously folks, what kind of sales person tells you that you should have come earlier (yes, weeks earlier) to buy something that isn't even in season, somehow implying that it's your fault they can't sell you something you actually want to buy. Wouldn't you order more stock if you were sold out of several sizes and you still had the shoes on display? Regardless, I left to go find a different store that would hopefully carry volleyball shoes. I tried Lady Foot Locker and Finish Line, but no luck. On the way back out, I decided to stop in Trade Home on the off chance they might have something. They only had two styles of shoes and I ended up buying a pair of Adidas ones, but I wasn't sure I liked them. Plus, they didn't have my size in red, so I settled for blue and it just wasn't quite as satisfying. Because I had the shoes, I picked up a pair of kneepads from Dick's on the way out (although it was somewhat difficult to find that particular section of the store much less an employee to point me in a direction).

After having some time to think about my purchase, I decided to give Sheels a call and see what they had in stock. The shoes I had picked up didn't feel like volleyball shoes as much as basketball shoes tweaked and then called volleyball shoes. I had really been hoping for a pair of Mizuno shoes I had seen online, but neither of the stores I visited on Sunday had them. Plus, I wasn't very happy with the price of the kneepads ($25! -- the last time I bought kneepads, I could have sworn they were closer to $15). When I talked with the salesperson at Scheels, I asked how many styles of volleyball shoes they had in stock and if they had my size in the shoe. He checked and not only did they have five styles (plus some with multiple colors), they had my size in all but one style. So, last night, I returned the merchandise I had purchased on Sunday. I tried on the pair of Mizuno shoes I had initially seen online. They fit very well, plus they were $15 cheaper than the other shoes I had purchased before. Then, I found the same pair of kneepads I had bought at Dick's and purchased those for $18 rather than $25.

So, lesson learned this week: I felt like Dick's would rather focus on looking cool than selling someone something. Their employees seemed much less interested in selling anything than standing in obscure places and talking with other employees. Also, it appeared that they had a lot of merchandise, but it was just much more spread out than the merchandise at Scheels, but the stores did feel close to the same size when I walked across them. Scheels has lower prices, more involved employees, more merchandise, and better prices. Plus, you can actually buy their merchandise because they stock it, rather than taunting you on the little shoe shelves (those things are somewhat weird). After my experience with Dick's, I would liken it to the "Best Buy" of sports equipment and I don't plan on going there again if I can help it.

I don't really feel any different, but I've probably said that every year with the exception of my 16th and 21st birthday. Wednesday was my birthday so John took me out to dinner at Charleston's. The food was very good, I'd suggest it to anyone who wanted to try someplace new. Before we left the restaurant, I went in to use the restroom. As I was leaving, I noticed something on the wall by the door. There was a motion sensor installed next to the door called Sanidoor. So, I waved at it and the door automatically opened so I didn't have to touch it. I really wanted to get a picture, but I didn't think it would be very appropriate to grab my camera at the table and head back into the bathroom. I found a sketch of one (below) online though.

I was amused that a place would spend money on something like this. Wouldn't it be easier to put a trash can right by the door or just design the place so the bathroom doors opened out? I never did understand why you could push to walk into bathrooms and then you were required to touch the handle to exit the bathroom, especially after all those studies about germs and statistics regarding the number of people who don't wash their hands. Oh well, I'm content to wave at the motion sensor and laugh a little I guess.

My parents came up to visit today. I somehow managed to convince myself to clean my apartment for the first time in probably months. I'd been meaning to scrub everything in the bathroom and kitchen for a long time and I finally did it. It felt good to have that done and everything cleaned up. I received some very nice gifts for my birthday that should be fun to use and also good additions to my work clothes. I got a nice pair of khaki colored pants and a nice sweater to match. I also received a funny book from my parents called Funny Business that has been entertaining so far. Oh, and they brought me frosted sugar cookies from Eileen's Cookies and my most favorite candy bar ever -- Godiva dark chocolate with raspberry filling. Then I received some money to buy some Wii games and/or hardware. John bought me Super Paper Mario for the Wii (so i can continue playing the series I like), Pikmin and a Gamecube controller.

We went to dinner at Kona Grill for my birthday. John and I had some sushi as an appetizer. We ordered the caterpillar roll which always entertains me. I think it's because I always think it's so cute how they put the sprouts on the end for antennas and it actually looks like a curvy caterpillar with the avocado on the outside. It makes me laugh every time I order it. I was sad though because one of my favorite fish from the fish tank was gone. They used to have a blowfish in the tank and he always looked like he was singing "la la la la" really slow while floating around. He was fun to watch. They need to get a new one and not eat him this time. I almost ordered a Woo Woo drink off the menu, but I decided on something different. I wasn't in the mood for peach, but it would have been entertaining to tell people I drank a Woo Woo. I think they ran out of drink name ideas. Anyway, the dinner was very good.

After dinner, we stopped by Nebraska Furniture Mart to look around. I bought Wii Play, a nunchuck and Mario Party 8. Then we headed back to my apartment. I started my game of Pikmin which was entertaining. The little men that follow you around are so funny. It's fun to throw them too. Anyway, all in all a good day. And now I have plenty of games to play. Although, I will have to go buy Mario Galaxy whenever I need to return the game to Brad after he gets back from Canada.

Apparently I read backwards if someone is writing on my back. John started writing things last night after dinner and I couldn't figure out what it was (besides the smiley face) until he started writing the letters backwards. I've never been able to figure out what people write on my back before so apparently I'm dyslexic when it comes to "reading" on my back. Who would have thought?

I've been meaning to post about this for almost a week now, and never got around to it. Anyway, guess what this is:

Yeah, that's right it's a rather large ball of lint. And that's only from one load of laundry. The lint catcher couldn't even hold all the lint (as you can see below).

I bought a set of towels because Kohl's was having a sale. I had received a set from my uncle for Christmas and I really liked them so I was hoping to get another set the same color, but unfortunately they didn't have them so I had to settle for a complete set of a different color. However, I like red anyway, so I didn't really lose much. Now when I do laundry, I can completely swap out my towels and rugs and put a new set out. It makes me feel just one step closer to being an adult...plus I have fluffy towels.

Last week John's computer parts showed up and he built his computer. I've known people who have built their own computers, but I've never seen it from start to end. So, I canceled my plans involving physical activity for a more nerdy alternative: going over to John's to watch him put together his computer. It was pretty fun and I got some good pictures as well. I have decided that:

1. The fan to cool the processor looks like a power plant.


2. The motherboard looks like a little city.


3. Translators don't always do the best job of writing instructions that make sense.


4. Computer parts make for some fun pictures.

Then, he began installing the processor on the motherboard. That's when we came across the protective cover that was used to protect the pins before installation. The translators needed a little help on this one I think. I've never heard of returning something "for after service." (You can click on the picture for a larger version to read the entire text).

I was amused by the processor fan so I attempted a few "artsy" pictures of that while he was working on putting the processor in its slot. Here are a few attempts (some with a flash and one without). Feel free to laugh at my lack of knowledge and ability when it comes to taking pictures.

Then, John installed the processor fan on the motherboard. Just look at that enormous fan.

Then I had to take a few pictures because I decided the motherboard looked like a little town. I wanted to claim it for my own, but sadly, I did not have a flag with me.

After I was done taking pictures of the "town", John installed the RAM.

Finally, he installed all the pieces (motherboard, video card, power supply, hard drives, etc.) in the case. I only have a picture of the case because I couldn't really get a good angle to show what was going on.

I should have taken a picture of the finished product, but I forgot. Maybe John will let me later....anyway, the process was interesting to watch.

Friday afternoon, the insurance adjuster came out to the body shop and declared my first and only car to be officially "totaled." They're refusing to fix it because they say it's not worth the money it would cost to fix. Sentimental value apparently doesn't factor into their calculations for worth of the car.

On Tuesday evening, which also happened to be John's birthday, I had just left my apartment. I had picked up an ice cream cake from Coldstone, filled my car with gas and stopped by my apartment to pick up John's presents. I was headed east on I-80 in the center lane, when the truck in front of me slammed on his brakes. I don't have anti-lock breaks, so I pumped mine and on the third time, they locked up and I went sliding in my lane towards the silver Chevy Silverado in front of me. I don't know who hit first, me or the car behind me.

I wasn't really thinking clearly, so instead of calling the police first, I called John to tell him I'd been in an accident and asked if he could come and get me. The only thing I wanted was to get out of there as soon as possible. Being the nice guy that he is, his first response was "yes, of course." But then he wanted to know where I was. Instead of giving him a mile marker. I told him which two billboards on the side of the road I was stopped between. Very helpful, I'm sure. Then he asked if I could see a mile-marker someplace. Because I was in the middle of the road, I couldn't even find the stupid mile markers on anything, so I couldn't be helpful there either. Finally, I was able to tell him that I was between the 42nd Street on-ramp and the split between I-80 East and 480 North. He said he probably wouldn't be able to come and get me until I was out of the middle of the road, but he could call a tow truck. I assumed my car wasn't drivable, so I told him to do that. But then he wanted to know where they should tow it and I didn't know so I had to think about it and call him back. The driver in the car behind mine got out and checked with everyone to see if we were all okay, which we were. My airbags didn't even go off. While we were waiting for the police to come, I called my parents to tell them I was in an accident but I was ok.

I remember thinking that there was a lot of traffic for 7pm on a Tuesday. And Omaha drivers are rude!. We had a ton of people honking at us and more than a few people yelling insults. I know I heard plenty of "Get out of the road!", "Morons!", "Assholes!", "Idiots", "You're blocking traffic!", etc. It's not exactly easy to get out of the way when you're in the center lane, with two lanes of traffic on either side going 60 mph around you. It's also not very helpful when you've just wrecked your car to have people yelling at you and making you feel even worse than you already feel. I know that I've been irritated on occasion that there's an accident and traffic is going slow, but I'm usually irritated at the people who are slowing down to rubber-neck rather than the people who are in the accident. It's bad enough that your car might be ruined, is it really necessary to yell out the window at them?

Finally, a police officer arrived. He parked his car in front of the accident and he started working on getting us across traffic to the side of the road. However, there were so many people out, that he had to call for another car to come and stop traffic so we could move. In between all of this, I was having hit and miss calls from John to see how I was doing, if I still needed a tow truck and if I did need a tow, where to tow the car to. John was nice enough to call Nissan of Omaha and make sure it was okay that I take it there. Finally, after the second police car came, they blocked the right two lanes of traffic and we were able to move over to the side of the road. One of the officers tried to ask me a few questions, but I was such a big mess, I told them I didn't know what happened other than there was a car accident. I was so out of it, I didn't even tell them that the truck had just changed lanes into my lane. The officer had to tell me to stay closer to my car so I didn't step out into traffic. He asked if I was okay, but I was not thinking clearly at all. The police gave me a ticket for "following too closely." I didn't even think to tell them that the truck in front of me had just changed lanes before braking.

I got another call from John saying that he couldn't find a towing company that could come get my car, but the officer said there wasn't anything dragging, so I should be okay to drive it somewhere. I attempted to pull out to get on the interstate, but the rest of the cars were making me very nervous, so the cop was nice enough to block the lane closest to the right and let me get back on the interstate and get up to speed. I drove my car to John's and called him when I got there. He helped me carry the ice cream cake and his presents up to his condo where I immediately started crying and apologizing for ruining his birthday. He kept telling me not to worry about it and I calmed down enough to tell him to open his presents, which he liked. That brightened my day for a bit.

We talked a little and decided that I would take Dodge to Nissan of Omaha, then John would drive to the restaurant so I could still buy him dinner. We walked out to the parking lot and inspected the damage on my car. My lights were still intact, but the blinker on the passenger side could only be described as a tentacle. I adjusted the back bumper a bit to make sure that it would move okay. Then John went to his car so he could follow me. I waited for a few minutes, but I didn't see his car move, so I called him. His car wouldn't start. He was on the phone with his mother and he told me I had to come and see it for myself, then he flipped back over to finish the conversation with his mom. I walked across the lot, opened the passenger door and got in. It was the most bizarre thing I've ever seen. His key wasn't even in the ignition and all of the service lights were on on the dash (how often do you get to use on on while being grammatically correct?).

We walked back inside his building and we each had a few conversations with our respective parents. After John tried to tighten the connection on his battery, we decided to drive my car to the Nissan dealership and then his dad came to pick us up. We finally ate Taco Bell around 10pm because his dad was nice enough to take us to get some food. He even paid :-). So, all in all, a pretty crappy birthday for John. Sorry!

The next day, I worked from home. My dad came up in the afternoon and we drove over to Nissan to inspect the damage. They said it hadn't leaked anything, so after a long series of phone calls, I determined which body shop to take the car to and drove it over there. I cleaned everything out of my car in case they totaled it (which I really was hoping that wouldn't happen). Then my dad drove me over to Enterprise Rental. Which, I will post about that adventure after this post. Needless to say I rented a car and drove it back to my apartment. Then, I picked up John from his dealership and took him out to dinner for a proper birthday dinner. We went to Hector's. I recommend it if you're ever in Omaha. Although no guarantees on the service at the 84th Street location.

Thursday was generally uneventful car-wise (besides the hatred of the rental car to be described later). Finally, on Friday, I was able to return to the body shop and get some pictures of my baby. I got the call that afternoon that the car was totaled.

So, here are the pictures of the car (I really was hoping it wouldn't be totaled). We'll start with the back first because we're going to say it was all his fault until proven otherwise. I have yet to see the police report.

As you can see, the back of the car didn't look too bad. I'd probably need a new bumper and a new exhaust pipe. The old one looks so sad...

I was concerned about the back passenger side part of the bumper causing friction on my tires, but I made it to the two places I needed to go without any problems.

The front grill was completely in pieces and is nowhere to be found. You can see the right blinker tentacle too. But all my lights worked just fine and the engine didn't sound funny.

The truck in front of me had a hitch and you'll never guess where that went. For the non-car people, that front mesh is part of my air conditioner. The circular thing on the middle-right is my horn (it looks so sad...). I'm guessing that when they opened the hood, they found more problems past what I could see. I'll also have to get my license plates replaced. I'm sure that will be painful.

The hood buckled, but not bad enough to cause any vision problems. But the whole car just looks so sad now.

The insurance company still hasn't called to tell me how much they're willing to pay for it. I think it will be interesting because even though my car was 10 years old, it only had about 88,000 miles on it. Which is 32,000 less than the expected average of 12,000 per year for most cars. Plus, besides needing a wash and a vacuum, there was absolutely nothing wrong with the car before the accident. While most of the people I have dealt with have been very nice, I wouldn't recommend the experience to anyone.

So, I had to get a rental car while I was waiting for the verdict on my car. Anyone can tell you that when the rental agency (the one I am currently using is Enterprise) tells you theyr'e going to provide you with something "comparable" to your car, you should be ready to say to yourself "Comparable, my ass."

Wednesday was an adventure in frustration when it came to the rental company. I was dealing with a guy who couldn't have been much older than me if he was older at all. But all I could think was "do not punch the sales person in the face...do not punch the sales person in the face...do not punch the sales person in the face." Also, I'd like to point out for the record, that the knot on his tie was square and he needs to learn to tie a better knot. Also, he was close to my height so I think I could have taken him if I had to.

That being said, the reason I was annoyed was because it was not only a disorganized mess regarding the billing for the car, it was also frustrating having to repeat myself over and over again regarding the fact that I do not want to pay for insurance that costs more than the total amount of the rental, of which I'm only paying 20%. Because 20% of about $17 a day, isn't too bad. However, you tack on another $18 a day, and someone's getting screwed and it certainly isn't Enterprise. That's $540 a month and no amount of talking is going to convince me that it's a good deal to be paying $540 a month for insurance, especially when my car insurance carries over to a rental car.

I was surprised because the kid (yes, I'm calling him a kid for lack of a better term) essentially tried to threaten me into getting the insurance by telling me that if a rock hit my car, they'd take my $500 deductible that applies towards my State Farm insurance. I was rather impressed my dad didn't laugh at him when he heard that. After three rounds of "are you sure" followed by "yes, I'm sure I don't want the insurance", we went out to inspect the car. There were dings and scratches all over that thing. Dad was kind enough to point out every single one. Unfortunately, we hit the peak of the boredom meter for the sales guy and he gave up writing all over his little piece of paper. I think I'll be getting my deposit back on this one. The thing that was probably the most infuriating though was that he tried to sell me twice again after we got in the car and he was recording the mileage and gas status. After repeating in my head "do not punch the sales person in the face...do not punch the sales person in the face...do not punch the sales person in the face" a few more times, I told him no twice more and he finally went away to talk to his friend who had come to visit him at work. Then I drove the rental car that can only be described as a shoe home. Which brings me to the rental car...or shoe as I like to refer to it.

Before I go into specifics of the shoe, it's important to know what I'm "giving up" to have the wonderful opportunity of using the shoe. My car, while 10 years old, gets an average of 28 mpg for each tank of gas. It has power windows, power locks, and a power sunroof. It came with a cassette player, but my parents bought me a CD player and that was installed shortly after the car was purchased.

The thing I am renting, that is definitely a shoe masquerading as a car is shorter than my car but somehow has four doors. I know Chevrolet wants to call it an Aveo, but it's a shoe. It even feels like how I would imagine riding in a shoe would feel (only with windows and a trunk that was patched onto the back). If you don't believe me that it's a shoe, just look at the pictures below:

Here's the car:

Here's the shoe:

Here's the outline of the shoe on the car:

The "features" of the shoe include circles around just about everything in the car. Even things that don't have a purpose.

Just in case you weren't sure how to get the window to go down, they were kind enough to circle it for you so you would be able to figure it out.

See if you can find the door handle in this picture:

Oh, and there are also random circles in completely useless places that don't do anything. Those black circles on both sides of the emergency flasher button, yeah, they don't do anything. Also, you thought you were going to be able to listen to something you actually liked? Just kidding! You will get nothing (other than the radio) and you will like it!

The dashboard isn't really all that useful. Most of the useful information is by the clock in the center of the car. You know, things like maintenance information, your seatbelt, oil change. Completely not a useful location for that information at all. Because if I'm the driver, I'm looking in front of me for the information I need about my car, not at the clock.

Last, but certainly not least on the feature list, is the fact that the shifter doesn't go straight up and down. I don't know a lot of people who have accidentally shifted their car into the wrong gear, but I'm sure this car was built for them. However, I've never done that, so the stupid gear shift drives me crazy. I can't ever get it from reverse to drive without worrying that I'm going to break the shift stick. Most annoying gear shift evar!

So, if the car is a shoe, then that makes my garage a shoe box. So, here's the shoe in it's box for the night:

The one thing the shoe has provided that my other car couldn't is a fair amount of entertainment. Take these situations:

• While waiting for the car to warm up I can exclaim: "Warm up shoe!"


• When asking friends if they'd like me to drive: "Would you like to take a ride in my shoe?"


• Warning a pedestrian not to step out into the middle of the road: "If you step out in front of me, I will hit you with my shoe!" (Would that be kicking them?)


• After parking the car in the garage: "My shoe is safe in it's box for the night."


• Yelling at someone for tailgating me on the interstate: "If you crawl up my shoe any further...!"


• Driving around to get used to the car: "I need to drive my shoe around so I can get used to it."


• General anger directed at the car: "Stupid shoe!"


• Answering a question about the location of the car: "The shoe is parked over there."


• Trying to coax the car up a hill: "Come on, shoe, you can make it!"


• Explaining the general rental car experience: "It's the shoe experience."

I know there were others, but I can't think of them now. So, maybe, after all the fun you could have with a shoe of your own, you're thinking about buying one. Well, good news! Prices start at about $10,000 so you can buy a shoe of your very own. I do have to warn you, the handling isn't great. You'll have to get used to turning the wheel, then having the car turn. Oh, and I also learned why so many people appear to brake randomly. It's probably because their brakes don't work very well. I'm fairly certain, that the brake lights come on before there is any actual braking with the shoe. Oh, and it's also not the best "fuel economy" car while pretending to be one. So you'll get crappy acceleration without the pay-off of a lower gas bill. Just what you've always wanted, I'm sure.

Oh, also, when Enterprise heard that State Farm had decided to total out my car, they called to see if I wanted to buy one of their rental cars for my very own. I turned them down on the shoe.

I rid myself of the shoe this afternoon. It was a pretty busy, exciting, stressful (in a good way) day. I left work earlier in the afternoon so I could take care of all arrangements regarding transportation. Dad came up to help me with everything. He followed me out to one of State Farm's locations in Omaha and I signed the title of my Nissan over to them and they handed me a fairly significant sized check. You always hope it's more, but it was what my dad called "on the low side of reasonable." My car was 10 years old though, so I couldn't have expected anything too enormous. Of course, they don't factor sentimental value into the equation. If they did, I'm sure my premiums would be a lot higher. I immediately deposited the check in my account. It made me a little nervous having an un-cashed check in my possession that was the largest single check I'd ever been written.

After we were done at the bank, I returned the shoe! It was so nice to say "Goodbye, shoe." and know that I don't have to see it anymore. I was happy to encounter a different sales person than the one I dealt with. He was much more friendly and helpful without being invasive or pushy. I was even more entertained by the fact that the guy I dealt with was at the location, but in the back on the phone. I think the person who helped us was irritated with him because it sounded like it was a personal call and the person helping us made a motion to him to wrap up his phone call several times because they had other customers who needed help. I was glad to know that they had recognized that he has room for improvement regarding his job.

I said my last goodbyes (not that they were long) to the shoe and hopped in Dad's car to go to the dealership to get my new car. We spent awhile filling out paperwork. We were doing some small talk with the guy handling all the paperwork and when I asked who I make the check for the down payment out to he told me to make it to the dealership because I could make it out to him, but his boss would say he's gotten enough big checks this year and he'd have to sign it over to the dealership. He went on to say that he had won the small jackpot lottery this year. It was a fluke win because he wasn't supposed to be at work that day, but he came in because someone was out and then he happened to have $10 on him and had never played the lottery so he thought "What the hell..." and he bought a ticket. At first he thought he'd won $50,000, but then when his wife looked at it they realized they'd won $200,000. He said that they saved part of it for his daughter's college fund and then did a few other things with it like house payments, etc. He said he only missed a single day of work. I know I would have taken a little time off at least. But hey, that's me. I just thought it was cool to actually meet someone who won the lottery. You always hear about it, but that's stuff that happens to people you don't know (or at least to people I don't know). Everyone was very nice at the dealership and I came away very happy with my purchase.

I got a brand new Honda Civic 2-door coupe, 2007. I'll have to take some pictures and post about it soon. But I love the car. However, I did get a stick shift (yes, I can drive one). I actually learned to drive on a stick shift because both my parents' cars were sticks until I was 15. I was actually supposed to inherit my mother's car, and she was planning to get a new one when I turned 16. Anyway, I haven't driven a stick shift in over two years (besides the few test drives I took on a few cars this weekend), so I was understandably nervous about driving one everyday again. However, they do get better gas mileage and I remember them being a lot more fun to drive, so that's what I got.

Well, I killed it once on the way back to my apartment from the dealership. Fortunately, my dad was behind me and he doesn't pull too close. Then, I killed it again heading to John's place. I was at the top of a hill and I accidentally had it in 3rd gear instead of 1st gear. The lady behind me was pretty pissed about it. She threw up her hands at me and yelled something I can only guess was an obscenity. Dad was nice enough to take John and me out to dinner. Of course, I drove. :-) We went to P.F. Chang's by Westroads. To get into the parking lot, you turn left and go up a steep driveway to drive into the lot. I killed it twice more there. I'm always worried that I'll give it too much gas and then I don't give it enough gas. The trip back to my apartment and then to John's apartment went just fine, but then on my way home, I killed it on a hill again. I have a feeling that hills will be the bane of my existence for the next few days till I get used to the car. So, I got rid of the shoe, but picked up a kill count. The kill count for today was 5. Hopefully tomorrow will be better...

Well, today showed some improvement in the kill count for the day. I only killed my car twice today. It was on a hill (stupid hills) and I killed it twice before making it through the light. While, it's still not what I'd prefer to be doing, it's definitely better than 5 times.

I haven't had a chance to take pictures yet because the sun goes down so early and I didn't make it back to the apartment in time to take some good pictures before it was too dark. Hopefully I'll be able to do that this evening. I should do it before the car gets too dirty due to the snow and all the stuff on the roads...