Depressed

Life is so depressing lately. Aharon's car got broken into last Monday. No, not while we was working down in Livonia. Instead, it got broken into while it sat in his driveway in the middle of nowhere, Michigan. His GPS, wallet, and about $250 cash was stolen. The police seemed to not really care.

He had also recently applied for what sounded like the perfect job for him. His best friend and his best friend's dad both work there and they both put in good words for him, but he didn't get the job.

I just feel like every time we think we're getting close to being able to afford life, something happens to knock us back down even farther. How come even though we do things right, we can't get ahead. Meanwhile, everyone who seems to just do what they want gets by just fine.

Worst 8 Days Ever!

Last Thursday: Aharon gets rear-ended on his drive home from work by a 16 year-old kid who has had his license for like 2 weeks. Police reports, multiple calls to State Farm, and trying to find alternate means of transportation follow.

Last Friday: Drop Aharon's car at a body shop in Richmond that works directly with State Farm, because we were told if we did it this way the estimate would be done on Friday and Aharon could pick up a loaner on his way home from work Friday if the car wasn't totaled. All day goes by with no phone call from the body shop. Aharon finally calls them at 4. They won't have the estimate done until Monday afternoon.

Saturday and Sunday: Aharon drives his huge work truck around and gets about 10 miles per gallon.

Monday: Aharon's car is not totaled! He picks up a loaner after work. They give him a 2007 Mustang!

Tuesday: We get a copy of the estimate and police report and give it to Aharon's agent at State Farm so they can recover Aharon's deductible from the insurance company of the kid who hit him.

Wednesday: Goes by quietly

Thursday: Aharon gets a call from his State Farm agent that the father of the kid who hit him is a lawyer and is stating that there was NO damage done in this accident and that Aharon and I faked the entire thing (to the tune of $2,200) to get an old clunker fixed up. (Aharon's car is NOT an old clunker). Agent promises to handle it, but Aharon is now stressed.
Also, Aharon's car can be picked up! We go to Richmond and return the loaner and then head to the shop to get his car. Everything looks fine. We leave, and I notice his rear tires are very noticeably wobbling. He also notices that his instrument panel has not been cleaned from the entire 20 ounce energy drink that spilled in it during the accident. This was listed on the damage report because it can damage the electrical system. We go back to the body shop and tell them these problems and leave them the car. We go back and get a new loaner, a 2006 Dodge Caliber.
Also, I am told by my employer that they will not be splitting the cost of my tuition like they originally told me they would do last summer. I am now officially looking for a new job.

Friday (today): We wait to see what happens with Aharon's car and the lawyer-dad of the kid who hit Aharon's car.

Sarah's Hate List, Volume 7: Work Edition

I went to Richmond with my dad on Saturday morning. There was nothing out-of-the-ordinary about this trip, except for a bunch of near-accidents such as the following:

1. A girl in the Tim Horton's Drive-Thru threw her car into reverse and gunned it for no reason and came to a stop about an inch from my dad's car and only because he slammed down on the horn.
2. An old man driving a huge van whipped out right in front of us in a parking lot when we had the right-of-way. Had my dad not stopped, he would have driven right into the side of my dad's car.
3. A mini-van pulled out in front of us from a gas station and then slammed on her brakes while in the road having realized she pulled out in front of us.
4. A girl drove through a parking lot at about 45 miles per hour and cut right between my dad's car and another parked car as I was getting out of the car and had I not stopped and pulled the door shut, she would have taken the door, and possibly me, out. I don't know know why she felt the need to drive right between the only 2 cars in the huge parking lot.

All of this happened in about 20 minutes, too. So in honor of surviving that, I am dedicating this hate list to all the stupid things done out there by drivers. I know that nobody is a perfect driver, but the following 20 things have no excuse.

1. People who creep forward at red lights in anticipation of the turn to green. Not only is that amazingly annoying, it makes you look like the most impatient person on the road and probably contributes to quite a few accidents every year. Bonus points if said creeper actually goes through the intersection while the light is still red because they were sure it was green. This really does happen. I've seen it a shockingly high number of times.

2. Drivers from Canada in Port Huron. Normally, I have no problem with Canadian drivers. But in Port Huron, that's a different story. I don't know if they think that they're still in Canada because they're so close or if they just honestly don't think they need to follow any laws here because they won't get tickets or something, but these Canadian drivers account for most of the traffic mishaps I see every day. Whether it's pulling out in front of me, not using a turn signal, thinking that brakes should be reserved for special occasions, using 2 parking spaces for their SUV, or driving 20 miles under the speed limit when the posted speed limit is only 35.

3. People who cop an attitude at others for stopping at yellow lights. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. In fact, the law encourages it.

4. Anyone who at any time fails to use a turn signal. It's really not that hard, and it prevents people behind you from wanting to smash your head into the ground. Get used to it, ok?

5. People who don't use turn lanes. They are there for a reason. They are not there simply to separate directions of traffic. When you need to make a left hand turn, please enter the turn lane. Do not come to a dead stop in the far left or only lane and expect to make your turn from there. Others will become angry with you.

6. On the same note, people who attempt to use turn lanes but don't fully succeed, like when someone enters a turn lane too late and thus only really has their front tires in the lane while their back end sticks out and blocks traffic anyway.

7. People who misuse turn lanes. This could mean people who drive in them for extended lengths to bypass slow or stopped traffic, or people who get into them way too early and then stop because someone else is there needing to make a turn, and then they basically are both blocked because the car who's correct needs to move up farther but the car who's incorrect is blocking them and can't back up.

8. People on bikes. This does not necessarily include people who ride as primary transportation and keep off to the side and with the flow of traffic and what not. This does, however, include children and adults who have no regard for the traffic and act like they are in charge of the road. For instance, I turned onto a road today, and a man on a bicycle was riding right down the middle of the road. We made eye contact and he continued to ride. I stopped, because the only other option was to run him over. He continued biking and went right past my window and gave me a nasty look like I had just taken his rights away or something. Really, guy on flimsy bike? Do you want to challenge me?!

9. Pedestrians. Of any sort. Unless you are crossing in a marked crossing area when my light is red and yours is CLEARLY green/go/whatever-the-symbol-is, then please stay out of the freaking road. In South Carolina, you would be dead. Do not walk out in front of me and then get offended when I do not stop for you or when I give you a mean look. You do not have the right of way. Also, do not stick your head out in the road to view oncoming traffic. Find a crossing area and use it.

10. People who drive through the parking areas of a parking lot instead of through the clearly-marked driving areas. It's not that hard. Please learn the difference.

11. People who fail to look before backing up. I don't know if everyone out there just feels that they are entitled to take back space they previously occupied at any given time without any indication of this, but they do not have this right. Please stop exercising a right that you don't have. As Master Shake said, "You don't own space so stop acting like you do!"

12. Motorcyclists who speed. It's your funeral and I will not feel bad.

13. People who pass on the right when someone is stopped to make a left-hand turn on a one lane road where there is no shoulder for passing on the right. It's illegal and when I stop instead of breaking the law and you honk your horn at me, I want to blow your car up with my mind. I haven't mastered that technique yet, though.

14. Slow drivers on the expressway, people who can not maintain a consistent speed on the expressway even though traffic completely allows for it, and people who fly by at 94 miles per hour. You all need to go back to driving school.

15. People who are inept at merging. This could mean people who don't understand that they need to adjust their speed while merging onto an expressway, or it could mean people who refuse to move over a lane and allow traffic to merge easily, even though the lane on the other side of them is completely empty!

16. Narrow, two-lane road with parallel parking on them, too. Can we say crowded?!

17. Cars with brake lights that malfunction in any way. This could mean that the light burned out and you haven't bothered to fix them, or it could mean that someone broke the cover and you used tape to distract the police from noticing. Either way, when you hit the brakes, nobody knows it and trouble is bound to come swiftly.

18. Other drivers who stare at me at stop lights/any instance where prolonged amounts of stopping is necessary. Leave me alone, creepy!

19. Any driver who does not understand the concept of a 4-way stop, a flashing red light, or a light flashing yellow for one road and red for another. You are going to cause an accident or severely anger the people who avoid you and your accident-causing ways.

20. People who speed up when you try to pass them because they are doing 20 under. Inevitably, once they realize you are next to them and intend on passing them, they gun it and travel at about 10 over the speed limit instead. Moron on the loose!

Thankful!

Thanks to the dear old environmentalists (there's no convincing me otherwise - don't bother), gas prices are insanely high. I have now been driving my good old used 2004 Saturn Ion for one full year. When I purchased the car last May, an entire tank of gas (about 10 gallons) cost me right around $24.00. Now, it's closer to $42.00. Don't get me wrong. As far as I'm concerned, that is totally ridiculous and completely unacceptable. However, a read through a favorite magazine and a chat with my mom and brother put things into perspective for me.

Sidenote: Wired recently ran an article about why buying a used compact car is a better choice for your wallet - and for the environment (if you buy that carbon crap) - than buying a brand new hybird, like a Prius. In fact, it recommended you go out and find a used Geo (now Chevy) Prizm or Metro from 1994 to 1997. Why? Their gas mileage strongly rivals that of a Prius. And I know this to be true because Aharon bought a used 1997 Geo Prizm in December and with driving in stop-and-go traffic from Memphis to Livonia every day, he averages right around 30 mpg. A nice traffic-friendly trip from Memphis to Port Huron results in something closer to 36 mpg. (And in case you didn't know, a Prius really only averages around 36 or 38 mpg.)

But anyway, back to me. So yes, gas costs me now almost twice what it cost me only one year ago. What's there to be thankful about in that situation? Well, on a full tank of gas, I can travel 300 miles. (Yep, that means I'm averaging 28 to 30 mpg!) My brother and my mom can also travel 300 miles on one tank of gas. The reason I'm thankful? A tank of gas costs my brother $75.00 and my mom $95.00. A tank of gas costs me $42.00 and Aharon $38.00. And yes, all four of us have different size tanks. But the catch is that we all travel 300 miles on our tank of gas. So really, Aharon and I are both way ahead of the game.

On average, I go through about 5 tanks of gas in a month. ($210.00)
Aharon goes through about 10 tanks of gas in a month. ($380.00)
Just last week I thought that forking out $600 a month for Aharon and I to travel back and forth to work for a month was insane (and it is), but when I realized that if I was driving my mom's van and he was driving Joel's Jeep, it would be closer to $1,200, I realized just how thankful I need to be for our small, safe, compact cars with excellent fuel economy...and the fact that we both got exceptional deals on them.

Dear Ford Motor Company:

Thank you for sponsoring closed captioning on Lost. The only thing better than watching TV late at night is reading TV late at night. And for that, I am very grateful.

Sincerely,

Sarah

P.S. I'm totally serious. Reading TV is the awesomest invention ever.

It's Tough Being a Girl

I just renewed my subscription to Wired Magazine, and when I checked my email for my confirmation, something about the email caught my attention.
On the left side of the email, running all the way down, were ads for other magazines that I might be interested in based on my subscription to Wired.

Pretty standard, right? Well, here's what I found interesting. The 3 magazines advertised were: GQ, Men's Vogue, and Details. All magazines with a male target audience.

The geek community really needs to make us girls feel more welcome.

Why A + B + C = Crap

A)Being female +
B)the youngest person at my job and +
C)still in school =
A bad combination when you want to be taken seriously in your career.

Case in point:

Last Friday, one of the guys from a different office than the one I work out of was having problems with his laptop. I'll leave out all the geek-talk, but basically he could still get email but he got nothing when he opened up Internet Explorer.

He didn't call to discuss this problem. He emailed me about it, and I was in the middle of dealing with over 20,000 locked files that employees needed access to. So, it wasn't my top priority. Throughout the day, I would email a suggestion and he would give it a try and report back. Nothing worked.

On Tuesday, I was down at that office to help Michelle with all the archiving. I got there before the employee with the broken computer, so I went to his office and had a look. Turns out the problem was one of the first things I told him to check, which he told me was how it was supposed to be. Anyway, I fixed it and then also happened to notice an icon on his desktop for Limewire. I checked on it, because I've removed the program before, and sure enough, it had been reinstalled. The last time it was used also happened to be the day his computer stopped working correctly.

So before I went back out to start helping Michelle, I sent a quick email to the office manager, who is my direct supervisor, about the laptop. I didn't wait for a response. I went back out front with Michelle and we started working our way through some files. Broken-Computer Employee walked in and asked if I'd fixed his computer. I said yes. He asked what was wrong, so I told him his DNS server was pointed to a specific IP address and that our network will not support that, especially since he was pointed to the IP address of the copy machine, and last time I checked, copy machines don't provide Internet access.

He seemed kind of confused and asked how that happened. I had a pretty good idea that he'd let his kid use the computer again, because that's how it happened last time (oh yeah, this is a repeat problem), but rather than accuse someone who wasn't even there, I just said, "I don't know how it got changed. But I do know that it doesn't change itself."

He kind of gave me a dirty look and then headed down the hallway, muttering under his breath. Michelle and I shot each other a glance and went back to work.

A few minutes later, he came walking down the hall and said, in a rather demanding tone, "Sarah, come into my office for a minute." I stood up, Michelle told me I didn't have to go, but I headed down anyway. I walked into his office and he got up, shut the door, and told me to have a seat. This is when I knew that this was going to get "interesting."

He began by telling me that he doesn't work for me. (No kidding) He also mentioned that I don't work for him, but he didn't say it quite as matter-of-fact as he said that he didn't work for me. He said that we worked for a company and that we were co-workers and that we needed to stick together and not take problems to other people that should just be addressed with the other person.

Side Note: The office manager is my direct supervisor, and I report back to her about computer problems since she needs to be aware of what employees are doing with their computers so she can give this information to the owners. I do this with any computer problem I fix, whether the employee is my best friend or someone I can't stand. That's just how business works. Also, over the last two years with the particular employee that this all involves, I have come to learn that he thinks he's - for lack of a better way to describe it - the shit. He always has an opinion on something or a way to improve what's going on. He has also, on at least one occasion, told me that I don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to computers because he told his brother about some of the stuff I said and he said I was wrong. Nice.

Back to story: Then, he said that I was accusing him of being a liar. (Those words, or anything close to those words, never came out of my mouth) He said he didn't know how the DNS server got changed and when he said that he didn't know, that's exactly what he meant. He said that he does not let his kids touch his computer on the rare instance that he takes it home, but that if they do use it without his permission, there isn't really anything he can do about that. Then, he again pointed out that he doesn't work for me and that when I have an issue with him, I should come to him. (Which is not what I have been instructed to do by my supervisor - and the owners, for that matter.) He then added that I am new to my career and that while he hated to have to word it like this, it needed to be said. "This is something you need to work on, and I'm glad that I can be the one to point this out to you."

Because apparently, I need to work on disobeying my supervisors and do whatever he says instead.

He ended all of this by saying again that he doesn't work for me and that I do not have the authority to act like he works for me. He also mentioned that another thing I could work on if I wanted to succeed in my career was letting power go to my head. (Look who's talking, huh?!)

Then, he closed the conversation by telling me that he was sorry that he had to get angry with me about this, but that somebody needed to put me in my place. Then, he said that the door was closed so that I could apologize in private without having to worry about being embarrassed about people hearing me apologize.

So I told him I was sorry that he thought I had accused him of being a liar.

But that's all I said. He then started talking about how crappy the computers run around here and how he has done stuff with his computers at home that has made huge differences and maybe I could do those same things here to help improve the network. Oh, and at one point in the conversation he told me that he just wasn't sure what I was thinking because I was being so straight-faced. Yeah, because I guess that over the last 50 years nobody ever told him that it helps to keep emotions in check while you're at work.

Yeah. Whatever, prick.