Danielle Gold

New car!

danielleg@lakeave.org — Mon, 9 Jun 08 21:38:00 UT

Andy and I got a car today, which means we won't be sharing the Fit anymore. I get Junior back! Woot!

He got a Honda Element. It wasn't the most fuel efficient choice, but he really didn't fit in the Civic very well at all, and we got a great deal on the Element. Cheers Andy!

What would you want people to say?

danielleg@lakeave.org — Mon, 19 May 08 11:11:00 UT

I'm sure that pretty much everyone has occasionally thought about what people might remember about us once we're gone. I found a quote in Terry Pratchett's Equal Rites that hits it on the head for me.

I hope people will say that I "...laughed like someone who has taken a long look at Life, and seen the Joke."

Thanks Mr. Pratchett. That made my day!

Here we go again!

danielleg@lakeave.org — Tue, 13 May 08 13:30:00 UT

Good Lord! It's been forever since I attempted to regularly contribute to this document. I put an entry in when Rikki died, but...yeah.

Well, I quit Lake in the beginning of February; gave 'em 2 weeks notice plus a few days, so I've been part-time there since 2/17/08. Greg personally asked if there was anything they could do to get me to stay on, and I said I'd be willing to mix on weekends if they want, just not the midweek crap that I'd burnt out on so badly. So, now I'm working almost every weekend (I get one weekend per month off) and making almost 40% of what that time is worth. Hey, it's an improvement!

In other news...well, not much. Last December had been my most successful at Lake yet, but other events in the new year overshadowed that by far. Since I went part time, I've been a TOTAL slug. I haven't really done much of anything except laundry, cook, dishes, try to make it to Kung Fu half the time, and play WoW.

Andy's doing great at his job. The only bummer is that I have absolutely no idea what he's talking about when he tries to describe what he's working on. My eyes glaze over - I'm trying to understand, really! - but he's long since passed any basic programming understanding I can lay claim to. Go Andy! (The drive to Beverly Hills sucks though.)

Well, here's hoping I can get another entry or two down this month. Cheers!

Best Friend Forever

danielleg@lakeave.org — Thu, 20 Sep 07 10:29:00 UT

After a long struggle with several different illnesses, my beloved feline friend Rikki Tikki Tavi was diagnosed with a cancer-caused involuted intestine last Saturday night. He had suddenly gotten very sick last Wednesday night and we wound up having an emergency ultrasound Saturday morning. We had him put to sleep immediately upon learning that the condition was very painful and not treatable.

I miss him more than I ever imagined possible. It's hard to face the reality of a world that he's not a part of. Rikki and I spent about 15 years together, although 4 of those years were regrettably spent in different homes. He was the most unique, intelligent, considerate, loving and utterly devoted friend I could ask for. I feel so blessed to have had him in my life.

Although we're pretty miserable, Andy and I are satisfied that there was nothing more we could have done for him during his stay with us. We are also grateful that we had the opportunity to ease his passing. Many thanks to our friends who have provided support, encouragement and distraction during these last few days!

Grateful

danielleg@lakeave.org — Thu, 11 Jan 07 10:09:00 UT

Today, I will quickly list 5 of the more obscure things I am thankful or grateful for. Not the obvious ones - hopefully the ones I would ordinarily not think of. They will not be in any particular order, simply the order in which they occur to me. This is an exercise to promote the positive thinking and attitude I am working to integrate. Here goes:

1. The ability to read and write.
2. The gift of music.
3. My comfy shoes.
4. The taste of tea.
5. The years I was allowed to spend learning anything I fancied.

How about you?

Moving Ahead

danielleg@lakeave.org — Fri, 5 Jan 07 10:55:00 UT

Welcome 2007! May a new year bring us all new experiences, new knowledge and continuing fulfillment.

Realizing that this journal has become rather introspective, I took the liberty of looking over the 22 entries I managed in the later months of 2006. What struck me was the consistently negative undertone; even the recounting of bright moments sounded as if they suprised me. I find this disturbing.

In all honesty, though, I believe this is an accurate representation of my life mindset. I am an introverted, quiet, fatalistic and melancholy person. Evidently this comes across when I choose to relate how I see day-to-day life unfolding. I would like to say that I want to be more positive. I certainly will say that I need to be more appreciative of what has been granted me.

I think that for now, I will settle on saying that I need to be more focused. Work does take up a lot of my time, but I enjoy a good bit of that time and I need to remember that. I have fantastic friends and an awesome martial arts school. I have a wonderful husband who I wouldn't change if I could. I am privileged to live in the richest country in the world and have nice things - nice cars, nice computers, nice clothes, good food...the list is endless.

For these things, and so many more, I am truly thankful. Does that mean my daily conduct and communication is inappropriately pessimistic? I'm not sure, but I pledge to make every effort in this new year to remember what I have been given, and to remember that much shall also be asked of one so blessed.

My baby

danielleg@lakeave.org — Sat, 23 Dec 06 00:28:00 UT

My baby kitty is the pickiest, most spoiled little prince I've ever known. I love him so much!

He's eating again, but he's putting Andy and I through our paces. I had to offer him no less than three seperate kinds of food today before he found one he didn't turn his nose up at. Who cares? He's been eating for two days straight now; he seems to be putting on a little weight; and, he's resting a lot and seems fairly content with things in general.

The question remains...why did God give cats vocal cords?

I don't know. I really don't know.

Christmastime...is here...

danielleg@lakeave.org — Mon, 18 Dec 06 10:05:00 UT

My God, it's been something like 5 months since I entered anything into this tyrannical invention! Curse technology; at least if it were a paper journal, I could throw it out and pretend I never started.

Life is much the same as it was five months ago; work is insane because it's December, which suprises nobody. The new car is running fantastic. I'm so grateful for that change! I can leave work at 12:30 a.m. and not worry about breaking down on the freeway.

The new apartment is also great, esepcially with the addition of a desk for me and two sparkly new computers (complete with quite decent graphics cards) upon which to work and play. The big news at the moment is that Rikki has come home to live with us.

For those of you who don't know, Rikki is my cat from about 14 years ago. I left him with my mom when I moved out six years ago, but all this time I have missed him terribly. Rumor has it that he missed me too. In any case, he's getting on in life and has some medical issues which require special food and some peace and quiet - something hard to achieve with a 17-year-old girl, an 8-month-old cat and a 2-month-old kitten in the house. We petitioned our landlord for permission to keep Rikki with us, and go figure; he said yes. Hooray!

In the meantime...it's a bit of an adjustment. Rikki has not been apart from kitty friends ever in his life, and he's very, very needy. He's also very vocal. The long and short of it is that if he's not in direct physical contact with me or Andy (or even sometimes if he is), he starts making an awful racket. We're trying the "I'm going to ignore you until you shut up" routine, which is so far proving the most effective. After a while...anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour or more...he gives up and goes to sulk in his bed. He also stops eating and gets sick if he gets too stressed out. We've already been through one 36-hour food strike.

We love him dearly and he's driving us mad. I really hope this works out! At the moment, however, he's on my lap and it's hard for me to imagine things any other way.

The $5,000 e-mail

danielleg@lakeave.org — Tue, 8 Aug 06 11:32:00 UT

I have to take a minute to share this special story with you all. Andy and I sure felt like that little red car was "the one" for us after having this happen.

Last week, as you all know, we were growing desperate in our search for the right vehicle. We encountered a fair number of obstacles, and were beginning to wonder if we should reconsider our approach altogether.

At some point, on a whim, I sent a "request for quote" to Miller Honda, a dealer that I knew had one Fit in a manual transmission in stock. They called me a couple of times, and we went through the same song and dance as when I called the dealer directly. I basically wrote it off.

Saturday we were heading out the door to this same dealer to check out that same car, and for some reason I decided to check my e-mail. I think I was concerned that my Mom had been trying to reach me unsuccessfully. In any case, I did check it, and I only had two e-mails. One was from Stephanie at Miller Honda, with a quote for the vehicle we were going to look at.

The quote was a little higher than I had hoped; $1200 above invoice, and a little higher than we had decided we wanted to go. However, we printed the e-mail as a backup strategy for our negotiation process, in case we got that far. Of course, we still hadn't decided on the Fit over the Matrix, so we didn't take it that seriously.

We arrive at the dealer and ask for Stephanie; instead we get her partner Bruce. He was a pretty nice guy, straightforward and not too sappy - not your average car salesman. Upon arriving at the vehicle, we discovered that two price adjustments had pushed the sticker price on the vehicle up by $5700!!! Ouch. Our little car was no longer affordable.

The first was an accessories package that ran $695; bummer, but whatever. The second was a $5,000 "market adjustment." Well, at least they're honest about price gouging.

We drove the car, went up the street and drove a Matrix, then went to have lunch, where we discussed the probability of the dealer honoring their quote that was now $5,000 lower than the sticker price. Sure enough, we decided on the Fit and when we got back to the dealer, they accepted the price quote e-mail as a legally binding document, and sold us the car.

It turned out that "Stephanie" was new and had screwed up big time, sending out old information. The e-mail quote was good for 72 hours, and would have expired Sunday morning. Long story short, someone was watching out for us big time!

That concludes the story about the $5,000 e-mail.

Final decision

danielleg@lakeave.org — Sat, 5 Aug 06 16:05:00 UT

It is finished!! I am the pleased owner of a brand-new Honda Fit. The red one grew on me.

Here's a stock photo from kbb.com:

Yay!

I'll have to post the story of how we were able to get it for a reasonable price; someone was watching out for us. Sign-ups for rides can be done through my Myspace site. :-)

Thank you all for your valuable input; it took us forever to decide, but we feel very good about our final decision. Now I must go drive!

Frustration

danielleg@lakeave.org — Thu, 3 Aug 06 19:18:00 UT

For those of you who don't know already - my car blew up Sunday morning. My little Jerry. My poor Jeep. *sob*

I am experiencing a deep sense of loss. I know that it is just a thing; however, I was/am very attached to that sweet little car. It was exactly the car I wanted. It did everything I needed it to do. Now it's gone, forever. *sob*

Okay, I'm through moping. Mostly. You see, Murphy is hard at work here. It took Andy and I four days to get our loan from the credit union approved; this process usually takes less than a day. Now, the candle on the cake; here's the car I picked out: Honda Fit. It's not available. Period.

We test-drove a Honda Fit sport; it's wonderful! I love, love, love the blue one. Nobody can get the blue ones in manual transmissions. They might be able to find a silver one, or I can get a red one. *sob*

So now we're stuck trying to decide if we want to stick with the Fit or try a Toyota Matrix. There are several factors involved, including Honda's impeccable reliability record and the increased versatility of the Fit's seat configurations. Most of all, I WANT it!!!!!

I have to remember that it is only a possession, after all; however, I did already concede several points on the car front: I wanted a small SUV - too expensive; my dream car was a Tacoma - too expensive and also impractical; so here, I pick out a nice small economy car. It's inexpensive, gets great mileage; what more do you want? What, am I gonna drive a freakin' sedan? No way!!

So now we must decide what to do. I will keep you updated on developments, provided my head doesn't explode first.

Doggie Drool

danielleg@lakeave.org — Mon, 24 Jul 06 20:02:00 UT

Well, I had a fun, interesting, initially alarming experience tonight. On the way home from class, I was delayed at a stop sign by a black labrador crossing the street - in the crosswalk, but definitely wandering. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that she was limping, panting heavily and was collared/tagged. I hung up my cell call, did some very illegal driving manuevers and pulled up to the curb.

When I got out, the dog didn't even notice; she looked at me when I clapped and called to her, but wouldn't come to me. I followed her around a corner, but was about to give up when a second, more boistrous dog came along the same route. He was more interested in my company, and actually approached me as I cajoled him to come to me. As soon as I started petting and playing with him, the other dog turned around and came over to join us.

I figured they were thirsty, so I opened the door to my car to get some water...not realizing that they both apparently really enjoy car rides. They immediately both jumped into my car; the friendly boy dog took up residence in the driver's seat. Lovely. I was able to fish my cell phone out from underneath them, losing sight of my keys in the process (which were later relocated). I had to call a couple numbers, and was wondering what on earth I was going to to with these dogs, when a lady picked up the phone as I called a third number. Yay!

She was out of town, but gave me directions to her house - over a half a mile away. The only other real adventure was getting the dog out of the driver's seat; I had to manhandle him by his collar, which thankfully he did not resent. They both ended up in the passenger seat - I don't know why they didn't like the back, but it was pretty funny watching them both trying to sit in the same seat.

The end result: the dogs are back home, much to their chagrin; I still haven't found my sunglasses; and, the entire front of my car is COVERED in doggie drool. It's worth it though - they were so sweet!

Long live the labs.

It's been too long

danielleg@lakeave.org — Sun, 23 Jul 06 11:47:00 UT

I promised myself that I would post in this journal regularly. That has not happened. Blech. However, I will not allow my failure thus far to discourage me from renewing my commitment! Alas, I will prevail. Where to start?

We are finished moving! Yay!! Our new apartment is awesome; the two extra rooms make all the difference in the world. Of course, the subterranean parking, the dishwasher and the central air are nice too. Also, I've been to class more and I think I'm getting more out of it now that my drive home is shorter.

Work is going great; my wonderful boss hired me some help, and the result is that I get at least one weekend per month off. What a difference! I feel like I have my life back. Thanks Jett!! I also feel like I now have time to address some things that have gone unattended for two, three, five years or more. Hopefully we'll be moving forward, not just maintaining - I've been waiting, believe me!

World of Warcraft continues to compete successfully for my free time, although I have managed to keep up on housework and furnish our apartment, so I can't be doing too badly. I have some good friends online - Kalani, Vielleicht, Zullen, Bloodylight, Leinad, Kyriel, etc. If any of you see this, thanks for many enjoyable conversations.

I also have an opportunity to see my sister more during the summer, which I am taking advantage of. I love you Becca! Hopefully I can spend time with other friends and family members this summer while we've slowed down a little bit. Looking forward to seeing you all!

Finally!

danielleg@lakeave.org — Wed, 21 Jun 06 18:23:00 UT

Last night, I hit a milestone for myself in kung fu class. I did a spread-leg stretch and got both the tip of my nose and my forehead on the ground!!! Yay!!!

The next milestone in stretching will be nose-to-knees standing. I'm still a long way from that one.

However, it is encouraging to look back and see how far that particular aspect of physical fitness has come. I'm not sure about how I'm progressing with the rest of it, but I'm enjoying where I'm at. Kung Fu is one of my very favorite things; everything about it enriches and challenges me. Yay for martial arts and all my martial arts buddies!!

Finally - I have a walkthrough at my old apartment tomorrow; I'll turn in our keys and then we'll be DONE!! Uber Yay!!

Still moving...sorta...

danielleg@lakeave.org — Sat, 10 Jun 06 22:17:00 UT

Truthfully, we're almost done moving. There is still a lot of cleaning to be done. Therefore, guess what my plans are for the rest of my weekend and my two days off?

I'm going out of town! Yay!

My mom and I are joining my grandparents in Reno and then we're going to spend some time in Tahoe. It should be a fun couple of days, even if the driving takes the majority of the trip.

Meantime, I'm trying not to be nervous about not being at work.

In any case, it's late, I haven't packed yet, I still have some work here to do and I'm peeved that I won't get to WoW before I leave for three days. Oh, bother. Also, I have a big production at work next week, and I have left things for last minute that I have a feeling I'm going to regret...at least I picked the equipment up from Sun Valley...but, I still have at least 30 hours of prep to do...in two days...?

Dammit, I'm going to have FUN for the next three days! You just watch and see!!!!

=D