The Wildcat's Den

An update on my car (my stories just never end):

I left work about 3:00 yesterday.  I got out of the city okay and was about ten minutes away from my freeway exit when the fan belt broke and the engine overheated.  I pulled off to the right of the road and called my dad, who said he could be there in fifteen minutes.  I was perfectly calm this whole time (which is a first for me - I would normally have been panicked and freaked out the moment the temperature gauge spiked to "H").

My dad pulled up and told me he was going to follow me the rest of the way and that's when I freaked out.  He was in his truck and I had my hands-free cell phone on and he started talking me through it.  The problem is that my steering wheel was sticking, so I couldn't turn back onto the road.  And I was panicked because I thought my car would overheat and blow up or something (and I had sat in the 100 degree August heat and at the start of rush hour).  So, my dad and I switched - he drove my Explorer and I drove his truck.  I followed my dad about 500 feet when he signaled and turned off the road.  The engine started overheating again and we had to leave my car there, go to town and call a towing company to come get it.

My next problem was getting back to Salt Lake for work this morning.  I ended up taking the old 1993 Buick LeSabre (I call her Dory - she's kind of an old "grandma" car) that I used to drive in college that just sits in the driveway now (well, it goes around town sometimes, but not too far).  I was a little nervous about that because the last time I drove Dory, the engine started smoking.  That was almost two years ago, but still --

Long story short, Dory got me home okay and I'm getting my Explorer back either today or tomorrow.  And I probably should have just gone to a Ford dealer here in Salt Lake instead of risking a 30-mile trip.

The funny part is that, while Dory is reliable at getting me around, she needs some substantial body work  done (she even has a couple of rusty "racing stripes" on the top).  There are a lot of spots where the paint has been worn away and things like that.  So, she's sitting in the parking lot with all these gleaming Civics and Malibus and what-have-you and she looks a little woebegone (I swear I heard a Prius snickering at me this morning).

Whatever.  Dory runs, she works and I'm only going to have her for a few days.  It's better than riding a bike.  At least my parents had something I could use.  I'm not complaining.

PS, Though my day was miserable, I did get some good news.  My dad had a copy of the newspaper in his truck yesterday and I read the opinion page while he stopped at the bank.  Much to my pleasant surprise, a letter to the editor that I wrote a few days ago was printed!  With my name!  With what I wrote!  There was actually more to it, but it's a newspaper and they can't print everything, so they had to condense something (I know how that goes).  It's about some realigning going on with high school regions and which schools play who in sports and things.  It's always been controversial and I have strong opinions about it.  But it was cool to see my name in print when I didn't even expect it to be there (they must not have had very many LTEs yesterday or something).

I have that scene in my head for some bizarre reason, so I thought it would make a nice random subject line ^_^

So has anyone seen those "Fanart:100" projects?  I think they're pretty fun (and if I could draw, I would do it too).  My point in bringing it up is that I was listening to the radio while I was looking at makani's Fanart:100 project and I got this strange idea: What if I made a list of 100 of my favorite songs (I hope I have that many) and wrote a drabble (using my original characters) using that song as a theme for the scene (and actually use the title of the song in the scene - I haven't decided)?

I think I'm going to do it (adding to my ever-growing list of self-inflicted projects -_-' -- but this one's actually me being creative and doing my own thing!)  It's going to take me awhile, though.

What do I call this? Songfic:100?  Eh, it works.  And if you want to try it, go for it.  I'd love to see what you all come up with!

Car update: I called my dad and told him what was going on.  He's got a meeting in Salt Lake today and said he'd swing by and take a look at my car during lunch.  This morning, my car was doing the exact same thing it did yesterday, plus the battery light came on and the steering wheel was a little stiff starting out (I had the battery replaced about a year ago - how long are car batteries supposed to last?) ...ugh... if I didn't love driving myself everywhere I need to go... but the only other option is public transport, which is the spawn of Satan and should be avoided as much as humanly possible (unless you're trudging up Old Main Hill on 8th East in Logan; there is zero parking on USU's campus - probably on any college campus -  anyway).

A day earlier than I had originally anticipated, I have turned in my last school project!  It's not official yet, but I'm all but done.  Now, I'm just waiting for Saturday to roll around so I can walk at graduation and then go out into the Big Real World!!!! (scary)

But until that time, there are stories to tell that is funny now, even though I was incredibly panicked when it was happening.

[now, on the outset, if my typing gets a little erratic and weird, my roommate is in here with her boyfriend playing a computer game and she keeps suddenly screaming and it's at weird places , so I keep losing my train of thought.  Apologies in advance -- I'm just too lazy to get up and move.  And she needs to primp?]

Yesterday, I was scheduled for a job interview in Salt Lake.  My plan was to leave Logan Sunday night, spend the night at our house in town and then just go to my interview.  The problem was that my car was not licensed (my licensing had expired the end of March) and I was afraid to drive it into Salt Lake.  My mom had left her Suburban at the house because they had left it in town to get fixed, but it was fine (we thought).  She told me just to take that and when I got back, I could go get my car licensed.  The only thing the Suburban needed was a little bit of gas, but that wasn't a problem.  So, I stopped for gas at 9:15 am -- plenty of time to make the 30 minute trip to SLC and to my interview -- when I noticed that one of the Suburban tires was flat.  It wasn't too bad and I figured that I could put some air in it and be fine.

Yeah, that didn't work.  Right after I filled it up, it started going flat faster.  I was only ten minutes away from the house where my Explorer was and I was running late AND I couldn't get hold of anybody (9:30 Monday morning -- everyone's at this weird thing called work).  I figured I could hobble back, get my car and take my chances with the law.  That didn't work either.  Five miles from the gas station, the tire in question blew out.  I was stuck on the highway in a skirt and I was panicked because I really, really, REALLY wanted this job and I had made a special trip down to do this and everything was going to pieces.  I called my dad in a panic; he called the tire store and reamed them out because this was a brand new tire.  Then, he called someone to come get me and just told me to leave the Suburban, get to Salt Lake and get the job.  At least I had the presence of mind to call the people and tell them that I was going to be a touch late.

So, I caught a ride to Salt Lake and the interview.  It went okay; I only ended up being fifteen minutes late, so I guess I'm glad I left the house so early (under normal circumstances, it only takes about twenty minutes to get from the house to Salt Lake).  The interview went well and I got home okay.  On my way back, we passed the Suburban and the tire guys were there working on it and -- I assumed, by the fact that they had a tow truck there -- they were going to take it back to the store and put a new tire on it and I didn't have to worry about the darn thing.

After I got my car licensed (which, I wouldn't have been in this mess if I had just had my car licensed), I stayed at the house for a while and worked on my final project and then I got ready to leave about 5:00.  Again, I was along the same highway when what should I see, but the Suburban, still sitting on the side of the road!  I thought that the tire guys were going to take it back, but I guess they just fixed it and left it.  And here I was, trying to make it out of Dodge.  So, I called my grandma, met her at her house, she took me back to the highway (and almost rear-ended a Taurus with her Hummer -- yes, my 72 year old grandmother owns a Hummer; that is freaking awesome, but not when she takes her foot off the brake at a red light), I took the Suburban back to our house, she took me back to her house and I was FINALLY on my way, but this was at 6:30 -- it takes me two hours to get to Logan and "24" starts at 8:00.  You do the math.  Add the fact that I got stuck in traffic from the I-215/I-15 interchange all the way to Centerville.  Wildcat was not a happy kitty when she didn't make it home in time to watch Jack rescue Audrey from herself.

I am grateful for Fox OnDemand on the Channel 13 website, though.  I got to watch last night's episode this morning.  Doyle has been upgraded from complete bastard to jackass.  It took him a half a season to get what some people still haven't gotten: when Jack says he has a better plan, HE HAS A BETTER PLAN, DAMMIT!!  If that idiot shrink doctor guy had started pumping Audrey full of drugs, Jack wouldn't be the only one on Daddy Heller's hit list. (in response: everything can't be complete sunshine and daisies at the end of the 21st episode of the season of 24.  Something has to go to crap and I guess this plot point is the best one for people to come back to for... but that doesn't mean I have to like it!  C'mon Jimmy, you've been around Jack long enough to know better... wait a minute... *amends opinion after re-reading the beginning of this paragraph*)

We need Bill!  CTU is going to crap under Nadia.  She's okay for a band-aid, but this is NOT the time for a band-aid.  I'd rather have Karen fall than Bill anyway.  Tom's come a long way since the first episode; he can handle things in the White House.

I knew Lisa was a dirty slut, but I didn't know how bad it truly was.  Earth to Daniels: she wasn't after you for your body (*heebie jeebies*)  For once, the mole isn't a much-loved character at CTU.  It's finally someone we really don't like anyway.  On that note as well: Tom's "I need to take a shower" look after Daniels came clean was priceless.  If ever someone could capture the feelings of the audience, that was it.

Where did Chloe go?!!!  We've got some hostile Chinese looking for a computer geek.  This does not look good for our little socially-awkward-yet-adorable-tech-support.  Then again, this could put her on even footing with poor Morris.  Not the best way to fix a relationship, but the fans will take anything at this point.

The only bad thing about watching last night ep online was that I didn't have the preview for next week.  I tried looking for it on YouTube, but no luck.  If anyone has a link, I would appreciate it.  I do NOT want to have to sit through American Idol to catch a glimpse of next week's "24" (American Idol=the end is truly near).

Apologies for the long entry, but I have a lot to say today.

Love from,
Jenny Wildcat