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floatingleafSo... the car has been fixed. The cute young guy who runs the shop (at first I took him for a Latino... turns out he's actually Arabic - perhaps partly Greek, judging by the last name - certainly a practicing Muslim, judging by the fact that he happened to be "in prayer" when I arrived to pick up the car yesterday at around 5 p.m.) told me he made a good deal on the parts and kept all the prices as low as he could for me... and who am I to know whether he was being honest or just sweetening some bullshit with his excessive youthful charm? (he had a lovely smile, no doubt about it :P) At any rate, the "check engine" light is now OFF, and they also re-did the emissions test for me as a bonus and handed me the official PASS certificate - so I don't have to worry about it anymore. As in, never again - because supposedly cars older than 12 years don't get tested for emissions anymore (mine is 14 years old, so I'm not sure why I still got the test notification this time - but it should be the final one, at any rate). It might fall apart on me in the middle of the road anytime, but apparently no one cares how much pollution it generates... lol. Don't get me wrong - I'd love a shiny, tiny, fuel-efficient and eco-friendly new one... but that kind of expense simply doesn't fit into the budget. I'd need a much higher raise than 4% to be able to swing a car payment. So once this old piece'o'junk gives up its tired spirit, I'll be relying on public transportation to get to work and/or possibly Zipcar to lug in my groceries and stuff. I'm not looking forward to that, but it's a distinct possibility. *sigh*
In other news, the laptop gave me a scare again yesterday - it went into stand-by mode, but refused to be revived. Touching the sensor pad didn't elicit any reaction, pressing the on/off button didn't either... even unplugging the damn thing didn't work, since obviously then it automatically switches to battery power. So it was basically on, but totally unresponsive. Finally, after holding my finger against the off button for about a minute or so, I managed to completely shut it down - but then it took FOREVER to restart again. I seriously thought this was the end. I am sure the poor thing is trying to tell me something - like, for example: "Why don't you just let me die in peace, woman, for heaven's sake???" LOL It's done a weirder thing, too, a couple times in the past few weeks or so. It's lost "display functionality". Do you know what a computer screen that's lost display functionality looks like?... Like a really cheap tabloid newspaper from a few decades back: blurred, grainy picture in just a few basic colors and a gigantic, freakish basic font like in those "plain text" emails with no html. I kid you not. There isn't much you can do on a computer like that. Fortunately, rebooting fixes the problem. Or it has done the few times it's happened... so far. But I have absolutely no doubt that the end is near. The one thing that's keeping me from ordering a new laptop right now is the fact that I have just used my credit card to pay for the car repair, and I want to wait till the next statement with any other huge charges, to avoid a possible overdraft. Of course, I could go to BestBuy and pay for a new laptop with a personal check... but I'd rather wait and keep an eye on my bank account balance for a bit, before I dramatically bring it down again. I just get very uneasy when it comes too close to hitting the bottom.:/ So please keep your fingers crossed for the poor dying laptop to endure just a few more weeks... LOL.
Also, I almost went to a yoga class today. Almost, because - predictably enough - I didn't make it there on time, and since the guidelines posted on the yoga center's website clearly state that you're actually supposed to arrive EARLY for a class to sign up and stuff, I decided not to make an idiot of myself and didn't bother coming in.:/ I did locate the place (looks very nice), check out the parking situation (predictably again, not very promising) and also happened to accidentally discover a cool new-agey store nearby, with cheap Indian-style clothing and other nifty ethnic stuff.:) (For the record, I resisted the primal urge to spend money "just because" - but it is quite possible that I will be back.:P) I also now know how long it takes me to get there by train (that's what I did, precisely because I know what happens when I try to find a parking spot in the city... lol), so maybe some day I actually will arrive on time.;) The thing is, I wanted to try a Basic/Intro class before I pick anything more advanced, and there aren't too many of those. Most are on weekdays, when I am either at work or stuck in traffic on the way back. Sunday afternoon seems perfect... but then again, that's when I usually cook my food for next week's work lunches. If I do go to a yoga class on Sunday afternoon, I won't get back home until 6-7 p.m., and will probably feel too tired to cook (as well as starving and needing to eat something ASAP, instead of just beginning to make it from scratch). Saturdays are often filled with errands (sometimes work too, if there is overtime), and by the time I'm done with my weekly grocery shopping trip, I usually don't feel like cooking either. I just want to relax, go online, watch a movie etc. So I don't know. I do want to sign up for some sort of weekly class/workout type-a-thing... but it looks like squeezing it in, time-wise, will be a challenge for me. The thing is, I hate to rush. Especially on weekends. In my book, the whole PURPOSE of a weekend is NOT having to rush anywhere. If I feel like sleeping in till 10 a.m., then that's what I am going to do, because it's the damn weekend and that's what it's for. Otherwise I'm just turning Saturdays & Sundays into more ordinary weekdays - and there's too many of those already for my liking, if you catch my drift.;) I'm just not the busy/rushing/driven kind of person. If I want to spend an hour in the bathtub on a Sunday morning, then that's what I am going to do, because that is precisely the MEANING of Sunday for me. So don't ask how on earth I didn't make it on time to a 4 p.m. yoga class.:/ I don't think I can explain that in a way most people would understand. *sigh* I do have proof I was seriously thinking about it, though - I actually purchased a pair of track pants. Believe it or not, I didn't own one before. I don't wear track pants. I only wear tough tummy-flattening denim or wide-leg slacks that effectively mask my protruding belly. I am VERY self-conscious about my protruding belly. And no matter how much weight I lose, it's always protruding, because I simply have no muscle mass down there... lol. Which is precisely why I've never gone to the gym - because I would have to wear track pants/leggings and let people see my hanging tummy. When I exercise at home, in my underwear/pajama bottoms, I don't have to worry about that at all, because no-one can see me. Of course, exercising at home is tricky, because it's way too easy to always find an excuse not to do it. But at least I am spared the humiliation of exposing my imperfect body shape to complete strangers, lol (and don't even ASK when was the last time I wore a swimsuit in public... I don't think I can remember that, honest). So please understand the full import of the fact that I actually wore my new track pants today. I wore them OUTSIDE, on the street, on the train, with plenty of people around. That took some courage, man. They're black, of course, and rather loose as track pants go, with the leg widening towards the bottom - but still. I also wore a revealing spaghetti-strap top with a black cotton sports bra peeking out from underneath. Very sporty. Totally NOT my usual style, lol. But no-one stared at me like I was crazy, so perhaps I looked just fine.;) Perhaps the paralyzing self-consciousness and "feeling naked" was only a figment of my sick imagination. Of course, I see much bigger women wear that kind of clothing all the time. They don't seem to care that it accentuates all the "extra" curves. Why do I care, then?... Why do I clutch my purse convulsively close to my belly in a vain effort to "hide" behind it?... *sigh* Anyway, I consider today's escapade a small step forward in overcoming this particular obstacle.:P
Jeez... what a long, pointless ramble. And I didn't cook today, either. Luckily, it's a long weekend and I can do it tomorrow. At least I took advantage of the gorgeous weather and went for a walk yesterday, too - it was probably the most perfect day since early summer. Warm, dry and sunny with a cool, refreshing breeze - you don't get much of that in Chicago. It usually only happens in May and September - short periods of respite between the tropical jungle boil and the arctic deep freeze. So when it is beautiful like that, I do make an effort to get my ass off the computer chair and go outside and enjoy it. This is the kind of weather that reminds me of past summers in Poland - but I don't want to get off on another nostalgic tangent right now, so I'll just shut the hell up.:D
In other news, the laptop gave me a scare again yesterday - it went into stand-by mode, but refused to be revived. Touching the sensor pad didn't elicit any reaction, pressing the on/off button didn't either... even unplugging the damn thing didn't work, since obviously then it automatically switches to battery power. So it was basically on, but totally unresponsive. Finally, after holding my finger against the off button for about a minute or so, I managed to completely shut it down - but then it took FOREVER to restart again. I seriously thought this was the end. I am sure the poor thing is trying to tell me something - like, for example: "Why don't you just let me die in peace, woman, for heaven's sake???" LOL It's done a weirder thing, too, a couple times in the past few weeks or so. It's lost "display functionality". Do you know what a computer screen that's lost display functionality looks like?... Like a really cheap tabloid newspaper from a few decades back: blurred, grainy picture in just a few basic colors and a gigantic, freakish basic font like in those "plain text" emails with no html. I kid you not. There isn't much you can do on a computer like that. Fortunately, rebooting fixes the problem. Or it has done the few times it's happened... so far. But I have absolutely no doubt that the end is near. The one thing that's keeping me from ordering a new laptop right now is the fact that I have just used my credit card to pay for the car repair, and I want to wait till the next statement with any other huge charges, to avoid a possible overdraft. Of course, I could go to BestBuy and pay for a new laptop with a personal check... but I'd rather wait and keep an eye on my bank account balance for a bit, before I dramatically bring it down again. I just get very uneasy when it comes too close to hitting the bottom.:/ So please keep your fingers crossed for the poor dying laptop to endure just a few more weeks... LOL.
Also, I almost went to a yoga class today. Almost, because - predictably enough - I didn't make it there on time, and since the guidelines posted on the yoga center's website clearly state that you're actually supposed to arrive EARLY for a class to sign up and stuff, I decided not to make an idiot of myself and didn't bother coming in.:/ I did locate the place (looks very nice), check out the parking situation (predictably again, not very promising) and also happened to accidentally discover a cool new-agey store nearby, with cheap Indian-style clothing and other nifty ethnic stuff.:) (For the record, I resisted the primal urge to spend money "just because" - but it is quite possible that I will be back.:P) I also now know how long it takes me to get there by train (that's what I did, precisely because I know what happens when I try to find a parking spot in the city... lol), so maybe some day I actually will arrive on time.;) The thing is, I wanted to try a Basic/Intro class before I pick anything more advanced, and there aren't too many of those. Most are on weekdays, when I am either at work or stuck in traffic on the way back. Sunday afternoon seems perfect... but then again, that's when I usually cook my food for next week's work lunches. If I do go to a yoga class on Sunday afternoon, I won't get back home until 6-7 p.m., and will probably feel too tired to cook (as well as starving and needing to eat something ASAP, instead of just beginning to make it from scratch). Saturdays are often filled with errands (sometimes work too, if there is overtime), and by the time I'm done with my weekly grocery shopping trip, I usually don't feel like cooking either. I just want to relax, go online, watch a movie etc. So I don't know. I do want to sign up for some sort of weekly class/workout type-a-thing... but it looks like squeezing it in, time-wise, will be a challenge for me. The thing is, I hate to rush. Especially on weekends. In my book, the whole PURPOSE of a weekend is NOT having to rush anywhere. If I feel like sleeping in till 10 a.m., then that's what I am going to do, because it's the damn weekend and that's what it's for. Otherwise I'm just turning Saturdays & Sundays into more ordinary weekdays - and there's too many of those already for my liking, if you catch my drift.;) I'm just not the busy/rushing/driven kind of person. If I want to spend an hour in the bathtub on a Sunday morning, then that's what I am going to do, because that is precisely the MEANING of Sunday for me. So don't ask how on earth I didn't make it on time to a 4 p.m. yoga class.:/ I don't think I can explain that in a way most people would understand. *sigh* I do have proof I was seriously thinking about it, though - I actually purchased a pair of track pants. Believe it or not, I didn't own one before. I don't wear track pants. I only wear tough tummy-flattening denim or wide-leg slacks that effectively mask my protruding belly. I am VERY self-conscious about my protruding belly. And no matter how much weight I lose, it's always protruding, because I simply have no muscle mass down there... lol. Which is precisely why I've never gone to the gym - because I would have to wear track pants/leggings and let people see my hanging tummy. When I exercise at home, in my underwear/pajama bottoms, I don't have to worry about that at all, because no-one can see me. Of course, exercising at home is tricky, because it's way too easy to always find an excuse not to do it. But at least I am spared the humiliation of exposing my imperfect body shape to complete strangers, lol (and don't even ASK when was the last time I wore a swimsuit in public... I don't think I can remember that, honest). So please understand the full import of the fact that I actually wore my new track pants today. I wore them OUTSIDE, on the street, on the train, with plenty of people around. That took some courage, man. They're black, of course, and rather loose as track pants go, with the leg widening towards the bottom - but still. I also wore a revealing spaghetti-strap top with a black cotton sports bra peeking out from underneath. Very sporty. Totally NOT my usual style, lol. But no-one stared at me like I was crazy, so perhaps I looked just fine.;) Perhaps the paralyzing self-consciousness and "feeling naked" was only a figment of my sick imagination. Of course, I see much bigger women wear that kind of clothing all the time. They don't seem to care that it accentuates all the "extra" curves. Why do I care, then?... Why do I clutch my purse convulsively close to my belly in a vain effort to "hide" behind it?... *sigh* Anyway, I consider today's escapade a small step forward in overcoming this particular obstacle.:P
Jeez... what a long, pointless ramble. And I didn't cook today, either. Luckily, it's a long weekend and I can do it tomorrow. At least I took advantage of the gorgeous weather and went for a walk yesterday, too - it was probably the most perfect day since early summer. Warm, dry and sunny with a cool, refreshing breeze - you don't get much of that in Chicago. It usually only happens in May and September - short periods of respite between the tropical jungle boil and the arctic deep freeze. So when it is beautiful like that, I do make an effort to get my ass off the computer chair and go outside and enjoy it. This is the kind of weather that reminds me of past summers in Poland - but I don't want to get off on another nostalgic tangent right now, so I'll just shut the hell up.:D
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-09 12:40 am (UTC)Good news about the car too - you might actually be able to drive it on occation, savvie..
(tried to catch you on MSN Sunday but you were offline. I need to sue Microsoft somehow, yeah.
*znugglebounces*)
(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-09 02:37 am (UTC)Haha! Provided I ever actually make it there.:P
(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-09 02:40 am (UTC)Guh.