There are just so many entertaining spottings! I can never get enough…
More to come, for sure. I’m running out of post titles, I’ve had so many noteworthy encounters on the road.
There are just so many entertaining spottings! I can never get enough…
More to come, for sure. I’m running out of post titles, I’ve had so many noteworthy encounters on the road.
You know, I never understood people who honk. Other than the occasional toot to let someone know you’re there when they look like they’re about to merge into you, I don’t see much of a reason to use that feature. Yet, I see people who hold down their horn like madmen just because they’re driven crazy with road rage. I see people who honk at you to get out of their way when sometimes it’s impossible and other times you weren’t going in their way anyway. It seems that they need an outlet for their anger, which is all too easily incited.
Perhaps horns should be designed to be loud enough to make the same impact they do now, but somehow sound friendlier. The blaring ones these days are annoying enough to make anyone hearing it grumpy. Why do they need to sound so upset? Sure they’re meant to be a warning, but warnings can be a loud enough volume without having to sound like someone’s yelling or screaming at you in a bad way. I wish drivers weren’t so “trigger-happy” when using their horns. It puts everyone in a foul mood and makes for worse driving. Certainly not setting the right tone there.
Maybe it’s just because of the drivers in LA. You’ve gotta be pretty aggressive to get around in this city, so perhaps that has put everyone in a poor mood, stressing them out. Whatever the case, the driving experience would be a whole lot better if drivers refrained from using their horns so much. That’s like walking around with a megaphone, blaring it at someone whenever they do something that ticks you off the slightest. I feel that horns should be used sparingly, if at all, and better driving would be a better way of preventing the need to use it. Save it for the time you actually need it for your safety, and not for whenever you feel like it.
An endless source of interesting sightings.
Today was my 24th birthday and I got to spend it with Panda and my parents. 🙂
I got up early in the morning, surprising my parents, since I love to sleep in. Well, I had a date to catch! Since Panda does not have his own transportation, I went out to pick him up so we could have lunch with my parents. I was allowed a day of joyriding in my new car for my birthday, after which the car will be stored away until I get myself a job. Call it sort of reward and encouragement at the same time. I got a chance to set up the Bluetooth connection and made my first call with it to Panda. He couldn’t even hear a difference! Excellent. Now I’ll never miss a phone call in the car since my music will automatically be muted for incoming calls.
So we drove back to my neighborhood and I called up my parents to direct them to the local Souplantation. I can’t believe we never knew about it before! But you know, now that I think of it, it looks awfully familiar and I think it’s been there for a long time, but we just never knew about it. So lunch was nice, with my dad and Panda doing most of the talking. My parents really enjoyed Panda’s choice of restaurant and it was quite healthy and filling. Plus, they had the cutest little ice cream cones! By and by, it was time to part and for me to head off with Panda for the rest of the day. We did a little strolling around the area before heading over to the dealership, since we’d noticed that the floor mats in my car were missing.
The rest of the day was very chill as we hung out and enjoyed each other’s company. For dinner, I had a hard time choosing, so we found something on Yelp that was near his home and headed that way. Unfortunately, the place was closed for some reason, but thankfully, he had just gone to a nice Japanese place just down the street the day before. We went there and had a nice time eating and watching the fish doing silly fish things in the tank in front of us. Nice place and nice food. To round out the night, we made a pit stop at cha for tea, my all-time favorite boba place. They offer games there for people to play as they hang out, drink tea and boba, and munch on some food. We’ve got a little tradition of playing Connect 4 there, so we sat down to a showdown.
All too soon we had finished our drinks, played many a round, and realized it was time to head back for the night. I dropped him off and drove on home, enjoying the feel of the Corolla one last time. I came back to dozens of birthday well wishes from friends on Facebook and a steadily growing number of votes coming in to help me towards winning a job interview for January 4th! It’s great to have support and it’s been a fun way for me to earn my foot in the door for an exciting job. With just one day left, I’ll do one final push and hope for the best. I do believe I can stay in the Top 5 and earn an interview, but just in case I’m still working hard to ensure it’s taken care of.
In honor of the “numbers game” that my parents keep saying job searching can be, I thought I’d play around with some numbers myself…
1 lifetime:
2 parents
3 cats
4 countries lived in
5 states of residence
6 cars our family has owned
7 major relocations
8 cousins (and a step-cousin) I don’t get to see enough
9 jobs where I’ve earned money (3 internships without)
10 years old when I started documenting my life like the packrat I am
11 (and a half) places I’ve called home
12 grandparents, aunts, and uncles living in Asia (plus a step-grandparent)
13 years of keeping a daily journal
14 schools attended from pre-school through college (some simultaneously)
15 European countries traveled over a 5-week spring break
16, an eventful age: took driving lessons, attended Leadership Academy, went to Australia & Hawai’i, and moved to California from New York
17 (and a quarter) years’ worth of education thus far
18, the last landmark birthday (21 doesn’t count since I don’t drink)
19 affiliations with UCLA organizations throughout my college career
20 (intermittent) years in this country
21 major cities traveled to over that 5-week spring break
22 countries traveled to overall (not counting the 4 I’ve lived in for some period of time)
23 airports I’ve been through
culminating in 24 years of rich experiences!
I’ve certainly got a lot of stories. As always, things in my life tend to be more exception than rule, so these numbers may be slightly off, depending on your criteria. You get the idea though.
Oh how unpredictable car buying can be! Yesterday I went with my mom to the Toyota dealership, set on choosing a Camry. I, of course, wanted the hybrid, but since it’s quite pricey and it doesn’t make sense financially to get it over the LE, I had my reservations. After all, I was out to make a responsible decision for me, my parents, our (mostly their) money, and the environment. I wish I liked a Prius enough to get one, but I just can’t get over the odd shape and look. Plus, I don’t want to have to deal with some bar thing blocking my vision in the rearview mirror.
So to humor me, the salesman (I’ll call him “Cary”) let me drive that around first. I loved how silent it was and the little whoosh sound whenever you brake wasn’t too distracting. Next up was the Camry LE, which was solid and nice, but didn’t thrill me. The gas pedal on this one was far more responsive and it took me a few seconds to readjust. We kept looking around at different models and Cary decided that I should drive the Camry S as well, just for kicks. The sound system in that one is far superior and it comes with fun seats that make it cool and sporty.
After those runs, I still had no clear choice of preferred vehicle. The hybrid was my dream, but too much money for its worth. The LE was generic and a bit boring, but was the S worth an extra 2K? The only thing I really liked on the S was the special fabric they use for the seats. That certainly isn’t worth the extra money. So, in an effort to satisfy my whim, we went looking for a silver hybrid with a moonroof (the one perk I reaaally wanted). As we were driving up the parking structure, Cary casually mentioned the Corolla as he pointed out a Corolla S. I was surprised that it looked quite nice, since I’d always been adverse to Corollas, thinking they were too small. They are quite a bit cheaper though, so perhaps I should have thought of them earlier. Saving money doesn’t hurt!
Since it looked pretty nice, I decided to try it out too. Turns out they’ve changed the Corolla a lot in the past couple of years and the Corolla S was not only roomy enough, it came with the seats I liked! So stylish. 🙂 On the test drive, I felt a difference immediately, which was due to a smaller engine. It’s louder and vroom vrooms a little when I accelerate, but otherwise it handled just like a Camry. I felt more comfortable in it and it even made me feel cool, what with bluetooth and a fancy 6 CD changer with JBL speakers. It has ample cargo space in the trunk and backseats that can be laid down for extra room. I didn’t care much for the skirt or spoiler, but I guess they don’t hurt. Oh, and of course it had my moonroof.
You know the one thing I wanted that didn’t change? The color. Funny, since I went in thinking I’d get a silver Camry, but wanting to check out color options. Instead the thing I didn’t think would change did and the thing I thought would probably change didn’t. Life works out in odd ways, doesn’t it? So my mom and I were happy and energized after taking the Corolla S for a spin. We went home to update my dad on the new direction we were looking. Then began lots of researching online for prices and I called up our insurance company to ask for quotes. Then today, I got quotes from two more companies, compared, decided to stay with AAA, and in the mid-afternoon, it was back to the dealership. After many hours of pounding through numbers and paperwork, we finally came upon an agreed price and sealed the deal. I settled my insurance, they washed and gassed up the car, and I was on my way. 🙂
Yes, it’s the same car, FYI. I happened to get in front of it so I could catch it in all its limo glory!
I, too, drive a Yerevan Aresh.