Some change

School is finally over for the quarter but I won't be getting a real break. As of Monday morning I'll be working full time. Four weeks without homework will be nice though. I'm writing this from a BlackBerry Pearl flip. I'll let you know if I keep it. G'night!

Day 1 [thefair]

Transcript Begin:

Welp. Day one. I survived. Day one at the fair. New job. Haven't been working for a while, so. Little bit of pressure, just a little overwhelming. Sounds like I might be doing the job of three different positions kind of all squished into one. So it's a little bit crazy but I think I'll survive - yeah. Uh, the highlight of the day actually was as I went around being introduced to everybody, went through the storage room and in the back corner around a pile of stuff behind what I suppose was at one point a cubicle wall was uh Roland, the IT guy. He's pretty cool, nice to meet him. Now I know where to go if things get too crazy - a little hide-away - I'll go hangout with Roland for a little while. So, that was definitely the highlight of the day, um. If nobody would have shown me he was back there I would have never known there was a desk behind all that stuff. So - here's to you Roland!

:Transcript End.

Inspiring Young Entrepreneur

Oh my ears!

Quick question: Can a piece of lyrically free music be audibly offensive?

Goodbye Ol' Blue, Hello Metta

For the past year or so, Ol' Blue (aka Delilah), my faithful '91 Dodge Spirit has been ill and slowly falling apart. It's been rather sad to see because I really like that car. It may not be stylish or cool, or even very modern as it doesn't even have power locks, but it made me happy. That car was a huge blessing to me. My parents bought it for me during my senior year. It had had only one owner who was an older lady who rarely ever drove it, so it had ridiculously low mileage. She took care of the inside and the engine and accessories were all in great working order. That was back in 2000.

I have great memories with that car. I drove it from Washington to Ohio with my best friend and had quite the adventure. I drove it from Ohio to Pennsylvania to visit my dear friends the Millers and was so glad I was able to do so. It was the choice vehicle to drive me and my brother's family from Ohio to Georgia to visit my grandmother after she moved there. It's taken me on multiple missions trips and visits to Canada. It's carted me to Portland to visit Amy while she was in school. It's driven me safely home after staying up too late with the girls time and time again. It's been featured in home videos and actually made an appearance in a professional documentary filmed in Parkland. It was a character in a home made sitcom that some co-workers and I tried to create when I worked my favorite job at NPCC. This car has been there through it all these last 9 years. I will miss that car. But all these great memories point me not to the gift, but to the giver. God the Father made so many of those things possible all through the gift of a great car. And now he's done it again.

As the heat wave came through town, the temperatures just seemed too much for the Spirit. It overheated one too many times and it was finally decided the time had come to move on. I was able to see this coming, so a few weeks ago I began to ask the Lord to provide me with the transportation I would need. I know that God doesn't always provide things the way we might imagine them, so I knew perhaps another car wasn't the answer. I still put in my order for a car, however. Let me take you on a side note real quick, for those of you who don't know me as well. I do not deal well with change. In 8 years, I've had 3 cell phones. I only ever get a new one when the old one dies, breaks, or has no battery life. And everytime, I struggle to find a phone I will be happy with. It is stressful. My laptop is 7 years old and I'm about to trade it in. Imagine the possible stress of finding a car I'd like might cause. I was aware of this. In my prayers for a new car, I told God that I was trusting Him to find me a great deal and that I was going to choose to NOT freak out over the change. I prayed that I could find the same sort of deal that we did on my Dodge. I wished I could find my exact same car because I knew how much I liked it, but I thought it doubtful.

Two days ago, I decided to check Craig's List for what was available for cars in my area. I didn't want to spent more than $4k, but was willing to spend $5k. I marked a few cars I thought I'd like to look at before finding a listing that blew me away. It was love at first sight. "Are you looking for a Grandma's car that was hardly ever driven?" YES! I showed the listing to my dad, who laughed before realizing I was serious about this car. I called the dealer to find out when they close. Darn, they closed in 5 minutes. I had to wait nearly a whole day before going in, but I told the dealer I'd be there! So we showed up, and there it was. A 1991 Plymouth Acclaim. Twin sister to the Dodge Spirit. They were probably seperated at birth. This car had been owned by an older lady who hardly ever drove it. It has 99k miles on it. She had EVERY record of anything that was done to that car from fluid changes to towing to tires. She kept it neat and tidy. And it was HALF of my willing price. Not only did God bless me with a car in my budget, but he removed the stressful process of having to make a change. The salesman was wonderful and he even knocked off a couple hundred because I showed up when I said I would. I've been overjoyed at my Father's love for me.

Some people think it silly to name inanimate objects, but in this case I want to remember the story. I picked the Scandinavian name Metta which means "pearl". Not only does it sort of match the color of the car, but a pearl is a beautiful gift. And that's what this is. Also, the car came with Jetta mud flaps which I thought was hilarious.

I can't wait to find out what sorts of adventures and memories I'll have with this car!