My favorite part was going to San Diego (a 1.5 hour drive south). Our condo has been vacant for almost a month, because our last tenant decided to just bail when she got laid off and couldn't pay her rent. Our management company sent us a list of repairs and cleaning tasks, which of course they wanted to charge us (literally) thousands to accomplish. So, we said TO HELL with that and went down there ourselves to get the job done. It worked out well with the timing of Leo's visit.
Oh. I MISS me some San Diego!! Oh Lordy. Southern California is not the same all over, darlings. San Diego is where it's AT. Orange County (where I am currently at) is HELL. And our condo in San Diego is even better to visit, since it's so close to the beach. And summertime is simply sublime.
We (read: Leo) went out to eat at Joe's Crab Shack on the beach, and this was my view:
It was so great just to walk around for a bit. We had a lot of work to do, so we only took a short break, but it was fabulous.
I also took a picture of the local Fatburger, to prove that YES it does exist:
Most of our day was spent in the condo, though:
Cleaning and repairing stuff...
One of the smartest moves, on our part, was to buy these lights:
...to replace these lights (one of which was broken by the tenant):
And, since Leo is training for a triathlon, he insisted on trying on some new goggles at Target. So much for a quick stop for shampoo:
We obviously had a lot of fun with this task:
We also stopped at car dealerships to look at cars, since Leo's car is literally falling apart and he's in the market. It was a good chance to go shopping together. We started at a Ford dealer. We got a dirty look the second we parked my car in the lot, when someone looked at my Illinois plates. Well, those jerks told us that he couldn't test drive a car because he didn't have California car insurance--which is a load of bull shit. They didn't want to waste their time on us if we were from out of state.
Well, as luck would have it, I had locked my keys in the ignition of my car, so we were then stuck there for over an hour to wait for roadside assistance to get to me. At that point, another salesman approached us and discovered that the other salespeople had dumped us, and seemed shocked and pissed. So, he proceeded to romance Leo into buying a car, saying he would do everything he could to make it up to us....blah, blah...he was very convincing!!
After over an hour of this, with roadside assistance there and gone, Leo had test drove a car and the salesman was telling us how much money they were going to lose on us but it was worth it to keep a customer. He started using more and more pressure and Leo loves to negotiate so he bit. After a while, Leo made it MY responsibility to be the bad guy and make up an excuse that we had a dinner obligation and had to GO. He was totally thinking about getting that car, though, and having it shipped to IL, etc. He is a SUCKA for making a deal (that's what he does for a living!!).
Finally, we left. It was like pulling a 5-year old away from a candy store.
The whole ride home, I convinced him that he wasn't getting a good deal (like the salesman kept telling him--as he BEGGED him to stay!!), obviously they are playing him like they play everyone else and they are SO going to make just as much money on him as anyone else.
Plus, how stupid is that--to test drive ONE make and model of car and then buy it right there without doing ANY research??
I think it worked. We didn't go back the next day, and we went to a Toyota dealer with a VERY low-pressure sales lady, then test drove a Nissan...And he's going to get a Toyota. In Illinois. After doing lots of investigation. YEY! It's the car I wanted him to get too! Hurrah for sensibility.
I did my share of shopping and investigating last weekend, too, but I'm not going to share about it yet. Suffice it to say that I'm making a HUGE change in my life here (sigh...again), which I am confident will provide a change in my financial and emotional situation. Things are falling into place, and this month things will happen.
I am still feeling fairly despondent. I am sick and tired of working all the time. I am feeling more confident in my work hours and routine, however, but I just feel so useless as far as being here in Orange County. I was just at a UCI lab meeting tonight, and I don't feel like I'm appreciated for what I have to offer. My main advisor/mentor, who has been tremendously warm and supportive (and who brought me aboard) is on maternity leave, so I do not have an ally. So much is being demanded of me, especially as one of the few volunteers (and the ONLY one, I am convinced, who has as much education and as much responsibility outside of the lab). And so much is being denied of me because of my other life responsibilities (i.e., work, work scheduling, etc.). So fucking unfair.
Hopefully this next life change will enable me to find some solace and purpose in being here, as well as a feeling that I can be more flexible. I have just felt so trapped lately.
No comments:
Post a Comment