I now have something to tell my kids.
“When I was your age I had to walk to work every day, uphill both ways.”
Of course I only had to do it for three weeks (but it is uphill both ways.) But let me tell you how happy I am now that after all the troubles my car has been through, the Corolla is back and better than ever- which is good because I am so not in the market for a new car, not with my pay grade. I picked up my car this past Friday after spending three weeks yelling at the body shop (I am now recommending that you do not take your car to Koons Body Shop in Falls Church- they are terrible.) The only good thing about a two-day job that took three weeks is that they knocked off some money off the bill and the car is all clean inside and out (which saves me a trip to the car wash.) The next thing I need to do now is to get yet another oil change.
Looking back on my car-less experience I have several observations:
- I did enjoy the added exercise in walking to and from work. It was everything my friend Krissy said it was. However I did not like coming to work and coming home all sweaty because the temperatures were high and my tolerance before I sweat is very low. I will continue to drive the ridiculously short distance to work but I think when the temperatures get colder I may start walking more when I am not in a rush (maybe like 1-2 days out of 5.)
- I think I somehow spent less this month, I don’t know if it was because I didn’t travel as much as I did in June or if it was because I took less trips to restaurants and stores due to lack of car. That’s going to be another goal however- reduce amount of going out for food I do- it can add up! I already limit my restaurant spending during the work week- I may also cut down during the weekend too. Also I need to stop eating so terribly when I go out. Random thoughts while I think about food.
- It was freeing that nobody asked me for rides since I didn’t have a car.
- It was not so freeing having to ask for rides since I didn’t have a car.
Ok now on to the recap:
Thursday night I had a little Poker Night with Neal, Ryan, and his roommates. I haven’t played since the summer days in Chelmsford; but it was fun to lose my money again. It was a casual low stakes game that included the movie Rounders in the background. Problem with that is that I think I started paying attention to the film more than the game- no wonder I lost all my money. It was a fun night however and I think it’s a small activity that may need to happen more often- perhaps with co-workers and friends.
Friday I went out to play some billiards with Rebecca and Adam; we hit up Bungalow Billiards over in Shirlington. Shilrington is a little piece of Arlington I never go to- but I should explore a little more. If I had to name three games I’d love to become better they would be Poker, Billiards, and Bowling. I suck at all of them. After billiards I decided to go all about town. I met up with Adam and Burak at a house party back in Arlington and I eventually ended up at Whitlow’s at the end of the night. I must of been an Arlington playboy the way I was hoping all over the town.
Saturday I caught up on some Costco shopping and I had to work a little. After working some more this morning I went up to the Angels/Orioles game with Corey and his roommates. On the way up it started to hail and rain- it got so bad cars (including us) pulled over to the side of the road. We all felt like we were in Twister- with less bad acting and more flying cows. The game itself was great; we were sitting three rows behind the Orioles dugout which is perfect heckling distance. After Jay Payton got out with the bases loaded, a guy behind us yelled, “That’s why you don’t play everyday!” Upon hearing this Payton awknoledged the comment with a face that said “ya i know.” Next time he was up on the on-deck circle, the guy again started to heckle him to which Jay turned around and started to look for him- the guy raised his hand to reveal who he was. After that Payton just gave him the “talkie talk” gesture with his hand and proceeded to get up to bat. He then hit a triple. After scoring he made a face in our direction- obviously to address his heckler behind me. Makes me wish I could go to a whole lot more Orioles games.
After the game I caught up with LJ as we watched the Yankees/Red Sox game. After dropping two to the Yankees I was so glad to see them kick some Bronx booty. Of course the entire game was played under the drama that is Manny Ramirez.
To end this recap I wanted to pay some respect to Randy Pausch who passed away this past week. I watched his last lecture on a plane trip this year and it was very inspiring to me as well as others. I actually know a friend who was a student of his and was at the last lecture and actually ended up with one of the huge stuffed animals in the lecture. I think his death makes more of an impact to because he is someone I can truly say inspired me to continue to strive and do great things. My best goes out to him and his family.
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