gigglechick.com

mouth was great - have seen better shows of theirs but it was fantastic to see 'em... fred said they'll be back in july :) photos friday night plus more story

::: plunked in on my treO:::

okay, my precious Fat Off Fanatics! it's time to weigh in!!!!

DO NOT POST YOUR WEIGHT IN THESE COMMENTS...

POST THEM IN THE GREAT BLOGGER FAT OFF BIG FAT FORUM!!!

(by the way - i lost 5 pounds this week!!!! sweeet! i swear - peewee can back me up)

am now eating my bacon egg & cheese sammich as a reward...

(tonight i will post the tallies up on the Fat Off List)

went out to st. francis of assisi church on 31st st. lit a candle for the Pope... very sad about this. i liked him. good pope.

to make matters worse... frank purdue died.

too many deaths this week.

johnny cochran, mitch hedberg, chicken man, the schiavo girl and, unfortunately, it looks inevitable that john paul II is not gonna make it.

over 80 of you chunky monkeys signed up for this thing.... only a little over 50 of you have posted your weight.

YES. you have to register on the forum.

(i've already been chastised by one (now ex)member because registering "took up too much" of her "time" --- not for nothing, but i set this thing up in a week, have been adding people to it nightly, will be adding the weights to it and all that stuff every friday... and the forum registration is free. so, three minutes of your time will not kill you. if you are having problems with it, let me know.)

if you DO NOT want to be on the Fat Off list anymore LET ME KNOW - i'd rather have a smaller list to contend with if that is the case...

otherwise.... GO WEIGH-IN... if you gained weight, so what? it's the first week... there are 12.5 more to go.

WEIGH INS ARE EVERY FRIDAY. this way i can enter them on the list and not have to be sitting around the house waiting for people to step on the bloody scale all weekend.

that said... go. git. weigh in and good luck.

if you are having problems registering for the forum - i will allow you to post your weight in THIS POST HERE only for this week... this will give you a week to register (FOR FREE) in the forum - hell i bought the forum so it'd be a nice little meeting place for the Fat Off...

to enter your weight follow these directions:

� your name
� your # on the Fat Off list
(www.gigglechick.com/erin/blog/fatoff/ )
� what you weigh today
� how much you've lost THIS week alone since
the previous weigh in
� how much you've lost in total thus far.
� if you gained this week, post it, it's okay - hell, it's just one week... you have til June 21st to lose!

heyyyyyyyyyy! am at da jersey blogmeet right now... photos when I get home!

::: plunked in on my treO:::

okay - i am back from "da' jersey blogmeet" ... it was swellegant meeting all of you - i didn't get a chance to yap with everyone, but it was kick ass to see everyone face to face...

i've posted photos (from my teeny camera)

i am tuckered out and will post more tomorrow (man, it's a bit of a hike from brick to union and then back...)

by the way - i posted my photos of the Cowboy Mouth show (from Thursday) --- i may have had a few beers so that night they seemed worthy of a pulitzer prize winning photography award... today, not so much. a lot of fred's sweaty feet...

still had fun...

more proof of life at the blogmeet... hopefully others will post more pics

• kate's pics
• shamrocketship's photos

right now i am gonna watch the Yankees kick the Red Sox asses.

(yes. the season has begun as has the trash talk)

woo! vs. the red sux...

yanks | 9
sux | 2

tino's back!!! yay!!!

too cold for capris, too warm for a sweater.
i really have got to get new clothes for this "almost spring" season *sigh*
clothes that don't need ironing. jeez i hate ironing with a passion... i pretty much just shove what i am gonna wear back in the dryer til most of the wrinkles are out...
in other news, ate like a hog on friday and saturday and weighed myself this morning - no damage done... woot!
gotta throw myself into the shower now - debating on driving the half hour up to the other train or racing like a madman to the 7:20am one...

okay all... it's been a few posts since i've brought up the Great Blogger Fat Off!!!

hope all are doing well and sticking with it - heck, it's only the beginning of the second week!

what's going on? go yap on the boards... i've added another thread called the Weekly Yapfest - so ya' can check in and say how you're holding up (friday will be the weight check-in)

so Fat Off Folks, feel free to fiddle with the forum!!

(yes. it's 1am and i am loopy on alliteration.)

mornin'. I fricking forgot my lean cuisine today. arrrrgh.

dog was barking. I was rushing around. had to set vcr (amazing race tonight). had to check emails. threw wrinkled clothes in the dryer to "iron"...

looked at the clock... 7:40am. crap. squan train is at 7:50 so I had to drive to long branch... this is nothing out of the ordinary for my morning routine...

last night went to the food store and bought more lean cuisines... and whatta I do? nothing. forgot my chicken enchilada suiza (which may be for the best - haven't tried that one before) right now on the RRE, there's a crazy woman that usually sits in the last car (where trip, bj and I usually sit) word on the street is she mocked my pink coat a few weeks ago ... there's a group of "regulars" in this car... the RRRof the RRE (regular riff raff) - have had my eye on one cute guy that gets on at red bank... I forget if i've seen a ring on him before (no clear view this morning)

note to self: start going to tanning... feeling quite pasty lately.

another note to self: get some fruit for lunch or scout up a bodega that has a lean cuisine in it....

(oh... and congrats to those Tarheel Boys! what a great game!)

::: plunked in on my treO:::

okay - so out of the 88 who signed up - within one week about 20 disappeared - go figure...

anyway --- the top three LOSERS this week are:

#63] C-C | -10 pounds!!!

#81] sara | -8 pounds!!!

#72] amy | -5 pounds!!!

erm, and i suppose there's a tie for third ----

#1] gigglechick (me!) | -5 pounds

----- go check out the list -----

now, to the folks who've vanished - come on - THIS friday - post what's transpired, if you've lost or gained....

(i think this week for me may not be so dramatic... friend is visiting... arrrgh. and she always wants to eat.)

first thing i did this morning was pack my lean cuisine... seeing as i ate 1500 calories yesterday when i should only have had between 1200-1300... think i may be posting a gain on the friday weigh in... whatever (the "friend" will be arriving on the Monthly Express in a few hours... sorry, fellas.)

was up til 1:30am reading and writing emails... again... digging the emails that i received last night [insert sly grin here]

and by the way.... i am totally jealous of some folks who are going to the yankees/red sux game today... an afternoon game on - what looks like - a beautiful day.... 2 down....

okay so... i'm on the RRE and "JB" and trip were on there (of course) and apparently saw the bit about the "cute red bank boy"... red bank is one stop away... we'll see how non-chalant they are.

not a good day to start stalking red bank boy. i'm bloated, breaking out, constipated, smell like stale cigarette smoke and have really dry skin and oh fuck.... cute guy just sat in front of me... crap.

yeah. that figures. now trip and "JB" are singing the theme to the Love Boat.... that's just swell.

god I really smell like frigging cigarette smoke. damned gigglemom.

(he's got a nice laptop... still can't see the ring finger.)

(yes. I said he has a nice laptop... go ahead Gutterminds... make your pithy, wiseass remarks :)

::: plunked in on my treO:::

married. saw it when he moved his backpack.

no stalking to be had this day.

::: plunked in on my treO:::

he's sensitive, he's sexy, he's Brawny

amazing. simply amazing.

erm... now, after the funeral, whose house in Rome is everyone going back for ham and cold cut sammiches?

okay all y'all Fat Off Folks.... it's time for you to weigh in!!!
go to the forum and post it in there now!!!

so I have to run a 5k tomorrow in 'squan called the Fool's Run...

I hadn't started training til 5 minutes ago when I needed to run 150 yds from my car to the train in long branch... luckily, for the first time in a month, i'd put my running shoes on (mainly because my right foot has still been in pain - remember the podiatrist last month - and the bunion is pretty much screaming and growling at me with every step... yes. the illusion of my "perfect" body has been shattered by bunionspeak hasn't it?)

that said. have layouts to design before I get into the office... and I have cramps... happy friday.

::: plunked in on my treO:::

ugh. after a few pints, IMing is lovely.

okay - so... i ran the.... okay... WALKED... the 5k Fool's Run (fools run. geniuses walk, i say) in 48:32... (we were on our cell phones trying to get springsteen tickets for 2 miles)

i KNOW that i will be running the Parker House Toyota 2 Mile Run and hiding in the bushes...... with the keg

had a LOT of fun today - hung out with jude. met a guy with a Meat Market shirt on and then hung with my friend Lynda and now am home at 9pm and dog tired.

O'Neill's Bar in manasquan is having a golf outing on Thursday, July 14th (yes, Bastille Day)... it's $175 (i have to register soon because spots are filling up.) there are shotgun starts: one's at 8:30am (gotta be there by 7:30) the other's at 1:30pm (gotta be there at 12:30)... cocktail hour/buffet is from 6-8pm

it's $175 and that includes greens fees, power cart, refreshments, gifts & prizes, buffet and two hour open bar....it's at Woodlake country club (where i went for my senior prom)

benefits Tim O'Neill who has ALS (lou gehrig's disease)

it doesn't really say if it's a scramble, etc...

hopefully will get carol to join up with me... she wanted me to play in a may 9th tourney, but i can't - my other art director is going on vacation that week, so i can't really take off that day...

of course, by july 14th i will be at least 20 pounds lighter (what, with the Fat Off and all that ending on my 35th b-day)

at first, i'd been rooting for this kid, but week after week he has been making me shake my head and be like "what the frig are you still doing on this show???"

so I am sitting here on the RRRRE (Really Really Riff-Raff Express - the 9:06am out of long branch - seriously there are already guys drinking beer... frigging mets fans)

I was running late.... had to wear my boot the nutty podiatrist gave me because I can barely frickin' walk on my right foot and the boot is actually the only thing that's not killing it.

so I hopped on the parkway to get to long branch and it was a parking lot. so I got off 7 miles later and hopped on 18... made it to long branch and had to park further than I was on friday... no running to be had... the 8:24 RRE was still in the station!!

I hobbled to the parking money slot thing... then hobbled down the stairs as fast as I could, then hobbled up the other stairs halfway and the frigging thing pulled away...

so I waited for the 9:06 - and I am on it... and they just announced that due to wires being down at newark, we'll be 45 minutes late. I COULD opt to take the PATH train once I get to newark... but then I'd have to switch a couple of times, wait for other off-peak trains then walk a couple of extra blocks to get to the office. any other day I would be fine with walking... except buniongirl is in pain

::: plunked in on my treO:::

am standing on the PATH train right now. frigging am late as hell. njtransit train sat outside newark for an hour. I am pissed.

::: plunked in on my treO:::

after my 5 hour commute today i need to seriously start thinking about moving back up north... so, if anyone wants to help this poor slob move, send a buck to the mini giggle fund over there (i'll be changing that button.)

help.

5 hours.

i have an apartment all lined up as well, and it's $1500/month

am not sure about moving... I certainly WANT to... but it's $1500 a month -

of course, for the hell of it, not only because i don't want to change my mini graphic.... but, i kinda went on the mini cooper site, priced out my ultimate mini cooper convertible S and applied the loan that i actually was approved for (and is in my account) and the payments will only be $220/month...

so that, with my $420/month loan payment and then the mom $$$ and all that stuff in the aforementioned post... well, kinda works out to be cheaper than the apartment... and if i had a mini, well, then i would not complain about my commute (still on the train, but i'd dream of the mini every day)

i think i am going to test drive one this weekend...

yeah, you guys have been reading my site for long enough to know that i am flighty, impulsive and a little on the loopy side...

the thing is, thinking about this, i don't have a stomachache, whereas thinking about the move and apartment and crazyass rent, well, i have been in the bathroom with stomach cramps and the onstart of an ulcer thinking about it...

and if worse comes to worst, i can always live in the car. it might be cramped, but, hell... it's a mini :)

first off, thanks for the comments.

let me clarify everything now.

1) i am not taking the apartment.
2) i am going to attempt to purchase a mini cooper convertible s on saturday

as for not taking the apartment. i can't swing $1500/month on top of still giving mom cash... which brings me to the next group of suggestions:

no. i do not do roommates. have in the past, and swore i would never have one again. may as well live with mom. i'm 34, not in frigging college.

mom is not going to take in a "roomie" either.

i will stay at home. help fix up mom's condo with the idea of selling it. once sold i will have the profits and put that as a down payment on a house somewhere.

no, i am not moving halfway across the country and leaving my job that is great to go somewhere that is not exactly known as a design mecca.

i do not "need" to get another car. so that's why i am NOT going to an auction, or buying a used one... you HAVE seen the mini giggle fund callout before. it's a dream car and i am going to treat myself to it (and hopefully the mini cooper website wasn't figuring payments wrong...)

what i WILL be doing is giving my 99 chevy cavalier to mom who owns a 91 tempo that doesn't have heat, or A/C -- nor does it have windows that go down. it's been described by a mechanic as "a disaster waiting to happen"

so that is why i am getting a new car - because A) i want one and B) to give gigglemom mine

my gut - which i hold it's opinion in the highest regard - had been flipping all last night and this morning - the idea of an apartment is nice. did i want to become a benny again? no. i am a shore girl first and foremost.

if anything happens to my job (god forbid) at least i will not have to worry about a lease, etc.

what are you talking about with "her HUD situation" - oh hell no that was not just said in my comments, was it??

my mother is her own person with her own taxes. she is not a dependant on my taxes, nor i on her's... let's get that straight.

whatever. i merely was pondering earlier today whether or not i should pay out the ass for an apartment that would be available may 1st --- in which - after all is said and done with every bill i have going each month, i would have $115 to my name... whereas if i get the car, after all the bills i have, i will have $1643 left over -- so... it's really not exactly a brain twister as to what the smartest decision is.

sure, i'd like to get out and back on my own... yes. the smoke kills me... yes the commute is grueling (although i know people who've been doing the same commute for over 20 years... so i shan't complain too much)

and when i get a mini cooper convertible, i will be grinning through it's windshield...

i have it pretty good in this house - after i've figured out finances and all that... yes, i am living with my mom at 34 (going on 35) but hey, i can always stay over other's houses if needed... and as i said before i moved back down - maybe it's a good thing that the condo is akin to a chastity belt on me right now.

i applied for financing on the mini cooper website today and they approved me... all i have to do is head over to princeton on saturday and take a test drive, tell 'em what i want, fork over a down payment and then smile.

back in 1991, i had come into a good chunk of change from my car accident when i was younger - and i went to the mazda dealership and test drove a miata - the car of my dreams back then. i drove it for 6 hours. it was blue. and then i was sitting there in the dealer's office, pen in hand, about to sign - cash. full payment. right then and there.

and i choked. my gut said no. not now.

and every time i see a miata i get a little wistful

i am 34 now. and yes, i have been whining about the mini cooper convertible s for about a year now....

i am going to bite the bullet and take this sucker on... i am finally getting some decent credit and i am going to use it...

anyway - i am not trying to growl at everyone who commented. i am fine with the comments, but come on, some of them were a little ridiculous.

and my back-up plan:

i'm playing the lottery.

then again, i have always liked the vw beetle convertible, too :)

nah, i still like the mini... the payments might be a tad more than i thought (i thought i was getting the Mini Select payment plan, but that seems to be somewhat LIKE a lease - don't want that because there's a balloon payment at the end. no thanks and i can't trick it out til it's paid off (and then what? i have to get the frigging thing all tricked out after it's 4 years old? no.)

Yeah. My old boss could only come down to $1450 for the apartment... so i did a last minute crunch of numbers - lo and behold, i would be in the frigging red about $240 every month... (and that's with only having a cell phone as my main number)

the mini (if payments are around $600) will leave me with $400/month in pocket (which would be for mom's cigarettes.)

more than likely i will be just sitting home alone at gigglemom's... no mini, tired from the commute, uterus out of service, cranky and cradling a bottle of anti-depressants...

yeah. that sounds about right.

word on the street is that Mini will not go below 6% for financing.

yes. you read that correctly. six percent.

if that's the case, it's the aforementioned uterus, anti-depressant situation for me.

that would mean my payments would be almost $1200/month --- which would be wayyyyy more expensive than even taking the apartment in jersey city.

screw it. i should take my $7K loan and go to the roulette table at Trump Marina.

so, eh, penn station's on fire or something. huuuuge gates closing it off so no one could get in.

was gonna attempt to take the 6:14 train out...

have popped on the PATH train and will head to newark

shoulda seen the news choppers swarming overhead... before I knew about it I was a block away and heard them... thought to myself "hmmmm why the eff are they RIGHT above me? that isn't a good sign" and then I saw the police and fire dept and newscameramen on foot... and the huge throng of people standing outside a gate I never knew existed.

so, first thing I thought was "get to the PATH before anyone thinks of it" and it's relatively empty (by rush hour path standards) of course I could be engulfed by flames in a domino effect tunnel fire (odds are no.)

speaking of tunnel fires... and burning a hole in one's pocket...

priced out a vw beetle convertible... will test one...

wish me luck with the commute (by the way... yes I want to move up north... but I won't be going to the heights,etc of jersey city... scares the funk out of me there... already was attacked downtown don't wanna be in the heights and the price of those apartments is somewhere around the $ I can afford.

::: plunked in on my treO:::

actually i really don't want to move up north all that much. and i can't afford to swing the rent and utilities etc etc etc PLUS paying part of mom's mortgage on top of it (because that's not negotiable)

as far as a car being a "financial loss", i would think that a car is a bit more of an asset than handing money over for rent - without the option to buy - yes, i would like to get out on my own.

but part of me does not want to be stuck in jersey city should anything happen (job, family, etc).

the point about RHBs... well, any RHBs that are interested should have their own place that i can crash at.

as far as the whole political aspect of one comment... um, not for nothing, but i've been wanting this frigging car for well over a year and a half... i am a designer, these things make me salivate --

i really resent the fact that there was a comment suggesting that i am manipulated by "the gnp/republican political agenda" - i just want to get a fucking car that i actually LIKE, not a piece of shit that i don't need and will despise.

3 years ago my 210,367 mile ford escort's axle broke in half and i had to go out and get my cavalier - which was 3 years old at the time - i didn't have a choice with the car. it was the only one that was available to me because of my credit and the price. while the car has been fine, i want a frigging mini cooper. i don't exactly feel like buying a car i want is not being "grown-up".

i will be giving my cavalier to my mother - whose own car has NO heat, NO A/C, and no windows that move up or down.

i am test driving the thing on saturday and will see how my gut feels that day. if it's cool with it, then i will buy a mini. if it's not cool, then i just let my loan $ sit in the bank.

even though the longer i let it sit there, the less of a chance it will have to accumulate because i don't DO WELL with long-term money ...that and the fact that if i keep the money in the bank, gigglemom will more than likely guilt me into buying new plumbing or a rug or something like that.

for ONCE i want to spend it on me. i can't move. i would like to. but i cannot pay rent AND mom's mortgage. i've tried to figure out a way. even if rent somewhere was $1000, i'll have $350 left each month.

and yes, if you are about to comment "well, move to an apartment down the shore - just get out of gigglemom's" -- well, the rent down here is ridiculous as well (the price of houses is crazy so everyone has loopy ass mortgages.) so loopy rent with mom's mortgage and then the monthly train ticket as well as gas, electric, cable/internet, cell phone, my loan, my storage unit, and what i pay to keep all of my websites running... well, it's a bit steep and i wouldn't be able to do it.

here - at risk of being tacky... but whatever... you all basically know every aspect of my life anyway.

this is if i rent a $1000 hovel in jersey city:

rent: $1000
PATH: $60
mom: $800
storage: $150
gas/elec: $100
cell: $150
loan: $360
cable/int: $120 (approx)
gas/car: $50
food: $300
web: $70
_____________
$3160

this is if i rent the $1450 gorgeous apartment in jersey city:

rent: $1450
PATH: $60
mom: $800
storage: $150
gas/elec: $100
cell: $150
loan: $360
cable/int: $120 (approx)
gas/car: $50
food: $300
web: $70
_________________
$3610 (which puts me in the red by $170... can't live)

this is if i finance a mini - let's say for $570

mini: $570
train: $291
mom: $800
storage: $150
cell: $150
loan: $360
gas/car: $150 (might be less, i am overestimating just in case)
food: $400
web: $70
_____________
$2941
(see, cheaper. yeah i would be locked in for a bit, and the commute may be killer, but still... it's a MINI.)

YES. i could forego the mini and pocket the $570 a month that i would be shelling out for it - slap it into a savings account and then have $30000+ in 5 years. hopefully gigglemom and i will have sold the condo by then and i would have a down payment for a house.

maybe so. that doesn't sound horrible either.

as i said, i am test driving the mini on saturday (unless i snooze in too long.)

so there you have it. the math. the life-sucking soul-sucking math.

hmmmm. just noticed that i said "have 30,000+ in 5 years" --- jeezuz i'll be 40 and i didn't even think of putting it towards a wedding... but then again, according to the comments, i am not desirable if i live in my mother's house.

and i do know that mom's car is going to crap out on her within the year (if not, sooner) and i'd rather have her in a safe car like the cavalier than the 179,000 mile '91 ford tempo.

plus, one reason i moved back in with mom 2 years ago was because she was sick. and now it's worse with the oxygen... not that she's not mobile and going to work, but still, it's a bit on the scary side thinking of her alone

ever see "Only the Lonely" with John Candy and Ally Sheedy? well, i can look somewhat like a chunky ally sheedy but with the mental crap going on in Candy's head... mixed with a healthy dose of "Terms of Endearment"

gleny - mr. mini guy - created this for me... :)

thanks, gleny !!!

okay.... so... i have to work this weekend (yes. weekend commute)

what does this mean? no mini test drive. plus i'd asked the chick at the mini dealer what rates they give for excellent credit and she said the lowest is 6.5% for "ELITE" credit (eh, my credit is not so much on the elite side.... it's like, pulling itself up out of the mire kind of credit...)

so, divine intervention.... it's stepped in --- between my mini and me.

so i hunkered down tonight when i stepped in the door and watched The Apprentice...

ohhhhhhh baby... mini who? mini what?

I WAS BORN ON THE SUMMER SOLSTICE .... perhaps this is my "density"

(not sure where the hell my golf clubs will fit though.)

-------UPDATE-------

so last night after seeing the Solstice on the Apprentice, i wound up staying up late...

watched Letterman - who had Anthony LaPaglia on who was talking about his new movie "Winter SOLSTICE"

then i watched Craig Ferguson - who had Fran Drescher on and while she was talking i was tuning her out then she said something about "blah blah blah... summer SOLSTICE [insert annoying laugh]"

then this morning the weather guy on the today new york show said "yeah, you have your winter and summer SOLSTICES"

come on. have people been using the word Solstice in every sentence in their everyday talk for a while or is this just kinda FREAKY?????

solstice.

i've lost 3 pounds this week!!!!
so in total since the Fat Off began, i've lost 8 pounds!

SWEET!

okay, so, all of you involved with The Great Blogger Fat Off - you know what day it is..... it's weigh-in day!!

so GO TO THE FORUM and post your reply in this thread!!

IF you are having problems getting into the forum, yes, you may post your weigh-in here... using the same format as on the forum:

� your name
� your # on the Fat Off list
� what you weigh today
� how much you've lost THIS week alone since the previous weigh in (PLEASE put a + or - sign in front of the number)
� how much you've lost in total thus far. (PLEASE put a + or - sign in front of the number)
� if you gained this week, post it, it's okay - hell, it's just one week... you have til June 21st to lose!

please for the love of all things holy DO NOT EVER CHANGE YOUR BABY'S SH*TTY DIAPER NEXT TO ME ON THE EFFING TRAIN AGAIN WHILE SINGING OLD MACDONALD.

dear god I am about to wretch.

::: plunked in on my treO:::

at risk of riling more mothers who enjoy the public display of bodily fluids/solids:

okay... so no car or fecal talk here...

go. laugh. erm... or sing along.

and i agree, the kid in white is my favourite human as well.

[snagged from paul]

by the way, a week or so go i ordered up a dell dimension 3000 with a 15" flat screen monitor (and a printer/scanner) as a mother's day gift to gigglemom...

it arrived yesterday and now GMom is not using the 6 year old imac and she's now off of dial-up... thank gawd for linksys wireless routers...

man, the diaper post certainly brought out the comments... almost as bad as the bulimics that started mouthing off and shaking their skinny little arms at me last year...

anyway. skipped posting yesterday... not a lot going on yesterday... and right now i should be in the shower and heading to the train shortly... have to get into work by 10... the RRE pulls into the station at 10:02... gonna try to get the 7:20.... that may not happen.

oh so on friday night after I got off the train in long branch, I was driving on rt 36 and was passing by a pontiac dealership....

well, I figured that I would pop in there (it was 7:45pm) and check the Solstice out.... not test drive it, but at least get some info as well as see if the damn thing has a trunk.

so I walk into the dealership (in white t-shirt, jeans and jacket... ) and I am standing there trying to find the Solstice.

nothing.

ah. over there in the corner was a small poster, so I went over to it... some guy comes out and says "are you looking for someone?"

which I found strange that he didn't start out by greeting me with a "can I help you?"

'i'm here to find out a little bit about the Solstice', I say.

he scoffs (yes. actual scoffage) and proceeds to say "we don't have any information, pontiac really screwed up on this one. we don't know the price - it will range anywhere from $20000 to $24000"

I don't blink because it's way lower than the mini.

then he says "you can put in an order without an obligation to buy it... we can take your name"

and I say "not a problem, would LOVE to... let me order one because it's a pretty slick car."

he says "no, i'm almost done with work and that will take half an hour to take your name"

effing WHAT? a salesman who is passing up getting info from someone (a potential buyer)??

I said "can't I give you any info? because I really want to be on the list since they said the first 1000 cars were special edition"

at this point his friend walks up to him and says to him "where do you want to grab a beer?" and Bob "the salesman" proceeds to turn his back towards me and talks to the fatass drinking buddy.

and so I say "excuse me but I was seriously considering this car." and then I say: "well, I guess I won't cancel my mini cooper test drive"

and the guy has the gall to say "the mini is a good car"

seriously, I was appalled at this guy's attitude - he was in his 50s or 60s, wasn't like he was a punk kid either.

so, I am going to compose a note to send to Pontiac to ask why this guy wouldn't even take my name and why he's saying that the Mini is a good car when he's supposed to be selling Pontiacs (in this case the Solstice that JUST came out on friday)

no. I didn't test drive the mini. I think I will next weekend - which could be dangerous because weird things/good things/ horrible things always happen to me on april 24... (look through the archives and you'll see)

perhaps THIS april 24 I will be buying a mini cooper convertible s ??

(let's say that if I HAD tested the mini this weekend I would've handed over my downpayment AND my left kidney for it... the weather was gorgeous and when I was driving, the radio was playing every perfect "driving" song known to the human race... and I feel ashamed to admit it, but I started to resent my cavalier.)

::: plunked in on my treO:::

okay... I just called my credit union to get a figure... say I put $5500 down and financed $27000

okay- so, I have to be approved for it still, but they figured out how much my payments would be at 4.49%

60 months is 503.29
72 months is 428.62
84 months is 375.25

keep in mind I have $2371 in expenses to begin with... (i've already added gas and food into the expenses and I overestimated)

so! here's the skinny... I can swing this. especially the 84 months (yes. that's 8 years.... yes i'll be 43 when I pay that off - they also said I could refinance at some point.)

with expenses and car loans taken out of my pay, what's left over is:

60 months: $565.71
72 months: $640.38
84 months: $693.75

not too bad... I could still live on that.

hmmmm... I could feasibly DO this!!!

lord I was born a ramblin'...giiiiir-erllllll. take it eaaaasy take it eaaaassy. I saw a deadhead sticker on a cadillac...whoa oh oh oh thunder road whoa thunder road whoa thunder road.... miniminiminimini... when I think about you I touch myself.... saturday in the park I think it was the fourth of july....i'm drivin' in my car... turn on the radio....

yes... a little medley of my driving songs....... oh please. this could work out... and once I get the mini I will shut up about the financing and get down to some mini driving business (what will I name it? minnie driver? nah... it'll be a boy, all my cars are....)

::: plunked in on my treO:::

peewee called me at 4 :30 pm and asked me to go to the yankees tampa bay games am here it's 6-0 yanks right now. first beer.

arod actually hit the ball just now.

::: plunked in on my treO:::

tino come get some ham

I am sharing my beer with strangers (hello rob and joey)

::: plunked in on my treO:::

my stomach's freaking out at the moment. it's like what the eff???? you've been doing lean cuisines and fruit for 2 weeks and yesterday you give me 2 hot dogs, a thing of fries, 6 beers , mcdonald's 1/4 pounder w/cheese, more fries and then this morning a bacon and egg sammich.

(watch me lose 4 pounds :)

had a frigging awesome time last night... we were in section 20, box 280, row f.

i didn't have my camera with me (since peewee called at 4:30 to see if i could go) but i did have my treo - so we'll see tonight when i get home just how horrible they turned out... peewee, on the otherhand, brought her camera - so hopefully she'll let me post the pics of jeter's heinie later.

the treo. ah the lovely treo. can someone take this thing away from me? i drunk dialed the RHB, then i drunk emailed the roundheaded boy, then peewee wound up drunk dialing the roundhead as well *groan*

yeh. i really need to lock that thing away if i have beer in my liver.

we have a pope.

mystery pope for now. back with updates later.

joseph ratzinger

pope benedict XVI

i admit, i think he's a rebound pope since he's 78

well, isn't this fantastico. THIS is my commute tonight.

The fire just off of route 1 and 9, between 16th and 20th streets is near the Amtrak/New Jersey Transit tracks -- and shut down New Jersey Transit service leaving New York Penn Station for about 25 minutes.

Delays are expected to continue for hours.

This is not affecting New Jersey Transit's Hoboken line.

The fire is also affecting visibility for drivers coming out of the Lincoln Tunnel, and on to the New Jersey Turnpike and route 1 and 9.

hmmmmm... maybe i SHOULD get a cheap ass rat infested apartment in the city

icky commute. luckily trainboy was my commuting partner. am back in squan and we're drinking @ o'neill's.

apparently I know many songs but not who sings them (trainboy has an ipod and "quizzed" me) I am pathetic

::: plunked in on my treO:::

*groan* damned commute. got down to manasquan at around 9:30pm.... which is not totally out of the ordinary... then trainboy and I went to o'neill's where the yeunglings were flowing freely (albeit for $4 apiece)

when it was time to go it was decided that food was needed... and at that point I looked at the clock for the first time...

1:02AM

jeezuz. so we went to the diner where I devoured a Fat Off unfriendly grilled cheese, tomato & bacon sammich (complete with fries)...

by the time I got home it was 2:35am

good god.

so guess who's tired as sin and is sporting a slight headache (that only a bacon, egg & cheese sammich will cure...... actually, also a cure for this ailment is a mcD's quarter pounder with cheese, fries and a big ass coke..... which reminds me -and i'll have to post it tonight- trainboy & I saw samuel l. jackson on the train last night... hopefully the treo photo isn't blurry)

am haggard this morning and looking quite disheveled. lovely. can someone tell my hair that even though it's trying to be curly, it's NOT looking like glenn close's hair in Fatal Attraction... it's looking more like Animal (muppet, kids) with a perm.....

::: plunked in on my treO:::

okay. so trainboy sent the translation of the macromedia/adobe acquisition thingamabob to me...

go and read. and learn. it's brilliant.

okay. so. the apartment idea has been nixxed, shelved, scrapped, slapped on the backburner.

the mini cooper convertible idea: well, i was approved for financing on $27000... at a rate of 6.25%

i could afford the payments if they were spread out over the course of 8 years 7 years (yes. for those without calculators, that's 84 bloody months)

what i am NOW thinking of (since the loan that i took out a week ago is burning a hole in my pocket and i haven't had a chance to get to the bank where i don't have an ATM card attached to the account and so my cash is floundering around in my regular credit union savings account that's attached to the mac card and can be sucked out ever so easily...) well, what i am NOW thinking of is this:

think of the freelance work i could do on that thing.... would be a nice ROI

so anyway - am waiting for the 7:51 (the RRE)....

*26 seconds later*

am on the RRE.

haven't bought the powerbook yet... at first I was thinking about getting the 17" one, then I had input from some folks who said that it's huge and that if I were to use it on the train it'd be ridiculous (trainboy made a funny and said it was a "lapstop" computer)

so I began pricing out the 15" one.

then I got input from my former creative director, dave, who said if I didn't get the 17" i'd regret it.

I need to get Studio MX (and apple's having a deal if you buy a powerbook they'll knock $600 off your order.)

I also need to get illustrator, photoshop (image ready as well) and quark... there's some other Creative Pro thing that has photoshop, illustrator and a few other programs in it that I will most likely buy.
the thing sure is pretty sweet and I could definitely make some cash with it if I hustled with the freelance.

still up in the air about it... I do like seeing that loan money sitting in the savings account though.... except for the fact that it's smoldering and my pockets are burning.

of course, driving to the train this morning, I saw a blue mini convertible just sitting there...

remind me that I have to buy the $200million lottery tickets today....

::: plunked in on my treO:::

and now we're delayed at bradley beach station because someone "needs first aid attention"

figures I took the RRE which gets in at 10:02 to begin with and I am now going to be super late.

now all the riff-raff are looking out the windows...

so far the only word I have so far is some woman had a heartarttack and fell off the train as she was getting on or something.

first it was a fire on wednesday. now it's a heartattack. what's next? a plague of frogs or locusts jumping onto the tracks???

go ahead say i'm cold and heartless (i have control of the delete button if you don't realize by now.)

::: plunked in on my treO:::

fantastic. they didn't hold the connection at long branch so now i'll get in AT THE LEAST by 10bloody39am.

anyway. if you need to post your Fat Off weight and can't get into the forum, post it here.

I gained 3 pounds this week. woo. beer.

::: plunked in on my treO:::

so last night i had a kick ass cheese steak with peppers and onions (it was huge about as wide as the powerbook i want (17") and this morning i woke up to find that i've lost 2 pounds since yesterday....

sweeeeeet.

The Great Blogger Fat Off Cheese Steak Diet!!!! yes!!!

Gemini
(May 21-June 21)

friday's horoscope:

You're totally distracted and unable to think about anything but a certain someone. Yes, they've got you good. It's even interfering with your work, which doesn't usually happen, since you're the heavens' foremost expert on multitasking. Oh well. Do all the daydreaming you like. Even when you're not totally focused, you can do twice the work of anyone else.

eh... this could have happened on friday, yes. had a little daydreaming going on.

saturday's horoscope:

The passion and intensity that's hovering above you is only a tad less potent today -- and only because there's an unpredictable astrological team on duty. Better prepare yourself for what looks quite a bumpy ride -- exciting, but bumpy.

who the heck is this "unpredictable astrological team"?!?!? and are they saying that my commute's gonna be bumpy???

sunday's horoscope:

A sudden rush of desire for someone whom you've previously considered no more than a friend could come upon you today, dear Gemini, perhaps in connection with a group activity of some kind. This might catch you off guard, because you've never thought of this person in that way before. However, don't write it off. If this person seems to share your feelings, think carefully about the situation. Maybe this attraction shows promise

hmmmmmmm.... very interesting.... verrrrrrrrry interesting.

tomorrow's horoscope:

One particular relationship -- the one you've been feeling rather iffy about lately -- is about to come to a head now. This doesn't necessarily mean things will go badly, however. Anything's possible.

so what's all this relationship, iffy, distraction, passion, bumpy ride stuff about???? eh? come on... tell me. quit keeping me in suspense!!!

(yeah, i know, i am posting horoscope crap now, blah blah blah... would you rather i start whining about the mini convertible again?? [by the way, i saw 3 bloody mini convertibles on the road this morning... *sigh* all being treated horribly by having their tops up.])

(by the way, today's april 24th. usually something odd, good or bad, happens to me on this day... haven't had anything out of the ordinary pop up.)

A woman went into a store to buy her husband a pet for his birthday.
After looking around, she found that all the pets were very expensive.
She told the clerk she wanted to buy a pet, but she didn't want to
spend a fortune.

"Well," said the clerk, "I have a very large Amazonian bullfrog. They say
it's been trained to give blowjobs!"

"Blowjobs!" the woman replied.

The woman thought it would be a great gag gift, and what if it's true...no
more blow jobs for her! She bought the frog.

When she explained froggy's ability to her husband, he laughed it off.

Nevertheless, the woman went to bed happy, thinking she may never need
to perform this less than riveting act again.

In the middle of the night, she awoke and noticed that her husband was not in bed.

"Aha", she said to herself, as she quietly snuck down the stairs to the frog cage.

To her surprise, she found her husband and the frog in the kitchen, reading cookbooks.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" she asked.

The husband replied, "If I can teach this frog to cook, your ass is gone."

sending out a HUGE congratulations to my comedy sistah, Monica - who got engaged over the weekend!!!

(we started out performing together on November 6th, 1999)

now she can write material on planning a wedding! heh!

(oh and I also found out a little over a week ago that my ex-eric got engaged and is getting married on april fool's day... which is a propos)

::: plunked in on my treO:::

okay.... here's the skinny.... i've been pricing out the mini cooper convertible S all this time...

tonight, i just started pricing out the regular mini cooper convertible...

well, here are some of the differences:

horsepower
mini : 115/6000 hp/rpm
mini s: 168/6000 hp/rpm

torque
mini : 110/4500 lb-ft/rpm
mini s: 162/4000 lb-ft/rpm

fuel efficiency
mini : 27/35 mpg
mini s: 25/32 mpg

price (the estimate that i figured out on their site)
mini : $26,939
mini s: $31,411

the regular mini would only cost me $413 for 60 months as opposed to $523 for the S

i don't need crazy horsepower (except for when speeding to the train)

the torque... eh, i vaguely understand it, so the regular mini looks different on paper... whatever

the fuel, come on, it's basically the same...

gigglemom is trying to talk me into an automatic beetle convertible (which'd be about 384.12/month)... while i like the beetle, i like stick shift much better.

anyway. back on the car kick.

how about a mini that comes equipped with a 17" powerbook and comes standard with a cute redheaded guy in the passenger's seat?

yeah yeah I am alive. no kidnappings or aligned planets. yesterday was a crap day and i've been in a surly mood - in fact for about 24 hours I removed the capability for people to comment on my site. still toying with the idea... no offense, but there are only a handful of you out there who don't seem like dolts - I seem to have been attracting folks who annoy the shite out of me.

and would it kill people to frigging wait about 30 seconds to see if their comment posted before having their parkensonian finger spasms on the mouse so that their inane comment posts 9 times?!?!?

anyway. lack of sleep. pms looming. and one too many comments saying they want to suck my toes.... not to mention the "get a cheap broken down 20 year old car" comments (i don't NEED a car. I WANT a convertible. that's the point.)

anyway. had a spat yesterday with a friend of mine and that bothered me a lot too.

and right now some chick with loud headphones is near me

::: plunked in on my treO:::

how cute is the loading sequence for this (as well as the rest of it)!!!

http://pets.target.com/

too bad it's buried way down in the site

okay so all's well -- train was delayed earlier due to an amtrak train being disabled ahead of us (arrrgh) - coincidentally, i was contacted by a reporter about the commute... will discuss more if/when article is published.

offered to drive trainboy home tonight (figured since the president was yammering on teevee and pre-empting survivor and the apprentice, i may as well do a good deed ;)

the dealership i am heading to on saturday has a british racing green mini convertible in stock... manual... did i mention british racing green!!?!? *sigh* i cannot wait.

then again, trainboy and i were walking through the 'squan station parking lot and i saw a vw beetle convertible... the are pretty damned cute - and very reminiscent of my first beetles i had (convertible and hardtop - with sunroof)

am supposed to hang with peewee and roundhead next week sometime... then i may be heading to see the saw doctors with roundhead in 2 weeks.. we'll see.

i have to get into work tres early tomorrow - a lot of stuff to do. 3 deadlines (actually finished one project on the train this evening...)

so... on that note, sweet dreams, pigglywigglies.

mornin! okay there Fat Off Folks - feel free to post your weight today (either here or on the forum)

I lost 1.5 pounds by some miracle.

post your name
your number on the fat off list
how much you lost or gained this week
how much you've lost in total

I've been a sloth when it came to updating the list this past week. will do this weekend (although, if I get the mini, ya' gotta cut me a little slack b'cause i'll be trekking around! I hope!)

::: plunked in on my treO:::

okay, while this is a "happy ending" to the story about the missing bride-to-be, why does my stomach have this odd feeling in it that something's awry?

she said that she was abducted by a couple and taken to new mexico...

just something's a little too neat and clean about this (yeah, i sound cynical)

on the news, the fiance's giving interviews, the father's calling into news channels giving interviews, the step-brother's giving interviews, the mother is apparently talking to People magazine...

something is a little on the fishy side. she just happens to call in the middle of the night the day of her wedding? only a few hours after police announce they're calling off the search (which i thought was a little odd) oh, and now, Jennifer's twin brother and her sister are giving an interview.

granted, they are all outside the house in duluth, but still...

the father's saying "we're going to move the wedding to Town Square instead of the church"

the step-brother said "I am sure that y'all [the media] will want to cover the wedding"

i think that the family has done this so that the wedding might have some of the cost paid for - seriously, that's what my gut is saying.

600 guests? 28 people in the wedding party?

not for nothing, i don't really know the financial situation of either family, but wouldn't it be a nice little tidy story?

bride-to-be goes missing 3 days before her wedding.
all hope is lost.
hours later she calls out of the blue.
says she was abducted by a couple.
wedding takes place (after many interviews, possibly after a few PAID interviews.)
they live happily ever after.

where's the couple? why is she allowed to phone? there are questions!? why was her hair cut by this couple?

anyone else a little suspicious!??!

i am happy that there wasn't some gruesome murder, let me state that... but if there's wool being pulled over everyone's eyes, and if they profit from this - well, somethings askew.

(and the fiancee.... from georgia... he's wearing a new york jets tee shirt while doing interviews.... he's a Jets fan!?!?!? that's odd too.)

well, well, well... so she had cold feet --- she WASN'T abducted...

maybe she got a bad haircut and decided she'd rather flee than get married with short hair.

*wipes hands*

my work here is done.

(okay, granted, it might not have been exactly my theory of paying for the wedding)

what an ass.

she's had TEN bridal showers over the past month... TEN... (that's a LOT of effing bridal bingo .)

looks like she'd better start figuring out how to send all of those gifts back.

I did it.

pick it up next saturday!

photos in a couple of hours when I get home.

::: plunked in on my treO:::

my baby. i pick him up next saturday by 11am.

here's all he's got:

Cold Weather Package (heated seats so i'll always have a hot ass)
Interior Surface - Anthracite
Multi-Functioning Steering Wheel (radio & cruise on it)
Chrome Line Exterior
Door Caps in Chrome
Sport Seats
Foglights
Black Rubber Floor Mats
Harvey Korman Stereo --- eh, i mean, Harman Kardon Stereo, sorry

and... the best part - it was about $3000 LESS than I expected to be paying!!!!

oh, did you want to know what colour it is??? well, check it out!