Life Lessons Learned on UTA and Other Recent Happenings...

Okay, okay, so I know it has been just over a week since I have been carless, but it feels like a LIFETIME. I am addicted to the independence a car brings. I guess I am just addicted to independence. I don't like asking people for rides and will not unless I am totally in a bind or the person I'm asking the ride from is already going to where I want to go. Hence, I ride the bus to and from work everyday and come home with nowhere to go, nothing to do, and plenty of time to blog. So that should explain why I blog so much lately. Yes, I could be working on school stuff but blogging is so fun. And besides, I need to keep in touch with my parents in Brazil and I'm not the best letter writer. So don't judge me for blogging everyday. This weekend I did rent a car so that first of all I could go to the BBQ Tijuana Style that I thought was last weekend but was indeed this weekend and second of all so I could go to Idaho for the weekend. Here's me at the BBQ with my old Home Teachers Travis and Brad. And no, I wasn't wearing a moustache and sombrero the whole time...just for the picture. And here's me with Brad's little brother. I think that he totally looks like Tobey Maguire (Spiderman) and so do a lot of other people. This picture doesn't do the similarity justice though. I swear he looks more like Tobey in person. So Friday night was a fun night at the TJ BBQ and then Saturday I headed up to Idaho. I spent the weekend with family and then Monday came back to SLC and unloaded the dresser that I brought down from Idaho by myself since nobody else was around. I wouldn't suggest moving a dresser from a car to your house by yourself. Let's just say I now have a big bruise on my arm, a gimpy shoulder and I poked my foot with a stick (because I so intelligently was wearing flip flops while moving this dresser in). Oh well, such is the life of a Spinster. I had to unload the dresser by myself because I had to get the rental car back to the airport by 8:00, which I did. I then spent the rest of the night (from 8-10) making my way on several UTA buses back to my house. And here is what I learned... 1) A UTA bus driver can (and did) read a novel at stoplights. I don't know how she could even keep her place in the book. She couldn't of had time for more than a page at each stoplight. AMAZING. And I thought I was a multi-tasker. I wanted to ask her what novel was so great that you would read while driving, but her bookmark said "SHHHH I'M TRYING TO READ" in big bold letters so I left her alone. Besides, I was pretty preoccupied with the homeless guy who plopped down on the seat across from me. And from him I learned that... 2) If you don't wash your hair ever it gets really long and nappy and sort of forms tumor looking balls of hair all over your head. Sort of like a Rastafarian, but with no style. 3) Homeless people do actually pay to ride the bus. I just thought they hopped on and nobody dared tell them to pay. I mean, I'm a little scared of homeless people so I assume that the bus drivers are too. 4) When you get off the bus and the girl who also got off at the same stop as you starts running though the dark parts of the street because she's scared and then you start running because you wonder what she is scared of and what she sees that you don't...then she will think that you are chasing her and will run even faster and you will basically chase her into her house. I don't think I look that scary, do you? So those are the lessons just from last night's bus experience. I have many more life lessons learned from other bus rides to share at a later date. Until then, let me just share one more bonus (and non-bus related) life lesson. And that is... Low-carb, high-fiber, enriched wheat macaroni is disgusting. So, don't buy it and thank me later for the suggestion.

To Lee and Kim on their Anniversary...

This is my brother Lee. He is SUPER weird but I love him anyway.

And this is Kim...a little weird too, but weirdness is a necessity for someone married to Lee and someone who is part of our family.

And this is Lee and Kim...One year ago today, on a freezing cold and windy day, Lee and Kim got married. We were all so excited/happy.

So this weekend I'm up at my parents' house in Idaho...visiting Lee, Kim, Russell and my Grandma Fern as well as picking up some more of my stuff so that I can finish moving into my new place, getting my haircut in preparation for my upcoming trip to CR, and just enjoying the fresh clean air and Fall beauty of Idaho. I drove up Saturday (in a rental car as I am still carless) and when I arrived at my parents' house I found the following on the kitchen counter...

The note reads, "Becca, there is room for you in our relationship. Let's go out tonight." And with the note, three poorly thinned carrots all twisted together. This twisted carrot comparison all started back when Lee and Kim were dating...and is all my fault. Lee lived with me for most of the time that they were dating. And one night I unexpectedly (because getting off early rarely happens where I work) got off early and headed home to find Lee and Kim doing THIS (see below) on my Italian leather sofa (see CAKE song for details on the Italian leather sofa). Well, not exactly. This is actually a reenactment of a position we now call "The Carrot," but you get the idea. Not something to talk to the Bishop about but not something you want your sister/roommate to walk in on you doing either. Let's just say they had to untangle a bit when I opened the door. And they were SUPER embarrassed. I just thought it was funny. So the very next day I was out in my little garden behind my house harvesting my small crop when I found two carrots all twisted together. (I guess my family isn't too great about thinning our carrots. I always feel so bad doing it...I don't know why.) When I pulled up the carrots I immediately thought of Lee and Kim the night before and started laughing. So, just to make a little joke about the night before (so that Lee and Kim wouldn't be so embarrassed) I set those twisted carrots on the table with a note that said, "Lee and Kim," and headed off to work. It took them a little while to figure out why I was comparing them to those twisted up carrots, but when they did they thought it was funny and thence was born "The Carrot" position. So to Lee and Kim on your anniversary I dedicate to you "The Carrot" position. May you enjoy it for many years to come. I love you both. You are super nice, super fun, and a super great couple. And you are not too annoying of a married couple to be around either. So congratulations on your anniversary day!

My Immigration Rules (may be disturbing for some readers)

When I'm president of the U.S.A. my immigration rules will be simple: 1) Come here to contribute to society, not to suck off welfare, not to join and/or start gangs...come to make a better life for you and your family and at the same time contribute to what makes our country great and I say, "WELCOME TO AMERICA." 2) Learn English 3) No farmer blowing aka snot rockets (even if these were acceptable behaviors in your former country). That's it. Those are all the immigration rules I have. So I'm in the bathroom at work the other day looking in the mirror and wishing that I would ever remember to pluck my eyebrows when I have time and have tweezers on me, when...this Asian lady walks in. She walks over to the sink, bends over so her head is down near the sink and begins to farmer blow into the sink. Over and over. Both sides of her nose. LOUDLY. She used water from the sink and her fingers to sort of aid in the blowing of the nose. When she was finished she simply rinsed off her hands (no soap) and shamelessly walked out of the bathroom as if FARMER BLOWING IN THE SINK AT YOUR WORK IS THE MOST NORMAL THING IN THE WORLD TO DO! And that, my friends, was how she blew her nose. I stood there in shock. Wanting to leave but at the same time needing to stay so I could figure out if this was happening for real...happening at my work, in the bathroom, in the United States of America, in the 21st Century...with me there. And it was and it did. Were there Kleenexes in the bathroom? Yes. Was there toilet paper? Yes. And as a last resort were there paper towels? Yes, yes, yes. I don't get it.

Like Throwing a Dart in the Wind...

Today I accidentally invented a new saying. I'm thinking it is going to catch on big time so I thought I'd share with my blog fans and leeches so that you can be the first to know.

I was at work training a new girl (which is quite draining and might be part of the reason for my post yesterday about how much I hate my job) and I was trying to explain a portion of the interpretative results we give for one of the lab tests we do. This particular part of the test is pretty vague and subjective...it isn't just a positive or negative, a high or low, or a numeric value. Giving the interpretations for this particular test is just something you have to learn to do by practice and by starting to recognize patterns in testing. So this new girl, let's call her Ali, (who by the way is really smart and nice and not the reason that I hate training people), was getting sort of frustrated because it is hard to learn things that are so subjective and so based on your opinion and experience.

So I said to her, "Don't worry Ali, interpreting these results is just like throwing a dart in the wind, so you just have to do your best and not worry about it." She looked at me kind of weird and then I was like, "that's not a real saying, is it?" She starts laughing and says, "no, it's not, but I think I know what you are trying to say." Then I hear laughing coming from my supervisor's cubicle, then from the other people on the bench...and it just kept spreading through our whole little department until EVERYONE was laughing at me (and sort of with me too). Glad I could provide the entertainment.

But then they kept laughing at me as I tried to convince them of what a great saying it is...and it really is a great saying. Let me tell you why. Because this saying could sort of be compared to saying "Like a shot in the dark," but it is a little different. Because with a shot in the dark you are shooting and you know that the bullet is going to go straight but you just can't see the target. With a dart in the wind you can see the target but there are other factors influencing where it is going to go...so you just have to do your best, aim well and throw it out there, and hope it makes it to where you want it to go.

I feel like I throw A LOT of darts in the wind in my life...and some of them make it to the target, others are way off, and some even fly back towards me and poke me in the eyeball. But hey, that's life.

SO, I think it is a great saying...I just said it not even thinking. But now that I do think about it I think it is a very useful saying and I plan to use it again. I hope you'll do the same. And then some day when you Wikipedia the saying "Like a dart in the wind," my name will come up as the person who coined the phrase and you can tell your friends, "hey I knew Becca B. and I knew all about the saying from her blog way before anyone else did." So there you go, I'm just trying to help you all be ahead of the times. And you are welcome.

Spinster Reunion Numero Tres!

I don't know how it all started but any international trip that my friend Kate and I take together we call a Spinster Reunion. First there was the Bridget Jones Thailand Tour 2006. Then this past March we took our Sportugal 2008 trip (Spain, Portugal and Morocco). And now it is CR...Costa Rica!

Our only problem is that we are going in just over two weeks from now and we have planned NOTHING...I mean nothing. We have had our plane tickets for quite a while but basically since we got our plane tickets we haven't done anything to prepare...no hotels, no decisions on an itinerary, no transportation, no nothing. However, sometimes unplanned=fun. But sometimes unplanned=disaster.

And we have a new Spinster in the mix...my stolen from my sister-in-law friend, Christa. Kate and I had to do a little recruiting since we lost some of our other Spinster travel buddies to marriage, school, boringness, and other excuses for not traveling. So we want unplanned to equal fun so that Christa's first Spinster Reunion will be a great one.

So, any suggestions people? I think that at least a few of you have been to Costa Rica as it is a pretty common place to travel to. So, where do we go? Where do we stay? How do we get around...buses, rental car, vans, hitchhiking (just kidding MOM)?

Oh, and if anyone else wants to come you can still hop on board. It obviously isn't too late since we have done no planning whatsoever!

You Know You Hate Your Job When...

You check your retirement and investment accounts literally 25 times a day...just to see if you can retire yet...even though you are only 29 and very very very very very far away from being independently wealthy.

I don't have hardly any down time at work...especially lately. I'm lucky some days to get a lunch break. In fact for about the last 3 weeks I haven't even been packing a lunch since I usually don't have time to eat it. Why waste time in the morning getting it ready? Besides a tuna sandwich at 6 P.M. that you packed at 6 A.M. probably isn't too safe...although actually I would like to acquire a parasite, so maybe I should go for it.

ANYWAY, so although I don't have much extra time at work most days I always seem to find a second here and there to check my retirement and investment accounts....and I do this SEVERAL times a day. Just today it hit me that this might not be normal and/or healthy. But I just keep subconsciously doing it. I guess I just keep hoping that someday (hopefully soon) I'm going to log into my account and suddenly everything I have invested in will have gone up like 100 times and then I can just say sayonara to everyone at work and get the heck out of there and start LIVING MY DREAMS.

I guess I'm just extra freaked out because I was joking with my boss the other day and told him not to worry about me quitting because I would most likely be there until 2042 when I retire. And then I got all sick inside because I wondered if that was really going to happen to me. And 2042 would mean I would be retiring at 62...what if I don't retire until 67?...which by the way will soon be the new social security age for retirement per Wikipedia. (I wonder if IHOP is going to up their age for their senior discount too? Hopefully not.) Anyway and what if I retire at 67 but I didn't invest well and then I have to be a Walmart greeter for several years? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh I'm making myself sick again.

The only way out of this inevitable working your whole life thing is 1)getting rich 2)death or 3)disability. Some days I would take any of the above, but most days I just want #1.

So may I just say that working every stinking day of your life for a company you don't care about doing something you feel no passion for is tough. It wears on you. So stay-at-home mom blog readers, be nice to your husbands. Because although you may have had a tough day with the kids (blow-outs, barfing, fighting, crying, whining, etc) your hubby may have had just as bad of a day. Work is exhausting no matter what you do. Unless of course you are one of the few people in the world who get paid a ton to do something you love and are passionate about...and in that case congratulations and I hate you. The end.

Altima=SOLD...Thank you KSL.com!

Holy crappoly...I already sold my Altima!

So this weekend I decided to list my Altima on KSL.com. I figured that it would take a few weeks or months to sell my car so I'd get going on it in preparation for my new car to arrive fresh off the boat from Japan. But I was wrong...after just a couple of days on KSL.com I sold it today to the first guy who looked at it. AND...I sold it for over $4000.oo more than the evil Honda Dealership aka Larry H. Miller Honda (sorry, I know he is a Mormon but his dealership is pure evil) offered me for the Altima as a trade in. Of course, due to the fact that I am not stupid, I didn't go for the whole trade in thing but instead sold it easy peasy in just one day on my own.

The only problem is that now I am carless. UTA is my new best friend I guess. Luckily I have a free pass. Hopefully I won't miss the bus to work in the morning. So if any of you see a blond chick with a darling new Lacoste messenger bag strung across her shoulder (a birthday present from myself to me) thumbing a ride on I-215, PLEASE pick me up!

Until then I am just using the powers of THE SECRET and am imagining that boat from Japan going turbo speed to get me my car sooner then expected. We'll see if THE UNIVERSE comes through on my wish. Stay tuned...

Buy a Car...Check

Last night I thought I had a BBQ Tijuana Style to go to. I even headed over to the Mexi side of town yesterday afternoon to buy some Sangria for the BBQ. Around 5 P.M. I re-read the Evite and realized that the party wasn't until next weekend. Oops. So, what's a girl who thought she had plans for a Saturday night and then figured out last minute that she didn't have plans supposed to do? I could have stayed home lonely and sad, watching Bridget Jones' Diary (Edited of Course) for the thousandth time. Or...I could go buy a car...which I did. I was thinking of waiting until I had someone to go with me, but then I just thought to myself, 'what kind of a Spinster won't go buy a car by herself on a Saturday night...? Certainly not me.' I mean, there may be younger Spinsters out there looking up to me. I remember how disappointed and heart broken I was when I found out that Sheri Dew a) was not a returned missionary and b) wouldn't fly to Peru by herself to meet up with a group from Deseret Book even though someone was going to meet her at the airport. And although my faith in Sheri Dew as head Mormon Spinster has now been restored...it took awhile. I even returned all three copies of her book that I got for Christmas that year...all three. Besides, I need to be independent. I can't always rely on other people to help me do everything...if so it will be a long, needy life of solitude. So I just decided to go on my own. I did take my friend Eric's phone number with me just in case I got in a bind. Eric used to sell cars and had offered to help me out with the whole car buying process. And I had pretty much settled on the Honda Civic anyway. However, I did last night reconsider and test drove a Mini, looked more into the Subaru situation, and even checked out the Mazda 3's and 6's but in the end I just went with my original choice of the Civic. So I knew what I wanted and thought it would be easy. First of all though there are like basically no 2008 Honda Civics left anywhere, so I had to just get over the whole dislike of uneven years thing and go for the 2009. The good news is that they added a new color that I love in the 2009 Civics that wasn't available in 2008 Civics so that helped me get over the whole odd year thing. So here's a summary of my first real car buying experiences. Every other time I've purchased a car it has been from a neighbor or friend or friend of my dad or something so it has been very low stress. Here's how the night went. Go to Honda dealership. Ask about Civics. They of course only have like four on the lot. All are 2-door. Test drive 2-door. Like the feel of the Civic. Go in to talk about possibly ordering in a 4-door in the color I want. Sleazy manager with major little man syndrome comes out wearing a blue pin striped suit with an orange shirt to tell me that because it is "Saturday night" and a "rainy day" he's going to cut me a great deal on the Civic of my dreams which just happens to be coming in early next week. WOW, what a coincidence. Feel "the game" coming on. Don't want to play "the game." Just want to buy the stupid car. Back and forth and back and forth on price, blah, blah, blah. Feeling pressured. Don't like feeling pressured/lied to. Realize that I forgot to wear my "I'M NOT A RETARD" shirt. Shoot. Now they won't know I'm not a retard and I know they are playing the game and that I'm not going to fall for it. Decide to call my backup plan Eric to ask him the best way to get out of the game. Eric tells me that the guys at the other Honda dealership in town are better to work with and that they will probably sell me the car for invoice plus 100 bucks. Tell sleazy manager that I'm going to other Honda dealership to not play the game and to get a better deal. Sleazy manager tries more tricks. Tells me that he too will sell it to my for invoice + 100. "Will you agree to this?" he says. "Sure, I just want to get this over with." Sleazy manager comes back with offer written...but oops...they forgot the $900 POC fee that they have to add to the invoice price. "Oops," I say, "I forgot to tell you that I'm not stupid. Goodbye." I call other Honda dealership, tell them about horrible situation with sleazy car dealer, and ask if they will sell me a Civic for invoice plus 100 bucks. They say "sure we hate those guys at that dealership...we'll do it for you...how fast can you get here..." It is 9 P.M. now. Leave hated Honda dealership...practically run out the door with sleazy manager following closely behind me. Get to good Honda dealership. Nice friend Eric calls nice Honda dealership to make sure they'll treat me right and give me the car for invoice +100. Nice big guy at nice Honda dealership named Slim helps me out and managers and everyone did treat me right. No game. Wonderful. They found the car I wanted and the deal was sealed within 10 minutes. Filled out paperwork, etc. Was at the dealership until almost 11 P.M. Tired but glad to be done. Got my Honda Civic LX Sedan in Polished Metal Metallic for invoice plus 100 bucks. Yay! Now supposedly my car is on some boat coming from Japan. I didn't even think they made Hondas for America in Japan anymore, but what do I know. Hopefully I'll see the car soon. The end of my first solo car buying experience. Thanks mucho Eric for your help!

Sorry, but I'm not Oprah!

Okay, okay. My MOM is giving me a guilt trip about asking everyone what kind of car they think I should buy in one post and then basically in the next post calling your suggestions "weird," etc and telling you all why I am not taking your suggestions. So I'm just here to say I'm sorry to my faithful blog commentors. You see I wanted your true suggestions...that is why I didn't tell you what kinds of cars and colors I like and then had you vote on which one (like out of 4 or 5) that you think I should buy. That would have limited you too much and would not have allowed for someone to suggest something that I hadn't even thought of that could have been the best car ever and changed the whole outcome of my life forever and ever. Just for the record nobody suggested anything totally way weird. In fact not even weird at all. There were no lime greens Dodge Neons, or Purple Mustangs suggested. You all did a good job. So, sorry Rachel for calling red a "weird" color. I could have just as easily said "bright" or "flashy" which maybe would have been better wording. I don't hate red, I just need to blend in a little more so I can keep my super low speeding ticket history. Christa, sorry for saying that the Mini was too mini for me. And, you should know that a couple of days after I wrote that I had to weigh more than my car, I was at Albertson's and saw a pretty big built guy (bigger than me)...maybe like Lee's build, getting out of a super cute Pearl colored Mini. And he looked SO good in that Mini. So I was like, 'hey, maybe I can drive a Mini too.' So I even went and test drove one. It was a fun car to drive. And even though that didn't end up being my choice I did give it a chance, so there. Sorry to the Suburu suggesters about the homosexual anti-Suburu comments. I did later find out that a heterosexual woman can drive a Suburu as long as it isn't an Outback version. So I looked into Suburus a little more. And I do love the idea of AWD and I really do like the look of both the Impreza and Legacy sedans, BUT they just don't get the best gas mileage (probably because they are all safe and have AWD) and at this point in my childless life I'm more worried about gas mileage than safety. I mean when you skydive, ride South American buses by yourself as a blond woman, and eat lettuce in foreign countries you are already sort of living on the edge. So why start worrying about safety now? And to all the people who suggested luxury type cars, once again I love, love, love luxury but just don't think now is the time. Especially being single. I can't have someone wanting to marry me because of my rad car or anything...or not wanting to marry me because they think I'm in major debt or worldly. You have to be SO careful when you are a Singleton. Oh and I'm sorry that I don't like two door cars or odd-numbered year cars...just opinions. Basically I'm sorry for not being able to buy every car that every one of you suggested. I wish I were Oprah because then I'd buy all your suggestions, drive them around for a week, and then give them to you all, just to be cool. But that can't happen. So I thank you for your suggestions and want you to know that I seriously considered each of them. Apology ended.

Thanks to all and a Clarification on LEECHES

First of all...thank you to everyone for your overwhelming response to my request for help in choosing my next vehicle. I got some great advice. Right now I think that I'm leaning toward a Honda Civic Sedan (good job to those of you who suggested the Civic), although I am having a little trouble with that one. It seems like most of the Honda Dealerships only have a few 2008's left and I'm having a little trouble finding one that is a 4-door and isn't some weird color...like red (I'm more of a silver, black, grey, tan or white type of person when it comes to cars...I know, BORING, but I just don't need some bright color drawing attention to the fact that I am a SPEEDER and getting me lots of tickets). And...I don't know why but I just can't bring myself to buy a 2009. I have this weird dislike for odd numbers. So we'll see if I... 1) get over my fear of odd numbers and buy an '09 2) get over my fear of 2-doors 3)get over my fear of weird colored cars 4)or just buy a whole different car So, I don't know...we'll see what happens. Hopefully I can find something I like soon, and I guess if not I'll maybe just ride the bus this Winter and wait for the 2010's to come out. I'll keep you all posted. P.S. Christa I love the Mini but one requirement is that I weigh or at least appear to weigh less than my car. You should get one though... you are skinny and would look cute in one. P.P.S. To the many people who suggested Suburu...great cars, all-wheel drive would be nice...BUT, everybody knows what people say about single women who drive Suburus...and I'm sure there are already enough rumors out there about why I'm not married...I don't need to add that one to the list! But thanks for the suggestion anyway. P.P.P.S. And to those of you who suggested more expensive cars like a Beemer, or an Audi, Saab, Volvo, Infinity, or Acura thanks too...you are right on track with what I of course want, but know I must not have at this point in my life, so I won't. Instead I will get a nice, sensible car and wait until I have a midlife crisis (I'm thinking in about 10 years or so) and then I'll get myself something a little more exciting. And the second item of business today is... LEECHES!

There has been quite a bit of confusion over what a Blog Leech is. I've got some really nice people who I don't consider as leeches (like Becky in Ohio, Amy in Arizona, my grandma and others), thinking that they are leeches and it is making me feel bad. So, please let me clarify.

A blog leech is, "A person who reads another person's blog regularly and NEVER or VERY RARELY leaves a comment causing the person who is writing the blog to not know:

1)who their blog audience is

2)who to not say bad stuff about

3)how awesome they are and how appreciated their blog writing is (as yet another form of 21st Century anti-social entertainment)."

You DO NOT have to have a blog of your own to not be a blog leech...all you have to do is occasionally (like once a month or every other month) leave a comment on the blogs you read. Because OBVIOUSLY if the person whose blog you are leeching off didn't write stuff that was interesting to you and at least comment-worthy occasionally then you wouldn't be regularly reading their blog...unless you are a total loser and in that case you might as well go start playing Halo and World of Warcraft. And don't say, "but, (add whiny voice) I don't know how to leave a comment!" because my 80+ year old grandma (who has lived the majority of her life without a computer) can leave me a comment. So there!

Okay, okay I don't want people to think that I am a blog comment Nazi or anything but the truth of the matter is that I, like everybody else, love getting comments and love knowing who is reading my blog...even if you are my 12 year old first cousin once removed. So, even if you are an old friend from high school, a college roommate, a distant relative, or a straight up stalker, I'd love to hear from you.

That's all I am going to say for now. If you are innocent, let the peace of righteous living flow into your lives. And...if you are guilty of blog leeching let that guilt work upon your soul and help you change your ways. Oh, and if you need help learning how to leave a comment, give my grandma a call...I'm sure she'd be glad to help!

Comment Quickly Because I Need Your Help!

Okay Blog Fans and Leeches... I need your help. It is time for me to buy a new car and I need your suggestions of what kind of car you think I should buy. I want to start looking soon...so comment quickly please. And if you are one of my beloved blog leeches here's your chance to de-leech and leave me a comment. Remember, I only require one comment a month to consider you a fan instead of a leech, so help me out here leeches. I really want your opinions. So, what kind of car do you see someone like me driving? Here's my car ownership history just to help you out. First car: Phyllis, my baby blue 1964 Ford Falcon Futura I bought for 2000 bucks. I loved that car. She always broke down but I still loved her. Second car: Sophia my silver 1998 Kia Sephia. It was a piece of junk but it got me around when I moved too far away from home for Phyllis to be my car anymore. I didn't like to drive Phyllis outside of a 30 mile radius of my Uncle Doyle's house since Phyllis often broke down and I had to drag her to my uncle's house to have him help me fix her up. Thanks again Uncle D! I sold Sophia when I left for the mission. After I got home from my mission I had about a six month carless period where I borrowed family member's cars, mooched rides off of people, and even rode the UTA bus! That was during my non-worldly, I don't need a car, returned missionary from South America phase of life. Once I got sick of being carless and non-worldly and got out of that phase I finally bought my third car... Third car: Manuela Jesus my tan 2000 Nissan Sentra. Manuela Jesus was a good car...I never really liked how she looked...I thought she was sort of ugly in fact, which is why I named her Manuela Jesus (the ugliest female Hispanic name I have ever heard of). She had some O2 sensor problems which led to transmission problems and so I was like "Adios Manuela Jesus!" and I bought my fourth car. Fourth and current car: My unnamed silver 2002 Nissan Altima. I like my car right now but there are a couple of reasons why I need a new one. First of all my car is pushing 80,000 miles now...75,696 to be exact. And I know that 80,000 isn't really a lot of miles...I know that some of you drive cars with over 150,000, blah blah blah, but I am a parentlesss, husbandless, pretty much friendless single lady living in a big city so I can't have my car break down or I might have a breakdown. Those who know me best know that I have inherited an inability to deal with car problems from my dad...and 80,000 is about the time when cars start having problems I think. Reason number two for needing a new car is that yesterday I was driving along Foothill Blvd just minding my own business and for the record NOT: eating, doing my makeup, talking on the phone, drinking water, plucking my eyebrows, adjusting the radio station, or anything that I normally do to distract myself as I'm driving. And I'm driving along when all of a sudden the car in front of me comes to a sudden stop because of the traffic on Foothill and I have to SLAM on my breaks to avoid hitting the car in front of me, which miraculously I did not. Also luckily the car behind me didn't hit me, but it was a close call. I came to such a sudden stop that I burned like an inch off of my tire treads...I know because I could smell and see the black smoke from my tires. So in conclusion I either am going to have to buy all new tires before Winter or buy a new car. And I figure that since I was thinking of buying a new car anyway that I might as well, rather than dump money into tires for a car I want to sell anyway. There's my car history for you. So what make, model, and color of car do you see me in? I'd love your suggestions. Here are a few rules though...the car must cost less than $25,000, get 25 miles to the gallon or more, and not be purple or yellow or lime green for that matter. Oh, and I need to buy soon because the 2008's are on their way out and I have a weird thing about not liking cars with uneven years like 2009 for example. So I either need to buy now or wait until 2010. This will be the first brand new car I've ever owned (if I can actually bring myself to be stupid enough to buy a brand new car) so I want it to be a good one that I'll love, want to name, and will want to keep for awhile. Let the comments flow...