www.etsy.com/shop/sewmelo
Her products are SO convertible that the possibilities are endless! You could wear it in your hair, on your coat or sweater, even accessorize a purse or scarf! I love them and I hope you do too!
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Sew-Melo is So-Me!
As I'm about to board the plane to Raleigh I'm really excited to get back to a land where "handcrafted goods" are chic! Most of you know that I'm a bit on the "Krafty" side, but living in LA has squelched that :( However, I've been inspired by my friend Melody who's started her own small business making these adorable floral pins/hair accessories! I'd like to think that I inspired her as I've been known to wear a fascinator or large flower in my hair, but with her talent and creativity I'm sure she would have come up with this idea w/o me! I was looking at her site last night and just can't decide what I want so I'm anxious to see it in person. Take a peek for yourself!
www.etsy.com/shop/sewmelo
Her products are SO convertible that the possibilities are endless! You could wear it in your hair, on your coat or sweater, even accessorize a purse or scarf! I love them and I hope you do too!
www.etsy.com/shop/sewmelo
Her products are SO convertible that the possibilities are endless! You could wear it in your hair, on your coat or sweater, even accessorize a purse or scarf! I love them and I hope you do too!
Change of Scenery
Hey all!
I decided to switch things up a bit as I'm in transition. Granted, this time I'm only moving about 5-6 hours north and not driving across country, but I couldn't resist using this great header that my friend Tiffany made me!
Tiffany lives just outside of Raleigh and is a friend from my Providence days. Not only does she have amazing taste in music and have some of the funniest facebook status updates, but she also is very creative in the graphic arts department! If you're looking for a header for your own blog you should think about contacting her! Her email is tiffany.dorrin@gmail.com.
The Sketchiest Thing Ever!
Sometimes I really wonder how these things happen to me. When I tell friends about what has just transpired in my life I often here "That would only happen to you!"...But WHY ME?! A few weeks ago I posted about my mini fender bender and the following is the story on how it got fixed.
About a month or two ago a friend of mine had purchased a car, and through her I became "friends" (using that term loosely) with the manager of a Hyundai dealership. At that time he had seen the scratch running the length of my car and quoted me $300 to fix it, which to me was ridiculous as my previous estimates had been $1700+. After this new fender bender I thought, "What could it hurt to just contact him and see if he can help?". In God's perfect timing I had just received my check from the city of Cumberland to cover the expenses needed to repair that scratch, and I was running out of time here in LA to get it taken care of, so I emailed Idan, the manager. After a few emails we set up a time to meet and this is where life gets interesting.
First, I get to the dealership at the expected time and can't find him anywhere. I felt silly walking in and asking for the manager and kindly telling all the sales people that I was not interested in buying a car that day, I needed to speak with the manager. Needless to say, this piqued their curiosity. After no one could find him I took their suggestions and pulled my car around to the service dept to have them take a look at my scratch & dent. They referred me to a place across the street saying that they don't do body work. I go to the place across the street, who then also refers me to a collision center across town. 2 hours later with an estimate of $2500+ and 5 days of work I'm wondering why I even bothered to go this route. In a last ditch effort, I go back to the dealership where Idan is and has been waiting for me. After explaining where I've been he assumes the "Protector" role and says that he will speak with his staff as that was unacceptable, I'm a preferred customer, etc. He then takes my keys, drops my car off with his friend, and I have to wait for over an hour in his office with him! Now this is just awkward as a) people are buying cars and making deals so lots of big numbers with $ signs are right there in my face, and b) he's a divorced father of 2, Jewish man, dressed in those pimpish striped suits, with that comb-back hair where you can see the scalp...are you getting the picture? Oh, and he wanted to know how my boyfriend was...you know, the one I don't have! Finally his friends says he's done with my car, he goes to pick it up, and now it's time to get down to business.
I hope you are sitting down, this is where things not only get sketchy, but also a little riske'. He leans over the desk towards me, clasps his hands, lowers his voice, and says "Ok, so I talked to my friend, explained that you were an old friend, and that I owed you a favor...and he said that he could do it...in one day...for $500 cash." Now everything in my body is screaming RED FLAG! $500?!?! That's $2000 LESS than the estimate, how can this be? Without thinking first and applying my filter, I blurt out "Is this legal?" I then follow up this question by stating that I am not going to smuggle drugs or perform sexual favors, so is the deal still just $500? Crazy, I know, but I had to throw it out there. I mean, I am living in California, the land of possibilities. After he clarified that it was just the $ and no other "favors" I decided to go ahead with this one of a time deal.
The following Monday I find myself again, sitting awkwardly in his office for another hour, catching up on life, discussing our Christmas and Hanukah celebrations, relationships or lack thereof and then finally he announces that he's taking me to the mall for the day so I don't have to wait with the "other customers" in the waiting room. I'd come prepared to find a job, had my mac and folders and was gonna do business...so I did, from the food court! I had one interview in the food court and another in the dressing room of GAP. I can't even imagine what people were thinking as they were trying on clothes and hearing me say things like, "I love sick kids", "the more tubes the better", and "I feel really comfortable with drugs". Hahaha. I did do a little bit of shopping as I had some gift cards from Christmas that were burning a hole in my pocket...but just a little! While there I picked up a gift for I* as a "thank you" since the man was saving me $2000 and 5 days worth of work! The previous week he had asked me to coffee and I turned him down, but that gave me an idea of what I could do for him. After the 3rd call from I* that day to "check on me and my shopping" he finally said it was time to come back to the office and sent a car for me to be picked up. We go back to the office and he sees my bags and wants to know what I bought, so I gave him his "gift" which he took to heart more than he should have! It was just a mug and instant coffee but you would have thought it was the best and only gift he'd ever been given. All his sales associates are at the door to watch our exchange, awkward, and one of them even made a comment to the effect of "Isn't it crazy how your friend came here to buy a car and now you've found love? You two will make such cute babies!" Seriously?!? Who do you think you are to say that? Needless to say, I was shooting daggers his way. Once things calm down we get to business and I* informs me that my car will not be ready that day but will be done the next afternoon. Now this is an inconvenience for me as I'm over an hour from LA and need to work night shift the next night, but I* being the sweet & thoughtful man that he is (gag me!) wanted to show me that he "can provide for me" (his words) and instead of allowing me to get a rental car he gave me a car off the lot! At least he didn't offer for me to spend the night!
Dumbstruck by the turn that my life has taken and the fact that I survived LA rush hour in a new car I now find myself on my couch eating dinner at 7...and then I start getting personal text msgs from him! He wanted to know if I got home ok, and did I like the car, and continue to thank me for his gift. Now I'm just trying to play down the gift , move on, and stop this new level of our relationship and reply "Well instant coffee is the least I can do"...his response "So what's the MOST you can do for me?" This is when a) I vomited in my mouth b) I went speechless ( a rare event for me) and c) I knew this was a bad situation. At this point I was wondering if the price tag was really worth it! I didn't respond and several minutes later he apologized, saying he was joking, knowing that I'm not "that kind of girl". I was dreading going back the next day but God, being merciful let me wake up to a text from I* that "something had come up and I'll be out of office today, speak with James for your directions".
So I drive up to Valencia, go to the dealership and speak with the appointed salesman for my "directions". Literally, the man starts the conversation off by saying that he is not a part of this deal, his hands are clean, etc. then proceeds to tell me "Go across the street and you will see an alley, go down the alley and hang a left when it dead ends, then follow along the garages and you'll see a white one on the end that looks like it's falling apart, go there". I thought he was joking, that was just so sketchy, but he wasn't...so I threw up a prayer and did as instructed. I found my car, took a quick peek at it, then tried to find the safest way to go about this. I saw a mechanic walking and stopped him to ask for help, he looked at my car to check the work ticket of who worked on it and what they repaired but there wasn't one...so he directed me to "the shed". As silly as it might seem I indentified myself to him, gave him my name and work location and asked him to check if my car was gone in 10 mins and if not to come looking for me! I walked to the garage with my $500 cash stuffed in a Christmas card and sure enough, they didn't even speak English. We managed to make the "transaction" and after counting the money he tossed the keys at me and I RAN (that's a rare occurrence for me). After locking the doors, I sent I* a quick msg to let him know I got my car and it looked great and then headed to work. He sent back a msg "Great! I hope this isn't the last time we talk. Hope to see you again soon." Sorry, but it was the last time.
I made it to work with just minutes to spare and a crazy story to tell my coworkers. I hope you enjoyed my adventure as well! P.S. I did get the job I interviewed for and will be starting at Stanford's Children's Hospital (Lucile Packard) in Palo Alto on 2/7!
About a month or two ago a friend of mine had purchased a car, and through her I became "friends" (using that term loosely) with the manager of a Hyundai dealership. At that time he had seen the scratch running the length of my car and quoted me $300 to fix it, which to me was ridiculous as my previous estimates had been $1700+. After this new fender bender I thought, "What could it hurt to just contact him and see if he can help?". In God's perfect timing I had just received my check from the city of Cumberland to cover the expenses needed to repair that scratch, and I was running out of time here in LA to get it taken care of, so I emailed Idan, the manager. After a few emails we set up a time to meet and this is where life gets interesting.
First, I get to the dealership at the expected time and can't find him anywhere. I felt silly walking in and asking for the manager and kindly telling all the sales people that I was not interested in buying a car that day, I needed to speak with the manager. Needless to say, this piqued their curiosity. After no one could find him I took their suggestions and pulled my car around to the service dept to have them take a look at my scratch & dent. They referred me to a place across the street saying that they don't do body work. I go to the place across the street, who then also refers me to a collision center across town. 2 hours later with an estimate of $2500+ and 5 days of work I'm wondering why I even bothered to go this route. In a last ditch effort, I go back to the dealership where Idan is and has been waiting for me. After explaining where I've been he assumes the "Protector" role and says that he will speak with his staff as that was unacceptable, I'm a preferred customer, etc. He then takes my keys, drops my car off with his friend, and I have to wait for over an hour in his office with him! Now this is just awkward as a) people are buying cars and making deals so lots of big numbers with $ signs are right there in my face, and b) he's a divorced father of 2, Jewish man, dressed in those pimpish striped suits, with that comb-back hair where you can see the scalp...are you getting the picture? Oh, and he wanted to know how my boyfriend was...you know, the one I don't have! Finally his friends says he's done with my car, he goes to pick it up, and now it's time to get down to business.
I hope you are sitting down, this is where things not only get sketchy, but also a little riske'. He leans over the desk towards me, clasps his hands, lowers his voice, and says "Ok, so I talked to my friend, explained that you were an old friend, and that I owed you a favor...and he said that he could do it...in one day...for $500 cash." Now everything in my body is screaming RED FLAG! $500?!?! That's $2000 LESS than the estimate, how can this be? Without thinking first and applying my filter, I blurt out "Is this legal?" I then follow up this question by stating that I am not going to smuggle drugs or perform sexual favors, so is the deal still just $500? Crazy, I know, but I had to throw it out there. I mean, I am living in California, the land of possibilities. After he clarified that it was just the $ and no other "favors" I decided to go ahead with this one of a time deal.
The following Monday I find myself again, sitting awkwardly in his office for another hour, catching up on life, discussing our Christmas and Hanukah celebrations, relationships or lack thereof and then finally he announces that he's taking me to the mall for the day so I don't have to wait with the "other customers" in the waiting room. I'd come prepared to find a job, had my mac and folders and was gonna do business...so I did, from the food court! I had one interview in the food court and another in the dressing room of GAP. I can't even imagine what people were thinking as they were trying on clothes and hearing me say things like, "I love sick kids", "the more tubes the better", and "I feel really comfortable with drugs". Hahaha. I did do a little bit of shopping as I had some gift cards from Christmas that were burning a hole in my pocket...but just a little! While there I picked up a gift for I* as a "thank you" since the man was saving me $2000 and 5 days worth of work! The previous week he had asked me to coffee and I turned him down, but that gave me an idea of what I could do for him. After the 3rd call from I* that day to "check on me and my shopping" he finally said it was time to come back to the office and sent a car for me to be picked up. We go back to the office and he sees my bags and wants to know what I bought, so I gave him his "gift" which he took to heart more than he should have! It was just a mug and instant coffee but you would have thought it was the best and only gift he'd ever been given. All his sales associates are at the door to watch our exchange, awkward, and one of them even made a comment to the effect of "Isn't it crazy how your friend came here to buy a car and now you've found love? You two will make such cute babies!" Seriously?!? Who do you think you are to say that? Needless to say, I was shooting daggers his way. Once things calm down we get to business and I* informs me that my car will not be ready that day but will be done the next afternoon. Now this is an inconvenience for me as I'm over an hour from LA and need to work night shift the next night, but I* being the sweet & thoughtful man that he is (gag me!) wanted to show me that he "can provide for me" (his words) and instead of allowing me to get a rental car he gave me a car off the lot! At least he didn't offer for me to spend the night!
Dumbstruck by the turn that my life has taken and the fact that I survived LA rush hour in a new car I now find myself on my couch eating dinner at 7...and then I start getting personal text msgs from him! He wanted to know if I got home ok, and did I like the car, and continue to thank me for his gift. Now I'm just trying to play down the gift , move on, and stop this new level of our relationship and reply "Well instant coffee is the least I can do"...his response "So what's the MOST you can do for me?" This is when a) I vomited in my mouth b) I went speechless ( a rare event for me) and c) I knew this was a bad situation. At this point I was wondering if the price tag was really worth it! I didn't respond and several minutes later he apologized, saying he was joking, knowing that I'm not "that kind of girl". I was dreading going back the next day but God, being merciful let me wake up to a text from I* that "something had come up and I'll be out of office today, speak with James for your directions".
So I drive up to Valencia, go to the dealership and speak with the appointed salesman for my "directions". Literally, the man starts the conversation off by saying that he is not a part of this deal, his hands are clean, etc. then proceeds to tell me "Go across the street and you will see an alley, go down the alley and hang a left when it dead ends, then follow along the garages and you'll see a white one on the end that looks like it's falling apart, go there". I thought he was joking, that was just so sketchy, but he wasn't...so I threw up a prayer and did as instructed. I found my car, took a quick peek at it, then tried to find the safest way to go about this. I saw a mechanic walking and stopped him to ask for help, he looked at my car to check the work ticket of who worked on it and what they repaired but there wasn't one...so he directed me to "the shed". As silly as it might seem I indentified myself to him, gave him my name and work location and asked him to check if my car was gone in 10 mins and if not to come looking for me! I walked to the garage with my $500 cash stuffed in a Christmas card and sure enough, they didn't even speak English. We managed to make the "transaction" and after counting the money he tossed the keys at me and I RAN (that's a rare occurrence for me). After locking the doors, I sent I* a quick msg to let him know I got my car and it looked great and then headed to work. He sent back a msg "Great! I hope this isn't the last time we talk. Hope to see you again soon." Sorry, but it was the last time.
I made it to work with just minutes to spare and a crazy story to tell my coworkers. I hope you enjoyed my adventure as well! P.S. I did get the job I interviewed for and will be starting at Stanford's Children's Hospital (Lucile Packard) in Palo Alto on 2/7!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Christmas in Cali
I can't believe Christmas is over...and yes, I'm just getting around to posting about it! As most of you know, I was in Cali for Christmas and it was definitely a hard day to be away from family. I worked night shift that week which was probably a blessing in disguise. My family and I sent each other a few packages, which we took turns opening over the phone. I'll try to help you imagine my conversation: "Oh, there is a big brown box, it has a UPS stamp on it, wow, it's taped really well!" yeah, welcome to my Christmas. You may be wondering what I got for Christmas so I'll indulge you. Its hard to buy for me as I'm on the go every few months and have size limits (due to the size of my car) but my family did a great job surprising me with a carry-on sized Vera Bradley bag-never even thought to ask Santa for this!, a waffle/pancake pan from Williams & Sonoma- I'm a sucker for breakfast food, a Cuisinart Chopper/blender- love a good homeade salsa...and some pending gifts from the sister still! During my Christmas Blues slump I went shopping for my favorite little boy at work and bought him some great little gifts! Seeing his face when he opened them was priceless! I'm so thankful for him! He's brought me so many smiles here at work. If we are facebook friends you can see a picture of me and my little friend under my tagged photos, that was taken by his mom. For "privacy" sake I am not posting it on my blog.
After working Halloween and learning that Mattel Children's gives out costumes/toys then I was anxious to see what they would do for Christmas. A staff nurse explained to me that they give out specific presents to each child based on age, etc. and even some siblings get presents too! I was excited to play Santa and leave these gifts at the end of my bed, however I got the one kid on the unit that didn't celebrate Christmas...a Jehovah's Witness. So sad, the mom turned away all the gifts. At first I was sad the kid didn't get any gifts, even though I know they don't celebrate any kind of holiday. But my sadness grew when I realized that on this one day a year when most people DO acknowledge God, this family wasn't acknowledging the greatest gift ever given!
So that's my little Jesus rant for this post. I really hope you all had a wonderful Christmas spent with your families and friends!
After working Halloween and learning that Mattel Children's gives out costumes/toys then I was anxious to see what they would do for Christmas. A staff nurse explained to me that they give out specific presents to each child based on age, etc. and even some siblings get presents too! I was excited to play Santa and leave these gifts at the end of my bed, however I got the one kid on the unit that didn't celebrate Christmas...a Jehovah's Witness. So sad, the mom turned away all the gifts. At first I was sad the kid didn't get any gifts, even though I know they don't celebrate any kind of holiday. But my sadness grew when I realized that on this one day a year when most people DO acknowledge God, this family wasn't acknowledging the greatest gift ever given!
So that's my little Jesus rant for this post. I really hope you all had a wonderful Christmas spent with your families and friends!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Tis the Season...to give away Fiber One bars
Apparently, LA is the homeless capitol of our country, and I'm not saying that sarcastically. Oasis Church, where I've been attending, has really helped make the community aware of just how extensive this problem is here in LA. It's estimated that over 600,000 people are homeless here. Oasis had a "Christmas in LA" campaign that was geared towards several ministries, one of them being a rescue mission and partnering with EDAR to provide a collapsable shelter. EDAR stands for Everyone Deserves A Roof. It's a great idea...but the price tag is a bit much! On just about every corner you can find someone who is homeless and I've been trying to think of something that I can daily do to help them. While I don't feel comfortable directly giving them money since:
a) it draws attention to the fact that you have money on you
b) you don't know what they are using that money for: drugs, alcohol, cigarettes
c) I rarely carry cash
So today, I found myself at a traffic light with a homeless man approaching my window and I reached into my purse...only to grab a fiber one bar and pass out the window. Then it hit me! That's a perfect thing to give them! This way, I know I am providing them with food, and healthy food at that. Hopefully he has access to a public restroom because those things can really help get things moving! I'm now going to make it a point to keep granola bars in my car to pass out. So what can you do to help?
a) it draws attention to the fact that you have money on you
b) you don't know what they are using that money for: drugs, alcohol, cigarettes
c) I rarely carry cash
So today, I found myself at a traffic light with a homeless man approaching my window and I reached into my purse...only to grab a fiber one bar and pass out the window. Then it hit me! That's a perfect thing to give them! This way, I know I am providing them with food, and healthy food at that. Hopefully he has access to a public restroom because those things can really help get things moving! I'm now going to make it a point to keep granola bars in my car to pass out. So what can you do to help?
Monday, December 20, 2010
Rain Rain Go Away!
I'm going to make an assumption that the East Coast is reporting on the ridiculous deluge of rain that SOCAL is experiencing since we report on all your snow! So, you may have heard or seen that relentless rain started last Thursday and is supposed to last until this Wednesday. LA is not built for such large amounts of rain, creating flash flooding and making driving through LA even more difficult than usual! Originally the plan was for some friends from San Diego to come up and visit me, but I decided to go down to them since they were experiencing less rain...I couldn't fully escape it :( Visiting with Emily and Kai over some pizza and lasagna in Little Italy was definitely what I needed to help boost me in my resolve to get out of my "I'm so lonely at Christmas Blues". I then went back to Emily's where we watched a movie and looked at some pics she had taken of me when I'd visited her for my birthday. Emily and her husband Vic have recently started their own photography business and it's amazing to see how far they've come in the past 6 months! I knew Emily from college, where she actually went by her middle name Raley, and then later ran into her at my church in Raleigh. All too quickly she met Vic and moved out to California where she excels in her Cali fashion sense and now in photography! Check out their work on their facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/bluepolystudios
Anyway, I got up this morning with the intent to get back to LA and drop a friend off at the airport and do some Christmas shopping with another only to make it into LA, to then stop for gas, and proceed to get into my first fender bender :( Not exactly what I was planning on for the day, especially since I'd just spent 3+ hours driving from San Diego into LA amidst the bad weather, flooded highways, and heavy traffic without harm. So here's my side of the story that I submitted as a written statement to my insurance agent:
I was backing out of the spot at Pump#2, this is a very busy and small gas station. I looked over both my shoulders for cars and pedestrians, seeing no one I backed up slowly, only making it about 6-8 feet before I felt resistance and heard a tap. I looked over my shoulder to see a car behind me who appeared to be backing out of a parking spot and a woman walking out of the gas station, towards the passenger door, about to get in. I immediately motioned to the couple that I was going to pull into a parking spot, which I did, gathered my insurance & registration and walked over to their car. I apologized for the inconvenience and informed them I was going to call the police. They are an older Korean couple who did not speak enough English to converse with me about what they thought happened. While waiting on hold for the police I offered for them to sit in their car since it was raining but they did not understand my words and hand motions. I am the only one who contacted the police via phone and provided the basic information, and requested if possible someone who spoke Korean to assist. The officers came, only to inform us that they do not file police reports unless someone is injured, but they did assist in information exchange. Above is the information provided to me. Again I apologized to the couple, informed them that I was going to contact my insurance, and wished them a Merry Christmas, but they did not have the courtesy to do so back. I spoke with the attendant at the gas station and he was unsure if the surveillance camera would capture the accident, but told me to contact Susan his supervisor on Thursday.
I am ok, and my car isn't damaged so much that I can't drive it. Initially I was just frustrated at having to deal with this stress (in the rain!) while trying to be as polite as I could with this couple who barely spoke any English! I learned a new pet peeve of mine today: If you are going to LIVE and DRIVE in my country then SPEAK my language! Since LAPD doesn't help resolve the situation it will be interesting to see what this couple reports to their insurance agent as to what their side of the story is. I really feel it was one of those flukes where we both looked, didn't see anyone and backed into each other. I held myself together during the moment, and feel that I contacted everyone I needed to, took pictures, got all the information I'd need for my report then came home, filled my dad in and cried...a lot...only to hear my dad yelling at me on the phone. I hadn't hung up! Oops! So now we're both upset and honestly, I think I was crying more over missing my family than my car situation. And the damage to my car isn't that bad. It's a linear dent on my back passenger bumper and some missing paint. I can't help but believe that God did have His hand over my accident, as evidenced by:
a) It could have been A LOT worse! It would have been much worse if I would have had a fender bender while on the highway with all that rain and hydroplaning it's amazing I made it back to LA!
b) It happened in a safe place where I was not alone or stranded on the side of the road
c) NO ONE was injured as it was a tap at a very low speed
d) Just last week I received a check from the city of Cumberland to cover damage to the passenger side of my car caused by city property
and e) I had no yet had my car repaired from above mentioned damage so hopefully I can get all this taken care of at once!
So for any skeptics out there, how can you argue with this? Could all these factors just line up as fate? I'll keep you all posted on what happens as I'm sure our insurance companies will have to duke it out since we don't speak the same language! Hopefully I'll get credit for being a responsible citizen, kind to some non-English speaking fellow citizens, and for my very detailed report and photos that I submitted! And I'll try to post pics later when my internet decides to cooperate!
Anyway, I got up this morning with the intent to get back to LA and drop a friend off at the airport and do some Christmas shopping with another only to make it into LA, to then stop for gas, and proceed to get into my first fender bender :( Not exactly what I was planning on for the day, especially since I'd just spent 3+ hours driving from San Diego into LA amidst the bad weather, flooded highways, and heavy traffic without harm. So here's my side of the story that I submitted as a written statement to my insurance agent:
I was backing out of the spot at Pump#2, this is a very busy and small gas station. I looked over both my shoulders for cars and pedestrians, seeing no one I backed up slowly, only making it about 6-8 feet before I felt resistance and heard a tap. I looked over my shoulder to see a car behind me who appeared to be backing out of a parking spot and a woman walking out of the gas station, towards the passenger door, about to get in. I immediately motioned to the couple that I was going to pull into a parking spot, which I did, gathered my insurance & registration and walked over to their car. I apologized for the inconvenience and informed them I was going to call the police. They are an older Korean couple who did not speak enough English to converse with me about what they thought happened. While waiting on hold for the police I offered for them to sit in their car since it was raining but they did not understand my words and hand motions. I am the only one who contacted the police via phone and provided the basic information, and requested if possible someone who spoke Korean to assist. The officers came, only to inform us that they do not file police reports unless someone is injured, but they did assist in information exchange. Above is the information provided to me. Again I apologized to the couple, informed them that I was going to contact my insurance, and wished them a Merry Christmas, but they did not have the courtesy to do so back. I spoke with the attendant at the gas station and he was unsure if the surveillance camera would capture the accident, but told me to contact Susan his supervisor on Thursday.
I am ok, and my car isn't damaged so much that I can't drive it. Initially I was just frustrated at having to deal with this stress (in the rain!) while trying to be as polite as I could with this couple who barely spoke any English! I learned a new pet peeve of mine today: If you are going to LIVE and DRIVE in my country then SPEAK my language! Since LAPD doesn't help resolve the situation it will be interesting to see what this couple reports to their insurance agent as to what their side of the story is. I really feel it was one of those flukes where we both looked, didn't see anyone and backed into each other. I held myself together during the moment, and feel that I contacted everyone I needed to, took pictures, got all the information I'd need for my report then came home, filled my dad in and cried...a lot...only to hear my dad yelling at me on the phone. I hadn't hung up! Oops! So now we're both upset and honestly, I think I was crying more over missing my family than my car situation. And the damage to my car isn't that bad. It's a linear dent on my back passenger bumper and some missing paint. I can't help but believe that God did have His hand over my accident, as evidenced by:
a) It could have been A LOT worse! It would have been much worse if I would have had a fender bender while on the highway with all that rain and hydroplaning it's amazing I made it back to LA!
b) It happened in a safe place where I was not alone or stranded on the side of the road
c) NO ONE was injured as it was a tap at a very low speed
d) Just last week I received a check from the city of Cumberland to cover damage to the passenger side of my car caused by city property
and e) I had no yet had my car repaired from above mentioned damage so hopefully I can get all this taken care of at once!
So for any skeptics out there, how can you argue with this? Could all these factors just line up as fate? I'll keep you all posted on what happens as I'm sure our insurance companies will have to duke it out since we don't speak the same language! Hopefully I'll get credit for being a responsible citizen, kind to some non-English speaking fellow citizens, and for my very detailed report and photos that I submitted! And I'll try to post pics later when my internet decides to cooperate!
Lindsey & Co.
2 weeks ago I had some expected and unexpected company and it was a much needed pick me up! You learn a lot about yourself when you live alone, and especially when you spend most of your time alone...which is a new thing for me. I already knew I was a social person, but living here in LA has really shed some new light on just how much human interaction---especially that of good friends means to me!
I loved living in DC because it put me so close to my college friend Alicia, who's married to Bobby and is the mother to the cutest 1 yr old twins I know. It was nice to be a short drive from her for those few months and and I dearly missed her when I moved out here. Thankfully, her family gave her and Bobby their Christmas present early and sent them out to LA for 5 days. It was fun having company and showing off how much I know my way around LA. We packed a lot of fun into those few days! Of course we made a stop at In-N-Out burger as soon as they got off the plane, we went to the Jay Leno show (which I highly recommend, it's the best taping I've been to yet), got some sushi off Sunset Blvd. and then we crashed! Unfortunately, I had to work while they were here but we squeezed in a late show at my favorite comedy club (staying out that late after work, and then having to go back in for another 12 showed me that while I may look younger than 25 I no longer have the college all-night stamina!) and they ran all over town while I was gone. Bobby's favorite part was probably Madame Toussad's wax museum! I can't tell you how many pics he took their. Those wax celebs are so real looking it's scary! I loved having a shopping buddy to help spend my coupons at the Loft! I found this chic place for us to grab lunch and was SO excited to take them to Joan's on Third but it almost ended up being a REALLY expensive lunch as we walked back to the car to find an officer writing a parking ticket! I wish I would have taken a picture of the confusing parking signs so you could fully understand my parking dilemma. It was a packed side street and I was so excited to find a space, but then we made Bobby get out of the car to read the sign to make sure it was ok to park there. Let's just say, it was confusing. There was one sign reading "No Parking Anytime" and below it another saying "2 hour parking 8am-8pm" and another "No Parking on Sunday for Street cleaning"...needless to say, not the clearest YES or NO on whether we could park there. So here we are, walking back to the car and see a cop writing a ticket for my car. Me, being my verbal self, yells out "Officer, excuse me sir, that's my car!" and then I began to plead my case and throw in a southern twang to help verify my NC license plate! He wasn't feeling too sympathetic to my "I'm not from around here" plea but fortunately his partner was and took the time to ask me where I'm from and then to tell me that I don't belong here and that I should go back! (To which I agree). This second officer was so sweet, agreed that the signs were confusing, and finally convinced his partner to let me off with a warning and go in search of another car that they could ticket instead! He ripped it up right in front of me and I haven't received anything in the mail so I'm in the clear! What a relief!
On top of having the Cox's, I also got to have dinner with some unexpected college friends! I don't even know how it all came about, but on Saturday night I found 5 friends from LU in my apartment! They came from all over: outside of LA, San Fran area, and various places in Virginia! Our friend Paul was nice enough to feed us girls! It was so nice to have company visiting in my apartment and sit around and see where we all were in life. Most of these friends I hadn't seen in over 3 years!
Having all these friends here was such a blessing to me! I've definitely been battling loneliness here in LA. Most of the people that I meet are superficial in their offers of friendship, or are more interested in what connections you have. All these people I just wrote about could care less who I know or what I do, they simply enjoy me and that is such a great gift!
I loved living in DC because it put me so close to my college friend Alicia, who's married to Bobby and is the mother to the cutest 1 yr old twins I know. It was nice to be a short drive from her for those few months and and I dearly missed her when I moved out here. Thankfully, her family gave her and Bobby their Christmas present early and sent them out to LA for 5 days. It was fun having company and showing off how much I know my way around LA. We packed a lot of fun into those few days! Of course we made a stop at In-N-Out burger as soon as they got off the plane, we went to the Jay Leno show (which I highly recommend, it's the best taping I've been to yet), got some sushi off Sunset Blvd. and then we crashed! Unfortunately, I had to work while they were here but we squeezed in a late show at my favorite comedy club (staying out that late after work, and then having to go back in for another 12 showed me that while I may look younger than 25 I no longer have the college all-night stamina!) and they ran all over town while I was gone. Bobby's favorite part was probably Madame Toussad's wax museum! I can't tell you how many pics he took their. Those wax celebs are so real looking it's scary! I loved having a shopping buddy to help spend my coupons at the Loft! I found this chic place for us to grab lunch and was SO excited to take them to Joan's on Third but it almost ended up being a REALLY expensive lunch as we walked back to the car to find an officer writing a parking ticket! I wish I would have taken a picture of the confusing parking signs so you could fully understand my parking dilemma. It was a packed side street and I was so excited to find a space, but then we made Bobby get out of the car to read the sign to make sure it was ok to park there. Let's just say, it was confusing. There was one sign reading "No Parking Anytime" and below it another saying "2 hour parking 8am-8pm" and another "No Parking on Sunday for Street cleaning"...needless to say, not the clearest YES or NO on whether we could park there. So here we are, walking back to the car and see a cop writing a ticket for my car. Me, being my verbal self, yells out "Officer, excuse me sir, that's my car!" and then I began to plead my case and throw in a southern twang to help verify my NC license plate! He wasn't feeling too sympathetic to my "I'm not from around here" plea but fortunately his partner was and took the time to ask me where I'm from and then to tell me that I don't belong here and that I should go back! (To which I agree). This second officer was so sweet, agreed that the signs were confusing, and finally convinced his partner to let me off with a warning and go in search of another car that they could ticket instead! He ripped it up right in front of me and I haven't received anything in the mail so I'm in the clear! What a relief!
On top of having the Cox's, I also got to have dinner with some unexpected college friends! I don't even know how it all came about, but on Saturday night I found 5 friends from LU in my apartment! They came from all over: outside of LA, San Fran area, and various places in Virginia! Our friend Paul was nice enough to feed us girls! It was so nice to have company visiting in my apartment and sit around and see where we all were in life. Most of these friends I hadn't seen in over 3 years!
Having all these friends here was such a blessing to me! I've definitely been battling loneliness here in LA. Most of the people that I meet are superficial in their offers of friendship, or are more interested in what connections you have. All these people I just wrote about could care less who I know or what I do, they simply enjoy me and that is such a great gift!
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