*sigh* What's next?!?

So. If it's not one thing, it's another. I had a knock on my door this evening - a neighbor. She wanted to know if I had a blue Toyota. Of course I said yes and she wanted to know if I knew that somebody hit it.



Of course I didn't.



I called the cops and they sent a really cute one over (the only highlight of the evening) who checked all the cars in the parking lot and the ones on the street as well. He shined his light on the apartment complex across the street and told me to watch out for that place.



The officer also told me that I live in the ghetto of this town. Oh. But he wiped his finger on the white paint (aaaahhh!!! my paint, my paint!!!) and to my surprise, a lot of it just came right off. That was a little reassuring. I'm going to hope for the best and wash it tomorrow and see how bad it really is. Too bad the dent won't wash out.



It's pretty disappointing. I thought my car would be safer in the parking lot, but I haven't even been here a week and it's been towed, taken to CarnieLand and hit. When I told him how scary CarnieLand was, the cop wanted to know which towing company took it. I told him and he smiled and said, "Yeah." like he knew exactly what I was talking about.

I'm thinking about parking it on the street. I bought a Club for the steering wheel since I can't afford an alarm. He said newer cars are harder to steal and even having the Club is a good deterrent. I'll probably have to leave it dented and scratched...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO........

Don't Panic.

I was in my new place most of today. Yesterday I ran my errands and was done by 2pm, parked and didn't need to use the car for a while... I finally decided to go out and do something - I figured I would walk though, since I know I could use the exercise. I just happened to walk out through the parking lot - the same parking lot where I park because it's designated for this apartment complex only. I went to the space where I parked and this is what I saw:



I'm so proud of myself. I didn't panic or even cry! I check on the street to make sure I didn't park out there for some reason (and was relieved to see Roger), but she wasn't there. I looked around, double checking in the parking lot... triple checking... but seeing as how there were only three other cars there, it was easy to see my car was not one of them. I remained calm. Then I thought hmmm... I should call these people to make sure:



She was there! (What do these people do, peruse parking lots and wait for one without a permit?!?) Apparently, I'm supposed to have a parking permit, not just authorization. I called the realty company and they were embarrassed and apologetic of course... To make a long story short, somebody came to pick me up and take me to my car. Oh. My. Lord. It was the scariest place EVER.



I wanted to take pictures SOOOOOO bad!!!! The cars are kept past that long building in the back. I think there was only one other running car besides mine there. There was a guy who unlocked the gate for us, then a girl came out of this... trailer. I kid you not. It was only about 10 feet long - a little camping trailer. Then I saw another guy who was dressed like Johnny Cash. I don't know if he came out of the trailer, but he was weaving around and talking weird, and had a big bandage around his hand and wrist.

The girl (not really a girl, more of a woman wearing ill-fitting clothing) was giggling and acting very strange, and got in the back of a truck that had a camper on the back of it. I have a feeling it was a truck that had been towed and left there, and they made it part of their CarnieClan. The gate opener came out of the trailer and said he didn't know where the keys were to the tow truck, and I would have to just back out of the area very carefully. Basically, I had to go between the tow truck and the little trailer. I said that was fine, because I wanted to get out of CarnieLand, even though it was a tight squeeze even for my little compact car. Then I saw another woman in the trailer and a little girl, probably about 5 years old. It was the clown cars of trailers! I just don't understand how they fit all those people in there! It was scary and disturbing knowing that the little girl was there too.

Anyway, I drove out of the gate and immediately checked my car for any damages. She seems to be fine. I was kind of shook up though. My poor car went to where cars die!!! Oh! AND... The realty company gave me my "parking permit", which is just a laminated piece of paper with a rubber band. And it has my address on it. How STUPID is that?!? I don't want people to know where I live!! So I'm figuring out a way to not have it displayed, but not forget to display it when I park.

Seriously, I've been in some scary situations before: in the ghetto, overseas, whatever. But these people REALLY scared me. I kept expecting them to whip out their chainsaws and fly around hooting like the flying monkeys from "The Wizard of Oz"! I think a lot of it was that I knew they were using something and I didn't know what, and it made them very unpredictable. Oh, did I mention there was a port-a-potty right next to the trailer? *shudder* If only I could have gotten pictures!

Jeez. What a day!

Last Saturday, my friends Joel and D-Man took me to a concert! Stellar Kart was opening, Kutless next and then one of my favorite bands: The Newsboys! Now, with that name you might think that they are a "boy band", but they aren't... They're British. And they ROCK!
Here's Joel and D-Man:



My pictures won't be clear, but this is cool... the lead singer/guitarist also plays drums and he and the drummer were having a drum-fest. The platform he was on actually lifted up in the air! He's on the left... Then, the drummer's entire set (on the right - the bright blog) raised up too, and circled around like a ferris-wheel!!! It's hard to make it out, but they're there:



They had some really large screens so we could see what was going on... Highlighting one person...



Or all of them at once:



The lead singer and the keyboarder/singer came out to the middle of the audience (still on a platform) and touched on some of their older music too. I didn't realize I was an actual "fan" until it dawned on me that I knew ALL of their songs. *sigh*



And the first ending... of course we stomped our feet and yelled and they came out and played two or three more songs.



I took a lot of pictures. It actually killed the batteries in my camera, and they were pretty new batteries. Hehe! I really enjoyed the show and I'm so thankful that Joel thought of me when she bought tickets! THANK YOU JOEL!!!

Pictures of stuff

I've been wanting to get a good picture of this for a while. Please click it and enlarge it! Read the flag! I can't tell if they're stupid or if it's supposed to be funny. It seems like every time I tried to get a picture of it, the sun would glare against the window or something, and I wouldn't get a good shot. This time I was supposed to be at the 4-way stop and I was taking a picture instead... and a cop was waiting at the intersection. Yes, waiting for me to go. *sigh*



Grace was very happy and nappy...



While I was moving into my new place, I decided to go to the library and get a library card. It was nice outside...



At this library, you can check out music CDs...



And even records!!!



But the biggest shock of amazement for me was this:



You can check out art! And hang it on your wall for three weeks! And bring it back and check out another! Wheeeeeeeee! That's awesome!!!

A Trip to the Coast

I went to the coast last month... I guess it's time to post about it. It was nice and sunny here - I thought it would make for a nice drive. Something nagged in the back of my head though, and sure enough, it was overcast at the beach.



I really had to pee, so I stopped at the dock because I saw a bathroom. Little did I know, you had to have a boat there and they would give you the combination to use the restroom. No pee for me.



Cloudy and misty as it was, it was still a nice to take pictures.



There were a couple of the locals hanging out in the water. They thought it was a beautiful day, and voiced their opinion several times, drawing onlookers.



I decided to go to Ripley's Believe It Or Not. (I finally got to go pee there.) As it turns out, it hasn't changed since... oh, I'd say probably the 60's. They still think part of California is going to break off the North American plate and form it's own island. I showed this to my geology and he got pretty riled up. It was fun since he's a very gentle guy.



There are some really cool houses here. For some reason, they remind me of Popeye houses (from the movie, not the cartoon). This is a hotel:



Here's the other side of it... I think I would like to stay here, just to see what it's like.



Another Popeye house. They're just cool!



And I just like this house. I think the downstairs is cool. I want to live in a house like that. You might have to click on it and enlarge it to see what I'm talking about.



I did make it to the beach. It was cold though.



This one is hard to see, but there were some really annoying people at the beach. This guy had two (or three? I can't remember now...) little girls who ruled him. He kept telling them that it was time to go, but they totally ignored him. It was just annoying to hear him plead with them, since they were under the age of five. Then when he (finally) enforced his decision, their shrieks rivaled the screams of seagulls. It continued at the parking lot. People stopped everywhere and stared, so I know it wasn't just me.



I went to a restaurant nearby for a nice lunch. I was upstairs and continually irritated by the guy doing repairs just outside the door. Why would the restaurant have repairs done on a weekend? How about in the late morning on a week day? I tried to get a picture of him, but there was a couple blocking my way. Very unfortunate. You miss out on his cigarette hanging out of his mouth while he exposes his stomach to hang some gutters or something. Darn.
This was my view though, if I looked to my right.



I ordered "Neptune's Bucket" and gasped when I saw it:



Luckily, it was on a raised thing inside, so it just looked like it was full. It makes sense, but it was still a shock to have that plopped in front of me. It consisted of clams (which always disappoint me - I know what size they're supposed to be, not these little macaroni sized things), scallops, halibut, shrimp, a couple of small oysters, fries and coleslaw. It was filling, needless to say.

Thus filled, I came home.

apartment hunting

So here's an apartment I'm looking at. I think the realty place will call tomorrow if I'm approved... or not. But I know they called my current landlord already, so that sounds promising.

I'm hoping you can see how big the living room is... and that's a screen sitting over there, in case you can't tell what that is, although it must be for a bedroom window or something because it obviously wouldn't fit there.



The bathroom. Tub on the right, and behind that (you can't really see it) is the toilet... which I used while I was there. There was toilet paper and I had to go! Oh, and Rayleen, you can see the raised up part past the sinks where I think the (little) water heater might be?



I didn't realize this at first, but yes... it has two sinks. I'm thinking about labeling one "Guests" and one "Aimee", then when guests come out of the bathroom, I can ask in an accused manner, "Did you use my sink?!?"



And here's another view of the size of the living room... kind of. From the bathroom to the front door anyway.



This is the master bedroom... I think. They're both pretty much the same size. So picture the mirror image of this, and you'll know what the other room looks like too. Strange that they have linoleum in the bedrooms...



The kitchen is small. But those of you who know me, know that I don't spend a lot of time there... Just trying to look at the bright side. Hm. I just realized I'm going to have to put the microwave, coffee maker and espresso maker on the table. Where do I put my computer now?!?



My "backyard". It's actually a park. That's where the baseball diamond is, behind my place.



Well, it's not too bad anyway, especially for $485... right?

A Question for You!

Okay everybody (all two of you)... Here's a question for you:

How long do you save your bills?

For some reason, I've saved my bills for at least three years - or in other words, after three years of keeping bills after they're payed, I can finally throw them away. Why? Rayleen and I were talking about this the other night, and I can't remember who told me that it's necessary to keep bills for three years, and why. Was this before the Internet age? When we did everything with stamps? And if this is NOT a necessary step anymore, PLEASE tell me - I have soooo much to throw away!!!

I'm going through a purging stage before I move, which feels great. And I have found a couple more apartments that are interesting... Have I showed you all this one? I can't remember... but it's worth showing twice anyway:




Hahahahahahaha!!!! I can't even imagine... "Buddy! Don't poke holes in the wall! Grace, quit scratching the tarp! Both of you stop climbing the walls!!!" heheheheehehe....

I found out (the other day) that there are IMAGINARY NUMBERS. What?. I was actually mad! I was angry in class. I have enough of a hard time with real ones! Ohh, this math is the bane of my existence! (btw, the picture below is not of imaginary stuff, I just thought it looked fun.)



As you know, I'm looking for an apartment. I found this. No, I'm not moving there. I wonder why they would put sliding glass doors right next to the main entrance door? Easier to move the couch and bed in?



Rayleen, it's the Maximilian apartments!!!



I can't believe they took out the long line of mailboxes. (For those of you who didn't grow up with Rayleen and I, there was a long line of mailboxes which I dutifully raised all the red flags... it was pretty, and people weren't using them! So I did it for them. I was six.)



The swings we played on... I got hit with a rock in the head here... or did I HIT somebody?... hmmmm. And that little shed was where I saw the "f" word written for the very first time.


Okay, here's a better picture of the little house.



Rayleen, can you see the side of the house?... How it kind of goes downhill? :)