So it has been a somewhat interesting year, with major developments involving my car(s) and my job, but otherwise same old same old. Car and job deets below, but let’s start with the stats:
Still a born-again virgin!
Got five pedicures.
Experienced my first major earthquake. The two I’d been through before - one years ago in England and one just a few days prior to this one, were minor. This one was a 7.1. Sammy noticed it before I did because: drunk.
Saw one movie in the movie theater. I was expecting this number to be much higher because a new multiplex opened up in my driving comfort zone. But its bill of fare is super disappointing – the big popular movie of the moment (i.e., one I have no interest in seeing) playing on eight of its 10 screens and some obscure film in Tagalog on the other two.
Got a new bed and dresser. (Also side tables and lamps
but I sold those. Sold my old bed too and so when the math was done, ended up
paying about $25 for the bed and dresser – score!) Bed is meh but oh boy do I
love the dresser – having to sell my old one during my bout of unemployment was
upsetting. Now all my knickers are in one place! However, this purchase did
lead to a bit of a meltdown – when I was trying (and failing miserably) to put
the bedframe together on my own, I just lost it. I stubbed a toe and tore a
hole in the box springs and damaged Sammy’s cat condo in the process. There are
not many times I feel alone, despite my crushing loneliness, but this was one
of them.
Saw Diana Ross in concert. Only went because I got free tickets because: cheap.
Ate at White Castle for (kind of) the first time. Kind of because about three years ago after a Christmas party on the Strip I wandered into a White Castle intent on eating there but the line was too long so I went up to a bunch of guys who’d already gotten their food and asked if one of them would sell me a slider for a buck. One of them did. Can’t remember if I liked it or not because I was slightly tipsy (no, really). Glad I ate there sober but am in no hurry to go back. Also tried the famous Popeyes’ fried chicken sandwich. That was yummy but then again it is a fried chicken sandwich so odds are I’d like it. Except Popeyes’ sides suck so if I ever ate it again I’d get it to go and get better sides elsewhere.
Speaking of food, I lost 9.2 pounds. I do wonder if that weight loss might have something to do with the fact that I think there is a conspiracy surrounding my local drinking and dining establishments: shortly after the P. F. Chang’s across the street closed, the casino next door got rid of its weekend Champagne brunch; then a nearby Mexican place closed. I loved going to all three of those places – the P. F. Chang’s because it had the earliest happy hour start time; the Champagne buffet because: champagne and buffets; and the Mexican place because it was the only nearby place that had a Sunday happy hour.
Spent $172.11 at Target, $269.21 at the dollar store and $192.33 at the Post Office.
And I spent exactly $8,000 on my car(s). Yes, the biggest development of my 2019: I have a new used car. My old one finally crapped out on me in August. No surprise, really, it was 20 years old (super low mileage, though). But it was a blessing in disguise because the A/C had not worked for a few years (you kind of need A/C in Las Vegas) and I was too lazy/cheap to do anything about it. I was very thankful that it did not die on me in an overly dramatic way – it just wouldn’t switch on one morning when I was at the Einstein’s across the street from the office. So no drama there but some followed in both the acquiring of its replacement and what happened when I was without a vehicle for over a month; suffice it to say that from the scarcity of rides offered to me by my co-workers during that month, it was confirmed that 99% of them do not give a shit about me.
But now I am the proud owner of a gray 2018 Toyota Yaris named (by my dear friend E., who came car shopping with me) Gandalf:
That $8,000 mentioned above includes the purchase of a Pittsburgh Penguins’ license plate frame because I am sick of seeing Golden Knights’ stuff everywhere; the cost of all the Lyfts I had to take because my co-workers hate me; and, of course, the down payment for Gandalf. That was the money I had been saving up for either a trip back to England or (somewhat less likely) a down payment on a condo. And the money I had been putting away every month is now going towards the monthly car payments. Sigh. Such is life.
And of course those who know me well know that it is not a coincidence that that total amount is so… round. So, full disclosure: yes, on the morning of December 31, 2019, I did indeed go to the gas station and pre-pay for $11.98’ worth of gas so that number could be so… round!
So, ready for the annual mileage report? In 2019 I put 818 miles on my old car and 393 on the new one for a grand total of 1,212. (And no, I did not drive a little more just to make that number so satisfying!)
And I think I am going to end now and save the job drama for another post because this one is way too long as it is; suffice it to say that what was once a job I loved so much is now horrible, but… the person responsible for making it so horrible just quit! I’ll post about it soon, promise.
Happy new year!
