Driving stick

I've never formally learned how to drive a stick shift. I kinda-sorta learned it for a few days waaaaay back in the day, but I've never driven a stick shift on a "real" road. Until tonight.

Dennis is away for a few days on a biz trip to LA. Unfortunately, the zone where he parked his car is a ticketing zone, so I felt like I should move his car to a non-ticketed zone so that he wouldn't come home to a $50 parking ticket. Sounds like a great plan, except that Dennis drives a stick shift.

Hmm... Houston, we have a problem!

Oh well, it can't be that hard right? I find the keys, get into his car, stick the keys in the ignition, give it a good twist, and... NOTHING. The car doesn't come on. I don't know what to do. What am I forgetting? I call a friend and find out I need to put the car in first gear before I can turn on the engine.

With that little hiccup safely behind me, I find out that my stick shift skills are not THAT bad. I mean, they're still pretty terrible (I over-rev) but not abysmal (I don't stall).

After a painful 10 minutes of being stuck in traffic (they are doing work on the Bay Bridge and that always causes traffic congestion outside my apartment building), I finally find a parking space, park the car, and get out. All in all, I only stalled once in stop and go traffic. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

But most importantly, I moved the car, found a parking spot, parked it safely, and got back home in one piece. There ya go!

Got Hoodie!

I bought my first hoodie today from the Disney Store. Check it out! I mean, it's JACK (full name Jack Skellington) from the Nightmare Before Christmas!

Yeah I guess I'm still a big kid at heart if I'm still shopping at the Disney Store. :)

Hurtin'

My (ex) girlfriend just left for home (Israel) today. Deep down, I don't think I'll ever see her again. I've been with her for the last 3+ months ever since I met her in the mall. It's been a great 3 months and I'm sad that she's gone. She made me very happy, and I'll always treasure those memories of her. Even the dumb ones, like when she locked my keys in the apartment, and Vince and I had to wait until Dennis got home to open the door for us.

I'm sad but I'm also happy that I'm sad. I don't ever want to get to the point where my relationships fail to move me. For now, I'm going to just enjoy soaking in the sadness for a bit, then pick my butt off the floor and get on with my life.

I'm glad I brought something positive into her life. That's a gift she gave me that I'll treasure. And babe, if by chance you read this, I miss you.

Squirrels

So I was just reminded that I needed to be true to the "Sitting with Squirrels" name, hence this photo. Enjoy!

I'm officially cultured

I've never bought any art in my life as far as I can remember. Well, I passed by this one place and it had everything at 50% off. I couldn't resist, so I made my first art purchase. It is an oil painting, something weird and abstract. It's going over my bed. I like it.


And despite all appearances to the contrary in the photo, the painting is actually properly lined up. :)