Anthony’s Ramblings

Tires
On Friday, I bought new tires for my car. I settled on getting a set of Yokohama YK520’s from America’s Tire as they seemed to be the best tire for the cost. So far, I like them and am happy with my purchase.

Car Maintenance
I spent most of my Saturday sitting at Los Gatos Acura waiting for my car to be serviced. All I needed was a routine oil change along with a 4 wheel alignment (since I bought new tires). What was supposed to be a simple $140 combined job turned into $450. The technician working on my car discovered that a suspension component related to my right rear wheel was bent which would prevent them from being able to give the car a proper alignment. So, I opted for them to replace the component. The part itself wasn’t expensive (only being $75) it was the labor and second alignment that brought up the cost of the repair. I’ve had a relatively good experience with Los Gatos Acura, so since I was there I figured why not.

Rooster T Feathers
Brianna’s parents bought tickets for the four of us to go to a comedy show Saturday night at Rooster T Feathers in Sunnyvale. It was a lot of fun! The night’s acts were Mike Gardner, Robert Mac, and Brent Weinbach. Our table was right up against the stage, so naturally we were the inspiration for some of the comedians’ jokes. Mike Gardner happened to notice Brianna’s dad was wearing a fanny pack and did a bit about that. It was pretty funny. At one point while he was doing his thing, he stopped, looked at Brianna’s dad, and said “Are you with me Fanny Pack?!” I don’t know why, but that hit the funny spot and had me laughing for a few minutes. It was fun.

A lot, but at the same time, not much, has happened lately.

Home Hunt
Brianna and I started looking for a house a month or so ago, and things were going along quite well considering the economy. We put bits on three houses. With the first house, we were beat by a larger offer. With the second house, we were beat with a cash offer. With the third house, our offer was accepted! However, there was a catch. The house needed a lot of work. After a lot of “I think I can do this”, then “oh crap we can’t do this!”, then “wait, yes we can”, we decided to negotiate with the bank to see what they’d be willing to do for us considering the condition of the house. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to hear back from the bank because…

Unemployment
Brianna was laid off on November 3rd. It was very sudden and not expected in the slightest bit. The company she worked for lost $60k in monthly revenue. She was newly hired (started August 15th) and she was low on the totem poll, so she was the first to go. This was devistating, but manageable. It only meant one thing. We couldn’t buy a house. So, our house plans were put on hold. Oh well!

Re-employment
Brianna starts a new job on Monday! I think she’s close to a world record of going from laid off to hired in less than 2 weeks. I’m very happy for her (and me). She was paranoid that, considering the economy, she’d be without a job for months. I speculated that she’d be without a job for no longer than a month. Looks like I was right! She wants to wait at least 3 months until we consider buying a house again. This way, she can adjust to her new job and be assured that her position isn’t going anywhere any time soon.

You know what this means?
I think I can, finally, bring the server home. I’m cheap and don’t want to pay for the electricity, but it would be much better if it was within reach rather than sitting 100+ miles away. If the server was in a space where I heard/saw it on a daily basis, it’d really encourage me to tinker…and that’s something I love to do. We’ll see!

I really aught to blog more. Even though nobody reads this, it’s kinda cool to go back and read about some of the things I’ve posted about in the past. Also, I feel it’s good exercise for my brain! Unlike some, I really try to write, spell, and use grammar properly (but in no way am I perfect).

Last thing…I think I need to re-asses “categories”.