***2005***

Happy New Year!

Image found on the Internet and all rights belong to its owner.

***Ideas for blog posts***

Random for the day (include blogs, links, etc.)
Weekend Words (discuss what happened on Saturday and Sunday)
Daily Daze (what happened on a particular day)

• Daily Daze - I discuss what happened that particular day (e.g., today we....)

• Event - I discussed a specific event of that day (e.g., My friend G. has this problem which is....)

• Weekend Words - What happened over the weekend.
  

• <>Random of the Day - I make a one-line comment about an...interesting...blog found on blog.com (e.g., Proverb of the Day) link (e.g., Extramarital Affairs - Married but Looking) or pic.
  

• Why is it here - A relatively new idea. I chose one or more of the links on my blog and discuss why I picked it (e.g., About 51313 Harbor Street. This is actually the second time I placed this blog among my daily reads. The first time....)

• Post-100 Fact about Me - Another new idea. I reveal an unknown facet about, well, me (e.g., I've stalked people.)

• My Mind - A rambling, essay-esque to and fro discussion about a subject I feel strongly about at that time (e.g., They're gorgeous. So why can't they find The One? or Single Folks: the New Pariah?)

***Catching up***

I've fallen behind in reading blogs regularly and am debating how to catch up. I've caught up with the 24/7 ones but not the others. Any suggestions?

***Congradulations. You are the proud owners of....***

Newest addition to the family:

(Image was found on the Internet and all rights belong to its owner.)

We'll be picking up the car tonight. I'm already in the process of finding a new home for my Dodge Neon. The Spouse will be clearing out the Mazda 626 in preparation for my ownership.

Interesting. A couple of weeks ago I asked one of my co-workers' Magic Eight Ball if I'd have a new car by year's end. The answer: Definitely. Are coincidences amazing?

***When it rains....***

Returned to work yesterday. Mine was a snooze fest: half the department's gone on vacation. Same with the other (more noisier) department whom we share the space. So glad we have plenty of coffee flowing from the breakroom.

The Spouse had the opposite experience. Double-double books into the tiny 15 minute slots. And late patients who-of course--are wondering why the doctor can't see them immediately even though they're a half-hour to over an hour late. Uh, hello! Those slots were filled, too. (What happens is that the late patients get seen first, pissing off the patients who arrived on time. Grrr.)

Worse, we had a call from the Honda dealership. The car has arrived. Unfortunately so did rain. But we made it to the dealership within a good hour before it closed. Lots of time to test drive and negotiate, right? Well...the car's not been processed yet. No fuses to see the interior and barely any gas. Argh! We stomped off the lot and chomped through food at Marie Callendars to rid ourselves of frustration. I played the sympathetic spouse while TS ranted and raved at the stupidity of humanity.

Overall, a mediocre day.

***Hightlights***

Been gone a while.

Last Monday (December 20th), The Spouse and I finished the anime series, Hunter X Hunter. Wow. What an incredible series. From the main character sacrificing a limb to the ingenious methods in defeating their opponents, we have not enjoyed a series so much in such a long time. We then received the latest installment of the series, Naruto, shortly afterwards. Yikes! We totally agree as to why the series is number one in Japan and can't wait for the next installment. Hurry up, Hong Kong!

Enjoyed my time last Tuesday with my friends G. and C. Spoke of books, holiday plans, and cars. I didn't know C. was an autophile.

Friday The Spouse and I enjoyed waking up very late. We ate out and walked around a lot. I finalized all the gifts and cards. Whew! Thankfully my family loves gift certificates.

We wanted to check out the Accord Hybrid but the salesfolks at the dealership were quite rude.

Celebrated the holidays (Saturday) down in Temecula with my parents and siblings and their respective spouses. Got lots of gifts this year including a surprise from one of my sisters. She knows me too well.

My nephew is so cute! And a very active child: he constantly wanted to crawl everywhere. Very interactive with everyone around us.

R., unfortunately, was on-call and couldn't join us.

We checked out again the local Honda dealership on Sunday, getting more comfortable with the idea of the Accord Hybrid.

Note: the $30,000+ car has no spare tire. There's no sunroof and exterior/interior colors are extremely limited. And state law allowing hybrid cars (not SUVs) to use the diamond lanes violates federal law.

But the gas mileage is 30 miles per gallon (mpg) in the city and 39 mpg on the freeway. The car uses regular gasoline (as opposed to TS's current car which uses premium.) Amazingly, the engine's even more powerful than the standalone V-6 found in the Accord. And the new car's nicely appointed: leather everything, lots of airbags, nicely appointed fit and finish.

We hope to get the car by week's end depending on the latest arrivals. R. wants the silver with the light grey interior. Then, as planned, I'll get the Mazda 626 (with its 168k miles) and get rid of my (sniff) Dodge Neon. I'll drive the former through 2005. What happens next depends on the Mazda and our financial situation. If the car starts to break down, we'll start to look around for another vehicle (new or pre-owned). Otherwise, I'll start looking (again) for the replacement shortly after Thanksgiving.

Ended the evening starting a new anime series, Detective Conan.