Honda dealership vs. mechanic

Roused myself out of bed at 6:30 this morning to get to the dealership at 7. My car's maintenance light has been on for a couple days and the last time I ignored a dashboard warning, I ended up on the side of the freeway without even my hazard lights working.

So here I am at the Honda dealership. I am one of those suckers that still comes here even though my car is no longer under warranty. My sister Marisa works in the car industry and says dealerships love people like me because we feed them money.

Anyhoo, the car needs valve adjustment and sparks something (they're printing out the exact problems now). The repairs total over $500. I could not swallow this today. Especially since I know I'm being overcharged for just being at the dealership and a mechanic could do it, now that I know the problem, much more cheaply.

It's a time vs. money issue. Do I take the time to take my car to another mechanic who will fix the car cheaper? Or just deal with it here since I'm already 90 minutes into it?

The last guy who fixed my car is in Lawndale, which is not close to me. It would take time and coordination to get down there, arrange a ride back up to L.A., arrange a ride back there when it's done and who knows if the guy could even take me today.

I read up on other mechanics closer to my home. You have to make an appointment for the most highly recommended one, according to Yelp, which would take more time and effort on my part.

I'm splitting the difference: fixing the most pressing issue with the car (valves) and saving the other for when I can schedule an appointment with the mechanic I read about on Yelp.

This decision is still costing me more than $300. But $300 is better than $500, and I bought peace of mind for a couple weeks.

Happiness is fitting into my size 4 slacks

I wore the size 4 pants that hadn't fit me in years for the second time today. Joy!

The first time they fit again, I thought is was a fluke, but today confirmed, I am not busting out of them.

I purchased these black slacks back in 2008 almost at the end of my South American/Mexico travels. I had contemplated buying a six 6 then but my aunt Hedy told me the 4's looked better. They did then but it's been years since that happened again.

I give my husband Chris all the credit for this. He is a good influence. He LIKES eating healthy. I think this is unusual, as I tend to hear about the male spouse with the appetite for delicious, fattening food. And Chris is a runner, a slim guy naturally. This motivates me to exercise at least half the time he does. A fly on the wall would have a good laugh, if they had a sense of humor, watching me watch Chris do his nightly "sits and pushes" (sit-ups and push-ups) while I nosh on something. Yes, I WATCH him do it without the slightest bit of guilt. I know if I did this every night I'd have great abs too but that's not what motivates me: fitting into my clothes without the washboard is fine by me.

We had a housewarming party Sunday filled with fried, delicious snacks. Who's the one who can't stop eating the leftover queso? Me! Velveeta is just as tasty hot as it is sitting in a crockpot for a day or so. Who would have known?

That said, I need to get rid of our leftovers stat. I kinda have an issue with overdoing it. Better not to have sweets, junk around. I ate a lot of the cake I made for Chris on Valentine's Day. We also have half a carrot cake left from Sunday and I love carrot cake. Had it for breakfast on Monday.

When I am feeling lazy, like this morning, I just think of my pants and that gets me out of bed and running. Running is tough and grueling, and I'm slow, but it keeps the calories off and the pants on.

Oscars, schmoscars

Chilled out from a long Oscar nominations day and watched A Prophet. I recommend.

I am not cut out for this

Rough day at work. I am not cut out for the fast-paced google/trending-chasing world.

At a staff meeting today we were told we need to work faster. We need to answer our #1 boss's emails faster. 20 minutes is not acceptable. When we get e-mails from the Big Boss we need to drop whatever we're doing, answer her and do what she wants.

I also found out this week that the Big Boss was not happy to one of my replies to her emails. I work my ass off and that's what I'm known for with her. I said I mostly read the N.Y. Times' art section and didn't see the front page story about the "children's author that inspired the movie Babe's" death.

On Saturday night, formally "on-call" hours have turned into 911s every time a missive rolls down from the Palisades; we're expected to jump like lapdogs once the Huffington Post has posted that Aretha Franklin wants Halle Berry to play her in a biopic.

This is not my pace.

I was told I needed to "play the game" better and more, i.e., I need to appear more enthusiastic through emails in order to sound like I'm doing my job. The fact that I'm online from 8:30am to 10:30pm on Saturdays is not proof enough.

Deep breaths. Focus. Remember this is not the goal. Working at a university is the goal. Getting a Master's is a goal.

I will never ever deal with people the way the Big Boss deals with us. The hierarchical communication is a morale buster.

My old employers were not perfect but they all knew our names, had lunch with us, made sure we were all part of the holiday celebration. The top guy in the company was not above dining with the workers. This is not the case in The Hollywood Reporter's editorial department.

Jan. 1. 2011

Packed up armoire (sp?) for move to new apartment tomorrow. There is an 80% chance of rain. With apartment's white carpets, that's a 99% chance of dirty.

True Grit was alright. Don't think anyone would care about it if it wasn't a Coen Brothers movie. A Serious Man was better. No County For Old Men worse.

New Year's Day hike to Paseo Miramar in the Palisades. We made good time. Warmed up quickly.