Christmas shopping is stressful

The worst part about Christmas is picking out the right gift for someone. My mom’s gift was easy. She’s horrible with directions, and always ends up calling me to help her find her way to her destination. So of course the gift I got for her (and I believe it’s safe to write about it, since she’s too busy to read my blog) is a Tom Tom GPS unit. I researched for a few weeks on pricing, and was dead set on the widescreen version which was almost $100 cheaper on Amazon.com than in stores and other retailers. But the day I went to buy it, it was sold out. FANTASTIC! So I went to Wal-Mart and spent about $130 since it was on sale there, although not the widescreen model.

The hard part now is finding Dad something comparable to the gift I got to my mom. So that means no sox, undies, shirts, sweatshirts.. I need (yes, need, as in I still have to shop for him…) to come up with something that’s going to be resourceful for him. The problem is that my constant nagging for a list from him, has done no good as I have nothing to refer to… He owns his own construction company, but any tool you can think of, he’s got. I think that’s why I’ve procrastinated shopping the past few days (and even right now) is that I have no clue what to buy. Everyone keeps suggesting to finish his company’s website, but I’ve had to put that aside since I’m at a block for it… Maybe a “Under Construction” (lol) animated GIF icon? O.o

My grandparents are quite easy. It’s always a joint gift, and usually my dad goes all out anyway. But my grandma is in dire need of a new coffee pot. She’s had her current one for god knows how many years (probably as old as I am!) so I’ll be replacing that for her.. And then it’s just my two younger sisters (14, and 17.) I’m all for stupid little gifts leading into something better.

Morgan loves horchata so when I was at Wal-Mart the other day I found this package of the stuff that requires only the liquids (milk or water I think) so I got that for her.. Now it’s just a matter of figuring out what else she needs. Or perhaps maid service to clean up the room that literally has no floor since it’s all covered in clothes..?

Nicolle was another easy one. She uses my makeup bag all the time. I get woken at 5:30am sometimes to hear her ask “Can I pleeease pleeease pleeease use your makeup?” To which I yell at her grouchily to get out my room and “No you can’t!” Though that doesn’t stop her seeing as though after the last word is out my mouth I’m fast asleep again. So I’ll be getting her a nice little makeup bag with all the makeup she’ll need, so she can stop bothering me about it.

The other person that I have to shop for is my boyfriend Armando. But he reads atourworst.org so he’s crazy if he thinks I’m gonna write about it. All I know is that I think it’s a super-dooper awesome idea, and he’ll just have to sit there and wait until either Christmas Eve or Day to get his gift. Although I’m sure it’ll be Day since I think he has family plans on the Eve.

So this just leads me back to my dad. He always seems to spoil my mom around Christmas (and us kids.) I just wish I knew the perfect gift for him so I could return the years of lame gifts he’s gotten over the years.

What can go wrong, will go wrong

Do you ever feel like when something good happens, one thing or many things go wrong that can circumvent the good? I suppose sometimes it’s some sort of morbid self-fulfilling prophecy, or hell, Murphy’s Law. And oddly enough it always involves my car.

At the end of last week, I had a phone call for a job interview downtown. The interview is set for today at 1:30pm. So last night I decided that I wanted to run out to pick up some more shampoo and conditioner, as well as take a look at getting a new pair of shoes for the interview. Well, I hope my cheery ass into the car, turn the key in the ignition, and press my foot on the brake…

Oh, but wait, what’s this! When I press down on the brake, all I hear is the pressure from doing it. I’m supposed to hear the brake unlocking the gear shift so I can take it out of park. Since I’m a stubborn bull, I sat there for 15 minutes pumping the brake, turning the car off and on, and cursing the piece of shit to oblivion. No dice. My mom ended up pulling into the driveway, so I hopped in her Escape Hybrid, and went along my merry way.

As my family and friends know, anything that goes wrong with my car, I have my dad look at. It was already 9PM (and dark) so there wasn’t much he could do. So I did what any nerd would do. I googled the problem. I ended up finding a Yahoo! Answers page, which mentioned popping off a little cap, and manually override the gear shift lock. OH WUT.

So this morning, I wake up and the firs thing I did was go to my car to see if it was coming out of park. No dice. Cue me starting to panic, wondering how the fuck I’m going to make it downtown for this interview. So I hopped back online and googled more, then I finally came across the Owners manual for a 1999 Ford Escort (ZX2) (pdf link). Page 96 explains that if your gear shift is locked, there’s an override that you do for it.

I grabbed a mini-screwdriver and marched my determined ass back outside to get this piece of shit in gear (lol @ pun.) I found the little cap next to the gear shift, which oddly enough, I have honestly never noticed before despite having this car almost four years. Popped the cap off, stuck the screwdriver in and got the gear shift unlocked. WOO!

That little issue is fixed, and I’m hoping to God that nothing else happens between now and my interview at 1:30pm. I don’t think I can handle anymore “surprises.” Although if something does happen, it’s just further proof that A.) I don’t need a full-time job, B.) I’m going to be stuck finding my own work for the rest of my life, C.) I need a new car.

100% of me is leaning towards option C. I like it better.