Living the SLO Life

I declare Living the SLO Life officially closed. My time has become too valuable to spend typing away in this little window every night. Perhaps, at some later date, I'll start updating again. But for now, you can stop checking to see if I've written. To my loyal readers: thank you. It has meant a lot to me to know there are those of you out there who are interested in my day-to-day life. I still want to keep in touch with all of you, so please feel free to call me any time.

I wish you all the best.

Sincerely yours,
Josh

So here I am, sitting in the study of my grandma's house in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Blockbuster happened to give me this weekend and this Tuesday off, and I got someone to cover my Monday shift. So with my four days off, Dad and I are finally able to make the trip home here to visit the family (in less than 24 hours' notice, no less). How exciting!

We had planned to leave San Diego on Saturday and get to Milwaukee in the evening, and then return to San Diego on Tuesday. But Dad discovered a red-eye flight that left at 11pm last night, so we decided to go for it despite it's potential for being too full to accommodate us. (My cousin Adam is a pilot for Continental; we get free tickets. The downside is that you're standby passengers, with the paying customers always getting priority (for good reason). So we were risking being turned away in San Diego...or worse, getting the first flight to Cleveland and then not being able to find an open connection to Milwaukee.) Long story short, there were a few no-shows on both flights and we were able to squeeze on to both of them. We landed at Mitchell Field just outside of downtown Milwaukee just after 9am central time. It had been a pretty miserable eight hours preceding our arrival: I had been seated in the very last row on the first (and longer) flight, and thus I could not recline my seat. I was also on the aisle, so all the people congregating around the restroom kept bumping into me. I spent the entire flight sleeping in about twenty-second intervals. Oh well...I got a good long nap in at Grandma's before heading over to Aunt Mary's in the afternoon. And who can complain about free plane tickets for a trip we had been planning for less than a day?

So our trip here should be a pleasant one. Nothing big planned...not enough time. But the weather is beautiful, with an absence of bugs and humidity. And we'll have lots of good visiting with the family I haven't seen in a couple of years, and of course all of the good food we Californians are deprived of: Cousin's cheesesteak subs, Rocky Rococo's pizza, and all the fresh frozen custard you can shake a stick at. Woot!

In other news, I received a phone call from another AAA person last week. This woman identified herself as the person who would be determining who was at fault in the accident. I told her my whole side of the story, and after telling her about the witnesses she seemed to think that we might have a case (the default, of course, being that I am wholly at fault simply because the guy on the motorcycle had the right-of-way) . The woman said that a witness's statement that the biker was speeding might be enough to place some of the blame on him, which is all that I'm looking to do here. I'm not saying that I'm not partially at fault. The guy had the right-of-way, and it was my responsibility to make sure there were no oncoming cars before pulling out into traffic. But the fact remains that the accident would have been easily avoided if the biker wasn't speeding and if he had been watching where he was going (which he admitted to the SLO PD officer that he wasn't). So yay...I'm glad my insurance company is actually going to investigate rather than simply paying all the bills and jacking up my rates accordingly.

Work at Blockbuster has been going well. I've not been getting as many hours lately, but I've also not been bored. Some more hours (and therefore more wages) would be nice. Actually, I would really like to transfer up to the SLO store and keep the job during the year, hopefully working only a short shift or two each week. I don't want to kill myself here, but some extra spending money would sure be nice. And heck, if I enjoy the job then I might as well do it, right? My manager said she'd recommend me to the store up north, and since I'm already trained I figure I have a pretty good shot at getting hired there. So we'll see what kind of schedule I can arrange for myself in a week or so when I register for classes. And if I have an evening or two off (like Tuesdays and Thursdays after band?), then I'll seriously consider keeping the job.

And that's what's new around these parts. I hope everyone reading this have been having good summers. I'll talk to you all soon.

The cheese stands alone,
Josh

mood: good
music: none
location: Grandma's house, Waukesha, WI

Quoted Randomness:
[on her experience with car accidents]
"My forte is hitting parked objects."
--Jenna Santy

I was in a car accident today. My "first" car accident ever. Instead of retelling it all (as I've been over the story many times today) I'm just going to copy and paste the report I typed up for my own personal memory aid.

--------------------------------------------

7/28/2005

12:50 PM

"Up Toro" refers to away from the freeway; "down Toro" refers to towards the freeway.

I was pulling out of the driveway of 634 Toro St. (Courtney's house) to make a left to go up Toro. Cars were parked along the street (specifically, on my side of the street, just to my left) so I could not see any oncoming traffic well. A black pickup truck coming down Toro turned left into the driveway across and slightly up Toro from 634. In this truck were the four people who witnessed the accident about to occur. I nosed out into Toro, because I could not see around the cars parked along the side of the street. From my left, Rahul was driving his red motorcycle down Toro, accelerating from the stop sign at Toro and Walnut. I believe he was going very much faster than the speed limit (25mph in a residential area), as he was speeding up to get on the freeway (the collision occurred 100ish yards from the freeway onramp). I slammed on my brakes and came to a stop before the collision occurred, but I did not have enough time to try to back up into the driveway again. Rahul's motorcycle struck the left side of my car, in front of the front-left wheel. Rahul flew off the bike landing on the other side of my car (the witnesses agreed that he bounced off of my hood). The bike lay in front of my car after the accident, facing up Toro. Rahul immediately got up after landing on the pavement and hobbled over to the side of the road to sit on the curb. I do not know where exactly he landed on the pavement because he got up before I could see. I turned off my car immediately after the accident, leaving it blocking the side of Toro heading towards the freeway. Two of the witnesses came over immediately and helped me move Rahul's motorcycle out of the road, at Rahul's request. Rahul told me to move my car too, but another of the witnesses, Della, advised me to leave it where it was until the police told me to move it. I left the car parked where it was.

The ambulance showed up first. The paramedics gave Rahul a quick exam and determined that he was in no immediate danger. They recommended that he be taken to the hospital to get his foot checked out, which Rahul was unable to stand on. Rahul reported no other pain. He evidently hurt his foot from landing on the pavement, possibly breaking it.

A CHP officer showed up next. The call he received said that the accident had occurred on the freeway, which is why he responded. As this was not the case, the CHP officer took no other "official" action. He did tell me to move my car so that the road would be clear as soon as the ambulance left.

The SLO PD officer showed up next. He took down my information as well as Rahul's, and had both of us give our side of the story for the report. I told him more or less what I have written above. Rahul said that he had been looking at the black pickup truck, and when he turned back to watch where he was going, I was in the street and he couldn't avoid me.

Della said she would talk to my insurance company, saying that she thought Rahul was indeed exceeding the speed limit.

People had left by about 1:35 PM.

--------------------------------------------

I have since talked to my parents and our insurance agency. The claims agent I spoke with said that she thinks I'm going to be the one at fault, simply because the motorcycle had the right of way. Even if I can prove Rahul was speeding (my only hope: Della the witness), the agent said that she thought our insurance would have to cover all of my damages, all of his damages, and 80-90% of his medical bill. This, frankly, irks me to no end. I certainly can't say that this wasn't partly my responsibility, but I am NOT completely at fault. But what can I do? Mom says the insurance company would rather assume liability than spend any time deliberating over the cause of the accident. So that pretty much just blows.

And now, for my readers' personal enjoyment, here's a charming photograph of the damage:

There you go. Isn't that just loverly?

If you're looking for a bright side to this, here's one: I didn't have anything to do today, but luckily I was thoroughly entertained with calls to parents and insurance agents and such. So hooray.

And I saved this for last to brighten the mood somewhat: the SLO PD officer had a license plate frame on the back of his motorcycle that said "Smile...I could be behind you."

Check left, right, and left again,
Josh

mood: not so great
music: none
location: Courtney's room, San Luis Obispo, CA

I don't have too much to write about, as I haven't had a day off from work since the last time I wrote. But a couple of noteworthy things happened today, so here we go.

First, some of my family from my mom's side came down to visit today (specifically, my Aunt Rebecca and my cousins Colin, Austin, and Erin). I hadn't seen them in quite a few years, so that was kind of cool. Not much else to say about that...

I also went to the gym today. There, I ran into my favorite teacher of all time: Mrs. Evans, who taught me humanities in seventh grade. I've kept in touch with her pretty regularly as far as past teachers go, but I haven't seen her in several months. So I chatted with her for a few minutes, and that was awesome.

I started work at five, and while at work I came across another two people whom I haven't seen in years. The first was my third grade teacher, Mrs. Brown. I didn't really have time to talk to her too much, as I was checking people out at the time. But still, that's one more person from my past. The second person I ran into was much more interesting of an encounter. His name is Casey Gallagher. He didn't remember me, but I remembered him. How? He used to bully me in first and second grade. I haven't seen him since he was promoted from elementary school...but I still remember him. It's funny though. Parents always tell you that the people who beat you up when you were little are the people who eventually grow up to commit crimes and fill our prisons and such. But Casey certainly didn't seem like a bad person. On the contrary: he was very polite to me. So that made me feel pretty good. Kids are brats when they're little. But seeing Casey today kind of put my ancient feelings about him to rest. Water under the bridge, right? Right.

And that was about it. I know...nothing too spectacular. But I had to share these encounters just because they all happened on the same day. Weird huh? When it rains, it pours.

It's in the comedy section,
Josh

mood: tired from standing up at work
music: Friends in the background
location: Mom's house

Quoted Randomness:
"I am the customer service department."
--Courtney von Bergen

All right, all right! I'm frickin' writing already! Jeez...

Work at Blockbuster has been good; I enjoy it much more than the work I did at In-N-Out. I find I can spend much longer hours at the video store without getting tired of it, and this makes up for the slightly lower pay. My job is generally the same when I'm there. I check-in movies (which consists of opening them to check that the right DVD is in them, scanning each one into the computer, and organizing them back onto the shelves in the store), I check out movies (which I enjoy the most...getting to work the register is fun), and I help customers with whatever needs they might have (generally, do we have movies, where are the movies, etc.). I also answer phones, which is something I've never gotten to do before. There are also occasional other jobs...like moving the movies around in the store: new movies are released on Tuesdays, and we have to fit them into their proper places on the shelves.

Friday and Saturday evenings are our busiest times (shockingly), and so it is Blockbuster's decision to pay someone to be "active salesperson." The description of this job includes putting on a bright red apron and approaching every customer in the store to see if they need any help, and also to see if they're interested in any of the promotions going on in the store (currently, the Rewards program). I strongly dislike this job, mostly because I feel like a pushy salesperson when I do it. Many of the people I approach feel that way too, because they're already blowing me off before I finish my first statement to them. I'm supposed to suggest a promotion to every customer, but I only do to the ones who seem at least moderately receptive. So when I'm greeted with a look of "what the hell are you about to try and sell me?" I'm usually satisfied with terminating the encounter as soon as they tell me they don't need any help finding anything. So yeah...that job kind of sucks...but it's only once a week. And it's fun when I come across people who are willing to chat with me.

On the blood bank front, I've only been finding a moderate amount of time to devote to volunteering. Blockbuster has been working me more and more (I'm working over 40 hours next week...woot for overtime pay!) and I've had to cut back on helping out the San Diego Blood Bank. But I do find a few hours each week, and it's usually enjoyable...as long as I don't do it for too long of a time. I find myself bored quite frequently when I'm there; there just isn't enough for me to do. But I still enjoy it, because it's something good to do, and I feel good about myself when I do it.

As for the rest of my time (which I find is becoming a little sparse), I've been watching lots of movies, reading books (currently, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), going to the gym, and generally just finding ways to entertain myself. I've got enough to do...but good thing I found a job, because I'd be soooo bored. But, long story short, I am enjoying myself.

Consider yourselves updated.

It's $14.99 for a year-long membership,
Josh

mood: okay...but I have to work for the next eight days straight
music: watching Friends
location: Dad's house