Year 1
I had a really depressed moment yesterday when I acknowledged that August marked the one year point of me being unemployed. Never had I imagined back when I decided to make the move that Iād have this much difficulty finding a job...a few months, maybe, but a whole year? I mean, yes, thereās also the other voice in my head sayingĀ āwell you wanted a break, so you got a really nice one...now stop being ungrateful.ā And itās true--I had a friend who took a good amount of time after grad school till she decided to re-enter the workforce, and I remember being sooooo jealous and wished for that, too. So that wish came true, and here I am complaining about it, haha. But the truth is less in the unemployment aspect, but in both the bruised ego of being rejected from the 126 jobs Iāve applied for (yes, Iāve kept count), and coming to value the importance of good health insurance. I mean, it was my fault to buy the cheapest one available, but when you think itās only going to last a couple of months, it makes sense at the time.
In our relationship, Iām the more outwardly optimistic one, while Cook tends to express her pessimism much more, whether or not she is truly a pessimist. So I find itās not a bad thing for me to cry once in a while cuz it reminds Cook she needs to step into the role of āoptimistic oneā once in a while, too. She reminded me that while the job thing didnāt work out as planned, nor is our home sale going as smoothly as planned, WE worked out (not literally of course, we are so out of shape). But yes, as cheesy as it sounds and well, is, I did come to admit it was the most important thing. I gave up a good job, a nice house, good weather, and being near my parents to come here to this weird state with gross weather, gross bugs, bad drivers, and squirrels eating cars. Had our relationship also not worked out, it would have all been for naught. Sometimes I forget that we were facing the grand challenge of not just being in the same geographical area finally, but of learning to live together while we both were experiencing some of the biggest changes of our lives. I think in my mind I had been so sure that our relationship would work out, that Iād genuinely forgotten the possibility that it could have also all just gone horribly wrong.
Itās easy to take for granted the things that do work out and focus on the ones that didnāt. Itās one of those endless life lessons that you know and get, and yet you simultaneously donāt know and donāt get. And thatās why itās important to have people--be it a partner, a sibling, or a best friend--to be there to remind you of the good things, and help give you hope when your own vision gets cloudy. So yes, Iām still going to need to find a job, sell our house, and better adjust to the new environment, but having my people creates the foundation for all those things. So today Iām choosing to be grateful instead of sad, to celebrate the time Iāve been able to be with my girlfriend this past year, and to thank all my friends and family who have been nothing but supportive while I cried and complained and reminded me to laugh.
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New Yearās Check In With Prada
Hey losers, yep, itās Prada here. Sup?
New year, new me. Ever since Cookās been adding a lilā somethinā somethinā in my food**, Iāve been feeling GREAT! Ting on the other hand...wondering why she hasnāt written in her blog for ages? Well sheās been glued to the TV playing weird games where you just break things. Yeah, I donāt get it either, I mean whoād rather be doing that than petting and cuddling me? *shakes head* Canāt believe thereās someone in this household lazier than I am. So I guess itās up to me to keep this blog running, and Iām gonna bless yāall with a fantastic belated Christmas gift--photos of ME. I know, youāre welcome.
Yea I know Iām badass. Channeling my inner Phantom there, haunting Ting cuz she apparently brought with her the coldest winter in like, my entire lifetime. I thought she was from California so sheād bring sun with her. *rolls eyes* At least I can rest on the furnace.
But yea, what else does one do when itās winter besides hibernate? I just sleep,
and sleep,
and sleep, even if itās uncomfortable, as long as I get Tingās body heat.
She keeps me warm I guess...
Itās not cuz Iām clingy or anything, OBVIOUSLY NOT...nope. DONāT YOU DARE GET OUT OF BED, TING.
In exchange I keep an eye on her car...I believe sheāll have more squirrel updates for yāall later.
Then itās back to napping. I mean throwing down. I mean...both? Yes, both is good.
One time they came home too quickly, and I didnāt get to shut off the computer in time. Stop judging, I KNOW you guys went to Atlantic City without me.
Look at me Iām so cute. Love me.
Uh...help me out please? Mom? Stop pointing that thing at me and help me out! Iāll do anything! Even the French girls pose!
Dang it. She helped me out...well, as promised. Ugh, this is so embarrassing I canāt even look at the camera...can we blur my face out at least?
I feel like this post was a mistake...must be karma. I promise not to talk crap about Ting again, sigh. Iām just gonna lie here and mope now. Until next time, awesome nerds.
**blog-ownerās note: joint pills prescribed by her doc, we aināt doping our cat or anything
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Jug Handles, Loops, and Circles OH MY~
Considering it took me 20 minutes to get a new license in NJ and in Cali you have to jump through hoops and hurdles, it sure seems way easier driving in California than here. First of all, you can actually get ticketed for driving in theĀ āpassing laneā if youāre not trying to pass someone. Secondly, the license numbers are a million numbers long, so it seems unlikely Iāll have it memorized like I had my Cali one. Thirdly, there were no neighbors in Cali reversing on the street randomly to ram into you (ok that oneās not fair, Iām just bitter). But those are all minor details. When talking to anyone else thatās not originally from here, we can all agree that the worst is something youād think shouldnāt be so annoying--TRYING TO MAKE A LEFT TURN. Letās not even talk about U-turns...but trying to make a left here is a series of loops and handles and confusion. You canāt even rely on Google necessarily, cuz theyāre not right 20% of the time. Yes, when even Google is confused, maybe that says something.
Love Handles, not Jug Handles!
So the hard part is that left turn signals do exist, you just have to know where they are. If you start expecting loops or jug handles, most likely youāll be in the wrong lane cuz TA DA! Hereās a left! From my experience so far, there hasnāt been any general rule of thumb where theyāre placed, you just have to know. So the two commonĀ āright laneā left turns are 1) veering off to a side street before the intersection and making a left there or 2) going past the intersection to enter a loop. Most of the time, both of those merges are horrific, so maybe youāve made intersection traffic more smooth, but youāve made a congested mess on the side street. Often times youāll see a sign like this:
That essentially meansĀ āthereās a narrow lane around the plaza you can loop around.ā Thereās one I havenāt been able to get a photo of that we find the most ridiculous, because the sign for the U and Left Turns literally points into the parking lot of the corner plaza, asking you to do your turning that way. ĀÆ\_(ć)_/ĀÆ
Speaking of these causing terrible merges, one of our favorites is the one outside the local college. Yup, a college, so you can imagine there are a lot of cars coming in and out. Apparently, they make it so itās pretty easy to get into the college (upper left), but you want to leave? Well, good luck! As you exit from the college into the loop so that you can eventually go right, you go from a two lane exit to a this terrible, bad visibility merge halfway through the loop. Basically if you donāt know what youāre doing, itās very easy to get into an accident. Aside from the near misses Iāve seen, itās just bad in general to have a merge so quickly, as it can back up traffic into the intersection. Yay, what great planning!
Here We Go Loop-dee-loop!
Below in red is what I mentioned before regarding the jug handle left. But my favorite here in blue is how you often have to make U-Turns. Basically itās telling you to loop, attempt to merge, then loop, attempt to merge again. AKA itās gross. Enough said.
Traffic Circle of Death
Luckily we donāt have that many traffic circles back in Cali, but the consistent rule Iāve seen is that right of way goes to those already in the circle. But here, apparently, each town has their own rule...so you just have to know. GREAT! Not dangerous or confusing at all. Hereās one we often drive through that is gross. Luckily, weāre mostly just in the red route, and Iāve learned to stick to the outer lane. If youāre in the inner, you can get to be like the blue and pink friends here and get stuck forever. Iāve often seen anywhere up to 10 cars get backed up in those waiting lanes, and itās nasty. And trying to switch out of the lanes is dangerous, too, because visibility is so poor. Not a fan.
All this said, with all these gross designs, the first accident I get into is because someone randomly reverses into me a few feet from my house. So I guess you get used to it, and it becomes normal, and people deal with it just fine. But having just left a traffic engineering firm, I felt obligated to complain about it in a blog post. :P
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Lost In Space
I havenāt been writing in here as often as I intended, and I realize itās because Iām often having trouble finding my words lately. I think in the past when Iāve felt that way, I could sit at the piano and play and play till the wheels started turning again. But now I just look at my instruments, sigh, and walk away. I find myself more easily frustrated, feel like things donāt make a lot of sense, but I canāt really pinpoint why. And Iām the type of person that NEEDS to know why. So I finally sat down and gave it some thought.
Moving to New Jersey was all about stepping outside my comfort zone--something Iād dare say Iāve rarely ever done in my life. When I was young, I was too afraid. When I was bolder, I could no longer afford it. Now Iām finally at a point where Iām blessed enough to have a chance to explore, and I just. donāt. know. what. Iām. doing. Iāve always played it safe--studied a major I didnāt love but knew I could get decent grades in, took jobs I didnāt love but knew I could get by in. I played roles I knew how to play. I knew what I needed to do to be aĀ āgood Chinese daughterā and be praised by Auntie So-and-so. Now I finally have an opportunity to discover what truly fulfills and pleases me without judgment, and I realize I have no idea how to. Iāve learned that stepping out of your comfort zone is more like leaving earth--you donāt simply end up on another planet, but instead you start floating around in space.
Donāt get me wrong, exploring space is REALLY cool. But it opens up a bunch of new risks Iāve never faced before, and naturally means Iām going to fail more often than I used to. I donāt understand why things donāt make sense when I literally just shook my whole life up. Of course a lot of things arenāt. Of course Iām no longer going to always know what Iām supposed to do next. Of course Iām going to be more fragile than Iāve ever been. That was the whole point, Ting! I just had a job interview that pretty much ended withĀ āyouāre not a fit for this role because youāre new to the area.ā I wasnāt upset about it, but it sure gave a very clarifying sense of reality.
And so here I am, lost in space. Do I just find the next nearest planet and make a crash landing? Do I keep hoping a perfect planet will come my way before I run out of oxygen? Will I drag down the one person thatās stuck with theĀ ānew meā while I spend my days just gazing at the stars? Will I be strong enough to create new tethers for myself and discover a new normal?
I donāt know. All I know for now is Iām not going back to earth. So I better get used to sucking at things, and, frankly, suck it up.
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Prada Spam
I know itās been a while since Iāve posted, but itās hard to write much today because, as some of you know, I got in a car accident yesterday because someone reversed into me trying to get a better look at a plant? Yea, can you believe? And to think I thought my biggest car problem would be the squirrels...but weāll save my continued car troubles for another post. Until then, I was told the internet wants more pictures of Prada, so here you go:
Hi, Iām Prada. This is my usual mood. Iām humoring Ting because sheās had some real crappy luck lately. And I was promised dinner afterwards.
I like to sleep, in particular on fuzzy things like Tingās pajama pants. (Look at me Iām so cute. Come feed me.)
Does this pose make me look thinner?
This is my catnip tea bag. I like sitting on it and getting stoned.
Belly rubs are worth the embarrassing photos. Ting's still rude though.
But I forgive her sometimes cuz I like her body heat.
And because I forget sometimes Iām too old to be jumping onto sinks. But I just wanted warm water from the sink...uh...help me down please?
Worst of all, Ting likes to pose me with weird things, and I hate it. Theyāre not even edible.
What? Itās dinnertime? K internet, smell ya later.
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Moving Across the Country on a Budget
aka Why I did not U-Haul to New Jersey
When I was creating this blog, one of the suggested titles wasĀ āU-Hauled to NJ.ā For those of you who get the reference, itās indeed clever, but on the contrary, I was quite upset about not being able to literally U-haul over, so hereās the story on that.
I had barely done any moving research because Iād already decided in my head that a cargo van would be the perfect size to carry everything I wanted to carry, while not being difficult to drive, hard to park, or eat as much gas. As I merrily went to U-haulās website, I put in my parameters to find all the options EXCEPT cargo van. I went onto the customer service chat, and they confirmed that cargo vans were unavailable for cross country trips. In fact, the cheapest option was their 10 foot truck, and the quote was a whopping $2700. I was devastated.
I then expanded my search and found that Penske and Budget also did not rent cargo vans, but had 12-foot trucks available in the low $2,000s. Dang U-haul, youāre renting a smaller truck for whopping lot more. You are really milking your brand recognition.
So I went back to the drawing board and looked at all the options. Luckily quite a few of my friends were moving as well, so I learned you can ship your stuff very inexpensively through Amtrak. Yes, by train! Your stuff has to fit in 3x3 boxes, you probably wonāt want to put anything fragile in it, and you have to drop off and pick up at an Amtrak station on your own, but itāll barely cost you anything. However, as most of you know, what I was hauling over was mostly my collectibles, so that was out of the question for me. But awesome knowledge!
PODS Iāve heard is generally pretty safe, but they also quoted upper $2000s. We started instead looking at the largest possible vehicle rented by car rental companies, which is a Ford Transit. The cost would only be in the upper $1000s, you just look kind of ridiculous driving around a 12-seater since we couldnāt exactly remove the seats for a one-way drive. Cook suggested we look into suburbans, as theyāre spacious, the cost would be mid $1000s, and their seats go forward--and thatās when we got lucky.
When Cook mentioned that the seats fold, I automatically assumed she meant down instead of forward. I called Avis to ask if they had the newer models that did fold down, and the very helpful lady said suburban seats donāt fold down, but they had minivans that did. She told me to just call the morning of the rental and request a Chrysler Pacifica, and Iād be set. I looked up the prices of a minivan rental, and it was just around $1k with taxes and fees. SWEEEET!!!
Now the only downside is I spent like a month and a half in anxiety worrying what if I didnāt get that van specifically. Luckily, my credit card came with Avis Preferred, so I figured if anything that should increase my chances for priority car selection. So I called bright and early at 6am, said I needed the stow n go, and a couple of hours later, the app showed my Chrysler Pacifica was waiting for me to pick up its keys. WHEW!
So many of you have probably heard me blab about this van, but man, it was really solid. All the back seats folded down into the ground, giving me ample space--I essentially got the cargo van I had wanted in the beginning. At no point (even when we were climbing up what felt like a billion feet in Colorado) did it feel like we were hauling my collectibles, clothes, 4 guitars, and a few pieces of furniture. The drive was smooth and steady and secure. A++. Thank you, Pacifica. Thank you, helpful Avis lady. Bless stow n gos!
So what did we learn? U-haul may be the way to go for local moves, but long distance, not so much (a friend of mine rented a tow trailer for a cross-country move, and they charged her a 7-day minimum). If you donāt mind spending some cash, just get a pod. If you want low budget, look into Amtrak. But if youāre somewhere in between like me, look into the Chrysler Pacifica. And itās cheapest when you rent and return at an airport!
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Festival of the Sea
Long time no blog! Iāve been very busy sitting on the couch, clearly. A couple of weekends ago we went up to Point Pleasant for the seafood festival! Cookās aunt insisted I had to see it at least once. Cookās parents said itās terrible and the lines are insane. So I didnāt really know what to expect, lol.Ā
Luckily, as we are late risers in general, we made it to the festival at 2ish, and the lines were not as dreadful as Iād feared. There were all kinds of booths selling all sorts of things--in fact what sold me into going was that there was a stand that sold Lego minifigs. We didnāt end up buying any of them, but it was so great to see such a stand outside of a fan convention!
The saddest thing that Cook noted was that it used to be set up so that from far away you could see the entrance to the fair, which was a cute petting zoo. It would get all the kids excited and made it feel very welcoming and warm. This year, at both entrances to the fair were large (garbage?) trucks, parked to form a blockade for safety. We also saw SWAT officers roaming the crowd. While appreciated, it was sad to know public events have come to this. :(
Now back to happier things--food! There were 5-6 local restaurants that had booths serving lobster roll, but I didnāt actually get any. Why? Because one of the stands had a BOMB lobster macĀ ān cheese and after I ate that I did not have any room left for anything else. I figured at least I now knew there were all these local places that had good lobster rolls, so in time Iāll hit them all up. There was also a stand with freshly shucked oysters, a sushi place selling hand rolls, and this awesome-looking seafood paella.
The mug was mine to keep! Except it was really heavy to carry around later so I semi-regretted it. I thought the lobster was just a bit on top, but there was actually plenty throughout. #worthit
There were, of course, options for non-seafoodies like Cook, who got a very tasty meatball sandwich. We also overheard some girls who were talking about one of the booths with wine tasting. She was very proud of the hat they gave out as a gift there lol.
All in all a fun and tasty time, and it introduced me to a few local seafood restaurants that I definitely want to try now. Hooray for food! And yes, the title of this blog is the official name of the festival, which just gets theĀ āchicken of the seaā jingle stuck in my head...
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Oh, that whiff of NY!
After discovering another (much more minor) scratch on my car, Cook insisted I get out of the house and have fun so I wouldnāt sit on the couch and wallow. So I finally paid a visit to my friends up north.
After a few previous trips, we had decided that driving just under an hour to a big train hub and hopping on NJ Transit from there beat going to the local stop and taking a two hour ride. So about 50 minutes and $2 in tolls later, I was at Metro Park station. I had a mild panic attack after getting to the platform and not being sure which train I was waiting for (lazy me always relied on Cook), but I told myself if my younger sister can figure this out, I can, too. They didnāt end up taking my train ticket till like the 3rd to last stop which ALSO made me slightly panic, so Iāve decided that I just have general pub trans anxiety...possibly due to that one time I got terribly lost in Taiwan because the bus system made a slight change so I completely missed a stop and ended up in the wrong city.
Once I was at Penn Station I was much more relaxed, and as expected, was immediately heckled for wearing my Packers hat. I accidentally moseyed into some random international food court that was open 24 hours a day and decided Iāll have to check it out again another time. After I found where I was supposed to go, I heard a heavenly choir sing as I saw a Gong Cha across the street.
Everything was instantly better. Thank you, wintermelon oolong with aiyu and white boba!
I knew I hadnāt wanted to work in NY cuz of the 2-hour long commute, but being there further reminded me why I didnāt want to have much to do with this place--EVERYWHERE SMELLED LIKE TRASH because, well, there was trash everywhere. I suppose itās one of those things you stop smelling after a while, and maybe itās a tradeoff for access to good Asian food and boba, but I guess I havenāt reached that level of desperation yet.
Speaking of good Asian food, we had Korean bbq for dinner and man I sure miss $20 AYCE kbbq in SoCal! But while pricey, the food was very good, and definitely scratched an itch.
I was asked why I took photos of the meat pre-cooked. I said the red pops better in pictures, and the moment itās done cooking itās going in my mouth, I aināt got time to photograph it then.
I passed on dessert knowing I had another two hour trek home, so back to Penn Station I went. There was a train boarding as I arrived, and I was like SWEET and almost hopped on--luckily I hesitated just long enough to realize it was an express train and not stopping at Metro Park. Whew! Dodged one panic attack, at least. So I joined back into the crowd, staring at the screen, waiting for them to announce which platform the next train would board on.
When I try to sneak quick photos, my finger always end up in it somehow.
And so Iāll probably do that like once every month or two to get my Asian fill, but aside from that, I should really start looking at what museums and Broadway shows I want to catch. Until then, NY! Smell ya later.
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Doodle of the Day
So a different kind of post today to change things up and give yāall a break from the wordiness of yesterdayās post! My first request for a doodle (and probably the last one after she sees this) was to draw our chat group hanging out. And since they are my four loyal readers, very well then.
Hope youāre happy, dundundun. The rest of you, back to the regularly scheduled program shortly.
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The Curse of the ILX
Perhaps the biggest ticket item aside from finding a job was finding myself a car. The last time I bought a car was some 4+ years ago when a bad accident left me suddenly car-less, and having recently purchased a home I was also broke, so I bought the cheapest reliable car known to man--the Corolla. And boy did it take really good care of me the years following. Hopefully it continues to do so for the chick driving it now (hi sis!).
This time around I suddenly had options. While inclined to put myself on the waiting list for a Tesla, I figured that while I did want to treat myself a little, I should maybe look at pre-owned to make less of a dent in the savings account. After hours and hours of online research (primarily performed by the reliable Cook), it came down to a used Acura ILX, a new Mazda CX-3 or a new Honda HR-V. The latter two are crossovers which everyone in California insisted I needed (and everyone in New Jersey said AWD is NOT necessary), so I figured I had to at least look. So off we went to the dealerships.
I knew I was leaning towards the Acura so I wanted to see it first. After seeing that everything appeared to check out, we took it for a test drive. The sales agent talked about how much he loves Acuras and that he hoped I would too, we spoke to the Used Car manager who said heāll knock a little off the window price for me, and it felt good. But I didnāt want to tell people I bought a car without comparing, so I told them Iād think on it and let them know.
Next we drove to the Mazda dealer, and upon first look of the CX-3, I made a face and said letās go. We also didnāt like that the sticker price was a few grand different from the price we saw online, so we both just got a bad feeling and left pretty much immediately.
Upon first look of the HR-V, I actually really liked it. Iāve wanted a red car my whole life, and it was that pretty red that I wanted. So we walked in and chatted with the agent. He showed us this AWESOME feature that really moved me, which was that not only do the back seats fold down, the seats fold up as well, so you could put hella things in the back seat, like an entire bike! But during the test drive, the agent barely spoke a word, and I instead had to try to make conversation to avoid the awkward silence. Like did he even want to sell me the car?
Following his lack of interest in budging on the price or seemingly to sell the car to me at all, we decided that the HR-V is a fantastic car for any of you looking, but my heart was set on the Acura. I called the dealer and put down the deposit, and headed back in the next day.
And this is where it all began (I know, youāre like damn I read 7 paragraphs already and youāre just starting? Iām sorry Iāll try to be quick). We went back to the dealership to a dark showroom, to find that they had had a power outage that day, and in the whole office only one guyās computer was working. The VP had to take a photo of my license with his phone and email it to the one guy, and they had to do all the paperwork they could by hand. They were all clearly flustered and let us know that theyāve been undergoing some construction and something must have happened. The next day we picked up the car and the business manager ran into a ton of computer problems, and maybe I should have already known then to be extra paranoid...
From here a lot of you already know--within a week we had a thunderstorm and when we used the wiper I was likeĀ āhuh, whatās that weird line across my windshield?ā After confirming it wasnāt just dirty and was in fact a scratch, I just got so upset. My windshield lasted a week! ONE WEEK! We complained to the dealer who basically saidĀ āthat sucks, must be debris, sorry,ā as did insurance. The service lady also had a ton of computer problems when I dropped the car off, so we mentioned maybe we were cursed. The lady saidĀ āyea, maybe it IS you guys.ā ...excuse you.
After much agony and people telling me it was not something fixable, I finally pulled myself out of depression and got some quotes on new windshields. The replacement was quick and efficient, and Iām really praying this is the end of it.
Itās like the opposite of a convertible!
The two very nice dudes working on my car.
Afterwards we had a few questions regarding the work, and they swung back around to take another look at it and ensured it was fine. At least I have a warranty on that now, so weāll just see what happens. Cookās colleague suggested we take the car to the church across the street and get it blessed cuz it sure picked up some bad karma along the way. I pray and pray that things settle down from here, so I can finally go do some normal things like find a job and have fun.
All this and I havenāt even had a chance to blame the squirrels! ...yet.
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Something Familiar
Cook had been encouraging me to go on an adventure while Iām unemployed for a while now, but Iād just been so down in the dumps to leave the house. But I want this to be a better week, and after coming across this A++ video of a dude proposing to his gf withĀ ābeef slice roses,ā I decided it was time for some hot pot. The closest one was an hour away, but it was next door to a 99 Ranch, so I grabbed my quarters and embarked on the adventure.
So I thought I was going to a branch of Little Sheep, but it ended up being Little Lamb? ROFL. The restaurant was very clean, and I liked that they had three meal options--the weekday lunch special, a limited AYCE menu, and the full a la carte one. I figured I just drove an hour so I went with the AYCE and ate merrily!
This was Round 2 because I was STARVING when I arrived.
Fun conversations with my server:
Me: So whatās better, the AYCE or a la carte?
Server: I donāt know, I donāt eat here.
Server: So we have four broths--the house special Mongolian herbal broth, the spicy version of that, the tomato broth...which is just tomato broth, nothing special, and the clear broth...which is like, water.
Me: Could I take a look at the a la carte menu anyways for when I come again?
Server: Sure, but I wonāt be here to help you in a month!
Me: Iām...Iām sorry to hear that...
The food was very tasty, very good sauce bar and soda was included with the AYCE. They cut their tripe very thin which I liked a lot, and their intestines were not what I expected but was really light and yummy! I imagine I wonāt go too often since itās far and canāt be great for my health, but Iāll definitely keep this place in my back pocket for when I need a comfort.
Next door to the hot pot place was a bakery that I was quite pleased with. Not a HUGE selection, but some buns Iād never seen before, and this interesting taro+red bean sesame bun that got Cook declaring she never wants donuts again and just wants this forever.
Then I scurried on over to 99 and the minute I walked in, I felt like I was home. LOL I know that sound dramatic, but it was true. I was pleased to find that along with their usual bakery and hot food bar, there were also a couple takeout stands and a boba place inside as well. I didnāt end up buying a whole lot, but it just felt good to be there. Unfortunately itās really a long drive to get something that feels really like home, but itās good to know that itās there when I need it. Then again, whatās an one hour drive to a Californian anyways?
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Do cats haveĀ nightmares?
So you met Prada a couple of posts ago. Yes, Prada, like the bag. In fact, my sister specifically made a pose while asking the question, referring to the pose as THE Prada bag pose. As I know many of you love my terrible art skills, I thought Iād give you something to laugh at:
I also just wanted a chance to test out my Surface Proās sketching capabilities. Holler if you want me to draw more things.
ANYWAYS what were we talking about...oh yes, Prada the cat. Cook kept the name at the shelter for those wondering (I wondered myself), but itās been great for making jokes likeĀ āCook got a Prada!ā). She was already a senior cat when Cook adopted her many years ago, so no, she wonāt be catching squirrels for us anytime soon. Sheās also down to like, two teeth or something?
So Prada comes to bed at bedtime maybe half the time. The other half she bums elsewhere till a few hours later when she wakes up in the dark feeling lost, starts meowing till she finds out where we are, then snuggles up to Cook and continues to sleep. However, the other night, she started meowing like crazy, popped into bed between us and proceeded to purr super loudly for a good 15 minutes till Cook finally got her to calm down so we could sleep.
I was quite baffled. Cookās two theories are that either she saw something outside that spooked her or she had a nightmare. I guess it never occurred to me that that could be a thing, so of course I did some googling.
They say cats sleep 16-18 hours a day, though I have my suspicions of whether Prada is actually even awake for 6 hours a day, lol. But they do in fact have REM sleep as humans do, and can dream about experiences that have occurred in the near or distant past. As the cats get older, theyāre also more likely to twitch or have more dramatic physical movements while theyāre dreaming. Cook has seen PradaĀ ārunā in her sleep, which is another similarity to me, as I undoubtedly run more in my sleep than in real life. xD
What I found fascinating is that a catās sense of hearing and smell still remains fairly active while theyāre sleeping. After they wake up, they tend to do a lot of grooming. So given that along with her purring that night she was vigorously grooming, Iād say the nightmare theory is pretty likely!
PradaāsĀ ābut it was soooo scarryyyyā look. Or itās her saying āGTFO, idiot.ā Which is accurate? I will never know.
Now, back to waiting for her to wake up from one of those 18 hour sleeps so I can throw the sheets into the wash...
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Always Have a Quarter!
Today we are going to talk about... *insert drum roll* ...SHOPPING CARTS! Wtf, shopping carts? Are you out of your mind, Ting? Well, I thought we could use a more light-hearted topic than killer squirrels today. So yes, shopping carts.
So Cook mentioned needing a quarter to go shopping at Costco, and I just ignored it thinking that was the weirdest thing Iād heard. There ended up being a cart lying around where we parked, but I did notice the weird contraption on the handlebars.Ā āMaybe they stopped doing it and just left those contraptions on cuz charging people for shopping carts is ridiculous,ā I thought. But lo and behold, the next time I went, all the contraptions were intact! I was like, I AINāT GIVING YOU 25 CENTS JUST TO GO SHOPPING YOU STINGY STORES and found one not attached, then strolled off victoriously.
Now for those of you who are familiar with this contraption and how it works, youāre probably like, um, Ting, itās just a depo--yes, yes, but when no one explains it to a confused Californian, you canāt blame us when we panic seeing a sight like this at Walmart:
At first I thought Iād be spending the rest of my shopping life hunting for runaway carts or using baskets or balancing things in my hands like I did today (6 cans of cat food and a bottle of vitamins is quite tricky!). Luckily I did some googling and now understand what this is all about.
Apparently in New Jersey, no one returns shopping carts *rolls eyes* so certain retailers (so far Iāve seen Costco and Walmart) installed these coin deposit mechanisms to encourage it. The idea is that youĀ ādepositā a quarter in that slot when you start shopping to disconnect the chain to the other cart, and after youāre done, you return it to a cart return location, stick a chain from another cart back through, and voila, you get your quarter back. Apparently some bored people run around parking lots putting carts away properly to make some change. I guess itās a win-win for the retailers and hopefully there have thus been less runaway cart accidents in the state.
So now I know to always have at least a quarter on me, though you can be certain Iāll still be looking for the lone unattached carts so that I can potentially make 25 cents at the end of my shopping trip. CHA-CHING!
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Attack of the Mutant Squirrels
I probably should have expected people to ask about my blog title, as Iād forgotten many of you donāt yet know. So I guess it makes sense to post about that next.Ā
A couple of months ago, Cookās check engine light came on in her car. She took it to the shop, and the mechanic was baffled to find engine wires that had been chewed through. So she got it fixed, came home and sprayed some rodent repellent, and went on her merry way.
Of course they came back again and chewed more wires.
So another mechanic decided that just replacing them wasnāt going to be enough, and he also taped up the wires so they were harder to chew.Ā Turns out our neighbors had the same problem, and it cost them a grand to get everything fixed up! So their tip, apparently, to ward off rodents is through mothballs. Thatās right, MOTH. BALLS. Gross! (Just kidding, this spoiled Californian has never had to ward of rodents, so I had no idea what those even were.) DISCLAIMER: Mothballs are toxic. Do not ingest. Do not inhale their fumes. Do not try this at home. But when youāre out of options and need to protect your car, you gotta do what you gotta do.
Time went on, I move in, things are quiet, then BOOM! Engine light again. The squirrels returned for round 3 and chewed the only wire the mechanic didnāt tape last time. Animal-lover Cook wonāt let me set out squirrel traps (and gets upset each time a family or friend volunteers to shoot them), so needless to say, weāve put mothballs all around my cursed car. (Why cursed? More on that later!)
(Why yes, we did also order a fake owl on Amazon. Pretty sure itās not doing anything for us. But the head bobbles like a Funko pop so naturally we have it. Here it looks on to the mothball packet sitting atop my back tire. Weāve also ordered ultrasonic pest repeller spikes that will probably also do nothing.)
Where are these squirrels coming from? Turns out thereās a spike in the rodent population as of late due to the fact that urban development has been driving out all the predators. Come back, hawks and eagles, we need you! :( Well, as we know, humans never learn. That said, since when did rodents eat car wires? Everyone weāve spoken to is baffled as to why theyād be attracted to chewing plastic. But our friend made a good point that the squirrels probably peed in Cookās engine, so theyāll just keep coming back forever anyways because theyāve left their scent. *shakes head in exasperation*
Since weāve agreed our health is probably just as more important, weāll tone down the mothballs and look for less toxic ways to battle the squirrels. If only our cat were younger and more ambitious...
Correction 1: Apparently there were four total rounds. Between what I originally had as round 2 and 3, they also came and chewed coolant tubes. o_O
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Getting to know you~
One of those Ancestry.com or 23andMe products has been heavily advertising here and has gotten that song stuck in my head. Thatās the only reason thatās this blogās first post title.
After a fairly smooth start in my move from California, Jersey decided to even the playing field with a string of bad luck for me (it can only go up from here, I hope?). I decided last night that getting back into writing of some form would be a good productive outlet and help me find some humor in all of this. So first, I made sure Iād at least have four loyal readers (thanks, dundundun!). Next, I pondered a blog title. While the chat group had far more hilarious ideas, I ended up withĀ āSquirrels Ate The Carā because I felt it more accurately captured my general feeling of confusion as I learn how to survive in a small, east coast town. Squirrels eat cars? What now?! Thereāll be a whole post on that later.
So finally, here I am with this inaugural post. Hopefully the blog title is bizarre enough it can be easily remembered by my four readers. And now, I should actually plan out my day before Cook returns to find my only accomplishment of the day was that I scooped cat litter on my own. (Though I better get a gold star for that!)
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