car karma

This weekend I flew to Los Angeles to pick up my new wheels; a white 2004 Matrix that I found on Auto Trader. After two weeks of searching locally, I realized how few used Matrixes (Matrices?) there are for sale. They're quite popular and have only been manufactured since 2003, so most of the used ones available either have too many miles or have something funky about it. One I looked at was indigo blue with 14k gold-plated Toyota emblems and gold stripes down the side. Ick. After about five minutes parked in my 'hood, those emblems would be plucked right off.

On the drive back home, I got a call from my friend Annille. He had given me a ride to the airport in my old Honda, and was using the car over the weekend while I was gone. Sheepishly he asks me, "When you left, your car had four windows, right?" While he was parked at a club Saturday night, somebody smashed the passenger side front window in. Presumably they were attempting to steal my stereo, but here's the wacky part. Not only did the thief not get away with the stereo, but they left behind somebody else's stereo, a comb, Chapstick, and a spritzer of New Car spray! How lovely of him. Now my Matrix can be kept in mint-smelling condition for months to come.

Also while in LA, I attended the 30th birthday party of my college friend Eleanor. I hadn't seen her since June of 2003, when I was in LA interviewing for a job with a Japanese English school. The party was fun (I did a karaoke rendition of Salt 'n' Pepa's Shoop) and I finally met Elly's fiance, Brian. Barbara was down from SF for the party also, and we had brunch Sunday with our friend Hunter who relocated to the City of Angels a few years ago to give up his law career in pursuit of acting.

It is with great elation that I announce that today is my last day at Siebel. I've spent the morning doing a photo shoot of the campus for posterity's sake while trying to mask my giddiness that this era of my career is about to come to an end.

Tomorrow I'm going camping at Harbin Hot Springs for a few days of soaking, hiking, yoga, relaxation and sun before I begin full-time at World of Good on May 2.