This one ended up being really short. Oh well.
*Wrap*
Thursday, March 29, 2012
The Quest For A Second Car (That I Can Actually Drive) Part 2
Thursday, March 22, 2012
The Quest For A Second Car (That I Can Actually Drive) Part 1
Haha, I got you guys good didn't I? I seriously had been waiting so long to do that, since we started looking for a second car, and that was awhile ago. I realized that also would have been fun to do on April Fool's Day, but then you might have been suspicious and not believed it, by virtue of the fact that it was April Fool's Day.
So anyway, here is the epic tale of our quest for a second car that I can actually drive, since I'm a failure at driving stick. It all started with ksl.com...(now this is when the narrator gazes off into space and the scene cuts to a flashback sequence). Andrew and I are now pros at spotting scams on ksl.com (yes, we have learned our lesson). If you ever want to buy a car on ksl.com, here are some of the warning signs and definite indicators that an ad is a scam: a car from the 2000's with low miles is selling for the same price as a car from like 1990 with 250,000 miles (those are absolutely, 100% scams); no phone number is listed; and the Contact person listed is something like "P." or "R." rather than an actual name. Surprisingly enough, or maybe not so surprisingly, there are a lot of scams on ksl. You'd think they'd have people who monitor the ads being posted, but apparently they don't, which is too bad for poor suckers like us. They warn you about scams, but personally, I don't think that's good enough. So anyway, we knew which ads to avoid, and now you do too.
So we wanted an SUV cause Andrew worries about me driving in the snow (joke's on him, cause winter's almost over, but then again the joke will probably be on me because I'm quite sure there will be a few more freak snowstorms in the next like two months cause Utah is stupid like that). We trolled ksl.com for quite a while looking for the perfect car for us that was within our price range (which was like $1000-2000 initially), and we found several that we liked. The first one that we liked enough to go look at was a 1988 Jeep Cherokee. This thing was a monster. It was black, and it had a 3 inch lift, and it looked pretty cool from the picture. It was in south Provo, so we went to check it out one evening. It was much more of a monster in person, and Andrew decided it was too much of a monster, because he said no to that one. So it was back to trolling ksl.com, and the next car we liked was a 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The ad said it needed its windshield replaced (which it definitely did), but that was okay. It was out in West Valley City, which is west of Salt Lake, so it was a bit of a drive to look at it, but we went out there and it was indeed a nice Jeep. It reeked of cigarette smoke though, and the guy who was selling it looked like a very shady character (I legitimately thought we might get jumped a few times). We took it to a mechanic cause we are smart buyers and we know what's up, and unfortunately the mechanic said it was a no go. He said the transfer case was leaking and that would cost $1000 to fix, so it wan't worth it. The guy claimed he didn't know about the leak but the mechanic made it sound like it had been leaking for awhile. We decided not to call him out on it. So it was back to searching, and we found a Honda Passport that looked promising, but apparently it looked promising to everyone else too, cause the guy sold it before we could even take a look at it. At this point we were getting a little discouraged, but we keep looking. We had previously found a 1994 Nisan Pathfinder but decided against it because it had 220,000 miles on it, but at his point we just wanted a car, so we went to go check it out. The kid who was selling it looked like he was like 16, and his mom said he buys stuff all the time just to sell it. So we took the Pathfinder to a mechanic, and the mechanic said it was the worst car he had ever seen and was only worth parts. Yeah. We seem to have the best luck.
So, after that one, we decided to just buy from a used car dealership. And on our drive back from looking at the Pathfinder (it was in Springville), we saw a tiny used car dealership and decided to check it out. We walked around and looked at the cars, and after a little while the owner came out to talk to us. He was exactly the opposite of everything you've ever been told about car salesmen. He was basically the nicest guy ever and not even pushy at all. He let us test drive a few of the cars, and he had couple of Subarus that Andrew was interested in, but he had just gotten them and they hadn't been priced yet, so we'd told him we'd come back. Now personally, I think Subarus are butt ugly (or at least Outbacks from like the 90's, which is what he had at the dealership), but I just really wanted a car, so I figured I could suck it up.
And now I've run out of time cause Andrew wants to go to Buffalo Wild Wings for Boneless Thursday, and this post is already freakin' long. Who wants to read something this long anyway? But I've kept you waiting long enough, so I figured I have to give you something. So here's part 1, and part 2 will be up sometime in the near future. And I'll also include pictures. Who doesn't enjoy a good cliffhanger every once in a while? Not that this is a good cliffhanger, cause it really isn't, but oh well.
*Wrap*
So anyway, here is the epic tale of our quest for a second car that I can actually drive, since I'm a failure at driving stick. It all started with ksl.com...(now this is when the narrator gazes off into space and the scene cuts to a flashback sequence). Andrew and I are now pros at spotting scams on ksl.com (yes, we have learned our lesson). If you ever want to buy a car on ksl.com, here are some of the warning signs and definite indicators that an ad is a scam: a car from the 2000's with low miles is selling for the same price as a car from like 1990 with 250,000 miles (those are absolutely, 100% scams); no phone number is listed; and the Contact person listed is something like "P." or "R." rather than an actual name. Surprisingly enough, or maybe not so surprisingly, there are a lot of scams on ksl. You'd think they'd have people who monitor the ads being posted, but apparently they don't, which is too bad for poor suckers like us. They warn you about scams, but personally, I don't think that's good enough. So anyway, we knew which ads to avoid, and now you do too.
So we wanted an SUV cause Andrew worries about me driving in the snow (joke's on him, cause winter's almost over, but then again the joke will probably be on me because I'm quite sure there will be a few more freak snowstorms in the next like two months cause Utah is stupid like that). We trolled ksl.com for quite a while looking for the perfect car for us that was within our price range (which was like $1000-2000 initially), and we found several that we liked. The first one that we liked enough to go look at was a 1988 Jeep Cherokee. This thing was a monster. It was black, and it had a 3 inch lift, and it looked pretty cool from the picture. It was in south Provo, so we went to check it out one evening. It was much more of a monster in person, and Andrew decided it was too much of a monster, because he said no to that one. So it was back to trolling ksl.com, and the next car we liked was a 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The ad said it needed its windshield replaced (which it definitely did), but that was okay. It was out in West Valley City, which is west of Salt Lake, so it was a bit of a drive to look at it, but we went out there and it was indeed a nice Jeep. It reeked of cigarette smoke though, and the guy who was selling it looked like a very shady character (I legitimately thought we might get jumped a few times). We took it to a mechanic cause we are smart buyers and we know what's up, and unfortunately the mechanic said it was a no go. He said the transfer case was leaking and that would cost $1000 to fix, so it wan't worth it. The guy claimed he didn't know about the leak but the mechanic made it sound like it had been leaking for awhile. We decided not to call him out on it. So it was back to searching, and we found a Honda Passport that looked promising, but apparently it looked promising to everyone else too, cause the guy sold it before we could even take a look at it. At this point we were getting a little discouraged, but we keep looking. We had previously found a 1994 Nisan Pathfinder but decided against it because it had 220,000 miles on it, but at his point we just wanted a car, so we went to go check it out. The kid who was selling it looked like he was like 16, and his mom said he buys stuff all the time just to sell it. So we took the Pathfinder to a mechanic, and the mechanic said it was the worst car he had ever seen and was only worth parts. Yeah. We seem to have the best luck.
So, after that one, we decided to just buy from a used car dealership. And on our drive back from looking at the Pathfinder (it was in Springville), we saw a tiny used car dealership and decided to check it out. We walked around and looked at the cars, and after a little while the owner came out to talk to us. He was exactly the opposite of everything you've ever been told about car salesmen. He was basically the nicest guy ever and not even pushy at all. He let us test drive a few of the cars, and he had couple of Subarus that Andrew was interested in, but he had just gotten them and they hadn't been priced yet, so we'd told him we'd come back. Now personally, I think Subarus are butt ugly (or at least Outbacks from like the 90's, which is what he had at the dealership), but I just really wanted a car, so I figured I could suck it up.
And now I've run out of time cause Andrew wants to go to Buffalo Wild Wings for Boneless Thursday, and this post is already freakin' long. Who wants to read something this long anyway? But I've kept you waiting long enough, so I figured I have to give you something. So here's part 1, and part 2 will be up sometime in the near future. And I'll also include pictures. Who doesn't enjoy a good cliffhanger every once in a while? Not that this is a good cliffhanger, cause it really isn't, but oh well.
*Wrap*
Saturday, March 17, 2012
A New Addition To Our Family!
Bet you thought I was pregnant huh? Well ha! I tricked you, suckers.
The REAL new addition to our family is a 1998 Subaru Forester. Yeah, we got a new car. Well a new used car. I don't have time to tell the whole story right now, so I'll make a separate post for that probably tomorrow or something. I was just so excited I had to tell you all now, and I was excited to trick you into thinking I was pregnant. I've been waiting to do that for a while now. So anyway, keep an eye out for my post about the car.
The REAL new addition to our family is a 1998 Subaru Forester. Yeah, we got a new car. Well a new used car. I don't have time to tell the whole story right now, so I'll make a separate post for that probably tomorrow or something. I was just so excited I had to tell you all now, and I was excited to trick you into thinking I was pregnant. I've been waiting to do that for a while now. So anyway, keep an eye out for my post about the car.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
My Take on Kony 2012
Before I get to what I was going to say, let me just express my annoyance with my Kindle Fire and Blogger. I started this post before I had to leave for class at 10, and I didn't have time to finish it before I had to leave. When I got to class I opened Blogger on my Kindle Fire to try and finish it, but I accidentally ended up erasing everything I wrote, and now I have no way of getting it back. So I have to retype this entire post, and of course I can't remember exactly what I wrote before. So I'm kind of annoyed. Maybe it will be better the second time around. But anyway.
Why is it that when someone tries to do something good there are always those who try to tear them down? Yes, I am talking about Kony 2012. I watched the video yesterday and I immediately wanted to do everything I could to help. Yet anyone who is actually following anything that has to do with Kony 2012 knows that there are those who oppose the campaign. I read two articles today that are anti-Kony 2012 and anti-Invisible Children Inc. Here they are if you'd like to read them too:
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/03/07/guest_post_joseph_kony_is_not_in_uganda_and_other_complicated_things
http://wilwheaton.tumblr.com/post/18920717928/thedailywhat-on-kony-2012-i-honestly-wanted-to
Now, I think what these articles are trying to do is inform those people who won't inform themselves, and that is a good thing. Making informed decisions is important. How can you support something if you don't actually know what it is that you're supporting? I'm all for informing people about what it is that they're actually supporting. And as misguided as Kony 2012 and Invisible Children Inc. may be, at least they're actually trying to do something good. What are the writers of these articles trying to do? Tear down a good cause? If the guy who wrote the second article is actually donating to those charities he linked in his post, then I can stand behind what he posted, and I'll donate to those charities too. It's one thing to simply tear down a good cause, and another thing to tear down a good cause but provide other solutions and actually utilize them. Somehow I can't believe that Invisible Children Inc. is simply using this campaign to line their pockets and only donating a small portion of their profits to actually helping the Invisible Children. That video seemed so genuine. What kind of despicable person takes advantage of a situation like this to make money? A person like that deserves to burn in hell, and they certainly will burn if they really are people like that. So I can't believe that all they're really doing is lining their pockets, but I can believe that they may be misguided. It's not just about their misguided-ness though. It's about the fact that they're trying to make a difference. The world is a big, bad place, but there are people out there who are trying to do something about that. It seems like an impossible task, but rather than lying down and doing nothing because it's such a big task, you have to start somewhere, no matter how small. Even if you only make a difference in one person's life, you've still made a difference. If everyone tried to make a difference, no matter how small, those differences would add up. I believe in making a difference. Do you? Do the people who wrote those articles? Does the world?
If you're powerful, I think you have an obligation to help those less powerful than yourself. I admit though, that there's something in protecting your own interests. If it doesn't impact your own personal security or whatever, stay out of it, and I can see how that's a good stance, though I don't personally feel that way. If you see someone being mugged on the street, are you gonna ignore it, or are you gonna help? I certainly would try and help, and even if I ended up getting killed, at least I would have died doing something that was right. You may not agree with me, and as long as your own decision is informed, then I am perfectly fine with letting you think that way. That's my whole point here. Make your own informed decisions. Acknowledge all other options, but don't let anyone else make your decision for you. Decide for yourself, and once you feel you have enough information, stick with your decision. If you're well enough informed, you won't be swayed by opposing opinions. And perhaps there's no right or wrong decision. A lot of times there isn't. There can be good and bad in both sides of the argument, and it is more important than ever to be informed in those cases. This applies to more than just Kony 2012.
So even if we stop Kony, maybe another guy will just take his place. I mean, would it really be as bad as these articles make it sound to stop Kony? If it would be, then I guess I stand by these anti-Kony people. If it's gonna be worse for the world if Kony is captured, then perhaps we should just leave well enough alone, or at least let Africa deal with their problems themselves. But if it wouldn't be, then what the heck are these people trying to do? I can't imagine that it would be better for the world if Kony were to remain at large. It certainly wouldn't be better for those children whose lives he has ruined, or all those people that he has killed. And even if someone else does take Kony's place, at least we've shown those children affected by Kony that their lives matter. At least we've shown those who have died through his hands that they deserve justice. At least we've shown the world that we know what is right, and we're not afraid to do it.
Personally, I support Kony 2012, because I support the cause it represents. I support right causes, but I also support being informed. So make an informed decision people. And while you can let what I've said influence your decision, don't let it make your decision for you. I'm not going to tell you to support Kony 2012, or not to support it. But I am going to tell you to make your own informed decision. Don't let anyone make your decision for you, on any matter. Get educated, and make a difference in the world, in any way you possibly can.
So there's my two cents on that.
*Wrap*
Why is it that when someone tries to do something good there are always those who try to tear them down? Yes, I am talking about Kony 2012. I watched the video yesterday and I immediately wanted to do everything I could to help. Yet anyone who is actually following anything that has to do with Kony 2012 knows that there are those who oppose the campaign. I read two articles today that are anti-Kony 2012 and anti-Invisible Children Inc. Here they are if you'd like to read them too:
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/03/07/guest_post_joseph_kony_is_not_in_uganda_and_other_complicated_things
http://wilwheaton.tumblr.com/post/18920717928/thedailywhat-on-kony-2012-i-honestly-wanted-to
Now, I think what these articles are trying to do is inform those people who won't inform themselves, and that is a good thing. Making informed decisions is important. How can you support something if you don't actually know what it is that you're supporting? I'm all for informing people about what it is that they're actually supporting. And as misguided as Kony 2012 and Invisible Children Inc. may be, at least they're actually trying to do something good. What are the writers of these articles trying to do? Tear down a good cause? If the guy who wrote the second article is actually donating to those charities he linked in his post, then I can stand behind what he posted, and I'll donate to those charities too. It's one thing to simply tear down a good cause, and another thing to tear down a good cause but provide other solutions and actually utilize them. Somehow I can't believe that Invisible Children Inc. is simply using this campaign to line their pockets and only donating a small portion of their profits to actually helping the Invisible Children. That video seemed so genuine. What kind of despicable person takes advantage of a situation like this to make money? A person like that deserves to burn in hell, and they certainly will burn if they really are people like that. So I can't believe that all they're really doing is lining their pockets, but I can believe that they may be misguided. It's not just about their misguided-ness though. It's about the fact that they're trying to make a difference. The world is a big, bad place, but there are people out there who are trying to do something about that. It seems like an impossible task, but rather than lying down and doing nothing because it's such a big task, you have to start somewhere, no matter how small. Even if you only make a difference in one person's life, you've still made a difference. If everyone tried to make a difference, no matter how small, those differences would add up. I believe in making a difference. Do you? Do the people who wrote those articles? Does the world?
If you're powerful, I think you have an obligation to help those less powerful than yourself. I admit though, that there's something in protecting your own interests. If it doesn't impact your own personal security or whatever, stay out of it, and I can see how that's a good stance, though I don't personally feel that way. If you see someone being mugged on the street, are you gonna ignore it, or are you gonna help? I certainly would try and help, and even if I ended up getting killed, at least I would have died doing something that was right. You may not agree with me, and as long as your own decision is informed, then I am perfectly fine with letting you think that way. That's my whole point here. Make your own informed decisions. Acknowledge all other options, but don't let anyone else make your decision for you. Decide for yourself, and once you feel you have enough information, stick with your decision. If you're well enough informed, you won't be swayed by opposing opinions. And perhaps there's no right or wrong decision. A lot of times there isn't. There can be good and bad in both sides of the argument, and it is more important than ever to be informed in those cases. This applies to more than just Kony 2012.
So even if we stop Kony, maybe another guy will just take his place. I mean, would it really be as bad as these articles make it sound to stop Kony? If it would be, then I guess I stand by these anti-Kony people. If it's gonna be worse for the world if Kony is captured, then perhaps we should just leave well enough alone, or at least let Africa deal with their problems themselves. But if it wouldn't be, then what the heck are these people trying to do? I can't imagine that it would be better for the world if Kony were to remain at large. It certainly wouldn't be better for those children whose lives he has ruined, or all those people that he has killed. And even if someone else does take Kony's place, at least we've shown those children affected by Kony that their lives matter. At least we've shown those who have died through his hands that they deserve justice. At least we've shown the world that we know what is right, and we're not afraid to do it.
Personally, I support Kony 2012, because I support the cause it represents. I support right causes, but I also support being informed. So make an informed decision people. And while you can let what I've said influence your decision, don't let it make your decision for you. I'm not going to tell you to support Kony 2012, or not to support it. But I am going to tell you to make your own informed decision. Don't let anyone make your decision for you, on any matter. Get educated, and make a difference in the world, in any way you possibly can.
So there's my two cents on that.
*Wrap*
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