FML - This is a long one, brace yourselves

I feel like I may be complaining a lot lately. It's been a bad month. I hope that I'm usually a more positive person than this. But the month just keeps getting worse.

Last May, I had my car shipped from Wisconsin to California. Thanks to North Central Auto Transport, owned and operated by Wayne Markow of Medford, Wisconsin, my car sustained $3,400 worth of damage. He claimed he didn't know how it happened, and offered $300 upon dropping off the car for settling then and there. I was still in Wisconsin at that point, so thank god my dad is smart enough to know not to accept that money. It turned out that the car in good condition was worth less than the cost to fix it, so it was deemed a "salvage" car.

After about 6 months of going back and forth with the moving company and 3rd party contractor who actually drove the truck, and a whole bunch of other stuff I won't go into, I finally settled with North Central. I chose to keep the car, which was estimated to be worth $400 for parts and they paid me the difference of $3,000.

At that point I decided I would just not fix the car and drive it until this summer, when I figured I'd have enough money to buy a new car and sell the Accord off for parts.

Last month I got a notice in the mail that my registration was due and I needed a smog check. I passed the smog check and paid the registration fees online, like the notice said I could. A month later, I still hadn't received my new license plate stickers. I called and the DMV informed me that their systems were down and to give it another week or two to get my tags in the mail.

Fast forward to last Friday. My brother has to go to the DMV and I decide to tag along to find out what's going on with my registration. They tell me that they've received my payment, but they won't process my registration until I bring in the title and car for inspection. This morning, I go in, figuring that they would just make me show them that the reverse, brake, and blinker lights were all working. But all they do is check my car to ensure the VIN isn't damaged (like I fucking stole the car or something?). Then after waiting for a long ass time (of course), I'm informed that I need to go to a mechanic to pass a brake and light test. Once they do that, I can qualify for a "Salvage Title" and my vehicle registration will be processed. I have until the end of April.

After calling every mechanic in town, only to be informed that ONE place in Thousand Oaks does it, they agree to see me immediately. Excited to have caught a break in my bad luck, I bring it in, only to be informed that the only way I'll pass the brake and light test is to entirely repair the damage to the car.

Somehow I have to come up with $3400 by the end of April. FML.

God loves Mike Bibby

Maybe it's bad luck when I dream about the Lakers...

Tony pointed out that I was no longer "Rachel Unemployed"...

...so I changed the name.

And here's something random...beginning last October, I started working out 6 days a week. I just realized that I haven't gotten sick or a cold since then, which is amazing because I usually come down with something 2-3 times a year. Yet another reason to love working out!

Laker dreams are the best dreams

Last night I dreamt that Phil Jackson recruited me to join the Lakers (ha!). I told him about the only thing I could do was play a game of H-O-R-S-E, but he insisted that he could teach me. When I was on the team, I never had to practice and I would show up late to games and was never fined or disciplined. Pau was my best friend and it was AWESOME. I woke up and knew it would be a happy day.

The Alliance for Children's Rights

I accepted a one year fellowship position there. Hooray! I am excited and I start on Wednesday :-D

Um, What??

Oh my stars and garters! It's a w00toff!

IT'S A W00TOFF!

Is Colette Really A Cat?

Most cats go crazy when you use a laser pointer. Case on point:


Jeff's cats are like that too, although to a less acrobatic extent.

My cat flat out ignores laser pointers. I don't think that's a normal cat-like quality. It also may explain why she's a little bit overweight. I swiped Jeff's laser pen in an attempt to get her to exercise, but she just won't. Instead, she prefers to sit in the sun and watch the laser pointer do a little dance around her. It's hard to see in the pic below, but the laser dot is in front of her face. Shortly after this picture, she fell asleep.

I thoroughly enjoy random internet sites

I thought I had seen everything interesting on the internet, especially because I had lots of free time on my hands when I worked at Nameless Large Law Firm, LLP. But my wonderful friend Tim has just brought this wonderful site to my attention: www.stumbleupon.com.

It helps whet my insatiable appetite for random ass websites. If you decide to sign up, let me know so I can add you as a friend. :)

some people are unbelievable

I think the way to make this unemployment thing work for me - to really take advantage of the system - I need to have 8 babies through IVF or get super fat.

Splash. Smash. Glam. Pink.

I don't know why, but I am always fascinated when celebs do commercials for random things overseas.  This is a totally pointless post (aren't they all?), but it was hard to believe this commercial wasn't straight out of SNL.  Poor Lindsay.  And aren't they ripping off Rihanna with the umbrella thing?

Legal Layoffs in the Media

CNN has finally caught on.

The only things holding me back from Uganda are...

1) Finding someone to move into my extra bedroom (who I can trust will not sell off my furniture and bounce while I'm out of the country)

and

2) Getting funds for my $1600-1800 plane ticket

I have enough money to keep my apartment, to buy health insurance and to have spending cash in Uganda if I can swing those last 2 things.

I just met with Sister Kristin yesterday and she and the Sisters of Notre Dame have agreed to provide free room and board in Buseesa, Uganda (basically in the Bush).  She also agreed to accept donations on my behalf for the plane ticket so that donations qualify as charitable for tax purposes.  So now I just need to find donors.  I hit up my old high school because they might have some discretionary missionary funds to give me.  I can ask my grandma tomorrow when she gets back from the Philippines.  The problem is that I don't have time to apply for grants, so I need to ask private individual donors.  If I can get 16 or 17 people to donate $100, it might be doable.  Does anybody have any fundraising experience or tips they can give me?  This is starting to look very daunting...

Stuff Unemployed People Like

can be found here

Lake Victoria is Africa's Largest Lake

If I can work out the details, I might be going to Uganda - very soon - to start a microfinance project.

Not Unemployed For Long

One door closes, many more open.  Good opportunities.  The Rand Corp, NRDC, SAG, or Public Counsel.  This is actually a real opportunity to choose a career path - a specialization.  I am getting excited.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Saw Watchmen tonight.  I have been anticipating it since I read the graphic novel last summer.  Would have to say that I liked the comic more than the movie...but I was entertained for a good 3 hours.  I usually get really squirmy during movies that long (like Benjamin Buttons, Titanic (the WORST)), and even though I knew what was coming, I didn't feel like I was waiting for the movie to end.

My favorite character in the comic was Dr. Manhattan.  The movie did a decent job of not making him too comic-y.  I wouldn't have recognized Billy Crudup at all, if I hadn't known it was him beforehand.  I have to say that I was most impressed with Rorschach and the actor who played him.  I had never heard of him before, and he gets very little actual face time, but the character was captivating nonetheless.  The Nite Owl was intriguing as well...mostly because he was cute.  And the actress who played Silk Spectres I and II were doppelgangers of their animated versions.

Overall, glad I went to see it, will probably buy it on DVD.  Definitely worth the extra to see it on IMAX.

Silver Linings

Me and two co-workers lost our jobs yesterday.  They said it was "non-performance based."  That makes sense, since I had been there for less than 9 weeks.  I hadn't had the opportunity to "perform" at all.

It's not really that bad.  I didn't enjoy the type of law that I was supposed to be practicing.  Mergers and acquisitions, stock and asset purchases, etc.  Basically helping rich people to get richer.  I'm not going to lie, I was only in it for the money anyway.  Lots of loans to repay.

So my former employers offered to fund a fellowship at a local non-profit legal organization for a year in lieu of taking a 3 months severance package.  Probably for the best - better than having a gap in my resume.  I'll be gaining valuable experience (and hopefully making valuable contacts), and there are not too many jobs in the LA legal community at the moment.  I'm also thinking of traveling to Uganda to help a friend of mine begin a micro-finance project for a couple of months.  I'll see if I can swing that.

There are silver linings.  I don't have to work with my ex.  I have the opportunity to be at a non-profit doing work that I know I will love.  I may be taking on the project of a lifetime by going to Uganda.  This is a setback, but it is still only the beginning.