R.I.P. Bandit

Last night, Bandit, passed away from a large tumor in his stomach that ruptured.

We'll miss you Bandit.

OMG.

Soo sad. I can't control the tears. Need to get outside for a walk.

I'm soo sorry, Wilda & Edison. =(

PT Cruiser Update.

The PT Cruiser rental is still cute, but that's all it has going for it.

Other than the cute interior and somewhat cute exterior, the PT Loser (as Leenie had coined it) is a piece o' crap. The little 4-cylinder toy car struggles to reach 40mph and makes you aware of every single gear it hits. It might even give passengers a nasty bout of car sickness. Ok, maybe that's a bit dramatic, but I guess I've been spoiled with the luxury of CVT (continuously variable transmission) in my '07 Maxie.

I can't wait to be reunited with my Maxie and rid of the put-put toy car!

I should follow up with Glendale Nissan tomorrow morning.

Until then... g'night... for serious this time. Muscle relaxer, brush teeth, get neked, then bed. In that order. ;)

Live Long & Prosper...

It's been a while since I've blogged. I stink. I know this. I'm still an amateur blogger. I'm sure if I kept up with this daily, I'd become an incredible blogtress this side of Naperville has ever seen! LOL!

Today, I signed up with Prosper.com. It has been a tip that my buddy, Joe Giordano, had been telling me about and it wasn't until today that I did something about it.

Here's the story:
I need about $8K - $10K in my pocket to get an extensive amount of dental work done to me in order to fix my TMJ. The reason why I need the money in my pocket is because the dentist's office requires the money up front, then I make a claim(s) toward my dental insurance to get reimbursed a certain percentage per procedure. I need a splint built (Phase 1 of treatment) and special braces called Damon 3 (Phase 2 of treatment).



I'm super excited to get all this work done, so 1) I won't be suffering anymore jaw pain from eating or even yawning and 2) I will be getting my overjet and overbite fixed as well (FINALLY!)

Ok, so here's where Prosper.com came into play. I was talking to Joe about how amazing it was that even with my measely 4% raise that I got in early March, I still find it difficult to make ends meet. Shocker. I know. So Joe told me that Prosper.com might be a good solution.

Here's what it says on Prosper.com's home page:

Prosper is an online community for lending and borrowing money.
Bidding on borrowers' loans, lenders get great returns by offering great rates.

And that means everybody does better. Together.

Here's how it works:

• Borrowers create a listing and set the interest rate they're willing to pay
• Lenders place bids with as little as $50 toward the loan
• Prosper combines the bids with the lowest rates into one simple loan
• The loan amount is deposited directly into your bank account.

There's also a short video that demonstrates how it all works and how everyone benefits.

I thought this might be a good option for me to turn to since I was denied a dental loan of $10k from Capital One Healthcare Finance, a 3rd party financial institution that my dentist's office deals with. Fun times.

Grr. I'm going to cut it short here. My jaw is killing me and I'm going to go take a muscle relaxer and pass out for the night... Maybe crunchy cereal wasn't a wise choice for dinner tonight. Oh well.

Smooches and Embraces. G'night! :-*

The rental car...

Dave drove me to the Enterprise by us to pick up an "economy" car this morning... and this is what I'm currently driving:

2008 PT Cruiser


It's too cute! The interior was built with my favorite colors (black, white, grey, and red). So whenever I drive it, I have this fantastic feeling that it was custom-built for ME... or at least with ME in mind! 'Cuz we know that this small world revolves around me! ROFLMAO! :D

Here's a pic of the interior, except, where you see blue, it's really red, to match the exterior. =)

String of bad car luck...

Once again, I got into a car accident on Friday morning while on my way to work... I was going north on 59, about to cross over I-88, and a 71-yr-old man, in a huge pick up truck, decides to turn left in front of me to get on to the I-88 on-ramp. I slam on my brakes, i lay my arm on the horn, swerve to try and avoid him, but he decided to keep going. He hit my driver's side front corner and side and pushed me into the metal guard rail.

Here's what he did to my poor Maxie. (pics below.)

I'm beginning to take this string of bad luck personally. How could one possibly have 2 car accidents within 7 weeks of each other?!? Both of them weren't my fault, but still. C'mon now! Quit testing my patience, ya know?

The guy was issued a ticket for failing to yield to oncoming traffic. I clearly had a green light and a witness actually stayed, to not only call 911 for me, but to talk to the police officer to tell him what had happened. He also left his card with me, just in case I would need him for any court hearings.

The old man was from Michigan and would need to appear in court. The police officer left it up to me as to whether or not I wanted to appear as a witness. If I appeared as a witness, his ticket would stick and he would have to go through traffic school. If I didn't appear, the police officer would be okay with it, but the guy would only have to pay the fine of the ticket and not go to traffic school. So, I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with all that when it comes time to decide.

When i was being questioned by the police officer, I guess I wasn't really looking at the police officer when I was talking, so he asked if he should call the paramedics since I looked like I was in a daze... that kind of scared me 'cuz I thought I was looking right at him the entire time. I guess my eyes were wandering all over the place which was enough cause for alarm for him to get the paramedics over.

They had a bit of trouble trying to get me out of the driver's side since my door was a little hard to open, but eventually they got me in a collar and strapped onto a stiff board. I was driven to Edward Hospital in Naperville. The paramedics ride there was quite entertaining. I was being taken care of by the most hilarious pair of Naperville Fire Fighters.

When I got to the ER, I had a bunch of x-rays done and everything turned out fine. PHEW! I just had some neck pain at the base of the skull and at the base of my neck, but that was about it. I was given an Rx for Flexeril, a muscle relaxer, which is now my new best friend! =) I've had the best night's sleep since the accident 'cuz of the meds and the tissue damage doesn't feel as bad as the last accident! =)

So, once again, I'm with out a car, since my car was left undriveable. Not because of engine damage, but because I would damage my tires w/in the dented wheel well, if I tried to make turns. And plus, with my driver's side mirror hanging off and shattered, it's just asking for a ticket for not having a driver's side mirror on.

My car is now in a towing company's lot in Naperville, until the other guy's insurance company comes to assess the damages. I should be hearing from them (AAA) by Monday or Tuesday. Hopefully, his insurance coverage includes car rental, so I can at least rent a car out of all this.

I was able to enjoy the rest of the weekend and get outside though. Yesterday, Dave and I got outside to run a bunch of errands, made tacos for dinner, and today, we actually just got back from taking the dogs outside for a very long walk, then I went for a run outside as well. =)

Friday, wasn't really my idea of a fun day off. I could've thought of other fun things to do rather than wreck my car!


Metal guard rail marks...


Another pic of the metal guard rail marks.


Driver's side crumples.


Another view of driver's side crumples.


Poor mirror hanging by its wires.


View of how far the swipe went down the side.


Crumpled hinge. It made a nasty teeth-shattering sound when the paramedics attempted to open the door.


More swipe shots.


Where my driver's side mirror USED to be. Now it's shattered and spread along the Rte 59 and I-88 intersection.


Another shot of the driver's side mirror. The shattered mirror left a powdery residue on the window.

Without a patch: Day 3

I'm on the 3rd day of not wearing a patch, and I admit, this 3rd day is brutal. Sunday and yesterday were alright, but today, I feel like wringing everyone's necks. I don't feel like working today. After the week I had here at work last week, I think I deserve to enjoy a little down time. Is that so wrong? LOL! I should probably look into putting the patch back on tomorrow. This is getting ridiculous. I shouldn't have this nasty attitude.

Too bad this isn't an April Fool's joke. I'm a bear today. So bear with me. :P

Can't wait to see what kind of practical jokes surface around here at work today. I could use some entertainment!


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