Left a piece of my heart there

I spent the weekend in Southern California for a wedding. The wedding was in Newport Beach, but I stayed with my good friends in Redondo Beach. As I was driving away from my friends' house this evening to head to the airport, I felt very sad and almost teared up a bit. It's weird to admit, but I do miss Los Angeles. Parts of the city truly are beautiful, and I have a lot of friends there whom I dearly love and miss. It feels like I'm leaving part of my life behind. That chapter is over, and it's very bittersweet.

Peace and love.
J

An open letter to the people of Los Angeles

Haven't you seen the insurance commercial with the extremely rude guy getting pissed off at everyone and the narrator says, "You don't act like this in your everyday life; why act like this in your car?" Ummm... yeah, I'd say you have NOT seen the commercial.

A couple things:

1. The world is NOT ending! IT'S CALLED RAIN!! Contrary to popular belief, the rain does not cause your brain to fail. If you calm the frick down, you can drive the same way you usually do, just add some caution and be a tad bit slower. And when I say a tad bit slower, I really mean it; no need to slow to a quarter of your normal speed!
2. Yeah, that stick coming out the left side of your steering wheel is a blinker; a turn signal if you'd prefer. USE IT!!! My personal belief is that if you don't use it, you're an inconsiderate @$$hole who has no regard for other life forms. Appropriate times to use the signal would be when you're turning or want to switch lanes. If you don't use it, I have no warning that you're coming and I'm likely to hit you or get really pissed off! Also, it's kind of THE LAW to use it!!
3. If I turn my blinker on to signal that I'm coming into your lane, it is totally unacceptable for you to speed up and honk at me. The blinker serves as a polite notice to you that I'm coming, so don't be an inconsiderate @$$hole and express your anger via your horn.
4. And that brings me to your horn. The entire purpose is to let someone know if there is impending danger. This means that it should be used to warn someone that they are about to hit you or somethings else or about 20 seconds after a light changes green if the car in front of you has not started moving. It is NOT there so you can use it to express your unending anger, hatred, and frustration. We're ALL frustrated. We're in LA. and we're driving. This means:

• Do NOT honk at the car in front of you immediately after the light changes green. That one virtue? It's called patience!!
• Do NOT honk at the cars not going because there are cars in front of them - perhaps blocking the intersection. Yeah, people block the intersection. Laying on your mother-effing horn is not going to open up a portal in space in time that will miraculously cause those cars to move so you can get through the light.
• (But come on people, at least pay attention and try not to block the intersection - especially you double-long-accordion-extended buses; you @$$holes purposely block the intersection far too often.)
• Do NOT honk at someone who pulls forward a little to far past a stop sign - guess what... they're STOPPED... probably means that, surprise, they actually SEE you and are waiting for you to pass before they drive further!!

Moral of this long-ass gripe post: BE CONSIDERATE! Realize that we're all in the same situation, and we're all trying to get somewhere, and we're all frustrated.

my life...

If anyone out there reads this and/or cares... I've been engulfed in the world of Financial Accounting and Reporting. Yes, I'm finally back to studying for the CPA exam. I MUST pass all 4 exams in 2007. Not only for the whopping $2000 bonus, (which, after taxes, I'll probably only get half of and that won't even cover the costs of my CPA prep/review class) but because I REALLY, REALLY want to get this behind me so I can go on living and enjoying my life without the stress of "I still have to pass that exam..." And hopefully the CPA exam will be the last test I ever have to take.

So in addition to the stress of studying, I've cut sugar, bread, acidic foods and caffeine out of my life in a self-prescribed attempt to get rid of this obnoxious sinus problem I've been suffering from for MONTHS! I had to diagnose myself since my Ear/Nose/Throat Dr. won't return my calls about what my CT scan revealed. Oh man has it been hard not eating sugar, bread, and coffee. If you know me, you know that I have a sweet tooth and LOVE bread AND I think of myself as a coffee connoisseur of sorts (I have my own espresso machine, which is so sad and unused right now). The good news is that I was able to stay on the diet for ONE entire week! and I feel like it has helped a bit, AND I lost 5 pounds. IN ONE WEEK! wow. And then I was at a client's office and he physically placed a cookie in my hand! (who does that?!) so I felt obliged to eat it. =)

While I do feel that the "cleanse" diet has helped a bit, I still feel yucky in the sinus area. If you wouldn't mind adding me to your prayers, I would GREATLY appreciate it!

Peace and love.
J