My car is senile

My beloved '95 Acura, inherited from my father and originally bought used, is on the fritz. The bottom is rotting. The hand brake somehow interferes with the brake pedal (don't ask me how). I have to park in gear and not use the hand brake. Other things are wrong, but when the mechanic told me it all went over my head. The only thing I know for sure is that I will need a new car in the near future. But of course, the solution is never as simple as going and buying a car.

So here's my dilemma:

• My job is still at the moment temporary. As much as I want to stay and they want me to stay, the logistics still haven't been worked out, and I won't have a definite answer for an indefinite period. If I don't stay with this job, my future is up in the air. I could get a job where public transportation is an option or move to a city where cars are unnecessary (NYC!). I will kick myself if I put the time/money/effort into buying a car only to end up in a situation where I don't even need a car.
  
• Money. Money. Money. Having an official permanent job where I have a salary will make me soooooo much more comfortable making such a large purchase and dipping into my savings.

However, the longer I wait till I know whether my job will last, meaning I have a definitive need for a car and the future money to revive my savings, the higher the chance of my car splitting in two on the Pike during my daily commute...

Other factors to consider:

• My parents each have a car. If my car does die on me (knock on wood), I will be able to make arrangements to get to work. I also have my trusty awkward carpool buddy.... 60-year-old Howie. I would like to avoid relying on him for rides since I would also greatly like to avoid our non-conversant 30 minute car rides.
• The ever wonderful Talya has tentatively offered me use of her car while she spends a year in India. However her plans are not definitive, so as much as I would love to rely on this option it is not set in stone. [Note: I am deviously hoping that having this in writing here will somehow solidify this arrangement!]

I'll end with some closing thoughts from Nate:

Here are your options as I see them:

1. Get a new used car today, spend a bunch of money.
   You are guaranteed to have a car that you may not need.
2. Drive your current car until it dies. That could be a week or a year.
   Get a new used car.
   You are not guaranteed to have a car that you may not need.
   

I would take option 2, but I am risk loving.

And I am not. Still have a dilemma...

Spreading the dilemma solving to others

After thoughtfully pointing me to a toothpaste-dispensing toothbrush to solve my last dilemma (see right), Adam came to me with his own work/food dilemma. Here's what he wrote:

"Last Wednesday, I brought my lunch to work as usual and left it in the shared refrigerator in the office kitchen. Strangely, I wasn't hungry enough to finish my yogurt that day, so I left in the fridge for later. I returned to work on Thursday and went about my job as usual. After a few hours, I decided that I wanted some yogurt, so opened up the fridge to reclaim my fruity bounty. That's when I realized that there were five different cups of yogurt inside, but I couldn't remember which was mine! All I know is that my brand was Yoplait (there are three of those), and that typically my favorite flavor is peach. There was a peach in the fridge, but there was also a strawberry kiwi and blueberry, which I also enjoy. I don't want to ruin someone else's day and take his/her yogurt, but I still want mine back.

So here's my dilemma: how do I reclaim my own yogurt without knowing what type I originally brought in? I thought about leaving Post-it notes on each container, asking the owner to leave a message if the yogurt in question wasn't mine. Please let me know if you have a better solution."

Well Adam, here are my expert dilemma-solving thoughts on your options (though I don't know what the status of your yogurt will be come Monday morning). I think leaving a note might overcomplicate things.* And since your actions will in no way result in a coworker having NO yogurt, I personally think you should do one of the following:

1. Wait till the other 2 Yoplaits are gone. Then the remaining one is yours to claim.
2. Eat the peach one. Maybe the other yogurt owners will, like you, also have forgotten what flavor they brought in.

In the future, might I recommend the following:

1. Channel the mother of a 7-year old and write your name on your yogurt. Or draw a smiley face on it so you know which is yours. (If it's any comfort, this is totally something I would do.)
   
2. Perhaps you could keep your food in a lunchbox or a plastic bag?
3. I always like to put my food in a specific place in the fridge so I always have a go-to location.

All right, I hope that helped in its own random weird way. :)

*though I could see the note-leaving option as a fun way to bring some playful mystery solving to the office

The tiny twist off cap is causing dilemmas

This morning something changed that will now affect me, daily and nightly, for the next few months.

My bottle of Crest Liquid Gel toothpaste ran out.

What this really means: I am now using a twist top tube.

How this happened: unfortunately, we had a spare tube of toothpaste in the cabinet, so instead of being free to go to CVS and buy another bottle of my awesome Crest Whitening Expressions Extreme Herbal Mint Liquid Gel (I'm not a Crest spokesperson, I swear) I was forced to become the user of a twist top tube of toothpaste.

The dilemma here is more about the annoyance. With my bottle of Liquid Gel, I could open my bottle of toothpaste with one hand, just a simple push with the thumb, squeeze my toothpaste out, and be on my way to minty freshness. But now I need to readjust my whole routine. I can't hold my toothbrush while opening my damn tube. Why do they make twist caps anymore? Who actively *wants* a tube -- to have to pick up the tube in one hand, grab the tiny top in the other, twist off, squirt out, and put the cap back on? They even make tube toothpaste with flip tops, though those are the middle tier of toothpaste tubes. Clearly the key here is that tubes are inferior to bottles. First and most awesome are the nifty bottles like the Liquid Gels or those awesome ones I used to use where you just push down and the toothpaste squirts out (the ultimate morning/night efficiency), then comes the tubes with flip tops, and then rock bottom are tubes with twist off tops.

All right, enough on toothpaste, this is a silly topic.

How to be in two places at once

So I was debating getting my hair cut short for a long time and I finally decided to go for it. (Don't worry, this is relevant.) Sadly though, I couldn't get an appointment for 3 weeks! Now that I'm committed and excited about the big move, I am super antsy waiting for the 10th of September to roll around.

Tonight, however, I got a phone message. Apparently there is a cancellation at the salon tomorrow night at 7. Perfect!

Or not.

I have a BBQ to attend at 6:30 tomorrow.

I could theoretically come late, but there is a surprise component to the evening, and I wouldn't want to miss out. Also, I like helping with the cooking and what not. I could come early, help out, see the surprise (maybe?) and then jet out of there? But that's no fun and defeats the whole social element.

Moral of the story: you can only be in one place at a time.

The lunchtime dilemma

The lunchtime dilemma seems to have defined this summer. Here's some necessary background information to fully understand the extent of this complex issue:

• My job is awesome, but technically I'm an intern and thus get paid by the hour. Going out for lunch is a double whammy since I have to log my lunchtime hours. Spending money and getting docked pay?! Bogus.
• I would still be bothered even if I didn't have to take off for my lunchtime hours since I can bring food from home for free (the perk to the downside of living with your parents). I want to be saving money at the moment, not spending it.
  
• Beyond this, I have lots of food issues:
1. I keep kosher, so I don't eat meat in restaurants. For argument's sake I am a vegetarian. My coworkers love to go to places like this Brazilian buffet where they all get meat on a stick? I don't know, I didn't ask.... ["Everyday we serve fine meats from a rotisserie machine cut to your order"]
2. I am lactose intolerant. Eliminate pizza, much Italian food, etc.
   
3. I like menus that include the words healthy, natural, unprocessed, organic, vegetarian. As proven by the meat on a stick and my coworkers' excitement over places like Ruby Tuesdays, we are clearly on different pages.
4. I prefer my own food damnit.
   

There might be more factors, but I think that is a general overview.

So I bring my lunch to work everyday (see every point above for reasons why) but it seems that 85% of the time my coworkers are going out to lunch. Now, they are very endearing in that they consistently ask me if I want to come and express dismay when I reject them day in and day out. I do *occasionally* go out when it's celebratory or when they manage to choose places that don't have salad as their only non-meat/healthy option (I am not paying/losing my salary for a proteinless $5+ salad) like when we went out for burritos (mmm) at a place that had tofu on the menu! But let me tell you the stress that went into that choice as my coworker Joe and I attempted to rack our brains for a place that all parties involved would be happy.

The best thing, though, was when everyone went out to a place my coworkers call the Turkey Farm. This place used to be an actual turkey farm, and now is surrounded by suburban condos. The menu is meat meat meat (fine, they have vegetable quiche) BUT they have picnic tables outside! Perfect happy medium: my coworkers get to spend money on meat, and I get to join them, outside the office, in the sunshine, but eating my own free, yummy, healthy, non-stomach-hurting sandwich!

OK, so in retrospect the issue doesn't seem as bad as it was when I started work and really wanted to be social and get to know my coworkers. But still, it has been the topic of many conversations amongst me and my friends. And I can't knock my coworkers completely, because on days when we all eat in the office kitchen we watch Jeopardy and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and make fun of the contestants. A girl can only complain so much...

Ironically, blogging itself poses a dilemma

It is a gorgeous day out, it is Saturday, why am I blogging?

But if I don't write on the weekend, I have to write during the week.
If I write during the week that leaves two time options: during work and after work.
It would be nice to blog at work, very convenient time wise, but (a) I can't devote my full attention to well-thought-out posts and (b) people can see my computer screen and I'm guessing it's inappropriate to blog at work... (though somehow my friend Nate manages to do it, sneaky boy).

That leaves blogging after work.
After spending 8 hours in front of a computer, the only thing I really want to do when I get home is whip out the laptop and sit for longer periods ranting out my inane dilemmas. [Sarcasm.]

Despite the aforementioned reasons not to blog at work, I will say that it *would* allow me to blog through the dilemmas and would align most closely with my mom's goal of getting me weened off of her listening skills.

See, every dilemma has a converse.

-- --- --
Moral of the story: it's a gorgeous day out, why am I blogging?

Dilemma ridden

A common Gailism, generally expressed (whined?) to my mother, my best friend, or anyone who knows me well enough to humor me and pretend to listen, is the statement "here's my dilemma." What follows is a rambling of unmatched proportions, where I outline the issue at hand, and all the possible choices I have and the pros and cons of each. The unwitting recipient of this earful literally does not have to say anything. The HMD rant is ultimately a way for me to talk out silly issues that only I would see as significant dilemmas and come to a conclusion on my own, but in a fashion that pretends to be a dialogue.

Why this helps me? Unclear.
But it occurs a lot.

So after reading an article in the NY Times about female bloggers my mom suggested that I turn my ramblings into a blog. Mostly I think she wants me to hit the blog jackpot and get sponsored by J.C. Penney and Crate & Barrel like Heather Armstrong's dooce.com [dilemma: include the link and send my nonexistent readers to a more developed site or leave it out and lack a source?], but I think she also wants me to grow up and learn to solve my own dilemmas without talking her ear off. Mom: "Instead of calling me, why don't you try writing a blog post every time you have a dilemma?" Such gentle code for: I have things to do in life, and you're 22 damnit, plus your dilemmas are ridiculous.

And that is how we've arrived here...