judyherilla.com

So, Im in Sunny California and you would think I should only be happy.
If this helps ONE person save money by not having their Toyota Prius towed unnecessarily, it will be worth it.

Well, let me tell you whats got a thorn in my side.

I rented a car from San Francisco Alamo on August 28th.
Immediately, I was getting lights saying that the car needed Oil Maintenance, and I also discovered that the second cigarette lighter outlet did not work. So, no iPod and Navigation system at the same time.

I called Alamo Roadside assistance and they said to take the car to any Firestone or Goodyear.
I took it to the Firestone in Reno who confirmed they have an account with Alamo.
After waiting for 30 minutes, I was told that it would take many hours to perform the diagnostics and change the oil. I asked them to just check the outlet, and when they called Alamo, were told they could not get approval to work on the car for two days.

Okay – so I decided to forget about it. I was going out of MY way to help them maintain THEIR vehicle, and ended up wasting MY time.

So, I head to the desert. I try to leave on Sunday, September 5th. All I want is an Indian Taco, a nice hot shower, and to prepare for a week of interviews with winery owners.

I back up the car, all is well.
I get out to hug my campmates good-bye, and get back in. The car refuses to start.

The first message was, move car to flat surface and depress the emergency brake completely.
Two things – it was already ON a flat surface, AND the thing didnt start so i could not move it.

Then, a new message appeared. It would flash, and was hard to catch.
Looking it up in the manual, it was the “Immobilizer System activated”

The manual went on to say that the car needed to be towed to a Toyota dealership, that the fob was no longer being recognized as belonging to the car, either because it was brought in contact with another fob, or metal.

WTF?

So, I called roadside assistance. This was not an easy feat – I was in the middle of the desert.

Luckily, someone had a satellite phone. This costs $1.50 per minute.

So, I get a hold of someone, relay to him the indicator message, and he says, Yes, you MUST have it towed to a Toyota dealership. He is able to send a tow truck, but needs an exact address.

I explain to him that I am on a satellite phone, in the middle of a desert, in a dust storm, and that the window is stuck in a down position since the car will not power up. I give him exact directions on how to get to my location. He tells, me, No, I need an address.

He starts asking me if I passed such and such street. I explain again that I am in the middle of the desert, exactly how to get to me, that I am on an expensive satellite phone, that the sun has gone down, and I am cold. He keeps asking me about streets, wasting my time.

He says he must be able to see the location on Google Maps in order to send a tow truck. He also explains that the tow truck will take 4 hours to get to me. So? Im STUCK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT.

I tell him, if he has Google Maps, he can go to a web address and get my location. He says he is unable to do so, and for me to call the police to find out my exact location.

The end result, $40 cash being paid to the owner of the satellite phone, and NO HELP WHATSOEVER from roadside assistance. He told me I would be reimbursed if I found a tow.
He did say he would arrange for a rental car to be available in Reno and gave me the number to call once I had gotten the car towed there.

SO…after 6 hours of having the car stuck in duststorms with the window down, I was able to get a tow.
$180/hour

We get towed about 2 miles, and the driver is told by another tow truck driver, have you checked the rear battery? Rear battery???

They jump said rear battery and the car starts.

Had roadside assistance, or any of the websites that I searched known this, I would not have been stuck all day in the desert.

If you ever get these messages, try jumping the rear battery of your Toyota Prius.

So, we drive all night long to get to Reno. Exhausted. Sleep in the car. Uncomfortable. And no Indian Tacos.

I call Reno Airport Alamo and am told by a nice woman that we will be taken care of, to bring the car in for an exchange and she would adjust the contract. I tell her we are exhausted, and can we bring it in the next day. She says yes.

So, we stay with a friend in Reno, and the next day go to the airport. Bikram listens to our story and says that he will exchange the car, but cannot adjust the contract without his managers approval.
We go to the car, and manager Robin Moon looks briefly inside the vehicle and says that we are being charged $250 for the dust in the car. I explain again the situation with the window being stuck down and the dust storm, but no sympathy.

After continued pleas, and crying, we are told the cleaning fee will be $50 – and will be added to the contract, but will not be deducted until the car contract gets settled in San Francisco, that she cannot make any adjustments.

She said that the fact that someone told me when I called that things would be taken care of meant nothing. That half the time when you call, you get someone from out of state. It seemed a negative to me that I would be getting different points of view and that different locations or people would be giving me different information.

Bikram assures us the $50 will not be charged, and that San Francisco Alamo will take care of us and the contract based upon our troubles.

The card they have on file emails me when I am charged anything. Interesting…I was charged $50 by Alamo the next day.

Im in the middle of interviewing winery owners for www.grapethoughts.com and it is not convenient to get myself to the airport at this point to deal with the situation.

I hope to post an update soon that ends this story on a good note.

Ah – I have been very busy at work and not much time to write.

Taking a much appreciated time off with Adam and headed to Burning Man, and then touring San Francisco for a bit.

If you are so inclined, you can brighten an already sunny day for us by writing to us in the desert. It really is nice to get away from technology for the week, and go old school.

Probably would need to write it by Tuesday or Wednesday me thinks…

KGB & Adam Lipinski
Liquid Latex Lounge
4:00 and D
C/O BRCPO
Burning Man
Gerlach, NV 89412

I posted on Facebook that all I wanted for my birthday was for people to go out and do something nice for someone else.

People wish for world peace, and that’s great – but you got to take some steps. I thought about “Pay It Forward” and how that was a great movie.

So…if you were one of the people who did something nice on 6/19 in honor of my birthday – or even mistaking the Facebook share as one of your friend’s birthdays – please post what you did here. (on my blog – which is http://judyherilla.com/do-something-nice-on-6-19/ if you are reading this on the Facebook feed) THANKS!

Belated do-good-deeds are appreciated too!

I had kind of a crappy day – although there were some nice highlights. One thing that made me smile was hearing from people about the things that they were doing.

Some said “Keep this Private” and they dont like to get recognized for their good deeds.Please consider posting to my blog anyway – some of the stories are inspirational, and even though some people say – but I’m nice every day – it showed there are opportunities to stretch ourselves.

So, my personal, do something nice – I was contacted by a client that a non-profit needed help with their WordPress that had stopped working when they moved from one server to another.  Even though I had promised my fiance “no more free work”, it seemed like a perfect opportunity and a good cause.   http://allianceguinea.org

On behalf of the whole Alliance Guinea team and all our friends in Guinea – THANK YOU!!! These elections are truly historic and we so greatly appreciate your assistance for the very modest little contribution our group’s trying to make to help them be as free and fair as possible.

Happiest of birthdays to you and enjoy settling in to your new home!

with sincere appreciation,
Jennifer

So, Im auditing a class in NYC that I will be teaching.

I realized near 10am that there was an issue with my checking accoutn and I get it taken care of ASAP.

I called the branch and was told I could not handle it over the phone and needed to go into a branch.
After searching Google for directions, I saw I could take the metro and be ther in 15 minutes.

I forgot to change into my tennis shoes, and found myself 5 minutes later walking from 1 NYC Plaza to Bowlin Green station and jumping on a 5 train.

My lunch route

I got my metro pass – decided to get the unlimited pass, since I am meeting friends and also want to checkout The Moth on Thursday. I also like getting an unlimited pass, because event though I have done the subways of NYC, DC, London, Beijing, France, Moscow, and some other places Im forgetting right now – I invariably end up in the wrong direction, and its nice to not worry.

Case in point – I got the pass and went to get in the train, but there was no #5 – i had entered Whitehall on accident. I reemerged, and it took a while to get my bearings. Every time I come out of the subway, it’s like I transported to another dimension.

So finally on the #5 I was headed towards Grand Central to board a #6. Ah, what;s tis, I can get a 6 sooner than that? I jumped the train to board a 6, only to find it was a local. My 15 minuite trip turned into 30 minutes.

I got out, had no clue where I was, and took in my surroundings.  My handwritten note stopped here – I had neglected to write down the address of the bank. But I knew it was on Park Ave.

A nice looking double-tree was there so I used my mad skillz to go in, and ask the concierge. She found it for me, and gave me directions on how to get there. I saw a Chase where I thought PNC should be, and went inside to ask. Here the address I was looking for was theirs. “Looking for PNC?”    Yet another issue with their site. Lovely. (i had been fighting issues since August, and finally got online access since they bought National).  I called a guy I know on the inside, and he once again regained my faith in this bank by initiating the transfer.

I got lunch from a van – gyros!  No signs, no prices. I asked him what they had and he replied warmly – anything you want, $5.  He suggested the salad with lamb and chicken and I went for it. It seemed to be family run and the young guy was really friendly.  I had some of the white sauce, his mom made it afterall, and just had a really nice exchange with him, and the lady in line.

I walked toward the metro, and realized mysuit skirt was all twisted around. What did I care, id never run into ANYONE I knew, and I really was not trying to make an impression. I thought of hwo at peace i felt. I really enjoy being in NYC.

I made it back to the metro, and jumped on the number 6. There was a woman Hari krishna, and I smiled warmly at her.  I wanted to tell talk to her, and tell her about the great time i had on different occasions hanging out with Hari Kirshnas, once in Pittsburgh in a sweat lodge my friend built, and the other time in the desert doing dishes with them and feeding the masses. But I was shy, and she got off at the next stop.

I found a seat to sit and eat my lunch. I dropped my purse and someone picked it up for me, I hadnt even noticed. I was on another 6 local – and asked the woman next to me if I could grab an express somewhere. We chatted. She was really nice.  Worked in advertising. Im listening t a podcast on advertising, and told her about a book I had heard about that I found very fascinating: Fascinate – how the meanign of the word used to mean what we were instinctively drawn to – but now advertising has changed that. check it out – short quiz.

She said I could take the next train when we stopped. I said goodbye, jumped out went across and it was not a 6.
I asked others and they said no, I asked for trains that could get to the station by the Ferry, they said no. So the 6 I came from was still waiting so I jumped back on. The woman and everyone else insisted, I should have taken that train. It was a 5. Oh well, it was interesting hwo it turned into a group effort to get me where I needed to be.

Well, she got off, and then everyone kept telling me which stop to get off and was extremely friendly.  One of the women told me I should wrap my purse around my arm so I didn’t lose it, since I had dropped it before. I shared with her how I had my purse stolen the very first time I was in NYC.  It was funny, an older couple got off at my station and were telling me where to go. In a nice friendly way, not like the sterotypical New Yorker in movies, etc.  I was late getting back to class, but could not wipe the big smile off my face.

This weekend is about planning out projects for Karmoxie and Grape Thoughts.

I took a break to go to meet Adam at a friend’s birthday party. Birdie (the cat) was nowhere to be found, so I left assuming she was upstairs.
As I backed out of my driveway, I saw her shoot out of the garage!

Well she took off like mad, and there was no chasing her.
Adam said to crack the garage door and I could check back tonight.

Arrived at birthday party at same time as he did.
Good friends, good beer, good pinball. Yum!

Support mission, via bikes. 2 tandems and 4 soloists (one in a short skirt and cute argyle socks) rode through Lawrenceville to check up on our dear friend
working security – somewhere I will not share. A bit out of character for this sweet lovin gal, and we rode to show our support.

Me, in a dress, and a full face helmet, and sandals – on the back of a tandem with my awesome boyfriend who I trust immensely.
Hard to keep my dress down, and I’m sure that, as well as the variety of expressive individuals, as well as colorful and even strobe light
blinking light bikes, and our caravan of bike,  were the reason for some cheers.

Got to see our lovely friend, and explore an abandoned building which may or may have not once produced something we may have or may have not ingested.

I admit I was antsy and eager for the ride back. The beers were kicking in. No dinner!

Adam and I pushed hard, and I LIKED IT! I am so anxious to kick back on the bike more often, shed about 30 pounds, and feel more energetic.
We got up this steep hill, that almost exactly 1 year ago I also rode up at 1am due to a navigational error. I had not made it up that time – but I did this time!
Did I mention the immense crush I have on my awesome boyfriend?

So, I left to check up on the cat situation. Luckily she was waiting for me. I pulled into the garage and when I came out, she let me approach her.
She was about to take off, so I grabbed her and suffered a nice bloody gash for it. But hey – she is indoors now, no worries.

My tummy rumbled and I called my chef boyfriend, asking how to best prepare the leftover meat in the fridge.
After being given solid info, I was sauteing onions, garlic, portabelo mushrooms and beef, adding red wine – Mmmm, had
to open the Malbec I’d been saving. 2008 Gascon from Argentina. It was amazingly smooth yet complex – right out of the bottle. No need to decant.
Great berry aromas and flavors, and just a touch of chocolate.

So, I cook it up, and tell Adam, its kind of chewy and crunchy.

Well, I had used the scraps he had saved to make dog food! UGH!

Luckily I had enough portabelo, onions, etc, to start again, this time with flank steak.

OMG. I sat down at the computer, tasting the yummy flavors, and thinking of what I would call this.
Adam had made Beef burgundy earlier this week, maybe this would be Beef Malbec.  I thought to myself,
whatever it is – it is beefy goodness.

Just then, Firefox finished loading, and so did my Scrabble game.

The word played at the top of the screen across the middle triple?

BEEF

YUM….Synchronicities, yummy food, positive thoughts, and the glow of being in love with someone awesome.

Im so happy.

Back to paperwork, but a very nice reprieve after working constantly for last couple of weeks.

Was quite surprising.

Let me set the stage.

Im frantically busy working on a deadline, and have been sitting at my computer for hours at a time, and NOT looking at Facebook. Yeah!

Im drinking wonderful tea that I have been mixing myself from different herbs and teas.
NO caffeine, and yet Im a bit hyper when I get up to stretch.
Normally one of the dogs comes to nugde me that – hey – you need to give us water – or hey maybe you should feed us.

So, I got up and looked in the fridge for myself, and decided to cook up some thawed out chicken breast.
I may go vegetarian at some point, but not until my freezer is empty.
I looked in the freezer for some veggies, and in this container, presumably for ice cubes, I have bags of veggies. I decide to empty it out and remove it. At the bottom I find…

Some frozen green vegetal-looking material.
Now I have been to college, and my first thought was….weed? From where? From whom?
My boyfriend doesn’t partake, and I could not think of how it got there.
A minute later i realize it is frozen loose leaf spinach that is kind of bundled up.

Then Im surprised -  AGAIN – by what I see in the door of the freezer.

A cloth choker! How the heck did this end up in the freezer?

Looking forward to next week, new projects, and spreading some Karmoxie love.

Yesterday was Pay It Forward Day. I learned of it on Facebook on the Karma Experiment page of Facebook.

I had a meeting with Karmoxie Team members.
On the way out the door, I grabbed scrap paper form my shelf, and
just happened to grab just enough that when I put the paper in my folder, the paper on top said “Pay It Forward”

It was a handout that was extra from a Networking Event that I had organized, that had been the topic of the speaker.

Cool synchronicity!

I wish I had put a bit more time into acts of kindness.
I did get my teammates coffee and lunch, but they were so full of great ideas it seemed like they paid it backwards.

Special thanks to Mish for motivating me to document this synchronicity!

That was a weird thing to hear today.

Had a parking ticket. Had been inside getting change to feed the meter. UGH.
Forgot to pay.
Letter from Magistrate.
Forgot to pay.
Called Magistrate, okay, send $ you are okay.
30 minutes later – Hello this is constable so-and-so, Im holding a warrant for your arrest.

Apparently it is all taken care of – but oh boy, scary call!

And indicative that I need to refocus on only 3 companies, rather than 4.

I just dashed outside to bring some bottled water in from the car. Im working a late night, and am far from home. The wind was blustery and the rain started to fall, and I was energized. I think I even said aloud, “Bring it on!”

Being away, things feel different. Full of possibilities. And new experiences. And how things change and keep changing. With the thunder rumbling, I remembered how I used to crawl into my dad’s lap as a kid to hide and be comforted, because I was so afraid of storms.

This reminded me today is his birthday. I say “is”, even though he passed away in 2000.

I felt peaceful as I thought back on who I am because of John Herilla. I thought about growing up on the farm, having everything at the dinner table as a result of the time and care put into the gardens and with the animals.

I used to think of him as being a tyrant, but in him I observed the strongest work ethic I have ever witnessed, and conservation of resources. I used to be so upset about not being allowed to have money to buy toys or new clothes, but I never experienced the likes of the Depression that had taught him to conserve out of necessity.

I really wish I could talk to him now that I am older and have learned some lessons. To get his take on things.

I feel very lucky to have been able to know him and his way of life. I miss him. And although I think I might be able to relate to him on a deeper level, I think I kind of know the reaction he would have knowing I am in love with someone who has blue hair. Even though dad was very intelligent, I dont think he would be able to understand.

Related to the thoughts on my dad, lately I have been obsessing over the decline of our society, into robots who just make money to buy stuff, to feed into the chain of consumables. I had been thinking of this before, but the online cartoon Story of Stuff – by Annie Leonard really does an interesting job of explaining it. She quotes Victor Lebow from 1955:

Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfactions, our ego satisfactions, in consumption. The measure of social status, of social acceptance, of prestige, is now to be found in our consumptive patterns. The very meaning and significance of our lives today expressed in consumptive terms. The greater the pressures upon the individual to conform to safe and accepted social standards, the more does he tend to express his aspirations and his individuality in terms of what he wears, drives, eats- his home, his car, his pattern of food serving, his hobbies.

These commodities and services must be offered to the consumer with a special urgency. We require not only “forced draft” consumption, but “expensive” consumption as well. We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced, and discarded at an ever increasing pace. We need to have people eat, drink, dress, ride, live, with ever more complicated and, therefore, constantly more expensive consumption. The home power tools and the whole “do-it-yourself” movement are excellent examples of “expensive” consumption.

I don’t know how our society is going to change in my lifetime, but I am glad I was able to witness how my dad operated given his experience.

If he was still alive I would not bother trying to buy him new shirts or socks. I would spend time talking to him. I had sat with him in hospice running out of things to talk about. I wish I could get that time back. Or better yet, take him to a place I know of in West Virginia, where there is no cell service, but beautiful scenery and seemingly untouched by pollutions and poisons. I would tell him I know its going to be a struggle at times, but in a few ways, I now want to be more like him.