Driving with Rope 2: Thinner Rope

-You read the original.
-You couldn't get enough.
-Brought to you by the producer of Driving with Rope and Fit to Post comes the sequel to Driving with Rope, Driving with Rope 2: Thinner Rope.

I picked up my Hyundai Tucson the other day after having the gas pedal replaced. Read the original if you don't know the story. But as I am driving back to my house, I start to turn the corner and I step on my gas pedal to speed up. I heard a snap, and the resistance I was so accustomed to once again was not there. I was however, somewhat accustomed to this experience as well. So I calmly reached down and felt around to see if my suspicions were correct; that I had once again snapped my gas pedal. I picked it up again, but with somewhat of a less puzzled look than last time. Similar to Indy's look at the right.

My first reaction to the situation was that they had just glued the old one back on. But after coasting home and getting underneath the dash with a flashlight, I can tell this new fracture is a unique occurance of a now-frequent problem.

The guys at the dealership had the nerve to trash my former accelerator cord! Of course they may have kept it. They were pretty impressed with it. Maybe there's a shrine with my name and liscence plate number, titled "Car Mcguyver,"... but probably not.

I looked around and finally found a new rope, much thinner, and more painful. But I can really finesse with this thinner rope. I have a more solid connection with the accelrator stump. It really is amazing the knowledge you gain about how an accelrator pedal works when you have to speed up using the muscles in your forearm and hand.

I've had to drive my entire birthday weekend with a rope (thinner than the original!) to accelrate. They say that you have to travel with someone before you really get to know them. Well if you really want to get to know the accelration function of your car, bust off your gas pedal, tie a rope around it and pull, then get it fixed, then break it off again before your birthday and experience it all over again.

This writer is not responsible for broken pedals of any sort except his own. Do not actually try what this writer suggested, otherwise you are definitley 100% dumb.

Introduction

Two months after graduation, I am now, finally getting a small introdution to the "real world." In just today, I have sent out two resumes to employers with serious interest, I have appointments set up in the next week to meet with two groups considering me for a position, met with another last week and I have another with whom I will soon be setting up a meeting. Bottom line: I am crazy busy with job opportunities. And I'm excited about them.

This being said, they are all relatively outside of what I have been trained to do in college: be a journalist. I don't think you can call yourself a journalist unless you adhere to some strict principles, and of those principles, being idealistically independent is one of them. Now I imagine as a DJ, you can make some of your own decisions (should I play Britney or Eminem?), but there's not a whole lot of investigative reporting opportunities in disc jockeying.

So it comes down to whether I am interested in taking an opportunity in which I could eventually make my way in to what I call "real journalism." Now we shouldn't make any mistakes, either. Just a couple months ago I turned down a job that was heavily based in journalism (as a newspaper reporter), but the job paid very little. I am intersted in making a living wage, not "enough to get by." And these jobs seem to give me an opportunity to make bank.

At the same time, I could put out some clips on the side (as long as there were no conflicts of interest - I am so idealistic, aren't I?). Eventually I could use those clips to show that I was interested in writing, and eventually graduate to a magazine job. But I'll keep the doors open to sticking with the corporations and making bank. You never hear about journalists retiring early and settling in St. Johns - do you?

e-dating, by j-Ro

I am not in the dating world. Thank god. I have a significant other of over two years. And we have fun (I'm not trying to rub anything in... but nah na na na nah nah). I am happy for this because a coworker just told me of a harrowing experience she had this morning. At 5 a.m. (that's in the morning, when there is no sun).

I know you just thought "holy shit" in your head. I suppose there are a lot of worse things that could happen at 5 a.m., but this is more of a mind-screw than anything else.

A guy whom her friends had set her up with came over to her house for wine and a movie. They were trying to figure out a bar to go to and what else they could do, but eventually she gave up and invited the guy over for wine. That may have been a mistake, but it's not like she invited him over the Ladies' Man Leon's "dinner and a movie."

So they had their date, and she says it was a little awkward, but he thanks her, and later sends her a message about how much fun he had. Then, at 5 a.m. on a Monday morning, he sends her a text message. You know, those black-and-white-100-characters-or-less-emotionless- avoid-human-contact-I-spent-30-minutes-typing-this-into-a-phone-instead-of-calling-you things? And he said that he was still trying to get over his "x" (he saved a ton of time avoiding the "e" in ex--also used in "emotion"), that he was sorry, but he couldn't continue this relationship and that he hoped that one day she would forgive him. This text message woke her at 5 a.m., a beautiful start to a Monday.

She said after she came out of her pre-dawn haze, she couldn't help but laugh. And I don't blame her! It's been a good chuckle all day long. But it comes down to the dating game. How hard must it be to find someone who is in the right stage of their life, interested in all the right things and also finds their potential partner attractive? While we're at it, some maturity might be nice, too.

So the text-message dump was kinda rough, especially at a time before your dog even wakes you up. But at least they didn't meet online. Cause then a text-message breakup would just be downright wrong.