My new baby........... 

I finally received the call..................... they are totaling my BMW. It only took 5 months and 10 days to resolve this problem. I don't think the insurance company will be using M2 Collision services any longer. What a nightmare. It's a little sad in a way, I loved my car. I had it for 8 years and it only had 75k miles on it. After the body work, it looked almost perfect. Just too bad it rains inside the car:( For some reason I'm having trouble posting any pictures to my blog again so I'll try to get one up later of my new car.

My father past away 14 years ago yesterday which explains why I've felt so sad all week. I can't believe it's been that long. I miss him so much. It's good to remember though. I think I'll go pull out the old photo albums. I think I have the picture that The Courier ran from his funeral in the gymnasium at Findlay High School. The school was supposed to rename the gym the Coach Roger Renz Memorial Gymnasium or something to that affect. I never found out why that didn't happen?

It was such a nice day today I actually did nothing but read the Sunday paper outside. Finally things are drying up a bit. There's still the massive pond at the end of my driveway where all the water from my street ends up. The city will never fix it so I guess I'll just have to drive my new car through the mess my neighbors make every Saturday morning when they wash their 16 trucks & SUV's. I'm not sure how many people live there but they pretty much take up any additional parking out front. It's fun to watch them play musical trucks on street sweeping day. They thought I went on vacation the other week and when I came home my driveway was full of their vehicles. That made me happy. I just love all my neighbors. Especially when I get a weekly delivery of rotten lemons thrown into my pool. Sometimes they are even accompanied by half-eaten chrizos, plastics bottles, and big rocks. Lovely. The neighborhood welcome wagon I'm not, but I was nice enough to collect several soccer balls and return them in a garbage bag along with the lemons:)

Enough about my cozy little neck of the woods. I better get paperwork started and the laundry finished.

I finally put up a few New Year's Eve pictures. I would've had more but my camera lost it's charge before I could catch people doing embarrassing New Year's antics.

My car is still in the shop. I went to pick it up last Saturday after they assured me they tested and re-tested the top and there were absolutely no leaks. Then they left my car out in the rain all night. Good call! It was soaking wet inside again. So the manager told me to keep the rental car and she would call my insurance company. Gee.................. It's only been 5 months now. I gave up and went straight to Fletcher Jones to test drive a new car. I figured not too many people would be out in the pouring rain looking for a convertible. I forgot it's Newport Beach. Still, it wasn't that busy. I ended up driving a SLK 55 AMG. Nevermind the fact that this car is a rocket, I felt like I was in some sort of James Bond vehicle. It would take weeks to learn how everything worked inside. I thought I didn't like SLK's, the old style looks like someone kicked it in the ass. However, the automatic sensor on the windshield wiper, the automatic down shifting when you take your foot off the brakes, and the beautiful Diamond Silver colour made it very likeable. I was tempted by hot chocolate to enter into the little cubicle where the salesman utters those scary words, " Do you want to throw some numbers around and see what we come up with?" The next thing I knew I had a great credit score and for the small amount of, let's say.......... a home mortgage, I could drive away in this rare Mercedes. I thought about it.......... for all of 10 seconds before reality kicked in. I politely declined and that's when they sent in the "closer." Apparently the "closer/manager" didn't realize that I wasn't seeking a vehicle inspired by Formula 1 racing cars with bi-xenon headlamps, the 7 G-Tronic seven-speed auto transmission and AIRSCARF( A little fan that blows hot air on your neck when it's cold- how could you survive without that?). Of course it has a 265-kw/360hp output and 510 Newton metres of torque, but I just wanted something that looked "cute."
Next I went to Crevier BMW where I acquired my poor baby that sits in the rain and has a pending terminal prognoses. You have to valet your vehicle there just to walk on the lot, they were that busy! Apparently BMW's are flying off the lot faster than they can remove them from the containers down at the port. I would have to put my name on the particular 330 M3 that I had decided on that may find it's way to Santa Ana sometime next week.
So one last dealership I ventured to for the weekend. There it was in the showroom................ The perfect used SL 500 that wouldn't require a second mortgage, my first born, and several years without a vacation. No instant depreciation while driving it off the lot. A certified pre-owned extended warranty. And finally, a car that's not squishy inside. Now I can rest once again. I'll post a picture of my new baby as soon as it stops raining!

JJ ready for Mardi Gras New Year's Eve 

Jennifer ready to Karaoke! 

Barbie & Todd on New Year's Eve 

Let's see................... I still don't have my car, my back is killing me, still searching for the bottom of my desk, and the Democrats still won't admit they lost the Election. Different year, same story.

The M2 Collision place had a power outage the other day , which explains why no one answered the phone. They weren't exactly thrilled to see my BMW driving back in yesterday. So I have yet another rental car to figure out. I wonder how long it will be this time? They better have put the car inside or it's going to be a BMW pond. It's always nice to have the option to shower in your car while driving on those days you're running late.

Well, this is my last entry of the year, I can't believe 2004 will be gone in a few hours. I always tell people that in the bar business as soon as Halloween comes around, you blink and it's New Year's. Superbowl isn't until February, so I get a month off between parties. I better get this party in the rental and head to the bar...............................

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Deva's stayed open until 2am on Christmas and we had a steady stream of customers. Everyone is so much nicer on Christmas, a few people even brought me turkey dinner.

So I left my car outside last night in the pouring rain, or as the media refers to it; "The big Storm!" That was a good test for my supposedly "fixed" car. I sat down in a lovely puddle and had a nice shower as I drove to the store. Apparently the water soaked all the way through the convertible top and I'm sure that's going to smell wonderful after the rains go away. It's okay though because I called M2 Collision where they fixed my car and the phone just rang and rang. Maybe they are out of business I thought. So, I called my insurance agent and he is out of town for 2 weeks. They promised me someone else would get back to me right away. It's after 6pm and I guess they forgot. I hope the "Doc" I'm going to see in the morning doesn't mind working on a soggy patient. ( Yes, my back is still killing me!) I guess I will need a new car after all. That's if I can get my insurance company to understand a new phrase I picked up called "diminished value."

Well, I've vented enough for this evening. Back to cooking my rainy weather beef vegetable stew.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We had quite a few people come by deva's yesterday. There's already a few there this morning. I guess most places are closed so at least there's somewhere to go if you're alone on Christmas. Today hasn't been much different than any other day so far. I did paperwork, went through the banks, and now I'm getting ready to go bartend. Deva's has never been closed for a day since I bought it over 6 years ago. So when no one volunteered to work this year I got to be the lucky bartender:) I better get my Santa hat on and start serving those "Holiday Spirits!"

Here's a cute little Christmas poem............ enjoy!

THE LITTLE GIRL AND THE COP

A city cop was on his horse waiting to cross
the street when a little girl stopped beside him on
her shiny new bike.

"Nice bike," the cop said, "Did Santa bring it to you?"

"Yep," the little girl said, "He sure did!"

The cop looked the bike over and handed the
girl a $20 ticket for a safety violation, saying,
"Next year tell Santa to put a reflector light on
the back of it."

The young girl looked up at the cop and said,
"Nice horse you got there sir, did Santa bring it to you?"

"Yes, he sure did," chuckled the cop.

The little girl looked up at the cop and said,
"Next year tell Santa the dick goes underneath the
horse, not on top."

I just returned from the Grand Opening of the new renovations at the Harrah's Rincon casino out past Escondido. The place is extremely nice, they did an excellent job with the $168 million they spent. I left them a little cash to help with all the expenses, I'm good like that! JJ and I had a great time and I will definitely be going back after the new year. I needed a "Girl's night" out, maybe we'll do an employee's trip from deva's.

Anyway, I'm off to the bar to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

It's only 5 more days until Christmas! I spent the entire weekend laying in bed trying rest my back. Just me & my cat watching every stupid movie on the dozen movie channels I have. I didn't get to go Christmas shopping like I usually do so I hope $$ fits everyone just fine. I tried to get near South Coast Plaza last week, what a nightmare! An hour in the mall was all I could handle. I was lucky to find a place to park, good thing I had my little car back. Everyone has an SUV which can't fit into the "Compact" parking spots without taking up two spaces. Guess if I buy a Hummer I can't go shopping anytime soon.
Well, off to work................... Happy Monday!

It's been a long week! I've been to the Chiropractor and the Electrogenics "Doc" and I feel absolutely terrible! My back is hurting more than ever at this point, I can't believe it. I'm sure you're as tired of hearing about it as I am tired of complaining! It just helps to vent, so I can't help it.

Getting ready for deva's Christmas party tomorrow night. Yes, it's a "Christmas Party!" It's not a "Holiday Party," it's Christmas and that's the way it's going to stay. We have a "Christmas Tree" not a "Holiday Bush." Growing up I never would've imagined everyone trying to take the "Christ" out of Christmas. Politically correct Holidays............. give me a break. Everyone can celebrate whatever they believe in, I have no problem with that. December 25th is Christmas, there's nothing else you can call it that would make sense to me.

Have fun at whatever politically correct event you attend this weekend!

The Holiday party was really nice last night at Alexandria Coronado's parents home. Alex even played the piano for everyone. She is such a genuinely nice person, I wish she would've kicked Loretta Sanchez' butt! Well, maybe next time we'll be able to get Sanchez to actually debate.

I went to the Chiropractor again today to get heated up, worked over, and iced down. Therapy is rough but hopefully it will work. I'm so tired of feeling this way!

The latest rumor on my recently departed employee is that her ex-boyfriend in New Mexico, whom is living on her property, used her gun to kill someone and buried the body on her land. I did see the listing of the land and a picture of the house, it's one of those under ground types. I forget what you call it but it's the kind of place you would go where you definitely have privacy, could live off of the land, and just disappear. Spooky. The ex also embezzled all the money from their business together, wrote bad checks from her account, and didn't pay any taxes for a few years. The property is supposed to be in foreclosure, it's comprised of 171 acres. I guess I can understand why she had to leave. She's moving out of state next week. Crazy!

Well, I better get ready for a Holiday Boat Cruise in Newport Harbor tonight. The Orange County Federation of Republican Women are having their annual Holiday event, this should be fun!

Tustin News - Online Edition

Okay, it's not a real big deal but I'm in the Tustin News today. I'm on page 10 if you care to look at the picture. I have my hair pulled back so I almost didn't recognize me:)


I'm off to a Holiday Party!

I just got back from the Chiropractor and I feel like a truck hit me. It's really painful getting worked on but I know it'll help. On the way home I stopped by Weinerschnitzel to continue with the Chili Dog Diet. Their 2 for $2.22 deal is going to make me fat! I heard a commercial last week and now I'm hooked. I've been to Weinerschnitzel twice in my life until then. I guess their advertising is working well. At least their fries still taste good, unlike the "healthy" grease they use at McDonald's. Jack In the Box & Burger King have horrible fries as well. That's my expert fry opinion being the self-proclaimed fast food critic.

Well, I had an employee quit last night. It seems she was under too much pressure from the job. I can completely understand how pointing out to her that it was not a good thing that she left the back door open to the bar one night last week was really being cruel to her. Also, I have to admit it was extremely pushy of me to request she come in early so I could attend a City Council meeting last night and to show disappointment when she showed up on time for the first time in months instead of early. I didn't even get to part where tabs were mysteriously not rung in the register, yet the banks came out perfectly even. I'm such a difficult boss to work for, a real slave driver. Most of my employees think that their shift starting times are merely suggestions. Any rules I may have are basically guidelines. I have to say I have several rules they must adhere to........... kind of.

Rule #1 Don't get drunk while working. Which was later modified to "No drinking while working." Which ultimately led to them to keeping the shots to a minimum.

Rule#2 Be on time for your shift. Which was changed to "Please try to come in somewhere close to your starting time." Now no one feels the need to rush in and out of traffic as they make the mad dash to work because they leave their homes 5 minutes before work and seem to forget that this Southern California and there may be just a little bit of congestion on the parking lots that we refer to as "Freeways."

Rule #3 If you need a day off please let me know way ahead of time in order to get your shift covered. That became " Call at least the day before if you're going to miss work." Which then was changed to "At least call sooner than 1/2 hour before your shift when you finally get your lazy butt out of bed and realized that you're to hungover to schlep booze all day long to dirty old men that are trying to look down your top."

Rule#4 Don't Steal. The fact that you forget to charge your friends for that last round of drinks is completely permissible considering no one is perfect and little mistakes can happen, besides it's not like we have to inventory.

Rule#5 No boyfriends at the bar while working. Modified to " Well, if he's there you might as well have him get you ice, stock the beer, and please buy him a drink on me." After all he's only there to eyeball any customer that may attempt to flirt with the bartender, affectively scaring away customers spending money or taking up too much of the bartenders time by ordering drinks, asking for change to play pool, or other activities which could cut into the quality time they could be spending together. Besides the bartender doesn't actually need all those extra tips anyway.

Rule #6 Don't flash... Ever! No modification on this one, I'd like to stay in business. There was one particular blonde that thought I was kidding. She lasted about 3 hours.

Rule #7 No Drugs! Again, no changes to this rule. One employee actually thought it was okay to smoke pot during her shift as long as she went out back............. she was both Wrong & Unemployed quickly! After she left someone found the bottle of Tequila with her name on it she hid behind the jukebox. No wonder she played so many songs!

Everyone thinks they want to own a bar someday. Follow me around for a week and I'll change you're mind real quick! Don't get me wrong, I have good employees as well that go out of their way to help make deva's a fun place. It's just the turnover in this business is high for a reason.

Finally! I just got the message that my car is ready! I don't believe it, it's only been 8 days short of 4 months! Now if I can actually drive it, that's another story. On Monday I argued with the M.D. that is supposedly treating me. Dr. Sharma told me there's nothing he could do because the MRI results came back normal and there is absolutely no way my sciatic nerve could be causing me pain. He said I would need to go to "pain management" and get shots in my back. I refused and he told me to get another doctor. I don't do shots, especially in my back! I refused to go to therapy until I was seen by the Chiropractor that runs the office. That was earlier today, and it took him all of 5 minutes to diagnose me with piriformis syndrome. The piriformis muscle irritates the sciatic nerve and causes pain in the back, rear, and down the leg into the foot. The pain is basically "sciatica." Figures, I don't trust doctors that don't listen to their patients and dismiss them as anxiety ridden females because their medical results say that nothing is wrong. They worked me over pretty hard today and iced me down, I have a feeling I'll be bruised tomorrow. That's okay as long as I start feeling better. Finally! I guess this is my lucky day, after almost 4 months of intense pain they figured something out and I get to go pick up my car! My car should be perfect by now!

It's Monday....... again. Still no car, still in extreme pain, still not able to sleep well. On the bright side I get to go to work and do inventory, deal with the liquor salesmen, wait for the phone to ring to see who can't work for whatever reason. I had to bartend yesterday because one of my employees decided to go to Vegas Saturday at 3am and just couldn't make it back. Lovely. This is the same girl who called in hungover 1/2 hour before shift, and missed the following week because she fell down and sprained her ankle (while drinking). She's a sweet girl, just not all that reliable. The best excuse was when another bartender called in and couldn't come to work because her luggage was lost at LAX returning from vacation. Apparently she couldn't come to work because she had no panties or makeup to wear. I had one girl a couple of years ago who called in that her Dad had a heart attack (which was a lie), the next week she didn't show up because she was in a coma, and the next week she couldn't make it because she was in jail (not really). There's' never a dull moment in the bar business.