What the hell is with this bad car-ma?

Absolutely craptastic day... Muffler of the car starting dragging on the ground after getting back from a doctor's appointment, so I was forced to pull over after I started hearing something very loud. I ended up in front of an apartment complex, and put on my hazards even though I was in the no parking zone, but I knew the Amherst cops are understanding about stuff like this. And to top it off I ended up shutting the keys in the car looking for my AAA card. The kids in front, however, were not. They kept telling me to move, calling me "Girl!" and then shouting obscenities a 7 year old should not know. Then they started throwing stuff at the car.

Luckily by then my dad, whom I'd called, and the AAA guy showed up and fixed it enough to get it down to the brake place and get my door open, but already being mentally fragile from that day I lost it after my dad picked me up at the brake place. He can sometimes be really insensitive, since it wasn't the kids that made me upset, it was that they were piggybacking on all the other shit from that day. Also, drawing comparisons to these kids being like the ones who tortured me in elementary school doesn't help an already emotionally fragile person, kthanks. He doesn't deal well with stuff like this, though he's good with automotive stuff. Oh well.

Oh and by the way I ended up missing my psych visit because of this. Wonderful.

It should be fixed by tomorrow when I have to go to work and it was only one bolt that apparently commonly breaks on these cars, and it won't cost too much. Still, bleh. At least I have Stella comforting me (though she is sitting on the chemistry paper I need for tomorrow) and now I just need to sleep. If I need to I'll take a mental health day tomorrow, though I imagine after some sleep it'll look better.

I ask again, what did I do to deserve all this shit at once?

Good news.. finally!!!

Well, in terms of the car muffler incident of yesterday, when my dad called the mechanic to find out how much it would be it turned out to be - nill! They gave me a freebee, and on top of it gave me a quart of oil put air in the tires and fixed the screwy door sensor, all for free! My dad insisted on giving them $20 for the "Coffee and donut fund" they more than deserved it. I'm definately going back to them if I need work done again (which hopefully I won't have to other than the occasional tune up).

Also got given a parking permit by the school by lottery after initially denying me one because I was "not top priority." Apparently a job and an internship aren't priority, so I don't know what the hell is. Meh. Bastards. But, all evidence seems to indicate an upswing of the luck, which is more than welcome after the past 2 weeks.

Still need to have someone look at the scratch on the trunk and figure out if I'm going to get it fixed depending on how much it is. As sweet as that old guy was I don't want to have points taken off his insurance if it only costs 20 bucks or something like that, so I'll try to do that on Sunday.

And assuming a meteor doesn't drop on me *knock on wood* I'm going to kendo tomorrow!!!

I ♥ Ancient and Medieval Lit

I seriously need to buy a copy of the Tao Teh Ching, as my school copy has multiple post-its it in at sections I like and I need to return it on Tuesday. I know it's an academic class, but I find quite a lot of spirituality in most of what we read, which I find really amazing. This one almost brought me to tears and is my favorite saying:

What is well planted cannot be uprooted.
What is well embraced cannot slip away.
Your descendents will carry on the the ancestral sacrifice for generations without end.

Cultivate virtue within your own person,
And it becomes a genuine part of you.
Cultivate it in the family,
And it will abide.
Cultivate it in the community,
And it will live and grow.
Cultivate it in the state,
And it will flourish abundantly.
Cultivate it in the world,
And it will become universal.
Hence, a person must be judged as a person;
A family as a family;
A community as a community;
A state as a state;
The world as world.

How do I know about the world?
By what is within me.

More Lao Tzu

Again from the Tao Teh Ching, chapter 31. I feel this one is extremely relevant right now:

In ordinary life, a gentleman regards his left side as a place of honor;
In war, the right side is the place of honor.
As weapons are instruments of evil,
They are not properly a gentleman's instruments;
Only on necessity will he resort to them.
For peace and quiet are dearest to his heart,
And to him even a victory is no cause for rejoicing.
To rejoice over a victory is to rejoice over the slaughter of men!
Hence a man who rejoices in the slaughter of men cannot expect to thrive in the world of men.
On happy occasions the left side is preferred:
On said occasions the right side.
In the army, the Lieutenant Commander stands on the left,
While the Commander-in-Chief stands on the right.
This means that war is treated on par with a funeral service.
Because many people have been killed, it is only right that survivors should mourn for them.
Hence, even a victory is a funeral.

From the maintenence department...

Okay, finally somewhat happy with the journal layout now. I've had the old one forever and needed a change. This one is fall themed and the quote up top is from Lao Tzu, as quoted in an earlier entry today. Probably will fool with it some more but for now I'm happy. Bleh.