i am so retardedly giddy.
please please please let this last!
'nuff said. i can't stand the selfish b*stard.
CNN.com - Taiwan politician arrives in China - Apr 26, 2005
car dealers are notoriously known for being buttheads. and, most are. understandably because the low level ones really don't make much money. i spent 7 hours in car dealerships yesterday, and came home very cranky, and very, very tired. but, i managed to get a good price, and left feeling like i had achieved some sort of a personal triumph. here is my advice:
1. do your research before going in. this includes kelly blue book, edmunds, carsdirect and articles such as these that provide some insight into the demented heads of these people (thanks to sunny for that article).
make sure you know the msrp and the invoice price, and print out any documentation that shows the lowest price you could find.
2. always double check what they tell you. these people will tell little fibs to get what they want.
3. cut to the chase: give them a firm deadline of when you will leave. they'll probably spend at least an hour walking back and forth trying to "negotiate." most of the time, they won't give you what you want and instead will just rehash what they previously told you in prettier lingo. if they do that more than once, say, no i'm sorry, and head for the door.
4. be somewhat resolute in leaving. they'll back off and cut the prices. even if they say, we'll do this only today, tell them you have other options and are unafraid to explore them.
5. you know you're getting somewhere when the manager and pricing manager come out. but they're just going to rehash the same bullshit. restate what you told them before. that you're not going to budge. even if they start slandering you (one guy told me he couldn't believe i wasn't indian, because i bargained like one!! what the hell is that?), just smile and stick to your guns.
6. if that doesn't work, try being ambivalent. oh, well this color isn't exactly, bla bla bla. they'll try and snag you with better prices.
i managed to get the car price down 5k from what they originally offered, but along the way i found myself offended and annoyed. towards the end, i didn't even care about the price, i just wanted to leave. most stunning was the fact that i told them i was about to faint (hypoglycemic me), and they offered me m&ms and told me to stay. when i was insistent upon leaving, they said, oh it'll only take you 20 minutes. whereupon i said, "a really good car salesman cares first and foremost about the welfare of his clients. the physical welfare of his clients, and not cutting a sale. if i pass out here right now in 25 minutes and we call an ambulance, it'll damn your dealership to hell. i'm walking out right now whether or not you give me your price, and if you don't, you'll lose me anyhow."
needless to say, i got what i wanted. :). the funniest part is that i think they actually really liked me, despite being a hardball negotiator.
CNN.com - MIT prank paper accepted for publication - Apr 21, 2005
a classmate of mine from state sent an article about this to me, joking that we should finish our theses using this application. but i didn't realize until one of my strobe partners wrote me to mention that one of the guys was our other partner from lab! he and i actually still get together and hang out sometimes, too. nuts! had i known i was gonna be in group with someone famous, i would have kissed ass more...
if you want to try it out:
An Automatic CS Paper Generator here you go.
yesterday.
i wish i had a great, dramatic story to tell you all. perhaps my injury came at the end of a long and arduous run, coming up a daring hill, and pushing myself so hard that i snapped or twisted something. i injured myself because i fought to overcome my fatigue. bla bla bla.
none of that.
i was getting on a bus yesterday for school with several rushed grannies behind me. i was pushed a little, and walked a little fast without seeing where i was going. i rammed my knee (*the* bad, injured knee that prevented me from walking for a month after last year's half marathon), into the back of a metal seat. i thought it wouldn't be so bad because i hit the patella, but it sucks. i'm having trouble walking, and had to pass up my morning spin today.
grrr. i'm such a doofus :( and also the pinnacle of grace right now.
car shopping is not fun. well, other than being able to max out somebody else's car, i don't really enjoy it. i don't like salespeople, even though they are doing their jobs; i feel like they are trying to dupe me. i especially enjoyed how i was completely ignored for my male companion, even though my friend explicitly stated that the car was for me and that i was dictating the preferences.
most notably, when they asked automatic or manual, they asked him. as if i don't know how to answer for myself. they seemed slightly unwilling to let me test drive the car, as well. yes ma'am, i am over 16. i do have my license.
does anyone have suggestions for cars? i'm looking used, in the $10k range. priorities: safety, reliability, mpg, and size (nothing too big).
i'm thinking a honda civic or acura integra. no rice rockets. i get labeled asian mafia enough for my own liking. i'd like not to feed the mockery any further.
update: i went ahead and sent the email. it was pretty vague, but i feel better. it had to be done. thanks for all the advice!
the u2 concert this weekend in san jose was pretty, well, phenomenal. we skipped out on the opening act, and arrived just as u2 started playing. it's pretty unbelievable that these dudes can still rock like that, and bono is most definitely an entertainer. he walks about the stage in a traipsing manner and is really theatrical -- swooning, blindfolding himself, talking about love and the world. i've been a big fan of u2 ever since, well, way back when.
in any case, we *loved* it. when they started with sunday, bloody, sunday, the entire pavilion started shaking. it was damn amazing.
here's the playlist:
City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo - Stories for Boys, Elevation, Cry - The Electric Co., The Ocean, New Year's Day, Beautiful Day, Miracle Drug, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, Love and Peace or Else, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet the Blue Sky - Hands That Built America, Running to Stand Still, Zoo Station, The Fly, Mysterious Ways, Pride, Where the Streets Have No Name, One
Encore(s): All Because of You, Yahweh, 40
polling for advice. a friend and i are in similar situations, without much resolution of what to do:
both of us recently bumped into ex's who won't leave us alone and keep pestering us for coffee/dinner/hanging out. both of us don't really want to hang out with these people, and are at a loss as to how to handle it.
do you:
1. just keep pushing them off until they get the idea? (this seems rather integrity-less to me)
2. do you call them and just discuss with them why you don't really want to see them?
3. will email suffice?
4. just not respond (i hate this option).
suggestions?
i am such a magnet for weirdness. i got up at 7 am today and this is what i have already witnessed:
1. a man slamming himself *hard* into the muni this morning in an attempt to catch the train. i guess he ran too fast and understimated the time he needed to stop. i'm just glad there was no blood.
2. on the way to the gym, the train kept shaking at regular intervals, accompanied by this high pitched tick. that has never happened before. maybe the train was broken by the now-flattened man.
3. a woman crying hysterically at 9th and irving, talking on her cell phone, throwing it away, wailing some more, picking it up, wailing again, dialing madly, wiping at her face, pacing across 9th avenue. the thing is, i couldn't see tears or a red nose usually characteristic of crying, but it sure sounded like she was crying.
4. a 14-year-old boy smoking a cigar on the N.
5. a she-man getting on the N and yelling at the boy to stop smoking. then, she proceeded to talk about her 15-year-old son, and his "pee-wee" (exact words, i am SO not kidding).
it's pretty demented, but really, it's really kind of funny.
i ate a whole head and a half of romaine lettuce last night for dinner. i woke up this morning and the world seemed kind of green. the bright ideas people get, huh?
rough sands chafe, angry
i seek for a soft respite
a question of faith
a weary shadow
looms in waiting to fade fast
look hard for a sign
the day end draws near
seek far, nigh for an answer
lost in journey
*no spoiler*
after being out of the country for almost two weeks, i've lost touch with the newest flicks coming out. my brother told me to watch sin city, and because he usually has good tastes, i decided to go watch it.
ick.
sin city is not for the faint of heart. even if you were able to tolerate the artistic gore of kill bill and stretch it to pulp fiction, this is a really violent movie. it isn't for an easy view or for children (i was aghast at the 8 year old i saw in the theatre), or for people who want to watch an amusingly dark movie. it barely walks the fine line between being humorous and disturbing, hedging more on the disturbing side than anything else.
mshuang asked me if i liked it. i liked the stylistic and cinematographic aspects of it. i enjoyed seeing parts of the film that obviously were the work of tarantino, but he is one messed up individual. only someone truly demented could be that brilliant. i enjoyed the manipulation of the colors, and was amused at how the acting was tastefully just melodramatic enough to be cheesy.
however, i spent 30% of the movie hidden behind my roommate's shoulder. within the first 10 minutes, i took off my jacket because i knew i was going to need to hide behind it. i'm a little jittery in movies, especially today, so it didn't sit well. when we came out of the theatre, my roommate had to have 3 cigarettes to calm down. i think my stomach is still churning. it's not the type of movie you want to watch if you want to relax. it's the film you want to watch before you get revved up to go run someone over or to slap back the last b*tch you cheated you out of a few bucks (see? the violence is spilling over).
also, don't expect a plot. the movie is basically a collection of vignettes into people's lives and their stories. the different people tie together losely, of course.
at least i got to see the trailer for jet li's next movie. i am so there opening night. any takers?