Pointless poppycock

So all the issues with logistics and L starting this weekend disappeared. My car came in and thus will have no problems. How much easier this all would have gone had "ex" just stayed by her promise? There'd have been no arguments, no worry, just all solution. My car would've come in time and there'd have been no need for her help. But no, that didn't happen, but at least I'm all set for L'a return later today :)

Yeah, my car. I got a call at work Wednesday letting me know it arrived. A buddy from work offered a ride over to the dealership and we took off. Quickly noticed my car in the lot, and my friend (who just got himself an 09 Lexus IS250 I think) was impressed too.

We got the salesguy and headed out for the test drive. He explained the story of 500kms on the car to me as we drove. Apparently, Kia Canada had a sales meeting in Toronto showing off the new lineup. The sole black, automatic, SX model was bought by the Smiths Falls Kia owner. My dealership worked it out to get from him, and so the car had been driven from TO to Smiths Falls to Ottawa.

Not horrible, but I was okay with their compensation offering. Except, they were trying to pull a fast one here it seemed. K, so the test drive went well, got back and my friend left. I went in to hammer out the paperwork. This is where it got weird. He said the things he was offering in the deal had to be itemized on the bill of sale. So there they were, package a for $x, package b for $y, etc. Only there was no equivalent deductions anywhere to reflect that these were in fact free. The costs were being adding in to the total (!??!)

All apologetic, we went through probably 10 iterations of this form, but I couldn't help but think this is where they try to fuck people. I didn't really believe his sincerity about the errors, but I kept driving the price & payments down.

We still needs to go get registered/plates and go to a bank for the withdrawal authorization form. I was probably at the dealership for 6 hours before finally pulling out in the new ride. So far super happy with it, though a full review to come soon. Single complaint so far is the USB port FOR iPods doesn't work with my iPhone :( When I connect it, the screen shows "USB connecting" while my phone just goes from charging, not charging, charging, not... etc. until finally, an error on the screen that it can't connect :(

There is a 1/8" audio jack that I can use with the headphone port, but it means controlling tracks is all on the phone and not through the system like it's supposed to. I actually more hate that it means it won't charge my phone and I'll have to get the lighter power adapter. Also, I think I have a USB stick somewhere that I can dump my music onto and plug that into the stereo.

All in all I am very pleased so far. My payments came down a chunk from what I thought I'd be paying, the car drives well & looks good. Yay to the car!

And sure, a thank you to "ex" for being the one to make it happen. *I* would never pick the Escape, but hope she likes it as I do my Forte.

Peep this:



-- Posted From My iPhone

Utter frustration

So things just get worse when others start to go right. I got an email from "ex" to "discuss" our drop off situation of L at daycare. As we're both on our way to owning our own cars, we both agree that we'll be able to cut out the tradeoffs, and replace with just picking him up from daycare on our nights.

Why I say "discuss" in quotes, is because she outined the changes and says I have 24hrs to comply. Um, sorry but that's unacceptable. She just keeps harping the whole "well, this is a reasonable request, so you have to do it". Nope! It's not reasonable for her to expect me to accomodate when I haven't even gotten my car yet.

I tried reminding her of her many promises about the car situation. I told her it could take upwards of a month to get my own car after she takes in the Rondo, considering the loan was in my name and needed to get cleared to enable my credit rating to support another car loan. Many many times she promised that she would do whatever it took to ensure the transition went well.

So I reply to her email letting her know that, while I agree about needing to change things up, the timeline she was imposing was unreasonable. I reminded her I may not have my car in this week, and thus can't guarantee I'd be able to pick him up myself Friday. She replies telling me "tough luck" and restates it's not her problem, this is how it will be.

Sounds reasonable to you? To any sane person?

It gets to the point I tell her we need to discuss this as we're both trying to move ahead, just need to work out the details. As I was getting L that night, we were to discuss when she drops him off. So she arrives at my place and immediately tells me that she's talked with her lawyer, her request is "reasonable" and tough shit for me if I can't do it.

Again, I remind her it was a condition of selling the Rondo that she respect the transition time and allows for adequate time to replace my vehicle. She agrees that I said that, however, she says "I never put it in writing anywhere" (basically, "I know I promised you I wouldn't try and screw you, but I've changed my mind and you don't have any proof aside from both of us knowing what we agreed to, so you're fucked"). Just another to the monster list of lies and deceipt.

It degenerates as she is completely unwilling to compromise. Her bf even chimes in to try and explain it to her, but no luck getting through. They leave, and I start my fun time with L. Except a few mins later I get a call from the bf offering help to make things transition smooth. At least one of them understands simple situations.

But wow, she just has no clue. What happens when I go on compressed schedule and take every other Friday off? L wouldn't go into daycare, and she'd have to pick him up from my place. Or what about when her pregnant ass starts staying home? She going to drive L in to daycare? And when the newborn comes, she'll be driving L around? Not likely!

She just thinks it's all clear cut and doesn't require any kind of planning. She can't see the impact down the road and just assumes her demands are reasonable.

Do I have a solution? Unfortunately no. That's why I wanted to discuss it out and plan for the different scenarios. Her input to that? Well X isn't for another Y months so we don't even need to think about it. Except there's some big X's happening in small amount of Y's. And they ARE happening, these aren't hypotheticals.

She's told me she's adamantly against changing the weekly schedule even in the face of my concerns, upcoming changes, etc.

Now tell me, I'm trying to work things out for our mutual benefit with L's interests at heart; she's doesn't want to hear anything that's not a complete agreement with her.... so who's being reasonable here?


-- Posted From My iPhone

So stupid!

Gah, when is this ridiculousness going to stop?? What am I talking about? The big problem? "ex" continues her smears, this time by telling people who they can (or more accurately, who they can't) follow on Twitter.

How'd this start? A while back I posted how "ex" sent out a message to mutual friends telling them to remove me as a "friend" on facebook. A few did, most ignored it. One of those people who removed me (said wasn't his choice exactly) ended up adding me on twitter. I got in touch with him explaining that it's probably best not to be followers of each other as "ex" would most likely have problems with it.

But as time passed, "ex" continued to add my friends to her Twitter (uh, double standard much?), so I decided I guess it's fine to add some friends to mine. Seems reasonable, right?

I guess not. "ex" sent out a message asking to remove me from their twitter. LOL. It's not like it changes a single thing, except how I'm not allowed to show I'm friends with certain people, but completely acceptable for her.

The pettiness continues to surprise me. You'd think by now it wouldn't even matter. But no, she continues to try and control what others do, hypocritically.

And here I was thinking I had seen the end of the hypocrisy (or better yet, hypocrazy). Guess not :(

-- Posted From My iPhone

Crack a bottle

This was the weekend of getting shit done. First up, I finally got the call from the dealership to let me know my financing was approved. But still have to wait until either today or tomorrow to find out when my make/model is actually going to arrive. As I really need to get the car by Friday, I'm hopeful that's the case.

Other big finish is my house is "sold". Well, accepted an offer and just have to go through the hoops associated with closing. Didn't get full asking, but a fair amount above the level the other units sold for recently. Pretty aggressive schedule too, so I've got to get finding a new place asap.

I'm fairly sure I'll be looking on the dark side (read: gatineau) for the new place. I work there, rent is considerably cheaper, daycare is ridiculously cheap and I'll have my own car soon. Lots of advantages. But I have no idea how, logistically, things will work. I expect super resistance and just hope things can be worked out civilly. Back up ready tho.

So yeah, a couple big "to-do"s crossed off this weekend and getting on track. Feels good!

-- Posted From My iPhone

Yeah, I know what day it is

But don't care.

More important, today I'll find out what the deal is with my car.

Can't wait!!


-- Posted From My iPhone

This is my forte

So, after hunting around for cars, I'm pretty sure I'll be driving a 2010 Kia Forte SX. I've got the dealership hunting down the info from Kia Canada as there've been no SXs delivered anywhere. The dealership I'm going through is the highest volume dealer and apparently gets first dibs on all cars.

So I went in, put a deposit down, and find out Tuesday when the car will be ready. I'm having the dealership order me the model/color I want, and once test drive is done, I'll be driving it away. As such, they say I'll be the very first owner of an SX model in Canada! Neato.

Can't wait til Tuesday to find out the specifics!!


-- Posted From My iPhone

Need a ride

I've been sick this past week, and haven't thought to update this. Lots going on, biggest thing being, I need to get a car!

"ex" worked out a way for us to unload our shared, headache-inducing car, so I've now got a ticking clock to get my own car. I'm pretty excited about it, but completely torn with choices.

What I WANT:
Audi A3. I was trying to find an 06 or newer, but still found them out of my price range. Audi's really hold their value well, and I came across many listing with close to 200K Kms still fetching a good amount. So, I'll be pushing off that idea until at least my next car purchase. Too bad too, there were a few A3/A4's that were close in price range, but mileage was too high for me. Hopefully next time around I can visit them again, and they just keep getting nicer every year (and a new A1 model coming out).

So, then I turned my attention to a lease takeover. I like this idea as it puts me in a car without a long term commitment to it. Also, as the ppl trying to get out of a lease are usually in need to do so, there's some deals to be had. I'm going to check this out tomorrow:
It's a 2007 VW Rabbit. I'd be taking over this car for 2 years, at a monthly cost I can afford and I'd be able to just walk away from it at the end (or buy for another $13K, but doubt I'd be interested). BUT, I'm having 2nd thoughts about it. Over the 2 years I'd basically be burning $10K+ in the payments.

SO, then I started new car hunting again. My dad had suggested checking out some of the domestic models as a ton of dealers are going under / being shut down. Big problem though, domestic cars are ugly/crappy/not my thing. I mean there's obviously a few exceptions, but those are generally the ones considerably out of my price range. Nothing appeals to me in the entry-ish level cars these guys offer.

I began poking around and found some interesting cars to check out (new Mazda 3, Rabbit, GTI, Civics, etc) but although decent starting price points, by the time I've configured mine, they're just too pricey (or lacking options I want).

I grabbed my mail today, and inside was an invite to some Kia event going on at the dealership we bought the last 2 cars from. We had originally bought an 06 Rio5, but upgraded to the Rondo to give us that extra space for L. I was happy with the Rio while we had it. It drove well, had great options, but just wasn't big enough for us. I hated the Rondo, but manly because it just felt like driving a mini van. The car itself was alright, but it'd never be a choice for me.

But what's this? some new cars in their line-up for 2010? I had seen the new Kia Soul before, and although I found it pretty nice, I'm not interested in a SUV-like car. I'd much prefer a nice little hatchback or sedan. It's the other new model that's got me interested.
This is the 2010 Kia Forte. I have to say, it may just be the perfect choice. Great price point for a fully loaded model with the options I'm after. I sent a couple of info requests out to see when these are available. The 1 crappy part, was the picture I first saw of this car was a 2dr coupe version. It had nicer styling to me, but it doesn't seem like Kia's offering it this year, at least in Canada :/ But I do still like this 4dr, and judging by the financing calculations on Kia's site, this car is right in my price range. The downside being, I'll be back in the 'locked into a car' for the next few years. Not horrible, it just seems that after about 2 years I'm changing cars, and I'd be looking at a 5 year commitment on this one.

Anyways, hoping they have or can get quickly a Black SX Automatic for me somewhere in Ottawa. Then take it out for a test drive and make the decision...but this is the new front runner.


Any suggestions of other cars to check out?

Ghost in the Machine

Saw this neat post about a Flickr gallery called Ghost in the Machine





Robert Smith - The Cure


Check out the Hendrix one!

-- Posted From My iPhone

Where to begin

So much crap going on, I don't even know where to start.

Still haven't received any news on "ex"s supposed restraining order. Big shocker. What's funny to me is she emailed friends telling them to remove links to her blog on their websites...? Then, added this ridiculous bs copywrite message on her blog trying to somehow say linking (and a bunch of other stuff) is basically illegal and will be enforced. Fucking LOL!! I'd like to see what google thinks of her trying to own a blogspot domain. What, she's gonna sue google because it publishes content she writes in rss feeds etc across the Internet?? Sorry, it's not yours to own.

And then I get a phone call from her demanding I remove the link on my site. Wow. Just wow. Again, threatening legal action and I just had to end the call there. Later on I get an email (cc'd to her lawyer) again demanding the removal of the link. So sick of dealing with this, I replied to both asking for the threats to stop and advised I'm now forced to change email accounts to avoid receiving empty (though still stress-causing) threats.

God, the time she wastes with her lawyer is unbelievable!

I got a call from her later to update me on what's going on with our car. Not much, and conversation was just tossing ideas around. Apparently we'll find out more this weekend what she's going to do. Then she mentions I'll be getting a registered letter to advise me of her upcoming changes of address. I ask her to just tell me what's happening, and a few teeth pulled later, she explains it. Come June, she's moving to a temporary address for 6 months, then a permanent one. I ask what she means by the temp one, trying to figure out where she's taking my son. Then the usual retarded response that it's none of my business. Omfg! This is L's residence 50% of the time and she doesn't think it's any of my business??

After more prying, she finally explains it. Her, bf & my son are moving in with the bf's PARENTS!!!! For 6 months!!!! Omg, this is the same girl who LAUGHED at me and posted derogatory comments when I had mentioned to possibility of moving to my parents should my house sell and I not find a suitable apartment. I saw messages like " what a pathetic loser" & "30 year old moving in with parents? What a loser" etc (paraphrased). And while mine was only a passing thought about my options, she's actually going to do it, and even better, with HIS parents. Too funny!!

Bah, I can't wait for the time when I don't have anything to say about "ex" and can just live my life without "fear" of what insane situation will arise.

L's been doing well, but continues to demand tv (or elmo, movies, babies as he points at the tv). And to make it even worse, my video card is crapping out, and I can't keep it running more than a few minutes.

Even more disturbing though, my kid is a biter. Anytime he gets frustrated he seems to want to clamp down on something with his teeth. Lately, I've seen him put his palm up to his mouth and bite down on it. I'm a bit worried how this may continue around other kids and he may bite another kid. So I'm trying to curb this behaviour.

Swimming has been going great. He's getting more confident, and now with the warmer weather rolling in, I look forward to the outdoor pools.

Off to a friends' place tonight for a BBQ, and works out great, as L & I have to make ourselves scarce around dinner time as I've got 2 interested parties coming to view my house (!) Oh yeah, did I mention it's finally listed??! Woot, another step towards setting my life up proper and I can't wait to start looking for a new place.

Bunch of other crap on the go, but don't even want to open that can of worms.

Live and let live, repeated in my head non stop.


Ps, no comments on those videos??? But he's so cute??! Lol

-- Posted From My iPhone

the munchkin - part 2

Part 2 - Videos

Bath Time:


Hide n Seek Tickles:


Spit Shine Squishy Face:


I really have no idea where he picked up the spit shine move.I find it kind of gross and try and discourage it. Had to grab a video of it though, cause it is cute.