Posts filed under 'Rambling'
So, for those of you that do not know I stopped my cereal diet. It wasn’t because I couldn’t have done it, it was because I went to the doctors last Monday. Come to find out cereal has a lot of salt in it (at least when you’re eating 8 servings). Now, that typically wouldn’t be a problem if my blood-pressure wasn’t 168/88 (yeah, you can say it, “damn”).
They told me to cut back on my salt, so I have been. I reduced my salt intake to less than 250mg (that’s about 10% of your recommended daily value). That has been probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
Today I went to the doctors again for my checkup after being on the medication for a week they put me on. Come to find out it isn’t working as well as they’d like (its now 148/80). So, they put me on a stronger dose with some special drug-amplifier stuff in it.
They told me today that if I wouldn’t have came in last week I would have probably died. His exact words were, “It looks like you came in for something not related, but instead we saved your life.”
Some people (Eric) were concerned about me dropping my salt intake so low. I asked my doctor if it was safe to eliminate salt completely from my diet, it is. The American Heart Association recommends somewhere between 0 and 1000mg per day. The recommended daily value on food nutrition labels goes off of a 2400mg scale, which means I’m peachy-keen. I also asked if I could drink alcohol with my pills, I can. The only problem is drinking too much/often will also cause high-blood pressure problems.
He highly suggested (pretty much demanded) that I exercise. So, I may take him up on that and start doing so. I guess, if it’ll save my life, I’ll do it.
August 6th, 2007
Today I got my $100 cell phone rebate from Lets Talk. Along with that I got a computer magazine that I quickly disposed of. Under that magazine was a hard envelope containing my diploma. It’s a good feeling to know that I did truly graduate (and you all doubted me)!
Right now I’m putting together some ideas for a couple website proposals. I’ll fill you in with more details when I get something out there.
-Daniel Slaughter
June 11th, 2007
Tonight I decided to lift some weights; but where were they? I started looking through my closets until I came across a closet that I never use. In it was my red K-Swiss bag that contains my Xbox! Too bad I recently bought one on ebay.
Daniel Slaughter
For those of you that you don’t know, I haven’t seen it in about a year.
June 7th, 2007
May 30th, 2007
So there I was Saturday, on Little Manistee Trails, going about 50mph over some whoops on a quad when I hit one that was deeper than the rest and it bucked me into the air. My feet nor my body landed on the foot rests. In just a few seconds time, the quad landed on me.When I was thrown into the air I knew I wasn’t going to land it. My hands were still on the handle bars but my feet didn’t land correctly. My body was pulled under the quad and I let go knowing I’d be in more pain if I held on. I let my body go limp knowing if I landed stiff I’d probably break bones. I heard a crack, a couple snaps, and clothing rip.
The whoop that bucked me was 30 feet from where the quad and I had landed. I laid there confused and shocked. Worried that I broke every bone in my body I slowly began to move my limbs. I stood up with little effort, there was dust everywhere. I felt a burning sensation on my back but I knew it wasn’t broken. I made sure I could wiggle all my fingers and toes. I looked over at the quad to see that the handle bars were greatly bent. The crunching noises I heard must have been the quad as it flipped and rolled over me.
Martha was a ways behind me, and as she approached she slowed down. I said I had crashed and she didn’t believe me, at least not until I turned around. The entire back of my jersey was shredded. My pants (buttox region) had multiple tears from my crotch to my lower back. My shirt had a hole over my upper right shoulder blade that looked like a gunshot wound.
At about that time I started feeling burning all over my body. I knew I must have been cut, the question was how deeply. My right arm was burning so I pulled up my blood stained sleeve. The front of my elbow was ripped to shreds, and although I couldn’t see it, so was my back.
The cuts across my arm are less than half a foot, the ones on my back are a couple feet, and I have a swollen right knee. My butt, somehow, has no injuries. But nothing is broken. Martha took pictures at the scene of the accident, but I haven’t been able to get them from her camera yet. The only pictures I have are from after the cuts were cleaned and medicated (taken with my camera).
Sorry for the gory pictures (there are more on Flickr),
Daniel Slaughter
May 13th, 2007
Today was hectic at work. It seemed that everything was breaking all at once. I had very little time to work on the websites that were new because all of the other sites, such as the content management system (CMS), were in utter chaos.
After my hectic day I returned home to discover a whole slew of junk mail. Amongst the Victoria Secret catalogs and credit card applications I cam across a package from Amazon.com that I quickly opened. It was the 6-in-1 card reader for my car. I quickly found an SD card, formatted it, threw on some songs, and stuck it into my GPS system; Wala! I can now play music off of multiple media formats for all my geeky-pleasures. *w00t*
Along with the Victoria Secret catalog and my 6-in-1 card reader I found a letter from the hospital. I recently submitted my financial situation to see if I could get a cut on my hospital bill of $1600. I opened it up to find a simple piece of paper saying that it was payed in full and that I owed $0 (Actually they wrote the empty-set, but I’m not sure how to express that with my keyboard). That made my day!
FYI: I ordered a shirt for Martha that came with a lotion set and lip-gloss a while back for a total of $13 shipping included. The entire package would have came to ~$90 normally. Don’t think that I’m getting Victoria Secret magazines because I’m a pervert… Never mind, it’d be easier if you just thought that.
-Daniel Slaughter
May 9th, 2007
My BRAND NEW three-day old 2007 Honda Civic EX has a flat tire! Everyone is closed so I have no idea if its covered or not. I got home from getting my reimbursement check for when the Dodge Spirit was towed, and the Civic was leaking air.
It appears that a POS plastic shard has altered the normal operation of limited air flow. I, in the warmth of this Michigan weather, discovered how to use my jack and replaced the tire with the spare donut tire. What confuses me is why is the spare a Goodyear and the main tires are Bridgestone?
I’m trying to get my paper done that’s due in less than 22 hours, but I’m too ticked off at Bridgestone for not making fully metal tires and plastic for being too damn sharp.
%$#@…!,
Daniel Slaughter
April 11th, 2007
Friday (April 6th) I went to the Rivertown Honda dealership. I wandered around the parking lot in the extreme cold prior to talking with a new car sales person. I test drove the Honda Civic EX w/ Navigation and LOVED it. It beat all other cars I had been in right on the spot. Great fuel efficiency, power sun roof, automatic everything, 6 disk CD changer, touch screen LCD with GPS navigation (which is voice activated too), comfortable seats, and decent back-seat leg room! The entire car felt very well made whereas other cars I had been in were not as nice.
After I returned from my test drive the salesman and I sat down to discuss financial matters. She, as expected, played the Four-Square technique on me, but I just went along with it to see what to look forward to at another Honda dealership. 
She began by asking me things like, “Do you have a trade in,” and “When will you be purchasing this vehicle?” The Honda dealership doesn’t use a “Four-Square” worksheet, but they do have a computer program that they type the same information into to calculate values. So, she started saying that if I got $500 for trade in, and put $3000 down with an APR of 7% my monthly payment would be X. However, she never mentioned the ability to negotiate the MSRP. I knew this was because she wanted me to argue the trade in and down payment prices. Because this experience was for education purposes anyways, I played along and asked her other questions; like: “Are there any other fees associated with this close” and “What will the final cost be after all charges and taxes are applied?”
Eventually we got to the MSRP and she said, “What if we got the price down to 20900? I doubt my sales manager will be able to do that, but let me go talk to him.” A minute later she returned with her manager, miraculously he was able to get the price down to 20300. I began to think about it after he left and realized I was being played. She knew what the lowest price is they would go, and she knew it was less than 20300. She only said 20900 so I’d feel better when he proposed 20300. Bastards.
I left shortly after then. I was aware what an “easy” price to accomplish would be. I went home and looked up the invoice price for that model (20154.67). The price they proposed was only 150 more than the invoice price. However, I know they get manufacture rebates every time they sell a vehicle.
After this, knowing how much I would have to take out in a loan, I went to my credit union to get a loan estimate. I showed her my acceptance letter through GV, and explained that I do not start until May 7th. I guess I have pretty good credit, but my debt to income ratio is too high for them to give me a loan right now. She said I could come back in a couple weeks and they’d be happy to give me a loan at 6.25%.
Saturday morning I found a listing of all the local Honda dealerships. I wrote a script that I was prepared to say (in my professional telephone voice) to each dealership to see what price I could persuade them down to:
“I’m looking to purchase a 2007 Civic EX Sedan w/ navigation (Automatic)
I’ve been in contact with the Rivertown Honda dealer who has offered me the car for 19,300.
Is there anything you could do for me to bring my business to your dealership?”
I realized that the price I stated was a lie, and that it was extremely low. I also realize that if a dealership cannot match that price then I can only hang up otherwise my intentions would be obvious. I started off by calling the Muskegon Honda dealership for practice. Originally when you call a dealer they ask how they can transfer your call. Each time I would say “New car dealer please,” and they would transfer me. I read off my script perfectly, and the guy took a moment to look up their cost. He sounded alarmed that anyone would ever offer me the car for that low of a price. He said that he would be loosing money on that sale, and he couldn’t come anywhere close. I then, knowing I couldn’t now say “How low could you go” without being obvious that no one really quoted me that, I concluded our conversation.
I then bumped my script’s price up to 19,700 and called the dealership near 29th street in Grand Rapids. This time I got a bite. He said he’d beat them by $200, asked me when I’d be in (I said later next week), and gave me his name. He never asked if it was an automatic or manual transmission, never took the time to look up the cost to them in his books, and only gave me his first name. I was kind of worried that his statement was only to get me in there to con me into a higher/different price.
Having a better estimate at what the car was worth to the dealer, I changed my script’s price to 19,500, and changed the dealership’s name to Fox Honda. I then called one more Honda dealership in hopes that I would get a full name, a better response, and a quote for an automatic. I read off my speech (mentioning it was an automatic), we exchanged names and numbers then he said he’d have to call me back in a couple minutes because he was not near his computer/books.
A couple minutes later he called me back and said that 19500 was unheard of. That he could not beat that price, but they could match it with no loss or gain to the company. He explained that he would give me that price in hopes that they would have my commitment to Honda in the future. However, he wondered what would entice me to go there over the Grand Rapids location? I mentioned that Toyota sometimes gives away free oil changes. He said that Honda sometimes gives a card for 4 free oil changes and tire rotations to people who are purchasing a second Honda through them. He said he would include that in the sale for the same price as the Honda dealership in Grand Rapids. He then started talking about making a down payment of $250 to show my commitment, and I just said I’d need time to think about it, and would get back with them on Monday.
On Monday I plan on calling the Rivertown location, telling them what they have offered me, and trying to get a free extended warranty included. If that fails I will call back the better deal and schedule an appointment to close on that car before they change their mind. The only thing I am worried about is getting approved for a loan through the dealership before my two weeks are up for the credit union. I realize I could take a loan out through the dealership then refinance my loan through the credit union (The woman at my credit union suggested I do this if I needed the car ASAP).
Wish me good luck,
Daniel Slaughter
Edit: I thank Cheryl Slaughter for this sly advice.
April 7th, 2007
Today I went to Meijers to discover they have Corelle Hearthstone Dinnerware on sale for 2/$5 (regularly $4-6). The regular price for a box set of four settings was $50. I spent a total of $33 on four settings.
The set includes the following:
- Four large round plates - red, yellow, white, orange
- Four small plates - red, yellow, white, orange
- Four bowls - red, yellow, white, orange
- Two green plates - green
Typically the two green square plates are not included in a set. Four coffee/tea cups are included in the regular set, but I didn’t get them. I figured that since they weren’t on sale I’d wait on those for now. I figured my coffee/tea cups don’t really need to match or I could just get them later. The only thing I have left to get is glasses.
Martha bought me the silverware for my moving in gift. I told her she didn’t have to but she insisted. They’re very nice stainless-steel full-body silverware. The knives could probably cut your skin, they’re pretty sharp.
When picking out the Corelle Hearthstone Dinnerware Martha caused 4 small red-plates to fall on the floor. Unlike the commercial, they all shattered. The people at Meijers cleaned it up for us as we felt embarrassed.
March 4th, 2007
Saturday I went to Brans Steak House and Grill for my first time. I ordered my typical tea, opened the menu, and discovered a 32 ounce alcoholic girly-drink called the “Mombo.” I had to have it, so I ordered it. I got the “Endless Summer” flavor, which was very similar to a strawberry daiquiri. It was delicious! I have a picture on my cell phone that I will post on here later.
Tootles,
Daniel Slaughter
February 12th, 2007
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