I haven't had much luck with cars. I wrecked my first car -- affectionately called Ron Burgundy -- in front of a newsroom on my first day of my college internship ... a semi-truck hit me as I nervously attempted to park before my inaugural attempt at professional journalism. Embarrassing ... and quite the "learning experience."
My second car -- Goldie Hawn -- was a champ for quite a while, and then she hit a wall. Problem after problem after problem. Highlights included breaking down on the freeway and taking a ride in a fancy new tow truck; receiving a Christmas card and weekly "just checking in"phone calls from my mechanic; and scoring a free drink from the folks at the Starbucks next to my auto shop after coming in crying because of my string of bad luck with Goldie.
I decided enough was enough and put Goldie to rest. RIP. My new rig, Sylvester Stallone, and I were off to a great start -- as in the car aaalways started when I went off to work in the morning (unlike Goldie) -- until just a few days ago. I made the rash decision to park in a lot lined in "do not even think about parking here" signs as I ran into the bank. I had a pang in my gut that I shouldn't park there even though I'd done this routine several times before and never encountered an issue.
I briskly walked back to my car after the quickest bank trip possible -- I swear, the elapsed time could have been 15 minutes max -- only to find Sylvester hoisted on the back of a tow truck. In retrospect, I'm quite proud of my demeanor. I thought to myself that I just got paid and actually had the funds to retrieve the car from the pound, unlike so many times when Goldie was in the shop and I couldn't afford to fix her. I sprinted over to the large, tattooed tow truck driver and he said, "This your car?"
I said yes and didn't expect him to lower it down. He did and let me go with a, "Have a nice day." In a rare occurrence, I even had cash to tip him, but he refused. I got in my car, a bit shaking, and said to myself, "I think this is my lucky day."
I wanted to buy a lottery ticket, but I thought it would be a better idea to take advantage of the gorgeous springlike day and head for an afternoon run. As I made my way back to my apartment, just a block off, I kicked it up a gear and tried for the "homestretch sprint." At a cross street, I saw a car coming to the stop sign and I thought I made eyes with the driver in an attempt to say, "I'm running, please don't run me over." Just as I advanced in front of her car, however, she took her foot off the break and at that moment I thought I was toast. She managed to hit the break just in time, and I continued running, heart in my throught and all.
As I ran on I again said to myself, "It must be my lucky day!"
Unfortunately, there isn't a more climactic ending to this post. I didn't win the lottery -- I didn't even buy a ticket. But, I have my life, my car and a few extra dollars in my checking account thanks to my luck ... or maybe I just got really good lesson in being a little extra careful when it comes to parking and running.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Two-thousand-K8
As the new year began, I heard a lot of people say how relieved they were 2008 was in the rear view mirror. Not me. I had a great 2008. I'll go as far to say I LOVED 2008. It was the Year of Kate (in my humble opinion).
Here are some of the highlights:
-- my first professional job in my field of study in the city I moved to on a whim
-- winning a radio contest and various ticket raffles and random competitions (quite lucky, I must say!)
-- joining The Morning Group (TMG) running group and taking on this new hobby
-- the Austin Marathon and the Portland Marathon
-- Central Texas adventures
-- meeting my cowboy and learning how to horseback ride
-- Stefanie and Jordan's Sunriver wedding
-- the engagements of several of my friends
-- Christmas at the new Benz house
These are just a few I could think of off the top of my head. Although I'm embracing the notion of havin' a fine '09, I've just got to thank God for a great 2008!
Here are some of the highlights:
-- my first professional job in my field of study in the city I moved to on a whim
-- winning a radio contest and various ticket raffles and random competitions (quite lucky, I must say!)
-- joining The Morning Group (TMG) running group and taking on this new hobby
-- the Austin Marathon and the Portland Marathon
-- Central Texas adventures
-- meeting my cowboy and learning how to horseback ride
-- Stefanie and Jordan's Sunriver wedding
-- the engagements of several of my friends
-- Christmas at the new Benz house
These are just a few I could think of off the top of my head. Although I'm embracing the notion of havin' a fine '09, I've just got to thank God for a great 2008!
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Marga-reeeally? I won?
Imagine my surprise as my co-workers and I were sitting around post-Moonlight Margarita 5K run, stuffing ourselves full of Tex-Mex and unlimited complimentary margs ... when I made a statement along the lines of: "Someday, I'd like to win one of these races -- it's on my Bucket List -- but, I bet I'll have to wait until I'm in the master's division." Then, we hear the announcer say ... "The winner for the 22-29 age division is Kate Benz." Shocking. Hilarious. Awesome.
My co-worker J.J. and I decided to challenge each other. It was a photo finish. Lots of laughs.
Accepting my crystal award and celebrating the night away.
My co-worker J.J. and I decided to challenge each other. It was a photo finish. Lots of laughs.
Accepting my crystal award and celebrating the night away.
I know it's quite laughable that I've become a runner as I never was the quickest out on the basketball court.
I wanted to start a tally of completed races, just for fun:
L.A. Cancer Challenge 10K - 10/07
Austin Marathon - 2/08
Toughest Race in Texas 10K -
Keep Austin Weird 5K - 6/08
Bat Run 5K -
Moonlight Margarita Run - 8/08
Nike + Human Race - 8/08
Portland Marathon - (to be completed) 10/08
Monday, August 4, 2008
Countdown to Beijing!
The Olympic Games are just about here! One of my greatest friends, Mariel Zagunis, will be representing Team USA in sabre fencing. Mariel is a pretty big deal. She won the gold in Athens, and we (her many fans, friends and I) have been counting down the days to Beijing! It's finally here! Since I'm in Texas, and I missed out on all the festivities (the Gold Medal Party -- where Mariel donned gold lamé pants, the Good Luck Mariel Party, the Goodbye Mariel Party, etc.), our friend Katie sent the fun and favors to me. Imagine my excitement when I opened my mailbox to a package complete with heart-shaped Team America cookies and an official USA Olympics T-shirt. What a gem! Thank you, Katie! GOOD LUCK MARIEL! 
I made these for the 4th, but they're fitting for this post!
And we danced anyway...
It was a scorching hot Austin summer day. I spent the morning biking around town, eating lunch and drinking Hefeweizen on a dive bar patio deck and strolling the downtown streets with my buddy Kelly.
Then, in the afternoon, I went to my friend Ashley's out of control apartment complex, where a typical Saturday consists of free poolside hot dogs and margaritas for residents and guests. No. Joke. Her pool is one of those sprawling types, with fountains and waterfalls and good looking people everywhere. It was Spring Break '08, except it was July 19. We lounged around and got a lot of sun.
Then, I went home and realized it was early, and I had not a care in the world...nor a plan...for the evening. I didn't have to work the next day, and I had just gotten paid a couple days prior. So, I called up co-worker J.J. and said we were going out downtown to celebrate being young and having money (until we had to write our rent checks and pay our bills...you know, reality).
So, J.J., another co-worker, Chris (Crod), and I painted the town red. While at our fall back/always the Plan B/guaranteed good time bar, I decided to take a stroll around the bar and ran into another co-worker. While chatting with him, I noticed a group of tall guys. I had enough courage to approach them and, "Y'all aren't from here..." is the line that fell out of my mouth. Hmm...why did I decide to say that? I couldn't come up with anything better? The moment I said it, I wished I could take it back...but, I couldn't...and I was stuck explaining to these guys why I thought they looked like they were from Dallas and not Austin. Wow. I talked in circles. But, an hour passed, and I was still talking to them.
To make a long story short, this group had seen me earlier...right when they walked in. You see, I was showing J.J. and Crod how Cougars dance. No, not Wazzu Cougs, but, you know, Cooougars. The tall guys told me they saw me dancing, and I started laughing knowing that I was mock-dancing, and immediately I was embarrassed. Coincidentally, as if on queue...as if scripted, two Cougars came walking in and stood a few paces behind me. "Show them how it's done, Kate...c'mon!" Yeaaah...riiight...like hell I was going to go over to these middle-aged women dressed like teeny-boppers. So, I flipped this comment around and dared the guys to go dance with the women.
Instead, one of the guys grabbed my hand, whisked me off my feet and showed me the best Texas two-step/country swing dancing skills I've ever witnessed. My smile couldn't have been any bigger. I'm not sure if I've ever grinned as big as I did that night when we were dancing.
Prior to the dancing showdown, "the" guy and I were chatting about all sorts of things ... I found out he grew up on a ranch, is a bonafide cowboy (in high school he "played" football, basketball and ... RODEO!) and much, much more. I mentioned that I played basketball and he got my number so we could play. Not that exciting in my mind. I've given my number to many guys for this reason, and most of the time they call and we go play basketball ... and that's it. Maybe it's the fact that I can't be flirty and brush my competitiveness to the side when playing basketball ... and it's not really the "Love and Basketball" fantasy they hoped for.
I'm finally completing this post months after meeting the guy, so I can't recall all of the exact details, but I will say that he did call and ask to meet at the park for a game of hoops and then a bite to eat after. I almost called to cancel that first date. I had a terrible day leading up to it ... full of car issues, work issues ... and my bike even broke down on the way to the park! But, I made it, and I must say he wasn't half bad at hoops! After several games of 21 and a great dinner I knew we'd be seeing each other again.
Then, in the afternoon, I went to my friend Ashley's out of control apartment complex, where a typical Saturday consists of free poolside hot dogs and margaritas for residents and guests. No. Joke. Her pool is one of those sprawling types, with fountains and waterfalls and good looking people everywhere. It was Spring Break '08, except it was July 19. We lounged around and got a lot of sun.
Then, I went home and realized it was early, and I had not a care in the world...nor a plan...for the evening. I didn't have to work the next day, and I had just gotten paid a couple days prior. So, I called up co-worker J.J. and said we were going out downtown to celebrate being young and having money (until we had to write our rent checks and pay our bills...you know, reality).
So, J.J., another co-worker, Chris (Crod), and I painted the town red. While at our fall back/always the Plan B/guaranteed good time bar, I decided to take a stroll around the bar and ran into another co-worker. While chatting with him, I noticed a group of tall guys. I had enough courage to approach them and, "Y'all aren't from here..." is the line that fell out of my mouth. Hmm...why did I decide to say that? I couldn't come up with anything better? The moment I said it, I wished I could take it back...but, I couldn't...and I was stuck explaining to these guys why I thought they looked like they were from Dallas and not Austin. Wow. I talked in circles. But, an hour passed, and I was still talking to them.
To make a long story short, this group had seen me earlier...right when they walked in. You see, I was showing J.J. and Crod how Cougars dance. No, not Wazzu Cougs, but, you know, Cooougars. The tall guys told me they saw me dancing, and I started laughing knowing that I was mock-dancing, and immediately I was embarrassed. Coincidentally, as if on queue...as if scripted, two Cougars came walking in and stood a few paces behind me. "Show them how it's done, Kate...c'mon!" Yeaaah...riiight...like hell I was going to go over to these middle-aged women dressed like teeny-boppers. So, I flipped this comment around and dared the guys to go dance with the women.
Instead, one of the guys grabbed my hand, whisked me off my feet and showed me the best Texas two-step/country swing dancing skills I've ever witnessed. My smile couldn't have been any bigger. I'm not sure if I've ever grinned as big as I did that night when we were dancing.
Prior to the dancing showdown, "the" guy and I were chatting about all sorts of things ... I found out he grew up on a ranch, is a bonafide cowboy (in high school he "played" football, basketball and ... RODEO!) and much, much more. I mentioned that I played basketball and he got my number so we could play. Not that exciting in my mind. I've given my number to many guys for this reason, and most of the time they call and we go play basketball ... and that's it. Maybe it's the fact that I can't be flirty and brush my competitiveness to the side when playing basketball ... and it's not really the "Love and Basketball" fantasy they hoped for.
I'm finally completing this post months after meeting the guy, so I can't recall all of the exact details, but I will say that he did call and ask to meet at the park for a game of hoops and then a bite to eat after. I almost called to cancel that first date. I had a terrible day leading up to it ... full of car issues, work issues ... and my bike even broke down on the way to the park! But, I made it, and I must say he wasn't half bad at hoops! After several games of 21 and a great dinner I knew we'd be seeing each other again.
Ups and downs
The following points of interest aren't necessarily connected...this post is more or less a schmorgusboard of happenings...
When my friends and I ran in the KAW 5K, I entered to win...well...at the time, I had no clue what I was entering to win...I think I wanted the free giveaways that accompanied giving a man in a booth my name, address and phone number. Without thinking, I jotted down this information, took the freebies and continued on my merry way.
About a week later, a boisterous man calling from "sunny San Diego, California!" called to say I had won a 3-night cruise for two to Cozumel! Eh, too good to be true is what I thought initially. But, after convincing my coworker to check it out the legit-ness of it, we have two tickets for a seemingly fabulous cruise from Galveston to Mexico.
After weeks, months, OK...a bit more than a YEAR of good fortune with my car...and bragging about the fact that I NEVER have trouble with it, the car gods swooped bad luck upon me. Despite the fact that I hate my car, I take very good care of it. I keep it sparkling clean, get my regular maintenance, etc.
Let me paint a mental picture for you...imagine this...
It was payday. I could not have been more excited because I planned to put a big chunk of this check in my SAVINGS. Yes, it's so hard to do this because in the news business, journalists make below the poverty line (not even kidding). But, I have learned to be so so so frugal with my money. On this day, to celebrate payday, I went to get my monthly pedicure...my one big splurge. After Tina worked her magic on my gnarly feet ("I run every day, I am so sorry they are so gross!"), I looked at my watch and noticed I had exactly one hour before I needed to be at work.
"I can make it down and back to Academy Sports for some new running shorts," I thought in my head. So, I cranked up the floor AC to get my toes dry, and ripped out of the parking lot. I jumped on the freeway. I never take the freeway. I live exactly 2 miles from work. I drive my car a total of 8 miles (tops) each day. This was quite an excursion for me. I'll mention it was a blazing hot Central Texas day. I got a few miles from the salon, and, with quite a few more to go, my steering wheel locked up on me. In my head I thought I was imagining it. "Oh, it'll loosen up...I've gotta get some new running shorts before work!" Hmm...it wasn't unlocking. As I trudged on down the freeway with a locked steering wheel, I began to think maybe this wasn't such a good thing. Maybe I should try to get off the freeway. "If I can just turn my car off and on again, maybe that'll do the trick." REALLY? In retrospect, am I really that stupid!? LUCKILY, I manage to get my car to the shoulder, which happens to be the exit ramp to the access road, coincidentally very near my apartment. As I FORCE my steering wheel off to make the widest turn ever to a side street off the access road, the dashboard is lighting up like Las Vegas and warning bings and chimes sound like slot machines. Clearly, it wasn't going to "be OK" if I could just turn it off and on.
As I tried not to panic, a conversation I had with my dad just two days earlier replayed in my head. "Hey Dad, am I still covered by AAA?" ... "Oh, I'm not, OK, I am going to put that on my list of things to do...yeah, AAA has saved my toosh a few times, I really need to renew my membership." I AM NOT EVEN KIDDING. JUST TWO DAYS PRIOR! I was going to call them before I went anywhere outside of the city...I just didn't think disaster would strike in the coming DAYS. Ugh. I called AAA and renewed my membership for one year over the phone. Ca-ching, there goes some of that paycheck. But, a tow truck came instantaneously to pick Goldie and me up...and escorted us to the body shop. Maybe I should mention that a couple weeks before this, the motor on my window stopped working, so in my head I thought, "OK, I can get that window fixed while I'm here." Long story short...what happened to my car was "unforeseeable" and "a total fluke." I was reassured that there's nothing I could have done to prevent what happened. BUT, I had to fork out that big chunk of money I was planning to save. And, I'm still driving without the ability to roll down my window as this repair would have cost an extra $340. Boo...
Just a couple short weeks later, automobile disaster struck again. I'd been noticing that one of my tires needed to be refilled quite frequently, and my windshield wipers really needed replacing (and we're in tropical storm season now in Texas), so I decided to be proactive and get those things checked before I headed down to Houston to see some family friends. In a grand proactive gesture, I asked the mechanic to go ahead with an oil change, even though I had a few hundred miles before the scheduled maintenance.
Two brand new tires later (apparently they were so bald I wouldn't have "passed inspection" -- I mean, really? They looked like they had sufficient tread in my non-car-minded mind), a patched tire (yeah the one that "looked low" had a nail in it), an oil change and...A BRAND NEW WINDSHIELD WIPER MOTOR???!!! ... I'm not even going to go there...there was a recall a few years ago...umm...huh? I left with a well-oiled machine, and an empty bank account. The thing that frustrates me the most is that I take care of my car...so why the bad CAR-ma? :( Oh well. C'est la vie, I suppose.
J.J. and I finally got out of the newsroom and got to do some writing on our own. Exciting, right? Not. They sent us to a blogging convention. I thought I might learn a thing or two. Wrong. It wasn't an instructional conference on how to pimp your page, it was a gathering of liberal, grassroot-types figuring out ways to get their messages to the masses.
***
When my friends and I ran in the KAW 5K, I entered to win...well...at the time, I had no clue what I was entering to win...I think I wanted the free giveaways that accompanied giving a man in a booth my name, address and phone number. Without thinking, I jotted down this information, took the freebies and continued on my merry way.
About a week later, a boisterous man calling from "sunny San Diego, California!" called to say I had won a 3-night cruise for two to Cozumel! Eh, too good to be true is what I thought initially. But, after convincing my coworker to check it out the legit-ness of it, we have two tickets for a seemingly fabulous cruise from Galveston to Mexico.
***
After weeks, months, OK...a bit more than a YEAR of good fortune with my car...and bragging about the fact that I NEVER have trouble with it, the car gods swooped bad luck upon me. Despite the fact that I hate my car, I take very good care of it. I keep it sparkling clean, get my regular maintenance, etc.
Let me paint a mental picture for you...imagine this...
It was payday. I could not have been more excited because I planned to put a big chunk of this check in my SAVINGS. Yes, it's so hard to do this because in the news business, journalists make below the poverty line (not even kidding). But, I have learned to be so so so frugal with my money. On this day, to celebrate payday, I went to get my monthly pedicure...my one big splurge. After Tina worked her magic on my gnarly feet ("I run every day, I am so sorry they are so gross!"), I looked at my watch and noticed I had exactly one hour before I needed to be at work.
"I can make it down and back to Academy Sports for some new running shorts," I thought in my head. So, I cranked up the floor AC to get my toes dry, and ripped out of the parking lot. I jumped on the freeway. I never take the freeway. I live exactly 2 miles from work. I drive my car a total of 8 miles (tops) each day. This was quite an excursion for me. I'll mention it was a blazing hot Central Texas day. I got a few miles from the salon, and, with quite a few more to go, my steering wheel locked up on me. In my head I thought I was imagining it. "Oh, it'll loosen up...I've gotta get some new running shorts before work!" Hmm...it wasn't unlocking. As I trudged on down the freeway with a locked steering wheel, I began to think maybe this wasn't such a good thing. Maybe I should try to get off the freeway. "If I can just turn my car off and on again, maybe that'll do the trick." REALLY? In retrospect, am I really that stupid!? LUCKILY, I manage to get my car to the shoulder, which happens to be the exit ramp to the access road, coincidentally very near my apartment. As I FORCE my steering wheel off to make the widest turn ever to a side street off the access road, the dashboard is lighting up like Las Vegas and warning bings and chimes sound like slot machines. Clearly, it wasn't going to "be OK" if I could just turn it off and on.
As I tried not to panic, a conversation I had with my dad just two days earlier replayed in my head. "Hey Dad, am I still covered by AAA?" ... "Oh, I'm not, OK, I am going to put that on my list of things to do...yeah, AAA has saved my toosh a few times, I really need to renew my membership." I AM NOT EVEN KIDDING. JUST TWO DAYS PRIOR! I was going to call them before I went anywhere outside of the city...I just didn't think disaster would strike in the coming DAYS. Ugh. I called AAA and renewed my membership for one year over the phone. Ca-ching, there goes some of that paycheck. But, a tow truck came instantaneously to pick Goldie and me up...and escorted us to the body shop. Maybe I should mention that a couple weeks before this, the motor on my window stopped working, so in my head I thought, "OK, I can get that window fixed while I'm here." Long story short...what happened to my car was "unforeseeable" and "a total fluke." I was reassured that there's nothing I could have done to prevent what happened. BUT, I had to fork out that big chunk of money I was planning to save. And, I'm still driving without the ability to roll down my window as this repair would have cost an extra $340. Boo...
Just a couple short weeks later, automobile disaster struck again. I'd been noticing that one of my tires needed to be refilled quite frequently, and my windshield wipers really needed replacing (and we're in tropical storm season now in Texas), so I decided to be proactive and get those things checked before I headed down to Houston to see some family friends. In a grand proactive gesture, I asked the mechanic to go ahead with an oil change, even though I had a few hundred miles before the scheduled maintenance.
Two brand new tires later (apparently they were so bald I wouldn't have "passed inspection" -- I mean, really? They looked like they had sufficient tread in my non-car-minded mind), a patched tire (yeah the one that "looked low" had a nail in it), an oil change and...A BRAND NEW WINDSHIELD WIPER MOTOR???!!! ... I'm not even going to go there...there was a recall a few years ago...umm...huh? I left with a well-oiled machine, and an empty bank account. The thing that frustrates me the most is that I take care of my car...so why the bad CAR-ma? :( Oh well. C'est la vie, I suppose.
***
J.J. and I finally got out of the newsroom and got to do some writing on our own. Exciting, right? Not. They sent us to a blogging convention. I thought I might learn a thing or two. Wrong. It wasn't an instructional conference on how to pimp your page, it was a gathering of liberal, grassroot-types figuring out ways to get their messages to the masses.
I did, however, get the chance to write a couple stories:
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