The students of HRS will be performing The Laramie Project as their spring 2007 play. The drama teacher put out a call for adults in the community to take on roles. Since I've never been on stage for a dramatic performance, I decided it was time to challenge myself and volunteered to be in the show. For those of you who have seen or read The Laramie Project, I have been given the role of the Baptist Minister. I play a close-minded homophobic religious leader. I think I am playing out of character, you think?
I've attended one rehearsal (oh boy do I have to bear down and start learning my lines!!!) and a lucky that in one scene I stand in one place and am spotlighted. In my second scene, I simply walk on stage, turn to face another character, have a conversation, which is essentially a monologue, then turn and walk off stage. I think I can handle it.
So if you happen to be in the Bay Area and want to see what will be a great show. Performances are at the school on Friday 3/21/08, Saturday 3/22/08, Thursday 3/27/08 and Friday 3/28/08. All performances start at 8PM
Friday, February 29, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
The Car Buying Experience Part II
A couple days after the overbearing car dealership experience, Mom and I tackled the whole endeavor of purchasing an automobile again. Between the two days, I did some further research and determined that a subcompact was too small for my needs. If I want to throw my bike in the back it would certainly have been a tight fit in something like the Versa. In addition, I realized that I wanted a hatchback and not a sedan. I had heard these terms used throughout my life, but only now did I actually have to differentiate between the two and decide which I wanted. Thus, the Elantra was removed from contention.
By process of elimination, the Prius was the only remaining candidate from my final three. I had been leaning towards the Prius from the start, as shown by the fact I test drove it first in Fremont, but I am loathe to buy the first thing I see and like. Granted, on the Meyers-Briggs I score as a extreme "J", meaning I make quick judgments and rarely go back and reflect on the validity of that judgment (oh my god, I'm President George Bush!) or express remorse at having to make the decision to begin with.
I began noticing another car on the road, the Toyota Matrix. It looked like a smaller version of the Subaru Outback. It would certainly be a complementary replacement for the Subaru. Upon doing research online, it turned out to be the only Toyota model that did not rate the highest marks for safety testing. It would also cost about $4,000 less.
With these developments, Mom and I visited the Daly City Toyota dealership. The plan was to test drive a Matrix. My biggest concern was "did the car feel light." The salesman we got was tenfold better than the salesman from Fremont. He answered our questions and although pushy as he needed to be since it's the nature of his job, he didn't feel overbearing. And since we spoke Chinese, he was obviously more comfortable explaining the technical details in Chinese. Then Mom would translate the things I didn't understand to me. The Matrix drove fine. In fact there were only a couple minor things that I didn't like, but nothing that would knock the Prius off of its top placement.
Our salesman again let test drive a Prius to be able to compare the two cars within minutes of driving each. This time I got to take the Prius onto the freeway. Upon return, I made the decision to go with the Prius. I know that down the road were I to purchase the Matrix, I would always regret not purchasing the Prius. The converse would never happen. So the Prius it was
However, the story doesn't end here. Remember I had these internet bids from different dealerships in hand. I had an offer from a different dealership for the price of a Prius with floor mats as the only add-on. I wanted the most basic, stripped down Prius out there. Our salesman was hit with a double whammy. First, Mom and I learned that the Internet sales divisions are completely separate from the store sales staff. I should have been working with a member internet sales staff. Because of this, his work with me was essentially charity. Were I to purchase a car, the credit would go to the guy who sent me the email price quote. The second shocker was that he had never seen a Prius that had basically no package add-ons. If his dealership had them, he didn't know about them. Therefore he took Mom and I to look at each and every Prius in their inventory and alas, we found none. We felt bad for wasting this salesman's time. I am planning on writing a letter to his supervisor thanking him for his time and effort.
The next stop was the San Bruno Toyota dealership. I had a quote from them for the no frills Prius at what looked to be a "too good to be true" price. Having learned our lesson about internet sales divisions, Mom and I found the guy who sent me the price quote. These was only one Prius left at that price and the color was red. How much more perfect could that have been.
Two and a half hours later, I had signed my name at least 30 times. I pre-purchased 4 years of maintenance and extended the warranty on the car from 3 to 7 years. I had to call and reinstate my insurance with GEICO and here is a picture of the car that I will hopefully be driving for the next decade.
By process of elimination, the Prius was the only remaining candidate from my final three. I had been leaning towards the Prius from the start, as shown by the fact I test drove it first in Fremont, but I am loathe to buy the first thing I see and like. Granted, on the Meyers-Briggs I score as a extreme "J", meaning I make quick judgments and rarely go back and reflect on the validity of that judgment (oh my god, I'm President George Bush!) or express remorse at having to make the decision to begin with.
I began noticing another car on the road, the Toyota Matrix. It looked like a smaller version of the Subaru Outback. It would certainly be a complementary replacement for the Subaru. Upon doing research online, it turned out to be the only Toyota model that did not rate the highest marks for safety testing. It would also cost about $4,000 less.
With these developments, Mom and I visited the Daly City Toyota dealership. The plan was to test drive a Matrix. My biggest concern was "did the car feel light." The salesman we got was tenfold better than the salesman from Fremont. He answered our questions and although pushy as he needed to be since it's the nature of his job, he didn't feel overbearing. And since we spoke Chinese, he was obviously more comfortable explaining the technical details in Chinese. Then Mom would translate the things I didn't understand to me. The Matrix drove fine. In fact there were only a couple minor things that I didn't like, but nothing that would knock the Prius off of its top placement.
Our salesman again let test drive a Prius to be able to compare the two cars within minutes of driving each. This time I got to take the Prius onto the freeway. Upon return, I made the decision to go with the Prius. I know that down the road were I to purchase the Matrix, I would always regret not purchasing the Prius. The converse would never happen. So the Prius it was
However, the story doesn't end here. Remember I had these internet bids from different dealerships in hand. I had an offer from a different dealership for the price of a Prius with floor mats as the only add-on. I wanted the most basic, stripped down Prius out there. Our salesman was hit with a double whammy. First, Mom and I learned that the Internet sales divisions are completely separate from the store sales staff. I should have been working with a member internet sales staff. Because of this, his work with me was essentially charity. Were I to purchase a car, the credit would go to the guy who sent me the email price quote. The second shocker was that he had never seen a Prius that had basically no package add-ons. If his dealership had them, he didn't know about them. Therefore he took Mom and I to look at each and every Prius in their inventory and alas, we found none. We felt bad for wasting this salesman's time. I am planning on writing a letter to his supervisor thanking him for his time and effort.
The next stop was the San Bruno Toyota dealership. I had a quote from them for the no frills Prius at what looked to be a "too good to be true" price. Having learned our lesson about internet sales divisions, Mom and I found the guy who sent me the price quote. These was only one Prius left at that price and the color was red. How much more perfect could that have been.
Two and a half hours later, I had signed my name at least 30 times. I pre-purchased 4 years of maintenance and extended the warranty on the car from 3 to 7 years. I had to call and reinstate my insurance with GEICO and here is a picture of the car that I will hopefully be driving for the next decade.
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