adventures in car buying.

So this post has pretty much nothing to do with jewelry.  But it has everything to do with what has consumed my life for the entire month of June and most of July – buying a car.  If you follow my life at all then you know that I left San Francisco at the end of May and landed on the other side of the bridge in Berkeley without a car.  My brother was kind enough to let me use his car while I stayed with him and I had a lot of fun driving it.  I learned that there’s a stretch of 880 that smells like freshly baked bread all the time since the driver’s side window doesn’t roll up and another window in the back is punched out.  I made a game out of avoiding potholes as one of the wheels is bent but he couldn’t remember which one, just that it was on the right side.  I never worried about walking around the car to load groceries in the backseat because the passenger side door didn’t open.  I took my time pulling the gear shifter into drive since the knob had a tendency to come off in your hand if much force was used and I made sure to make my way over to the right lane any time I encountered a slight incline as the car quickly lost power trying to climb over anything larger than a speed bump.  Oh, and then there was the day I flipped on the windshield wipers and one of the blades flew off.  Yep, it was a pretty sweet ride.  But with plans to relocate to LA, I needed my own vehicle.  And after losing my job and coming to terms with moving back to Sacramento, I needed a car.  Like, quick. 

Have you ever gone through the car buying experience before?  Because I never have.  Who knew that looking for cars was like having a full time job?  Mornings were spent combing through ads on craigslist.org, autotrader.com, and cars.com, creating a list of potential cars within my budget (a measly $5000), and researching said cars via kbb.com and Edmunds.com to find retail value on vehicles in good condition vs. excellent condition vs. private party vs. dealer.  I’m tired just thinking about it.

And then the exciting part – test drives and discovering how chauvinistic car culture still is.  There were the greasy looking dudes in gold chains at the mom n’ pop lots who informed me with great earnest that “these cars have their own market value” and refused to negotiate price.  Riiight, but who really pays sticker price and I’m not in the habit of paying more than what something’s worth.  Are you?  Then there was the guy at Carmax who laughed at me and asked if my budget was in American dollars.  Hey, eff you, buddy.  And I will never be returning to a Carmax.  Ever.  Again.  And then there was the kid who tried to negotiate a date into the selling price.  Quick tip on that one – if you’re going to try to ask someone out who’s interested in buying your car, wait until the sale is over or lower your price to what they’re willing to pay.  Just sayin’. 

One morning, I stumbled across an ad for a Volkswagen Golf at a Nissan dealership in Dublin, so I hopped into Trevor’s Honda and drove out there.  After the test drive (and the hour wait beforehand for it to finish inspection), I was pretty much sold on the car.  A couple days later, my mom and I head out to the dealership and after another quick test drive, we went inside to talk numbers.  Here is where we encounter Chris – the epitome of a car salesman without looking the part.  He sat us in his office, brought us some water, and then promptly disappeared.  I sat patiently waiting; my mom fidgeted in her seat, constantly craning her neck to find Chris, getting more and more volatile as time passed.  Chris came in a few times to check on us, “Just a few more minutes.  Be right back,” he’d say and then leave.  “What the fuck are we waiting for?” my mom said.  “He’s just playing games with us.  He’s trying to gain all the power.  We shouldn’t have taken the water.  We should have asked why he was offering it to us, should’ve said, ‘Why? Are we going to be here long?’  Oh, I’m so pissed.”  And after 20 minutes of this, Chris finally comes back in his office.  He sits down at the desk and asks a couple questions, entering the data into the computer.  “Okay,” he says, “the final number is going to be - ”  

“Wait a minute,” my mom interjects.  “Aren’t we even going to negotiate price?"  Uh-oh, this isn’t good.  This is about to get ugly.  Have you ever seen that one movie with that one scene where the character goes ballistic and flips over a table or some other piece of furniture and then continues to destroy everything within sight?  Yeah?  Well, it wasn’t quite that bad but there was a lot of “this is bullshit” and “that’s not true” and “she can’t afford that” and my mom was up and out of the office, out of the dealership, and nearly to the car by the time I could get out of my chair.  Chris stood behind the desk, looking a bit stunned.  It all happened so quickly, a matter of moments and there is never enough time to diffuse the bomb before it explodes.  I look over at him as I’m walking out of the office, unsure of the proper goodbye in this situation so I just say, “Thanks for the help, enjoy your day,” and run after my mom.

I drove back to my brother’s that night, feeling a little discouraged.  Nothing is going my way – dealerships hire dickheads, private parties try to scam dates, cars that are reasonably priced are snapped up in an instant, and I can’t apply for a loan due to my unemployed status.  The whole researching cars and looking for a fair price has become a chore, no longer fun and exciting, just time consuming and frustrating.  As a last ditch effort, I took another quick look on craigslist before bed and there it is – the perfect ad.  An ‘01 Golf with 125k miles, automatic, in silver with black interior.  Everything else – the sunroof, heated seats, 6 disc cd changer – are just icing on the cake at this point.  I immediately reply to the ad and the next morning, I have a response.  I drive out to Petaluma, test drive the car and couldn’t be happier.  Besides running smoothly and feeling immediately at home in it, the car is cosmetically clean – no visible dents or scratches, no stains or rips to the interior.  And it’s within my budget - $4200.  This.  Is.  My.  Car.   

The rest is pretty boring – the next morning I make a three hour trek via BART, Muni, and Golden Gate Transit out to Petaluma.  We chat briefly and whatdayaknow?  She also designs jewelry!  She can be found here and is a member of the Petaluma Craft Mafia.

And hey, look at that…I did manage to incorporate jewelry into this post after all!

***Just something I realized after posting this - after all my dealings with car sellers, the one that had the fairest price, was the most upfront, had the most well maintained vehicle, and ultimately the one I purchased the car from was a woman.  Food for thought, you know?***

 

practice.

 I’ve been trying to be diligent about this, I really have.  But sometimes life gets in the way.  If you follow astrology, blame it on Saturn’s return.  If you don’t, then let’s just say:  when it rains, it pours.  A relationship ended, a home was vacated, and a position was terminated – that would be my spring in a nutshell.  And as my once uneventful life became full of unknowns, inspiration and motivation dwindled.  Trying to be productive, I signed up for a couple classes to focus on my craft and the instructor was adamant about practice.  Practice, practice, practice.  Practice everyday.  Make ten simple loops and ten wrapped loops a day.  Maybe you finish a piece, maybe you don’t.  The intention is not to “make” something but to hone your craft and practice as any skill can be lost if not used.  It always sounds like a good idea, practice.  And I thought about it.  A lot.  But never got around to it.  There’s always something else to do, like feed the cat or empty his litter box or make dinner or watch TV or stare at the ceiling and try to figure out what I’m doing with my life.  I found myself on BART one day, feeling listless and defeated, when this kid sat down next to me with a Rubik’s Cube. 

He fiddled with the cube from the Montgomery station in SF, under the bay, through the transfer in Oakland, all the way to his stop at the Downtown Berkeley station.  I was fixated by his skill level as I watched him solve the cube over and over, one handed and under a minute each time, during our trek to the East Bay.  We got to talking – he’s an early twenty-something originally from Southern California who moved to Berkeley for school and recently graduated from a graduate program in Mechanical Engineering.  Fitting, I thought.  He picked up the Rubik’s Cube around the age of 12 and by 14 he was competing in contests.  “There’s a method,” he told me. “But you have to practice.  If you don’t practice, you forget.  And you get slow.”  We got off BART and walked a ways together, him still solving the puzzle over and over with one hand.  We parted ways and when I got home I fed the cat, cleaned his litter box, made dinner, turned on the TV and sat down with some beads and wire.  Ten simple loops, ten wrapped loops.  All it takes is a little practice.

custom.

It's a typical Thursday night - dinner's almost ready, the cat's been fed, and Ryan just walked through the door.  We're setting the table and just about to sit down to eat.
"I read your post today," he says.
"Oh yeah?"  I know he reads them, but he doesn't usually comment on them unless I ask about it.  "What'd you think?"
"Were you in a bad mood last night?" he asks.
"No, not at all.  Why?"
"It's pretty bleak," he says.
"Really?"  I'm kind of shocked.  "But is it good?"
"Well, it's kind of dark.  You talk about death."
"Yeah, but death is a part of life," I say.  "But is it well-written?"
"I'm not really sure if talking about death is a good way to sell jewelry.  And you're kind of doom and gloom about custom designs.  You don't even mention that those pieces were well received."
"Yes, but is it well-written?"  So I fixate. 
And Ryan sighs.
"Yes.  It's well-written," he says before stuffing a forkful of pasta in his mouth.

Even a well-written post can miss it's mark as the previous one has so obviously done.  Yes, it was intended to be dark but with a sense of humor.  And Ryan is right - I really should have focused more on how well those two custom pieces turned out as opposed to being all doom and gloom about the possibility of a difficult custom design, especially since that was really the only jewelry I made in the entire month of December...ahem, and in January, for that matter.  So let's take a closer (and more accurate) look at the beautiful pieces designed for my lovely friend, Julia.

I don't entirely remember how this conversation started.  Maybe I made some earrings with feathers or talked about it or she just saw the pictures posted on Facebook.  In any case, she approached me about making feather earrings to go with her New Year's Eve outfit.  She wanted something long - past her shoulders - mixing strands of chain with feathers.  "Sure, why not," I tell her.  It sounds fun - I'm sucker for anything chain heavy - and I've been wanting to incorporate feathers into my work for a while.  A few days later, Julia made another request:  a special statement piece for one of her closest, dearest, most best-est friends.  Sweet!  Statement pieces are fun - big, chunky, over the top - what's not to love?  The specifications were rather simple; use natural colors and/or elements, preferably a necklace, and avoid super sparkly or heavily chained styles.  No chains?!  WTH, does Julia even look at what I do?  Good thing I enjoy a challenge. 

So I started putting together ideas - Julia's NYE earrings were pretty straight forward and production went rather smoothly.  The only hang up was Dexter, of course.  Little squishy-squishy kitten face looooves himself some feathers.  I'd come home from work and find a row of feathers under the kitchen table, in the bedroom, or outside Ryan's studio.  It'd be one thing if I left my work on the kitchen table, but I don't.  It sits up on top of the fridge, along with the printer, some Mason jars, a few vases, and now, apparently, this guy. 
I found myself lacking motivation for the statement piece.  Maybe it was the holiday rush at work and feeling pressed for time, or maybe it was a mental block - no chains.   In searching for inspiration, I came across this beautiful little gem at one of my favorite Etsy shops.  Suddenly inspired, I knew what I wanted to work with.  Shells!  Glorious, overly inflated, beautifully iridescent shells paired with simple pearls and a few feathers for texture.  Pretty much perfect.

I brought the pieces to Julia.  I was delighted, Julia was thrilled, and on Christmas Day, her friend was ecstatic.

the "statement" piece



"in flight" NYE earrings