I'm Feeling Lucky

We bought the car I drive now from a guy that worked for Google, so my license plate holder says "Google: I'm Feeling Lucky." I'm starting to think that this is a lucky charm. Because I've driven with a couple of people (or as I like to call them, haters) who have told me I'm a bad driver. Say what you will about my driving skills, but I've never had an accident. But I'm starting to believe that this is less about my driving ability and more about my "I'm Feeling Lucky" license plate holder.

There are several examples that prove my point, just from this weekend. When I was on my way to Elizabeth's wedding, there was crazy road construction on I-15 N between Vegas and St. George, plus it was really windy. I was gripping my wheel the whole time. When I got to Provo, I noticed a large chunk of plastic dragging under my car, and the sides of my fender popping off. The people at Ken Garff Honda told me I needed a new bumper and it would be around $500. Less than I expected, but still more than I can just pay out of pocket. But, luckily my wedding date is an insurance expert who told me the magic words to say to the insurance people. He also told me twenty times that I didn't look fat in my dress, but that's a story for another day. I told the magic words to the people, and BAM. $100 and my insurance rate won't go up. I'm feeling pretty lucky.

Then today, while I was on the phone with the insurance people, parked in my car in the 108-degree heat with the air blasting, a couple of hooligans got in their car next to me and slammed their truck door into my poor mirror. I honked really loud (which in hindsight was a huge overreaction) and checked to see if there were any dents. There weren't. I'm feeling pretty lucky.

And then at Target after work, I was reversing out of my parking spot when I saw the minivan in the stall behind mine start to pull back too. I figured he could see me, since I was already halfway out of my spot, but he kept coming back. I started to honk again this time (why do I think this is a good idea?) but he didn't stop. I started to try to get back into the parking spot but I was too late and he slammed into the back of my car. I marched out of my car to survey the damage. Nothing. Nothing on his bumper either. I wouldn't have cared, but still. It was nice. I'm feeling pretty lucky.

So there you have it. My license plate holder is a lucky charm. Let's just hope the luck doesn't run out any time soon.

First Day of Work

So today was my first day at MassMedia. It was a little overwhelming, but overall I liked it. But of course, in typical Melissa fashion it couldn't just go normally:

1. First, I manage to alienate myself within five minutes by announcing that I graduated from BYU. Everyone groaned and someone was like "I guess we can't swear now." No! Wait! Stop! That's not what I meant! I swear in my head all the time! It's fine! But of course, I didn't say anything and just awkwardly smiled and tried to laugh.


2. We got a quick tour of the office and I remembered that the break room was down a hall, but I couldn't remember which one. I walked down to the end of one hall and opened a door right into someone's office. Still, I'm better off than the kid who misspelled his own name on his resume and now everything has his name misspelled.


3. I did have the awesome awakening that I can take lunch whenever I want. I just have to bill 8 hours. It's an exhilarating feeling. Also, the intern asked me if I wanted any coffee. I was too stunned to answer, but he came back with Starbucks for everyone. Can I ask the intern to get me a Vanilla Bean Frappucino instead?


4. During that lunch break, I decided to find a place to eat my lunch that wasn't the office or my car. I started driving to Barnes and Noble but on the way I spotted a cupcake place called The Cupcakery. I decided to just stop in and see what they had. The cupcakes were beautiful and I started talking to the teenager behind the counter. I told him I was new in town and he pulled out their best-selling cupcake and gave it to me for free! AND he gave me a punch card with two holes punched in it already. I almost teared up. Am I making a bigger deal of this than I should? Probably. But it was just the nicest thing for some random high schooler to give me a free cupcake.