on blogging without a filter

I recently went back and read some random posts I wrote while I was in law school and I’ve come the the conclusion that my life is so much more balanced and happy now, I’m way less stressed out and I wouldn’t go back to that time if you paid me. However, you guys, I think I was a lot funnier in law school. Case in point, this post:

What in the…? Guys, I have no idea but I will tell you that when I came across it I laughed really hard.

I also laughed really hard at this line in a post from September 14, 2011:

I’m tired of being over stimulated. That’s not what she said, BTW.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I was just so stressed out for so long that filters no longer mattered to me. I was fine with saying whatever was on my mind because, (1) I didn’t have a lot of other outlets, and (2) the backlash from writing the word “wiener” on my personal blog was the least of my concerns. I want to go back to that place. Not the super stressed out part but the unfiltered part, because that Rebeka is someone I would want to be friends with, and that Rebeka is more like real-life-Rebeka. Because if you were to meet me in real life you would quickly learn that I like to keep things real, I obviously somewhat censor things depending on audience and I like to think that I’m very kind and don’t say things that hurt peoples feelings (hopefully!) but I drop F-bombs and laugh at “that’s what she said” jokes.

Anyway, let’s end this revelation with a little recap of my day yesterday, because everyone knows “this is what I want to blog about” posts or “sorry I haven’t blogged, blah blah” posts are the worst.

Wednesday was really rainy in Seattle. Fall is here guys. And by Fall, I mean the rainy season. Anyway, I’m driving to work Wednesday morning and I notice water leaking down the front of my passenger side seat as well as the back and pooling in the rubber mat in the back passenger side. Um, WHAT? My brand new, fancy-as-fuck, 6 week old car should NOT be leaking from the sunroof! Obviously, cue freakout, call the dealership, they tell me they’re going to need my car for the whole day but no worries, they have a shuttle that will take me to work. No. No no no. I explain to them that my decision to purchase the “Limited” version of my car meant it came with some Toyota Care thing that offers me roadside assistance, a rental car in case my car breaks, and other things I couldn’t name off the top of my head. The guy says he’s going to have to call me back. I tell him when he calls me back I want to hear that they’re fixing my leaking sunroof for free and they will have a rental waiting for me when I get there tomorrow morning. Done and done. #lawyered

I take my car to the dealership yesterday morning, they make me wait until they test it to make sure there is actually a leak. I’m already late for work. I end up being at the dealership for an hour while they determine that somehow some tree sap was blocking one of the sunroof drains or something. They plucked out the sap, showed it to me, confirmed my car was no longer leaking, changed my oil and I left for work in my car. I’m happy I don’t have to go back. That dealership is the worst.

After getting to work really, really late, I obviously also needed to leave early, because you know: employee of the fucking year right here. I work approximately 3.5 hours before heading out for a previously scheduled appointment, arrive late to appointment because of surprise traffic on the 520 and NO parking anywhere nearby – I hate being late, so so much. Leave appointment, go home, work from my couch for a couple hours before I go to meet Dustin, Art, their coworker Willy in town from Singapore and Amy.

A few months ago I forced Amy to quit her job. No joke. I went to happy hour with her and Art and I was like, Amy, Art has a really good job, you HATE your job, just quit. Quit tomorrow. And she did. She literally quit the next day. To explain a little further, Amy was an elementary school teacher for many years, she supported Art while he was in school and then when he was a security guard for a Vendor company at a Microsoft Data Center. Amy decided she needed a change, she quit teaching and she started working as a bank teller part time after Art got his really great FTE Microsoft job. She was really good at her bank job and they kept asking her to work full time hours even though she only wanted part time because Art worked SO much and she needed to be able to compensate for that, they didn’t really appreciate her, and then she got robbed at work. Yep, you read that right, Amy was working when a robber came up to her and slipped her a note demanding she give him money. None of her coworkers even paid attention to her gestures for help, she pushed the I WAS JUST ROBBED button under her desk (still no one noticed), slipped some tracking device into one of the stacks of cash she gave the robber and the police caught him a few blocks away. Amy saves the day! Anyway, happy hour was not long after Amy was robbed and she was dreading going to work the next day and so I forced her to quit. It took Amy much longer than anticipated to find a new job. But yesterday she met us at Uber with great news! She was just offered a job at a school in Renton! Horray! I was so happy – mostly because I was starting to feel guilty that I forced her to quit and then she was unemployed for like 4 months. OOPS!

Anyway, Amy and I caught up inside over a pumpkin beer while the guys smoked a cigar outside (because apparently that’s what men do?!) and then when they came back inside, we decided it was time to go get dinner. We went to El Chupacabra for Mexican food and while we were waiting for a table I got a chance to talk to Art and Dustin’s coworker, Willy. Willy lives in Singapore and works for Microsoft doing data-center-related-things in Asia. Willy has a good job, so does his wife. He was telling me that it’s incredibly expensive to live in Singapore. Apparently to have a car you first have to purchase a certificate of entitlement that costs $60,000 – ON TOP of the cost of a car! What? Apparently buying/renting a house there is also incredibly expensive. Willy was telling me that he is married and has two kids, an adorable daughter and a fat baby boy (who is so cute). Willy lives with his parents (because they help with the kids, but also because his mother is getting old and needs assistance as well), his wife, kids, and a nanny/maid in a 600 square foot home. WHAT? He told me that his parents have their own room, the fat baby and nanny share a bed in a closet and Willy, his wife and his daughter sleep in the living room area on a queen size bed, but usually his wife and daughter sleep in the bed and he ends up on the floor. Isn’t that insane? I thought just me in my 400 square foot apartment was pushing it. I have no idea how they don’t drive each other crazy. Stories like that make me feel so thankful I live in America. Although, Singapore does sound kind of awesome and really, really safe (probably because you can get beat with a cane for spitting gum on the street, so imagine the penalties for doing something actually terrible!). Tell me, have you ever visited?

Anyway, that was a lot of words. I’m not even sorry. Here’s to blogging more about feelings and things and having less of a filter. Also to living somewhere where you can freely spit your gum out without getting beat with a cane, amiright? CHEERS!