Happiness

Hello there!
Pretend for a minute you have a big house, a nice car, a good source of income, the latest trends, a fitness instructor, good medical insurance... But you are not happy. Shouldn't you be?

What is happiness?
I find that the more I live on this earth, the more I find out happiness is extremely elusive. When I was little, I heard someone say happiness comes in drops and the Creator gives you a dropper to last you your whole life.

At that moment, I did not understand what I was being told. "Dropper?" I thought... What in the h...?
Now that I am older and have seen and experienced a little in this world, I am beginning to understand it.


My goal in my 20s was to make sure I could provide for my son the way I was not provided for. This meant having 2 jobs, going to school and not seeing him a whole lot. Now that I have resigned my Full-Time position, I feel free. Granted, I still need the full-time income but I can mix and match different skills and different projects to make sure I can continue providing the basic necessities.

I have realized the Disney trip we take every year is not worth me working all year long and not spending time with my child. I have realized that they don't really care about the material things if they cannot spend time with you. I vowed to never be the parent that was never around and I feel as if I have failed, until now.

My happiness is:

• My son's smile. Is the "aha!" moment when I help him with his homework and he understands it
• When he asks me to come work at his school because I explain things better than his teacher
• When he brings his classmates over for me to go over the homework with them
• When he brags to his friends about my cooking
• When he knows I will be there for his Karate competitions
• When I meet with his music teacher
• When I go for a walk with him
• When I was trying to teach him how to ride a bicycle

I was missing out on all those things with my son, if not even more. I thought I was working towards happiness but I was actually working against it.

My son is about to be 10 years old: I still have some time. Think for a minute: what is happiness to you? Is happiness taking you away from your family and children?
I'd much rather spend evenings cuddling up to my son watching a movie of his choice than to be working until 1:00 am on school nights just to make sure that Disney trip happens next year.
Think, reflect, analyze, reinvent your schedule. And may you always be happy!


Thank you for reading and buenas tardes,

Wen

NISSAN Sentra Nightmare

Hello guys!

So I own a NISSAN Sentra 2012 and the transmission went out on it on a freeway. I started rolling backwards into oncoming traffic but thankfully I was not involved in any accident.
I called the dealership who sold me the vehicle in 2013, Lumberton Honda and they told me I was no longer covered under the extended warranty I had purchased. I then called NISSAN Corporate and they stated I was out of warranty since I was at 68,000 mi. and the warranty was up to 60,000 mi.

NISSAN Corporate ALSO said that because my vehicle was previously owned by 3 or 4 car rental companies, NISSAN knows the customers tend to abuse those vehicles so they will not be responsible for my repairs since I am out of warranty.
When I brought up the complains I found online regarding their CVT Transmissions, I was told she would not discuss any of those cases with me since she does not know the conditions or the usage level of those vehicles. She would only discuss MY case.
Wait a minute: so you purchase a vehicle to never drive it? That's the first...

Kalia and Chrystal at NISSAN Corporate in Memphis, TN also told me there was no history of any work being done on the transmission... Let's see: so you FIX the problem before it happens? I had my vehicle's oil changed and fluids checked at Lumberton Honda, Walmart, Black's Tire and TLC. No one found anything wrong with the transmission. It just stopped working out of the blue while I was on the All-American Freeway.

Going online to the NHTSA website, you can read all the complains the transmissions have received and there is no recall on this as of yet. All transmission issues are at around the 60,000 mi. mark (which is when NISSAN cuts off their warranty, conveniently).

I filed a complain with NHTSA, the Federal Trade Commission AND NC Attorney General.
Please go online and file your complain as well if you or someone you know has encountered an issue similar to this. This is obviously a safety threat and NISSAN CVT transmissions should be recalled. The only thing NISSAN does is replace them: they're throw-away parts.

I have also set up a GoFundMe account for this, in case NISSAN decides not to do anything about it:
http://www.gofundme.com/WenMobile

You can read about the complains here: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchResults?prodType=V&searchType=PROD&targetCategory=A&searchCriteria.model=SENTRA&stats=1279770%2C0%2C0%2C54%2C13%2CSENTRA&makeStats=&jsonBaseURL=%2Fdownloads%2Ffolders%2F&searchCriteria.model_yr=2012&searchCriteria.make=NISSAN&searchCriteria.prod_ids=1279770








Please share this post as many times as you can, as my testimony may help someone attempting to purchase a NISSAN Sentra 2012, or a NISSAN in general.

Thank you for reading and buenas noches,

Wen

#Nissan #Sentra #Transmission #Complain #Rant #PoorCustomerService

Depression Sucks...

Hello everyone!

Years ago, when I started dealing with my co-dependency issue, it was suggested I went to a psychiatrist to prescribe me happy pills. I felt insulted and dealt with my issue only going to therapy. I am having second thoughts about those happy pills... What if I do need them? What if I too, suffer from manic depression?

Very dark thoughts come to mind and the more I think about it, the more I realize: I have felt this before. I have a heaviness in my chest and do not want to see or talk to anyone. I have no desire of achieving anything... I am truly depressed.

According to WebMD, depression in women "is a serious and pervasive mood disorder. It causes feelings of sadness, hopelessness, helplessness, and worthlessness. Depression can be mild to moderate with symptoms of apathy, little appetite, difficulty sleeping, low self-esteem, and low-grade fatigue. Or it can be more severe."
It goes on to explain the symptoms:

• Persistent sad, anxious, or "empty" mood
• Loss of interest or pleasure in activities, including sex
• Restlessness, irritability, or excessive crying
• Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness, hopelessness, pessimism
• Sleeping too much or too little, early-morning waking
• Appetite and/or weight loss or overeating and weight gain
• Decreased energy, fatigue, feeling "slowed down"
• Thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide attempts
• Difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions
• Persistent physical symptoms that do not respond to treatment, such as headaches, digestive disorders, and chronic pain

 I feel compelled to add that mental illnesses/disorders were not accurately diagnosed in previous generations. Topics like depression, bipolar disorder, mania... are just now beginning to let us in their world. For all you know, there may be a really long history of bipolar disorder in your family and not even know it...

In my case, my mother was diagnosed with manic depression back in her 30s but has never been medicated. I really believe that is the root of all evil, so to speak.
My mother has suffered her whole life with communication issues, depression, mood swings, not thinking clearly, and just not making sense sometimes. Now at 75, we could possibly blame it on the combination of her disorder and a possible beginning stage of dementia or at the best case scenario, old age.

Why am I talking about this? I have not been diagnosed and I am terrified of going to a shrink. Like the good Hispanic I am, I do not go to the doctor unless I am seriously ill... Depression is seen and treated as a sign of weakness in my culture and even though I am much of a loner and a hermit and do not really care what people think, I am my own worse enemy.


Mental disorders are very hard to diagnose and treat... It could be a learned behavior coming from my alcoholic household where my manic depressive mother resided?
Whichever way, I find myself meeting a lot of the signs the article described. I have loving people who I know care but I do not let in my world.

There are a lot of things to be thankful for but feeling depressed is not a feeling you can control. It will not let you eat, sleep, talk to your loved ones, work, study, drive, or hug your children. It will make you question the meaning of life and the reasons for you being alive...

Thank you for reading and buenas noches,

Wen

Leaving Children Home Alone

Hello there!

Yesterday I ran into a situation that really drove me bananas. My son's friend, was home alone and the boy is 9 years old.
According to the law in NC, he cannot be left unattended unless he is 12 years old and it is for no longer than 2 hours.
I panicked and called his father at work whose only concern was "please make sure you lock my door". I wanted to kill the man...
We have sex predators in our neighborhood and his ONLY concern is for me to LOCK his front door?

A million things came to mind: how my mother had left me under my sister's care many times (she is 10 years older than me) and things were not being handled correctly. I saw a LOT of things that I never should have and some things happened to me as well that would not have happened if I had a responsible adult watching me.

This little boy's brother is 16 years old and is always leaving him home alone. When the father got off from work at 10:00 pm I TOLD him I would keep his son every afternoon and I was really going to be monitoring him... I really do not care what may happen to him as a parent but I do care whatever may happen to the child. Children need to be protected and looked after and he is failing to do so because he does not appoint a responsible adult to handle that responsibility.

Where is the mother, you may ask? Here is the saddest part: the mother passed away when the child was 3. So, my next question to the father will be since WHEN is older brother "babysitting" the little boy? It infuriates me... I spent about an hour pacing back and forth in my kitchen having flashbacks about the time I jumped out of the terrace at home from the 9th floor and the firemen had to come and rescue me because I was 5 years old and my mother had left me home alone while she went to do something with my 15 year old sister...  Once I realized it was wrong, I promised myself I would protect children to the best of my ability and this little boy will be NO exception!

 People PLEASE do not leave your children unattended: ANYTHING could happen...

Thank you for reading and buenas noches,

Wen