What made my day...:D

It’s the littlest thing. A minor act of kindness. A joke. A smile.

Sometimes you don’t know you’ve woke up on the wrong side of the bed until it’s too late. You’re the person in the house everyone wants to avoid today. The person in the office who is getting a lot of work done coz they’re not talking much. The customer in the shop who has bags under their eyes and are buying a ready meal to eat tonight; Microwave, 3 mins, bedtime.

I walked out of Sainsbury’s pushing the small trolley full of shopping (Bags for Life forgotten again, kick myself everytime) and made my way to the boot of my car. It’s not very busy around the evening time and the carpark is pretty bare. It’s not my safety I’m thinking about too much – it’s whether or not I can get away with leaving the empty trolley in an empty bay…

As soon as my head raised to begin my ninja-style search, I saw there was a trolley attendant doing his rounds. How lucky- my conscience would remain clear, not that I deserved the luck after my day of moody attitude.

He was whistling as he worked, despite the bitterly cold night. “Do you mind if I give you this one aswell?” I asked politely, though of course in those situations you know he can’t very well say “Er, nope.” Still whistling, he gladly nodded and recieved the trolley, so that I could be on my way that little bit quicker and he would bear the extra weight to push along to the side of the store.

I got into my car and then assessed the quickest way out. As their were only a few cars dotted around, I thought I would try my hand at a 180 degree turn to point in the right direction. This proved to be ambitious. I now blocked the way for cars to enter the car park. I had to be quick and cool – not gonna happen. I grew frustrated at myself, when who should appear in view watching my every maneuvre but the friendly neighbourhood trolley attendant.

He folded his arms and shook his head with pursed lips; I could almost hear him thinking “Child, please, that wasn’t gonna happen was it.” I gave him a “Well I tried!” smile and sighed heavily. He then proceeded to guide me while I reversed and sorted myself out and was soon out of harms way. When I say harm I mean further embarrasment. I looked up  to mouth a thankyou and recieved a sarcastic round of applause and finally a cheery wave, to which I waved back and drove away towards home. Smiling.

Now that was a very long story of a barely 3 minute account, but it was the principle of this stranger that reminds me how a little goes a long way. I remained content and high-spirited for the rest of the night as a result of this selfless act- not just the helping out and politeness but the informal and sarcastic little actions that did not intend to brighten a young lady’s dull day.

[Via http://youonlyseewhatyoureyeswanttosee.wordpress.com]

The saddest spending spree

Today I fixed my car up. It needed some servicing and new tyres. This sucks, because both things cost money. It was almost $500 for everything. Now I’m super sad! But on the plus side, my car isn’t illegal anymore! Hooray! Now that’s going to save big bucks in the long run.

So while my car was busying itself being serviced I decided that a walkabout would be in order. And, unlike the small boy in that creepy commercial for Australia that decided that his walkabout would involve trampling mud into some womans house and whispering cryptic stuff while she slept, I went to the shopping centre. The “mall”, if you’re into being really concise. Armed with zero dollars and zero cents, I walked around with the solid aim of wasting an hour while my tyres were changed without buying anything. This was difficult, as like the Aboriginal from the previously mentioned tourism ad, I am pretty much a boy - No matter how creepy I may seem to you. And boys want some really stupid stuff, stuff like LEGO.

It's a box of LEGO!

Look at this box. It’s LEGO as it should be. No pictures of the final product on the box, no instructions or diagrams, this isn’t the modern-day Ikea furniture LEGO that builds a specific thing, this is old-style have some freaking blocks and go crazy, kid. The LEGO I understand. The LEGO I haven’t seen for a while, perhaps because I don’t really look. But today I looked, and I found, and I saw the picture of just a bunch of blocks, I saw the number that says “390 pieces”. And I want it. I really want it! I haven’t had LEGO in so long! I will make sweet love to any woman who buys me this LEGO set.

And as a bonus, it even comes with three people with no arms. One of them seems to have feet.

20 Questions from the Alpha Quadrant

Anyone ever played those 20 questions games? Well, this is one of those, but it’s Star Trek, so it’s a bit cooler. You think of something from the classic series of Star Trek, and start the game. It asks 20 yes/no questions, and you answer them and at the end of question 20 it should probably show what you were thinking of on the little screen.

In between the questions, the obnoxious little device made lots of little Star Trek jokes. Here is one: “Space, the final frontier………Between your ears!” Ouch, the device totally burned me. It also told me I was running on impulse power, but impulse is still pretty fast, so I don’t really know what that was meant to mean? Are you trying to insult me for not traveling beyond light-speed?

Anyway, I played this device and I was thinking of Captain Kirk. At the beginning, I thought it was really getting somewhere, it asked me “Does it keep a log?” and I thought, “wow, this is only question 6, it’s got me”. And at the end of the game it told me that I was thinking of… The two whales “George” and “Gracie” from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. I’m now left trying to figure out in what part of the movie did the two whales make a log entry.

On the plus side, it is a reference from my favourite Star Trek movie, actually one of my most favourite movies ever, so I forgive it. It was a great movie, that showed that Kirk could get a bit older, gain a bit of weight, go back in time to find some whales and still find someone to stick his dick into.

No, that's Moby Dick, but I like where you went with the whale reference there.

[Via http://magicacid.wordpress.com]

Body of Missing Parma Woman Identified

PARMA [WMAT NEWS] – The Cuyahoga Country Coroner has identified the body  of a missing Parma woman who was found dead inside of a car in Lakewood Wednesday.

The body is that of 60 year-old Elaine Wynn. She was reported missing by a relative, and family members say they she was last seen before Christmas.



Parma Police Detective Marty Compton says his department received a phone call Tuesday night from a woman who told officers she had not seen her aunt since before Christmas.  He says police later learned that the woman’s male roommate was also missing.

Compton says his department learned that the woman’s roommate was known to frequent a particular part of Lakewood and asked Lakewood police to let them know if he turned up.

Just hours later, Compton says Lakewood officers pulled the man over near West 117th St. and Edgewater Dr.

“Our officers responded to the scene, asked him about her location. He spontaneously uttered she’s in the back seat, under those boxes. There was a body in a blanket under the backseat of his vehicle,” Parma Detective Marty Compton said.

Parma Police are continue to search the suspects Knollwood Dr. apartment for any evidence.

The man has not been charged but is in the Parma jail as the investigation continues, though they now say this is being treated as a homicide. The name of the suspect has not been released.

©2010 Westcom/WMAT News

[Via http://wmatnews.wordpress.com]

Overwhelmed!

Life has been quite overwhelming lately; so much that to fit in one thing- I’ve had to pushing other things out of the way… to a far corner somewhere and even then I got things ‘only barely’ done.

A few examples should suffice.

In the last few days, we managed to do a few things-

- We have been to the ‘Hit for Haiti’ fundraising event

- We have been to watch Rafael Nadal play Peter Luczak in the first round of Australian Open

- We went car shopping and test-driving

- We found a car we liked and bought it (for the curious, it’s a silver coloured Holden Vectra)

- We picked the car up two days later and drove it home

- We cleared the garage up to make room for the car (we were using it as a junkyard till then)

- I baked the worst muffins that one possibly can for Crazy’s birthday (Beep! Beep! ‘World’s Worst Baker’ alert! Beep! Beep! Beep!)

However, there are things we had to push things out of the way too-

- Missed my coffee-date with my friend- Moon- who I have not met since coming out of uni. I don’t think she’s ever going to fix a date with me ever again

- Missed 2 driving lessons

- Missed caring for my hair, making it rather ‘sorry looking ‘ presently. I tell you- in all fairness, my hair is pretty ONLY when I make it so; and not exaggerating when I say that I look like ‘Ms Einstein’ now, I just wish I had at least 1/10th of that man’s brain instead, though.

ALL of these happened in the span of ONE WEEK, btw.

Also as a topping to the ‘current life’ cake- it’s the time companies start to make their corporate budgets for the next year… I am a ‘Corporate Financial Accountant’, what does that tell you? Well… it says that my work schedule is currently only a thin rope where I’ve been balancing myself… barely.

As if life was not enough overwhelming already without it being so!

[Via http://mauzzie.wordpress.com]

Keeping your car in Shape

Keep Your Engine Properly Tuned Fixing a car that is noticeably out of tune or has failed an emissions test can improve its gas mileage by an average of 4 percent, though results vary based on the kind of repair and how well it is done.

Fixing a serious maintenance problem, such as a faulty oxygen sensor, can improve your mileage by as much as 40 percent.

Fuel Economy Benefit: 4% Equivalent Gasoline Savings: $0.11/gallon Keep Tires Properly Inflated You can improve your gas mileage by around 3.3 percent by keeping your tires inflated to the proper pressure. Under-inflated tires can lower gas mileage by 0.3 percent for every 1 psi drop in pressure of all four tires. Properly inflated tires are safer and last longer.

The proper tire pressure for your vehicle is usually found on a sticker in the driver’s side door jamb or the glove box and in your owner’s manual. Do not use the maximum pressure printed on the tire’s sidewall.

Fuel Economy Benefit: up to 3% Equivalent Gasoline Savings: up to $0.08/gallon Use the Recommended Grade of Motor Oil You can improve your gas mileage by 1-2 percent by using the manufacturer’s recommended grade of motor oil. For example, using 10W-30 motor oil in an engine designed to use 5W-30 can lower your gas mileage by 1-2 percent. Using 5W-30 in an engine designed for 5W-20 can lower your gas mileage by 1-1.5 percent. Also, look for motor oil that says “Energy Conserving” on the API performance symbol to be sure it contains friction-reducing additives. Fuel Economy Benefit: 1-2% Equivalent Gasoline Savings: $0.03-$0.05/gallon NEW INFORMATION:

Replacing a Clogged Air Filter on Modern Cars Improves Performance but Not MPG A new study shows that replacing a clogged air filter on cars with fuel-injected, computer-controlled gasoline engines does not improve fuel economy but it can improve acceleration time by around 6 to 11 percent. This kind of engine is prevalent on most gasoline cars manufactured from the early 1980s onward.

Tests suggest that replacing a clogged air filter on an older car with a carbureted engine may improve fuel economy 2 to 6 percent under normal replacement conditions or up to 14 percent if the filter is so clogged that it significantly affects drivability.

The effect of a clogged air filter on diesel vehicles will be tested in the near future.

Note: Cost savings are based on an assumed fuel price of $2.67/gallon. Data Sources

Information on the impact of air filter condition on fuel economy is based on a study by Kevin Norman, Shean Huff, and Brian West, Effect of Intake Air Filter Condition on Vehicle Fuel Economy, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 2009.

Estimates for fuel savings from vehicle maintenance, keeping tires properly inflated, and using the recommended grade of motor oil based on Energy and Environmental Analysis, Inc., Owner Related Fuel Economy Improvements, Arlington, Virginia, 2001.

**Some documents on this page are provided as Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files. Any PDF file can be downloaded, viewed on screen, and printed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader software. This free software can be downloaded from the Adobe Web site. Installation and setup instructions are provided on this site.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/maintain.shtml

Peak Kia of Littleton

Toll Free (888) 606-5252

[Via http://peakkialittleton.wordpress.com]

Rain = Headlights

I never can understand why people don’t turn on their lights when it’s raining.  I can understand a drizzle in the middle of the day that doesn’t even necessitate your wipers.  But a downpour on a cloudy day on the highway?  So dangerous!  Especially for light colored cars that blend into the rain.  Cars really should come automatically with a feature that turns on the lights when the wipers are on.  I think that’s available for some cars now, but it’d be nice if it was standard.

On a related note, as a kid, I wanted to invent windshield wipers that automatically turned on when it rained.  Why did I not patent that back then!   My friend’s car comes with that and it’s pretty nice.  … I wonder if the lights turn on automatically too?  Hmmm….

[Via http://drivingmisslaura.wordpress.com]

A Stranger's Touch - published!

The big news of today is that my literary erotic short story, A Stranger’s Touch is now published and you can find out further details and buying options at Amber Allure Press. You can also view the book trailer to get a flavour of the story.

I’m also thrilled to say that the lovely Clare London has already read it and has kindly said the following: Just a note to say how much I loved A Stranger’s Touch! A lovely lyricism to it, erotically charged, and such delicious tension. I liked especially the way that Red and Robbie’s relationship ran underneath it all, how it both contrasted and balanced the hustler/client relationship: the way you showed us the way they worked and lived and loved together, and how the changes in Red affected everyone around him. Thank you so much, Clare – much appreciated! And goodness, but you’re a quick reader!

Other nice writing news is that my literary short story, How to Eat Fruit will be published by Untreed Reads Press on 1 February, and you can read the announcement here. So looking forward to that one as well.

Meanwhile, I’ve received the contract for Give and Take so will send that back to Amber Allure Press this coming week. Post willing. I’ve also got the ultimate final version of The Gifting sorted, together with a wonderful new blurb, courtesy of my lovely editor Sarah, which you can see on site.

I’m also pleased to say that my short story, A Lonely Place, is now published at the Rose and Thorn Journal so I hope you enjoy the read. It’s free!

And, talking of free reads, the final part of Chapter Three of The Prayer Seeker can be found here. And it too has its very own book trailer which you can view here. I’m quite proud of that one – the music is just sooo perfect. In my opinion.

So. Never let it be said that I don’t keep busy. Ho ho. Not that I can do much else, mind you, as the car is out of action and I wasn’t able to get hold of the RAC at all yesterday – who were way too busy to listen to my cries for help and, understandably, had far more urgent cases to deal with. At least I broke down at home. That was unusually clever of me. However, Lord H has managed to get hold of them this afternoon and they’re going to turn up at some point over the next 3.5 hours. I think they meant today, but we’ll see, eh.

To keep us all calm and lovely, here’s this week’s haiku:

Time slips through my skin,

gold and silver droplets fade.

They melt into air.

Anne’s website – having a publishing bonanza today

The Prayer Seeker’s Blog

[Via http://annebrooke.wordpress.com]