Your Vocabulary Score: A+

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary! You must be quite an erudite person.

How's Your Vocabulary?

I found this quiz through Skeet's Stuff - I have also discovered after completing another one of these quizzes that I am 90% Average American. Being an Australian, I think that's quite an achievement!

Coming from Melbourne, I've often thought I would fit in quite well in a place like Seattle. I went there in 1992
(GRUNGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
and it reminded me of Melbourne. A lot.

Although I got asked the weirdest questions when I went to school in Olympia (pun intended, thank you Courtney Love!) I was on a kind of school exchange program where I found the knowledge of Australia was minimal, if not bizarre. It was no culture shock for me to go to Olympia, I went from a fairly large city (by Australian standards!) to a smaller town with lots of barns, churches and basketball games. I was met at the airport by my host family - the Dad was wearing a Driza Bone (circa "Man From Snowy River") and an Akubra (I'm pretty sure Paul Hogan wore one in Crocodile Dundee) I knew from this point on that things were going to be weird. I went to give a talk the school (argh!!) This is something I did not enjoy. I was more interested in listening to Nevermind on my walkman. I managed to sync up the chorus of "Something in the Way" to the taking off and landing of my plane journeys to great effect. Anyway, I was dragged unenthusiastically into this group. There was a Q&A session with me (feeling like a zoo exhibit) so everyone could find out more about where I was from. Here are the highlights for your enjoyment (and my horror)...

Question 1: Are your maps upside down?
Err........no. That would make us....INSANE!!!

Question 2: Do you have electricity?
Uh....here is a picture of my town - Melbourne, Australia to dispel these strange myths:



Question 3: Do you have kangaroos in your yard?
?!?!?!??!?!? See picture above.

Question 4: (this killed me!!)
What is your favourite band?

I answered "Nirvana" (I was of course in Olympia, then Seattle - a grunge pilgrimage, if you like...)



The Reply: Are they an Australian band?

Oh My God.

I feel weak.

I need to lie down.

I don't really know anyone who enjoys washing up. It's easy to enjoy having a pile
of clean dishes, but the actual task can drive people up the wall and around the bend.
And back again!



Imagine if you could cut your washing up time in half....

Here's the deal, you find every pot, utensil, piece of cutlery and miscellaneous items that are made of aluminium.

How do I identify these items? I hear you ask.

Well, it's easy. They are the ones that are very stained and seem to take a lifetime to scrub!

I have a ladle that takes about 10 minutes to scrub clean with the hardest scourer known to man (or woman!)

In fact, this ladle takes nearly as much time to clean as the rest of the dishes!!

Okay, now you have your aluminium items, gather them up and go shopping for replacements. Replace each aluminium item with an equivalent item made from stainless steel.

Then throw the aluminium gear in the bin.

I replaced an aluminium grater with a stainless steel equivalent - it now takes a quick once-over and it's clean!! (and it stays clean!)

Using stainless steel instead of aluminium uses less water, less detergent, you go through less scourers, and best of all, less elbow grease!!

Tech Tags: drawings save time washing up stainless steel detergent aluminium

For those of you searching for a used car, you can go to lemonfree.com: Cars For Sale.



The site has a large range of used cars and truck classified ads. You can search by year, make, model, country and state. Plus the advanced search includes a price range and a mileage range so you can get the best car for your needs. You can also create a free auto listing of your own, with space to upload 10 pictures of your vehicle. Personally, I am quite partial to the Volkswagen Golf - VW Golf
The search results include full colour photographs of the vehicles and detailed descriptions, including Vehicle Identification Numbers and Carfax (vehicle history) reports. These features make it easier for you to research the car before you buy.
Finally, the best thing about lemonfree.com is the fact that they don't charge any money to buy or sell a vehicle on the site!

For the first time in my life (or a long time!), I actually bought an accessory.
Yes, that's right. Me.
I fell in love with it at the Elsternwick Golf Course because it was so cute!!!

Wilson Staff Cap $14.95









...and because it was a hot day (35 degrees celsius)
...and in Australia we have UV levels and conditions similar to futuristic movies like Total Recall..















...and if you don't cover your head you get bright red even if you are olive skinned like me!!

I thought this cap was pretty appropriate because I was at a golf course, and the Wilson Staff label denotes my role as caddy. This is a role I am very proud of - I can click that golf stroke counter like nobody's business!!!

After 2 games of golf and 4 days of walking with hand weights, my head has not been 'touched by the sun'.

My arms, however are a different story.

I got one layer of tan from the first day of golf, right up to near my shoulder. I got the next
layer wearing 3/4 length sleeves...and the next layer with full length sleeves.

I call it my "Neapolitan tan".










Now for the verdict:.....

Success!!! Not only is the cap cute and a perfect colour, but it keeps the sun of my noggin' as well.

Does this ever happen to you? Bored, staring at the screen, can't face another spreadsheet? The remedy: time killer - proudly declaring to waste your time in a good way. The site has games such as Tic Tac Toe, 3D worm and blast billiards. Plus the obviously addictive (played 598 times so far) bubble pop game. Where you pop plastic protective bubble wrap until your brain explodes. Enjoy!

I treated myself to a new HydraGel Infrared Massager (RRP approx$40)


Between AVIS and shavers that don't work, I think I needed a little relaxation!! I picked the right time to try it out - I have been walking with hand weights for the last couple of weeks and my back is full of tension.

I tried it out on the first night without infrared - just the massager. After about 2 minutes I started to feel better. As I also discovered, it is better if someone holds the massager for you as you can turn into a pretzel trying to reach a certain spot on your back!!

Verdict - AHHHHHH!!

Note: Don't try to understand the terms "hydra gel" or "dampening system" - I was filled with ideas of gel, and damp massages...and that is a little off putting. The truth is, the whole thing is dry, and the weird spring-contraption in the neck of the massager is termed the "HydraGel Dampening System".

Sheesh!!! Biggest dumbest weasel words I have heard for a long time...

Mutter mutter mutter mutter......

This is the Q-Link pendant. (RRP$199)

What does it do? How does it work? I'm not going to bore you with the details that can be easily found on the Q-Link website.

I'll tell you what it does, though.... it stops you in your tracks when you are doing your 'nana. Or chucking a wobbly. Or throwing a tantrum, spitting the dummy. You get the idea.

For those of you scratching your head, go to Australian Slang for the translation.

I'll give you an example. The test subject has been wearing the pendant for a couple of months. The story begins at Elsternwick Golf Course - my partner was having a good round. A great round, in fact.

Around the 17th hole (also known as the 8th!) my partner stood at the tee, surveying the green. Three teenaged guys muddled about on the green, taking their time, goofing around, playing with the flag. I could sense my partner was getting annoyed.

Or maybe it was the stream of muttered expletives I kept hearing.

On top of this, another fellow from the hole behind us smacked the ball right onto our tee off point, narrowly missing my partner's head.

He was so caught up in getting annoyed at the three guys on the green that he missed this event. He did not however miss the guy from the hole behind us running up in front of him and striking the ball across his line of sight.

Tired of waiting for the 3 guys on the green, he teed off.

The ball did a majestically horrible boomerang to the right, ending up in the reeds.

Reeds that were in the water. A lost ball.

He got out another ball, teed off and to my amazement, perfectly replicated the one-in-a-million horrible shot. Another lost ball in the reeds.

The next new ball swooped to the right, and landed about 5 metres away, near the reeds. He said calmly "I'll take that one" and started off towards the ball.

He set up the shot and hit the ball. It swerved towards the water like a heat seeking missile, then incredibly hit a pile of rocks in the water, and bounced back to very near its original starting point.

I stared, open mouthed as I watched for what he would do next. After hooking the ball (or was it slicing? I don't know) the ball came to rest behind a very large bunch of reeds. You could barely see over them...

Faced with this situation, I know many people who would have broken a club, jumped in the water, climbed a tree or stormed off the golf course, vowing never to play this f$%@ing game again.

My partner, on the other hand suddenly stopped getting annoyed. He took a deep breath and hit a majestic towering shot OVER the reeds, UP the hill and landing to rest at the lip of the green.

One more chip and a close putt and the ball was in.

In this round, he broke 100 for the first time.

The Q-Link claims to shave at least 3 shots off your score.

Since wearing the Q-Link, my partner has dropped 9 shots. And counting.....

At the 19th hole (the pub) he told me the Q-Link definitely did something. It didn't stop him getting annoyed, but it did make him quickly recover to take control of the game again.

Note: In scoring the penalty shots, we used the Playstation 2 Tiger Woods scoring system.

AVIS. AVIS. AVIS.
*sigh!*

It began so simply. A catch up with Dad and my Grandma in Apollo Bay. My partner and I called up AVIS because in February last year we used them to drive out of Melbourne for the night. On that occasion the whole transaction was seamless. I booked on line, got a receipt number, I really couldn't fault them. They even offered an upgrade to a bigger car but I declined because I like to drive a manual!!

This time around, well I don't know what it was. Perhaps the computers were down, at least that's what they said. Perhaps someone on the switchboard was having a bad day.

It started well. We booked 4 days hire for a Hyundai Getz. They calculated the cost at about $159, which was fine. Hunky-dory. Tickety-Boo.

Hmmmm.

The fiasco began when we called back to change the date to the week before to sync up with my sister coming down that week. Simple, you would think - adding one extra day, and moving the booking back 1 week.

The woman on the switchboard told me it would cost an extra $190. An extra $190 for 1 day!!!!!!!! That's more than the 4 days put together!!

I pointed out the insanity of this proposition. It seemed to take a while to sink in. She couldn't understand what it was that I was objecting to. Then she got confused, told me the "computer was down" (it was more likely that she was down) and tried to get me off the phone.

With steam coming out of my ears, I called back, hoping to get a more helpful person. I explained the whole situation again and the lady said she couldn't do anything right now, could she call me back tomorrow?

I took great pleasure in cancelling the booking. The relief was wonderful. But it begged the question, where's the holiday? I still haven't caught up with my Grandma, I still feel bad for giving her the wrong filter replacements for her water purifier jug!!! I shall redeem myself today and send up the right ones!! Another January Christmas present. Oh well....

To be continued....





drawings family catch-up gathering apollo bay AVIS car rental booking

One would think that whiz-bang, new-fangled technology just works, right?

WRONG!!!

I was amazed at the results of trialling this shaver (not on myself, of course........I am a girl, and not a particularly hairy one at that)

Braun Smart Control (RRP$113)



From the advertising, they would have you believe the shaver increases muscle size, makes girls want to fawn all over you and it can even make you taller!!! You also get the impression that you will simply use the shaver and then TA DA! 30 seconds later you will look like this:


.....instead you wind up using the thing for about 20 minutes,
going over the same $#@&ck%#ing patch again and again....cursing and muttering...trying to work out how to coax those stubborn hairs into the weird foil thing..... but they seem somehow afraid.....

finally after what seems like a good half hours effort, you end up with this result:

It's the "half-shaven 3 day growth look", apparently it's very in vogue at the moment. Then you read the instructions for the 50th time and realise that not only are you half-hairy, you now have to clean the thing!!!

Step 1 - remove foil thing, turn coil thingys around.
Step 2 - use brush thing to get the hairs out (they are just as stubborn coming out as they were going in!)
Step 3 - run under water?
Step 4 - spray with ridiculously overpriced cleaning stuff ($15 per can!!!!)
Step 5 - dry, put back in package and sell on ebay!!

Here's to the most expensive paperweight I've ever bought (see Universal Remote Control post)

Tech Tags: drawings hairy shaver braun stubble 5 o'clock shadow paperweight ebay

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