I don't know what it is. Perhaps the stars were out of alignment. Perhaps Mercury was in retrograde. Perhaps something was in the water.

The fact is, the Ebay Jinx has not been put to rest. See "The Dreaded Ebay Jinx!" post.

It makes me think of Nightmare on Elm Street 3 - Dream Warriors where Amanda Krueger
(Sister Mary Helena) says:

"The unquiet spirit must be laid to rest. It is an abomination to God and to man."

I must defeat the Ebay demon before it is too late.

There is only one way to start.

I'll be going to Ebay now and you know what I'll be shopping for...

So as I venture off to parts unknown I will leave you with these words:

"You are about to attend a funeral...one that's long overdue"
(Nightmare on Elm St 3 - Dream Warriors.)
(Again.)

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