I'm thinking out loud here... I've seen these MEME things mentioned and don't really know what it is but I know I can Google for it and find some precise answers quite quickly. I was also wondering how it is pronounced. Is it Meem or is it me-me? It's probably something daft like em-ee-em-ee!
Ever seen those little strange biscuits in a box called TUC? Recently they ran some adverts for these biscuits on national TV which revealed how the name was pronounced: tuck. I always wondered about these tee-ewe-see biscuits - because that's how I thought they were called - and if the Trades Union Council had something to do with them.
Maybe I should go and titter back into my box.
Original Comments:
Tuesday, 14 June 2005
Sunday, 12 June 2005
Driving #1 The one with the catalytic converter!
I love driving, so much so that I have a lot to say on it. I've decided to make this a series so that if one day I manage to (or need to) organise my posts I can easily 
link these ones together.
Having driven a few hundred miles over the course of the last few days it has reminded me of many thoughts I have on the subject. These journeys had been immediately preceded by an emergency visit to the garage. Our car been doing some rather interesting chugging... you'd be driving and then come down a gear and it seems as if the car has lost oomph. Not for long, very momentary and then carry on as normal. Very strange. Not too alarming but rather worrying.
So, knowing we had these various trips Mr Doris and I left it to the last minute to get the car looked at and here comes my salutary warning if you are a car driver.
Mr Doris has his strengths but he's not a car sort of man. He doesn't care for them and doesn't hanker after them. When asked by the AA people once what sort of car we had he answered "blue" in all sincerity and without intending to be funny. He's nice like that and not at all macho (macho has its place but that's another post or two).
Neither of us were too alarmed by our vehicle's strange behaviour and so left it to the last minute. Turns out, that our catalytic converter needed replacing because the honeycomb in it had deteriorated and the exhaust could no longer get through freely and occasionally it would block up but we were still at the stage where it would only momentarily cut out the engine (It can't keep working if there is nowhere for the waste to go).
It would eventually have got to the stage where it would cut out completely and as we were going to a 75th birthday party on Saturday I couldn't face being on the side of
the road with a dead car waiting for the AA to come out to these incompetents who don't know what car they drive and then missing the party and good food and drink.
Back to Mr Doris - I'm quite fortunate that he also doesn't much care for alcohol which leaves me free to wine and dine for both of us and as I like driving too much and am still very independent I usually drive to places and he drives us back. Me in a usually very happy mood with an inane grin on my face. He seems to like me still and it works for us.
I still haven't gotten to the warning bit.... how did our catalytic converter get to this state? Especially in a car that had only done 45,000 miles. We only recently bought the car second hand... well, it seems that if you drive your car on a very cold day and the engine gets hot, as it does, and then you see one of those very flooded bits in the road, don't go through it! It might seem fun when the cold water goes whizzing up in the air, or feeling as if you are suddenly a ship, but that sudden change in temperature is enough to cause your exhaust (which contains the catalytic convertor) to have a hissy fit and to cause the cat to suddenly shrink and demolish itself or at least begin a rapid deterioration.
I suppose sensible people would keep out of large puddles but I'm not one of them, however I would now. An unexpected bill of several hundred pounds is a salutary warning.
Original Comments:
link these ones together.Having driven a few hundred miles over the course of the last few days it has reminded me of many thoughts I have on the subject. These journeys had been immediately preceded by an emergency visit to the garage. Our car been doing some rather interesting chugging... you'd be driving and then come down a gear and it seems as if the car has lost oomph. Not for long, very momentary and then carry on as normal. Very strange. Not too alarming but rather worrying.
So, knowing we had these various trips Mr Doris and I left it to the last minute to get the car looked at and here comes my salutary warning if you are a car driver.
Mr Doris has his strengths but he's not a car sort of man. He doesn't care for them and doesn't hanker after them. When asked by the AA people once what sort of car we had he answered "blue" in all sincerity and without intending to be funny. He's nice like that and not at all macho (macho has its place but that's another post or two).
Neither of us were too alarmed by our vehicle's strange behaviour and so left it to the last minute. Turns out, that our catalytic converter needed replacing because the honeycomb in it had deteriorated and the exhaust could no longer get through freely and occasionally it would block up but we were still at the stage where it would only momentarily cut out the engine (It can't keep working if there is nowhere for the waste to go).
It would eventually have got to the stage where it would cut out completely and as we were going to a 75th birthday party on Saturday I couldn't face being on the side of
the road with a dead car waiting for the AA to come out to these incompetents who don't know what car they drive and then missing the party and good food and drink.Back to Mr Doris - I'm quite fortunate that he also doesn't much care for alcohol which leaves me free to wine and dine for both of us and as I like driving too much and am still very independent I usually drive to places and he drives us back. Me in a usually very happy mood with an inane grin on my face. He seems to like me still and it works for us.
I still haven't gotten to the warning bit.... how did our catalytic converter get to this state? Especially in a car that had only done 45,000 miles. We only recently bought the car second hand... well, it seems that if you drive your car on a very cold day and the engine gets hot, as it does, and then you see one of those very flooded bits in the road, don't go through it! It might seem fun when the cold water goes whizzing up in the air, or feeling as if you are suddenly a ship, but that sudden change in temperature is enough to cause your exhaust (which contains the catalytic convertor) to have a hissy fit and to cause the cat to suddenly shrink and demolish itself or at least begin a rapid deterioration.
I suppose sensible people would keep out of large puddles but I'm not one of them, however I would now. An unexpected bill of several hundred pounds is a salutary warning.
Original Comments:
- Cheryl said...
- Give up and become a bus driver! You could do it all the time then, AND aim the spray at pedestrians, it's part of the job description, I'm sure.....
LOL!
Nice post.
- doris said...
- Nah, I'm too nice to be a bus driver. I wouldn't want the water to ever hit anyone: I just love watchng it as it goes right up; and I'd be no good at the art of sitting at a bus stop and then closing the doors and driving off just at the right time when someone has just done the 500m dash to get to the bus.
Saturday, 11 June 2005
How do you do it?
I'm exhausted. It's been a long day and my first day of blogging. Mind you I have just gotten back from a 120 mile round trip this evening so I guess that counts too!
I've just been to Michelle's and have collected a few links already of blogs I'd really like to find out more about. So, if I continue at this rate of finding so many interesting blogs, then I'm sure I should pack up my home and life and just sit and read.
I can't do that, and I know others can't either. So how do you do it? Speed reading? However you manage I just want to say Hi and to give you a smile :)
Original Comments:
I've just been to Michelle's and have collected a few links already of blogs I'd really like to find out more about. So, if I continue at this rate of finding so many interesting blogs, then I'm sure I should pack up my home and life and just sit and read.
I can't do that, and I know others can't either. So how do you do it? Speed reading? However you manage I just want to say Hi and to give you a smile :)
Original Comments:
- Heather said...
-
Hey! I am here via Michele :)
Its all in prioritizing. I do most of my blogging either early in the morning or late at night.. :) - Maria said...
-
You will find your own way in time. I look at blogs I like each morning and try to leave a comment when the mood hits me. (It does most of the time.) I write my own posts in the late afternoon. I also write ideas for future blogs or filler blogs for times I have writer's block. (It happens to all of us sooner or later.) Best of luck to you in this fun, new game of journaling.
- Shelly said...
-
I read blogs mostly via Bloglines. I skim a lot, then read more closely what really interests me. Every now and then, I visit blogs in person to see if anything cool has been added to the sidebars.
And late at night, before bed, I surf blogs via Blog Explosion. I've found many good ones to read that way.
As for keeping up my blogs, I do that after work, mostly, and I type fast. :) Doing quizzes can get you fast entries, also memes and posting links you like. - MrsDoF said...
-
I have to limit my Bookmarks for reading to just 10 a day, and I try to Comment on them because it is very nice to have Regular readers.
Once in awhile, if I have time, I click on a link or if I like what someone wrote in a Comment, I click on the name and go see what else they write. That's how I found Silver Fox.
Yes, I have an addictive personality, which is why I never took up smoking or drinking, because I am afraid of where I might end up.
I have a timer set across the room when I have to get up off my duff to shut the noisy thing off and keep going to be at my appointment or whatever. - TrueJerseyGirl said...
-
Thanks for your visit to my blog today and welcome to the blogosphere! So far, so good! All of your posts were interesting reads.
Its hard to read all the blogs I want to read, and unfortunately my blogroll has become quite long. I visit everyone who visits me faithfully FIRST, then I'll go through my blogroll and visit others that I like. And I make sure to leave comments - because that is how you develop repeat readers (and friends!). - Badaunt said...
-
Bloglines (http://www.bloglines.com). I try to keep up, but often can't.
But with Bloglines you can skim. You soon work out which ones you ALWAYS read, even if you don't always comment.
I don't always respond to comments on my blog, either - often it's a tossup between commenting on other blogs or responding to comments on mine (because of the lack of time). This makes me feel guilty. I'm good at guilt, and blogging provides a rich source of things to feel guilty about, I've found. - Cheryl said...
-
Hahahaha. I DO like BadAunt!
Hers is one of my favourite blogs, as is yours already xxx
Mad B / Aunty W :-) - trine said...
-
Welcome to the blogosphere! It is a fun place, but can take over your life if you let it. I find an RSS feed works really well for me, it lets me know when my favourite blogs have been updated so I can pop over and say hello. You should definitely set up a blogrolling account (blogrolling.com) or bloglines if you haven't already, as it makes keeping up and blogrolling people really easy!
Good luck and have fun.
it's a great place... - anniebee said...
-
Welcome to the world of blogging! I only tend to get around to the whole lot about once a week, but visit top faves, and regular updaters daily. Have to admit to getting to the ones who make me laugh more often! Or you can stay up half the night! I'm a bit of an insomniac so that gives me extra blogging time! Nice blog, funny posts, I'm blogrolling you! I'm at http://wp.retrotype.com/ now, only use Blogger profile for commenting. TTFN!
- Michele said...
-
Stopping by to say hello! I am the last person anyone would wish to ask for blogging advice. However, each comment above mine has offered wonderful suggestions.
Good luck and have fun.
Friday, 10 June 2005
Question for bloggers
What add-ons do you recommend for a blog? Just for fun.... there are shares and technorati and stats.... but what is really useful, pointless and just fun?
Any suggestions will have your blog gratefully linked to.
Thank you!
Original Comments
Any suggestions will have your blog gratefully linked to.
Thank you!
Original Comments
- Shelly said...
-
I've got too many to suggest here, but if you visit my blog and look through my sidebar, you'll find lots of fun, useless and some not so useless add-ons. And a link to a page on my website where I list many more. My blog is:
http://cyberchocolate.blogspot.com
Nice blog, btw. :) - doris said...
-
This is fantastic Shelly, and a yummy blog. I shall have to look around and will post a comment on your blog and sort out a link here.... coming shortly :-)
- Shelly said...
-
Thanks for the link back, Doris. And I'm glad you like my chocolicious blog.
- TrueJerseyGirl said...
-
I like the truth laid bear ecosphere, because you can see where you compare with other bloggers. You can also join blog rings with people who have similar interests as you (in your case, I know there is a UK Bloggers ring). If you look at my sidebar at the bottom, I have some fun stuff there. Thanks for the link, too!
- trine said...
-
Rings are good, technorati, blog explosion.
If you don;t mind posting photos up, then FlickR (flickr.com) is really good (and free). There's just TONS of stuff you can play with and see what you like the best. Like everyone else commenting, I've got lots of stuff "t home" if you wanna go have a look.
all the best
Priceless and I'm greedy
This was priceless and I'm greedy (I won't keep up this level of posting but just one more).
I want to keep it somewhere so that I can come and re-read it and have a chuckle.
I want to keep it somewhere so that I can come and re-read it and have a chuckle.
For a woman who only started her blog today, she is certainly racing ahead, but then dear Doris always was fast and forward, you know. Aunty Whiplash says they were both due to go to finishing school together, except Doris came, finished and went again before term really started. Hey Ho.
Original comments:
- Maria said...
Hi Michele sent me. Welcome to the world of blogging. Have fun, but I warn you it is highly addictive :)
- doris said...
Gosh Maria .... I'm not sure how this works but I was told about Michele's blog only a few hours ago and went to visit but didn't get as far as posting and yet here you are?!
Thanks for your welcome and I look forward to digging around your blog.
Yup, this blogging sure seems addictive already, but incredibly satisfying. Therapeutic too.
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Fave biscuit in this house at the mo = Garibaldi, aka squashed fly biscuits.
No idea about meme - I took it to mean me, me, all about me, because when you do one, it is.
Never was keen on Garibaldi's but then I'm not keen on cookies or biscuits these days though I used to eat plenty of them when I was younger.
I still wonder about that pronounciation!
Peace...........
I found a link on Wikipedia but I am not that enlightened by it. Is it just me - am I so thick? (Please don't answer that!)
Wikipedia entry
A meme, like a gene, does not purposely do or want anything—it either gets replicated or not.
Pronounced: `meem
What is a meme? A meme is an idea, or a particular way of thinking about what an idea is. A meme is a unit of mental information in the same way that a gene is a unit of biological information -- a metaphor of an idea as a transposon, a pattern of thought as a virus, a knowledge structure as a chromosome.
Memes compete to spread their information though a social population in the same ways genes compete to spread their information content through a biological population.
from http://www.meme.com/memedef/
Everywhere I read, seems to suggest that memes have a life force of their own. I suppose a bit like viral marketing and Wikipedia suggests that ads and viral marketing are a meme. Hmm.
TUCs have always been one of my favourites but cheese footballs ewww cant face them since someone pointed out tha they smell like really smelly feet when you first open the packet you know a bit like dry roasted peanuts smelling like cow farts when you open them.
I know i know i've lowered the tone
I'll get me coat.
For the sake of credit due where it is due, that definition is actually from Eric Watt Forste's "Arkuat's Meme Workshop" and was copied out on the link.
As for the cheese footballs - how come you needed someone to point out to you that they smelled of smelly feet?! They definitely do and so I have never been able to actually go ahead and taste them. Urgh.
Now as for you lowering the tone, and I know I promised (on your blog) to get out my box of tricks from under the bed, but you are welcome my dear, to lower the tone round here, anytime!!!
TUCs I do remember, though since reading that anything more than half a gram of salt a day crucifies the brain, I regard them as lethal enemies. Ain't life sad?