Fun and games with Windows Calculator

In Microsoft Windows, there are a bunch of default applications, one of which is Calculator. A fairly standard application that I just discovered something interesting about today. A picture of the application from Win 7 is below.

As computers only really know two numbers (1 and 0), there is interesting work that happens in the background when trying to deal with complex math. Take for example the following scenario:

• 3 x 3 = 9, also known as the square of 3 is 9.
• Conversely, sqrt(9) = 3 (i.e. the square root of 9 is 3).
• Hence the expectation is: sqrt(9) - 3 = 0.

Try that on Windows Calculator, and you'll get a very interesting result. Calculator is reporting a very small number, but it isn't actually quite zero.

Also if you use different numbers, e.g. sqrt(16) - 4, and so on, you'll get slight variances in the result.

The math behind why this is so, is discussed more here: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/79124007-4127-4d50-a182-f91bde71e0fe/issue-in-calculator?forum=w8itprogeneral

Morpheus again

I really enjoy the Matrix movies. It's probably the slick corny lines, there-is-no-spoon messing with your head, added into a weird mix of retro, steampunk, and over the top kung-fu.

But I just saw this advert that Kia has released for the US market where they brought Laurence Fishburne in to reprise his role as Morpheus. I don't know how much that cost them to make, but if that car was being sold here, I'd be "just take my money already!!!"

I'll never get tired of 'bullet time'.

No running in the halls

They always tell children this in school. And its generally viewed as good wisdom.

But when I know that the train is coming, and the next one will be another long 10min wait, the desire to sprint just takes over.

Now I have enough restraint that I don't do this at the crowded stations, particularly in town as there isn't often the room to weave through crowds without bowling people over. But at the suburban station near the office, crowds aren't an issue, but yesterday the stairs were.

I was tired, I wanted to get home, and was already slightly fatigued from pushing the board from the office. So as I started running down one flight of stairs, I actually slipped and lost my balance near the beginning.

The human mind is kind of amazing as how so many thoughts and decisions kick in all at once, however it wasn't really the slow motion that I would wish for from the movies. It was more like 10 options suddenly thrown up on a HUD during a car accident. You almost hit one out of reflex.

Anyway, I almost saved it. Some quick foot work got me half way down while staying up right, and as I neared the bottom of the stairs, my mind whipped up two options:

a) Keep going with what has been working, or
b) Jump the remaining portion of steps

I went with (a) and ended up on hands and knees at the bottom with a stack of skin missing from one elbow.

The train was still rolling into the station so I had to pull myself up, run over to and up the next flight of stairs.

The whole thing wouldn't be quite as raw if there wasn't any spectators. Damn.

Smash it babe

In the last season of My Kitchen Rules, one of the teams was a pair of young ladies who were themed as that season's headline villains. Ashlee and Sophia were interesting for their distinct confidence and trash talking, but the thing that stuck with me the most were their favourite phrases:

"Smash it"
"Babe"

These words, and their delivery, amused me so much that I started trying to work it into my daily conversations, however my wife told me it is a "guy thing" and to "stop it".

MKR has just started up again, and I think the editors of the show are getting better at working out the psychological buttons to push on general populace to hook people in. Its now a well worked mixture of oddballs, narcissism, as well as regular conflict between extreme personalities. It does kind of work too. I find myself wanting to watch to find out about whether the girls from WA really have travelled as much as what they claim. One of the things that they didn't show in the MKR adverts, was that one of the pair, Kelly, had worked in London for 4 years, which does open up the chance to travel more easily around Europe. It still takes money though, hence I am itching to know how extensive the travel was. But honestly, I think it is some sort of jealous hope that it is more of a case of embellishment, rather than 4 years of extensive and in-depth travel.

Realising that about myself is disappointing. I think I'll just steer clear of MKR from now on. Roll on World Cup.

I'd rather have quantity

I love ice cream. When I used to work on short expatriate assignments in the USA, the range of flavours and brands of ice cream were like a dream come true. There were even the oddball seasonal flavours that would come up, like pumpkin pie flavour during the thanksgiving season.

Not all suited my taste, but I'd discovered the cookie & cream flavour there, and after that, wasn't so interested in anything else. The other thing I liked, was that American supermarkets often did the "2 for the price of 1" sale, including on ice cream. So, at probably my worst peak, I was buying 2 half-gallon tubs of ice cream each week.

Started looking a little chubby for a while there.

Since getting married and having some wisdom and restraint provided by my better half, I definitely am in better shape and my face isn't like a moon anymore. However I just found out that the Cash and Carry stores (bulk purchase outlet) do 10 litre tubs for $15.

Dude... that is value that just can't be passed up.

The flavours on offer are a little less complicated, but if I learnt anything from Cold Rock Ice Creamery, you just need to apply a little creativity to dress up vanilla. Now these wholesalers don't just let in any Joe Public in to buy. You have to have a membership, but my road-side assistance membership includes access to Cash and Carry as a member perk.

Whee!! Found a cure for the summertime blues.

Offline for a bit

Its Australia Day weekend this weekend. I'll be without internet for most of it as I'll be off running some leadership training.

No posts for a couple of days.

Picking this post title reminded me of the movie "The Internship" where Billy keeps referring to things on the internet as being "On the line". Heh heh, makes me smile everytime.

Who? Lil' ol' me?

We have a small IT team in the company I work for, with a few IT guys on the east coast and a couple on the west. One of them has the same first name as me.

Now this isn't a big deal, but when it comes to email most people don't know, or just can't remember the email address of all their friends let alone all their work colleagues, so people end up relying on address books to do auto-completes and provide the email address they're after.

You can already see where this is going. Every now and then I get included on a systems administration email by accident when the sender meant to get the other guy, but didn't check the full name before hitting send.

Its always confusing for me, not because of the subject matter of the email, but some stupid part of me feels flattered that the sender thought I'd have some meaningful contribution to their request for help, even though I know they meant to include the other guy.

I can't workout why that part of me gets a buzz from it. Guess I'm just starved for direct positive reinforcement in my workplace...

I'll take those odds

I was checking the weather today (not sure why I bother, as its summer and I'd just spent an hour commuting through the stuff - it's hot), but I noticed this for the first time today in terms of the "chance of any rain".

 

5% chance of rain. It isn't really cloudy, not like this:

But actually more like this:

 

If that's 5% chance on a 38 degree day, and people in this country are willing to collectively throw several million dollars each week into lottery for a 0.0001% chance...

Then why didn't I see a single umbrella being carried on the train today?

Whoa, watch out.

Another odd thing I see people do comes out from when they walk, and I haven't quite got my head around why they walk this way. I tried to find some videos or pictures online to help illustrate this, but no luck, so does this mean I'm the only person who's noticed it?

I'll try to explain it here, and see whether you notice it in people as well. It's more common with ladies than men, but its still only a minority of ladies who do it.

When people walk, their arms move by their sides and generally there is just a small swing, with your arms keeping to a certain space around your body. But I've encountered a few people now, whose arms swing a moderate distance away from their hips. Some of them seem to completely have their elbows relaxed, so the forearm flicks out on the backwards stroke. This is compounded if they've relaxed their wrists as well so now the hand flicks out too. So at the point where their arm has mostly straightened and finished the backwards stroke, it is also extended sideways some distance from their body.

Now the post is not about how it looks, but what it means for me as a fellow pedestrian, particularly in a growing city with more crowded walkways and congested malls. It means its harder for me to walk past them. The space they occupy is almost double what it should, but it often catches me out as I don't notice the flicking arm thing until they've almost caught me in the leg (or worse).

And it gets more exciting when we're climbing the stairs, and I'm tearing up alongside trying to catch a train, as now their hand is at a height to catch me in the face.

This post really has no point, other than highlighting something else that irks me when I commute. I need something to balance it out.

So I found this; apparently if you swing your arms in sync with your legs (i.e. swing right arm forward when your right leg steps forward, etc), you use 26% more energy while walking, as well as also messing with your mind. (See indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/swing-arms-walking/).

I'm going to try this out next time I go walking in the evening. Just for laughs, try it too.

Don't. Stop. There.

When I catch the trains in the morning, I've noticed that by the time they reach the station where I get on, the trains come in pairs. There is the express train, and about 4 minutes after, there will be the local train. After that, its generally a 10 minute wait for the next pair.

Now the express is always full. It always starts from the furthest station, and because there is a considerable time gap between it and its preceding train, then more people have accumulated on platforms waiting for it. Now by the time it reaches the station I'm at, its generally full, so most of the time I end up having to wait for the local.

So far, this is all good. Now stuff gets interesting when the bus drops us all at the station, and we all realise that the local has just arrived. Naturally, we don't want to miss that one, as it means almost a 15min wait doing nothing; 10min for the express we can't get on, then another 4 min for the next local.

So we rush for that train.

I've noticed on a few occassions that there are people who rush down the stairs/escalator, sprint across the platform, dive through the open doors into the carriage, and then stop.

Not just stop at their seat.

Not just move down the carriage and then stop.

Not even take a couple of steps in and then stop at the centre support bar.

But actually stop in the open doorway. They do it while they decide to go left or right for an open seat.

So I'm right behind them, and now I can't get on, even though there's room in the carriage. I'll make my presence known, a tap on the shoulder, a subtle cough, a muttered "excuse me".

But I know one day I won't be able to pull up in time and I'm going to end up ploughing through one of these jokers.

The Nod?

I drag my skateboard with me on the bus and train every day as I commute to work. It's been just over 2 years since I started doing this, and I can definitely say there has been a noticeable growth in the popularity of people now carrying these things around.

Before I started skating, there only be one or two occassions where I'd spot someone carrying a board. But now it has risen in popularity to the point where I now regularly see a couple of people a week, at least.

When I used to ride a motorcycle, most riders would nod to each other as they passed in traffic. It was some sort of acknowledgement that we were a minority and only seconds away from a terrifying accident or death. But here is my question: Should skateboards do a 'nod' to each other when they pass on public transport?  There are moments where we make eye contact and it seems as though the quesiton is floating through their mind as well.

My conclusion: .... I don't think so. They've all got a reputation as ratbags for a reason! ha ha ha ha.

P.S. It's not called a "wheely plank"!

Bogan fashion

First time I'd seen the 'recession collection'. Fashion just rolls on, leaving me tearful in its relentless wake.

Ice Queen

One particular experience that sticks in my mind, from my car yard days, was a particular encounter with a young lady. Amusingly enough, I never encountered her in person, only over the phone.

In this yard, we had a hotline phone, so for our online and paper adverts, the number that was dialed would come through to the hotline phone that sat on a lecturn with some notepads, separate from the our desks. The rule was to take turns in answering calls that came through. If a caller enquired about an advertised vehicle, it was the responsibility of the salesperson answering the call to set an appointment, and to make sure that the caller asked for them by name so they could continue the sale.

On this occassion, the lady who called had seen an advert for a Chrysler Sebring convertible that she liked, but it turned out she had already been into the yard, and found out that the car was not available due to some mechanical issues that were being fixed. She had called through to the hotline to see if any other options were available. It seemed odd that the sales staff from that side of the yard (the Chryslers were handle by a different division) hadn't taken care of her properly, but I was happy at any opportunity presented.

Now this lady was interesting. She was a fairly high powered HR executive, and had recently bought a Holden Captiva SUV brand new. It had been a great deal at the time, but now, 6 months later, she just wanted to have the feel of the wind in her hair, and hence a convertible was now what she wanted. Knowing what Holden Captivas really were (re-badged models from when GM had bought out failing Korean car maker Daewoo), I also suspected there may have been other reasons she wanted out of that car.

Anyway, digging through the stock, I mentioned to the lady that we didn't have anymore Sebring convertibles available, however we had a nifty Astra convertible available at one of our other yards and that I could bring it down for her to look at. She seemed pretty sweet on the idea, so I was going to call her back when I found out when I could get it there.

Many car yards are actually part of a chain, and not in the sense of "all Toyota yards are owned by Toyota", but more along the lines of a company that owns several yards of different manufacturers spread across town, and mixed with new and used vehicles. Even though all the yards are part of the same company behind the scenes, they are all still competitors in a tough business, so it can be hard to convince another yard to pass a car from their stock to us, as it means we found a buyer and the sale will be recorded to us, instead of them. This all means that it takes time and some effort to get a vehicle from a sister yard.

It was the next day when I was able to call back my customer, and it turned out that she was rather enterprising, as befitting of her executive background. She'd dug around online, found the yard that actually had this car, and had been there to look it over.

Now I don't know how her conversation with the sales staff there went, but as she told it to me, they were rude, not very understanding, wouldn't let her test drive the car, and also wouldn't tell her how low they'd go on the car.

It seemed odd to me that these sales staff would treat a customer so poorly, but their loss was going to make an even better opportunity for me. So looking to work a silver tongue, I sought to sooth her frustrations and assure her that she would be treated as a queen at our yard. Now, still on the phone, she enquired as to what ballpark she'd be looking at if she traded in her Captiva for the Astra. She didn't want to come in, she wanted that answer now.

Over the phone she told me all the details of her car, Holden Captiva LX auto 5 seater and just under 10,000km. The car was basically new. But this was where things got interesting. Relaying the information to the yard manager, I got a shock with what he was prepared to offer. The car was a 2009 model, even though it'd been bought in 2010, and she'd gotten it during the first round of sales prior to the next model of the Captiva that was coming out as the true 2010 model. Her car, in 6 months, had dropped $9,000 dollars just because Holden yards were dumping these things to make way for the new model.

The switch from pleasant and curious to the venom and fury this lady now expressed at this news, was not something I can adequately describe, but it also made me think that perhaps there was more to the story of what happened between her and the staff at the other yard. It just conjured images of the White Witch.

Needless to say, I did not sell a Holden Astra that day.

No way....

I'd mentioned in the past that I love watching the Japanese game show: Ninja Warrior. Of course, with many things of rising popularity, other countries take on their own variant. Malaysia has theirs, and USA has American Ninja Warrior. There are most likely other countries that have their own branch too.

Occassionally competitors from those other countries show up at the Japanese course, but they rarely seem to do well. The one American I saw do quite well, though he fell out on the 3rd stage due to a technicality, was a massive US Navy Diver. A bit too much brute force in his approach, but I was quite impressed.

Anyway, I have watched a couple of episodes of the American Ninja Warrior, and you can see the differences immediately in terms of the character of competitors, and also how you get alot more sports professionals appearing.

The thing is, they generally don't seem to do as well, as more strength and muscle also means more weight and that almost always wipes out the larger competitors. So when I read that in the first formal team Ninja Warrior competition of Japan versus USA, it was a complete whitewash with the USA team winning everything (http://grantland.com/the-triangle/game-of-secrets-the-conspiracy-the-controversy-and-the-ninja-warrior-cover-up/).

I find myself thinking that it may not have been entirely legitimate either.

Persistence can pay off

There's more to that story with the lad looking at having a Ford as his first car. We did get him back a week later.

Most yards have a purchaser, or the yard manager may also take on this role. A purchaser is a person who is constantly scouring the private market and auctions to look for vehicles which can be bought cheaply and then resold through the yard. Their qualifications are simply experience in recognising a serviceable vehicle and negotiating skills in getting a good price to suit the vehicle's condition.

Our purchaser dropped in 2004 Ford Fairlane Ghia, and this car was in really good condition, complete with headset mounted television screens, and a pair of wired Bose headphones. If I was in the position to buy a car myself, and had the money, I would have bought this thing too.

Sometimes its just a matter of having the right combination of features, and as a result the young fellow was all over it even before the test drive. Occassionally, you get a car that sells itself, and it makes the job easy. I wished that had happened more than just the once...

The sweet smell of desperation

The thing I hated about being a car salesperson was the constant pressure. You have monthly sales targets to hit, and your progress towards these are charted weekly. So even if you had a great month and hit your numbers, the next month you're starting from zero again.

The yard I worked in was not a very good yard (bad location and some slightly sad stock), so I soon learned that you had to leap on any whiff of interest and also recognise the cars in the yard that appeal.

One friday, we had a family come in looking for a first car for their son who'd just gotten his license. The young lad, much like many other young men, wanted a car with a bit of shove but also communicated that they were inclined towards Fords.

We only had two Ford Falcons in stock at the time, one being a FPV that was only a couple of years old, and way out of budget, and the other being a much older XR6 that was a little tired. They left their details, but went to look further afield.

The next day, early on a saturday morning, one of our trade-ins got delivered after the customer collected their new car. It was Purple Falcon XR8, and would fall into the ballpark that this young man claimed to be looking for. Problem is that customers rarely clean their trade-in when they collect their new car, and cleaners don't work saturdays. So after calling the young man to confirm that he could come in that day, I was off into the cleaning bay with the trade-in, rolling up my sleeves and trying not to get the dirt, grease, old burgers and other junk on me, while scrubbing this car inside and out.

It wasn't as grand as a professional detail from the cleaners, but the car was presentable and the nasty stink on the inside was gone.

Didn't sell him the XR8 though. I think the dad had an unfortunate moment of clarity realising that his son behind the wheel a 5L powerplant was a bad mix, and it was his money funding the deal. I also managed to annoy the other salesmen, as the yard manager was now asking why they didn't clean cars too. Bad day, that one.

Getting a bargain

On quite a few occassions, when people find out that I worked as car salesperson for a time, they will then ask what can they do to ensure they get the best price. Its actually quite a silly question, but I do understand where they're coming from. The answer actually isn't something most people want to hear though, as it is the same answer for any purchase you make:

Do your research.

Basically, if you want to do minimal effort and just show up and buy something, then you need to be prepared that most of the time, you wouldn't have gotten the best deal around. When it comes to thinks like milk, or a pair of sneakers, then it isn't a big deal. But when it comes to the bigger things in life, such as cars, a little bit of effort goes a long way.

It surprises me that people don't accept this for cars. Instead they want some magic keyword, like a secret masonic handshake, that unlocks the wholesale price without haggling. Or they can't understand why, when they ring the dealership and ask for the "best price", the sales person just laughs them off.

Ultimately, the salesperson wants you in the yard, as they make money by making a sale. Selling a car cheaper than anyone else, means that they aren't making as much money as they should. And as I've mentioned in a past post, they're still a business and bills need to get paid.

But that doesn't mean that there isn't anything you can do. There may be some tricks to torture and put the screws on the salesperson, but ultimately that is both inconsiderate and hypocritical for the buyer.

Just do your research. This means:

1. Get to know what you want. You can't know what a good price to pay for a car is, if you don't know what car you want. You need to invest time in writing down your needs, then looking at different cars to see what fulfils those needs.
2. Once you have a shortlist of cars you want, or ideally have even identified just the one car you want, you can then start utilising the internet to see what price this car is going for in different dealerships across your city. If the car is not brand new, then you can even start looking at the private market to see the prices there.
3. When it comes to new cars, not all dealerships will list the price of what they have in stock. But there are many that will, and this will give you an idea on what to expect. Some yards will be cheaper and they can achieve that as perhaps they focus on getting more of their profit through finance or accessories, and they won't have room left on the price to haggle. Generally the cheapest price on a new car that you find online, is going to be the lowest price you can haggle to. If that dealership is not close to you, you can take their advert to your closest dealer, and see if they'll match it.
   NOTE: Occassionally you'll get a yard who has a new vehicle ridiculously cheap. This is because they have allocated 1 or 2 vehicles to be sold at cost but to serve as a legitimate headline to pull customers into the yard. Once those 1 or two specific vehicles are sold though, you won't be able to get that price. So if you want to use their advert to beat another yard down, you need to know if that first yard still has those headline vehicles still available.
4. Ultimately, be prepared to walk. Just because Dealership A has the car at $20,000, doesn't mean that Dealership B (closer to your house) can beat it, or even match it. Every dealership has different margins and may have different amounts owing on their stock that they need to recover, so if they can't (or won't) get to the price you want, then just politely thank them and bid them good day. Sometimes the price they are offering you, really may be the lowest that that yard can go to.
5. Just a reminder that a used vehicle dealership can't match the prices you see in the private market. This is because any business has overheads, and you're getting a warranty (however limited), whereas in the private market its 'caveat emptor'.

Bottom line; if you don't do your research and don't know what the best price is, then its pretty silly to ask the salesperson to give it to you.

Supermarket rant #3

This hasn't happened to me in ages, partly due to now refusing to go to the supermarket during the peak hours, but also the extended trading hours also mean that its easier to go late in the afternoon/evening with the oddball people, rather than the crazy people crowd.

But what I used to get alot of, was when in the checkout queue, the person behind is so close with their trolley that it's smacking into the back of my ankles. It's as if by putting pressure on me, I will then somehow make the checkout person work faster. Or perhaps they hope I'll pay the passive-aggressive irritation forward, until it reaches the helpless soul who is currently being served.

A quiet stare, or even just nudging the trolley back usually brings that to an end, but it rarely illicited an apology, just a sullen glance.

This is all in the past though, as I seem to be managing to avoid these queues at the moment. But where I am now getting this behaviour is in the airlines check-in queues. Next time you are flying somewhere and you're in the long queue to check your bags in, just see how long it takes before the person behind you is climbing in your back pocket.

One of *those* people

Happened to be in a baby store the other day (people have babies, gotta get presents). These are one of those places where I think it can be really awkward for a guy, in this case a guy who doesn't have any children, as you feel as if everyone else secretly knows that you don't have a reason to be there. Kind of like being a bloke in a lingerie store.

However, baby shops are also quite fascinating due to all the stuff that is available for parents these days. When I talk to my parents and people from that generation, children were raised in furniture that was not far removed from a cardboard box and shredded newspaper. Now there are a million gadgets and fancy electronic toys to help your child grow to become the next world wonder.

One of the things I find interesting is prams. There's one pram which folds and unfolds itself with the touch of a button that triggers electric motors to drive the whole process (See Origami http://www.4moms.com/origami).

But of the regular prams where parents have to press levers, twist handles and fold stuff, they're all different and a little counter-intuitive for non-parents.

Anyway, I'd taken to amusing myself by trying to see if I could work out how to collapse each pram on display, valiantly waving off offers of help by the sales assistants. After working through all the models on display, I spotted one off to one side that looked radically different to all the others that I'd been playing with, so excited at the new challenger, I began to twist and prod buttons, trying to decipher its secrets when the owners of this particular pram walked over to see what I was doing.

Its quite embarrassing to discover that I'd been fervently trying to break someone's personal property, and I also learnt that it isn't wise to leave your pram unattended in a baby store...

Supermarket rant #2

This has happened to me more than once. Seriously. I think about 3 or four times now. I'd like to think its because of some special charismatic magnetic aura that surrounds me, but my wife just checked and apparently that's not it. *shrug* oh well...

Anyway, the issue is people crowding me. Again with the supermarket, but it also happened once in a larger mall while I was waiting outside a clothing store, too.

When I'm with people who are shopping, and I'm waiting for them, then I'll look to find a quiet place to stand where I can either people watch or just daydream. Now where things get weird is when I find that of all the open space available everywhere, a group of other people then end up standing uncomfortably close and just hover. Its like some weird flash trolling mob. They're not shopping for stuff where I'm standing, and this isn't the only quiet place in the store to stop to socialise, they just picked to stand really close to me, such that I almost look as though I'm with them.

The most recent case of this was when I was down south at a country supermarket, and ended up with a group of 6 asian uni students having their morning chat right up against me. What made this particular instance worse was that, as a group, we were now blocking passage through the deli section of the supermarket, and our configuration now meant that if a person needed to get through, they would most likely angle towards me to squeeze past. This group was indirectly forcing me to move and that was really burning me up. I've read about other people trying thousand yard stares, but my attempt at that didn't work, so in the end I shuffled a few steps left and went back to focusing on keeping calm.

Stuff like that makes me dislike people.

Now, don't take away from this that it is anything to do with them being asian, or uni students, or anything like that, as its happened to me from different age groups and demographics. You'll just get people from all walks of life who bug you, and I just have to learn to deal with it.

Supermarket rant #1

I hate going to the supermarket, and its because of the people. Not the staff, but the customers. I hate the self absorbed, inconsiderate, inpolite, and just plain weird mode that people go into when they're in food aisles.

I see stuff that makes me see red when around the regular mall, but in the Woolsworths and Coles is where it hits its peak. This kind of thing frustrates me in two ways;

1. I don't understand why people lose awareness of others,
2. God requires that I care for people and not turn into a raging homicidal maniac (so leave the chainsaw at home).

This rant is about trolleys. When I go shopping with my wife, my job is to push the trolley around so that she can focus on what needs to be bought and she doesn't have to deal with the whole wonky trolley wheel thing. Maybe it is a job that is so complex and demanding that it really does require a person to be fully devoted to it. I don't know, it doesn't seem hard, but the number of people who just let go of the trolley wherever it is, when they reach the section they want, is astonishing.

I often encounter aisles where people have done one of the following:

• parked their trolley neatly on one side, but then are alongside it looking at the opposite shelves, effectively blocking the aisle and ignoring my presence,
• just left their trolley in the middle of the aisle and wandered further down the shelves,
• are themselves purely a trolley driver while their partner shops, and decide to park with their trolley perpendicular to traffic.

And why do I always get the dirty look and silent treatment when I reach out to move their trolley to the side?

*sigh* I just need to remember to breathe and just let it be water off a duck's back. And perhaps start looking more seriously at using Coles online shopping service...

Resume regular broadcasting

Oops, really slid off the face of the earth there for a bit.

I actually had a post lined up to say that I'd be less regular about writing stuff during the 2 weeks over Christmas, but I couldn't even get off my butt to post that. Damn.

Anyway, it was a busy couple of weeks during the office shutdown; installed one of those spinning roof vent things, and went around scraping all the paint off the gutters around the house, and then repainting it all. That was a bigger project than I expected. For some reason I though the painting would be done in 2 days, but 5 days later, and I still have a quarter of the gutters left to be painted. Should be done with one more day's effort, but I've already just written that my estimation abilities are lousy.