Stephen King - Insomnia

The way this happened was like something out of another Stephen King book - "Needful Things", or perhaps "Rose Madder"

It was as if the book chose her.

I was walking past an op-shop when something big and white caught my eye. In the days preceding this I had wanted to find a Stephen King book to read, as I had finished "The Dead Zone" in under four days. I first read "Insomnia" ages ago and it was one of my favourites. It has been enough time that I have forgotten the details of the book although I do remember some of the story.

The book peered out at me from the front window of the op-shop. It seemed to be whispering "Buy me. Buy me." I found that I couldn't walk past the shop, even though I was in a hurry.

So I did the only thing I could do, I walked inside. The shop smelt of dust and mothballs. I asked the man "how much for the Stephen King book in the window?" He escorted me to the display and pointed at a bronze cup.

"This one?"

I was perplexed. I was sure I said 'book', what was he playing at?

Then he pointed at a set of handkerchiefs.

"This one?"

"No, this one." I put my hand on the book.

He tapped his hand on a set of glassware.

"This?"

"No, this." I kept showing him the book but it was like he couldn't see it. I thought perhaps his eyesight wasn't good.

"This one?" he put his hand on a stuffed toy.

Either that or he was having a lend of me.

"This one." I tapped the huge, hardback white book in the window for the last time. He finally got it.

"How much is it?" I asked, knowing full well I would pay whatever he said just to get out of there.

"Three dollars."

"I'll take it."

The book is amazing, very compelling and fast paced.

The irony is the title: Insomnia. When I read it last night I fell asleep immediately!

technorati tags: stephen king book insomnia shopping

Sunday Bags

For some reason it has become increasingly difficult to find a Sunday Bag in Australia. Unfortunate, as these bags can be used for the driving range and proper rounds of golf, not just par 3s. At present I do not have fourteen clubs so I have no need for a large bag. Sunday Bags can be carried easily and are convenient for walking the course without a buggy.

The Sunday Bag also has a rich history, as this Art Deco representation of St Andrew shows. The larger stand-alone bags seem to have become more popular but some (like myself!) prefer the Sunday Bag for convenience.




















The Sunday Bags vary in price and features. Here are a few examples:

Women's Mulholland Sunday Bag Endurance $599.00
All leather, holds up to 10 clubs
















Clearly, this is a top of the range, quality leather item. This actually reminds me of expensive luggage. The kind you would be scared to run over cobblestones or gutters. Impractical for my own purposes but perhaps more suited to someone with a warm car and golf cart.

Golf is a messy game - the last few times I have played I ended up with soaked feet, socks and shoes, muddy cuffs on my jeans and a rogue splash of mud on my cheek that I didn't notice until I entered the bathrooms at the 19th hole. Another memorable time was when nobody graced the golf course except for my partner and me. Why? Because rain, hail and lightning were forecast. We knew this, but our enthusiasm overpowered the weather. I remember teeing off on the second tee with hailstones the size of marbles peppering the back of my head. The second green was so covered with hail that it was completely white. Do you know, it's actually surprisingly easy to putt over hail. Or it was that day, anyway!

When we returned the pro shop, we met a golf professional who is a childhood friend of Trevor Immelman, winner of the green jacket at the 2008 US Masters at Augusta. He gave me some advice he learned in South Africa. "If there is lightning and thunder, put your bag under a tree, get away from the water and lie down flat in the middle of the fairway." Good advice.

Or you could do what we actually did when the thunder and lightning rolled in. Just played faster.



Palm Springs Sunday Bag $14.99-$39.00
















2 way divider. Web handle for carrying short distances. 2-point adjustable single harness strap. Balls/Accessories pocket plus a full-length clothing pocket. The bag doesn't specify how many clubs the bags will hold but one would assume it to be around 7-10. Comes in five colours.



Nike Skinny Range Bag $49.95 -$69.95
















Three pockets, holds around 7 clubs. Lightweight and compact. Fits a substantial number of clubs despite the small size.



Titleist X80 Carry Bag $49.95-$59.95





















The bag features 2-point adjustable sling, 7.5" molded top with divider, Velour lined zippered accessory pocket and pen holder, amongst other things.


Personally, I had a hankering for a Wilson Sunday bag to match my Wilson Staff cap (see previous post "my new favourite accessory"). For some reason when I tried Ebay, the only Sunday Bags available were from the US. I was in a hurry because I wanted to play the following week and I didn't want to hire clubs and a buggy again. I just had to put faith in US mail.

Fortunately I found the perfect match in Maryland:

























Wilson Deluxe Sunday Golf Bag in black. Light weight, weighs less than a pound. Convenient zippered pouch for balls and accessories. Adjustible shoulder strap. Easily holds up to 7 clubs.

Price: wouldjabelieve... $23.50 (including postage)

And my wonderful seller sent the bag First Class mail, allowing it to arrive on the Tuesday before my round.

No more club hire for me!!

technorati tags: golf wilson sunday bag

Telemarketers: Don't Call Me During Dinner

Has this ever happened to you? You're about to sit down to dinner or settle in to watch a TV program and the phone rings. But it's not friends or family. It's one of THOSE calls. The faceless, survey taking, dinner interrupting sources of constant annoyance. Sometimes you wish you could find out who they are. You're left asking Who Called Me? But there is no answer.

You may have even gone to the trouble to put yourself on a No Call List. Still, some callers persist and you can't find them. Some people receive prank calls, which can be disturbing. Especially if they are invisible, anonymous. You have no recourse. Or do you?

Wouldn't it be great if you could strengthen your privacy against these calls? "Who Just Called Here" has a reverse phone lookup service, which is especially useful for businesses that can't afford to miss one call from a client. As a further measure, it also offers privacy protection to block your private details from data collection services.


This post brought to you by WhoJustCalledHere?

Telstra=Pain

While researching and shopping around for a pager service I decided to visit the Telstra site. I tried to find "pager" with the search function but couldn't get any sensible results. Then I tried "paging". Considering the fun I have had in dealing with Telstra in the past, I found the result for my misspelled search quite amusing...














hee hee!

technorati tags: telstra phone pager

Technorati Errors Still Stand

Hello? Is there anybody out there?

Unfortunately my three Technorati support requests have gone unanswered. This is unfortunate and a bit disturbing.

I am still down by 40 for blog reactions
and 48 adding me as a favourite.

My Technorati authority is now artificially down by 10 points.

The only comparable level of blog reactions for my blog was back in September 2007.
The last time I had so few adding me as a favourite was in May 2007.

All the work I have done since has been reset and I am very slowly crawling back up again. This is unfortunate because I think it damages Technorati's credibility as a ranking system for your blog. I have been using the service since 2006 and I still find it to be an easy way to track incoming links and favourites. When clanging errors such as this not only occur but go unnoticed, it gives one pause to wonder whether this problem will ever be rectified.

technorati tags: technorati errors problem

Important Changes to Ebay Feedback

Leaving feedback is an integral part of the Ebay shopping experience. Sellers often wait anxiously for the positive sign and dread the negative. Buyers do the same. Sometimes it becomes a strange waiting game, almost like an electronic game of "chicken" to see who blinks first.

Today Ebay has unveiled a new angle on feedback, thus removing the buyer's fear of being "bullied" into giving positive ratings.



In explaining the system of feedback I will have to refer to the previous system of positive, neutral or negative feedback for both buyers and sellers. The sellers can be judged on a number of factors whereas the buyers generally can only be judged on one thing.


Firstly, a seller will be judged on the item itself. This is, of course the reason for the transaction in the first place. This includes:

1) Honesty in describing the item including brand (or lack thereof), colour, material, features
2) Faults in the item (eg. laptop won't hold charge, "q" key missing)


Second, the sellers are judged on their use of postage and packaging, including:

1) Speed of delivery
2) Appropriateness of packaging
3) Price of postage and packaging


Personally, I tend to give sellers full marks if they fulfill most of the expectations listed above. If they have charged an extra dollar or so for postage, I am generous. After all, they often make a loss when selling the item which can even out over the final price. It is also difficult to hold a seller responsible for postal delays, especially if they communicate that they have posted it in good faith. It is more difficult for the sellers to fulfill all expectations. I have experience in being both a buyer and a seller and I much prefer being on the buying side of things.


Buyers on the other hand, are judged on a much smaller criteria.

1. Payment for item and
2. Communication


If you pay quickly, sellers will love you. I try to pay instantly if possible because it tends to surprise a lot of sellers. It is interesting that this will no longer be a factor under the new system of feedback.


Pros:

Buyers will feel free to express their views without fear of retribution. Bullying by shonky sellers is very real. There are many stories from people who have been held to ransom for the sake of a positive feedback rating. Sometimes the buyer will have to decide between telling the truth about the seller or pandering to the seller's demands to protect their own feedback. A common and unfair seller's revenge is to leave negative feedback for any buyer who rates them as negative. This is unfair because the buyer may have correctly fulfilled their responsibility of paying for the item. To rate a buyer as negative for doing nothing wrong is, well, wrong.


Cons:

This increased scrutiny could possibly cause people to shy away from attempting to become sellers. A buyer could leave negative feedback simply out of revenge when their unwarranted demands for discounts are refused. A vindictive buyer is just as bad as a vindictive seller. If the seller is honest about the item and it arrives safely, buyers should not be leaving negatives. If buyers are sensible and fair with this system, it may just work to everyone's advantage.


It will be interesting to see how long these particular changes to the feedback rating system will be received by Ebay members. It seems many Ebay buyers and sellers have readily accepted the star rating system, so this may be a further step in narrowing the ratings to keep pressure on sellers to deal in high quality products and practices.

technorati tags: ebay shopping feedback

Why We Love Being Scared

Like Clarice Starling from the Silence of the Lambs, I don't really scare easily. In fact, a lot of the films I prefer to watch seem to give people chills. I don't understand it really. In fact, most people who know me would roll their eyes and say "yes, she likes horror films" (with an underlying tone of "what did we do to deserve this?")

I once tried to encourage one of my friends to watch a scary movie with me. I ended up with a sore eardrum and popcorn all over me. Yes, it sounds like a cliche but truth is stranger than fiction. It was a crucial point in the movie. Things were tense. The girl was walking through the darkened hallway and you could sense she was not alone. Suddenly, just as the scary part happened, my cat jumped on my friend's lap, causing her to scream like she was going to die, and sending popcorn all over the living room. Including me. Thus ended my attempts to push my favourite genre on my friends and family. We horror fans all know who we are. We're the ones that get treated like Hannibal Lecter just because we like a good scare. As if we are somehow evil or wrong just because we like to feel adrenaline coursing through us, frozen in time, watching the screen and waiting noiselessly to see what will happen next.

I think the reason we like to be scared is simple, a primal urge to feel something, even fear, to make us feel alive. Not only does it make us feel alive, it makes us feel fantastic to be alive. It makes us feel like survivors, walking out of the wreckage and appreciating the love and happiness in our own existence. I think we watch horror movies for the same reason people like to go on roller coasters, or go bungee-jumping or rock climbing. I think we like to scare the hell out of ourselves once in a while just to say "I'm alive and I'm still here".

I saw some fantastic horror movies this weekend on DVD but it has been a while since I saw a horror movie at the cinema. I saw the trailer for a new horror film called "Frontier(s)". It tells the story of four friends escaping Paris and criminal prosecution. They find a hotel, check in, but all is not what it seems. There is a sense of unsettling panic underlying the trailer. I'm not sure if I want to relate to these characters too closely because I got a glimpse into some of what they will go through. In the trailer, the film was described in this chilling way: "Feels like you're watching a film made by madmen. It's that good." It will be in selected cinemas May 9th and out on DVD on May 13th. The film is unrated (yikes!) and for this to be released in a cinema is an unusual event. Frontier(s) was shown at Horrorfest 2007 and had the distinction of being the only film to be considered "too horrific" for mainstream cinemas. It definitely gruesome and of course not suitable for work. Here it is - check it out if you dare...Trailer

Also, for all things horror check out Bloody Disgusting(s) - an extensive resource with movies, video games, trailers, reviews and interviews.