Sunday, October 31, 2010

Amazing Substance

I have always known that Apple Cider Vinegar is good for you.  Splash it on your face for acne, rub it on a sore joint for relief, drink it for anti-oxidant properties.  But I came across this article today which suggests drinking an Apple Cider Vinegar beverage will assist you to loose weight!

I don't know how accurate the science is, but hey, a bottle of vinegar is on a couple of dollars, why not give it a try!  Not much to loose there - except possibly some fat related weight!

Anyway, my eldest is singing in church tonight (assuming he doesn't get stage fright!), so a very exciting milestone for us.  I can't believe he has grown up so fast- it seems like yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital.  How time flies.  I remember older people would always say that time seemed to be going faster and faster, but could never really understand how that could be.  I get it now, that is for sure!

As a duty of care to the author of that article, here is the url again: http://technorati.com/lifestyle/article/vinegar-clinically-proven-to-destroy-fat/.

Ciao,

Jim

Friday, October 29, 2010

Justified Delay?

While driving to Gladstone this morning, I was travelling at 100 kilometers per hour- precisely, according to my GPS (only 2km p/hr different to the actual speedometer).  I wasn't in a hurry, I had plenty of time to get to my first appointment, and I try to not speed anyway (especially after I recieved a fine some time ago)!

Travelling at the speed limit is not easy when you have a whole line of traffic behind you, just itching to get past.  There is the temptation to sneek up past the limit, just to prove you're not a complete pain in the rear!  But no.  Today I chose to stay right on the limit, and with no small justification, it seems.

http://www.caradvice.com.au/1254/qld-police-get-10-fpv-typhoons/
When the Police are our with their radar, they will usually pick on the front of the line.  That would have been me, however, as our convoy of about seven vehicles approached a straight stretch of road (with no passing lines, I might add), a group of three roared past.  A particular van stood out, as it was sign written with the business name and information of a local locksmith.  I simply shook my head in disgust, and thought, "you idiot's."

About three kilometers further down the road, I negotiated a bend, and beheld a wonderful sight!  A little red and blue light was flashing up in the distance, and even from my vantage point, maybe 500-700 meters away, I could see that it was that van that had been stopped.  If he was still doing the same speed as when he passed me, the likelyhood is that his vehicle would be impounded!  Serves him right, I say.

So, do I feel bad about holding up all that traffic?  Not on your life!  If they had just stayed behind me, doing the speed limit, the cost of their drive would not have increased by at least $200.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Spider Surprise

There are so many deadly things in AustraliaSnakes, spiders, cars, trains, trucks, people, diseases, and more.  Anyway, I was running (yes running) through the Mount Archer National Park a few weeks ago, and came face to face with the specimen shown in the attached photograph.

I was running downhill at the time I encountered this little beast, and with the kinetic energy, along with what I assume must be a Newton's Law of Physics (the one that says, "when a fat guy is running down hill, it is hard for him to stop!," this spider very nearly had enough food to last it's entire species a life time.  While I did not actually fall over, I came close to imitating a baseball player sliding in for home base.

Funny enough that i was running down the hill, funnier still that I had to stop in such a hurry, I then had to find a way past the stinking thing!  Every time I came close, it would rear up with its two pair of front legs and bare some vicious looking fangs in all their glory.  Needless to say I was a little unenthusiastic about fighting with this thing- whose web was strung up right across the path, mind you.
In the end, I succumbed.  I found a big stick and wiped away all the web I could comfortably get to, and squeezed past at a flying run.  I don't much like crawly things, and ones that bite even more so!  Anyway, I learned my lesson- and now will take a big stick on each run through the park I embark on.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Ice Cream Disaster

In the eyes of children, a disaster can take on many different forms.  The most horrible of which would have to be licking your ice cream, then going to lick it again, only to find the ice cream part is now on the floor!  What a catastrophe.

This very agony unfolded before my very eyes this afternoon when an unsuspecting daddy took his little girl for an ice cream at Wendy's.  They were walking back past my Solahart display in the Gladstone shopping centre, when he stopped to look at something.  When he turned back to his daughter, her ice cream cone was empty and the ice cream sitting pretty in a pile on the floor!

Being the conscientious father, he would not allow aforementioned little girl to pick up and continue eating the offending rainbow.  Now, many children would become hysterical at seeing their precious treat being dumped in the rubbish.  Not so this one.  Her melt-down was the almost silent kind- not a tantrum, more of a cry of anguish.  It was enough to melt even the most rigid heart of stone, therefore daddy dutifully went off to purchase a replacement scoop to go atop the now naked cone. 

I couldn't help but notice, as they once again strolled past, that the little girl had her fingers firmly planted right into the ice cream!  No more accidents like that one, I dare say.

After watching this little drama, I couldn't help but observe closely the spot on which the previous ice cream scoop had landed, expecting someone to go head over heels on the slippery mess that was more like rainbow coloured milk by this time.  The center cleaners took their sweet time in arriving to mop it up, but alas! no one required the assistance of a concerned shop keeper.