A-Z with me, part 3: O-U (LBE)

If you missed the first to, go here for A-G, and go here for H-N.

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O is for outings.

I don't go on many outings, really, but I enjoy the ones I do go on. Perhaps I even enjoy them more for the fact they don't happen constantly?

When I say "outings" here, I'm not including trips to the local store.

We go out for breakfast when we can, and about once a month we go in to town to some of the places that sell things we can't get locally. But, other than that, we don't go out much.

I had a full day out at the end of September though.

Actually, I had a busy weekend in general, since my brother, Carl, Carl's girlfriend, Tory, my Dad, Dad's girlfriend, Cath, and my Nan (Dad's Mother) all came for a visit that weekend.

We got lucky with the weather. It had been really bad, but was quite nice that weekend; a little chillier than some would have liked, perhaps, but dry; perfect Autumn/Fall weather, I thought.

Anyway...

On the Friday evening, Carl and Tory helped us to start getting my iPhone all set up while we waited for the others to arrive, and then we all went and ate take-out down on the beach by moonlight. After that, they all went to the caravan they were staying at - since our second bedroom is a computer room, and couldn't sleep five adults even if it was set up as a guest room - and we came home.

On the Saturday we met up for breakfast at the cafe we took them to for breakfast when they visited last year, which they seem to like as much as we do. Then we all went to the aquarium - where we found Nemo - and had a bit of a walk around town (I have some photos, but I'll share those in another post, in a couple of weeks time, since this post will be long enough without them). I was getting really tired before they were done looking around town, and my leg was hurting, so - since Kelly and I go there regularly, which meant exploring town was more interesting to them - Kelly and I went home, ordered and ate dinner, and then took a nap.

On the Sunday we were all meant to go to Battle, but where the weather had been so wet, Kelly and I weren't eager to go. We can go quite easily any time, to be honest, which is why we were willing to let the poor conditions stop us from going. The others can't visit it so easily though, so decided to go anyway. They went there in the daytime, then most of them came to see us in the evening; Nan and Cath didn't, because they were exhausted from their day out. This is also when we said "goodbye" to Carl and Tory, since they had planned to go straight to the station on the Monday morning, since it was easier than them coming to us for just the few moments needed to say our goodbyes.

On the Monday we didn't see much of the three still in the area. They just came to say "goodbye" and for Dad to grab some stuff we were giving him; nothing special, really... Just some stuff we thought he'd like that we no longer wanted.

It was an exhausting weekend for me, but a good one!

I also had lunch out at a cafe near where we live this past Saturday (October 17th). It was with Kelly and Kevin. Kevin is a fellow blind author, who came for a visit for the afternoon, bringing his guide dog, Trigger, with him, of course.

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P is for people.

The people in my life are all important to me; whether they're a small part of my life, or a large part of it. I don't always do a good job of keeping up with how everyone is doing, but my family and friends are always in my thoughts.

It was my brother's birthday on Friday (October 16th) and will be our niece's birthday in a little over a week (October 28th). So, belated happy birthday wishes to you, Carl, and happy early birthday wishes to you, Tamara!

Anyway... I appreciate every one of you; from my hubby, right down to those who only show up to read my posts from time to time, but never comment. Whether you be someone who once left me a review but never bothered with me afterwards, a follower I don't really know, someone I consider a good friend, or a family member, thank you for being you, and please remember that you matter.

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Q is for quizzes.

As in, online quizzes.

I've eased off on this a bit recently, but I still love taking those online quizzes. I used to be addicted to them, and you can see many of the results of ones I took in the past on this very blog. These days I manage to control my addiction, and only take the odd online quiz. I don't know what it is about them... Most of them are for silly things... But they're very addictive, and I can't help myself sometimes.

My brother found an accessable quiz game for the iPhone, and I had him download it on to my iPhone while he was here. I haven't gotten as addicted to it as I was to the online quizzes though... At least, not yet!

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R is for rats.

Spacifically my ratty girls, Skye and Star.

I'd wanted a pet rat for years and years, but Kelly always said "no" when I asked. Finally, almost a year ago, he gave in. Actually, he just came home one day announcing I could have rats. I didn't argue, or question his reasons at the time, though I found out later it was an attempt to cheer me up after we lost Kero a few months before.

Anyway, even Kelly admits that our girls are sweet little things, and very affectionate.

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S is for scrabble.

I'm addicted to Scrabble!

It started because I wanted to get better at Scrabble so I could beat my brother, Carl, and grew in to an addiction. I have a Scrabble game on the computer, you see, and I have a nasty habit of playing it when I'm meant to be doing other things. Still, it has helped me with my spelling, and I did achieve my goal of managing to beat my brother at Scrabble, so it's not entirely a bad thing.

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T is for TV shows.

My favourites being "The Big Bang Theory" and "CSI" among others. I'm also quite partial to cartoons... Call me a big kid for that one if you like. The other kinds of TV shows I really enjoy watching are nature shows, like the kinds you get on Discovery channel, or ones about animals, like the kind you get on Animal Planet.

I haven't been able to watch TV recently though, since there's a problem with the arial, and we haven't had a chance to do anything about getting it fixed. Besides, since we're in a place that allows it now, we're considering having more than just freeview again, so we can have more channels. We haven't decided for sure yet though.

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U is for unanswered questions.

I'm always asking questions - sometimes just in my head, other times out loud - and seeking answers to them. I also enjoy solving riddles and brainteaser puzzles. Mostly though it's just finding the answers to random questions that happen to pop in to my head at any given time; which isn't as rare an occurance as you might think.

Anyway, this is a process made a lot easier with the internet being so easy to access... All the answers are out there somewhere; it just might take a bit to find them. It's fun looking though, and I love confusing the internet Gods with my random searches, so that they don't know what to recommend to me based on my browsing history.

Some of my random questions, and some of the random things I decided to look up, can be found among my old blog posts.

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Come back next week for part 4, where I tell you about V-Z.

Can you solve these riddles without reading the answers?

Riddle 1: What looks like a star, falls off a tail and burns in the air?

Riddle 2: What swirls, loops, and circles on your fingertips, yet never moves?

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Scroll down for the answers.

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Answer 1: Dust and gravel from comet tails.

Answer 2: Fingerprints.

Just some riddles - for fun!

Question: I live in Winter, and die in Summer, and I grow with my roots facing up. What am I?
Answer: An icicle.

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Question: What gets wetter and wetter the more it dries?
Answer: A towel.

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Question: What can you catch but not throw?
Answer: A cold.

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Question: I can run but not walk. Wherever I go, thought follows close behind. What am I?
Answer: A nose.

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Question: What goes around the world but stays in a corner?
Answer: A stamp.

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Question: Give me food and I will live; give me water and I will die. What am I?
Answer: Fire.

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Question: What can run but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps?
Answer: A river.

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Question: You use a knife to slice my head, and weep beside me when I’m dead. What am I?
Answer: An onion.

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Question: I went in to the woods and got it. I sat down to seek it. I brought it home with me because I couldn’t find it. What is it?
Answer: A splinter.

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Question: I’m light as a feather, yet the strongest man can’t hold me for more than a minut. What am I?
Answer: Breath.

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Question: Until I am measured, I am not known, yet do you miss me when I have flown. What am I?
Answer: Time.

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Question: What walks on four legs in the morning, two at mid day, and three in the evening?
Answer: A human does. As a baby, it crawls; in old age, uses a cane.

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Question: What is it that, after you take away the whole, some still remains?
Answer: The word "wholesome."

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Question: What jumps when it walks, and sits when it stands?
Answer: A kangaroo.

Wonderings while wandering (AE&D)

My walks with Kero used to be plagued with monsters like the leaf monster. But since I've started to become more used to the noises of the world things like that haven't been such an issue for me. The occasional monster still rears its ugly head, but the "monster issue" is much more under control now. I'll probably never be monster-free, but I'm in control more now, and that's what really matters.

Anyway, since the monsters are more under control, I have more freedom to enjoy my walks. As you might imagine, this results in my being more willing to allow my mind to wander, and in my contemplation of one thing or another while I walk.

My musings vary depending on what I've read on blogs, heard on the radio, read in a book, recently discussed with someone, etc. Sometimes even something that happens during the walk will influence my musings. Like the time - I think it was a couple of weeks back - when I was thinking about beaches while on the walk, because of the seagulls.

Today's musings were based on something I heard on the radio last night.

They currently have a compatition on Real Radio where you can win a family pass to Folly Farm if you can find the answer to a joke or riddle they have a child say. The example in the advert for it is:

Child: What's orange and sounds like a parrot?
Adult: Ummm... A carrot!

However, I spent some time during today's walk with Kero thinking about this, and I've come to the conclusion that carrot, in fact, is not the right answer. It seems to me that the observations of whomever decided on the answer to this are incorrect. I, however, know what the right answer is.

Let me explain...

During a walk someone - I'm not sure who - observed an orange shape not far from them. The shape was almost identical to an over-grown carrot. Only, it was upside-down. This carrot-shaped thing was in a group of other carrot-shaped creatures. Among the group was a parrot who was attempting to teach them English. The carrot-shaped creatures were repeating phrases the parrot was saying to them, and their repetitions sounded almost identical to the parrot's own version. This is where the above riddle must have come from.

However, the observer was mistaken about the situation. You see, things are not always as they seem. And the observer would have realised this had he/she only stopped to talk to one of these creatures.

The above mentioned scene was, of course, an English For Ochas class, which is taught twice a week by a Mr Parrot. And the carrot-shaped creatures were, in fact, Ochas without their stripes on.

Perhaps - if the observer hadn't been so reluctant to get closer - he or she might have realised that Ochas are only carrot-shaped from a distance. Closer observation would have revealed the truth, and would then have saved him/her from the embarrassment of assuming there were upside-down, over-grown, carrot-shaped creatures roaming the streets and attempting to learn English.

You see, this is what happens when people jump to conclusions.

Tori

Brain teaser

Question:
I live in Winter, and die in Summer, and I grow with my roots facing up. What am I?

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Think about it before scrolling down for the answer

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Answer:
I'm an icicle

Brain teaser's and things

Question 1: An electric train is traveling South-East at 95 miles per hour, and the wind is traveling North-West at 95 miles per hour. What direction does the smoke blow?

Question 2: An elephant, a giraffe, a monkey, a crocodile, an aligator, two mice and another elephant are under a normal sized umbrella. How many of them got wet?

I'll post the answers at the end of my blog post.

I haven't really done anything today. And, this time I mean it. LOL!

Kelly went in to town to fetch a couple of bits for me, and when he got home, I wrapped them up while he wrote the labels. So, our Christmas shopping is very nearly finished. I just need to get Kelly's main present and my Dad's presents. I'm not going to say what I've got for people on here though, because I don't want to risk the person reading it and finding out what they're getting for Christmas.

It's still cold here. Kelly said yesterday it's like being back in Canada again. Only, without the snow. LOL! Well, I for one hope the snow does show up. Not so much because it would be like being back in Canada, but because I absolutely LOVE snow. The way things are going it looks like I should get at least a light dusting of the stuff before Christmas. I'd rather more, but even that would be a start.

Umm... Well, I can't think of anything else to say, so I guess I'll give you the answers to those questions now. At least some of you probably already got at least the first one though.

Answer to question 1: It doesn't. The train is electric... In other words, there is no smoke.

Answer to question 2: None of them. It wasn't raining.

Sorry, I just had to. LOL!

Tori

P.S. I posted a couple of poems on my poetry spot if you want to go take a look.

Books and pets

"Like school, prison or an enormous cake with a spyglass baked into it, this collection of puzzles and games will keep you `out of trouble', a phrase which here means `far away from distressing books and movies'."

There are two reasons why I posted that. The first is simply that I wanted something interesting to start my post with, the second is that I wanted to show my Grandma an example of something I was telling her about the way Lemony Snicket writes, without giving away any of the story. The quote comes from the description that Play gives for a book called 'The Puzzling Puzzles' by Lemony Snicket. I saw it on Play when I was looking to see if they have the series on Audio CD (which they do) and figured I'd order it, just so I can say I have it. Plus, I'm interested in knowing what kind of puzzling puzzles are inside. I also preordered 'The Coming Of Saska' by Doreen Tovey, which is apparently going to be available from Play as from the start of August.

I counted the books in the pile by my bed last night (just because I could) and I counted 58 books, including the one I'm reading at the moment, which I've almost finished reading (only three more chapters to read). Plus, there are two books that my Mam is reading that will need to be added to the pile of books when I get them back off her. I also have two new books - 'The Beatrice Letters by Lemony Snicket' and 'Dragonquest by Anne McCaffrey' - that I ordered from Play a couple of days ago. And, of course, I'll have two more books - "Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows' and 'The Coming Of Saska' - to add to the pile when they arrive. The Harry Potter one should be here in a little over two weeks.

Chance is doing better today. He's being a bit carefuller than normal on his back right leg. But he's jumping, and doing all of the other things he does just fine. For now, he seems to have decided that jumping on the work tops isn't such a good idea after all, but I can't help doubting that the lesson will stick with him. We shall see. I hope it does stick with him though, as I'd hate for it to happen again.

I don't know what was wrong with Kero last night, but he kept pushing himself between me and my book, wanting to give me kisses, and wanting to be hugged and petted. He did this every few minutes for about an hour, then curled up beside me and went to sleep. It was strange, because usually when I'm reading, he either just curls up near me and goes to sleep, or, he fetches whatever treat he happens to be working on at the time, then he lays near me and chews on it. He learned when he was a tiny puppy that reading time is quiet time, and that people who are reading don't tend to appreciate a dog's nose pushing itself between them and their book. The last time he bugged me when I was reading, he was about five or six months old. I checked all the obvious things that might have been wrong with him (needing to 'go' outside, needing food or water, etc) but he didn't need or want any of those things.

Tori

WHY WHY WHY?????>

Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are going dead?

Why do banks charge a fee on "insufficient funds" when they know there is not enough money?

Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?

Why doesn't glue stick to the bottle?

Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection?

Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?

Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?

Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

Whose idea was it to put an "S" in the word "Lisp"?

If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?
(cos there are still men... duh!!!)

Why is it that no matter what colour bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?

Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?

Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give>the vacuum one more chance?

Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try?

How do those dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures?

When we are in the supermarket and someone rams our ankle with a shopping cart then apologizes for doing so, why do we say, "It's all right?" Well, it isn't all right, so why don't we say, "That hurt, you stupid idiot?"

Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?

In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?

How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?