The project unveiled!

You may remember me announcing I was working on a "Project" way back here. I'm sure some of you have been on the edge of your seat with anticipation since then. Others are probably thinking "Oh yeah. That thing" And more still will be going "Dude, it's my second day here, I'm still trying to work out where the bathroom is"


Well, whichever category you fall into, the time has come to share the start of the project with you. The project is...


a tandem story with Badriyyah, author of the blog "Life, through my eyes..."


We decided to tackle this task when she wrote a blog titled "Clash of the Two Planets: Venus vs Mars" which featured a humorous tandem story as written for a school assignment. This blog is a must read. You can't help but crack up.


I don't know what we expected when we set out on this task, however as we are now well over the 5,000 word mark and the end is not in sight we are going to share the story with you in instalments.


If you haven't checked out Badriyyah's blog yet it is definately worth a look. She has amazing talent as a writer, and I particularly like this recent entry of hers. I can really relate to that one. Anyway, without further ado, the start of our story!



He straightened his tie and looked in the mirror. He'd known for months this day was coming, but the reality that it had finally arrived had not yet sunk in. Even as he was preparing for the days events, he could not fully comprehend what was ahead of him. He didn't realize what it meant for any of them. October 18th would be a day none of them would ever forget.


She looked at the photograph of him on her dresser. She wondered what he was doing and thinking right now. Was he as excited as she was? He was smiling in the photo, caught in a moment of candid happiness. She loved his smile. She loved his laugh. She glanced at the dress waiting for her on the bed. She should really start getting ready.


He checked his watch. He knew she wouldn't be ready yet. She always got ready in a frantic rush at the last minute, and always managed to take his breath away. Her beauty was effortless. He checked his watch again. If he was going to be at the airport when his mothers plane landed he'd have to leave soon. She'd never taken much interest in meeting his girlfriends in the past. Maybe after 18 months, she knew how serious he was this time.


She picked up the dress, then hesitated. Was it right for this special occasion? It was important to her that everything was perfect today. She checked her watch. Ooops, she thought. She was running a bit behind. If she was late it wouldn't matter how perfect the dress was. She slipped it on and hoped it wouldn't clash with what he was wearing. If he were here, he'd probably nag at her to hurry up. And people thought women were nags.


He got in his car and started heading towards her place. He hoped she was ready. He knew if they were late to the airport, his mother would never let them hear the end of it. Today had to be perfect. It was the day the two most important people in his life would finally meet. He fiddled with the radio. He needed to find something to take his mind off today. "If I don't think about it, I won't stress about it" he thought to himself.


She heard the car approaching. She grabbed her bag and shoes and ran down the stairs. She hated to keep anyone waiting. When the car stopped, she was already at the door, slipping her shoes on. She waved and climbed into the car, noting happily that his tie and shirt didn't clash with her dress. He looked wonderful.


He was pleased she was ready for him when he arrived. She looked perfect. He loved the dress she had chosen for today. If she had let him select the outfit for her (he had volunteered to do so in a moment of panic), that is the dress he would have picked. He scolded himself for being so worried. She'd never let him down before, and she knew how important today was to him. Though it wasn't just important to him he thought, it was her day too.


"I'm so nervous," she told him. "And I'm absolutely starving! I missed breakfast because I was too nervous to eat. Oh gosh, when I meet her the first thing she'll hear is my stomach rumbling!" She began rummaging through her purse but all she found was some lozenges. "Lasagna would be so good right now, " she sighed. She knew she should have listened to her friends and just forced herself to have a few bites before she left.



There you have it. The first eight paragraphs of our story. I think this was sort of a "feeling out" phase. None of us were sure were the story was going and we didn't want to take it there too quickly (a problem we have since overcome. She has been mean to me at times, and left me quite difficult tasks =p) Hope you enjoyed the first instalment!

My little brother

My brother works for a place I will not name. They succeed by taking advantage of those already in tough situations.

There are two parts to the business. One where they buy your stuff for resale. Two where you bring in your item, they give you cash for it and hold it until you come back in 30 days and either pay the interest, or pay the lot and get your item back.

The interest rate? Thirty percent.

Of course, the aim of the game for them is to buy your item for as little as they can. Being that most of the people here are desperate for cash (or else, why would they be there?) they argue very little.

The formula they try to stick to is:
- work out what the item would be worth brand new
- take two thirds of that, that's what they aim to sell it for
- give the seller one third of that

So if you come in with an item worth $1,000 brand new, you're walking away with about $220 and whatever you sold goes in the shop for $660 (I rounded)

Anyway, this is all background. I want to tell you about one customer in particular.

A woman came into the store a few weeks ago. Her mother had just passed away, and she was left a ring which she was selling. My brother has quickly learned how to value all manner of things, jewelery included, and had a look at it. He quickly realised, this was an expensive ring.

But, because she kept talking about how desperate she was, and how she just really wanted "a few hundred dollars", he decided to be the store hero. He offered her $500, which she graciously accepted.

He and his boss had a closer look at it, and decided they could easily put then ring on the shelves for $7,000 and sell it. Profit to the business, $6,500. My brother was loved.

Not long after though, the phone rang. It was the woman's brother. He found out she had sold the ring to "go to the city and buy shoes" and he was not impressed. He wondered if there was any way he could buy it back.

Someone at the store must have got something that resembled a conscience, because they sold it back to him for $550.

So that's one of the many stories he has told me from his line of work. And, because the whole post has been about him, I'll finish with another story about him.

When he was organizing his wedding, they had to decide what music they wanted played in the limousines. His selection (which was not very popular and was rejected) - "Highway to Hell"

Me in 20 words

I first read about this challenge at yourstruly100's blog "Everyday is a little life" (the exact post is here) The challenge is to describe yourself in just twenty words (a good thing for those of you who were sick of my rambling posts.)

The challenge hits me on two levels.
1/ I hate describing myself
2/ the aforementioned rambling

So, without further ado, my twenty words.

Cold. Warm. Considerate. Uncaring. Witty. Slow. I can't be who you want me to be, so I wear my masks.

Prior preparation prevents piss poor performance

Is that just an Aussie saying? Or do people use it world wide? Either way, it makes sense.

Anyway, this is blog number #35. I decided that for blog number 50 (assuming we make it that far) I would use an idea I first spotted on Thrice's Blog and give my pets the chance to ask me anything about me. I will try to answer every question as honestly (and entertaingly) as possible.

Ask as many questions as you like.

Email the questions to askscoman@gmail.com and look out for blog #50.

New Years Day

Ten and a half hours
I've been here before
But not like this
Not for such an extended period of time
I'm excited
It's all new
I'm vulnerable
And I like it
Ten and a half hours
Some old friends didn't make it back
Some new friends arrived on the scene
Lies
Manipulation
Disappointment
Breaking only to eat
To go to the bathroom
The longest break of six minutes was to do the dishes
Other than that
I sat
Glued
Hooked
Silent
His name is Dexter Morgan
And I journeyed through his world again


And because I like to end on a quote, I chose one from the show. This one is especially for Eck and Thrice

"I am Switzerland"
Dexter Morgan - "Dexter" Series 2 Episode 8