Brake froze; could not stop car  

Ybonjoc, what is wrong with my car is so simple it is almost stupid. There is a reservoir for the radiator and the water recirculates through it. Well there is a valve that is not flowing properly so it causes the water to run out of the overflow and then the sensor reacts and the car steams up and everything but the motor isn't even really hot. It is very weird and crazy, but one thing causes another thing and so just like your computer shuts itself off to protect your files my car stalled.

What freaked me out was to have the brakes lock up like that when I was basically moving downhill in a curve. I am just lucky the only damage was to my tire when I hit the wall.

I have never driven in snow but I know what it is to be on icy roads or to hydroplane and it is very dangerous. I don't blame you for being wary of it, not because of the road conditions but because of all the crazy drivers who seem to think bad weather means drive faster!

Even in good weather people run through stop signs and stuff and you have to drive very defensively. Last December I was on my way to an appointment in the next parish around 9 AM and I opened the front door to see huge, fluffy, white flakes gently floating to the ground. I froze in my tracks.

I called an canceled my appointment and waited to see how long it would last. Fortunately it was almost over by the time I discovered it. We never get REAL snow. We get the slushy stuff that doesn't stick and turns to rain and washes away. It had cleared up though by the time I had to go to work.

Black ice is one of my least favorite winter conditions. The road looks dry and everything seems fine, until the car is sideways. I have never lived where there isn't a real winter with lots of snow and ice. I don't think I would miss the driving conditions, but I do love the seasons.

Hey Trensue,

I lived in both areas. You think people up north can't drive in the snow you should see some of these people driving in the rain. It's scary!

It never ceases to amaze me how some people think rain means drive fast.

Yes they drive fast in the rain here too and they don't bother even in the towns where there are pedestrians. They get soaked when the cars go past and splash all the water from the puddles. Even if the limits are set to a lower speed in town some, especially the younger drivees, just don't seem to care and going speeding through whatever the weather conditions

Black ice is possibly the worst driving hazard. At least we can see the snow and the rain but black ice we can't

Are the roads really narrow where you are? I keep picturing Roberto Bennini driving a taxi in "Night on Earth."

Well, everything locked up and for some reason my brain and the car were not communicating and it got worse as I could not understand why the wheel lock would not disengage. I forgot to tell you I was so close to the wall I could notkatri open my car door.

When car man got there I crawled over the seat to the other door and he got in and he freed it instantly. I could not believe it. I thought he knew some secret trick but he said how it locks depends on what way you steered it last. But of course in my brain fog I could not remember if I was doing it right.

He drove the car the rest of the way down the ramp onto a side road and I saw my front right tire was flat. He changed the tire and told me next time was my turn. Then he started fiddling around under the hood and he put water in but the jug I keep in the car wasn't enough so we had to find more. Fortunately there was a walmart less than a mile up the road.

Pre-Katrina I would have been able to walk to a supermarket a few yards from where I was but no...

That must be something not to have all those stores! I would hate that. At least you have someone to help you. Are you feeling okay today? I bet you will feel better once everything is fixed.

I feel pretty good. I went to the gas station and I dropped my honey off at work; both were very close by and now I have to let the car sit a bit to cool down so I can add more water. Couldn't get the tank today but hopefully something will turn up tomorrow.

That's good at least. Maybe you can get that fixed and drive around without worry. It would be nice to not have to worry about that anymore.

It would be nice to have an entire day with no worries but I am afraid that if I wish for and get one the next day would be a double whammy of the opposite extreme!

LOL. How true. You know that's exactly what would happen too. LOL I thought I was the only one with days like that.

Today was one for the record books with everything from cramps to a flat tire in the rain!

IN THE RAIN?! Wow! Maybe you need to start writing some skits. Sounds like your luck is about like mine. *Looking outside to see if it's raining.* We're dry here, but my daughter stayed home from school because she was sick today. Hope she's better tomorrow.

It was supposed to get worse last night and be raining again today but it cleared out, thankfully. They are talking snow flurries for the weekend but I am pretending I don't hear them.

Snow. HAHAHAHAHA. SNOW. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA ROFLO.

I fell off the chair. Snow. (giggles) I remember that stuff. Haven't seen it or been in it for about three years. Keep it up there though. LOL

If this early December snow thing becomes an annual event I might have to make plans to be out of town!

LOL. I think I would be. Seriously, is it that cold there? Are you along the coast?

No and no. I don't know what they are talking about. One of the meteorologists went through this whole explanation of air temperatures and different kinds of precipitation and all that but it remains to me seen what will happen. At first it seemed like they were talking about Saturday. Now they are saying that some kind of "frozen" precipitation is possible late Friday.

Maybe you will have hail. That's definitely frozen precipitation. I haven't seen that here, but I know it happened. Good luck staying warm. LOL

It all worked out though they were getting snow in Baton Rouge yesterday. We had a monarch butterfly clinging to the stoop in back and I didn't know what to do for the poor thing.

Fortunately someone told me how to feed it, though I seem to have stressed it out. It is now on the side of the steps and we have it somewhat protected from the wind with a piece of cardboard. It seemed really week though so I hope it starts to eat. I don't want any ants smelling the citrus and attacking it. It is supposed to be warmer tomorrow so hopefully it will be able to fly.

That is just so crazy! The poor butterfly! How did you like the snow? Did you even see it? I would have stayed in bed all day.

I loved the snow! It was 8o miles away and nowhere near me!

I like the snow when it is even further away. LOL I hate cold weather unless it is air conditioning. LOL

Pfffffffffffffffffffffftttttt!

I don't hate cold weather per se, I just hate to feel cold!

If the temperature dips below 50 it is too cold and I hate it. If there is snow, I am willing to accept the cold weather for the time the snow is on the ground. LOL After it melts, forget it, it needs to be 80 degrees.

This past Saturday was both cold and raining. There was so much rain many streets were flooded and completely impassible at points. I almost flooded my car driving back after the festival!

Good grief! That is lousy weather. Did you at least have a good festival or is it an outside event that no one came to because of the weather? We have outside arts and craft festivals. If it is raining it is rare that there is a good turnout.

First day paid for the booth. Second day paid better than one day teaching :-)

WOW! That sounds like a good turn out. Congrats. At least now you have something for all that work you did. Maybe you should write an article on the festivities and all the different booths.

It was horribly slow for me but someone I know made over $1k the first day. A 12 year old kid selling jewelry made out like a bandit. $100 a day is just not enough for everything you have to go through.

I guess not, especially with the cost of the materials. I know you have to put time in too.

Yeah, I need for it to be like $500!

Can you get close to that? That's amazing! It's just a local arts and craft show? I need to start doing something!

I have surpassed that before. But it is not easy. You never know what people are going to be in the mood for and the weather can srew you over.

I always thought there were too many variables. I just can't get myself in to doing that. And you thought my English was bad earlier. LOL

Huh? Are you talking about my typo? That is spelling, not grammer. I know what to get you for Xmas.

"I just can't get myself into it" sounds like slang, I almost typed sling. LOL HAHAHA. I really can't type or check for grammar.

That is why I am taking up a collection on myLot to get you a copy of Strunk and White.

Okay, my brain is fried. HUH? Strunk and white? I can't wait to hear what this is...LOL

It's the writer's bible.

IT does exist. LOL. I probably need one then.

smh

Did you see the m&m commercial where Santa sees the m&m's and faints and the m&m sees Santa and faints? Both say he is real. LOL That's how I feel about a writer's bible. LOL

You are hilarious.

Seriously, is it a dictionary? I need one of those too. LOL

It's actually a series of three books considered essential to being a good writer. "The Elements of Stlye" is one and another is "The Elements of Grammar." I forget what the title of the third one was.

I definitely need that. I just lost my third star and am down to two. I keep trying, but the articles that were 1 of 1 are now 2 of two. The worst part is the other article isn't any better, channel stewards with five stars are the competitors. If they have a way of moving articles I don't think they should be allowed to write in those categories. Two of the articles you can tell they didn't do anything with. Most of the time when the articles are better they are much better than mine and you can tell the person deserves to be rated in first position. If you can help me the two titles are Tips for making your house smell like pine and Christmas gifts: Toys under $5. These two articles are driving me crazy! LOL Like I wasn't already. LOL I am rewriting them today.

Just keep working to get four stars and then you won't have to worry about it anymore. I only did three articles in December and all my stars are still intact. I will try and take a look at the articles though.

I went back and tried to leapfrog all the articles that were about 2 of 2. I got my score up, and I got the third star back barely. I guess it was too late to get the extra fifty cents though. I leapfrogged on the 31st so the score didn't show until the first so I guess it was a lost cause except to make me remember to do it earlier this month. LOL

If you can post a bunch of new stuff this month you won't have to worry about it. You need some of those empty titles that have been sitting for a couple years that no one is interested in. Of course the book review idea is also less likely to result in you article becoming competitive.

Once you get those 4 stars you are in good shape. My helium goal is to never get under 600 rates in 90 days though it would be even better to get back up over 1000. That bonus is what helped me make the minimum for payout this time. I still want to get to 100 articles because it will make my page view income at least double what it is now.

Luckily almost all of my articles are paid for on AC or I would be upset with the Helium payout. For 28 articles I made $58 and almost $9 was page views. I made about $1.69 for my articles. I make over twice that on AC. LOL I guess I better hope AC keeps me. LOL I am going to try to write a bunch of articles this week. With any luck, I will be able to make some money this month. I need to buy computer paper. LOL I usually buy it by the case. I would like to get the four or five stars just so I don't have to worry about my stars fluctuating. I guess the reason your stars don't fluctuate is the Helium computer has to keep your articles at a certain level. This may explain why I am in second place with two articles that are by 5 star writers.

Hon, I just looked at your helium profile and you have two badges making you eligible to write to marketplace premier titles. You need to start checking every week to see if there is stuff you can write to. Even the cheap ones pay more than AC.

As for the two articles and their ranking I just glanced at the $5 gift one and you didn't start your article with a lead paragraph. You still write as if you are having a conversation with someone and that is what is separating you from the so-called professional writers.

You should have started the piece with something about stocking stuffers or buying gifts on a budget or "token" gifts where you want to get something nice but not spend a lot of money.

Your second paragraph reads like a news item and continues that way until you get to the part about Walmart and Family Dollar. Certain stores always have gifts of $5 and under, even expensive places like Whole Foods, especially during "tough economic times."

Don't forget about SEO. Just because the title says 2009 doesn't mean your article won't pop up in search results for cheap gifts. The words cheap and gift should appear often. You can also use affordable and inexpensive.

You don't want to be so matter of fact either. It's not a news item so you want people to be intrigued and or entertained by your writing and when it comes to something "how to" you want to give them ideas they have not thought of before. Even though the recommendation article doesn't say how to in the title you are telling your readers how to find these deals.

Rewrite with these things in mind and use more SEO and the article will earn even at Easter time no matter what the rank is.

Okay, I really don't understand. Here's the first paragraph:

What toys can you buy for $5 or less for Christmas? Do such toys exist? As a surprise and a delight, you can actually find toys for $5 that not only are easy on the wallet, but they are fun and educational. Here are a few toys that you can find for Christmas this year for five dollars or less.

I asked questions and answered them. That is basically what the article is about. So to lead into an article, or the first paragraph what am I doing wrong. Should the first paragraph just go right to it?

As for the rest of the article, I changed it to the way I used to write with the list style and then a paragraph explaining each. However, I guess the leapfrog was declined on that article.

That is not good writing. You should never start with questions like that. It's ok to ask them in a later place but you should start with a good, strong lead.

Now I am really confused becauase I was told to start off with questions. AAHHHHH! That's why I am not a professional writer. LOL Too many rules to keep up with. LOL

You start off with questions for yourself to create an outline, i.e., who, what, when, etc. You need to stop listening to people in online forums unless they have professional credentials.

There are a lot of people on myLot who claim to be writers and language professional who have horrible grammar and spelling and when you call them on they say it's just typos. As if.

There are a lot of real resources out there such as Writer's Digest and The Writer's Market. Strunk and White are good sources as well. You have to start out at the journalistic perspective and then develop your own personal style.

Many years ago another writer made a comment to me about being too much like journalism which was not helpful, but there was a point where I decided I wanted my articles to inform but also weave imagery like fiction stories.

If you had more experience interviewing people and creating articles from all that great info that you ultimately have to condense and will never use all of that would have helped shape your writing as well.

It might help you to get feedback from real life editors, especially print editors. Try searching online for articles that are written by publishing professionals to help writers improve.

Here's a little food for thought; you now have more articles on helium than I do, but my writing score and performance income is better. What does that tell you? You have to spend more time on quality and less time on quantity if you really want to make something of yourself as a writer.

On the other hand if all you care about it is the earnings then just keep cranking out those hurried pieces that read like you are ADHD. (In other words until you are willing to study and put some time in you will not improve.)

WOW. How many articles do you have on Helium? I finally made it to 141 articles and my page views are up to about $9 a month. That's okay with me, it finally went up. Unless you are reading my articles, my readership is coming from outside of Helium. I don't have anyone on Helium that I follow like I do on AC. AC is just easier for me to use. LOL. My pageviews on ac is about $40 a month. I am hoping that stays that way. LOL

One of the writers that gave me the question advice was Michy, and the other was either Cassandra James or (I can't remember her name)she was an editor and newspaper reporter for many years as a profession. Now I will have to go look up her name. LOL

Yes, I am looking to make more money per article. I just keep getting different information so I have been writing both ways. Sometimes I do questions and sometimes it's just a lead in. I won't lie, yeah that may be what keeps me from competing with the professionals, I don't know. Some of their articles start out the same way though. It's one of those things that it works for some and not for others, I guess.

Here is the thing about advice: it is ok to be openminded and listen to advice from people who have had successes and failures but you have to figure out what is going to work for you.

You need to develop a style. You need to conquer the grammar once and for all and you have to start putting more of yourself into the writing. Not spell and grammar check via the computer, YOU. It's about proper language usage and dealing with concepts. You can't keep churning out these hurried articles for page views if you want to seriously write as well as rise above this situation financially.

You spend a lot of time putting out work and seeing very little return on your investment. Your time is even more precious than any money you could invest in securities. You have to look at the time it takes you to write articles, because you actually write them and then type them, and think how much you would like to get paid an hour if you had a regular job. When you do the math you are going to see that AC and that other stuff may be worth it when it comes to ROI.

In order to move forward you have to ask yourself what it is you actually want. Is writing going to be a profession or a hobby? You also have to be realistic. Can you be a full-time career woman with everything you need to do for your son? You have to come up with some kind of mompreneur outlet that lets you earn but be available to your kids.

If writing is just a sideline then keep doing what you are doing. If not, then you will have to make some changes.

As you said, because of my son, I guess I will be continuing to do what I can and to do as well as I can. I have been changing my writing all along. I guess I will just continue to try to improve on my own and do what I can to make it work for me. I just have to sift through everyone's advice and see what will work for me. For the most part it is working on AC, but Helium is just a different animal all together. LOL

But that is just it; helium is so much easier to earn on. Anyone can publish practically anything and you always get the same upfront for an empty title article. You just need the right stuff. I will try to remember to send you some titles tomorrow.

For some reason, I make more on AC than on Helium. Even in page views. LOL I will keep trying on Helium, but I still can't seem to get my articles in a % where I can keep my stars. Besides it seems the % bounces too much. I will start writing again probably today, children permitting. LOL

The issue with helium is the titles you submit and the ratio of competitive articles. If you are 12 of 100 you are still in the top 25%, but if you are 2 of 6...

In helium there are certain channels that earn more. You just have to look into those topics that earn well. One of my top earners is on how to make a purse. Earns well over a dollar on its own every month. Scheng swears shoes articles are big earners.

So crafts and fashion? I don't know if I can manage that, but maybe I will try. My biblical article did okay. LOL

Scratch that, it only made two cents. For some reason, I thought it did better. LOL It was the biblical craft article.

Do you do crafts with your kids? You could do articles on activities for autistic children. Gifts for a seven year old girl; what to do with your kids during school holidays...

I do crafts with my daughter, but not my son. He still has a hard time just coloring. He can't follow directions yet. My daughter and I made a hand print Christmas tree in 2008 that I did an article on.

Maybe you can do a helium article on websites with easy to color pages for autistic children. You know, like those pre-K pages that don't have a lot of detail and have large shapes.

That's a really good idea. I may have to do that one. I didn't think of the title like that, duh, but I have done coloring pages for children. That would be a good twist.

Just make sure you phrase it like a helium title i.e.:
The Best web sites for coloring pages for autistic children
A Guide to finding coloring pages online for autistic children

Also consider "The best gifts for autistic children."

I need to put the best gifts for autistic children on Helium. I did one of those articles as well.

Was it a recent one? If not, update it and change the title to something like "How to choose the best gifts for autistic children."

It was pretty recent. I am wondering if there is an easier way to search your own articles besides going page by page in the my articles section. Do they have a search for just your own articles? I guess I could use the general search and see if any of mine show up.

Are we talking AC or helium?

Oh,sorry. Helium. AC has a search for your own content. Wonder if Helium does too and I don't know how to access it.

If you go to earnings and payments you can view just the articles on a particular channel.

That's a little easier than searching all the articles I guess. I like using keywords to find everything. LOL

So use them to find some empty titles.

Sometimes I do. LOL I have an assignment for AC that I am working on now because I really want the payment. I don't know if it will be any good because I'm not really sure what they are looking for. I have a pretty good idea so I am at least trying. I need to do some research.

You know I always forget about those calls for content. I should go and take a look.

That might be a good idea. Unfortunately, most of them are paying $2. I had one sent to me as a targeted group. If you've written in that area they may send one to you. It was paying $25 for arts and entertainment.

Now you see if they were to come up with offers like that I would submit all the time! I am going to have to make it a point to post that older stuff for page views and see what happens.

I did finally get past 1000 views.

I wish they would come up with $5 offers. LOL I haven't seen regular calls for content over $2. They used to give $3. Maybe that was when the economy was better. LOL

I am always concerned something will come up and I won't be able to make the deadline. I almost accepted one and then I realized it was a video.

They have longer time periods for the videos. The articles are usually short time frames. I am having a time issue on the one I chose. I don't want to research it and try to write while the kids are here. It would come out in a mess. LOL

That is exactly why I have not accepted any c4c from them. Stuff always comes up and then you get sidetracked. For now I am happy with helium. The week I could have written to every title in the contests I had no time! Now there is nothing I want to write to! I haven't checked the marketplace in a few days, but there hasn't been anything there that caught my interest either for a while.

It will be nice to get the passive income up to $25 on helium and really nice to get it to $50 or more.

That was easy for me to do at AC. So far I haven't had much luck at helium with that. LOL MAYBE...

How much time do you spend on AC reading and commenting on other people's stuff?

Usually not even an hour. Sometimes it will take an hour, but that is rare unless a lot of people that I follow have written an article.

One hour each day?

Yep. I follow a lot of people and of course I get ideas from their articles too. I got a surprise today. After shopping at Wal-mart, I pulled onto the road and my truck broke down. It's my transmission and my husband doesn't do much with that so I don't know what we are going to do.

You're going to hope it is something simple!

If you spent a fraction of the time you spend reading and commenting on AC on helium rating articles you would make it to 500 or double that in no time and maintaining a number highger than 500 will be easy with just a few rates each time you post an article or maybe even once per week.

When I start making the money on Helium that I do on AC, I will definitely spend more time on there. I need to make the most money I can right now. I guess because everything was going smooth, LOL, I should have expected something to go wrong. Actually, I shared a great purchase with two ladies I didn't know. I bought a six pack of kit kats that normally cost over $3 for sixty two cents. She saw them when I went to check out and she said she loved kit kats. They left Wal-mart and I needed gas. So when I went to the gas station I saw them and gave them two kit kats. No good deeds goes unpunished. LOL That's wrong isn't it?

If you are asking if no good deed going unpunished is wrong, it isn't exactly a positive way of looking at things.

HEHEHE. It's not bad deed goes unpunished. LOL I think.

Ok, what the heck are you talking about?

It's no bad deed goes unpunished, I think. I can't remember the saying. LOL

No dear, it's no GOOD deed goes unpinished! LOL

No wonder your story didn't make sense!

See, I was good. I gave a lady some candy because she didn't know it was on sale. Then when I left, my transmission broke. Just sucks.

Yeah, sure. Nevermind you have been talking about another car since... when was that?

LOL. That was to replace the vehicle my husband is using. We didn't replace it yet. Since mine is not moving, I think we will have to do something with it. LOL

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

We can't find the money. Our tree isn't in bloom right now. I guess we will be getting me a vehicle today. UGH. This is not one of my favorite things to do. I hate spending money. LOL I also hate shopping for a decent vehicle because there are no guarantees.

That's the way life goes. You get a little ahead and then some unexpected thing takes up all of your reserves.

Tell me about it. I'm not even sure we are ahead yet. We're so far behind catching up would be nice. LOL

That reminds me, I have to check my account!

Your bank account or the money you have made on the internet?

My account and good thing I did check too. A payment I was not expecting had gone through that I didn't exactly authorize and I am not happy. I paid something a while ago and it "automatically renewed" and I have to go into my account and fix that so it doesn't happen again in the future.

That is the worst type of dealing to have. If you pay for something "automatically" one time you are set up for life and the banks aren't too willing to get rid of it without a fee or the other party's say so. I hated Suntrust for that.

Fortunately I was able to cover it with a transfer but it a real pain.

I used to have an automatic deposit of $800 coming out of suntrust. I told them BEFORE it even occured that it was no longer supposed to come out of my account. They told me the other party had to stop the payment process. There was nothing I could do, they would still take the money out. That is when I switched banks.

Good for you! Some things just amaze me at times. I mean that is truly incredible.

I don't see why it is set up like that. If you tell them it is going to happen and not to approve it, why can't the account be flagged? I'm sure there is a way to flag an account or even put the whole account on hold during that time period. What a mess computers have made in lives! lol

Oh, it can be done; they just don't want to do it. I guess from their perspective they don't want to be in the middle because some people will run scams by doing that but still...

True. But if the person takes the money out of the account so the payment will not be covered and the bank lets it go through anyway, do you think the bank will get their money back? Regardless of the amount, it doesn't have to be 800 say 20, the principal is the same and I would argue over the 20 just as if it were 800. I also wouldn't pay the bank fees that they would tack on.

Huh? Can you type that again in REAL English? LOL

Basically it's like this; if you give any institution or company your account number they can take the money out. The bank's position is they wouldn't have access unless you gave it.

You may have given them access, but how can you make them stop? You have to have some control.

You tell them they can not do it anymore. You put it in writing. If they are doing it via a debit card and you can manage your account online you change the card number...

That's what I did and they didn't listen. (put it in writing). I gave a copy to the bank with a letter to the bank asking them to block any future automatic payments. I withdrew most of my money and they still let the payment go through and expected me to pay the bank fees on top of the automatic payment. That was when I switched banks. I think they finally closed out my account.

How long ago was this? Is it still on your credit report? You may need to talk to a lawyer!

Luckily it didn't go against our credit, at least not yet. LOL The banks can still stick it on there at any time the way the new laws work. No wonder bankruptcy is such a popular route. LOL

Bankruptcy is popular because it is so easy. People don't realize how much damage bankruptcy can do to them.

My mechanic did not take long to show up; he knew I was a little freaked out by the incident and he knew someone could come speeding down the ramp and run into the back of me.

It took a while for him to fiddle around under the hood after we got more water so I could drive it again. It was more than 6 miles to get home so I went to my other half. I fell asleep on the heating pad and this morning I am still a little achy from my muscles tensing up. Even my wrists were aching.

LOL, I thought I wouldn't be able to crochet!

good to know that you are safe. give yourself a rest for now and leave your crochet a break too. just imagine me giving you a back massage. i do swedish massage. so i am giving you one friend. can you feel it? I hope this can ease the pain and relaxes you muscles due to the tension that you just had. Take a deep breath and relax!

I am happy to report that I finished the hat I was working on and started another. Although, the margarita I had with lunch has metabolized and my muscles feel soft, lol.

I am excited to see your product C. I also do that...taking some sip of brandy while doing my crochet LOL. Let's have an exchange of photo crafts. Who knows this can be a good start for our future business together.

I am going to have to really work to catch up to your level! I think of how many hats and scarves I have made and I think I should be able to make a sweater pretty fast considering how much "material" it is if I were to put all of those scarves together. Maybe if I use a big hook, lol. Then I can be like you.

Oh that's good . You can do it the same way that i do. There's a lot more photos i can share with you later. i know you will enjoy watching my crafts once i finish my site. you will be one of those that i will send the link to check on. we can really make a good partner for our craft in the future.

I really liked the belt in your photo and you have inspired me to experiment a bit once I get past this next festival. I have some things I want to try in January for next year's shows.

i posted a new photo in your helium discussion. thanks for appreciating the belt. i posted my photo wearing the headband that i made. i used the design of the belt for the headband! hope you will like it and inspire you more to make crochet a "career" or one of your sidelines.

I will have to take a look. I have been looking for sweater dresses because dresses being a complete outfit make life easier. I did find a cream colored one online at walmart a whie ago and it came with a simple belt but maybe I will make something more colorful to wear with it.

Of course I had just taken it out of the package and was across the room opening a bottle of red wine and a tiny drop went flying upward and over to where my new dress was sitting. Can you believe it? I never even got to wear it.

oh no... maybe you can still remove the stain for you to wear it LOL. this is keeping me more hyper for my crochet crafts. i know soemday i will meet you and personallyhave an exchange of our products and i can even sell yours.

I eventually used wine out but I have yet to wear the dress. One of these days :-)

please send me more pictures of your craft and of course you wearing those. let's make this a a serious sideline. later we can exchange crafts. thanks to mylot for letting me know you friend. a person with the same interest like me.

I already have a serious sideline -- teaching. Crochet is too seasonal and the ability to do it is too common here. If I get to the point of doing my own designs it might be different but it is time for me to start focusing on other things now.

Okay friend got your point. Here in our country it's not that common for people to crochet. really time consuming and you need more patience and certain with the quality. that's why people just order because they appreciate crochet but not for them to make. that's why it's really an advantage for me to be into this crochet business! Good that you have teaching as a regular sideline. that's a noble job mama!

That is great that you are seen as unique! Here everyone wants to be an artist or a crafter and not work at a regular job. Not all of them are all that talented either; but this is "America" where anyone can set up a shingle.

I have a talent for coming up with things people like/want/can use and sometimes it sets me apart from some of those other people out there.

this is what makes us so special and unique from among the rest. we make anything that people will like and use. see we are blessed and that's why we jive here. we have lots of things in common and even interests. you as teacher, me as trainer, you loves crafts, same with me, you loves helping others--into social development too and me a social worker by profession. thanks god for C.

You're so sweet! Thanks for the sentiment! Where do you usually sell your crafts?

it's a made to order business. i do it myself, my mom and my sister. those extra clothes we send to other countries and it's quickly sold. i make crochet blouses for my friends, office mates and those who see me wearing my crafts and ask where i bought it i told them i did--they order. i do not use any measurement--i just look at the person and i know her size and the right design for her. a gift that i am so humbly grateful. I AM A WALKING ADVERTISEMENT OF MY CRAFTS. i love wearing crochet clothes.

I want to make a dress. I saw a ocuple of really nice ones in a magazine but I don't know when I will get around to doing it.

...start it now friend and you will be surprise it will be done anytime soon. please send me a copy sister of the crochet dress. i will try to make one and later show you my output. kindly email it to me. i will PM you my email later please. thanks!

I have a nice long cardigan/duster that I bought on clearance online thinking it was cashmere but it was really acrylic. It is very soft but it did not come with a belt. When things settle down in a few days I want to make a belt to go with it though I am not sure if I will use crochet. Do you know what a friendship bracelet is?

yes i made friendship bands/bracelets too. i have some designs for it. i even sell it my dear friend. do you make friendship bands too?

Yes, I teach my students how to do them. I've made larger versions to use as chokers and belts also.

you are definitely making my excitement level high to see your crafts. i hope you can share that with me too even in photos. i made belts and friendship bands but not yet with chokers. i don't have any idea how it looks like.

Making a choker is simple, you just make a longer bracelet so that it fits around the neck. You may also want the band itself to be a bit wider. I don't have any samples on hand at the moment or I would post a picture.

okay...so i will try doing it and maybe wait for the time when you have something to show me so i will have an idea and inspiration too. thanks C for not giving up on sharing with me and keeping up with this discussion. you are simply great friend!

No problem. Did you seriously want that scarf from the store that was going out of business or were you joking?

i am serious my friend. i want it as a souvenir...if ever i will have that, there will be a story behind that thing. it will remind me of our friendship that started here in mylot. i may sound sentimental but that's how i value our friendship canellita!

Send me a PM with your email address.

i already sent you a PM. have a great day friend. this is quite amazing. we're able to maintain the contact through this discussion for more than a month now hehehehe.

When I get back to my own computer I will email you about sending your scarf. It came in purple and gray.

really? wow purple is also one of my favorite colors aside from yellow. you increase my excitement to see it. thanks friend for this wonderful surprise. i honestly appreciate it.

I just realized that looks like one scarf in two colors when it is two scarves of different colors! I return to teaching today so I might not get to the post office before Friday, but you'll have your pacakge soon!

Take your time friend…no rush though my excitement is really increasing to finally see and have it. So how’s your first day in school for the year 2010? I hope everything is fine.

Everything was fine, thanks for asking. The kids were a little wound up but that is to be expected after a holiday break.

i hope they will not give you "wounds" too LOL. stay cool teacher chanel.

You meant Canellita, right?

...yes i mean teacher Canellita! Yes Madam. How are you i am happy seeing some of your discussions. i will be responding on later!

I'm sorry; I forgot again! I just realized I went out again and didn't take it with me!

it's okay. i will be patiently waiting for it friend. hehehehe. take your time and don't pressure yourself too much. thanks once again!

I need some special Chinese charms for warding off ghosts! Thankfully my good spirits were around to chase them off! I think the entire thing was a warning to get the tank changed immediately. I am waiting for mechanic to come right now.

haha, you have to ask Mommaj to catch the ghosts.
I bet she kidnaps those ghosts from hell the lure of chocolate. Too bad she let them loose and they play tricks with you.
Next time spank Mommaj when you see her, ask her to keep the ghosts hard at work, and not playign with your car or refrigerator.

Ah, I heard scheng say something about those ghosts. I have been looking for them. I didn't mean to let them lose on Canellita. Send them back. I still need them! Sounds strange, Canellita, Scheng may have something. I'ld be careful of anything that can "freeze".

Maybe I need to hang capsicum around the house and the car? Will that send the ghosts back on their merry way?

haha, if that doesnt work, you have to try garlic. Just stuff yourself full of garlic and the bad breath will kill every living creature, as well as creatures from above and below.
I guess those ghosts are writing ghosts, if not housekeeping ghosts, maybe you can find jobs for them, before sending them away.

Garlic? I thought that was for vampires!

I have been meaning to ask you how things are going at lulu.com. Are you still posting stories there?

I didn't even promote for lulu. right now all the effort is in blogging, not even writing for Helium.
I think I will concentrate solely on blogging for the time being. These two little blogs really suck up all my time and energy.

I want to spend some time blogging. Hopefully after the holidays when things settle down a bit and the third quarter classes are stable I can do it. I may have my students work on a weaving project based on techniques used by the Berber people. I tried it out in the summer but I has older kids in the class then.

Hi Canellita, I think you can get the wine group folks to contribute some articles on wine.
Blogger allows up to 100 writers for a blog, so you can add them to the blog if they want to write something.

Oh no! They come to me for information. I don't want anyone else posting to my blog. Maybe some of the wine reps I know might have something worth sharing but other than that...

Sounds like both of you need a vacation. I hope the blog works well for you Scheng. When you have it reach the success that you want it at maybe you should write step by step instructions. I think you are going to become very successful with that.

Sounds like you have your hands full Canellita. I thought you might be slowing down and writing more. LOL I wondered what everyone was up to. LOL

haha Mommaj, your ghosts are making Canellita busier. You must really catch all of them and keep them under control! Otherwise, Canellita will have no peace at all.
I think all those ghosts which you kidnap do not know how to drive, but they are so naughty.
I think I can succeed in making money out of blogging, given enough time to learn and write and market the blog. It's really very hard work.

Nope, no ghosts here. I put up the peppers and garlic. Smells like an Italian delicatessen in here.

My mechanic is the reason I don't have to get a new car. No one else would have come to my rescue yesterday and have been able to do what he did. I would have ended up getting the thing towed and a shop would have tried to charge me a fortune for work I did not need. I drive a very good, very sound car that I have been slowly rebuilding. My car was made when BMW had something to prove. As long as it is still driveable I will keep driving it. If I had a more recent model with all that electronic stuff I would be screwed.

Calling my father at a time like that is asking for a headache. Besides, he doesn't know anything about BMWs. My guy is certified and I learned the hard way that you can not take the car just anywhere. It's been a lot easier to maintain than I thought it would be.

I used to have a friend who's sister had a BMW. They are nice cars, but always seem to break down. Then again this one was new. She was always taking it to be worked on> Sad thing is, now I am related to the person who sold her the car... lol.

My car is over 20 years old so I am replacing old parts that have just worn out. That is, I was until someone hit the car and I had to replace perfectly fine parts. Today I had a flat, in the rain and the cold and the dark. It's been a rough few weeks. But then again, if I were not in a position to repair it, I would really be stuck out.

Maintaining a car is like maintaining a house. Oil changes, tires, the occasional upgrades such as new batteries. It has to be done and it's par for the course. It would be worse with most other cars.

Well, with my car, when it stalls you have to turn the key all the way back to be able to start it up again. I had planned to just coast down but when the brake locked up o me I started to freak out. I was later told that it is a standard thing on all cars which is absolutely crazy. If I had not veered into that side wall I would have rear ended another car once I got to the bottom. I just may email BMW about it.

My car's production date is 9/87; it is hardly modern. Since becoming a BMW owner I have learned that nothing about this car is like any other car I have driven. If someone is not a current or previous BMW owner or a certified technician I stop listening halfway into the first sentence.

My master cylinder went out so I know what it means when the brakes are not working. My car has a manual transmission, BTW. What happened in this instance is the break pedal barely moved and little me just didn't have enough physical power to shove it down to the floor since the resistance under my foot made me think something was wrong and the brake had locked up.

Another BTW, my car recently suffered an injury under the bumper when someone most likely pulling a trailer backed into it and something jammed the air conditioner condenser up into the radiator that I just purchased a few months ago. I only discovered it after the car started running hot. Naturally I thought the brake issue in this instance was somehow connected.

I lock and unlock my steering wheel daily. I could not do it in this instance once the car stopped moving because of the angle of the front tire which was up against the side rail. Which I careened into when I could not control the movement of the car and jam the h*ll out of the brakes (although I did try).

As for the ignition, the only way I can restart my engine is to turn the key all the way back to off. Take it up with BMW, oh wait, didn't they start out by building planes?

Are you starting to get the picture?

Oh dear, the failed master cylinder, that's a bit more serious.
I call that one the goosh factor.

Put your foot on the brake and 'goosh', the car actually seems to go faster.

Looks like all the gotchas joined forces against you, right there and then.

You are surely correct about those Euro cars. My least favourite is Renault.

Yes, being the owner of a 22 year old BMW is certianly an adventure.

Thanks. It all happened really fast. I expected to just coast on down to the bottom but when the brake resisted and I couldn't slow the car down and then the power steering wasn't working and once it stopped I locked the wheel without realizing... I went from "what the...?" to "Oh crap!" in a matter of seconds. I really thought things were worse than they were, especially after I realized I was still on an incline without the handbrake engaged and the car wasn't moving. I actually drove it home.