How to test drive.

A few of us at work are selling cars or car shopping, and I said, "What's a test drive anyway? I don't know what I'm supposed to do!" So Martyn wrote us this checklist. I include it with his permission, to benefit all car-buyers of little experience.

1. Is there an Owner's Handbook/Manual? If not, I suggest you proceed no further! If so, to whom was the car originally sold and where? (eg if it was originally sold to someone in Darwin, what is it now doing in Sydney?)
2. Is there a Service Record...if so have the services been done more or less in accordance with the manufacturer's recommended intervals? If not, I suggest you don't proceed...a "lost" service history may mean the seller has something to hide OR they or a previous owner were pretty slap-dash about getting it serviced.
3. Do they have the registration paper?

4. If the above points are OK, walk around and look for the following:
a) Signs of body repair eg panels that don't quite fit, non- matching sections of paint
b) Do all the tyres have plenty of tread?
c) Have someone with you to get in and turn on the headlights, blinkers, windscreen washers and wipers and horn
d) Open the bonnet and check that the Compliance Plate is affixed. Compare the details thereon with the registration paper ie the engine number and  "VIN"

5. Take the car for a drive and check for the following:
a) When you turn the key, does the engine start quickly? If it struggles to fire, the battery may be nearing the end of its useful life, or there could be other problems. Does the tachometer settle into a constant RPM reading (normally around 750) within about 10 seconds or does it fluctuate up and down above and below say, 1,000 rpm?
b) If manual, when you let the clutch out, does it 'take up' smoothly and progressively as you start easing the clutch or does it suddenly 'catch' and you lurch forward?
c) Are there any unusual sounds from the engine, exhaust or gear box when changing gears (manual or auto)? Leave the radio off and drive with the window down so you can hear the car. (Check the radio later)
d) Assume it has A/C, turn this on as you drive to make sure it works OK.
e) On a straight section of road, accelerate hard for a few seconds to check the response. Find somewhere without too much traffic and 'just' take your hands off the wheel - does the car continue to 'track' straight or does it pull to one side or the other?
f) Find a quiet street and check the brakes: accelerate to about 50 km/h then hit the brakes quite firmly. Does the car come to a quick stop? Does the steering wheel want to pull to one side or the other?

If there are one or two things on the above checklist which you are not happy about but otherwise the car seems OK, get an NRMA or other expert to check it out. If three or more problem areas you should probably keep looking!

Speaking the truth in love

Last night, our Bible study groups kicked off for the year. A lot of the groups met together at church and we did an intro seminar on Ephesians 4:1-16. We spoke a bit about verse 15, "But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head—Christ." People spoke about it as rebuking and correcting each other in a loving manner, but I see it more than that. Speaking the truth in love can also be giving a word of encouragement.

When we struggle, we can lose perspective, lose sight of God. Speaking the truth in love in this case can be reminding each other that God loves you, cares for you, is in control etc. Encouragement is a great way to speak the truth in love.

Moisturise and barricade

Dry skin is a bugbear of jelssie. I've got three stubborn dry, flaky patches on my face at the moment and whatever I'm trying is not working. So I went and had a chat with a pharmacist and she reckons it's due to the weather (refer to jelssievision season 1 episode 4 for what I blame most things on). She recommended I moisturise the flaky patches with QV cream and then barricade the skin with paw paw ointment (refer to jelssievision season 1 episode 2 for Jess' explanation of paw paw ointment). I've decided to add the step of gentle exfoliation with  konjac sponge at the beginning, to get rid of the flaky skin.

This is not the first time I've talked about dry facial skin on jelssie, but I am too lazy to link to my other posts, so you'll just have to trust me on this one.

Wonder-ginger.

Ginger is one of the BEST ingredients to totally zing things up. Whoever invented ginger in fresh juice is my hero. I have now discovered ginger honey. It was expensive in the honey shop but surely you can make it. I've googled and there are several recipes. Basically you put lots of slivers of ginger in honey, either cook for 10 min at a low heat or just don't bother, and then leave it for about 5 days to infuse. Then you have a couple of weeks to eat it. It's nice in tea, on fancy bread and cheese, general gourmet dribbling.

I heard some devastating news on the radio this week though. Honey shortage in Australia. Bees are starving. I forget why, maybe the warm winter means less pollen or something. That's a shame. So stock up now.

DIY ugboot refurbish.

The sad thing about old ugboots is that the wool on the inner sole wears out but the top of the foot and ankle are still thick and fluffy. Your feet are no longer cushioned by delightful fleece, they are simply standing on a balding foam sole. But you still have warm ankles. It is really a waste to buy new ugboots just for the sole.

You can actually buy new sheepskin inner soles. I've seen them at that sheepskin shop on the side of the highway in the blue mountains. Which gave me an idea. I can be frugal, and cut up some old ugboots to make my own sets of inner soles for my newer ugboots!

I finally got to do that this week. I've been keeping my old ugboots for years, waiting for the moment of need. Their time has come!

I made a template by drawing around new ugboot sole. I then drew a line inside it a bit smaller so that it would fit inside. (I just fished a cereal box out of the recycling for my template material.)

Then I cut the sole off my old ugboot. Sheepskin is a bit hard to cut, I suggest doing little snips through just the skin, not through the wool as well. The wool pulls apart once you've snipped through the skin.

Drew around my template on one side of the boot, using a texta.

Then I flipped the template over and drew around it on the other side of the boot. You have to flip the template over so that you get a left and a right foot.

Here they are! They are a perfect fit and my feet are happy.

Not much left over from the old boot. I'll cut a spare pair from the other boot and put them away somewhere for when I need to replace again. If you have a family of ugboot wearers, you could do this all the time and share out new inner soles whenever a pair gets holes in it.

When a total stranger asks for your number.

My friend was in Bunnings on the weekend and was surprised to find herself being chatted up by another shopper, and in the flustering of the moment gave him her number. Then the rest of her Bunnings trip was made awkward because she forgot what he looked like and was worried she'd meet him again in another aisle. He texted while she was at church, and this is her reply, which I share with her permission because it's exactly what you might want to be able to respond one day, with whatever valid excuse you like, if you get asked out by a random.

Very ladylike, I think.

Taming thick, straight hair

I have thick, straight hair. I've been two things lately to tame it and weigh the ends down a bit more, so that it's a bit more sleeker. The night before I wash my hair, I apply a generous amount of jojoba oil to the ends (and sleep with a towel over my pillow case). I wash and condition as per usual in the morning. I then apply some Ichikami Essence to the damp ends (sent to me from Japan by my sister - a very thoughtful gift!).

I'd recommend this to people with thick hair, wanting to condition and soften the ends of their hair. Probably wouldn't recommend this if you have fine hair.

Thoughts on welcoming newcomers at church

• Be warm, friendly and interested. 
• Find out what brought them to church that day. How did they hear about our church? Do they usually go to church?
• Show an interest in the person. Find out their story: where are they from? Where did they grow up? Do they live locally? Are they a Christian (if so, how did they become one?)? If not, what is their understanding of the Christian faith (probe to see interest levels and share the gospel if appropriate)?
• What does their daily life look like?
• What are their key relationships? Married? Single? Family?
• What are they interested in? What are they passionate about?
• If they're a Christian, and they're looking for a church to join, tell them about small groups and what usually happens at church. 
• Invite them to join you for morning tea, supper, dinner etc etc after church. The regulars know that supper is in the church hall after the service, but newcomers don't know anything: that there even is a church hall, let alone where it is, and that supper is on.
• Introduce them to other people at church, so they can start getting to know people and building relationships. It also takes the pressure off you for maintaining a conversation with a stranger. Also means that if they come back, other people will be around to say hello if you're not there.
• Include them in conversations, and when in a group conversation, be deliberate in making eye contact, so they know you are aware of them, that you're interested in them being a part of your group. Find a way to include them in the conversation.
• Find a point of commonality.
• Talk less, listen more.
• Be aware of what it's like to be new and a stranger. Think how you would feel and what would make you feel as if people wanted you there and wanted you to return.

Ladies maid.

Women are able to talk while they work. Today the office was pretty empty so the 3 girls in the corner barely shut up. Lots of jelssie inspiration. For instance, what I would like is a ladies maid. Who wouldn't want a ladies maid! We should bring them back. I want someone to do my hair, make my elaborate breakfast and lunch, and get my clothes ready for me in the morning—especially, to warm them up for me in winter by hanging them on a heater or in front of a fire, depending how rich I am. One of these days (in the real world) I'm going to get a heater, put it next to my bed, drape my clothes over it every night, and then in the morning do the Michael Scott thing (he does it with bacon) and wake up, turn on the heater, go back to sleep, and then wake up again and get dressed into toasty warm clothes.

How to handle difficult phone conversations.

I'm signed up to Smart Grid, the trial electricity usage thing. (lol, just realised that I got a smart meter installed probably without my landlord's permission. Oh well!) So far, after 6 weeks or so, the fun gadget I was promised which tells me electricity usage in real time has not appeared, I've received non-stop ALERT! text messages from something called Budgetsmart which I took a while to realise is to do with Smart Grid not spam, and basically I don't feel smarter, I'm just being billed more annoyingly. However the customer support people on the phone have been nice, and even when I grumpily replied to the automated SMS "going into debit" reminder ("No I'm not I just paid lots of money!" or something along those lines) I got a courtesy phone call the next day.

So I'm getting good at talking on the phone about stuff that I don't understand but am annoyed about.

0. Write a list or a summary. This is optional, it just helps when I'm out of my depth on an issue.

1. Assume the person in the call centre wants to help you. Expect them to be trained in courtesy and helpfulness. (Smart Grid have all been polite and articulate young men, or possibly all the same man. I'm imagining Jason from the hotel in Miranda.)

2. Speak to the point. It's hard to do this when you feel frustrated and out of your depth. My list helps me be clear and brief when I don't really understand my own problems.

3. Then wait and listen. If you are confident you explained it clearly as per your list, shut up, don't keep waffling uncertainly. You've handed the problem over, the onus is now on them. If you want to sound SLIGHTLY pushy, ask something like "what can you do about that?"

Over-explaining weakens the complainer, I think. You can sound more assertive if you talk less. When I went to the apple genius bar, I kept it friendly but minimal as well. "Carked it. Probably the hard drive." They ask a question, answer it: "it's empty because I already restored it." "yeah it turns on, but it doesn't show up in iTunes." I managed to avoid filling the silence by going on and on about how I plugged it in and it said connected but it froze mid-sync etc etc, and just sat there letting him run tests. If you feel like the silence is awkward, embrace it, and even think of it as a weapon. Speak to the point, and then engage the silence like an invisible sword.

Constant learning

In my current role at work, I get to rotate across at least four different roles in three years. That means constant learning, and constant learning hurts.

In each new role, I've had to learn different concepts, different systems and different skills. In the beginning, it really hurts my brain. I am really slow at performing the task and I document processes as meticulously as I can. There's two different processes going on when you learn to do something: there's the why (understanding what you're doing) and the how (actually being able to perform the task). In the beginning, I don't fully grasp what I'm doing, so I rely heavily on my documented processes. Over time, as I do the task repeatedly, I begin to understand what I'm doing a lot better.

I'm at the brain hurting phase and I have to consciously stop from myself from thinking, "I'm so slow and stupid! Why can't I get this the first time round? Why is this hard to understand?" and remind myself this is part of the learning process and soon enough, I will be efficient and proficient. I remind myself of times when I've mastered a new role and exceeded the expectations of others.

I'm always thinking at the back of my mind, "How would I explain this to a complete newbie? To someone who'll be in my shoes at the next rotation?"

This is what I would do:

• Give an overview of organisational structure of the department: who's who and who you need to know
• Give an overview/big picture of the task at hand
• Explain and walk through a spreadsheet before showing someone how to do it
• Show and explain to someone the end product (e.g. a printed report) before showing them how to put it together
• Show them how to do the task, and then the second time round, getting them to drive and perform the task under supervision
• Speak slowly and clearly, with pauses
• Repeat yourself several times
• Be patient
• Lower your expectations: expect mistakes and questions
• Provide a detailed instruction manual with screenshots (or allow the trainee time to take notes while you're explaining)
• Encourage copious note-taking!
• Tell the trainee it's okay if they don't really understand the first time round or if they feel confused or overwhelmed

Maybe some people are really good at getting things the first time or without taking lots and lots of notes. Not me. I have a Word document at work that's nearly 50 pages filled with screenshots and instructions on how to do my job. It amazes me how people just show you something once and then implicitly expect you to know how to do it next time. I can't do it without taking notes and screenshots, especially since a lot of my tasks are monthly: I'm bound to forget how it did it thirty days later!

People who've done something for years often have forgotten what it's like to do something new for the first time, to see a programme or a particular spreadsheet for the first time. I hope I never forget.

Stickers in the wallet

I've started keeping cute stickers of animals in my wallet. This is for when when I see friends and their kids, I can give the kid a sticker and s/he can start building a positive association with me :)

Watching DVDs in bed

I was bed-bound and unwell a few weeks back. Thankfully, Jess K had lent me Season 2 of Community and I still hadn't finished watching it. I found the only comfortable way of watching it while lying down, was to turn my laptop on its side, like so:

I learnt that if you don't have a tv, it's really important to have some enjoyable DVDs on hand to keep your mind off things or to entertain yourself while you're sick. Hence, a big thank you for Jess K for lending this to me for such a long period :) It's a truly laugh-out-loud series.

Cleaning with sorbelene

Did you know you can clean your hands with sorbelene? Well, it depends on what kind of dirty your hands are, but the other day, I noticed black marks all over my hands. It came from the shopping bag I was holding. I rubbed it with sorbelene, wiped the excess off with a tissue and my hands were clean. It's a great way of cleaning those kinds of marks off your hands, especially if your hands are dry and sensitive like mine.

Lights, power, action.

Changing lightbulbs is annoying and inconvenient and I put it off as long as possible. Me and my flatmate have been using the bathroom with a torch for 2 days, because it's such a nuisance to change: get a thing to stand on, (normally remove the light cover except that I left it off last time for efficiency), remove a lightbulb correctly (unscrew the screw one, unlock the bayonet one, not the other way around, as you can damage our old wiring), see if we have the right type of light bulb under the sink, if not—put new light bulb on a shopping list (current state of affairs), buy new light bulb, get a thing to stand on again, replace light bulb. I had a mini temper tantrum last night and kicked the bathroom door to release my frustration.

On the other hand... one of the small things I am proud of is knowing how to flip the switch in the box in the kitchen and get the magical electricity to be on again. It's invaluable to know that when you hear a pop and everything goes quiet or dark, you don't panic, or call a professional, or eat ice-cream for dinner. You know where the switch is, and you confidently flip it. It makes me feel so capable. It's not an obvious thing everyone knows, and it's not a thing that my parents taught me when I was home schooled. I somehow learned it myself in the real world.

It really works.

There were some spots of something, dried blood or hair dye or something, on a plastic surface and I tried water, detergent and exit mould and only got 30% of it off. Didn't want to scratch at it with anything so was using a chux. Then after a couple of days I remembered that vinegar and bi-carb are magical, and the carb soda would at least be a tiny bit abrasive but not in a damaging way, and the vinegar would at least be fizzy and fun, but it actually got the spots 99% off with just some steady rubbing. I'm just a tiny bit amazed.

Purposeful name forgetting

Sometimes, I "forget" people's names on purpose.

Say, I met someone at a function and I see them again at some point in the future. Usually, people don't remember my name (or if they do, they call me Elise) and it's just awkward for both of us if I'm the one who remembered their name (and it's so unusual to remember people's name, it makes me feel like a freak), so it's just easier to say, "Oh hey, aren't you Jess' friend from blah? Didn't I meet you at yada yada? My name's Elsie." Usually reminding them of your name prompts them to re-introduce themselves.

I never expect people to remember my name, so when I decide to use their name, I go, "Hey, it's Jess, right? I met you at xyz. I'm Elsie." It's helpful to give your name without people having to ask for it.

How I organised my work handbag

I put a bit of thought into organising my day-to-day handbag for work and I'm pretty chuffed with the results.

Firstly, here is my beautiful blue handbag, which my generous sister bought for me, second-hand from Tokyo. Thank you, Ali!


On the side of the handbag, there is a pocket and a tag with a hole in it. To this hole, I attached a short, black leather strap with a key ring at one end, and a hook-keyring (which you push down to open and close) at the other end. At this end, I have attached a ticket holder. Here, I'll put my travel pass and tuck into the side pocket of the handbag, which means I can easily fish it out when I get on public transport, and I won't lose it because it's attached securely to my handbag.

[In an ideal world, Sydney's public transport ticketing system would be more technologically advanced and we'd be able to just tap our transport passes against the ticket machine, rather than fish out our tickets and insert them into the machines.]


Inside my handbag, there is a D ring, so I've attached a bright yellow, retractable key ring. The bright colour means it will be easy to find in my bag (a lovely contrast to the blue as well), and the retractable cord means I'll be able to open my mailbox and front door more easily, knowing it's still securely attached to my handbag, meaning I have less chance of losing my keys.

Finally, the contents of my bag. I've organised most of the contents into four bags. This is so that "like" is stored with "like" and things will be easier to fish out of my bag. The bags are also transparent (or transparent enough), so that I can see the contents at a glance.

Bag 1: Frequently used items
- hand cream
- lip balm
- lip stick
- pocket mirror
- tissues
- mints
I considered including sunscreen, but for the moment, I have decided against it.

Bag 2: Fun
- iPod touch
- headphones

Bag 3: Less frequently used items
- female stuff (you know what I mean)
- band aids
- face oil blotting paper
- paper soap
- travel hairbrush
- Panadol (which have probably expired)

Bag 4: Writing
- thin, monthly calendar/diary
- thin notebook
- pacer and two pens


Other stuff, such as my wallet, mobile, glasses, sunnies and fan, I'm just chucking in as is. There is enough room for a thin paperback, otherwise I will have to carry a book separately (or get a Kindle!). I've decided not to carry water because I should be able to last my commute without a drink.

Hopefully, you can see that the aim of all this is to make it easier to find stuff in a bag without compartments.

I do have a bag organiser (another bag with lots of compartments which you put inside your handbag to organise its contents), but I'll see how I go with this.

How do you organise your bag?

Goodbye, fridge.

This fridge was donated by a colleague in Maitland from her mother's estate. It went with me to Bowral and then Kingsford and then Randwick, and then its life was cut tragically short by some kind of electricity thing during a storm. It faithfully refrigerated my food and the food of the 7 flatmates I've churned through in the last 6 years.

Here is the funeral ritual for a fridge before curbside collection.

1. Unplug fridge.

2. Remove lightbulb (location circled in last picture). Put it in the kitchen draw in case you can use it to replace a bulb in a future fridge.

3. Remove fridge magnets and menus.

4. Unscrew top door hinge and remove door. With an adjustable wrench from your GOSM tool kit.





5. Two people can carry the fridge to the kerb, and the door separately, without need of a trolly. Unfortunately it was collected before I had time to take a photo in location of fridge and door on curb.

Packing

I like this idea of packing bags inside your bag when you go travelling. It appeals to me because it applies the organising principle of storing like with like, and I like how bags compartmentalise everything. You could use travel organisers or packing cells. I like these clear ones because you can see at a glance what you've packed.

If you loathe to buy new things, an alternative could be using laundry bags (I have quite a few in different sizes) or maybe even packing things in pillow cases?!