The luck of the Irish
No Comments »5th December, 2007; Category: General
WARNING: slight tangent ahead.
Yes readers, a slight tangent ahead. This post is not much about writing, though I guess you could say it is about reading – or not being able to read.
There was a slight accident on Adelaide’s O-Bahn rapid transit bus way yesterday. Two Irish tourists had just arrived in their hired motor home in our state capital city. They decided to follow a local bus. Either they were very inattentive, or couldn’t read the prominent signs. The bus was entering the O-Bahn track which is designed only for buses to travel at high speed. These buses are on a guided track and do not have to be steered. They often travel up to 110kph between stops. On leaving the track they can then travel on normal roads (but then need to be steered).
The motor home travelled for about 2 kilometres before being clipped by a bus travelling in the opposite direction. No-one was hurt in the incident. The Irish driver has been charged with being drunk while driving Allegedly he had a blood alcohol reading of 0.154, three times the legal limit here in South Australia.
I can’t remember what is written on the signs at the entrance of the bus way, but they are large, clear, explicit and unmistakable.
Not to everyone it seems.
Link:
- The O-Bahn Busway – Adelaide’s rapid transit system, including photos.
And now for a group writing project…
Robert is one of my regular commenters here on this blog.
And I’m one of the frequent readers (and occasional commenters) on his blog called Middle Zone Musings.
Every month Robert runs a group writing project. I must apologize to him for never having contributed to one of his world-famous challenges. So this month I thought I’d give it a go. What’s more I’ll even give the project a “kick” start by promoting it here. Go ahead – have a go.
All the details can be found on his post called “What I learned from…the world of sports.”
Good writing.
A pleasant writing surprise
I had a pleasant surprise relating to my writing last week.
An editor of a magazine sent me an email requesting that I submit an article for one of the magazines she edits. I didn’t have to go through the normal process of sending a query or submitting an article on spec and that makes it a pleasurable experience. What is more – she actually specified several topics she wanted me to consider writing about. That took out the frustration of not knowing what to write about.
After a few hours of thought I set to work and the words flowed quickly. They actually flowed a little too well, and before I knew it I had way too many words. Nearly 600 words when the limit was strictly 450 words. My wife thought that this was typical of me. “Your writing is too flowery,” she says. “Too many unnecessary words.”
So I set to and did some ruthless pruning. Much to my wife’s surprise I soon had the word count down to 447 words.
Writing Hint: when an editor specifies a maximum (or minimum) word count, you ignore that figure at your peril. That is a sure way to get rejected.
Anyway, the article was soon on its electronic way to the editor. Now – I wonder if there are any more editors out there lining up to send me similar emails??? I doubt it, though this would be nice. Truth is, the editor in this case is a friend. Never mind – it is nice to get a break like this from time to time.
Now – back to getting stories, poems and articles sent off to all those editors too busy to send me invitational emails.
Good writing.
The Adventures of Nancy – Grandpa has a birthday
2 Comments »1st December, 2007; Category: Adventures of Nancy
Hi there readers,
Nancy – the dog with attitude here again.
I nearly forgot to mention a very significant event. It happened about two weeks ago. I was so busy I forgot to tell you about it.
Grandpa Trevor had a very special birthday. It was his 60th Birthday too. We had a special party for him. Uncle Simon and Aunty Leanne came over from Sydney just to see me. Well, I suppose they came to see Grandpa too. And my Mum was there too. And Rose and Keith who are Grandpa’s friends. They are Butch’s mum and dad – but Butch didn’t come which is just as well. I didn’t want to share my piece of cake with him.
We had a good party.
You can see the birthday cake in the photo below.
Talk to you again soon.
Nancy.
PS: When Grandpa is not writing or busy playing games with me, he likes to look at Australian birds. That is why there one on his cake. We didn’t eat the bird because it has a magnet on the back.
Trevor's 60th Birthday Cake