Says on the BBC news here that Dubya is pardoning 14 prisoners , is this common practise for an outgoing president or is there another reason for it?

Ok, whoever said that only women have blonde moments was definitely talking out of their rear end (and im not saying that on behalf of Great Britain!)

In the middle of a heavy schedule this morning I was somehow tempted to have a look at my vehicle log book. I guess you could call it something like "female intuition from a mans feminine side"  but a damn good job it happened cos the date it showed as being first registered was 27th Oct 2005 ....  In other words my little "Roxy"  was gonna need an MOT certificate from midnight on Sunday (An annual inspection test that the Ministry of Transport issues to every road vehicle over 3 years old , and if the cops catch you without one then you can end up with a hefty fine plus upto six points on your license ... in other words your ass can be well and truly screwed)

Bearing in mind most garages dont open on weekends I had to act , fast! After a few seconds of panic I called one of my mechanic friends Bill and asked if he could get me booked in with one of his testing station contacts.

Yay, got it sorted for 2.30 this afternoon. The old boy at the garage was smirking at me almost as if he knew i'd left it till the last minute. "Good job your mate Bill called me earlier eh young man?"   

"Grrrrr," i thought , "I'll knock your bloody teeth out Bill for laughing at my expense"  (only thing is Bill hasnt got any teeth left anyway!  

Anyways, the old boy at the garage had it all done and dusted by 3.15 and handed me a couple of do****ents after Id paid my £40 dues.

"Erm, you havent given me the MOT certificate mate"  I queried

"Yes i have" he said with a grin, "Its obviously been some time since you had to have one, theyve changed the style of it now"

Duh! I felt like a right dork as i left his office and walked towards "Roxy" .

"Happy 3rd Birthday, girl"  I said to her "Ive got you a present" waving the MOT certificate at her, "Me and you have a very important job to do Monday morning picking up Sophia from the airport"

I swear she looked back at me with a wink and a smile  - perhaps she was remembering the time Sophia tried to drive her and couldnt get the hang of using the gear stick- jeez, you americans and your automatic cars !   :)

So how do you fob people off in such a way that you make it quick, polite, and not necessarily offensive?

For the record, the "sales people" also includes preachers who insist you listen to their views, and people who stand in the middle of the mall on a busy weekday and insist on grabbing your attention for some survey they are carrying out and are not in the least interested that your time is tight cos you're on your lunch hour and have a dozen or so things to do

Heres my top five faves:

(i)  Jehovahs witnesses at the door   -   Pretend you dont understand and start rabbling off in a foreign language (quite easy when they can see youre not a white englishman ;)

(ii)  Credit Card salespeople  -  Tell them you work for one of their rivals (hehe easy cop out)

(iii) Flower vendors that try and flog you cheap flowers when you're in a bar and say "would you like a nice bunch of flowers for your girlfriend?"   -  Simple reply   "erm no thanks im gay"   (works every time :)

(iv)  Telesales people that ring you up thinking they can get a sale out of you -  Keep asking them to repeat cos their accent is too strong and you havent a clue what theyre saying (eventually they'll think youre an ignorant b----d and hang up hehe )

(v) Beauty Promotions saleswomen that claim they have the perfect cleansers and cremes for your skin and they can do you a special offer -  Look at them in shock horror and claim thats not what they said a few weeks ago when they flogged you that tub of miracle creme

Jeez, am i a stubborn little git or what?  :)

Ouch ! I pulled a back muscle yesterday and it was no sudden movement (prob just a sign that im getting old!)  Ive never been one to go for spray can relief , especially when you have a choice of either one which gives a heated feeling or one which gives one of a frozen nature (confusing cos its the total opposite).

However, I decided to venture into the unknown after my trip to the pharmacy today and after buying a packet of strong Ibuprofen I went for the freeze spray. Hey presto it actually felt great. So great that the mischievious side of me came racing to the top and i started to do high kick stretches and 180 degree turns from one leg to the other (bit like a martial arts fighter psyching himself up).

Yeah i know I should be taking it easy but given the fact that yesterday i was in absolute agony it felt so great today after that "treatment" that i just wanted to be Hong Kong Phooey  < ggg >

I promise to behave myself when Sophia moves here ;)

Hmm , does anyone ever get a tad fed up with the whole election campaign every time we have to choose a new president, prime minister, MP, etc ?

Surely the whole point of living in a democracy is we vote who we want to vote for regardless of their colour, creed, religious background, or how many houses, businesses, donkeys, or underpants they own.

I find it quite amusing when people become "armchair campaigners" who think they can persuade others to vote who they want them to vote for.

Have a look at my "typical cheeky brit" take on the whole subject ...   

scroll to about 1.58  minutes of the clip where the female is asking the three male contestants who their ideal woman is   :)

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSa7BhiXGkQ