Please Scan Your First Item!

I was going to insert a photo of a supermarket self service machine [here] however 1. I do not have such a photo of my own and 2. I couldn't quite wrap my head around the licenses on supposedly 'free' images online.

So I thought knickers to it. If you do not know what a self service machine looks like in a super market it is basically a machine with a scanner, some scales, a computer screen and then a bagging area (which is also some scales).

And they talk to you.

They say such things as:

'Please scan your first item.'

'Please place the item in the bagging area'

'Insert cash or select payment type.'

'Please take your card.'

...just to name a few.

Now one of the annoying things it says is:

'Unexpected item in the bagging area.'

Which usually occurs when you have just scanned something, it has registered on the screen (so the machine knows what it is) and then instructed you to put in the bagging area.

And then you have to wait for an actual human being to come and sort it out.

Now that is quite annoying but the phrase I hate the most with these machines is after you've paid.

So the machine tells you take your card or your change and about 10 seconds later while you are still putting said card or change away the machine says:

'Please take your items.'

Hang on a second, give me a chance to get myself sorted. These machines seem to think that after the instruction to take your card or change you just throw everything in your bag or pocket and immediately walk off, shopping in hand.

I do actually find that more annoying that the 'unexpected item' declaration.. as that doesn't happen every time you use one of these machines (just almost every time).

Here endeth the rant!

Teaser Tuesday

To take part in Teaser Tuesday all you have to do is:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Then head over to Should Be Reading and add your link to the comments. 

Here's mine:

For after his departure Hercule Poirot sat down again slowly like a man in dream and murmured:
'The Labours of Hercules... Mais oui, c'est idée, ça…’

Page 10, The Labours Of Hercules by Agatha Christie

Random Quote #193

It's only those who do nothing that make no mistakes, I suppose.

Joseph Conrad

Teaser Tuesday

Well I'm still on the same book as last week but I have advanced a bit further.

To take part in Teaser Tuesday all you have to do is:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Then head over to Should Be Reading and add your link to the comments. 
 
Here's mine:

Maggie ran through the Grady Hospital emergency room. She had to shove people out of the way.

Page 134, Cop Town by Karin Slaughter

Random Quote #192

You're only given one little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.

Robin Williams

Laptops & Tea... Don't Mix!

I bet you didn't realise that did you? That an electrical device and liquid do not make particularly good friends?

Picture the scene...

I was sat last week with my laptop on my knee and a cup of tea in my hand. Now I have a stand type thing to put my laptop on, mainly to let air circulate under it. It tips the laptop up so there is a couple of inches gap between the top of the laptop where the hinges are and whatever you have the stand sat on.

There is a sort of lip at the end nearest you to stop the laptop sliding towards you.

However on occasion I have accidentally sat the laptop on top of this lip... this was one such time.

So I'm sat, laptop on knee, mug of tea in hand, when the laptop suddenly slides towards me and then changes direction and heads to floor. Which of course meant that I tried to stop it falling to the floor (I did succeed in that). However in doing so I jerked the hand with the mug in it and sloshed tea all over the laptop.

Panic station!!!

I quickly mopped it up as best I could, switched the laptop off and put it to one side with some pieces of kitchen towel (paper towel) on it.

Cue the next day when I went to check it... the kitchen towel was now damp to start with, but I couldn't see any other liquid on it.

So I turned it on, and it came on OK... so far so good.

Then I went to log in to something and it was telling me my password was wrong.

That's when I realised that the 'Caps Lock' was randomly turning itself on and off. I then discovered that if you pressed the '9' above the letters I also got a letter 'o'. And if I pressed the 9 over to the right I also got a '#'. Now I kind of understand how I got an 'o' as that is just under the '9'. But a '#'? That's nowhere near either '9'.

Anyway I was googling, cos although the '9' thing would be annoying I could live with it, however that caps lock thing would end up with the laptop going through the window.

Long story short I ended up with the laptop propped upside down, sans battery for 24 hours.

Luckily it seemed to work - I even opened up a word document when I finally switched it back on and pressed every key to check that they were all working properly and that the caps lock wasn't still doing its own thing.

So a word to wise... be careful with liquids around electrical equipment... but you already knew that, right?

Teaser Tuesday

All you have to do to take part in Teaser Tuesday is:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Then head over to Should Be Reading and add your link to the comments. 
 
Here's mine:

Terry's friends all had names like Bud and Mack and Red and talked about the good old days like preachers talked about heaven. They all had multiple ex-wives, angry mistresses, and grown children who wouldn't talk to them.

Page 45, Cop Town by Karin Slaughter

Random Quote #191

Don't let someone dim your light simply because it's shining in their eyes.

Anon.

Teaser Tuesday

This will be my first Teaser Tuesday using my Kindle. So I will give you the page number and the 'Loc' number (does that stand for 'location'?) as I don't know how much the page numbers would vary... but anyhoo...

To take part all you've got to do is:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Then head over to Should Be Reading and add your link to the comments. 
 
Here's mine:

"I notice you've been avoiding me ever since," I said to Jack. "Any reason for that?"

Page 90 (Loc 1165), The Wrong Girl by C. J. Archer 

This book counts towards my total for the New Authors Challenge 2014 hosted by Literary Escapism 

Random Quote #190

Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. 

Bill Nye