My car goes 80, but only if I'm screaming

[saanen]

Down at the bottom I also explain the alarm clock bird, if you're patient enough to read that far. But first....

This morning the editor of Staffs & Starships, where I have a story in the inaugural issue, very kindly sent out a .pdf version to all the authors ahead of the printed copy we're getting later. Of course you should go buy a copy. I

Comments

You're not missing anything

[jbdryden]

Hi Kate. This is Boone. Your friendly, neighborhood editor. "I aim and" is actually the last line of that story. It's an odd way to end a magazine, I know, but that story fit best at the end of the work, and it kind of leads to interesting discussion. I certainly hope you enjoy the rest of the publication. Thanks for the plug.

Re: You're not missing anything

[saanen]

Oh, okay--that makes sense! Whew. Of course, I've now ruined the ending for everyone else.

[sina_says]

the alarm clock bird may actually be a mockingbird who's heard your clock. they're starting to document them doing cell phone rings in cities...

[saanen]

Oh, that's charming! I hope it is my very own mockingbird imitating my clock! This morning he had moved to the other side of the yard so he wasn't as loud, but he still woke me up.

[barbarakelley]

what a scare! I'm soooo glad it had a happy ending!

We have some sort of mimic bird here, too. Once I went past my parent's van and heard the dinging noise that it makes when the door is ajar. I went back in to tell my sister (who was using the van) that the battery might be low, since it'd been sitting there dinging for quite some time, and then I went on my way again. As I got closer to teh van, I was confronted with more dinging! But the doors were all securely shut. Just with one exposure, some little bird had learned to ding like a car door ajar.

[saanen]

The frustrating thing was, when I got to work this morning, all the copies my boss had printed were still on the copier. She hadn't come in to work last night after all, but of course I didn't know and I would have worried all night.

Maybe your little bird just liked the sound of the car door dinging and thought he'd imitate it. I'm glad the van wasn't in peril. :)

[seaslug_of_doom]

I glanced briefly at a Yaris when I was car shopping last year. I was interested in a small car with stick instead of auto. The one sticking point, for me, was that all the gauges were in the middle of the dashboard, where the radio usually is, instead of right in front of me. So, I didn't say yes to Yaris.

[saanen]

I was shopping for gas mileage and price, so the Yaris made sense to me. The centrally located gauges were my real worry, too, but I got used to them within a day or two. But what I dislike about the car is its huge blind spots, far worse than my Tundra (which I miss acutely).

My next car is going to be some sort of cute two-seater convertible hybrid. If I win the lottery.