Car. Button. Thingy.
Tuesday, 08 May, 2007
Today was pretty good, rendering me the kind of satisfaction you only get when you can tick things off your To Do list and wash your hands of them. CASE work was a lot like that, with me working systematically through my inbox and taking care of all the little jobs that needed to be done. Then, after work, I managed to do something I've been meaning to do for about 18 months. You'll think it's crazy: 18 months is a long time! Why 18 months? Well, really, it's got to do with a lot of things.
Firstly, my parents never taught me to drive. When I was at the age when most kids learn to drive, it never even occurred to me that that was something I should do. I didn't know anything about getting licenses, doing tests and all that sort of stuff; my friend Melinda had to explain it to me. I even remember where we were—she'd just told me she'd gotten her L's and we were walking to school, crossing the road from Kogarah High and reaching that last block before the school gates. I think I was in Year 11 or Year 12 at the time. I remember being rather puzzled about the whole thing and feeling really really ignorant. But that's one of the things about life: you don't know stuff until someone tells you. You're not born with some innate knowledge about how the world works.
And my parents never taught me to drive because my father, who probably would have done it, was living overseas, and my mother refused to teach me, saying it would “ruin” our relationship. My first boyfriend probably would have given me lessons had he been off his Ps, but then by the time he got off his Ps, we had broken up. And then Ben and I got married and both of us didn't have our licenses, and being married and therefore out of the parental home made it all the more difficult to get mobile—especially when the government introduced the 50 hour requirement. If it hadn't been for George who was awesome and would travel 1.5 hours each way by public transport on weekends to come take us for spins around Sutherland cemetary, and if it hadn't been for my mother who gave us her old car, we would have probably ended up like those people on Last Chance Learners, still struggling at the wheel. I pity those in similar situations to ours who will have to face the 120-hour requirement.
Anyway, our introduction to cars and all things automobile was mostly to do with driving. Very little had to do with maintenance. Sure, one friend taught us how to check the water and the oil, and another friend once showed us how to pump the tyres, and we had vague notions that cars ought to be serviced once a year, and that all the insurance, rego, green slip and pink slip had to be done at some point (which, thank goodness, now doesn't coincide with Christmas), but cars are still a big mystery to me, and though I love ours (maybe not to the point where I'd be singing Queen's “I'm in love with my car” while racing down the street), I'm always fearful something terrible will go wrong with it—something we could have avoided (like with Shamgar, when the oil ran out and we didn't know because we had just gotten the car and didn't realise the oil light didn't work, and Ben was driving it and it totally destroyed the engine).
So I hope you understand the reason why, just after we got Hush Puppy (which I am still calling Hush Puppy because Ben still hasn't been able to name it), we very mildly freaked out when one of our keyless remote entry button stopped working. (And remember I didn't even know it was called keyless remote entry until Dave told me so; I would have called it a car button thingy.) “Where do you get a new one?” I would say to people. And then I learnt that most normal people don't know these things either. People were telling me they were really expensive and difficult to get replaced. So Ben and I coped by just sharing the one button and one set of keys between ourselves. After all, only one person can drive the car, right? So it made sense to just hand over the keys whenever someone else had to drive.
Well, 18 months later I have discovered two very important things: 1. they're not difficult to replace. You just rock up to Sydney City Toyota like I did this afternoon and buy one from the service desk for $43; 2. you can program them yourself. You buy them blank. Then you follow the instructions in the manual (I spent about two months looking for the manual before realising that I had, very logically, filed it with all the car stuff in my filing drawer.) You disarm the car, stick the one that works into the reader just above the glove box, stick the blank one in and then take it out and test to see if it works. Brilliant. You learn something new every day.
But you don't just learn something new. You learn something which the general consensus of the community thing you ought to know. The thing is, without the community to teach you, how do you find these things out? How do you even know these are things you ought to know until you run into some situation where your lack of knowledge is glaringly obvious?
This Saturday is the EQUIP Women conference. I'm going to the Twilight session, and Alison asked me to read something from the stage in preparation for one of the addresses. She sent me the dress code today (which freaked me out a bit). But what freaked me out further were the words, “Foundation and lipstick [are] a must”. Something to do with looking washed out under the lights. But I don't own foundation or lipstick. I don't own any make-up. It's not a vanity thing, it's an ignorance thing. My female education somehow did not include any of this sort of stuff. My mother never taught me about it and it was never a craze among my friends (though most of them know how to use it now). What goes over what? How do you know what to get? How do you avoid smudging it? How do you take it off afterwards? These are all things I don't know.
But somewhere between now and Saturday I've got to learn.
Blinks:
A way of funding writing in the future: pitch and idea and get people to support it.
Place where you can hire play equipment for parties, etc.
How to recalibrate the home button on your iPhone.
Unsolicited manuscripts accepted by Pan Macmillan with certain conditions.
Thought Balloon is a group blog in which the writers tackle a new theme every week? month? with one-page scripts. This URL is for their Phonogram ones.
How to sew a zipper on a knitted garment.
Issues organised by tale.
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Disqus comments
Other comments
Here’s an idea: why not rock up to one of the cosmetic counters at DJs or Myer, and ask them to try out a foundation on you. They can do you all up pretty, teach you how to do it all, you can buy stuff if you want to or say that you want to think about it a bit, and then you’ve had a make-up lesson and you’re all done up for Equip! Easy! Or else, I can give you a lesson sometime. I’m such a girly girl!!
Lighting issues aside (and I can certainly grant that things like that make a difference), there is something wrong about make-up being a requirement.
I’m with seamus on this one- I think you’ll be fine without the makeup! (especially as it is only going to make you uncomfortable.)
You could just go with lipgloss rather than lipstick- and foundation won’t stop you looking washed out- it’s the blusher! but blusher’s not so fashionable anymore. I say give it a miss.
Alison 8-).
Somebody telling me I must wear make-up is a guarantee that I won’t. If you want to be compliant and not rebellious, then go the counter (but be prepared to spend!) If you don’t want to wear it, let them know you’re not comfortable and don’t!
Them’s my thoughts! xxx PS It wasn’t just me that helped… others did too!
What’s the difference between lipgloss and lipstick???
George, others did help but you did the bulk of it. Out of 50 hours, we probably did a third to a half with you. And you were brave enough to go with us on a Big Adventure In the Middle of the Night out to Arnjali’s for her birthday party.
The foundation may be a requirement because with stage lighting (especially for television) skin takes on a high-gloss look which can be distracting. You can see this occasionally when people are brought into a television studio without notice (and makeup) or interviewed on the street under strong directional lighting. If this is why they’re requesting foundation, then the guys will also be asked—if not, then something may be amiss.
If you go shopping for makeup let them know what you need it for, just in case there is a difference between foundations for stage/studio and ‘regular’ makeup.
Hi Karen, good to see you blogging
I agree with Larissa. I reckon on the day of eQuip (if you’re not doing anything), go to DJs or Myer’s makeup counter (leave plenty of time) and ask them to make you up. Maybe say something like, “I don’t know anything about make-up and I’m looking for a foundation. I’m not looking to buy today, but wanted to try some. Could you help me pick a colour to suit me and to test on my face?”
I don’t think you’re under any obligation to buy anything (just as long as you let them know you’re just looking!)
Failing that, I can drop some stuff off on Friday!
Lipgloss makes the lips look shiny and kinda ‘wet’. It comes in a tube like lipstick but when you unscrew the cap, you’ll find a brush-like thing attached to the cap (sort of like a mascara brush) which you use to brush the lipgloss onto your lips. Some lip glosses are roll-on (like roll-on deodorant).
Lip gloss usually doesn’t provide a lot of colour. Many girls put lipstick on first for the colour and then apply gloss over it for the so-called “pouty look”. (I did a lot of articles about stuff like this when I was writing for the newspaper. Gaaah!)
Foundation goes on first. It’s meant to smoothen the skin and give the skin an even tone, plus it stops the skin looking shiny from oil / sweat. I was talking to a photographer friend yesterday and he said that if you are being photographed, you absolutely have to wear foundation or else your face might end up looking shiny in the photos, reflecting the camera flash. If a person has obvious blemishes like pimple scars, then dabbing a bit of concealer on those areas will help (it’s not called ‘concealer’ for nothing!).
There is something called make-up remover that is used to remove make-up. If you want to follow the rules, that is. You could use ordinary facial cleanser but some types of make-up are very resistant (they’re made to be waterproof, smudge-proof and long-lasting) so that’s why it’s better to use make-up remover.
For make-up tips, read women’s magazines. They’re always talking about make-up. It’s really scary how women keep on thinking they have to make themselves more beautiful.
As for cars, if you have a regular mechanic, you could ask him. Just make sure he doesn’t tell you to change all sorts of parts which don’t really need changing!
Thanks guys! I’ll let you know how I go!
Phew, I read the first half of this post thinking that another vehicle had been fried.
We learn until we don’t.