Mialee & Trooper

Mialee is an Elf...
A very smart, charismatic, beautiful, sneaky, adventurous and harmonious Elf.

Trooper is a wild cat...
A very sleek, tame, ferocious when necessary, resourceful and faithful companion to Mialee mountain lion.

Both extremely in touch with nature and the elements, they make a great team when on adventure together. When faced with danger, both shall use all their resources to their best abilities...
Helping whomever friendlies they meet along the way.

Remotes -> Functionless functions

There was once a television, that had a remote.
The television was semi-useless on its own, so a VCR joined it, along with its own remote.
Tape playing VCRs are no longer the commonly used movie viewing format, so along came the DVD player, of course, with its own remote.
DVDs are much better in surround sound, so along came the stereo, also with its own remote.
Welcome to the basic entertainment center: television + VCR + DVD + stereo + 4 remotes.
Being multi-functional, the 4 remotes have buttons for other functions besides their designated partner:
- The television remote also has VCR control functions.
- The VCR remote also has television control functions.
- The DVD remote also has television control functions.
- The stereo remote is a rebel and has controls functions for only the stereo.
With the possible combinations, and taking into consideration the usage of each component of the basic entertainment center, one could safely say at least 1 remote or maybe even 2, can be eliminated. Unfortunately, besides the 3 little television control buttons found on the DVD remote (power, volume and channel surf) the second series of functions on the remotes are not compatible... With anything. This means there are 4 basic entertainment center components and 4 designated remotes with additional functionless functions... Creating remote chaos in the livingroom.

Forms: complexity of the past, present and future

Now a days, filling out forms is such an easy task... If it is an online form that is. Simple information, drop down menus and auto-fillers for you computer saveys... But there are still certain situations that cause highly complex form filling situations. These are the evil forms that unfold into 4 pages of condensed questions, information inquiries and personal data. Everything must filled out, checked, double checked, and checked again, because an error here might cause total personal file backlog, and most possibly the dreaded severe consequences (i.e. not obtaining what you sent the form for in the first place).
"No problem" you say, "I will pay attention to the questions, pre-fill the form in pencil if I am nervous and away I go!"
*EEERRRRRRrrrrr* WRONG!!!
What happens if the form is already filled out for you, and all you have to do is check if the information is accurate, and make the necessary corrections...
"No problem" you say, once again, "I will pay attention to the data, pre-fill the corrected data with pencil if I'm nervous and here I go to the mail box to send my form!"
*EEEERRRRRRrrrrrrrrr* Wrong yet again!!!
What do you if the data that needs correcting has no area to make the corrections???
"Uuuummmmmm uuuhhhhhhhh hhhhmmmmmm..."
Exactly what I would say.

Forms: highly complex for no good reason.

Mini vans and old men with hats don't mix.

The roads have become very dangerous. Sure, there are dangers all the time when operating a vehicle, such as potholes, black ice, j-walkers and random wild life running in zig-zags... But I don't think these compare to old men driving mini vans... Old men with hats I must add... Those "fancy" ones with the feather in them.
First of all, I think it's great that the older population, known as "senior citizens", are healthy and energetic enough to go out on errands, outings and/or group activities (i.e. bowling, bingo, etc). They are also environmentally conscious, seeing as they tend to car pool more often than not (it's usually the man of the group driving the ladies around)... But operating a moving vehicle in the 21st century is nowhere close to operating one in the mid 20th century.
Back then, when travelling from point A to point B, it was all about getting as many people as possible in the car, letting the children bounce around the back seat (or in the trunk in the case of wooden panelled station wagons), optional seat belts and cruising around like it's Sunday afternoon. Now it's all about speed, performance, control, noise and disobeying as many road laws as possible. This said, I'm guessing the best choice for a senior citizen to feel safe and in control of the road when getting from point A to point B is using a mini van.
I think certain senior citizens operating a moving vehicle is more of a hazard than anything else. I'm not saying take all their driver licences away; the public transport system is not developed enough to provide an easy and not too lengthy trip from point A to point B, BUT I do recommend certain driving restrictions, such as:
- the highway is forbidden. If it's absolutely necessary to use the highway, you must never drift from the complete right lane. If the exit is found on the left, exit at the next right and go around.
- if necessarily using the highway, the slowest cruise speed possible is 60 km/hr, and again, only in the complete right lane.
- must be able to see over the steering wheel.
For those in tip-top form, carry on while you can and be that precious designated driver.
As for the rest, please let someone else bring you places.
This being said, if you have yet to notice, soon enough you will come to the conclusion, that mini vans and old men with hats don't mix.