A word of caution about hydraulic struts in car trunks!

It was just a week ago that I experienced "quite" a painful injury to my right hand, wrist and forearm when the trunk of my Mercedes-Benz SLK-230 slammed closed with that significant part of my body in the way. Without going into lurid details, it was an incredibly painful moment -- with lots of sound effects oh my! and many pleading prayers to the man upstairs. As I was in the parking lot of a grocery store, I could have dialed 911 or hollered for a stranger to help. Instead, I retreated into the front seat of my car until I could compose myself and drive myself home ... and put away said groceries.

Getting straight to the point! The next day, after seeking urgent medical care attention, I one-handedly googled to find if any other poor soul might have experienced a similar injury. I found two forums for Mercedes-Benz and SLK drivers, and left a one-hand typed caution. You see, I found several car drivers mention being hit in the head with their trunks, but no one said they injured their hand. What my message to those of you with those hydraulic struts meant to hold open your trunks, IF you get a warning bang on the head, HEED it! Immediately replace those hydraulic trunks struts.

At this time, some seven days later, the cast-like splint has been removed and I have been informed that I have no broken bones. I have just started to use my right hand to type; however, I am not pain-free. We are waiting to see if I need to follow up with an orthopedic doctor ... fingers crossed = not.



See if you can find that roadster of mine in my post about the Best Roadsters Ever.

Something that my cousin Cindy in Ohio sent me today!

You know the internet surely does beat out snail mail any and every day, don't you think? After all, the email that I got from my cousin Cindy up in Ohio surely would be lost in translation of a letter. You see, it looked really cool in my email with the animation of snow to set the mood and the story. Thanks Cindy for sending me that smiley today.

I think this is pretty funny. Please pardon the not really G-rated word she had to use to tell the story. I get it! Do you? Waving a special "Hi!" to my brother Paul up there in the Cleveland, Ohio area. Why? Well, simple! I can SO see my brother and this story. Here it is!!!! [Editor's comment: I retyped the message as it was in all caps. Although it is worthy of all caps, here it is in sentence case. Enjoy!]

98% of Americans say "Oh Shit" before
going in the ditch of a slippery road.

The other 2% are from Ohio and they say,
"Hold my beer and watch this!"

Giving Thanks -- For the Fans Who Have Made a Difference!

This morning I am taking a moment to say "Thank You" to those 271 people that have shown their 'support' for something that means a lot to me. I have one lens in particular that stands out from all the rest of my  Squidoo lenses. This one lens means the most to me because it is because of a person who was a huge influence in my life ... someone who is no longer with us. Holidays with Grandma are a bit empty because grandma* is no longer with us.

Take a look at this fan art mosaic of my Stuffed Cabbage page. I see a lot of friendly faces there. If you are one of those friendly faces, my fellow Squidoo lensmasters, I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart for being there! Wow, 271 of my friends! That's not a bad number considering that I see 1,694 total fans on my profile page. And, thank you to the 531 lensmasters who have taken time to add their star to the page! Muchas Gracias and Köszönöm.



What's been very meaningful to me has been the "history" so to speak for this one meaningful lens! On April 16, 2009, this Stuffed Cabbage lens earned a purple star -- it's that special award for lenses with quality content made by Giant Squids. That was my very first purple star. Then, on April 19, 2009, this lens made it into the #1 spot overall on Squidoo; occupying that spot for some 24 days. That has been my only #1 lens, and it has meant the world to me. As Squidoo lensmasters we are rewarded in many meaningful ways. It's really not about the money; it is a form of acknowledgement that will stick with you.

It has been equally cool that there has been Google love for Stuffed Cabbage, much to the almost surprise of my hubby! He just smiles when I tell him all this stuff! Google has given this lens a pagerank of 6; that's pretty good I think. The lens has been getting great traffic too; traffic that should keep it in the overall Top 100; it's been there for over a year -- 465 days. Hmmm, I think I need to make some Stuffed Cabbage this weekend.

So, thank you those of you who have been a part of this remarkable, meaningful journey! I will never forget this.

*P.S. No, my grandma did not get run over by a reindeer. ;)

Once-in-a-Lifetime Experience as a Distinguished Visitor

Recently my hubby was in the right place at the right time to accept an offer to be a Distinguished Visitor on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. His 15 minutes of fame came on Sunday, November 15, 2009 when he joined 11 other Distinguished Visitors as they boarded the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) Supercarrier for two days of VIP treatment during an active training mission at sea off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida.

My hubby is a pretty low-key guy who takes most experiences in stride, but this one got him pretty excited! Hearing that he would have such a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I suggested he charge up his digital camera and take notes so that we could write a Squidoo lens about it!

Well, that was precisely what we did -- it was a joint project that took over one week of preliminary writing and staging of photographs and videos to tell the story. After hours of work, our joint project Squidoo lens was ready for primetime. A Distinguished Visitor of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower was published on November 25, 2009. On December 1, 2009, this lens was awarded the highly-coveted Squidoo Purple Star; awarded to giant squids' lenses for quality content. I've selected one of my favorite videos which shows a F/A-18 Super Hornet in a picture-perfect tailhook landing.

You know there was another joint project with hubby that earned that Squidoo Purple Star. How to Create a Patio With Stone Pavers was published on July 13, 2009 and earned that Purple Star on July 14th. So, that is 2 for hubby and 4 for me.