Front door's around the back

Being a teenager is hard enough without your father packing you up and moving you to another country.  Add to all this the fact that you have recently lost your mother, and you'll understand that Shay and Arlo Turner are not exactly thrilled with their new hometown of Weld, New Zealand in the new series 800 Words from Acorn Media.  George Turner, the father of the family, is devastated by the loss of his wife Laura and, unable to face reminders of her in Sydney, decides to take his kids to New Zealand for a fresh start.  George's parents took him to the beautiful seaside town of Weld when he was a child, and so George is sure the town is the perfect place for his family to make a new life for themselves.

Unfortunately, his childhood memories were a bit hazy, because the house he buys over the Internet is not his old family holiday home, but rather a ramshackle affair down the street.  When he arrives at the house with his children, they are all dismayed to see the state of the house.  Not to worry, because laid back builder Woody is always around, and while not exactly a quick worker, at least he does attempt some work (when he's not surfing).

George is the author of a column in a Sydney newspaper called "800 Words" (the exact length of each column).  His writings are mostly musings on life and this gets him into trouble when he describes his new hometown, Weld, as a "dead end town" soon after arriving.  This does not endear him or his children with the locals, nor does the rumor that perhaps his wife's untimely death might have something to do with why the family left Australia so suddenly . . .

The unattached ladies in town, however, aren't too bothered by rumor and innuendo when a new eligible man turns up. George's daughter Shay is not too happy at the crowd of women who seem to always be circling her father.  The main candidates vying to catch George's eye are Fiona, who keeps

herself busy by running the local cafe, working at the town museum and driving an ambulance; Hannah, who is much younger than George, but runs the local surf shop and is always scantily clad but not nearly as unclothed as teacher Tracey, who spends her time out of class at "nudie bay." Then there's Katie, the free-spirited artist whose home is refuge to both her ex-husband Zac and Dennis, another artist and sometime bus driver.

The town of Weld is ruled by the Macnamara family.  Both Shay and Arlo have run-ins with the younger generation of Macnamaras on the first day of school.  Things don't get any better when Shay becomes romantically involved with Ike, a young man who is adamantly opposed to "Big Mac" Macnamara's plans to buy the local scenic camping ground overlooking the ocean in order to turn it into a gated retirement village.  He and Shay wage graffiti war on the billboard announcing the proposed development, and as their relationship grows, so do their plans for keeping the land away from the Macnamaras.

In this 8 part series, George and his children adjust to their new home and begin to forge relationships with the residents of Weld.  George continues to write his column and has frequent Skype contact with his editor, Jan, who was his late wife Laura's best friend.  George also attempts to get back into surfing, with mixed results.  It was probably not a good idea to challenge Dean "Orca" Marshall, his childhood nemesis, to a "surf-off" . . .

I found the series to be charming and funny.  The scenery is beautiful and certainly makes me want to
book my visit to New Zealand sooner rather than later!  The series ends with several "loose ends" which I hope will be cleared up in Season 2.

Disclaimer:  I received a copy of 800 Words from Acorn Media in exchange for this review

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Say your way to a happy day

Most of us have things we want to change about ourselves or our daily lives, but we seem unable to break old habits.  How many people do you hear say they want to lose weight, get a better job or get out of debt, yet they do nothing to achieve these goals?  The book Habit Changers takes a look at some of the most common bad habits people need to overcome, and gives a short mantra or slogan that will be useful in achieving that result.

The author, M.J. Ryan, has worked for many years as an "executive coach."  Apparently this involves working with people in the business world with problems they need to overcome to be successful.  Because of her extensive experience, she is able to give concrete examples of how some problems manifest themselves in the real world, and how she is able to advise her clients to resolve them.  The idea of using "mantras" to overcome bad habits came about when Ryan was reading about Lojong, the Buddhist practice of repeating a slogan until it becomes so ingrained in your mind that you accept the idea without thinking about it.  Because the new ideas are now part of your unconscious thought, you will be able to implement them without thinking.  Ryan estimates it will take 6-9 months of repetition and awareness of your mantra for the permanent change to be made in your brain.  She suggests not only repeating the mantra, but printing it out and putting it where it will be a constant reminder for you.

The book is divided into sections for each category, followed by several sub-categories.  Each sub-category has its own one-page explanation and example, including the relevant mantra.  Some of the categories are Anger, Conflict, Procrastination and Self-Confidence.  Sometimes the manta is the title of the category, such as "Change It, Leave It, or Accept It."

While I enjoyed reading about the situations the author has encountered in working with business clients, I have a hard time believing the claim that after giving some of these people their new mantra, the "transformation was instantaneous and astonishing."  Were that it were that easy!  Still, if someone is truly committed to changing or improving an area of his or her life, being able to reduce the solution to a one-sentence slogan may help to put things into perspective.

Disclaimer:  I received a copy of Habit Changers from Blogging for Books in exchange for this review

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