Woman Uses Daughter's Key to "Steal" Car

    Charlie Vansant, a college student of Athens, Ohio, who reported that his car was stolen, got a surprise when he learned a woman had mistaken it for her daughter's car and taken it — using her key.

    Kate Anderson became an accidental car thief when picking up her daughter's car near an Ohio University building last week. Anderson spotted the Toyota Camry（丰田凯美瑞）and used her daughter's key to unlock the car, start the engine and drive home — without realizing that the car wasn't her daughter's.

    When Charlie Vansant left class a short time later, he found only an empty parking spot. He first assumed the car had been towed, but when the police couldn't find a record of it, they took a theft report.

    The morning after Anderson took the car, her daughter discovered the Camry in the driveway wasn't hers. Anderson said she was able to find Vansant's name on paperwork in the glove compartment and look up his phone number on the website for the university.

    When Anderson told Charlie the car was in her driveway, "It sounded really suspicious at first, as she wanted to hold the thing for ransom (赎金) , ” said Vansant. He eventually went to the house with a police officer, where he was reunited with his car. According to the police report, the case was closed "because of mistaken car identity", and Anderson wasn't charged.

    Vansant seemed to blame the car company more than the "thief". "Her key fitted not only my lock, but my ignition（点火装置）as well — so high-five for Toyota, I guess." he said.

    Holiday makers wanting to get away from the pressure of modern life might consider staying at a wooden hut in Sweden.

    The Kolarbyn Eco-Lodge Hotel is not for everyone. If you can't even understand the idea of living without electricity, running water, or a modern toilet, then the charm of this place will probably not appeal to you. But for anyone trying to escape the pressure and busy life of the big city or take a break from the Internet and other modern devices, this place is a paradise(乐园). Located 1 km south of Skarsjon Beach, in the middle of a pristine Swedish forest, Kolarbyn Eco-Lodge consists of 12 wooden huts with nothing but two sheepskin-covered wooden beds, and a wood stove that uses wood cut by the guests themselves.

    Self-catering breakfast, lunch and dinner consist of items like spaghetti（通心粉）, tomato sauce, bread, fruit and eggs that tourists have to cook themselves over an outside fire; there is no shower, only a nearby spring and as for toilet, visitors are encouraged to go behind a tree, or visit one of the two sheds（棚子）.

    Adding to the charm of this place is the long coal-making tradition of Kolarbyn. Locals have been building these huts from wood and mud for over 400 years, and a few of them came up with the idea of recreating a few of them in the woods as an eco-lodge to keep tradition alive in the area.

    “People visit Kolarbyn lodges because they want to experience the nature and to test sleeping in the historical huts. They want to get away from the normal life,” the owner Andreas Ahlsen said. “The huts themselves are relatively small, as if they are too big , it will destroy the nature experience.”

    If you get into the forest with your friends, stay with them always. If you don't, you may get lost. If you really get lost, this is what you should do. Sit down and stay where you are. Don't try to find your friends—let them find you by staying in one place.

    There is another way to help your friends or other nearby people to find you. Give them a signal (信号) by shouting or whistling (吹口哨) three times. Any signal given three times is a call for help.

    Keep up shouting or whistling always three times together. When people hear you, they will know that you are not just making noise for fun. They will let you know that they have heard your signal. They give you two shouts, two whistles, or two gun-shots (枪声). When someone gives you a signal, it is an answer to a call for help.

If you don't think that you will get help before night comes, try to make a little house—cover up to the holes with branches (树枝) with lots of leaves. Make yourself a soft bed with leaves and grass.

    What should you do if you get hungry or need drinking water? You would have to leave your little house to look for a river. Don't just walk away. Pick off small branches and drop them as you walk so that you can find your way back. The most important thing to do when you are lost is—stay in one place.

    A linguist is always listening, never off-duty. I invited a group of friends round to my house, telling them that I was going to record their speech. I said I was interested in their regional accents, and that it would take only a few minutes. Thus one evening, three people turned up at my house and were shown into my front room. When they saw the room they were a bit anxious, for there was a microphone at head height, with wires leading to a tape-recorder in the middle of the floor. They sat down, rather nervously, and I explained that all I wanted was for them to count from 1 to 20. Then we could relax and have a drink. I turned on the tape-recorder and each in turn counted seriously from 1 to 20 in their best accents. When it was over, I turned the tape-recorder off and brought round the drinks. The rest of the evening was spent in total relaxation. I joined them in talking and joking freely, leaving them only to take a telephone call, which lasted some time.

    As a matter of fact, the microphones were not connected to the tape-recorder in the middle of the room at all but to another one in the kitchen. My friends, having seen the visible tape-recorder turned off, paid no more attention to the microphone which stayed in front of their chairs, only a few inches from their mouths, thus giving excellent sound quality. And my long absence meant that I was able to get as natural a piece of conversation as it would be possible to find I should add, perhaps, that I did tell my friends what had happened to them, after the recording was over, and asked them whether it should be destroyed. None of them wanted to—but for some years after that, it always seemed that when it came to buying drinks, it was I who paid for them. Linguistic research can be a very expensive business.

    It was late one evening. I can't remember what it was about, but my dad and I had a very big argument when my mom was away. We both said things we didn't mean, and in the end I said, "I'm leaving." And he said, "Good. The sooner, the better."

    I threw a few things in a suitcase and closed the door angrily behind me, not knowing where I was going. After walking aimlessly for about 20 minutes, I stopped at a local supermarket. Then my phone rang. It was my mom calling. She said, "Hey, Mary. Where are you？Dad is worried about you."

    "How can he worry about me？I've been away for nearly half an hour, but he didn't call," I said with annoyance(气恼). My anger returned and I remembered all the hateful things he'd shouted to me. "Listen, Mom. You can tell Dad that I'm fine. I'll call you tomorrow," I said and hung up.

    I walked around the store, trying to get my thoughts together. By the time I paid for my purchases, it had been much later than I used to be out alone. When I left the supermarket, a large piece of white paper was in front of me. On the piece of white paper were these words: "Please come home! I miss you and I'm worried about you！"

    Then a car pulled up beside me. Hanging out of the window was my dad. Beside him, smiling gently, sat my mom. And that's when I started laughing. I laughed so hard that I cried. Despite my best efforts to run away from home, my father finally managed to track me down. I couldn't leave now, not with him sitting there with caring eyes.

    I was selfish as a teenager. I usually spent my time thinking about myself and taking care of my own needs. I let my older brother do most of the work around the house until he left for college. I let my mom and dad worry about our bills and problems while I read books, played, and lost myself in my own imagination. This didn't change even when I went to college either. I studied hard but only to make my own life better. Even when I started to explore my faith, it was only to increase my own happiness.

    I married after graduation and decided to start a family. Of course, I had no idea what hard knocks reality had in store for my selfish soul. Soon I found myself unemployed, deeply in debt, and with a new baby on the way. I found out that life has little sympathy for spoiled people. In fact, all of the struggles I was going through were beating the selfishness slowly out of me.

    Still, I didn't give up on happiness. I knew that there must be a way to find it. I finally realized, however, that it had to include more than just my own needs, wants, and desires. The answer began to make itself clear one night shortly after my baby boy was born. I got a bottle and held him in my arms. As I was feeding him I looked down and saw his big, innocent, trusting eyes. I smiled and talked to him. Then he smiled and I could feel my heart growing, expanding with love. I felt such peace and joy. At that moment I had a hint of the truth: it is by growing our hearts with love that we find our happiness.

    Carolyn Arends wrote:" The more people you let into your heart, the bigger your heart gets. The more love you get, the more love you have to give. It just keeps growing." So, keep loving, keep living and keep caring. Keep growing your heart today, tomorrow, and always.