Thursday, April 5, 2012

Hey Brits-- where the hell are you?

Come on 'Mother England'--- OK-- we shall include Scotland Wales and all of Ireland. If it's good enough for you to look after my neice after her terrible accident, then oyu can tlak to me. I am in a really take the piss mood so I will take what you give. I do mean what I say about my neice. You have been splended in the way you have looked after her. You can expect the same here if you come for a holiday. We give you free treatment if you have an accident and that includes full rehabilitation--- like we do for all visitors---I'd still get insurance for sickness though.

 hehehehe -no its not an advert.

Russia-- you are my third largest group of readers

Come on Russia--- Talk to me. I want to know more about you. You don't have to say much-- just comment--tell me I am talking rubbish ot bullshit as we say in New Zealand. Ive heard that the 'Cold War ' is long over and they even pulled the Berlin wall down. Is it true that you have a new 'Zsar?' If that doesnt get you going then I don't know what to do. Lets be friends.

do you want to be part of this?--my book, that is

I just had a bright idea--- well I think so. How about you read my book, chapter by chapter and act like my editors and proof readers. Perhaps you can suggest threats to the plot. Just add the 'corrections and ideas in the comments section so we can all see and keep it transparent. When it publish it or eBook it later, I can ackknowledge those who have had a paert in 'The River Always Flows. Hell, you may even want to think about the titlle and a cover.
Whats in it for me--- not alot at this stage.

What a laugh---or is it something good?

I monetized my blogg and it must have reached some sort of threshold--- a small sum of money is coming my way but it needs a microscope to see. If adsence bar is off-- turn it on for me so you can pretend that you are contributing to overseas aid--- me. I shall let you know how I am going, then others might attempt the impossible---

Mushrooms and eggs for breakfast--Fat bugger 9?

It’s Good Friday (NZ time) and I pass on my best wishes to those who hold this day as special, It is ‘good’ in many other ways too; for the simple act of a simple breakfast, the sun looks like it is going to shine all day and that I have been accepted by a group of new friends in the USA. I don’t think I will be getting away with opinionated, prattish (is that a word?) comments anymore, because they are up and ready to give it right back. Of course my reason for making them (my ‘blog statements) was to stimulate discussion. When I read some of the replies to my messages to this group on Facebook, I thought I had ‘come home.’ That so makes me confident that most Americans are NOT part of the ‘deliverance’ (in more ways than one), right wing, intolerant, narrow minded, loony bible bashing crowd---oh you get the picture, I better stop there.
What an enlightening online gathering they are. I wonder if they ever meet. Their dinner parties would be an antidote to a Republican/Tea Party experience. One would start to think that as long as these friends continue their discussions, there will always be hope. The candle is indeed burning---perpetually.
I was woken by Perdy this morning (She’s our Jack Russell Terrorist) and I allowed her to sleep on the bed last night because my partner was doing an overnighter at the hotel). Perdy starting ‘stirring about 5.30 and I tried to ignore her. Around six, she sort of figured that the day was ‘like a weekend’ or holiday (we are on holiday for two weeks in NZ schools).
At first it was a few scratching and doggie grooming. She cleans her bits and pieces and pretends she has fleas. (Those tablets better be working). Then she turns her attention to me and assumes that I need a shower. Thank God she’s not a huge dog or I would have drowned. When I did not respond by jumping (OK I lie---I dragged myself out of bed) to my feet and taking her for a walk, she decided on another strategy. She began to molest in a most brutal way a huge Panda that I didn’t know was on the floor on the other side of the bed. Things were quiet for about twenty minutes and it was only after I went to the lounge that I found poor Panda. OMG--- if I was in China, I think it would be the death penalty, even though Panda isn’t blood and flesh. Perdy had extracted an eye and an ear. I hid the evidence in the extra room which is such an abundance of clutter that it may be months before Panda is discovered and by then, maybe I may have found a substitute.  I ain’t owning up to that one.
My next priority-----?  breakfast, my reason for getting up on a holiday. The terrorist, looking guilty (NOT) could wait. I remembered that had some little flat mushrooms, and some eggs from a colleague, who lives on a peninsula outside Auckland (look it up--- it is the Awhitu Peninsula). It is almost the mushroom season in NZ. Sometimes I purchase the real thing--- mushrooms growing wild on farms and picked by entrepreneurs who then sell them on the side of the road in a few positions in Auckland. I crave that time of the year, to the point that my sister and I now consider this time as a special celebratory time of the year.
I would have used butter to cook the mushrooms and the only reason I didn’t was that I didn’t have any, so I settled for a PC version of an Olive oil spread. Once the mushrooms were sizzling, I added two of the eggs and made some toast. (MMMM--- I shall use the bread-maker for the next two weeks--- recipes for my famous seed bread coming in a future blog). I have a coffee machine, another of my many ‘foodie passions,’ and I make sure that my coffee beans are never more than a week old. I ground the beans and extracted the creamy brown delight, then produced a silky milk topping for my flat white. If any of my new friends in the USA ever get to NZ, I shall introduce you to this wonderful Antipodean (that’s NZ and Aussie) tradition. There is a shared discovery of this way of making coffee, something between a latte and a cappuccino. Our two nations continually debate the origins of the drink, just like we do with Pavlova (another story).
I fed Perdy and Jasmine, our long suffering cat, knowing that unless I did, there would be no peace as I attempted to eat my breakfast. I should have given Perdy a soft brisket bone, because that takes longer for her to consume, unlike the two seconds she takes to eat her wet food. I intended to take a good deal longer to have my breakfast.
Twenty minutes later (you know I am telling a porky), after taking my time to have my mushrooms and eggs, I am writing this, looking out the window at the sun which is living up to its promise to shine forever, and wondering where Perdy and I will go for our walk. See--- it does have a link to my ‘Fat Bugger series!
If any of my colleagues from work are reading this--- have a great day---- one of many in this holiday time.

Fat Bugger (part 8-- I wonder why)

How am I going with my ‘journey?’ I put to you that giving up smoking and shedding weight have a great deal in common. How many people attempt to give up smoking many times before they succeed? Indeed, most of our efforts either do not last long or they succumb at a much later date.
I say the same part of our brain functions to limit the success we may or may not have in losing weight. OK--- there are a great many factors operating so I cannot claim to have that knowledge. I’d be rich if I ‘cracked ‘the dilemma that has eluded so many scientists. What I can claim knowledge of is my own experience, and multiple failures to achieve a healthy weight.
My doctor (he doesn’t read blogs) must see me coming for my 3 monthly check-up and even before he weighs me, knows that I have once again, added to my girth. Some of my friends probably feel the same about me, but most of them avoid criticising my lack of will power or some other flaw in my make-up. Perhaps the words, ‘should’ and ‘role model’ figure in their thoughts.
I am part of a huge (Excuse the unfortunate choice of word) number of New Zealanders who are obese. We are going to cost the health system and therefore the taxpayer, increasingly larger amounts of money over the coming years. (Yes—we have an excellent free Public Health system in NZ) We have been called selfish and are made to feel guilty. Like the smokers, we have something within us that makes it nigh well impossible to face our demons. Most of us don’t like the way we feel and many of us (both groups) regularly attempt to address the problem, often spending a great deal of money on the latest fads or respond to the most recent research.
I am sure you have seen the adverts on TV for government funded patches or other devices for smoking cessation. The same goes for weight loss. We have had the ‘F’ Plan, high fibre, low or no carbs, Glycaemic Index and a load of other ‘knowledge.’  Yet we continue to fail. Sometimes we seek more aggressive solutions. I am talking about surgery, ranging from Lipo Suction to lap band surgery. The trouble for me, I am too old to avail myself of one of those options, if I want it free. So I continue to walk Perdy and make the occasional wave at portion size reduction, along with looking at fat and carb levels in my ‘diet.’
Hell--- I could write a blog about what I should be doing. I could answer many questions about regimes I could follow. I could advise you all about what you should do, but I would feel like a complete charlatan. I bet there are some skinny-assed people out there reading this (and probably taking offence----- finally--- yippee!). I am tempted to continue with that thread, but I won’t, because it takes me away from what I am trying to say.  
In short, there is something about our genetic makeup and possibly life experiences that makes some of us destined to be fat (unless under extreme influences like famine or war, sickness etc.). Some of us can successfully fight that fate, while others of us, plod on, not quite giving up and continually struggling to make ‘lifestyle changes.’ Will there be a Fat Bugger, Part 9----? Of course there will. I am after all an optimist.
The second lunch I was invited to today. It had many healthy options, but as I said--- it was the 'second lunch.' The first--- lovely too!