Urban Soul, Manukau's wonderdul secret!

Yesterday I had lunch at Urban Soul accompanied by a friend. It was so good that I decided to bring back my sister to have breakfast on he way to Hamilton. You wouldn't know it was there as you fly past the Manukau City Centre on the Southern Motorway. Indeed many Aucklanders quite dismissively bypass anything associated with this southern part of Auckland; much to their own loss. Maybe Manukau City residents don't care as they get on with their lives, enjoying the many attributes of the 'South.' Urban Soul is one such jewel and if other Aucklanders find it, they may find themselves lining up behind satisfied locals.
Southern Soul is tucked in between the motorway and the Great South Road in an enclave that includes a bank and a mini-shopping centre with a large Countdown supermarket. I for one, didn't even know it was there until I was taken there.
When you walk into this café you are struck by the ambience of the place, ranging from quirky art through to very well displayed food. The service is friendly and efficient and the menu is eclectic with good gluten- free options. On the previous visit for lunch. I had chosen a liver and bacon hot-pot; a choice that I have mot seen for a number of years and one that I thought I wouldn't manage to finish given my recent bariatric surgery. I surprised myself and my companion by getting through the whole portion. It was tasty and I would go back for more, if only I could get more food in----but if you have kept up with my older blogs you would know why that is no longer part of my gastronomic journey.
Today, I left Perdy in the car (don't worry, it was cool at that early hour and by the way, Perdy is a Jack Russell and probably not welcome in the café!) and once again entered the café. I chose a French potato cake with two poached eggs and a Hollandaise sauce. Of course I couldn't eat it all but what I managed to get down was pure heaven. It was very well priced---$19.50 for the serving and the excellent coffee.
We left the café, satisfied and not at all worried that other Aucklanders haven't yet discovered this gem. Damn, they soon will and maybe we will have to 'reserve' a table, just like I observed yesterday for lunch. Obviously I will be back. What better start would one wish for when heading South. I am not a selfish guy, so feel free to pass on the knowledge of this delightful establishment.
www.authorneilcoleman.com

Just when you thought that my solar oven was going through an 'eclipse.'

I just can’t help it; thinking of new things to do with my solar oven. Yeah, I can hear where some of you will be telling me what to do with it and it isn’t exactly a ‘greenie,’ idea! You have read about cooking veggies, drying herbs and fruit and even drying my sports shoes in it. The best so far had been my very successful ‘cakes,’ masquerading as brownies. They were over-the-top yummy. What next, you say.

The other day I was picking my dewberries and I had rather too many of them. I made a jelly/jam and it was only after I had done that that I thought of using the solar oven. ‘Next time,’ I said, loud enough for the neighbours to hear.

OK, here’s my plan. I don’t have enough of the dewberries left, so I will keep them for desserts.  But what I do see very day as I drive home from work is the strawberry place selling 3 for $5; that’s pummets of course! Then I thought, why not try making the jam in the solar oven. To make things even more interesting, perhaps I should cut out the sugar and use Stevia and set the mix with agar, making a jelly more than a jam. Of course, that probably means that it won’t have such a long shelf life and should be kept in the fridge or in freezer. I could use freezer bags and bring the jam/jelly out when needed.

 I shall try this out on Sunday, if the weather is good. Now that I can get the oven up to and over 100C, there will not be any ‘safety issues.

Look out for my report, along with pictures and for my next weird book publicity idea. I shall combine my older versions of ‘COASTAL YARNS,’ ‘ROSKILL’ ‘AND TALK TO ME’ give them away as long as people pay the postage and buy a bottle of  jam. What a hoot.

I shall keep you posted. Don’t forget, my capacity to write blogs is limited to my smart phone and a few times during the day on another computer. Hopefully I shall pick up the brand new one tonight. I shall keep Perdy and that new device very much apart.

www.authorneilcoleman.com

$100 million windfall for the Auckland City Council from the airport---a message for the Government maybe?

The news today the Auckland City Council is going to receive a $100 million windfall from its share of the dividend paid from the airport profits is good news, for the airport and the Council. That money can go quite a way for infrastructure and to helping to keep the rates rise to a minimum for those who hold that as a holy grail.

It also sends a clear message to the Government, who have either sold or are about to sell (despite any strong message they get from the current referendum on the issue) Sate Assets. The airport has and will probably continue to be a convenient cash-cow for the Council, even when one takes into account the cyclic nature of such profits. Sure State Assets can be seen in the same light. In good times such assets pay strong dividends and when things are not so good, they can act as a cushion to the negative aspects of pricing when it tends to head upwards.

It is short sighted, merely a short term quick fix by a narrowly fiscally driven and social irresponsible Government, that listens only to its allies in big business. If we wish all NZers to benefit from our economy then we should spread ownership of strategic assets, not concentrate them in the hands of an ever shrinking pool of ‘sharks.’

If you live in New Zealand, you would have received your chance to say ‘NO!” in the form of the referendum papers.’ If you do not vote (or worse, vote in favour of the Governments plans to ‘corporatize’ NZ, then you are selling us all down the tubes. Get that paper out now and stick your tick in the NO box. It only takes a few seconds to make sure that future New Zealanders do not look back on this time in our history and condemn us for our lack of action and our allowing a Government to ride roughshod over us. Take a good hard look at those who favour selling off that which we have all paid for. Let’s keep ownership in New Zealand hands and believe nothing that the National Government tells us about ‘Mum and Dad investors. ‘

Let the Auckland Airport success story be a shining light and lest make sure that no more of that Asset is sold off---that too is just around the corner!

www.authorneilcoleman.com

Hey 'oldies,'---let's go flatting!

So you are approaching the magic age (for now!) of 65 or maybe you are a great deal older. Perhaps you have recently lost a loved one and facing the prospect of living alone after all those years with a partner who you loved but sometimes drove you nuts. Albeit, you just don’t want to live on your own. There are plenty of options out there re ‘retirement villages,’ most of the ones you would consider to be ‘your style,’ are just out of your range, financially. The last thing you want or those kids who live overseas or way too far away to be of any constructive help to you in your twilight years, is to move into some of the residences within your price range, but just don’t stack up. You have read the Herald reports on some of them and you know that the ‘carers’ who work in them are underpaid and overworked. There’s got to be a better way.

You cast your mind back to your youth and remember your student days. If you were in your late teens or early twenties in the 1960’s ‘flatting’ became the thing to do. Are you smiling as you remember the parties and the terrible cooking and less than appropriate cleaning standards? Perhaps your flat was better organized and maybe you have conveniently forgotten the ‘down side’ of that precarious existence, but a twinkle has just appeared in your left eye; the right one trys to maintain a balance as to how it really was.

Today you read the article in the NZ Herald about flatting for ‘oldies,’ and you start to wonder. Is this for me? Could I possibly throw away that dammed tendency to ‘have things my way?’ Could I revisit those crazy halcyon days? Do I in fact need to?

 Well, no you don’t but in a sense you can. Sure the late nights may be driven more by insomnia than the need to ‘party up big time, and the ‘flatmates probably won’t be quite as ‘pert’ as they were in the old days and your taste in TV programmes reading and all the other aspects of your lifestyle will not be the same, but you still have an intense interest in life. Hey, we all change and now that you have seen much of life, perhaps you can make an accommodation and find a way of living with a group, in a semi-controlled fashion, with the back-up of a nice young man or woman who gets rent a bit cheaper and who is around at night when so many oldies worry about security. Such a person could also be quite handy at reaching for the light bulbs and a few other monotonous tasks that you don’t fancy anymore.

Is flatting for the oldies a viable solution to the growing need to look after our elderly? Why not. Get the formula right and have the appropriate support handy and it could well solve many issues for us oldies. Company is assured and flexible, depending on the level of contact one would like. IT would be good for the community as a whole, not to have vast numbers of older people locked away in huge retirement villages that for all purposes are ‘gated.’ The examples are out there and they are going to grow as people chose to live with others similar to them, but not isolated from one another; just choosing to have their own space if and when they need it. Financially, it is a good option; one that would cost the taxpayer less than some existing models.

I say---go for it and check it out. There will be many variations on the theme and life is too short (especially at the plus 65 level) to worry about paying exorbitant fees to some profit orientated business that may or not meet your real needs. Jeeze---have I just put myself in the category of those who are thinking about their more advanced   years?

www.authorneilcoleman.com

Jack Russells and computers don't mix!

The other day, Perdy decided to chase away a visitor at the gate. She’s really good at that and it has served me well when it comes to unwanted attention from those who wish to ‘sell, either ‘ideas,’ religion (they all want to save me!) and God knows what else. She sets up a bark that leads the ‘visitors’ think she is a Pitt Bull or at least a manic wolf!  That’s all good as far as I am concerned.

Of course on that crazy run through the cat door she can create quite a swath of damage as she heads towards the cat door. Yes, she uses the cat door to exit and enter the house, having chased away the original ‘user’ of the said door. Unfortunately whilst doing her duty on this occasion, Perdy managed to run across/through the cable that was charging my lovely computer (Laptop) and this caused it to crash to the floor. When I picked it up and turned it back on, all I saw on the screen was a mish-mash of something looking like modern art. I thought that the computer had slipped into some sort of new ‘wallpaper’ offering. It looked really nice. Fool that I was: I left it and it was only when I actually tried to sign in that the big nothing happened. Oh, I thought, maybe I just need to reboot it. Yeah right--- the only boot was one that should have been targeted at me for leaving the computer in the way of a Jack Russell, intent on protecting its master from nasty visitors. Don’t get me wrong---I like visitors----of my choosing. Let’s just say that rebooting was an exercise in frustrating futility.

I figured that my computer needed some help. Surely it couldn’t be much, I thought. I rang my insurance people the next day and they gave me a number to ring re ‘checking out my computer. I was lucky in that the firm favoured by my insurance company was just down the road, meaning that I would not have to courier the boxed computer to them: I merely had to drop it in. That would save me quite a few days in transit time. I still expected to pay my excess and have it fixed in about a week or so.

Low and behold; today I received an unexpected call; that is re the solution. It seems that Miss Perdy had done a real good job re her demolition of my computer. I shall be up and running by the end of Friday, as long as everything works out---with a nice new Samsung computer. This was not what I was expecting at all. I thought they would ‘stich it’ together and things would return to normal. I don’t like making claims on my insurance, because the premiums inevitably go up and I haven’t done so for many years. Oh well, I shall adjust to using my new computer when it arrives and I shall be able to work on it at home again. You all know what that means---more blogs! It’s bloody hard doing them on a smart phone when you are not so smart! A word of warning, Perdy, or is it to me! I think I shall get another power point put in; one that does not mean that the chord acts as an obstacle course for her to run through, over, or both.

www.authorneilcoleman.com

Scots in Auckland feel that they are being most hard done by!

What can I say? I am horrified that Auckland quite large Scottish community is feeling most aggrieved today because their request for a measly (remember they are Scottish!) $13.000 was turned down by whatever body on the City Council that funds such requests. Imagine their horror when they received this letter. How must they feel; after all, are they not founding members of the Queen city? Let’s face it, most towns and cities in New Zealand have some sort of representation from Scotland in their make-up. What town does not have a ‘pipe-band’ regularly reminding us at various functions of their presence?

A spokesperson for the ‘Scott’s’ reminded us on talkback radio (Don’t forget to find out about my latest book (TALK TO ME) that should be on Kindle very soon, or is available in hard copy from my website) of the many ‘other groups’ who receive quite large amounts of money to celebrate the diversity of our fair city, including the Chinese New Year, Diwali, Polyfest, just to mention a few. Is it that the Scottish have been here so long that they don’t need to celebrate their wonderful contribution and culture? Is it that Billy Connelly has offended us with his ribald nature and thereby caused the city fathers (but not the mothers) to turn away from our Scottish friends and neighbours?

Surely this magnificent portion of our community should be honoured and if you all think about your background, there is a bloody good chance that you too carry Scottish genes. I know for fact that I do, given the name (Rankin) on my Mum’s birth certificate. So now, I too take offence and demand that this miscarriage of financial justice be corrected immediately!  If not, then stick up a website or number so that those if us with Scottish heritage and those who love them  and even those who wish to bribe those bands ‘not to play their bagpipes’ can contribute. If this does not happen, I strongly urge all the fore said bands to parade every morning in all the main shopping centres, playing ‘Scotland the Brave’ until their demands are met. Long live Scotland!

www.authorneilcoleman.com  

The drilling has begun on NZ's West Coast. Where to from here?

We can assume that the start of drilling on New Zealand’s West coast will be a divisive action. In the lead up to ‘spudding in,’ we saw all the usual players, ranging from Government support and its big business partners, who claim that any success will benefit NZ. Whilst there is no doubt that the Government (read, tax payer) will garner some royalty revenue, I wonder if it is all worth it. Even if the Sate reaped all the gains, there are still risks that need to be balanced against filling Government coffers.

On the other side of the ledger, we have Greenpeace and those who would like to see the ocean locked up for ever against ‘greedy capitalists’ who care only about profit. They managed to gather people to the shores of NZ, numbering in a few thousands, while the rest of the population went about their normal activities. That is not to say that there is little opposition out there; it’s just that it is not obvious. Are we fatigued by the continuing saga or are we too busy struggling to get on with other aspects of our lives? That we don’t all see the bigger pictures, is worrying to say the least.

Yes, I have heard those inane statements about protesters using the very product they are concerned about, to get themselves to the venues for showing their anger, but what choice do they have? There is little in the way of affordable alternate energy to utilize as a more eco-friendly option.

Just how dangerous is it to drill in the Tasman Sea? We have seen oil rigs off the Taranaki coast for many years and to the best of my knowledge there have been no ‘reported’ accidents. How different is the latest venture? Is it in deeper and more dangerous waters? The arguments will go backwards and forward and we the public will have to make up our own minds. One thing we can be sure if, even if there were to be a referendum on the subject, the Government would ignore it just like they will do the one on asset sales, so the public is going to have little say on the matter.

The ‘bigger picture’ is far more complex. It would be far better for NZ (and the world) to depend on safer, more eco-friendly options, like wind, solar, geothermal, hydro, (although there are concerns around the use of rivers) tidal and other forms of energy yet to be utilized, than to continue to exploit oil and coal based forms, but until they are affordable, that is not going to happen on a scale that will eliminate the need for those we depend on now (including nuclear). Until those who could financially back the ‘greener’ options, nothing much will change. The profit driven underlying bedrock beliefs behind energy production will continue to dominate, until such ‘forces’ are either directed to back new directions or they themselves see something to gain. That is a cynical statement, because most big business is not driven by unselfish motives. Unless there is a profit, why would they? Calls for the ‘State’ to bring about changes, does not take into account the actual weakness of many Governments when lined up against the huge energy conglomerates, nor the influence that such bodies have on Governments, some of it crossing the line between ‘influence and corruption.’

If for some reason a large energy company really invested into alternate energy forms to the pint that a ‘tip point’ is reached, I strongly suspect that we would see the same old power structures in place, just as we have them for oil now. Those who have the money are not about to give it away or the power that goes with it. They would merely transfer their focus to the new forms, retaining the same control they have now. This does not lead one to feeling that the ‘greening’ of the world will result in more open and shared options for the rest of us. Nothing has or will change under the present set-up! The vast majority have never had control of resources, even in so-called socialist or communist nations. Control of resources is just that---control by one elite or another.

So, drilling will go ahead, despite our protestations and the money will go offshore, possibly leaving behind a mess that will not be easily cleaned up—if ever!

www.authorneilcoleman.com