Bugger. My Dog just fecked my laptop

This is so slow. I have so much to learn. Jezze I hope my laptop gets fixed soon or I get a new one. How did Perdy break it?. Why, she was just chasing away a visitor and took the direct route, via my computer. Now the screen looks like somthing a pissed Picasso would have painted. Hell, I,m already suffering withdrawal symptoms; aniety and an elivated sence of iscolation. See, I,m feeling the empathy and missing the spellcheck

Solar oven 'Brownies.'

I intimated that I would make this posting; my solar oven cooked brownies(I called them muffins in the pervious post). I had meant to cook some chocolate-dewberry muffins but I don't think that I can cook cakes as such, unless the product is more like a dessert, so I thought that the consistency of a brownie might be more to the capabilities of the oven. The problem is that it is hard to get a dry heat when moisture is given off in the oven. I know now that it will cook chicken well, given the right conditions and that it will dry (as long as I let the moisture out through a vent) tomatoes, and other fruits and herbs. But I do not think that it will cook a fluffy cake or sponge. The result is 'heavier,' hence my belief that it will cook brownies. Of course anyone knowing me well, knows that I read a recipe and tend to ignore it! I do my own thing, with quite varying results, some of which don't warrant 'telling.' My 'Brownie recipe worked well, if you believe that the outside should be sort of crunchy and the middle---well--- berry-melting delicious. If you want he recipe--just ask. Get a solar oven first though or buy mine for a million dollars! Once again. let the pictures speak for themselves! read ROSKILL to get some other ideas of my little idiosyncrasies, re cooking. Just download it on Kindle from my website.
www.authorneilcoleman.com

 Ready to go into the solar oven.

They really do have the consistency of Brownies.  Bloody yummy!

Try the Shoe Clinic in Sylvia Park for the best service---Thanks Tian!

Today I decided I needed some new shoes. I had almost worn my 'walkers' out since I increased my walking regime and decreased my weight. The soles were looking pretty sad and it felt like my feet were just about breaking through to solid concrete or gritty sand. So---off we went to the Mt Wellington Hub, where we hoped to explore some good options. I didn't want runners or outdoor tramping shoes/boots, just all purpose shoes good for walking. We thought we would try the cheaper stores first, including Hannah's and Rebel Sport. What a total let-down. Yes, the prices were OK, but the help we needed just wasn't apparent, OK, I don't like being bothered by pushy shop assistants but it would have been nice to actually see a friendly face at least offering some sort of help. We dipped out in both stores and decided that although it would cost more, we would go to one of the 'speciality' shops at Sylvia Park.
Walking along in my worn-out New balance Walkers, we came across the Shoe Clinic. First thing we noticed was that it wasn't overflowing with bargain hunters, making a mess of the shelves and taking up scarce seating to try on the shoes. We were approached by 'Tian,' who gently talked me through my options. He measured my feet, had me do some sort of stretching whereby he could judge where I was at from a shoe-fitting-science point of view. He stuck me on a treadmill (that I wanted to take home and then started to fit me with two pairs of New Balance walkers. With the correct inserts and a good pair of socks, I felt like I was walking on clouds. Sure, I paid more than I had intended, but I hate to arrive home only to regret a purchase because the shoes  'don't do the trick.' This time at the Shoe Clinic, I had no such feelings. I am completely satisfied with my purchases and I know that a cheaper option would be bad economics in the long run. Thanks Tian and the Shoe Clinic.
www.authorneilcoleman.com

Oh no---another bloody cooker and it's not solar!

What the hell is it with this guy you say. He's been berating us with his feking solar oven (Yes, there's another post coming about my chocolate dewberry muffins!) and now this whatever the hell it is. What is it? It's Sheffield Rotisserie cooker---and it uses electricity---shame on me. I got it from Off The Rack, an online company. It was half price. I think I know why. It is made in China---what isn't now? The instructions are not up to it for a start. We had a hell of a job getting the bloody thing to actually stay on. It kept clicking off. It was only after we worked out that you needed to keep the handle off it or the switch kept cutting out. There was nothing in the instructions (yes, I did read them) to help us with that. Anyway, that's why I have a partner who has a few more brains then me, techie wise. OK, it finally stayed on and the house began to fill with the most incredible cooking smell. Here's what I did. This thing can cook just about anything but I chose one of those recipes they use for Donnas Kebab--you know, a roll of meat  that cooks and you shave off the nice crunchy bits. I asked my butcher what type of meat I should use. My friendly Aussie Butcher in Mt Roskill helped me as usual. I used a Bolar roast that I sliced and marinade(d) overnight in spicy mixture that I will have to kill you if I give you my secret. (OK, ask me and I will tell you) I arranged the meat interspersed with bacon and built up a shape that looked a little like the real thing in a Turkish shop. Well, not quite, but it looked OK. I just know it is going to work, judging by the mouth watering waft of spicy wonderfulness, coming from the cooker. I think my sister will smell it as she walks down the long drive. Oohh, I think I saw the neighbours looking over at us! We shall serve it with rice, tomatoes and asparagus. MMM, I can just feel a nice Chardonnay opening itself and throwing itself into a glass, and---I won't be leaving it there!
www.authorneilcoleman.com

Yeah, another damned cooker!

 

Pure power and politics under the guise of religious fanatacism--and failed states.

For many years I have watched various countries, often but not exclusively in the Middle-East, slowly but surely falling into the chasm that we call 'failed states.' Throw into that sad picture the spectre of the USA trying to 'save' these nations from a terrible fate, but read in other more sinister motives, based around regional influence and good (or bad!) old fashioned jingoistic empire-building strategies. Pull in the USA's 'allies' or lackeys, depending on  your viewpoint, and we have a recipe for on-going warfare and the deaths of many young soldiers and the collateral damage we witness on TV night after night.
Has the USA and its followers been successful in purging these countries of the Taliban and their like. NO---it seems that you cut off the head of the 'hydra' and many more fanatics take its place. 'We' build up the infrastructure of the recipient nations and the religious/power brokers destroy it again because it goes against the 'book' as they see it.
Then the 'reasonable' forces within these nations call a great meeting of  'chiefs' and they make it clear that they wish the USA to leave; wanting the modern day 'Crusaders' to withdraw. Have we not learnt the lessons of history? Unless a nation is united in its wish to purge themselves of extremists, then  those 'invaders' are doomed to failure. They cannot win---ever. One only needs to look at the Algerian and Vietnam examples to see that no amount of military hardware will conquer a 'spirit,' once it has taken hold in a region.
The USA claims the high moral ground under the guise of the military industrial conglomerates, using the blood of less powerful underclasses to fight their battles. In the meantime, a region creeps towards an abyss that signals a whole range of failed states; from Somalia, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Pakistan and of course Afghanistan. Perhaps the pain will stop when the West pulls out and lets the region find its own solutions, painful as that would be. Of course our dependence on oil, trade and other factors will preclude that ever happening. Ask yourself---if it were not for our reliance on 'black gold,' would we even bother to 'help' these nations? Ask another question. Do the majority of the people  in the above countries want 'our' help and if they do--in what form? They need to make that very clear and we need to listen. Until some sort of stability returns to the region in question we will see a tide of 'people' seeking better futures in countries where they are sometimes not welcome. It is time for some hard talking and hard decision and the process is going to be arduous indeed. Maybe another sort of extremism will emerge, even worse than the present players. Time always tells! In the meantime, my own thoughts shrink ever further away from believing those who espouse extremism in all of its forms, religious or political. They have the capacity to destroy us all.
www.authorneilcoleman.com

 

Don't let the picture fool you.

Let sleeping dogs sleep and do not under any circumstances wake the beast. Look at this picture of Perdy. You have no idea what she is capable of, seconds later. If anyone comes down the drive, then WW111 ensues and the neighbourhood is aware that there is an intruder. That can work in my favour or bring about those looks from loving neighbours who want to say, 'Jeeze, that dog is a pain in the butt.' Of course when certain religious types or salespeople are prowling the hood, then she is flavour of the day. She not only frightens them from my driveway, but probably from the houses on either side of me. I shall put an extra in her food bowl tonight  as a measure of thanks.
www.authorneilcoleman.com

Come on Collins---is that all you can come up with?

Cunliffe to Collins: You're a trout. Collins to Cunliffe: You're sexist

By Isaac Davison

5:30 AM Saturday Nov 23, 2013

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• Discrimination
• Politics

In 2011, Mr Cunliffe said in an interview that the human species would be extinct if Ms Collins was the last woman on Earth. Photos / NZ Herald

Labour leader David Cunliffe says Justice Minister Judith Collins is a trout.
She responded by calling him a "recidivist sexist", as he previously said the human race would die out if she was the last woman on Earth.
Mr Cunliffe made his comment in a blog post on the website The Ruminator yesterday.
He said: "The original brief was to respond to a post by Judith Collins. My post was going to be about snapper, not trout. But considering that issue, along with Judith's leadership aspirations, has floundered, I'll try another hook."
Asked to respond on Twitter, Ms Collins tweeted: "Imagine the outcry from Labour if one of Nat male MPs called a Labour woman a trout."

When followers said she was too sensitive for a person who readily dished out personal insults, she said Mr Cunliffe was a "recidivist sexist" and added: "It's a sexist comment and you'd certainly know that if one of (National's) male MPs said it."
A member of Mr Cunliffe's staff said the comment was tongue-in-cheek and made in good spirit, and the Leader of the Opposition would not be responding to Mrs Collins' claims that it was sexist.
It followed an opinion piece by Ms Collins on the same website in September in which she suggested that the Labour leadership contenders were "prats".
It is not the first time Ms Collins has accused the Labour leader of sexism.
In 2011, Mr Cunliffe said during a RadioLive interview that the human species would be extinct if Mrs Collins was the last woman on Earth.
He later said the comment was "in bad taste" and apologised at the recommendation of Labour's then-leader, Phil Goff.
Ms Collins has caused a stir with her heckling of fellow MPs, in particular when she described Greens co-leader Metiria Turei's dress sense as "vile, ugly and wrong".