Diet and Exercise

After being unwell last week I lost extra weight, a couple of kilos. As part recovery I have been eating a few things that were considered off menu. I need to be very careful that I don't let a few treats become a habit.

Now that I'm feeling more myself I am also starting to think about exercising again. I have a strong suspicion that a yoga pose known as the Cobra on Wii Fit was what actually strained the muscles in my back. So that one is not something I'll be returning to. But at the moment I've stopped all exercise, which isn't good either. On Friday I think I'll start doing exercises again on the Wii Fit but I'm going to pick the safer ones.

Wet

The rain has been pouring down over the last few days. Fields are so wet because the water table is so saturated. There is nowhere for the water to drain off to. On the train I noticed a golf course flooded out - it would require a canoe to navigate the course!
My garden lawn is a squlechy horrid quagmire, not nice to walk on at all. The wet weather is moving North, where I work. I live in the South, so wherever I go it seems to follow me.
This is a photo from my train station, lovely isn't it? Nice and grey and wet! I'm joking, can't stand all this wet weather.

Car: the decision

I decided last Sunday on the car to buy, it was actually the first car I went to see, so perhaps that was more impetuous than I thought it was going to be. I had made up a few cards and was literally expecting to have to see a few cars before deciding, trying a few out. But I didn't. I liked what I saw, thought it was a good deal and that was that. I had more or less made up my mind on paper anyway. So I decided to get a city car, the Hyundai i10, it's the Style edition so has a few neat extras such as heated front seats, slide and tilt sunroof, front foglamps, rear spoiler with integrated brake light and an interior trim with two tone dash. The car has electric windows and aircon as standard, there is a CD player and MP3 player connection so I'm happy.
I picked it up today and the weather was so dismal and wet that I had to do something to jazz up the photos a bit, so forgive my poetic license with the photos. It's tiny but has a high body so the headroom and relatively high driving position makes it feel larger than it is - like the Tardis in Dr Who!

Recovery food

My back completely froze up this week and I've spent most of the time in chronic pain. It has gotten a lot easier today but it's been a hellish week.
My wife brought me home a MacDonalds McChicken sandwich and it cheered me up. I haven't eaten much this week at all. Funny how MacDonalds can help sometimes isn't it? What food or drink makes you feel better after being unwell?

Cheese 2

Well here we are again. Another week and I'm here talking about cheese. This time it's about a cheese taster pack I was given, surprisingly enough. I was given the pack just after lunch last week so I put it in my bag for my commute home. I opened the pack and got a nice surprise. There was some oat biscuits, onion marmalade and three chunks of cheddar cheese. The company that was generous enough to give out these lovely samples was The Lake District Cheese Company, ironically we had a pack of their cheddar in our fridge at home. I hadn't tried the cheese from our home before I gave the samples a go. I have to say the cheese was very lovely. On an oat biscuit with the cheese and the onion marmalade the sample was delicious - that's a Deeee-licious!

Stargate SG1

Last weekend I saw a box set of DVDs for this sci-fi series and it was season 1, I've never really watched any of it before (I know, where have I been?!). I am quite liking the episodes I've seen so far. It is a bit more, how should I put it, anthropological than I was expecting!

Soup

It's autumn now and the weather is getting cold and damp. For lunch I've been heating up soup from a can. I've been eating Heinz soups from a can for years since I was a kid. I just wonder, what with soup becoming more of a specialty food and more fresh product variety on the supermarket shelves, whether you still eat the same soup from a can that you did as a child. Is it even around?

What's your favourite soup? I like the beef broth because it is thick and more filling.

Christmas approaches

Time until the Christmas holidays is slipping away. I'm a little unnerved by how fast it is approaching. Have you started buying for it yet? I've bought my wife some art glass ornaments but she chose them, I'll wrap them up for her for Christmas.

My wife is a lot more organised than I am generally, she has started but I am more of a slow burner. Things are so expensive. I wish people had lower expectations and that there wasn't so much pressure to spend so much. I think I'll have to be pretty cautious with my gift spending this year. I'd rather give out Christmas spirit than presents!

Cars

I'm planning to buy a car in December, to replace the one I have. It's not that there is anything very wrong with my current car but it is not very fuel efficient and I do less miles and spend less time in it. The fan in it has never been very strong so things like the heater and the air conditioning aren't very good. I find it relatively comfortable on longer drives and it can go fast when I push it. It has a big boot that has been useful and the seats fold down for times when I need to transport large items of furniture for example. Aside from the expense of fuel, I find it is expensive to insure and work on it is never very cheap. Being an older car I'm worried there will be work needed on it fairly soon that will be costly. My needs have changed since I bought the car, I really bought it because I was doing up to 500 miles a week and I needed a vehicle that would be comfortable on distance drives. Something smaller and more fuel efficient will do nicely, I don't think a 3 door is practical with my kids so I'm looking for a 5 door model.

My biggest question to settle is whether to stretch and go for a basic model of a brand new "cheap" car or buy a used car and get something a little bigger but with a history that I don't know about. Warranties are pretty good these days, so the former option seems better but I know I'll have to stretch my finance a bit even for a "basic" model. I could use a finance option but I'd rather go short for a while and own the car outright, not the easiest option but one I think is less stressful for me personally. I've no problem with other people who choose the finance option, it's whatever suits you best I guess.

I've never bought a new car. All of my cars have been at the cheaper end of the used car spectrum. The same was true for my wife but she saved hard to get herself a new car back in May. We are lucky enough to have jobs where we are able to afford two new cars but we have both been driving cars that are twelve/thirteen years old. Some basic models don't have air conditioning and I would really like to have it, which might add a few hundred pounds to the cost. The climate in the UK is not too bad but AC really helps in the middle of summer.

Here are some of the small, "cheap" cars I've been looking at - what do you think I should do: go for new or get a used car?

Kia Picanto

Citroen C1

Hyundai i10

Volkswagon Up

 

Chevrolet Spark

Toyota Aygo

I'll have to take a few test drives to see what I prefer. If I go for a used car then I will have an almost unlimited choice.

Shropshire blue cheese

Cheese is lovely. I was watching a TV show that was attempting to show the variety of English cheese on the market. Asking people on the street to name some English cheeses and most could name only two or three, which is not great! So I thought I'd try to invest a tiny amount of my energy into trying cheeses from around the British Isles that I might not have thought about trying before. My first one is Shropshire Blue cheese. It has a nice orange colour and has distinctive blue veins. It tastes creamy and has the bitter blue tang to it that stays in the mouth long after eating it. It's a great cheese to eat with food (like most cheese). I had mine cubed and dropped on to a plate with some salad leaves, ham and broccoli omelette and balsamic glaze. I drank a can of Pepsi Max with it but a nice wine would have been better. It is a cheese that will go well with other cheeses in case you are thinking of hosting a cheese party in your own mouth!

Photo Challenge: Autumn

I had a day off at the start of this week and took my kids out with a camera and asked them to take autumn photographs. I took my iPhone and did the same. These are my results. The kids photos were much better.

US Elections

It's very near the end of the race for the presidency and it seems to me catching headlines here and there over the last week that the encumbant president has the edge. However, I guess it all depends on who turns out to vote on the day.

I don't really have anything intelligent to say on the subject or otherwise, except that isn't it time for a female president?
One thing I find amusing is when they show the candidates going to the polling station to vote - who are they going to vote for? Their opponent? Can they vote for themselves? If they can, it doesn't quite feel right.
Another thing is when the winner on the podium thanks his opponent. And 24 hours before was slagging them off. That's just two-faced!
I am probably not a very good voter, I just go with gut instinct and ignore all the hype and words and promises. I know once they're in power they'll try to do whatever they like and the opposition will be opposed. Best that can be hoped for is that things aren't screwed up any more than they are and that the average person on the street can get by without feeling they are losing money everyday. I think the word is hope.

Bonfire night

There is a tradition of celebrating the day Guy Fawkes attempted and failed to blow up parliament with gunpowder. The 5th November is traditionally bonfire night in the UK but it has become less common for households to have their own bonfire parties. Instead many people attempt mass firework demonstrations run by local companies or community groups. I remember as a kid always having our own fireworks, they were more a demonstration of coloured smoke than today's fireworks. Nothing like the fireworks of todays professional displays.

The big local demonstrations of today usually fall on weekend nights. This evening we had some friends over and went to a local display. The fireworks were great, some screamed, some exploded with massive bangs and some made a type of camp noise that was very amusing.

Happy Halloween!

I hope you all have a great Halloween. However you are celebrating!

Here are a few ideas...

• Watch a scary film
• Read a scary novel
• Dress up in a themed costume
• Decorate your desk
• Conduct a seance
• Go on a ghost walk
• Visit a haunted house
• Go ghost hunting

Nerdy Audiophile Teen Years

I blame my brother to a large extent. He introduced me to the world of vinyl record collecting in my early teens. By the time I could pay for things myself I had quite a few albums, many purchased in sales for ridiculously cheap prices or in secondhand record shops. I don't see so many of those these days but I used to like nothing better than catching the bus to Birmingham and spending most the day in second hand record shops rifling through boxes of vinyl records hoping to find some classics at a cheap price.
My equipment for listening for hours and hours on my own in my bedroom started out with some pretty rudimentary hand-me-down stuff. I was given my dad's old Sony stereo system. The tuner, tape deck and amplifier were all in one box and it had pretty decent turntable, I used to treat the amp with scorn but thought the turntable was passable. When I had saved up enough money I bought the components of my first stereo system. It took me a long time and I bought audio equipment magazines to read reviews, to try and find the best matching components - to hear the music at its best, you needed a separates system not something mass produced by one manufacturer in a stack. No, no stacked hi-fi system would do. I had to go and hear what I was going to buy before I would make up my mind. I bought my turntable first. It was manufactured by a small British company called Rega Research. It looked amazing with a square black plinth, smokd perspex lid and the turntable was heavy because it was a thick glass disk covered with a felt mat. My amplifier was made by Denon, I think they are a Japanese company. My speakers were made by Mission. I couldn't afford a tape deck and I thought tapes were a bit past their sell by date, even in the late 1980s. Instead I bought a Marantz CD player for which, I have to admit to you now, I bought Soul Provider by Michael Boulton and thought it sounded lovely. I couldn't afford a tuner either because all my money went on the pieces I saved up for. I had to make some compromises, not like a friend of mine who spent what must have been a fortune at the time on a Bang & Olufson system. I heard it one lunchtime from school in his small bedroom and I thought it sounded naff. I was probably being a bit sniffy because B&O made systems not separates. I had to admit though, the B&O systems were very pleasing on the eye - like the Ferrari of the hi-fi world.
I loved my hi-fi set up. It didn't last for long though. I moved away from home to university and apart from some brief spells at home after that I had left home to get a job and boxed up my system. My wife has never seen it. It has been in my folks' loft for 20 years. I'm going to be reclaiming it finally. I am in fear and trepidation because this plan is a secret from my wife, who will probably not speak to me if I bring it into the house. Am I right to reclaim it and bring it into my family world? I want my son and daughter to hear the wonderful sound a record can make. They have never heard music from such equipment in their life.

My Hi-Fi Separates System

Denon amplifier

Mission speakers (not quite the model I have but very close)

Rega Planar 3 turntable (a beauty)

Marantz CD player

I'm Lovin' It!

This is a photograph I took last November of the outside of our local McDonald's restaurant early one morning. I haven't eaten at the restaurant since starting the diet. I do think McDonald's food is enjoyable to eat but too much can be bad, just like too much of anything can be bad.

 



The fast food restaurant I did go to on Saturday with my son was Subway. I had a 6" sub called the Italian BMT, BMT standing for Big Meaty Treat and yes it was three different types of meat with melted cheese. Mmm lovely. It was enough to last me from 10:30 until 5:30pm. Food on the go is nice, when eaten in moderation.

The Hunger Games

Our local library is open again after being closed for refurbishment for several weeks. I have to admit that I'm usually a big fan of libraries but this one is a bit of a disppointment. I guess I might have been spoiled by having such a cool library where we used to live. I still haven't given up my old ticket, so could in theory still use my old one. Anyway, I was going past with my son on Saturday and I asked if he'd like to pop in to see if there was a book he'd like to find to read. He said yes, so in we went. I borrowed the DVD of the film The Hunger Games. I have a sample chapter on my Kindle to read but have not delved into it yet, I read a comment from a friend who said it was really good. The books have been marketed at the younger generation but my friend thought they were too good just for a teenage audience to enjoy. I have to say that I thought the film was well made and acted beautifully. Well worth watching, if you missed it.

Sour into sweet don't go!

I was watching The Food Network channel on Saturday morning and in particular a programme called Andy Bates American Street Feasts. He's a British chef who picks out great American street food vendors, it's a great because he finds these amazing little places which serve food that is to die for. He also cooks up his own American inspired variations, which also look pretty great.
I decided one of his recipes looked so good I would give it a try myself, it also seemed to fit well with our diet. Here it is from memory:

• Add a splash of oil to a pan
• chop some onions and add to pan
• chop some tomatoes and add to pan
• chop up a sweet potato into chunks and add to pan
• Pour a tin of red kidney beans into the pan (don't drain it beforehand)
• Pour a tin of drained sweetcorn into pan
• Fry until all is soft
• Add a couple of tablespoons of smoked paprika
• Leave to simmer and reduce down

Next you make some pancakes, I made vegan pancakes because I thought I'd give them a go without any eggs. They're not bad actually and the best part is that they're quite filling too, moreso than pancakes made with egg. Well, the idea is to spoon the filling into the pancakes.
When done it should look like this:

My only problem is that I made the pancakes with just a bit too much sugar, they were sweet and for breakfast that's fine but it just didn't work too well with my filling. I'll know if there is a next time. If you want to try out the vegan pancakes you can find the recipe at the site I linked to, just look for the New York episode.

99.9F

The album 99.9F by Suzanne Vega is a particular favourite of mine. For me, this is my favourite album by Suzanne Vega. I love her voice and the originality of the poetic lyrics. I had liked My Name Is Luka and Tom's Diner. I remember watching the TV when I first saw her appear as a thin, frail looking young woman from America with thin, lanky hair and a huge acoustic guitar. She was certainly an unusual and surprising export from America at the time. I wasn't sure what to expect but I was blown away. When I first got this album, it was around Christmas time and I think it was one of the first CDs I actually bought only on CD. Up to that point, I had bought brand new albums only on vinyl. I put the CD in to the player and was blown away, this lady had a loud band! And was she  becoming a rock star too? Well, the unassuming songstress was really showing her fragile looks were misleading, this album has some powerful songs on it, like all of her songs actually. This album actually makes me want to dance, it is very rhythmical. She's a beautiful woman and really deserves much more airtime than she gets.

The song 99.9F is a song about flirting with someone with the possibility that it might head in a promising direction.
I love all the songs on this album, ones that I would pick out though are Blood Makes Noise, (If you were) In My Movie, As A Child and When Heroes Go Down.

Fast Food, Fast Service

Not that we're eating fast food. We have cooked or prepared every meal for about 4 or 5 weeks now. This is the effect of our diet. We haven't eaten out for what seems like ages but I have lost weight, so its obviously working.

Anyway, the inspiration for this post comes from fast food restaurants that have staff who give very poor quality service, as if they don't care whether you like the food or not and just see you as a number. It doesn't always happen at busy times, sometimes I get great service even when the counter is busy. I'm not even sure the environment has everything to do with it, it does play an important part though. There is usually a fast food outlet at train stations, what I dislike about these is that there are some tables on the concourse and pigeons getting on tables when people leave. I just feel that I've not found a decent fast food restaurant at a train station. The service I get tends to be pretty bad usually.
The local restaurant to us is so different, the service is usually great and the staff are friendly and it has a nice atmosphere. It is a roadside restaurant set off to the side of a service station. I've not been to a town centre restaurant as good as our roadside one either.
There is nothing like the great taste of a good burger and fries in my opinion. I like it to have a good, well cooked beef patty and good cheese, onion and lettuce. I quite like the MacDonalds Big Mac sauce. My wife cooks an awesome burger that has spinach in with the beef too.