Spondoolix - Web Log
Tuesday 16 April 2024
Tuesday 30 January 2024
Wednesday 20 December 2023
Getting back to sleep.
Although I do not suffer from insomnia, like most people, I do sometimes wake at night and have difficulty in getting back to sleep.
It helps to think of something pleasant in order to relax the mind and coax it back into slumber.
In my case, I like to think about how I will spend my lottery winnings.
It works like a charm; and within minutes I am back in the land of Nod.
The fact that I do not participate in any lotteries, means that any chance of me winning, is beyond remote.
Details, details...it works. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Monday 18 December 2023
Sunday 17 December 2023
Christmas tree candles
In my youth I recall that our Christmas tree was decorated with real wax candles in small clip-on holders.
Thursday 28 November 2019
Business Class.
It has been a while since taking business class flights was part of the way that I travel. I haven't particularly missed it, or consciously even thought about it.
But recently, in my retired old age, it has cropped up in my thinking again. Just before I settle down for an afternoon nap in the cool of the reading room, I like to imagine that I am relaxing in a comfortable seat and that it will not be long before cocktails and a delectable meal will be served.
Somehow this charade hastens a contented snooze. Upon awakening, afternoon tea and biscuits quickly brings a dose of reality. I come back to earth.
At least at home there is always plenty of leg room.
Noise Cancelling Headphones.
Thursday 7 November 2019
Mosquito Bites.
Tuesday 20 August 2019
Padlocks.
If you are intending to make a journey by car, ensure that you are able to unlock the main gate padlock well before the expected time of departure.
It is an excellent idea to lubricate all padlocks regularly.
The fact that these obvious precautions are being mentioned, is evidence of the frailty of mankind to learn from experience.
Thursday 30 May 2019
What The Sparrows Are Wearing.
It is hot here in the Philippines, and, as you can probably imagine, one of the ways to feel cooler is to wear less in the way of clothing.
Some Tree Sparrows had another idea in the garden this morning. They went for a good long splashing bathe in the water at the top of the waterfall.
These sparrows look much the same as those found the world over. Given the vast difference between air temperatures in the North and those in the Tropics, you would have thought that the feathers on the warm weather birds would be thinner and lighter.
They don't appear to be. All sparrow feathers seem to be similar, no matter the location.
Saturday 18 May 2019
Thursday 16 May 2019
The Greatest Novels of all Time.
Wednesday 1 May 2019
Next to Godliness.
When we were small, my Mother always made sure that we regularly changed our underwear, especially when we were going out. My brother and I could not understand the special significance of a change before going out of the house.
Friday 22 March 2019
Nothing to say.
Recently I updated my Blogger profile and noticed that it has been over three years since my last post. It made me pause a moment to reflect. There was never a reason to stop, it was just that suddenly, there was so much being written on various social media sites and it seemed that much of it was self important hot air.
My own musings also fitted that description and it occurred to me, that with so much instant wordage flying about, that visits to an inconsequential blog like this one, would be rare events.
A lot of things have happened during the intervening three years. I have strong opinions about many things, but I can't help but notice that free thinking ideas are suppressed and discouraged in these conformist and virtue signalling days. It is not a healthy trend.
So here is a post about nothing and another warmish cloud of gas.
Sunday 10 January 2016
Imported Night Worker.
Monday 4 January 2016
Milk Miles.
Tuesday 29 September 2015
A Bum Outcome.
Monday 14 September 2015
More Signs Of Old Age.
- You are awoken from a solitary peaceful afternoon nap, by enthusiastic help-the-aged volunteers, who insist that you are lonely and press you to accompany them to a happy - clappy rave, for tea and biscuits.
- Your contemporaries grinningly greet you by saying: -"Hello young man. "
- What remains of your taste buds, demand stronger, more pungent food, so that they can at least experience something during a refuelling session.
- To label you Thick Skinned, would be a misnomer. The layer in question, is as fragile as gossamer wings and tears even more easily.
- You are unable to hear much, because you're deaf as a post. However, you refuse to wear a hearing aid, on the grounds that it will make you look ancient.
- You are against modern replica medical aids, which is why the set of false teeth that you sport, was reputedly part of a job lot obtained from the Waterloo battlefields.
- If you have to provide a meal for guests at home, you pretend that you are not hungry and then serve them with some bread and cheese, carefully scraping off any mould from the latter.
- If in hunger and desperation, they then take you out for a meal, you eat a hearty three and a half courses and wash it all down with a bottle of claret.
- It is your attempt to help save the Rain Forests and not meanness, that is the reason you no longer send any Christmas cards.
- Your all time TV heroes were Jack Benny and Phil Silvers.
- Whilst driving, you are so slow, that when entering a 30 mph area, you have to speed up to get anywhere near that number.
- Having done so, you get so wildly excited, that you experience an adrenaline dawdle.
Monday 10 August 2015
Signs Of Old Age.
- Bending down to tie your shoe laces, is one of the harder exercises in your workout routine.
- You have forgotten the word for that medical condition where you forget things.
- Statins are one of your five a day; and the other four are also medications.
- You are of an age to be positively sure that the word niggardly has absolutely nothing to do with racial stereotypes.
- You equate gay with being happy.
- Feeding the birds is your major social activity.
- You are afraid to visit your Doctor in case he finds something.
- You can't complain about life, but you do.
- Even doing mild exercise, you sound like someone giving birth and not delivering.
- Your wife calls you Dad in the family context and people assume she actually is your daughter.
- It is your belief that even your kids have more sense than the politicians.
- You get quite tiddly after half a glass of lager.
- The combination of jowls and a turkey neck gives you a face a Shar Pei dog would be proud of.
- Flabby lips mean that you drool at night and can't whistle by day.
- You can only cope with porridge for breakfast and even that seems to be too crunchy.
- It takes you so long to have a pee, that by the time you have finished, you are ready for another one.
- The memory hard drive in your brain, is so full that it takes you a long while to process things.
- Your core values and cherished beliefs, are now so contentious, that you are afraid to mention them.
- If you buy a new pair of shoes, you suspect that they may last you a lifetime.
- You know that you are going, but can't believe that you will.
Saturday 25 April 2015
A Fan - (Gym Sips 16)
Labels: gym
Sunday 19 April 2015
Learner Lovers.
Tuesday 17 March 2015
A Bird For Britain.
Friday 13 February 2015
Changing The Changing. (Gym Slips 15)
My first thoughts were: "Shock. Amnesia? Alzheimer's?"
"I believe you are in the wrong changing room," I said with conviction.
"No, it is you who are in the wrong place," came the reply. "They are cleaning our room and as the large sign on the door says, we are in here today."
"Gulp." Abject apology.
"I knew this would happen," continued the lady.
"If you knew this would happen," I thought, "Why are you standing here in the nude?"
I beat a scrambled and disorderly retreat.
Sunday 11 January 2015
Not So Smart.
Labels: Gadgets
Saturday 20 December 2014
Gym Recognition. (Gym Slips 14)
Sunday 21 September 2014
Ignoring The Rules. (Gym Slips 13)
A Dad and his two small sons were in the swimming pool early today. They were hotel guests and it was immediately obvious, that the father was of the opinion that his two children could do what ever they liked and that the clearly posted rules did not apply to him or his.
Labels: gym
Saturday 16 August 2014
Mee Goreng Recipe.
- 4 Table spoons vegetable cooking oil
- 1 Medium onion, sliced
- 250 Grams minced lamb
- Half jar (95 grams) "Woh Hup" Singapore Mee Goreng Paste
- 4 piece fried bean curd, cut into small cubes
- 1 Tomato, cut into 8 wedges
- 2 Green chillies, chopped after removing seeds
- Quarter of 1 sweetheart cabbage, shredded
- 2 Medium potatoes or sweet potatoes, boiled and cubed.
- 2 Eggs, beaten
- 2 Cups fresh bean sprouts
- 1 Packet fresh yellow egg noodles (375 grams.)
- 2 Table spoons soy sauce
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- 1 lime, quartered.
- Heat the oil in wok and fry the minced lamb until cooked through.
- Add the onions and green chillies, cook for five minutes.
- Add Mee Goreng paste and fry for three minutes until fragrant.
- Add cabbage, tomatoes and bean sprouts. Stir fry about 5 minutes.
- Now add potatoes and fry briefly.
- Add noodles and sprinkle with soy sauce. Fry until hot.
- Move ingredients to one side of wok.
- In free space, cook thin layers of egg until dry and chopped.
- Stir egg into the noodles and add bean curd and seasoning.
- Continue to stir fry until hot and not too soggy.
- Sprinkle with lime juice for a taste burst and serve.
Labels: Recipe
Monday 11 August 2014
Truncated.
Sunday 3 August 2014
Bird Table Cage.
Wednesday 2 July 2014
Lucky Coin.
Saturday 7 June 2014
Audio Mismatches. (Gym Slips 12.)
Labels: gym
Saturday 5 April 2014
Predictable Planning Permission.
Sunday 23 March 2014
Peanut Butter.
Labels: Memory
Sunday 16 March 2014
Elderly Jeans.
Friday 28 February 2014
Visiting A Bakery.
Thursday 30 January 2014
Tuesday 21 January 2014
Key Disposal.
Wednesday 25 December 2013
A Bloke's Guide To Christmas Cooking. (1)
lunch, with no fuss and not very much effort.
There are two major tips to learn before you start: -
- Don't read any cookery books on the subject
- Wash utensils as you go and you will have nothing to do later, but eat.
Cookery writers have to earn their keep and they have a vested interest in making things sound as difficult as possible. You will have seen articles about cooking the turkey, that promulgate complicated equations about weight, times and temperatures. You could send a turkey to the moon if you followed all their science.
We are going to take a more fool-proof approach. Let's face it, that will be more our style.
First off, don't buy a fresh turkey. A frozen turkey will be just as tasty, despite the "foodies" extolling the fresh ones. Honestly, there is very little difference in the taste and your family will be unable to detect anything subtle, especially after a few glasses of whatever libation you are serving.
What you will notice a huge difference in, is the price. Our 10 lb, (4.6 kg)
frozen bird bought in November and as solid as a rock, cost £14. I see them hawking the same sized fresh carcasses for $38 or more at the butchers this week, and get this, you actually have to queue to get them.
Now for the cooking: -
- Read the label.
- Defrost the bird in it's wrapping for about 24 hours.
- Before cooking, unwrap the bird and take out any spare parts, (neck, giblets and what have you,) that are stuffed into the body or neck cavities, Discard these. Giblet gravy is just an affectation.
- Dump the bird breast up in a suitable roasting tin.
- Loosely cover the legs and wings with aluminium foil and put a sheet loosely over the breast.
- Preheat the oven to whatever it says on the wrapping and when ready, put the tin and bird into the oven and set the timer for whatever it says. (Roughly 3 hours for a 4.6 kg bird at 190C.)
- 40 minutes before cooking end time, remove all the foil to allow those protected areas to brown.
- End time. Remove bird from oven. Place on plate. Done.
Labels: cookery
Saturday 21 December 2013
News Flash.
In nearly every report which contains video footage, the presenter will warn us that the clip contains flash photography or flashing images.
It is true that some people might be affected by these, if they suffer from epilepsy for example; but do we need these constant safety reminders? Surely one announcement at the beginning of the program would suffice.
Now that they are warming to warning themes, newscasters are increasingly starting to give notice that a report may contain images which some people might find distressing.
Listening to the news on a radio seems to be an obvious solution for a population too timid to witness life in the raw.
Saturday 14 December 2013
No Room At The Gym. (Gym Slips 11)
This being the case, I was astounded, (I think the word is not an exaggeration,) to see one chap arrive and use seven different pegs for his apparel, one peg for each item of clothing, except for his socks, which shared a peg.
Whether this was a display of total disregard for the convenience of others, or lateral vision gone mad, I could not be sure.
When someone behaves like this, it colours your view of them henceforth.
Labels: gym