Books and Fish

Independent booksellers have been in the news recently. They are obviously concerned about the rise of the e-reader and pissed off at those people making money from a new technology. I think, on the whole, I like e-readers. You have all the obvious benefits of not having to store or carry books. And then there are other things, like the environmental aspects. Sure there is some effort making all the plastics and electronics, but I wonder how many trees you have to make into books to have an equivalent environmental impact?

I don't have an e-reader, but that is simply because I read so few books it would be 5-10 years before it paid for itself. However, I have no sympathy for these book-selling people.

Back in the 80s, instant photography consisted of Polariod. And there were lots of people making a livelihood from making and selling all the equipment involved. Then digital cameras are invented and they are all our of a job. Oh well, that is progress, right? I am not sure some of the people involved in the book industry (I am looking at you - really old man running an independent book shop) wouldn't recognise progress if it hit them in the face.

There will always be a place for real books, but there will be far fewer of them. And the industries built around them will change accordingly. I think it will be more like vinyl than Polariod. People still make and sell vinyl music, but most of it is digital.

It really grinds my gears when I see someone on the news who has had the same job for years complaining when they loose their job, not because they were bad at it, but because the world has decided that industry is too big. Get a new fucking job. And the example that irritates me the most are the fishermen. They like to bicker amongst themselves, and blame the spanish fishermen. But when you look at it as a whole (which we must do) then you see that we have shagged the seas to the point that there is little left. There are more fishermen than fish, so some people are going to have to find new jobs.

Go get a job in a call-centre you whining little turd.

Instant - My Arse

Spotted "Imodium instant" in the shop this morning. I thought, "Instant relief" that sounds impressive.

Then I read "under1 hour". That's not instant, that is within an hour. If I bought some "instant" relief, I would expect that as soon as I swallowed nothing more would fall out of my bottom. But then they moderate it with their lame "1 hour".

I should make two things clear before anybody gets the wrong impression.

1. I realise the "instant" refers to the melting in the mouth, not the drugs effectiveness.
2. I don't personally have any trouble in that department at the moment.

In other news: Come on Bonnie!

If You Don't Have Anything Worth Saying Then Shut Your Gob

That's what my parent's used to tell me. Maybe.

So, the extension business. Things are still moving forward. All the new bits are done and dusted. It only took three attempts at putting down the dining room floor to get it more or less flat. And there were some issues outside that had to be revisited long after the builders had gone. Like big bits of concrete falling off walls. (Well, something like that.)

Internally things are in a state of flux. I have had to give up the office so that my children can have their own rooms. This means firstly that I no longer have a quiet hole to go crawl into. Secondly, I when I use the computer I have to do it in a far less comfortable chair. This will have the inevitable consequence that, going forward,  I will spend far less time at the computer. Which is worrying, because the computer is my favourite thing to do when not watching TV.

Weather: I seem to remember it really didn't rain much in April. Again I get to consider "April showers bring may flowers" and wonder if I will get any flowers this May. Then I remember that November to February was taken up by builders in giant boots trampling all over my flowers. They also ruined my lawn. Which means I now get to complain about this lovely sunny warm period we are enjoying. It doesn't seem to be a good time to get grass-seed to germinate. I don't want to have to be one of those people who water their lawns, but if I ever want my mud pit to turn into a lawn I am going to have to.

Good news: My peony's are doing well. I removed them from the danger zone before the building work got under way and put them in pots. I would like to put them back in the garden in my newly prepared border area, but I don't see myself having the time for that for a while. I guess Project Rhubarb didn't fair so well. Maybe I will have another attempt over the next few years. I could always buy the packet of "1 rhubarb" that I saw in Wilkinson's (£1.49 - it's a bargain). Somehow I don't fancy it.

This area has changed a bit over the last year. It is now a lovely pine scented toilet for the cat. Shit.

What's Occurring

Well, the weeks tick past and the extension still isn't finished. The good news is that things are (mostly) weatherproof, so the only reason it is chilly in the house is because it is colder than a snowman's freezer outside. The bad news is that the floor in the dining room has swelled up in one area and it's quite an effort to sort that out. We are going to have to move all the furniture out for a couple of days for that.

In other news I have been busy baking and cooking. Today I made two quiches. One was bacon, the other was broccoli and smelly cheese. I first had Shropshire blue at a cheese and port evening a couple of years back. And there was a recipe in my new baking book for this quiche, so I had to give it a go.

Christmas Duck

I think it was Mork and Mindy who explicitly pointed out something I had felt for a few years. It is a long time since I saw the show and have no idea who anybody is apart from Mork. But basically, somebody is trying to explain Christmas to an outsider (in this case a slightly deranged space-alien). They have no difficulty explaining what turkey is. It's like chicken, only dryer and not as good. So when asked to explain why you have an inferior bird for the most special of occasions, the man was a bit stumped.

I used to eat Turkey for Christmas, but not for a few years. We had ham for at least the last two years, and this time I got to thinking we should do something different. And I came out of Sainsbury's carrying a frozen duck. 

This isn't a food blog, or a recipe blog, but I will tell you my thoughts anyway. The duck cooked with no issues, and I made an exciting glaze which was sweet, hot, salty and umami. It was however more than a bit tricky to carve. I am rubbish at carving at the best of times, but we very nearly had Chinese style shredded duck for Christmas.

One duck, "lovingly" prepared for roasting. I should have paid more attention is GCSE science, because I was unaware than the insides of a duck were neatly contained in a plastic bag.

Nearly done. Glaze added, just needs another 10 minutes.

Not too bad for my first attempt.

I seem preoccupied by the mathematics of my glaze. It had four ingredients, and four flavours. So it should be that case that each ingredient is there to supply one taste. However that is not the case, and I am unsure what to do with the pigeon principle. Oh shit, there were five ingredients, I forgot about brown sugar. (Which substituted for the molasses I don't have.) 

Right then, a Christmas riddle. Four flavours (see above), five ingredients to accompany duck, one of them is brown sugar. What are the ingredients?

1, (6,5)

2, (5)

3, Brown sugar (5,5)

4, (3,5)

5, (3,5)

First correct answer wins something appropriate. Maybe a Subway turkey sandwich. Obviously, people who live here and ate the meal are excluded. Don't jump in and ruin it for everybody else like you did last time. Yes, you know who you are.

I will accept if you get 4 and 5 in the wrong order! One last clue, the letter E appears 5 times.

Project: Extension - Week 5

Another week has passed, and we now have a new room. It isn't finished or anything, but it is workable. We had our Christmas dinner in there. No major mishaps this week, just the power tripping out a few times. The builders are having a week off for Christmas, and we get a new space for all the junk to expand into.

Once the door arrived things moved on quickly. The plastering was finished, and the room painted. Still no floor or power at this point.

On Saturday the floor was put in and the paining mostly done. So I set to, making the dining table and chairs in the light of a rugged industrial strength lamp the builders had left.

The lights are on, but is anybody home?

Guess what was under our path? Another path. Genius.

Two doors. That's two more than we had a week ago.

This path is not permanent, but it's a damn sight better than the rickety bridge we had.

Project: Extension - Week 4

Another week has passed and it is clear that the two parts of this project are proceeding at different rates. We now have electricity and water in our new room. We don't have a door or a radiator or any lights or any electrical sockets. Interestingly, the floor is already borderline too high, and there is supposed to be some stylish laminate flooring going on top of it yet. (Only the badly fitting stuff is stylish, maybe this will be well fitting and boring.)

Nothing very exciting happened. Some drilling, some digging, some banging - the usual sort of stuff. We haven't lost any more mugs either. Although Winnie the Pooh is clearly visible, but tantalisingly out of reach in the room we can't get into.

The bridge of Khazad-dum

We have plasterboards and windowsills.

There is a new wall on the drive for me to hit when I attempt to maneuver the car into the garage.

That's not actually a door, just a piece of wood screwed over a doorshaped hole.

I quite like how this mound of rubble and assorted crap gives the garden hight. You can achieve much the same effect with some plants.

No scaffolding!

This pile of debris is even bigger than the one round front.

We have an outside tap again!

Although it looks like a trendy shop-like awning , I suspect that stylish sheet of black plastic will be removed at some stage.