Labour and Socialism - lurch left.

I don't vote Labour or left wing. Never have. Doesn't mean that I can't have an opinion on what might make me vote for them though, or ideas that might appeal to a broader range of people that may bring them back to power.

Alone. Not in some cockamamie coalition of "we're all left wing therefore a vote for anyone one of us works" way, that ends in tears of disappointment and compromise.

Good socialism, don't get distracted by dolphins, or oil drilling, they fall in to place when you have the minds of the people .

Don't get me wrong they are important but they'll fall into place when people have security, and a future to look forward to.

Idea one:

• Promise to build state houses, say in blocks of 20 - 50. Make the local councils free up the land that they are banking or planning to sell off for profit.


• Approach local or national business and ask them to be on board a community project, this will swing the right-wing business for profit business in behind an altruistic effort - good for them, good for the economy, good for the people.


• Build sensible housing, of course terrace or row housing,  because modern and spacious can be achieved with modern methods.


• Appoint a community guardian or caretaker.


• Make them small communities, perhaps include growing plots for vegetables etc.


• Make sure that the busses stop at the end of the street, and do so regularly. .


• Make sure that community services people visit regularly.


• Make sure you deal with people who want to to buck the system and not join in.


• Make the tenancy reviewable and renewable by review, up or down, you might have to move house. In a mixed occupancy community this shouldn't be a problem.


• Part of the rental payable could be placed in non-fee bearing but interest bearing accounts in trust as statutory saving to get people out of state and into own home ownerships


• Run this policy in conjunction with and parallel to kiwi-build.

Idea two: KiwiSaver from birth. And now I'm winging it on the financials, of course, but it's an idea.

• From birth the government contributes $1 per week into a fee-free kiwi-saver account.


• The $1 increases to $2 in year 2, $3 in year three and so on.


• For year 16 this is a contribution of 832, and in a non-interest bearing account would therefore be $7,072.  Not being a financial wiz I have no ice how this would work under a compound or interest bearing account. I would image than it would be more then $7,072.


• The contribution amount could be adjusted as required to make sense in a changing economic environment. If the kiwisaver contribution amount changes then the contribution amount to kid-kiwisaver should change. Pointless ending up in 16 years with enough money to buy a cup of coffee.


• Funds would be available for either education fees, or home-ownership.


• Start this for all children regardless of age and at the level of contribution appropriate.  People might complain they're disadvantaged, but that's the wrong view, they're being advantaged by the policy, and sure significant numbers might not achieve any benefit in the first decade. It's long term thinking


• Roll KidKiwiSaver into KiwiSaver if you start work and don't take the money for education, it's shouldn't be considers a grant or money available at 17 or 18 to get your party on, the money is only invisible in education, housing, or continued investment in Kiwisaver

I own my own house, I don't have children that would benefit under the KidKiwiSaver idea. My thoughts then are that if you can get people thinking about people, and all people thinking about the growth of the economy then this must be good for the proposing government in the short and long-term. The injection of money into the economy has to be good too. I'll agree that this will not solve any house pricing issues as that of course is a sliding bar, supply and demand, but Kiwi-Build addresses affordable housing, right? They're just ideas, not very good ideas possibly, but ideas that I'd be happy to support and vote for.

4:05 am and the clock goes tick-tick-tick Musings

Having, sort of, got my head around the speed of light thing, but perhaps not, the next part is the travelling to a new planet or star, somehow.

These are the current questions I muse on as I meditate myself to sleep.

How many of you are there on this journey?

If speed of light travel, or near to s-o-l travel is  possible that would still mean that something 2 light years away would take 2 years to get to? Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf about 4.24 light-years from the Sun, that's a 9 year round trip?

Could be nothing there when you got there.

The less of me - the more I write the less I am

Well.

Today I stood ont he scales. at 88.0kg or 194lbs, or 13 Stone 12lbs, all those things work.

Which is a long way from 105Kg, 231lbs, or 16 1/2 stones, which is where I started at 15 months ago

And so I continue to be on-track at a 1kg a month weight loss. My new goal was only 85kg by June

I've walked / jogged a total of 941 kms, or 585 miles so far.

I set myself only a 5km or 6km walk/run expectation, and 5 would be the minimum or most regular distance.

This year I did really push the boat out

• Went 8km in one burst,


• Went 5 minutes 01 seconds for a 1km stretch


• Went 8 minutes and 55 seconds for a whole mile


• Went 5km in total for 30 minutes and 10 seconds (my immediate goal is under 30:00

The downside to all this is that shirts are all baggy and ill-fitting.

Upside is joints don't ache, I sleep better, and of course eat better.

Eating better by way of less things like potato and meat. Eating more fruit and vegetables, and of course smaller portion and better portion control.

Does not stop me drinking beer at all, or having indulgences like chocolate and cheese.

Feeling ok about this .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Spin Bike, the Garage and the Knee - And so it continues

Well

I have some minor health issues, Psoriasis related, but it meant I had to go get some further advice

You see Psoriatic Arthritis tends to get you down after a bit, and I have it in one knee and both ankles to a greater or lesser degree.

Having taken to exercise in the last year to combat weight gain I've been a bit up and down with pain management.

Result is that now I'm on some new meds that have some benefits and of course some side effects, but what started out as me wanting less meds has ended up with me on more.

One of the things I have been advised on is less impact exercise, so that's the running,  which means the spin bike will get a work out :-) about time too.

Also and more alarmingly, might have to drink less beers, or limit my beers to three days, Friday, Saturday and possibly sunday if I'm parched, because there is some liver side effect that the new meds might give me, and possibly it's a good thing to drink slightly less.

I'm sure this ends well, with better skin, less aches and pains, and less hobbling.

Stand by for spin bike updates......

Related articles

• The Spin Bike, the Garage and the Knee


• History


• Joint pain may signal psoriatic arthritis


• Frequently asked questions about psoriatic arthritis


• My GOD that's a big toe!

Getting from A to B

Now there's a thing. In a calendar year I managed by one way or another to achieve over 700km of exercise.

Couple of off months when injury and inclement weather took over, but I did go 12 straight months and of each time I did at least 5km.

I have no ambition to 10.  I have no ambition to do a 1/2 marathon, or a whole marathon. None. Don't ask me. Actually I will get to 10km at least once, just because.

What progress in 12 months?



4th of January 2013. 5 Km. Wearing Nike Free shoes, because they are my shoe of choice at this point.



Wearing New Balance shoes , I make that 13 minutes faster over the same distance.

I've just about worn out the 2nd pair of Nike Free shoes, the blue ones they've got 284km on them and look a bit sad.  I retired the black ones at 268km.

I've got a just worn in 148k on some NB Minimus and only 62km on the Yellow NB shoes. Spread it around a little. It'll be a shame to see the Nike shoes move to the shelf and retire. Might invest in some new ones in the new year, I think the 2 pairs of NB shoes will carry me

I'd set a goal too of losing weight, I did start the year at nearer 105kg. I got down to 88.8 just before christmas and have been reminded why was 105kg,  overcoming my will power I've had far to much of the everything, and even a couple of kilo's makes me fret a little. Still 91 is better than 101, and better then 105.

I haven't given up as much of things as you'd think, aside from packets of snack crisps, a chips, pies. I still have cheese and crackers, I just got portion control in control. I still drink beer, more than is prudent, but I'd rather drink and be happy than gaunt and miserable.  I ear breakfast more times than I skip it, and I enjoy better lunches than I used to.

I still eat muffins with the coffee with MrsPdubyah when we're out, it's a thing.

To 2014. Well I can get to 88 briefly,  I can get to 85, which seems my next sensible goal I think. No point in being stupid about it.  I want to be happy and engaged with losing weight not a slave to the stupidity of points, shakes, fasting, caveman, et al. I'll do it my way. I may or may not seek advice from a nutritionist, probably will, and I might get some running coach input into my running action. Probably won't.

Without the Nike+ Sportswatch none of this would have happened by the way, no better motivator than passive aggressive watch nagging :-)

Probably will buy more Nike shoes, probably in Orange :)

4:02 am and the clock goes tick-tick-tick Musings

Ok, so I don't have a handle on the speed of light thing, and how an observer would see two objects traveling at the speed of light that are heading towards each other.

So I revisited the super-power thing again. Two more came to mind. They are similar

• Making yourself super-hot - The Human Torch - or turning into flames


• Making yourself super-cold - Mr.Freeze.

Both rubbish.

The calorific output or calories required would preclude either of these two ever bring a thing. Can you image the amount of food you'd have to eat to sustain a body of flames, or how weak and frail you'd become after a quick jaunt.

OF course you could pair both of these up with flying ability for a double-rubbish.

And then one that I'd forgotten about Telekinesis, or the ability to move things with the power of your mind.

Rubbish. Particularly if I understand physics a bit, and force and reaction.

Oh and Remote Viewing, being able to visualise remote places and scenes. Or as most people call it, having a good imagination.

I have to come up with some new things to think about.

Related articles

• 4:01 am and the clock goes tick-tick-tick Musings (pdubyah.com)


• 4am and the clock goes tick-tick-tick Musings (pdubyah.com)

 

On the Occasion of the 25th Wedding Anniversary

Eventually we were going to get there, MrsPdubyah and me.

5th November 1988, Paeroa Presbyterian Church. A date I chose, it's a long story and I'll scan some photo's and write a bit more about that.

Fast forward through the first house, then the #1 Child, the #2 Child. the 2nd house, and  3rd house, the half-dozen pet cats, the first days at school, the driving lessons, the leaving home. All those things.

Eventually you get  get to 25 years. Which is where the trouble starts.

I'm not sure who thought this up, but for getting to a 25 year marriage you have to exchange traditional gifts of Silver.

It's not clear if this should be solid silver, silver plate, or silver looking. I want to know who was on the committee that decided this, it's a gross oversight.

Then, oh yes then, look for a suitable gift. When was it that matching ceramic mugs were appropriate? or a Crystal Bell?

Who exactly gives their life partner, after 25 years of marriage (not counting the courting and preamble years) a Candelabra, Knives and Forks, Serving Spoons, Silver Platter or Photo Frame?

Which of you thinks that at 25 years you're a bit doolally in the head and have slipped into some kind of dementia where you need to surround yourselves with trinkets and old tat?

Of course yes in olden times you might have. But I don't feel like I've spent half a life with MrsPdubyah. Yes on the outside a bit more rugged, but mentally still in the game.

All that aside however I'm going to be in a world of pain if I don't get a suitable gift, if only I could remember if MrsPdubyah has pierced ears on not I could get her some ear-rings, and on reflection a little bell I could tinkle wouldn't go amiss when I needed a beer top-off.

Stunned into a mumbled mess.

I've been a "Manager" of people for a few years. On reflection a lot of people.



Some days it's like herding cats.  If you manage people you'll get what I mean.

Different people, different ages, different goals, different ambitions, different lifestyles.

Same work. Same outcome expectations. A high standard, high pressure to be 100% accurate, high knowledge base. All the time.

I've always  known what that they did and why, but I couldn't do it. I know what they need to know, I just couldn't do it or have the capacity to know it. But I knew what it was and they knew I knew.

Some days it was the worst of times, some days the best of times. Some days I came home exhausted. Some days I had to be encouraged into the car to go to work. Some days I did skipping lessons and we had ice-cream and marshmallow eating competitions. Some days.

Each and every one of the people I employed  or managed, I love as either a friend, colleague or in the way a parent sees a child, I've advised on things that you wouldn't believe, and I've saved more than one thing from going wrong, I hope.

I saw a lot of people either promoted up, or promoted out and into better external jobs,  and even when it went wrong,  good reasons why both parties understood why it wasn't ever going to work out.

But end of day i did it because I wanted to, I liked it and ultimately because I got paid a coin to do it.

I recently got assigned to a new business function that calls upon my skill set in a different way, and that meant leaving my office and reporting line in to a new office and new reports. 15 whole meters of distance.

It was for me both the best of times and worst of times. For I love each and everyone of my old team, as I mentioned  in many ways, but it released me from the "herding cats" inwards and "capacity" thinking into a more thinking and forward looking job.

It was and is a hard transition.

Today, Friday, about 7 weeks into the hand-over change, all of my earlier reports storm into my  office,  a mass show of force,  that caused a few comments, by all accounts among the other work-groups,  as they stomped from one end of the office to the other.

Wherin they gave me a "leaving card" and having had a collection a significant amount of money in beer tokens at an online beer store,

I cried. Proper tears cried.

To me they are people, friends, colleagues, family and my children. No one will ever take advantage of them if I have my say, and I hope they knew that they always, without reservation, had my backing, support, admiration,  and trust, to be the best they could be, with what they had in front of them, and that if it had could have been better they would have had it better.

Hey wait...... this is another of those "look at me" posts "how good am I" things  " you can do it" posts......

Not at all. I was paid to do a job, and I did it the way that sometimes worked out, sometimes went all a bit pear shaped. I passed through in an upward direction some very successful people in our organisation.  I moved along some people in to alternative careers :-) and I let a few people go.

I hope that each and everyone of them got a little something out of it, I know I did.

So to ( in no order) Corey, Mark, Jess, Linda, Medge, Natalia, and Rachel who today made an old man very happy,

And it would be remiss of me  not to mention  current people still in the organisation who I've in someway had a "management" thing with;  Jenny, Josh, Ritchie, Vanessa, Dave K, Dave H, Elena, Derek,  Charlene, Vasa, and Tepa, all of who have great futures and careers in front of them, and past participle people who've made a big thing in the "outside" world", particularly Joe (take me to Huntly), other Dave, Troy, Kirtsi, Laura and Troy  a really big thank you.

Without you it's a just a thing. With you it's an experience. It's been emotional.

And with that it's... to the beer store...

Trees. They take up a lot of space.

We had 4 trees in front of our house, right on the boundary line, and two of them were close to a drain, and you know the horror stories about roots and drains and repairs.

So MrsPdubyah said they had to go. So they did.

 

Naturally you want to explore your options before taking on a project, and it came down to two Options:

Option (1)

1. I hire a chain saw


2. I cut the branches off


3. Cut the trunk


4. Cut myself


5. Pile up the cuttings


6. Cram cuttings into car


7. Have tantrum


8. Drive to tip


9. Pay some more money


10. Cut myself some more


11. Damage Car


12. Shrug shoulders and wonder how that happened


13. Wash Car


14. Take chainsaw back

Option (2)

1. Ring a man


2. Hire the man


3. Watch man work


4. Listen to Music


5. Pay man


6. Job done.

The stump remover\grinder chap will be here monday to take out the very bottom part of the trees, and a couple bags of soil and some new grass, and then I have enough for a cricket pitch. Just in time for summer. Or a water slide.

The saddest part is how little bulk there is in a tree.

 

[gallery type="thumbnails" ids="5258,5259,5260,5261,5262,5263,5264"]

 

 

 

The less of me, the one with the heart

I'm not actually sure what I was thinking, but I have a Nike Sportswatch, and this allows me to track my exercise.

One of it's capabilities is to link to a suitable heart rate sensor. And being as how I had nothing better to spend more money on I invested in one.

Bit of a mistake really. Maybe.

It works ok, and gave me some readings, but having done no research the numbers it came up with were meaningless.  So I had to go investigate using the trusty Google and Wikipedias

What I found was a couple of interesting things, but I'm not sure if I'm nearer understanding or now just frightened.

Resting Heart Rate for MEN
Age	18-25	26-35	36-45	46-55	56-65	65+
Athlete	49-55	49-54	50-56	50-57	51-56	50-55
Excellent	56-61	55-61	57-62	58-63	57-61	56-61
Good	62-65	62-65	63-66	64-67	62-67	62-65
Above Average	66-69	66-70	67-70	68-71	68-71	66-69
Average	70-73	71-74	71-75	72-76	72-75	70-73
Below               Average	74-81	75-81	76-82	77-83	76-81	74-79
Poor	82+	82+	83+	84+	82+	80+

As can be seen on this chart, your resting heart rate can vary with your fitness level and with age. I'm wavering around Good to Excellent, according to this.

But then the point of a heart rate monitor is to show your heart under the stress of exercise. So I had to find that out. And I came up with this

• The most commonly used formula is to take       your age (in years) away from 220. For example, if you are 34, your predicted max heart rate is 186 bpm (220 - 34). The formula was derived from a range of maximum heart rate studies in 1970 by William Haskell and Samuel Fox.


• A study in 2001 with healthy adults found a more accurate formula of 208 - 0.7 x age (from Tanaka, H., Monahan, K.D., & Seals, D.R. (2001). Age-predicted maximal heart rate revisited. J Am Coll Cardiol. Jan;37(1):153-6.)

So I can derive then that my maximum heart rate should be around 171 (I'm old).

And then I found a handy chart that shows me what that looks like in terms of exercise effort heart rate to Maximum heart rate

Table of heart rate at training intensities from 50-90%

age	50%	60%	65%	70%	75%	80%	90%
50	120	130	135	140	145	150	160
51	120	129	134	139	144	149	159
52	119	129	134	139	144	148	158
53	119	128	133	138	143	148	157
54	118	128	132	137	142	147	156

Going back to the data then,  I've had the heart rate monitor on for 3 exercise things and have rates between 146 and 152, somewhere between 75% and 90% (on average), and a range between 70 and 90% overall. Average being a good thing as looking at the data, it says 163 at one point on one of the three days (last night it topped at 158).

So why am I worried. Well 75%, or 80% or 90%  - how do you know that ?  They 'feel' the same to me. I'm pushing as hard as I feel I can on most days, some days I hear the music, others I don't.  I don't want to 'back-off' yet now, I'm conscious that there is a limit to how much I should push, and this is going to change the way I do things, even if I pretend to myself it isn't and that I'll just ignore it. I won't.

Wheck out here http://www.topendsports.com/testing/heart-rate.htm for where I took my data and advice from.

The Less of me for April

The less of me for April - A moth where I had to push on

• 16 Runs


• 94.14kms in total


• 5.8kms average per walk-out


• Fastest 5km improves all the time 34:44  - remembering back that it was 44:03 in December when I really started to go for it.


• Weight  dropping slowy - now at 95 kg


• New shoes - New Balance Minimus

Finished the month off with a niggling injury of hamstrings that took a while to settle down, and it was disappointing not to finish at 100km.

The Less of me for March

March Update :

I tried again to get to 100kms, just falling short at the month end where I tailed away on the days I actually got out an did something. I changed to new shoes as well with a resulting really poor few days where I was struggling, but it came right.

• 16 Runs


• 95.65kms in total


• 5.98kms average per walk-out


• Fastest 5km was 35:54, when you consider back in January this was 47:39


• Weight 96 - 96.4kg

Although the chart above is wrong!, count the gree lines you'll see 16, I have no idea what one it thinks is missing.

Onwards and downwards.

A Letter to Murray McCully

I expect a form letter asnwer.

 

Mr.McCully,

I understand that you're voted in for your opinions and preferences, but I can't let it pass without comment that you changed your vote to change your support of Marriage Equality to be opposed to it.

As the National MP in the ECB you've secured my vote for the previous elections. Mostly because you're inoffensive and are in a party that by and large suits my own thinking. By and large.

Being the intelligent, well travelled, and well rounded man that you are I can't begin to understand how you can vote against something that I've enjoyed for coming up to 25 years this year, that of being married.

I can't begin to understand how you could support it one day and be against it the next. You're now one of only 4 people who've been swayed, cajoled, or harangued into taking a contrary position to one which you came to on your own.

I'd lay Dollars to Cents that you've been lobbied by the religious element in this. Modern marriage is a construct of religion, religion that does all it can to deny minorities the status that they themselves confer upon themselves.

The world will not end, churches will not crumble, men will not start eyeing me up lustily in the streets, people will go about their lives. Traditional marriage, and denial of it to all people, is about religious dogma. Traditional Marriage isn't for life, as the number of divorces will attest. Marriage isn't for everyone, else everyone would be married.

At a time when Atheism or non-religion becomes more prevalent and religious dogma and teaching become less relevant you find yourself in a position where you are in danger of becoming a dinosaur of a past age.

Mr. MCully I ask you, if you could travel back in time would you yourself would have voted for women's suffrage? And whilst not comparable in moving society forward, I ask you why you would vote against Marriage Equality, something that clearly brings equity to everyone?

I'd ask that you do me the service of not sending me a stock/form reply, because that's just avoidance, and my one vote might not make a difference, but then again it might.

Philip Walter

The Thin me is trying - the less of me update for February

A bit of fun in February and by my own personally competitive nature I managed to crack a 100kms of exercise in the 4 week period, says my Nike+ SportsWatch GPS

My weight hasn't exactly plummeted, but from being 105Kg in November I'm back to 97kg, and having been on or at 100Kg for years and a while I'm inwardly smiling about gaining the extra notch on my belt back.

My goal is to lose about 1kg a month, by a combination of better eating, for instance the breakfast porridge, a lighter lunch and better dinners, and having cut out snack things like crisps/chips and chocolate (for the most part), and to be much healthier and thinner by next summer. And I've invested in a bit of gear so I have a motivation.

I'm also drinking less beer less often too, but I'm enjoying it more, and instead of the whole cheese I can now enjoy it 1/3 at a time over three days.

I've all but worn out my current  Nike shoes (around 250kms) and will move on the new ones I brought this weekend. MrsPdubyah says I should slow down and go further, I'm going to seek advice on what's the best way forward. I don't think I can walk any faster without getting into the whole speed walking gait and thing, and I probably look just a bit odd now, although I do manage to break into a run for a few hundred meters (he says kidding himself), which is more than I could in December. I think I'd be aiming for more jogging intervals than just walking fast. That would be plan A.

Stretching has helped, the massage stick has helped, I still have stiffness in the calf area, and now around the knees, although the latter might be the result of the worn out shoes. Touching your toes is quite the joy :-)

So far then Pdubyah world all is going to plan.

The one with the budget

It's only in the last couple of years that I've had my own personal bank account. Since before being married MrsPdubyah and Me have had a joint bank account. Everything we do is based on a joint income. Seems fair and proper and works really well. We have joint credit cards too. No surprises in our finances.

But I have now got my own personal "stash of cash" in my own bank account. Monthly I pay myself pocket money from my salary. MrsPdubyah approves of this, as one debit means that she knows how much I have taken and does not tsk every time I do something random and buy something on impulse, or frown at the cost of the beer I'm buying. What the eyes can't see the heart can't grieve. Right.

I've added a few extra dollars in to the account, like when I've had a larger than expected commission payment, I give myself a "bonus" and of course there was some money from the estate of the deceased Mother.

And I've been good.

Except that I haven't been good at all. I downloaded the last 12 months of statements and had a set too with the spreadsheet. And then I got all surprised and a little worried about how much I had frittered unwisely.

Sports related things	-2%
Gifts for people	-2%
Online Auctions	-2%
Unfashionable Clothes	-3%
A Writing Pen	-3%
LP Records	-5%
Coffee from one particular café, and the Coffee van man	-9%
Food from specialty stores for the home entertaining	-11%
Takeaway food, and the Café   lifestyle	-11%
Electronic Gadgets I had to have	-12%
Cash that I spent on who knows what	-12%
Beer from Stores	-25%

The "Stash of Cash" isn't a big amount. I chose a number that would allow me to buy some beer without MrsPdubyah having a tizz about the price, and to be fair I drink less, and better beer, on the whole, than I used to. It was also an amount that should have allowed me to accrue some money for a bigger purchase eventually and with carefull management.

The bigger purchase is still a dream, the budget is in tatters. I hadn't realised just how much discretionary money goes on the Coffee purchases, That alone might have gone some way towards a new Tablet. The Takeaway food is a mix between my needy lunches and family take-away nights when it's all too hard to cook, Although that appears to be a lot more than just occasional.

Electronic gadgets oes include an Android phone for the daughter and a DVD player for the house.

The other big ticket was fancy foods for the home entertaining. These are things like expensive cuts of meats and fixings for a special dinner. I'm gad I do that and I will continue to do so, but as out family changes into a 3 adult house we've been buying better quality things in general, and there is less worse food in the house, Bread is a rare treat for instance, and I have a memory of Ice-cream going with fruit.

I've mentioned in passing to MrsPdubyah my findings, to which she said "don't you have anything better to do?" so I might have dodged a bullet. However since she is the Head of Entertainment and Finance my 2013 budget proposal had better be a good one if I'm to seek at least a cost of living rise in my pocket money.

4th Annual Rings Beach Food and Drink Festival

The 4th Annual Rings Beach, Coromandel, Food and Drink Festival, Saturday January 26th.

A new beach tradition, originally started to honour a birthday, has now taken a life of it's own. Hosted at one of the beach homes this is purely a fun affair. Entry is free, and optional.

The rules, where there are any, are that dish is either a "sweet" or a "Savoury" and has to have a matched drink to go with it. It also has to be "Foreign". So for example you could enter Sushi and Sake, if you dared.

Some things you need to  know about "Rings Beach Life" is that you can't enter something that you'd reasonably expect to have, so Crayfish, and Scallops would be considered a bit of a no, since they are regularly dived for by various residents.

Similarly there are some traditional things that you shouldn't enter, a smoked Salmon for instance, as this is one of the centre pieces at the Rings Beach Christmas day gathering, along with Scallops, and Crayfish.

Everyone attending gets to make one vote in each of the 4 categories.

The prizes are awarded in the categories

• Best Dish -  Savoury


• Best Dish  - Sweet


• Most Original


• Best Overall

It was decided that there would be a new category next year, best cocktail or matched drink, which might turn into a best matched pair award, I hope it doesn't since the Sangria served with one of the dishes was singularly brilliant!

There were three "Sweet" desserts, A Danish Trifle, a Strawberry gateaux and a Blueberry tartlet. Competition in that category is fierce.

The winner was the Danish Trifle, possibly due to an alcohol content, but it was really tasty

The "Savoury" category had a lot of entrants, in no particular order, and from my poor memory;

• Marinated Smoked Mussels, matched with a Stoke Smokey Ale


• Chinese Chicken and Corn Soup, matched with a Scrumpy Punch


• Lebanese burgers, matched with a vodka cocktail


• Lamb Tagine, matched with an "El Morocco" cocktail


• Cucumber Soup and Naan, matched to a Sauvignon Blanc


• Fish Pie, matched with a Chardonnay


• Cheese sticks and Sauvignon


• Jambalaya, matched to a Sauvignon


• Buffalo Beach beef bourguignon, matched with a Red Wine


• Pickle Dogs, matched with Budweiser


• Meatballs and chorizo, matched to a Sangria


• Possum Eye Pie, matched with a Red Wine


• and page 45 of the Donna hay cookbook, and a strawberry cocktail

[gallery ids="4191,4192,4193,4194,4195,4196,4197,4198,4199,4200"]

The Winners;

The Jambalaya won the best savoury prize, the Beef bourguignon won the best overall, the possum eye pie won the most original

I ate some of everything and the Possum eye pie was spectacular, the Beef dish was divine, the Danish Trifle was a treat. And whilst I didn't think the Jambalaya was the best dish there it was very special and tasty and did deserve to win.

The prizes consisted a selection of tiaras, wands and beads from the $2 shop, and there was a special award of a wooden spoon to one voter for being vocal :-)

 

January started with a hiss and a roar

It seems that January has  started with a hiss and roar.

New Years day morning (just after midnight) the Father taxi to recover Daughter from the Police Station where she is reporting a stolen purse. Which means having to deal with not only the trauma of being the victim of a crime, which is horrendous the first time, but the resulting tedium of replacing drivers licences, and bank cards, and student ID's.  Lucky though the phone wasn't stolen, I'm not sure what would have been the worse tragedy.

New Kitten. Having put it off for 4 months we finally succumbed to a new kitten. A gray thing, noisy boisterous and playful. Bit of a challenge for the older cat though. Comes complete with micro-chip technology and is de-sexed no more cute kittens will be possible from this one.

New Year resolutions: The exercise, I've started with good intentions. Still find myself over-stepping which mean sore shins. But I'm giving it a full on go, which breaks a sweat, and I'll be into jogging and interval soon. If only the weight would be as co-operative

	Kms	Miles	Time
4-Jan	5.14	3.17	0:45:34
7-Jan	5.28	3.26	0:46:52
9-Jan	4.68	2.89	0:51:01
10-Jan	5.11	3.15	0:48:28
14-Jan	5.72	3.53	0:48:11
16-Jan	5.52	3.40	0:47:59
19-Jan	6.92	4.27	0:58:41
20-Jan	6.6	4.07	1:00:18
21-Jan	1.05	0.65	0:09:23
21-Jan	5.48	3.38	0:49:21

The Birthday: It's MrsPdubyahs birthday, and after so many years I've run out of things to buy for her. It doesn't help that she works with ready access to perfumes and cosmetics, or that I work in IT. This means that overall we have all the gadgets and she has all the look nice things already. I've tried jewelry, but this year we've been selling some of it off as it's only ever seen the inside of a draw. I'm not bitter that she hates the things I buy her, and I'm sure I'm in for a surprise request any day soon. I will get a card and flowers (petrol station w/glitter sparkles).

Friends: We have a good friend who's decided it's time to move to Wellington. This means that should we care to continue to see each other that we would have to fly to Wellington. Which suits us, as we have some family there. Something to look forward to and something to miss.

Family: Son has brought himself a budgerigar. I think this was more his girlfriend than him. Not sure why. the challenge I guess.  Daughter is attending a summer paper at University for Chemistry, that she needs for her further studies, which she's getting closer on deciding, possibly Nutrition and Psychology, or sports science.

Still to come:

The birthday night out with MrsPdubyah, downtown at a venue TBA, it's no use me thinking up something, I'll play dumb and go along with it.

The beach party where we're expected to take a plate and matching drink "from around the world" so for example Sushi and Sake, if you were a bit lame. The challenge is coming up with something that looks flash and takes 5 minutes to throw together.

The Less of Me

There is this athletic me inside this hulking body that would like to get out. I've goaded myself by buying some trick gear that fascinates me, starting with the Nike+ GSP Sportswatch. It's essentially a GPS receiver device that tracks where you go. Tells you how far you been, how long it took, how fast you went and guesses some calorie usage.  You can also link it to a Nike Sensor thingy that either slips in your Nike+ Shoes or you can attach it with a little pouch thingy to your laces, Like a flash pedometer. Watch was on sale, Shoes c/- a generous employer who gives us a 'push/play' allowance yearly.

 



December 26th



December 27th



December 28th



December 29th



January 4th

The 12 ways of Christmas – The Holiday with the 'folks'

We're lucky enough to enjoy a beach house. We're lucky enough to have 'Christmas' in the summer months, being as how it's New Zealand and it's all the other way around.

As "workers" we work hard all year and get a couple of weeks off to do nothing, to laze about, twiddle thumbs, shower occasionally, eat, drink, eat, sleep, nap. It could be so nice.

But we're also unlucky enough to have parents who drive us madly insane. Not my parents, but the in-laws for me, the parents for MrsPdubyah.

They were school teachers and so eery year they would spend a goodly amount of weeks at the beach house. For them it's just another house, it's managed to acquire all the town house things and none of the beach house things.

You could transplant this house to a town and you'd never know. Now holiday homes are different, they are full of art, sea-shells, mis-matched furniture, rustic tables. We don't have one of those. The neighbours have those. The neighbours....

We have a house at the beach, and it's a harrowing experience to live though a week here. We used to be able to do 10-14 days, now we get to about 4 days and start getting a twitch. We've not had any days at the beach house when they are not here, we call as say "are you going to beach this weekend" they invariably reply "if you are we will", it's maddening, frustrating and difficult to broach.

Age will turn you into a prisoner. A prisoner of routine. Every day you have to do the same things. Up at 7am, washing in washing machine at 7:30am, go get newspaper at 7:45am. Cereals at 8 a.m.  Washing the dishes is an immediate task, heaven help us if they are left for more than 10 minutes.

Then it's 9 a.m. so possibly mowing the lawn, picking fruit from the tree, spraying some weeds. 10 a.m. tea of course. 10:30 is mid morning siesta, because they've worn themselves out.

More washing at 11:00 am, they wash clean things to maintain schedule I'm sure of it. Random vacuuming and brushing time till lunch, when we have a selection of mulled over left overs and a cup of warm water.

Hourly switch on the radio at 30 seconds to the hour for the news bulletin, the log range weather for everywhere, then off. No music allowed, and don't change the channel, ever.

Afternoon siesta.

Discussion about what the neighbours are up to, who's at the beach, who's not, why, if we don't know why make a guess. Read the death notices to see which friends might have had the temerity to die when they're at the beach and not in town. It happens.

Gin o'clock, wine o'clock begins as the 6pm news is on the TV. Pre-dinner dishes, of course, washing dishes not cheese and cracker dishes.

Dinner must be before 7 pm. Fretting ensues if it's going to be later.

Entertain everyone by reading the teletext updates (A service soon to be discontinued).

Read book, coughing randomly until 9pm when it's bedtime.

Days when the gentleman's fishing club is in session, make an agreed time "how about around 7am" where "about" means up at 6:30 to prepare, leave at 7 am, no later, no sooner. Fishing line can only be in the water 1 hour. No longer, no shorter. 1 hour. Today I was suckered in with "whatever time" which meant of course 7:45am knocking on the door "are you ready yet" We didn't go fishing.

We didn't go fishing because on a 800 meter beach someone had launched a gentleman's fishing rig into the sea before us, and fretting and panic ensued about them being too close together. Serious fretting, muttering and followed by deep investigation of the mans credentials, home address, and a lecture about "how I do it..."

Fishing was also cancelled, no only to proximity, but because weed was spotted in the waves, and weed is bad. To make up for this disaster he burnt some paper and plastics instead of putting them out for rubbish collection, it's "what we had to do in the old days"

We've taken down the tent, it rained and wasn't used. Didn't let it dry now the weather has changed, took it down and stowed it wet. "It's what we had to do in the old days"

This evening we will again have a discussion about Teletext, the neighbours wi-fi and how it's intermittent (we have permission to use it, we're not totally freeloading", who's arrived, who's left, pontifications on the "Sales" the lack of Eggs in the house.

And tomorrow we will do it all again, in roughly the same order, amount of time, and with the same earnest face.

Not a holiday.

 

The 12 ways of Christmas - Secret Santa

It's that time again, we spend 10 months hoping it gets here, one month preparing and then the whole of December questioning the sense of it all.

I'm going to start with Secret Santa. This year over half the people in the #Cubefarm decided that they'd like to do a #SecretSanta.

I have some ideas why the other less than half opted out, the stress of finding a $10 trinket, or for a couple of course the obvious religious reluctance.

I managed to persuade one of the non participants to draw the random name thing for everyone, much easier than going desk to desk, person to person, get everyone signed up and then get them a name. Hopefully the person drawing the names made some common sense decisions about pairing people up, despite everything there are people that wouldn't match well with others.

In previous years I've managed to accrue some really tacky things, things that aren't even remotely funny or even vaguely related to my own sense of humour or interaction, the comedy computer mouse with boobs as buttons for instance.

Perhaps someone should have got me a funny bone instead.

To be fair I kept this in my office cupboard for ages before it suddenly made its way into oblivion.

There is, at least for me, at least a little bit of skill required to get something that's at least pertinent to the person you're buying for. But there are always the obvious and desperate box of chocolate gifts that are just thoughtless, at least they're trying though.

But and also, I've been part of the #NZTwitterSecretSanta thing, whereby @Websam for the second year mashed together a webs site and a random pairing generator to connect nearly 800 people together for a similar process.

The obvious drawbacks, some of the twitter accounts turned out not really to exist, some of them were locked or protected accounts, some of the participants are not regular tweeters. Of course there is always a percentage that will receive and not give.

I've given, and wait patiently for reciprocated love, and I'm aware a few people in the same boat, waiting for both the receiver to acknowledge the gift, and to receive their random thing.

Last time up I received a water pistol. Like I said random, and not always thoughtful or pertinent.

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