prevention , better than cure or look after your electrical wiring

london 11.59am 13.2C cloudy monday 2015

i thought i shall use this colour, a flourescent purple today. have not used it at all so this is a first time. hope it is easy to read.

i got bored using the same colours just so it stands out and is easy to read. so indulge me in this post, using a colour that may not be readable.

my life is easy. thank goodness. no big dramas and hope it keeps that way. the big drama that has just gone was that electric dysfunction. my microwave went conk suddenly.

that is the trouble with electrical stuff. they dont give any warning and just go. that is why it is always a good idea to keep a spare one.

but i always believe in a spare, so i shall still keep an eye out for a microwave in the recycling skip, even though we now have a brand new one. also i shall keep an eye out for a adaptor charger too. they tend to go without warning too.

i am using simon’s charger now, but i can see frayed wiring, where the lead comes out of the charger… that gets bent acutely. now i have stopped bending it whenever i put  the adaptor away.  i used to do that with the old adaptor and  do a  figure of 8 bending which i think might be distorting the wire. that might explain why my old adaptor went conk recently. but how to store it without the lead going all over the place? i shall try to wrap it round the adaptor. that might do.

they dont tell u not to bend it in a figure of 8, but bending the wire that way must be not good for it. i also decided to wrap cellotape over that kinked bit of wire to keep it straight, so it does not automatically bend. it might be a useless precaution and unnecessary but as they always say, a stitch in time saves nine, and i hope a simple act like this saves me another adaptor going conk.

so now i am enjoying using this new microwave that we have got.it is not essential but still very nice to have.

today is the last day of november, and tomorrow starts the free mobile sim deal that talk talk has been writing to me about. i am looking forward to getting it. now i have to start thinking who i shall call or text. haha.

i saw a talk talk advert in the metro newspaper today… saying half price broadband and line rental of £8.85 a month. it is part of their black friday deal.

when u consider i am paying 16.99 a month now for line rental and broadband, it is a good bargain, but i cannot shift to that deal  as i am on a 18month contract. i am just glad i did not have to pay the £5 (later increased to £7.50) for the broadband which i nearly did before i ask them to give it to me free and they agreed.  otherwise it would have been a really bad contract. as it is, it is  not too bad now that they are giving me a free mobile sim with all those free calls and text.

though if i have a choice i would prefer the low half priced offer. i would chose the low cost option everytime instead of these extra freebies which i dont use that much.

broadband is essential now in my household. we use it to get hi definition tv and free tv programs and playback tv, which we are finding is necessary now.

just goes to show doesn’t it? that when u upgrade to a hi def tv, u need all these so called extras that u did not want before. that is how we get unknowingly drawn to these things and find we cannot do without them now.

such is life. really. and then we get onto wordpress and have a blog and start interacting with other bloggers in wordpress and find we are so liking it that we continue blogging and getting involved with other wordpress bloggers and come to enjoy their daily chats. 

first anniversary of my blog

London
Got a reminder from wordpress saying today is one year since I first wrote a post here.

I never knew there is a world of other bloggers still blogging away and who find blogging more attractive than twittering, or face booking. It is nice to know there are others who like that too.

I find blogging makes me more contemplative and think things through, rather than just type in some quick response and twitter it.

Sometimes, when you wait a bit to response, events unfold and it makes your first reaction seem inappropriate… it makes u pause next time before doing a knee jerk reaction.

Also growing older makes me less obsessive about things. It does not seem to matter whether I am right or not so I don’t impose my views on another. As long as what I do is right for me at that time, that is all.

Life is rather nice, but then I think I am rather fortunate that nice things happen to me. Whether it is because my soul makes it so, which is what I believe because I believe that what happens is what u call for whether consciously or unconsciously.

Thus, I tend to view anything that happens to me as something that is what I want to experience. I may not know why, or how such an experience is going to do me good, but I firmly believe that it will. Even the negative things can be helpful, if nothing else makes me know what I don’t want. Haha.

I met a chap in the Italian festival recently , and we got to chatting about our lives. During the course of it I said I am glad that we got the nhs . He replied it may let me down. Just look at all that long waiting list for operations. I said I don’t mind, really, sometimes it is quite good to wait, and it may be the problem solves itself and you don’t need that operation. Or they find a non intervention procedure that will be just as good without having to cut up and sew up things. He was not convinced. And that I find is quite the way most people think.
My view that if the nhs is unable to cure me, or something happens and I die, well that would save me from a long lingering and painful illness, wouldn’t it? And that would be good thing as far as I am concerned.

But he was not convinced. Haha. Most people would hold the same views as him. Am I the only one who thinks different?

Ah well, perhaps it is why I am not concerned about having private health insurance or lots of money to pay for expensive medical treatments. My view is if I have a lot of money I will be tempted to take those expensive medical treatments which may not really cure me just give me 6months or 1yr more , with a lot of pain maybe, and I don’t fancy that at all. So if I have no money there is no dilemma, having to decide whether to take the treatment or not. That can be quite a relief you know.

I have noticed that if u don’t have the money, the decision is out of your hands, and it is quite a relief. It gives me real peace of mind to know that whatever happens let it happen , no need to move heaven and earth trying to find a cure and desperately trying to stay alive, just for the sake of it, never mind what the quality of the life is like.

But I am getting morbid, so lets change the subject.

Just this, Good health (and I mean both physical and mental health) is the most important thing to have. Nothing else matters, not wealth, or friends, or lovers, or family, or possessions or status, or fame, etc.

And having good health is not a passive thing, which u just let happen, without doing anything about it. You can consciously live a healthy livestyle and have happy way of thoughts and happy attitude to what is happening in the world.

I read of others’ lives here who are blogging in wordpress, and sometimes it can seem a lot of people are having problems. It may be that happy people don’t really write much as there is nothing to say if u are happy haha. But when bad things happen to you there is plenty to say. So it stands to reason that we hear a lot of bad things.

It is why the news is always bad. Haha. Good news is rare to find nowadays.

And if we don’t have bad news happening, we make it up, like the coming forecast of the worst storm since 1987, which is forecast to happen this Monday night. So the newspapers are already making it up and anticipating it. As if bad news that is actually happening now is not enough. Lol.

 

 

 

blogging

London
Friday 1.2.13 5pm

Roast chicken is really easy to do. I got one today from aldi. It was a small chicken (1.25kg) and had today’s expiry date so it was reduced 30%.
That was rather lucky because I went there to buy their pork,sage stuffed chicken costing £4 as there was a promotion by them in the mirror paper with a voucher for 30% off . So I was prepared to pay £3 for it.

There were no such chicken on sale. Either they were sold out or what. But this chicken I got is even better, as though small, it is normally £3 rather than £4. So my 30% reduction means I got it for £2.

When chicken are prestuffed they tend to increase the price. You pay extra for that unnecessary stuffing.

I get a craving for chicken now and then, and so this one is very welcomed.

All british chicken are young, so are tender and don’t need a lot of high temperatures or time to cook in the oven. I bring it to 200C in the smaller top oven; and then reduced it to 150C for about 1hr. Then I switch off and let it stay in the oven to cook for a further 10mins.

In the meantime, u can do whatever u want while waiting for the chicken to cook.

You can think about life, and about the internet.

I see some blogs talking about search engine optimisation. Its for people who have things to sell, or services to flog. And so want to drive people to see their website.

And I got an email from zurker, which I joined some time ago, but they have lost momentum and are now kickstarting it again by introducing a zurker Friday whereby everyone try to post something on that day.

The problem there is that there are not enough people and it is not easy to see their post.

They should take a leaf from wordpress and make everyone see everyone else’s posts and allow people to comment or like it.
Actually they do , they call it zurked. By calling it , zurk, u can just let others know u find their post interesting, not necessarily liked or agree with what they say.
For eg, someone wrote a post about them losing their job, and have someone die, and it just sounds weird to ‘like’ it. Haha. Maybe in wordpress, we can ‘word’ it.

But I found u cannot find these posts in zurker unless u link with them. And often we don’t really want to link with someone that closely. But still want to read their posts now and then.

They are a young website, so it is early days. And u cannot just join, but must be invited. That is another reason why it is not moving fast.

Google+ really started going fast when they opened it out to everyone. But I find i cannot figure out what to use it for. It is good for marking other posts and re posting them, bringing it to the attention of others, but no one make comments or any original opinions of those things they repost.

Here in wordpress we have the reblog button, which I think is a great function, for those times when u want to say more, maybe disagree a bit about what is written but don’t want to do it in the comments as u don’t want to take over that person’s blog. So u repost it in your own blog with all the things u want to say about it in your blog.

I wonder whether the original poster may not like it , or would they? It means u are taking what they post and bringing the chat into your blog. Maybe not a good thing to do. Certainly if it were my post, I would like people to make comments on my blog even if they disagree and we can have a chat about it in my blog.
Though the danger in talking in the original blogger is that if they don’t like what u say, they can erase all you say and that is that. Haha whereas if u chat in your blog, u can control the discussion.

Of course, the original post person can simply refuse to allow u to reblog.
I wonder if u need to write in the comments in their blog to ask for permission to reblog. Is that expected or not?

I assume u don’t need to ask for permission, simply because if u click that reblog button, then wordpress ask the original post person to refuse to allow it. Or not. So they can have their say.

I read somewhere from another wordpress blogger that he do not like reblogs, as it does not bring any traffic back to his blog.

I am not too bothered about traffic, but what I think might be a factor against reblogging is that the chat can be taken away from your post and carried on somewhere else where u might not be able to monitor that well. The other person can control the discussion and may even if they don’t like your reasons, block you from it.

Or can they?
Or can u pull the plug from the whole reblogged post at your end.

Well, I would like to continue the chat on that person’s blog and post, but I feel that maybe I am usurping his blog with my views. That is why I hesitate often in commenting… after all, they can , and shall, say to you if u keep up comments in their blog, to go and blog on it in your own blog. Haha. And anyway, it is all a person’s opinion, and one opinion is really as good as another.

 

 

 

 

 

 

just a recent 2day post

London

23.1.13 wednesday

I am quite surprised that there are so many bloggers still, I thought everyone have gone to twitter, facebook, or whatever those social networks are called. But wordpress is still very active, and tumblr as well.

I used to be with blogspot, and they don’t have the kind of connection that wordpress (and tumblr too for all I know) seem to make available for its members.

This article in the telegraph today says old people are likely to be cut out of the mainstream if they don’t join a social network. I cannot find the link , so maybe the editors have removed it as they realise that they are wrong to assume that just because u are not on a social network u are cut off from society.

I think if u are not on the internet, or have some access to it, u will be cut off from the mainstream. Being able to get online is far more important than being in a social network. Libraries give free daily 1hr access to anyone who joins the library, and in England at least it is easy to join the library. But for a gay guy, it has its disadvantage , in that it wont allow access to gay websites like gaydar, etc.

That is why I still have a landline, as it allows me to get free broadband. I got talk talk. And it is cheap, landline rental is £9.50 (because I pay a year’s rental in advance) and monthly dues for the package which includes free broadband is £3.50. I get free calls (up to 1hr per call) locally and nationally in the evenings and weekends, and a special concession for me, I get free local calls (02 numbers for London) anytime. I get free international calls too, to certain countries, but I never use them.

I thought in the past that I will close this landline if ever London gives us free broadband throughout the city… but I think even if it does, I have second thoughts about closing my landline, because it is v likely they will restrict access to gay websites. And it is nice to be able to call and chat with friends free.

I am using my blog as some kind of diary. For my own enjoyment. Not many use it like that.

Many use their blogs as a means of instruction, or imparting knowledge. Or as a means of trying out their communicating skills, or publicising their business, or humour or story -telling or poetry to entertain others.

And they all seem to want a lot of viewers and visitors. I wonder why?

22.1.13 tuesday
I was wondering when is Chinese new year this year. And I saw an advert in the online newspaper , the independent, an advert placed by amoy , saying they are cooking at various places in uk over the following weekends until ending in London on the 10feb, which is when Chinese new year starts.

The coming year will be of the snake.
This one is the year of the dragon.

Not that I know what the difference is.

I might go and see them cook, and hopefully sample it, in Trafalgar square on the 10th feb, or at observation point, Gabriel wharf on the 9th feb. the 9th feb one might be less busy.

There will be a big celebration with stage show in Trafalgar sq on the 10th feb. This year the celebration is on the actual Chinese new year day itself as it is on a Sunday.

http://www.standard.co.uk/staticpage/amoy/

It is a chance for the Chinese businesses and restaurants in and around Chinatown in London to make their profit by attracting lots of people to come into central London that weekend.

There will be lion dances.

This year Chinese new year is rather early in february.

Long ago, we used to meet at a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown on new year eve for dinner get together. But it is usually a hectic affair, with the restaurant very full and everything was so rushed and expensive too. And the food suffered as a consequence of this.

Now, we don’t do that anymore. At least not me.

You might say how sad to lose touch like that with friends. It is rather sad, but we have lost touch with each other because we have no more common interests anymore. That is the reason why we stop seeing each other.

Rather sad, that , but friends come and go, and sometimes when our interests diverge, there is nothing to say to each other anymore. So we go off and find new friends or find new interests.