Nice People Thread Number 10 -the official residence of Nice People

bugslet

Yorkie1 wrote: »

Not making light of the difficulties of NPs, but this reminds me of the tale a couple of years ago when some female celebrity or pop star got into a taxi in N London and asked for Stamford Bridge.

Taxi driver plugs details into satnav, and off they set.

Four hours later they reach their destination. Yep, Stamford Bridge N Yorks, not Stamford Bridge the Chelsea FC stadium. You do wonder why the passenger didn't ask sooner why it was taking so long to get to the football ... :cool:

There's a Stamford bridge in Cheshire as well. Astounds me how little my girlfriends know about the geography of the UK!

Spirit wrote: »

:rotfl:

Over half our staff do not think their appraisal helps them, and a third of them said it leaves them feeling their work has no value.

I had my appraisal today, I agree with the first statement, but not the latter.

Top qualities in my 360degree feedback...Courage, critical thinking. You see them in overdrive though. Not pretty.

I'd hate an appraisal unless it was completely uncritical. I don't think your peers should review you either, half of them are probably incapable and another lot won't like you, so can't see it really helps. And then as I take criticism really badly, I'd probably spend the next 12 months hating a large portion of my colleagues; I think you can see why it's best I work for myself.;)

PasturesNew wrote: »

If I live long enough .... I plan to investigate them while I am still mobile, then write down the ones I prefer/hate.... just in case.

I'd rather be in a home than trapped immobile, at home alone .... waiting for 2-3 short visits by a stream of inattentive strangers doling out microwave meals and tablets..... left alone over 23 hours each day and night.....

The right home can be a great place - better suss it out before you get to the point of not being able to suss it out.

I managed a demonstration of complete idiocy last night. I went to see Swan Lake, Russian State ballet of Siberia and excellent it was too, good seats, thoroughly nice night. As I live 5 minutes from a train station and the theatre in Liverpool is a 100yards from a train station, off I toddled.

Coming back home, I had the carriage to myself. In my defence, I don't often travel on trains or public transport at all if I can help it and previously when I've got on and off trains, it's been with a bunch of other people. I didn't know you had to press a button to get off the train:o, I thought the doors opened automatically. Acton Bridge at midnight is very quiet being a bit of a one horse town. Spent 45 minutes stamping feet and trying to warm up after calling a friend to come and rescue me. Negotiations as to how many lunches I owe her are ongoing:D

bugslet

zagubov wrote: »

The first curries I tried were Vesta packet curries back in the 70s which took about 20 minutes to make in pre-microwave days. Loved them at the time- got me interested in spicy food

Oooo I remember those, the height of culinery experimentation at the time.

I really struggle with food, basically because I really, really hate cooking of any form and for any amount of time. I spend my entire life trying to balance something that can be done in no more than two minutes with minimal washing up, with a drive to eat healthier. After 30 years you would think I could achieve it somewhat, but nope, it's still a battle.

zagubov

PasturesNew wrote: »

If I live long enough .... I plan to investigate them while I am still mobile, then write down the ones I prefer/hate.... just in case.

I'd rather be in a home than trapped immobile, at home alone .... waiting for 2-3 short visits by a stream of inattentive strangers doling out microwave meals and tablets..... left alone over 23 hours each day and night.....

There's chat elsewhere about people who send relatives on round the world cruises to delay taking a place in care homes as its (supposedly) cheaper than fees. Find that a bit difficult to believe!

LydiaJ

Generali wrote: »

1. You get used to it.
2. It's rarely above mid-30s
3. Everywhere has air con

I really noticed #3 in London last (your) summer.

The weather said it was going to be 30C. Ok, thinks I, hot but not that hot. As long as I walk across London and avoid the Tube I'll be laughing.

Stone me! Nowhere has air con. It was horrible. How can you have a pub with no air con in the middle of a city? Crazy idea.

That's the thing in Sydney and indeed most of Australia. You get pretty hot at times but it's easy to cool down again. It's perfectly normal to duck into a shop for a few minutes just to cool down a little. In London everywhere was stifling. The only place that wasn't baking hot was a Pret a Manger I went into.

I understand the reasons. Sydney is a pretty unpleasant place to be in the cold. It doesn't make it any better though! The only time Sydney is unpleasant in the heat is if your air con breaks down on a stinking hot day. Having said that, I did a few days in the tropics without air con and managed just fine. Lots of cool showers was the key there.

This seems very odd to me. You and I obviously have very different preferred temperatures. I am never too hot in this country, unless I'm in a car travelling at speeds that make it impracticable to have the windows open.

Now that I have a car with air con, I use it a lot in the winter - it dries the air so that I can demist the windscreen despite having the heater on recirculate to avoid being gassed by the exhaust of the car in front. In the summer I use it reasonably often when going fast with the windows shut, but even then it feels unpleasantly like being refrigerated. For pottering about town in the car in summer I like to have the windows open and occasionally use the air con, but I don't really like it and much preferred my old car, which had no air con but did have a sun roof, letting lots of lovely air and light and warmth in - and letting any overheated air go straight out upwards. I have never ever felt too hot inside a building in this country, even in cities.

I remember years ago staying for about 5 days in a hotel in the US. The weather was what I would call pleasantly warm - no need for a jumper when outdoors or any heating indoors - how lovely. Every day when the chambermaid did my room, she turned the air con on. Every day when I came back from my conference meetings, I found the room like an ice box and turned the air con off.

zagubov

bugslet wrote: »

Oooo I remember those, the height of culinery experimentation at the time.

I really struggle with food, basically because I really, really hate cooking of any form and for any amount of time. I spend my entire life trying to balance something that can be done in no more than two minutes with minimal washing up, with a drive to eat healthier. After 30 years you would think I could achieve it somewhat, but nope, it's still a battle.

That's me that is!

If I or DW could just twitch a nose or cross arms and nod the head and conjure up a meal in a second that would suit me fine. :T

bugslet

Mr Bugs was a fabulous cook, zag. He couldn't understand how since I like eating so much, I didn't like cooking. As I pointed out, I like driving, but it doesn't mean to say that I want to build a car!

lostinrates

zagubov wrote: »

There's chat elsewhere about people who send relatives on round the world cruises to delay taking a place in care homes as its (supposedly) cheaper than fees. Find that a bit difficult to believe!

Cruises no, but other countries I can see the sense in.

Warm climates better for things like arthritis. Better attitude towards care and the elderly, and cheaper labour meaning more care possible.

I can think of worse things tbh.

Generali

lostinrates wrote: »

Things I'm missing include braised celery. I had a dream pasty night where there was a vegetable orchestra and celery was the conductor and they were playing tunes like 'the mirepoix' and ' crudite'. (My veg wants are prosaically basic.

Please remind me what the Italian is for mirepoix. It's completely left my brain.

lostinrates wrote: »

I want braised red cabbage, and Brussels sprouts cooked with bacon.

We have brussels with bacon in early summer (brussels sprouts are a late spring/early summer veg here - European plants have some strange reactions to the Sydney climate). It's great with a small handful of pine nuts and/or a gentle splash of soy sauce.

lostinrates wrote: »

I'd like so e goats cheese, maybe even with leeks.

I love chevre but a little goes a very long way for me. Sheep cheeses are probably my favourites.

lostinrates wrote: »

Ironically, I'm not sure but I could probably be allowed monster much.

I'm so switched off how I am meant to eat rather than bake bread I bought some. Its ...ok. Its exciting to eat bread. For a while. Now its toast. Toast reminds me of school. I'm allowed clear jams or jellies so long as not citrus. Or syrup. Seriously...they want me to get diabetes too:rotfl: I'm eating a piece of toast and Quince preserve daily this week, This would have been a dream in previous years. . Now its just......sweet. . I've also eaten noodles this week, Udon and rice noodles. I've managed to save the peel free potato joy as a special treat. I want fruit.


If I had calories or freedom to eat something the idea of wasting it on something so /so is ,......wasteful.

There really is quite a lot of sugar there. Sugar is easy to digest but, AIUI at least, it messes your pancreas up and other organs after that. Again AIUI, stuff like crisps and white bread effectively turns to sugar very soon after you eat it. When I cycle seriously which is only every now and again, I have to fuel myself with accessible carbohydrates. I try to eat lots of brown fibrous stuff around that. I know a bloke who got diabetes aged ~20 which he blames on drinking loads of *****ade when he was a schoolboy/trainee with **** United FC.

I'm a pretty active bloke so have plenty of calories to be used. TBH I don't know how I'd deal with getting sick so that I couldn't cycle or walk a long way.

I moan quite a bit but I'm a very lucky man really.

zagubov

Generali wrote: »

Please remind me what the Italian is for mirepoix. It's completely left my brain.



We have brussels with bacon in early summer (brussels sprouts are a late spring/early summer veg here - European plants have some strange reactions to the Sydney climate). It's great with a small handful of pine nuts and/or a gentle splash of soy sauce.



I love chevre but a little goes a very long way for me. Sheep cheeses are probably my favourites.



There really is quite a lot of sugar there. Sugar is easy to digest but, AIUI at least, it messes your pancreas up and other organs after that. Again AIUI, stuff like crisps and white bread effectively turns to sugar very soon after you eat it. When I cycle seriously which is only every now and again, I have to fuel myself with accessible carbohydrates. I try to eat lots of brown fibrous stuff around that. I know a bloke who got diabetes aged ~20 which he blames on drinking loads of *****ade when he was a schoolboy/trainee with **** United FC.

I'm a pretty active bloke so have plenty of calories to be used. TBH I don't know how I'd deal with getting sick so that I couldn't cycle or walk a long way.

I moan quite a bit but I'm a very lucky man really.

I'm in agreement with the recent upgrading of sugar as a threat to health. There's worying talk on the internet about how sucrose is better than starch because it's 50% fructose and so doesn't mess with blood glucose levels. Also that fructose-flavoured foods are better as it's sweeter per calories consumes. It's no better than glucose realy and potentially worse in some ways. As ever the media have promoted a few factoids without giving the public the depth of knowledge to see what's really safe or unsafe. Artificial sweeteners don't hold any fears for me and I'd never drink a drink sweetened with sugar.

PasturesNew

vivatifosi wrote: »

I bought some Sainsburys Basics mince pies to take into work for us to have with our tea (we always bring in bits and bobs that we see on offer).

You still get the same dry pastry an a meagre filling, but they were 10p for a box of 18, which is pretty hard to beat, whatever the calorific value.

and this is why the statement is made that it's cheaper to eat junk than healthily. I challenge any health-nut to compete with 10p for 18 pies!