Saturday, 31 December 2016

Catching Up

My rate of posting here fell be about a half in 2014, the year I bought the present house and started to renovate it. Since then my blogging rate has gradually risen, and I've even started to pay more attention to my sadly neglected web site.

That may be a sign I'm catching up. I hope so. There may even be some pictures of the new place on my website soon.

Thursday, 29 December 2016

Beware Emasculated Cough Mixtures

Numerous cough medicines are available. Many are just agreeable fruity syrups, that soothe the throat for at most a few minutes after we swallow them. One easily make such concoctions oneself; glycerine, lemon juice and honey works quite well.

If one is to pay for a cough mixture, one can do much better. Lasting relief  is provided by the medicines that contain dextromethorphan which suppresses coughing for several hours after consumption.

Seeking cough medicine yesterday, I found that several mixtures that used to contain dextromethorphan no longer do so, listing as active ingredients just sugar and glycerine. Yet they were packaged just as before, apart from the change in the list of ingredients.

To get the original mixture one has to ask at the dispensary counter in the chemist's shop. Were I not in the habit of checking labels carefully I might have missed the change and wasted my money on something ineffective. I suspect a great many people will be deceived and disappointed.

Tuesday, 27 December 2016

A Folk Story Vindicated

Tomatoes are usually disappointing these days.

I remember a time when eating a tomato was a treat, but these days they are usually insipid. That's partly the varieties that are grown commercially. Home grown tomatoes of varieties not on the official list are often better, but I think there's more to it than that.

I try to reduce my salt consumption these days and had stopped sprinkling salt on salads. When I did add a little one day, the flavour of the tomatoes was transformed.

That reminded me of a folk story about a man who stupidly asked his daughters how much they loved him. Feeling unable to compete with her sisters' superlatives, the last daughter to reply said, with the perverse obscurity with which people in folk stories often confuse each other, 'I love you as the fresh meat loves the salt'

She was banished from the house for that, and only reinstated after she somehow infiltrated her way into the kitchen and cooked a salt free meal, the consumption of which shocked her father into an appreciation of her wisdom.

I suspect that that story is no longer part of the primary school curriculum, though if I were a primary school teacher I'd consider reinstating it.

Monday, 26 December 2016

Boxing Day in a Small Towm

I was particularly glad to be in Market Harborough today, because I was able to get our and look round the shops.

In Leicester there were few shops in walking distance, and to get to the rest I relied on buses which, on Boxing Day were few and crowded. Here a short walk in the sunshine got me to the sales where I could buy next year's Christmas cards at half price.

Sunday, 11 December 2016

Speculative Genetics

I recently hear someone interviewed on the radio claim to have been born with 'journalist DNA'

I don't believe that the individual in question actually thought they had made a remarkable discovery in genetics, and doubt if he or she actually knows what DNA is. I suspect that 'DNA' is a term perceived to be used by clever people, so people who want to be thought clever like to use it too, without bothering to find our what it means.

'DNA' is often misused in that way.

Friday, 2 December 2016

Invisible Button

I recently bought a new tower PC. In the old days the first thing one taught computer novices was how to switch the computer on. The switch was usually at the back of the computer. Wise, as I thought, to the ways of computer manufacturers, I switched on while plugging this and that into the back of the machine, but it still didn't some on.

Usually there's some sort of on/off button on the front of the case too, but however carefully I searched I couldn't find one. The only button I could find on the front was the one for the DVD bay.

I was on the point of taking the tower back to the shop where I'd bought it, when a kind friend offered to have a look. He eventually found a button. The button was black, matching the black case of the tower, and was flush with the case. Even though I now know where it is, I still can't see it, though I can detect it by touch.

I wonder who designed the case, and what, if anything, went through their minds when they made it like that.