Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Four

Thanks M.

The only problem is that the internals were only just about adequately supported by the legs ability to get up the stairs with the degree of agility and nimbleness required to avoid a potentially embarrasing faux pas. Après nous, le déluge.

Preaching to the choir here J! Thankfully we have a washroom facility on every floor! It is an embarrassment saver for me! :)

For some reason that has never been fully explained to me I am not permitted to use the downstairs toilet for anything other than a "fleeting visit" if you get my drift. ;)

Room deodorizers J! That is the solution. Speaking from experience here! :)

They don't do "industrial strength" ......

Ha Ha Ha! How do you measure Industrial Strength? Not definitive by any stretch but I think Myster would say I qualify. :)

M, we appear (or were appearing) to be the last two standing in the cooler this morning or this evening depending on where the hands are on your clock.

I had sort of been looking forward to Black Friday. I felt at my time of life I should buy myself a decent PC, either laptop of box, to learn how to edit video. I had primed wifey for the shock .... but she always just says "for g0ds sake ....just buy it ..." ... but I've noticed that everything on sale is just pooo. But being mean, I thought I'd wait for Black Friday, a term that some minority will undoubtedly change once that new PC band wagon gets discovered. I guess it might get called African American Friday? Anyway ... that's enough provocation! :)

All I want is i7 8th gen, with a decent graphics, and 32gb. If you want something to compose letters to Aunt May, then there is lots of bargains. but there are no genuine bargains on decent top end boxes of any size or flavour. They just dispose of "old iron" at inflated prices for what most of it is. There is more misrepresentation with respect to intel chips than anything else. i actually saw an i3 5th gen on one box today described as "Most powerful of the latest generation of Intel processors" And why do Apple always put old generation into their products and charge a packet?

Anyway, I do have a an inverter, decent sd card and big cetek battery charger being delivered today so all is not lost. And hopefully some mussels. :)

Good luck with the mussels! Can't help you with the latest generation computer, bit you could try buying the parts and putting it together DIY. I've done that a few times...

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Today was nice. We often are working for the holiday but not this year. We slept in and then went for a long walk this morning.

A grilled prosciutto and cheese sandwich for an early lunch.

Then I got the duck breasts ready. Marinated in red wine, olive oil, raspberries, and shallot.

Cooked nicely. Love that skin!

The marinade got cooked down then strained to make a sauce which was finished with butter and honey. Time to eat! We also had kamut, baked sweet potato, and asparagus.

Today's wine selection.

And our usual post Thanksgiving dinner activity

Good night all! Working tomorrow.

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Good morning:).....JP, those duck breasts look FANTASTIC:D............I had a nice dinner with my sis and bil.......

we had the usual and it was delicious. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, gravy

and we drank all the Pinot Noir and some of the Malbec;)

Greetings Coolers!

Sorry I ducked out of the Cooler and left without a goodbye J! Myster got home from his poker game and I was curious to find out the damage. He actually won a few bob. :) Glad your non-PC Holiday shop was a partial success even though the actual PC was not part of the purchases.

JP...your meal looks awesome! And so does your tree!

Lois your meal sounds yummy!

Have a great day all!

For all the shoppers online today...this article is a wee bit disturbing. Seems the prices you are offered for the goodies you are interested in might not be the same price as what is being quoted to others shopping for the same items. The article mostly focuses on hotels but who knows what other sites do the same?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/marketplace-online-prices-profiles-1.4414240

Good Afternoon Coolers!

M, yes I saw your little green light go off just as I posted, and it is good to hear that Myster won some cash. So what is he going to buy you?

Lois, re your other thread. We have only been on Wind, Cloud, Whisper and Shadow and nothing larger. To be completely honest we found the Shadow and Whisper were a perfect size for us and now wouldn't take either anything much smaller or larger. We are all different. :)

JP ..... some lovely plates served there ..... and that sandwich glistens! Nice tree. In some of our early Vienna and Salzburg Christmas market years we bought hundreds of pounds worth of hand made wooden Christmas decorations which sadly no longer appear in the markets having been replaced with cheap Chinese stuff. One of wifey's joys are those decorations.

As I expected, they let me down (again) with the moules and so I did some roast shoulder of Welsh lamb.

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Hi Jeff, thanks for the reply:).......I know I would enjoy myself;)......

Are you a Brussel Sprouts fan?......just curious because I think I have seen them in quite a few of your pictures.

What a disappointment J! No mussels! :) The upside is the scrumptious lamb and sprouts!!! Looks awesome! Myster's winnings will be banked for a future adventure. :) God willing and the creek don't rise!

I got to thinking about the origins of the term "Black Friday" and how likely/unlikely the term was to be abolished in the interest of PC-ism. Lots of varying info. Not sure what should be taken as gospel. However I found a site with some "believable" explanations.

"The first recorded use of the term “Black Friday” was applied not to holiday shopping but to financial crisis: specifically, the crash of the U.S. gold market on September 24, 1869. Two notoriously ruthless Wall Street financiers, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, worked together to buy up as much as they could of the nation’s gold, hoping to drive the price sky-high and sell it for astonishing profits. On that Friday in September, the conspiracy finally unraveled, sending the stock market into free-fall and bankrupting everyone from Wall Street barons to farmers."

........"The most commonly repeated story behind the post-Thanksgiving shopping-related Black Friday tradition links it to retailers. As the story goes, after an entire year of operating at a loss (“in the red”) stores would supposedly earn a profit (“went into the black”) on the day after Thanksgiving, because holiday shoppers blew so much money on discounted merchandise. Though it’s true that retail companies used to record losses in red and profits in black when doing their accounting, this version of Black Friday’s origin is the officially sanctioned—but inaccurate—story behind the tradition."

........"The true story behind Black Friday, however, is not as sunny as retailers might have you believe. Back in the 1950s, police in the city of Philadelphia used the term to describe the chaos that ensued on the day after Thanksgiving, when hordes of suburban shoppers and tourists flooded into the city in advance of the big Army-Navy football game held on that Saturday every year. Not only would Philly cops not be able to take the day off, but they would have to work extra-long shifts dealing with the additional crowds and traffic. Shoplifters would also take advantage of the bedlam in stores to make off with merchandise, adding to the law enforcement headache."

http://www.history.com/news/whats-the-real-history-of-black-friday

Hi Jeff, thanks for the reply:).......I know I would enjoy myself;)......

 

Are you a Brussel Sprouts fan?......just curious because I think I have seen them in quite a few of your pictures.

I use to hate brussel sprouts and now they are my favourite veg apart from potatos which I restrict. I only every steam brussels.

Ahhhh.........that is why there are so many photos of them.........If I may give you a new way to make them.......I don't

eat them very often but have found roasting them makes them even more delicious. Slice them in 1/2 and put some

spices on them.......whichever you prefer...salt, pepper, garlic powder, chopped up onions, etc......and then.....drizzle

olive oil all over them.........roast them for about 20-25 minutes on a high oven....425...or so......they come out tender

and VERY Flavorful:D

Jeff

I agree with you about the old produce in the sales. I saw an article the other day saying that a large PC / Electrical retailer had been hiking prices in September, waiting the 28 days (Sales of Goods Act?) and then reducing the prices by a lesser amount and shouting 'SALE!!' - so in fact you are paying more than you were six weeks ago!!!!

My laptop which did a half somersault with pike is getting worse by the day so I have splashed out and replaced it. I have tried to balance my needs between economy and future-proofing, and eventually bought a

Quad Core i7-7700HQ @ 2.8Ghz, 8GB Ram, 1TB HDD + 128GB SSD - which will be a slight improvement on my old Dual Core i5M at 2400Ghz. I don't need it for anything really really fancy so it should cope quite well.

Should arrive on Monday - which gives me time for my latest challenge (No, NOT trying to post a photo on CC :') ) which is to make homemade Sourdough Bread. I have my starter underway and the airing cupboard now smells like a brewery, so I suppose something is happening.

Seriously though I must master the photograph insertion. I found the 'master thread' and am still confused.

Mike

Seriously though I must master the photograph insertion. I found the 'master thread' and am still confused.

 

Mike

Keep at it. It took me a number of tries bit eventually it will work. It is a really annoying process though, and I wish there were a better way.

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Hi Mike,

Your new system looks meaty enough for general use. Good luck with it.

I had a number of alerts set on a site that keeps an eye open for stuff you specify. It was throwing up 7th deneration i7 for vastly inflated prices and virtually no offers on the current generation. Some of the really cheap stuff seemed decent value if the specs were ok for what you wanted. i've been stunned at some of the prices of 6th gen low powered MS surface pros. And I suspect you have to be careful with taking i7 either 7th or 8th gen in a thin laptop. I think it would be difficult to get any decent levels of cooling.

I bought a new Freeview 4 channel recorder a week or so back and that was returned today as faulty but much of the problem was simply extremely bad design. I understand the boxes well as I beta test Youview boxes which they kindly send me. But this box was plain freeview and was unusable. So I wait for the refund ........

I ordered a heavily specced up HP laptop three weeks ago and realised there was an error on the confirmation page. I called them straight away and they promised that it would be cancelled and wouldn't be sent and I wouldn't be charged on my credit card.

So I ordered the box again and manage to avoid the glitch. The problem was that they sent and charged for both boxes, and I was then promised a refund on the first, which of course didn't happen. So two boxes arrived and you couldn't tell from the boxes which was which and the delivery company didn't want me to open a box to check without first accepting the delivery which was fair enough. So I rejected both. I've spent the last two weeks or so trying to get responses from them and in the end had to get it reversed on the credit card.

Nothing seems to work these days.

Regarding the photographs, tapatalk - as a starting point - has been mentioned several times so we’ll have a go with that and see what happens?

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Hello All........such a lot to catch up on!

JP, your duck looks delicious but l have to have mine more or less crucified.....l usually cook a whole duck for Xmas then quarter it, crisp up in the oven and serve with my grandmothers stuffing and apple sauce.

Your tree looks very festive and how great you didn't have to work this year!

Lois, your thanksgiving dinner sounded lovely too...hope you are feeling better.

Jeffers....l love sprouts.....local farm shop sell them on the stalk and as we all know it's after the first frost that they taste better! Always peel, cut in half and boil...have never been tempted to try with pancetta and nuts or roasting them.

As for the 'internals' l live in a bungalow...thankfully with three bathrooms so don't have far to run in any direction!😉

Black Friday......admire those who look for the bargains but l never bother....did manage to buy a new deep fat fryer this week though at discount if that counts...have been missing my homemade chips.....and whilst l also admire you all trying out the new gadgets l need to keep it simple or l lose the plot!!

Tomorrow is 'D Day' for ordering the Christmas food shop from Tesco....am hoping to get a slot for when l get back from the voyage but if l don't then the kids will have a list!

Tomorrow is finish packing day...at last!! Do wish l had the strength to pack light but alas it never seems to happen....so three cases await filling!

We've had sleet and snow here this morning.....a tad early me thinks which could mean a nasty winter to look forward to....

Happy Weekend 😊

Good Afternoon Coolers ....

We have a brisk morning here .... and in the kitchen whilst F1 qualifying is on the telly ...

I've decided to "pot " my short beef ribs today for serving for Sunday lunch. Done in a beef bone stock and at the moment I'm thinking of it tafelspitz style tomorrow perhaps with some semmelknödel. I did it today so it can cool for easier cutting. Today was crispy duck and vin de boîte.

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Greetings Coolers! Rain here today and I'm delighted that it is not snow!

Miss S...best wishes for cruise packing and getting a slot for your Christmas order! Hopefully you have found your comfy flip flops!

J...your meal plans are drool inducing! The duck looks yummy and looking forward to the short beef ribs tomorrow. Enjoy the F1 qualifying!

Some musings today. Canada is a wonderful country with wonderful people. It seems that we are making some not so smart choices though. First off, Canada is now in the lead among 28 countries for indebtedness. Our household debt now stands at 101% of our GDP.

"Canadians have managed tobecome global leaders in indebtedness, according to the Organization forEconomic Co-operation and Development.

A preview of the Paris-basedOECD’s economic outlook was released Thursday, warning of the amounts of debtthat families and businesses worldwide have been saddled with.

Canada stands out in the report, which noted that the country’s debt has “continued to rise from highlevels.” Canada’s credit to households for the fourth quarter of 2016 was aheadof all other major economies, including China and the United States, standing at 101 per cent of gross domestic product."

http://business.financialpost.com/business/canadas-economic-growth-has-come-at-a-price-its-debt-level-is-now-highest-in-the-developed-world

Secondly, Canada ranks in last place out of 17 countries and gets a “D” grade on the municipal waste generation report card.

http://www.conferenceboard.ca/(X(1)S(hl3hvjps5gamuqjmf5j3n0eb))/hcp/Details/Environment/municipal-waste-generation.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

"Increases in municipal waste generation are related to rates of urbanization, types and patterns of consumption, household revenue, and lifestyles. Canada’s per capita income and average household disposable income have been steadily increasing since the 1980s, leading to increasing household consumption rates.

In other OECD counties where urbanization and disposable household income are also high, however, municipal waste generated per capita is substantially lower than in Canada. Japan, for example, generated 377 kg per capita of municipal waste in 2008, while Norway generated 470 kg per capita in 2009."

We seem to be at the top when we should be at the bottom and at the bottom when we should be at the top. Somehow I can't help but think that the two measures are related. We go into debt to buy things to replace things and then we junk the things we replaced. Interest rates were so low for so long that credit became an easy to use crutch and we became avid consumers. We bought bigger homes than we needed, new cars with zero interest payments to replace perfectly usable cars and all the newest tech gadgets to replace functioning older gadgets. There have been 2 interest rate increases this year and people are going to start feeling the pinch. Maybe we will make choices as a result!

Have a great day all!

M,

I think it's great that you keep us Coolers on the straight and narrow. Personally I would tighten my belt if there were a few more holes left in it.

I suspect that people have given up worrying about things in the way they use to just a year or two back, because things are looking so bleak and horrible on almost every front that they seem way past rationally worrying about.

Very few of us are blessed to live in a country where we can feel confident that we are being well governed and our economies well managed. Most of us have moved from feeling worried and scared of dangers and have instead (it seems) morphed into a sort of fatalistic philosophy of "I have absolutely no control over almost anything any more .... and what will be will be". I think we are all just pushing on and have adorned oursleves with blinkers simply to survive and keep ourselves sane.

No?