You know what I did today?

Got up, ate avocado on toast for breakfast and a cup of tea.

Checked my shares. No change. I still suck at investing. (Except for the stock Dylan told me about. It was up)

Worked, had the $5 Chinese lunch from across the road because someone said it was good yesterday. I was average. Worked some more, slacked off in the afternoon. Cleaned my slide drainer. It was quiet.

Drove home. Opened my parcel from 3 deals. Oh boy 2 new work shirts. I put one on, mmm new fabric smell. Opened other mail.

Opened a beer.
Internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet internet
Put empty beer bottle in recycling bin.

Vacuumed the top floor. Vacuumed the curtains. Filed some papers. Sorted out lights from darks for the washing. Ate some nuts. Wished there was more beer.

Remembered I wanted to go to the library today (dang)

Read some recent papers about fatty acids. Reading computer moniters still sucks when will the future be here!

Read a real life book.
Emptied the dishwasher.
Prepared dinner. Cauliflower/garlic concoction, asparagus and fried meat (my favourite)
Kissed my husband as he walked in the door.
Ate dinner. It was yum.
Accepted an invitation to an outing with my Father.
Poured a whiskey.
Considered my study options for next year

Posted this on my blog

damn older husband

God damn husband, being older than me.

He'll be retired while I'll still be slaving away, 8 hours a day working for the MAN. Although technically working for the government is a pretty good gig in this country, work is work, is working for others gain and a minimal wage.

So I've got to get a plan, somehow I need to retire at the same time as my husband, then I can dedicate my time to pottering around in my garden, tasting beers of the world and writing that erotic science fiction novel I've had floating around in head for the last week. You know, the things we all dream of.

Now, I'm not really the start a business, entrepreneurial type. I have very little of that tough edge or drive that successful people seem to have in droves. I'm mostly lazy and would just like to win the money. Paying the bad at math tax hasn't worked out so far so I am forced to actually try and save and invest. OH THE HUMANITY.

I bought some shares, my tycoon brother gave me a stock tip, I checked out the company and it looked pretty good. The CEO bought a huge parcel of shares so he's obviously confident in what they're doing. But I had minimal cash to invest. Most my spare monies goes on the mortgage, but I invested what I had. Banks don't really want to lend you money to buy shares these days, its definitely a cash buy only. Sure you can get margin lending, but I don't know if they would set that up for a small time investor like me. Also as my brother tactfully worded it "the NZX moves slowly" that's putting it mildly. Its pretty unexciting, especially when you're only investing tiny tiny amounts like me.

Most average joes when they want to invest go with property, I would say thats because its the only assets class that banks will lend you a shit load of money for. So that is my next plan, to buy a god damn rental. I don't want to be a landlord, I really can't imagine anything worse (I'll fork out for a hard arse property manager). It does seem to be the only way to get any kind of decent capital gain in this country. Its going to be a god damn nightmare. I can't afford Auckland so I'm going for Waikato, maybe Whangarei at the right price. I'm going to try buy by the end of 2010. I'm scared, bank managers, lawyers, accountants, ARGH, I had a bad enough experience buying our own home. Our broker was a dick and so was our lawyer. Nuts. 100% using our own home as security? Seems risky to me, but trying to save a second deposit while we pay off our bastard mortgage will probably take 4 years. Too long really. A pity we've already committed to the last family holiday before the kids grow up because that holiday savings account is just asking to be invested in something.

Anyway retirement at 45 seems like a fantasy, but if I can at least work it so I can work part time, I'll be happy with that.

If you are old like me, don't go to Moonsoon Poon

I'm a grumpy old woman now.

Officially. I never thought 29 would be the end point, but what can I say, I'm over it.
I'm over loud obnoxious music being piped into the restaurant.
I really don't enjoy shouting at my friends for 2 hours or crappy service.

Monsoon Poon is a restaurant that thinks its a nightclub, with their policy of sending everyone to the bar to spend money on drinks first and pumping out the music so loud that you can't talk and all there is to do while you wait for your table is drink drink drink. Very devious.
I won't be going back, but some demographic obviously enjoys the place because it was completely packed.

I'm just over the loudness.

How to like beer

Some 21 year old guy was asking advice on reddit on how to like beer. 21 is pretty late to learn how to enjoy beer but I'm sure it can be done. In order to give the guy some decent advice I reflected on why I enjoy beer so much.

I think alcohol enjoyment is a learned cultural phenomenon. While in the past unsafe water supply was mitigated with the production of alcohols ,today we enjoy clean safe water. So the drinking of alcohol is now a custom passed down through the generations.

While I was growing up all adults in my family drank. I separated it into two kinds, stupid alcohol that caused noisy parties and slurring adults and the there was normal alcohol, the beers after hard work, the homemade wine at Granny and Popsies place and shandies.

Shandies were the best thing ever, half lemoade and half beer. The sweetness of the lemonade with the bitter homebrew beer in a perfect ratio. This was the drink served at 5pm just before dinner. Popsie would decant a bottle of home brew in a jug and make a lemonade soda stream. Us kids would all get one and it was the perfect summer drink. We rarely got shandies at home so its was all the more special. Some nights, probably winter, we would get a small glass of home made wine. It was always in a fancy etched glass and the wine was plum or feijoa. If we were good we could have a little extra at dinner. Alcohol was associated with happy family dinners. So to enjoy beer it helps to have ritualised happy memories associated with it and to start off by mixing it with lemonade.

Intersting things all around

I was buying a tomato plant at Kings Plant Barn in Porana road when my husband had a hankering for coffee, thanks to the trend of installing cafes in garden centers I was able to oblige and whilst waiting I admired the mosaic of the queens jewels.
I bought cucumber and tomato seedlings so I hope the cold weather is finally at an end.

Iodised salt! I tell no lies!

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10599620

Stolen from the Herald! Visit the above link for original article.

Bakers start producing bread with iodised salt this weekend.
By law they must now use the ingredient to introduce iodine to New Zealanders' diets and help to overcome the risk of iodine deficiency.
Only organic and unleavened bread will be excluded from the requirement to use iodised salt.
Bread baked with iodised salt will not taste any different.
Iodine is an essential nutrient for good health and iodine deficiency is a global health concern and a re-emerging health problem in New Zealand.
The World Health Organisation says iodine deficiency causes brain damage, mental impairment and thyroid diseases including goitre, a large swelling on the neck from an enlarged thyroid gland.
Despite increased access to iodised salt around the world over the past decade, WHO says that in 54 countries the intake of iodine is still too low.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) developed a mandatory iodine fortification standard to help deal with iodine deficiency.

- NZPA

MOAR SALT! There's nothing wrong with iodised salt.

One hypothesis on how early man got the jump on the neanderthals is seafood. Early man took advantage of the sea's bounty, eating shellfish seaweed and fish. The extra omega 3 is thought to have fueled brain development giving them an edge over their large mammal eating cousins.

But maybe its not just the omega 3 that increased the brain power, Iodine may have played a role as well. Iodine deficient populations are associated with increased incidence of goitre, but iodine deficiency is also associated with many different types of mental retardation. in the last century isolated mountain populations with low iodine soils suffered from very high rates of retardation.

Some scientists think that iodine during pregnancy can increase the IQ of the child, reduced iodine intake before 2 years of age is theorised to cause reduced IQ. Iodine deficiency is thought to cause ADD and extreme iodine deficiency is known to cause retardation.

The myth that salt causes all high blood pressure (reducing salt intake can reduce your blood pressure in about 1/3 of people with hypertension, but salts not what caused it. Some individuals have the misfortune to be salt sensitive but this is not the majority of people suffering from hypertension) had led many people to eliminate as much salt as possible from their diet, at the some time this has reduced many peoples iodine intake. New evidence is coming to light that iodine deficiency is correlated with breast cancer, gastric cancer and maybe even chronic conditions like fibromyalgia.

Great sources of iodine include seaweed, seafood and iodised salt. Seaweed is tastier than you think and remember that you need to try a food at least ten times before you decide if you like it! (I read that somewhere
really reputable ;-) for reals!)

So not only does iodised salt make you smart and prevent cancer :-) its damn tasty too!
Eat iodised salt, don't feel bad about it, enjoy it knowing you are getting some damn iodine! If you are not salt sensitive there is little reason to dramatically cut back intake. (All things in moderation off course there no need to start an all brine diet.)


Some references I remembered to bookmark:
Isotopic evidence for the diets of European Neanderthals and early modern humans.
Seafood gave us the edge on the Neanderthals
Iodine
Cretinism
Iodine Alters Gene Expression in the MCF7 Breast Cancer Cell Line: Evidence for an Anti-Estrogen Effect of Iodine
Essential Hypertension

Health Insurance a mugs game?

I'm nearly 30 and I pay $17.83 a fortnight for Health Insurance. $463 a year for Hospital and Specialist care.
Sure I can get treatment for free at any public hospital, but there are waiting times to consider.
And if I have to go to hospital, I'd like a private room and not have to listen to the person next to me crying out in agony all night in a vain attempt to be given some morphine.

So is it a good investment? If I saved that much for 20 years (conservatively) I'd have about $14,000. What are the chances of me requiring $14,000 worth of private health care in the next 20 years? That's what I'm gambling on. That what the health insurance company (Southern Cross) are gambling on too.

Southern cross is "not for profit" I guess that means every dollar they take in they pay out again. (Minus admin and CEO salaries). So excellent chances of claims being approved. But in a way my premiums pay for older people, then when I'm older, all the youngin's can subsidise me! Its the ultimate pyramid scheme, we just have to keep recruiting people to sign up for health insurance.

I keep looking at it, wondering if this is something worth continuing with, that $17.83 could be going on my mortgage. Murphy's law says as soon as I cancel my insurance I'll need it, so for now FEAR will keep me contributing to the insurance game.

Stop Facebook Using Your Picture in Adds

This popped up on MY facebook page one day, I was not impressed. Okay well actually I laughed, then posted the image on zeds facebook page telling him he was in big trouble. Some of his facebook friends thought I was serious (they haven't met me).

Facebook has the option to allow/disallow use of your picture in adverts. For the sake of your loved ones please disallow use of your picture in adverts.

Shiny Pretty Things

So pretty, so shiny, so luminescent! We need more shiny to brighten up the winter days.