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.

Back to school for me

Ah the joys of extramural study....... oh hang on, there are none. I miss lectures! I don't miss undergrad labs though, they always seemed so pointless.


Okay I lie, one benefit of extramural study is being able to lie in bed on a cold night doing your required readings on your laptop because you managed to find a "copy" of your text book and journals online. Joys. Or emailing the course coordinator and getting the standard "oh god, another annoying extramural student" type reply.
I'm starting to feel like I'm the only one in the whole world enrolled in my course though. Its very isolating.
Nina pops round for studying sometimes. Her handouts are all about how much immigrants hate it here. (I may be paraphrasing unjustly.) I wish I had someone who could get me excited about enzyme kinetics though. Every time I start reading that chapter....ZZZZZzzzzzza soporific.

However I am well into my second assignment (first one already emailed in! wot a nerd bro!)

The only thing weighing on my mind is the bill, they haven't sent it yet, first they suck you in with course materials, readings and assignments..just to get you HOOKED. Then comes the bill. its just like drugs....exactly like drugs.

So my delightful friends...have I told you how much I love you lately? I really do! If you felt like helping me pay off my University Bill, and I know you do because you are all about joy and love, you can click on any of these links. meh, well only if you can be bothered. Otherwise sympathy will do nicely :-) Oh debts! how i love thee. Anyway on with the squeeze!


Thinking of buying a book? (of course you are you smart thing you!) Buy it from Fishpond! They will give me a 10% commission!

Want to get cash rewards for shopping online and doing surveys (its legit bro,I got $120 last year) and help me at the same time? I'll get $2 for every active member that signs up.

Why not get a Rabo account? Its an online bank account with high interest and no fees, ever. You can split your master savings account into multiple accounts each with its own name and savings goal for free! If you play their little cash stealing game you'll get up to $50 free just for opening an account. Thats right..the bank pays YOU to open the account/I use a rabo account for savings and its very good for serious savings goals ( I know you have serious goals! But even frivolous goals will do!) Its the safest Bank in New Zealand Play the Rabo Bank Game and earn $50. Every person that opens a bank account earns me $10.

OMG My computer desk is a Fracking mess

BEFORE

I'm not known for my tidiness, but man look at my desk! Its just a general dumping ground for bills and other crap I don't know what to do with. I just cleaned all my junk out of the car, I suppose I should do my desk as well. It does NOT strike me as a fun Monday night activity. Drinking beers and then falling asleep reading my book in bed sounds much better.

AFTER

Ah sweet clean desk, now to reward myself with a cup of tea and some 85% dark lindt chocolate. Less than 2g of sugar per square and lots of cocoa goodness.
I'm trying to cut back on sugar, but one must not cut back on life.
Chocolate must still be eaten.
If only for all those antioxidants. Flavonoid powers! Well flavonoids are pretty powerless on their own but as flavonoids are excreted by the body they increase uric acid levels, a powerful antioxidant (which can also cause gout in some people, too much of a good thing, can be a very bad thing). Dark chocolate also contains cocoa phenols which can reduce blood pressure. Eat 70% or greater.