House Clean - Scales

Lime and grimes are some of the biggest problems in the house.  A lot of people thin vinegar is the solution.  It is a solution, but not the solution.

I know to clean grout with toothpaste, but toothpaste is alkaline after all, effective on whitening, especially those containing baking soda, but not effective on scales.

There is no easy way to deal with scales.  Regular application of descaler / acid, would be your best bet.

House Cleaning

House cleaning is painful but essential.  I helped Sarah for a bit of Autumn cleaning.  Sarah has an assortment of cleaning products.  These days, if you buy decent cleaning products and apply liberally, it should ease the cleaning process, and we did, and they worked.  Chemicals, the ways forward.

Heilemann 85% Cacao

One of the fancier chocolates I got from Dusseldorf.  The chocolate tastes very similar to my favourite Michel Cluizel 85%, very smooth besides much fruitier, less aromatic.  At the same time, much cheaper than Michel Cluizel.  I shall try more Heilemann!

Whiny Saleperson

Apparently, other than sweet talking, pretending interested and keen to help, there is another type of saleperson, the whiny type of saleperson.
The saleperson, who whines about how they are disappointed that we were not buying from them.  The saleperson, who would say we made a wrong choice because we were not understanding how brilliant they were.

Surprised by Cream Horn

I was expecting cream and horn in a cream horn, then I was surprised by the jam at the bottom.  Ill!

Ryeburn of Helmsley

We spent a day in York, and there were loads of ice-cream parlours.  A number of stands sell Yorkshire real dairy ice-cream.  After much deliberation, we settled with Ryeburn of Helmsley at Chocolate Museum.

I settled with Vanilla and Cappuccino, and Sarah had Rum and Raisins.  The vanilla looked better than those of Sant' Angelo's.  Rum and raisins could do with more raisins.  All ice-cream has a lovely dairy ice-cream base, and the flavours are more like a hint.

I suppose the hint lets the dairy ice-cream to stand out and shine.  Lovely ice-cream, but if I knew they 'all taste the same', I would have just got one scoop.

Sant Angelo Ice-cream Parlour

I have eaten at Sant Angelo twice before, but I had not been to the ice-cream Parlour.  Sarah is so proud of Madison's, so I was determined to show off the ice-cream parlours of the greater Yorkshire.

Wetherby is not a big town, and summer peak season is gone, some ice-cream looks untouched for weeks and sad.  We were impressed by their range of flavours, kiwi, pistachio, mango.  After some deliberation, we settled with a chocolate and hazelnut sundae.  The ice-cream is lovely.  The hazelnut ice-cream is nutty and delicate.  Chocolate ice-cream is chocolaty.  The coffee ice-cream was exceedingly strong, filtered coffee flavour, I was wide awake after I had it.

There isn't much in Wetherby, but I am quite impressed with Sant Angelo's ice-cream's quality, and their presentation.  We will definitely go again.

The Students are back!

Since I moved away from the city, I have lost track of their craze.  The students are back and went into town Sunday was one of the worst ideas I have in recent days!

Eddy Current

Sarah asked if I could explain how speedometer works, and I could not answer.  We googled it and we learnt something new everyday.  In short, a spring loaded needle counter acts to the current generated by the spin driven by the engine.

Bra Price-Fixing Probe Launched By Watchdog

Please protect us from the bra cartel!!

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/bra-price-fixing-probe-launched-071534290.html

Painting

If my dad could see my painting, he would be rolling in his urn.

Hearing Aid, How Much?

My sister has informed me hearing aid is AUD8000.  What?  Am I hearing it right?  Surely that is mistaken!

Chicken and Gammon Soup

Every so often, I make a chicken soup/stock.  It is nice.  I came by chicken bones and a gammon shank this time, and the soup is heavenly!

Banking Day

Banking used to be straight forward.  Everything has a paper trail, and black and white.  These days everything is electronic, I often put off banking until it was essential, and sometimes make small mistakes in transactions, literally.

Instead of banking irregularly, 5-10 times a month, scattered across randomly, I plan to set an evening aside to do all my banking!

First Day of the Winter Riding Season

We usually go on about the first day of riding season in Spring, when we are full of jitters.  It is the first day of riding season in autumn/winter that tests the nerves.

It was dark, cold and wet.  I need to start wearing my winter gears.  And I really need to get myself a decent helmet!

Dunkin' Return

Dunkin' Donuts is coming back to the UK.  I am not a donut fan, but their coffee is quite nice.

Slick Tyres Transformation

My tatty bike instantly looks faster with the slick tyres.  I am yet to be convinced they are actually faster.

Silence in the Office

Everyone is either on leave or on sick.  I was left in the office alone.  One nice quiet day.

Humping Dog

Ruth is dog sitting for a friend.  So the dog joined the zoo.  It was strange to see a female dog humping a stuffed doll.  It was to show superiority, but it was simply strange.

Heck 97%

When we were in Tesco, we found this sausage on sale.  I am quite a typical consumer, I am willing to try new products with some encouragement.

The sausage is quite nice.  It is meant to be meaty, but it is not as meaty as Debbie and Andrews.

Lucozade is now Japanese

Suntory, the Japanese drinks giant, is to buy the Lucozade and Ribena drink brands from GlaxoSmithKline in a £1.35bn deal.
The deal will dramatically boost the UK presence of Suntory, best known for the Orangina brand and its range of Japanese whisky, and enable it to compete with rivals including Coca-Cola and Britvic.

Ignorant

She shall not be named is so ignorant, she doesn't even know what ignorant means.

Laptop Wifi Card

Sofy has been trying to fix Hanna's computer and rang me many times for advice.  The most recent issue was when Hanna's wifi is acting up.  I suggest her to check the network/wifi card or change her wifi card.  Wifi card usually easily accessible from the bottom of the laptop from a hatch.

Horses

I finally meet Magic.  He is a very big horse.  And is it indeed a lot of work maintaining a horse.  This big animal can easily injure you.

 Whereas this pony is tiny and much more manageable.

Horrible Chicken Sausages

I have got these M&S chicken sausages and it turned out to be horrible.

I grew up with chicken franks and I love them.  I thought chicken sausages would be just as nice, but as they were imitating pork sausages, they were horrible.

Just acknowledge they are different meats and use to their strength and flavour.  Never would I buy chicken sausages again!

Almonds

I thought I like nuts, but when I was small, I almost always had flavoured nuts.  Honey roasted (more like sugar roasted) almonds are awesome. 

I have also used flaked almonds all the time, I never experienced any problems.

So I bought a bag of almond and toasted them plain.  I have done home toasted cashew all the time, and I didn't see almond to be any different.  I ate handful after handful, and I thought about the possibility of cyanide poisoning.  As I start eating them, I can start tasting the 'marzipan'.  I must never buy and eat whole almond again!

Classic FM

I listen to Classic FM when I am driving.  Now I listen to Classic FM from time to time in the office!  I still don't know much about Classics yet.

Confusing Wheel Sizes

When I am dealing with 26" wheels, I never question about the actual size.  I thought I would treat myself to some commuter tyres, but when I am trying to fit them, they do not fit!  How can it be so complicated!

Migration

Yahoo! Blog is shutting down, so I have migrated here.