I Ching

We stopped at this used book shop, and saw a few books on I Ching.

There are so many ancient texts and epic poems I have been meaning to read but never motivated enough to read it on my own.

Additionally, I could easily get it from the library.

Just wish Coursera would have a course on it, so the lecturer would read and explain it to me.  Let me search around, there are probably plenty of these lectures.

Chocolate and Banana Pancakes

We made some pancakes on Sunday for breakfast, but I forgot the Maple syrup.  Then Sarah suggested a chocolate sauce, which was a great idea, especially Sarah has got loads of chocolate for Christmas.

I was going to melt some chocolate in some milk, but it failed miserably, so I just added it to the coffee and made 'mocca'.

Then I just melted chocolate direct without any cream or milk.  As a result, Sarah has a really thick chocolate sauce, aka molten chocolate.  And since banana goes well with pancakes, Sarah ended up with a very nice chocolate and banana pancake.

I am happily satisfy with my buttery pancakes.

Taylors of Harrogate Christmas Blend

Taylors is very nice and I have converted many drinkers to this 'local' brand.  Apparently Christmas blend is not available nationwide, so I bought a packet and share with others.

The packet goes surprisingly quick when there are a few of us drinking.

The Christmas blend is a rich roast, and very nice.  However, I would not taste the hint of chocolate as it has promised.

Gifts That You Could Tell from Miles Away

While waiting for the ceremonial-waiting-around-to-open presents, I was pointing at gifts that I could tell by its size and shape without touching it.

"That is a box of Celebrations."
"This is a box of Ferrero Rocher."

Whereas the square/rectangular boxes are harder to guess.  That is probably why everything is in gift boxes this time of the year.

Failed Yorkshire Puddings

It is a myth that homemade Yorkshire puddings is always better than shop bought Yorkshire puddings.  This is often illustrated in holiday seasons when people attempts their Yorkshire puddings.

Gotta love Dilbert

Mead

I was watching Tudor Farms on BBC, and they mentioned about mead.  Then I remember honey is meant to be antiseptic, how does it ferment?  Then they said it was from the germy fruits.

Shorty Shortbread

I have made Paul's shortbread 3 times, and I am still trying to improve my technique.  I have made the following mental notes:
- Always weight, don't estimate with a cup
- Don't use mixer, other than creaming butter with sugar
- Combine the dough by hand, mix well, and work dough slightly

The batch at Verity's was a bit hard.  The latest batch is very crumbly, any force would make it crumble.  I rather like it crumbly, but this is excessively crumbly.

Lets hope the next batch would be better.

Craps

While I was in the casino, I observed the game of craps.  I was trying to work out the odds, but because each combination has a different odds, and so does the bets available on the table, I could not work out the strategy to this game.

I am sure the casino has worked out the odds, another guarantee loss, but certain odds are unexplained.  Why does 2 pays double, and 12 pays triple, even though they both have a 1/36 odds.

Investments with ∞ Returns

We went back to the casino, and even though it said Grosvenor, it was a Gala and still had not fully integrated.  So most of us had to sign up again, even though we had registered with Grosvenor last year.

Signing up came with a free bet voucher, and that was the seed to my 'investment'.

The voucher was for a '50% win' bet, so I put it on roulette and I won.  With some chips in hand, I moved onto blackjack and ended at GBP22.  I cashed out at 22 quid.  It was not the biggest win, but at the end of the day, I had not put in any money, the only investment was a bit of time.  It was not bad.

I understand the game very well, and there are a good number of people think gambling is a valid investment.  As a mathematician, I know the game too well.  To be fair, gambling has a fixed odds, to guarantee loss; on the other hand other investments has no fixed odds, many other variables, and nothing is guaranteed either.

Paul had won a fair bit of money, but since he put down some initial investment, his returns was a fixed number.  'Speculate to accumulate', Steve said.

I was quite pleased with my winnings, but lets put them in my savings account.

Local Pubs

After the Christmas dinner, we went to Around the World in 80 Beers, and it was very 'local'.  Rather, Shaun used the C word to describe the clientele.

We could have gone to Slug and Lettuce or Browns, but we ended up at Wetherspoons.  The clientele is also local, but slightly bit older.  'You get what you pay for', I said.

It was too late for pub crawls, so we just went straight back to the casino.

Manchester United Football Match

Shaun has a spare ticket to a Manchester United (v. West Ham) match.  We had tried to give the ticket, but noone is available.

I have given it a thought, it would be 'a box ticked' if I watch a game, but a second thought of sitting outside in the winter for 3 hours really is not my kind of fun, especially I don't really care about football.  I will give it a miss.

Wetheby is Leeds

On my way back from the White Rose Centre, I asked for a day ticket.

"Can I have a First Day?'"
"Which one?"
"The one that goes to Wetherby."
"There isn't one will take you to Wetherby."
"The X98"
"???"
"The one that is about GBP 3.8."
"I have one that is GBP 3.9, that one takes you around Leeds."
"Wetherby is Leeds."
"I don't think it will take you to Wetherby."
"It does, I ride on it all the time."

Why was it so difficult!?

Fear Proven: Sleep Talking

My dad used to talk in his sleep.  I always fear I would sleep talk.  Now the fear is proven, shit!

Super Scrimper Body Scrub

Channel 4's Super Scrimper has a few good ideas, I have reservation to this body scrub.

Cinnamon, cacao, sugar, it is a good body scrub, can also double up as hot drinks mix...

Don't Give Alkie Alcohol

This time of the year, we give away a lot of alcohol.  I have loads of alcohol to give away, it is an easy present to many people, but it really is a bad present to those with alcoholic tendencies.  Why is a right decision so hard!

M Signature Honey Roasted Nuts

I don't really have a sweet tooth, but honey roasted nuts really is my little guilty pleasure.

It is Christmas time, nuts is everywhere.  After muttering under my breathe, "peanuts is not really nuts."  I spotted this M Signature Golden Caramelised Nut Medley, thinking it probably contains loads of peanuts, then I read on, no peanuts!  It is also reasonably priced (at multibuy), I could not help myself but got a couple packets.

This tastes much better than the last honey cashew we got, which Sarah was not sold to the idea of honey roasted nuts.  Maybe this can change her mind.

Savory Palmier Gone Wrong

I usually do not agree with Nigel's recipes, and this is one of the many reasons why.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/sausage_danish_51145

Gardening Shows in Winter?

I saw clicking around BBC, and there are some gardening show.  I thought they would be a rerun, but they are new.  How strange to have gardening show in winter?  Or was there purposefully shown in winter to cheer viewers up from the grey winter?

Public Sector Failings

Humans are naturally competitive.  Our reward system in the brain needs stimuli, and we strive to be competitive.  In an environment that discourages competition, what you see is greed.

Both the global financial crisis and public sector failings are caused by greed.

A cage full of mice with limited food sources, what you see is competitiveness, survival of the fittest.  The unfortunate weaklings lose out.

The same cage of mice with sufficient food sources, you will still some some mice eat all the food, while other starve, what you see is also competitiveness, aka greed, survival of the fittest. The food provider loses out.

Christmas Party

So I arranged us for Christmas Party at Novotel, but Novotel dropped the ball. and we are going just for the Christmas dinner.

Peter recommended Around the World in 80 Beers, and we are also booked in.

Then now we start to tell stories about previous night outs, some are seriously slanderous.  All good banters.

Guppy's House Blnd Extra Dark Chocolate 70%

Guppy's has redeemed themselves with this chocolate bar.

This is very smooth, aromatic, very rich - coating tongue well, melts well.
It is overall better than Lindt, although more expensive than Lindt.  If I come across it, I will consider it again.

Christmas Tree Lighting

The Christmas tree at work is a bit sad this year, but we got brand new LED Christmas lights.  I was a bit skeptical about the mini lights on a massive tree, but it looks very nice lit.

Italian Chestnuts

It was a busy weekend, I was not going to buy any grocery from the market, until I saw some Italian chestnuts.  I could not resist and bought some.

The chestnuts were not as sweet as I remembered, but there were still loads of worms.  I counted up, over 10% of them contained worms...

Someone Hit the Panic Button

Someone hit the panic button at work 3pm on Friday afternoon.  So 1 hour of chaos before I ran away.

Engineers went Banking

Looking at my Vanderbilt colleagues, a number of them went into law, and recently, a number of them went into banking.  Engineering is fun, but banking pays more.

Men and women's brains are 'wired differently'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-25198063

There isn't much frontal lobe activities in male brains either, one might know what it infers!  ;-)

Obtuse

ob·tuse

adjective \äb-ˈtüs, əb-, -ˈtyüs\

: stupid or unintelligent : not able to think clearly or to understand what is obvious or simple

mathematics : not ending in a sharp point : measuring between 90 degrees and 180 degrees

ob·tus·erob·tus·est

Full Definition of OBTUSE

1

a :  not pointed or acute :  blunt

b (1) of an angle :  exceeding 90 degrees but less than 180 degrees (2) :  having an obtuse angle <an obtuse triangle> — see triangle illustration

c of a leaf :  rounded at the free end

2

a :  lacking sharpness or quickness of sensibility or intellect :  insensitive, stupid

b :  difficult to comprehend :  not clear or precise in thought or expression

— ob·tuse·ly adverb

— ob·tuse·ness noun

-----------------

How obtuse would one not know what obtuse is and not look up in a dictionary? 

Very is Not a Mathematics Term

Why would one use English to teach Mathematics and numbers would have suffice?  'Very' is not suitable in a Mathematics lesson.

Inquisition is not the way to Make Conservation

Conversation is a mutual act.  If conversation is not flowing, introducing questions could potentially stimulate the conservation.  But excessive questioning turns a conversation into an inquisition and kills the conversation.

Story of Chinese Leaf

When my sister and I was about 11 or 12, we were sent to the supermarket to get some Chinese leaf.

My sister just pick up the first one from the box.  I look through the box and got a nicer one.  When we got home, my vegetable was a bit rotten inside, while my sister's looked sad outside was okay inside.  My mom then said I was vain to choose the nicer looking one.

My sister is this happy go lucky, let life takes you kind of person.
I spent my time in search of better life, and sometimes worse off then my sister.
And my mom is simply insensitive and shallow.