I've beaten another one.

I've now outlasted Humphrey Bogart. He's the third Male best actor Oscar winner I've limped past, though his demise was very likely linked to smoking being universal in his day, possibly even being suggested by his doctor. Being a non-smoker myself is a mixed bag, the plus for me is still being alive, the minus for the government is missing out on the abundant taxes I would have paid, taxes that more than compensate for the health cost.

Cute.

Spotted on my way to buy some coolant for Cubby.

Custard pancakes.

I've been doing more experimenting, this time with using a spoonful of custard powder in my pancake mix.
It gives a rather yellow tint to them and a hint of flavour, but the jury is still out on whether it's a goer or not, I may play with the idea for a bit longer.

A tomato soup trick that works.

If you follow the directions on a tin of tomato soup, you end up with a taste that's forgettable. If you decide on the option half tin of milk they often write on the tin it becomes pretty good, 3/4 of a tin is better. But I experimented with some cream a few months ago and it came up a treat, now I keep an eye out for whenever cream is reduced to an affordable price like this. This time I also added the last spoon of Philadelphia cheese I had but that was a fail so forget that bit. Use a bit of water to clean the tin and splash that into the soup.

The Heinz was on special, usually the brand doesn't matter much, and it doesn't matter if you grab reduced salt, you have to put in salt anyway for taste so you'd just add a bit more to a reduced salt can.
I toast up some bread to use as croutons, it's also a good way of using up older bread.
I hope I've helped someone.

This is a head scratcher.

Sea salt naturally contains iodine, why would they market iodised sea salt? at least it's only 1 cent dearer.
Maybe the people who buy this wouldn't know, again it's good marketing, boosting the price of a product that's normally fairly cheap.

Found the rascal.

I dropped the top of the priced reduced down to my level juice when I sneaked a man style swig from the container the other night. Despite hours spent kneeling on the floor via the orange mat in the background (my knees hurt too much to kneel without aid) with a bright LED torch seeking out all the hidey holes it may have rolled into I gave up.
Then a day or two later I saw it near the entry to the bedroom, it naturally had managed to roll all the way from the far right of the pic, around the corner beyond my scope of belief, but I suppose that's fairly normal.

A fresh look.

I thought it'd be nice to give the key I use for Cubby a makeover, so I replaced the red shrink wrap with a neater white one, then added a splash of colour so it looked prettier.
The lump under the green bit is the immobiliser transponder, needed for the key to work. I programmed it myself back when my brain was more active. The key was cut at the hardware store but naturally I had to run the file over it a bit for it to turn the lock.

Clean now but pointless.

I saw the dentist again yesterday, the second time I've managed to get in the chair since they put me on the priority care stream eight months ago. Last time I had the joy of having a painful 3rd molar pulled but this time he wasted both of our time by cleaning my teeth, a painful and bloody experience. I suppose since he must be on more than $20 per hour and my time's worth nothing it works out better to stretch the work out a bit.
The worst was the lecture about brushing teeth, complete with a giant teeth prop and toothbrush.
Really I'd be happier if he just pulled the ruins.

I left my nose in the crop as a show of the curse of ageing (at least for men), hair finds all sorts of places to grow, usually the most annoying ones like my nostril here or my ears. I'd love to find a pill that makes all hair fall out permanently, It'd be no great drama for me to forego growing my eyebrows into an evil Ox Baker look or even losing the hair on my back that girls find so attractive.

Good marketing.

A four pack of Coca-Cola for $7, or $7 for a litre. I'm sure they'll sell plenty but my budget is limited to 80 cent 1.25 litre bottles of el-cheapo cola.

Trying to flood.

A bit of a sea in the back yard but we need a fair bit more rain yet before I react.
Meanwhile today I'm having the joy of watching some decent car racing from Bathurst, something the V8 class that hijacked the sponsors dollars 20+ years ago can never deliver.
It's only available via a webcast on-line, and it's the first time I've hooked the TV into one but the result is rather magical.

A mixed bag of mail today.

I got a lovely card from Olive, I'm getting old and soft now so I thought it very sweet, pity it was only a card and not her.
But to balance things the power bill arrived, my power saving measures have had the desired effect, but it's a shame that our supply is so expensive, in Queensland we've gone from having cheap power 30 years ago to having what must be close to the highest price in the world, despite the state sitting on an ocean of coal.
We have a silly carbon tax that bungs the price up a bit but really the villain is bad government since dear old Premier Joh retired in 1989, at least measures are finally being taken now to turn our economy around, the medicine will have a bad taste but it's needed.

Best Actor Oscar winner dies.

Last Saturday Maximilian Schell died, he won the best actor Oscar back in 1962 but the way our news services are delivered now it was almost a secret, another best actor winner managed to vacuum all the press into his death. Schell was the earliest surviving male winner, with Sidney Poitier now having the honour from 1964. Luise Rainer is the women's holder from way back in 1937 (and 1938)
The drug addict who died and sucked up all the news was the youngest male winner to die, meaning I've now outlived two winners, and a third to come in a fortnight or so.
I think Schell was very good in The Odessa File, a film that I saw in the picture theatre on its first run and rather enjoyed.

57 years ago today.

On the 1st of February 1957 the Wankel rotary engine was born, so was I.
I suppose overall you could say we're both a bit of a failure.

Bicentennial.

On the 1st February 1814 the mighty volcano Mayon noted for its near perfect cone erupted killing about 2000 people, most of whom were sheltered in the church on the right of this picture which is now in a ruinous state but the iconic bell tower still stands. The location here at Cagsawa is planning a month of celebration.
Mayon is quite a sight and I loved my time there, being higher than Kosiuszko it has quite an eyeball factor for us Aussies, plus it's always steaming.
Also at this time the first of my ancestors was on his way to Australia, being Irish and somewhat a thorn to the British he was able to score a free though compulsory trip on a sailing ship. The ship was the Three Bees and it was to be its last journey, catching fire in Sydney cove a fortnight after arrival and burning to the waterline around the location where the opera house now stands.
His name was Michael O'Rourke (or Rourke since the British didn't like the usage of O') and there's a family get together planned at Wulgulmerang which is close to where our early family settled, in May. I just hope Olivia can be here by then.

Wedding anniversary.

I popped out at dawn to visit Grace for our wedding anniversary, it doesn't mean much any more but I don't want to get in trouble for forgetting.
I actually have a more important one to remember now.
BTW Jimmy has a birthday today too, pity he's become a frail old man now.