Leap Day 2012
29th February
It’s the 29th of February and Leap Day, when young ladies are allowed to propose marriage in Britain. It seems this custom isn’t just confined to Britain. In Finland any guy refusing a proposal today must buy the lady in question the fabric to make a new skirt. In Denmark the price of refusing a proposal is 12 pairs of gloves, but they have their leap day on a different day. In other countries the price of refusing a proposal appears to vary from a kiss to a silk gown. In some cultures, it seems the women wear a scarlet petticoat, as some kind of warning!
Neodigital Art | Good light–Bad light
The light was really good at the weekend for photography and I didn’t manage to take advantage of it. Good light brings problems, but not as many as poor light. Light is photons, little bundle of pure energy that bounce around everywhere. In good light you get the photons bouncing off your subject and into the camera and that gives you the picture. You also get some photons going in directly and this gives the pictures a less clear look, you can improve it with editing. I didn’t have that problem on Monday, the light was really poor and it was going to rain! I can still edit my photographs to improve them. The picture above was after editing; I made the picture lighter.
Room 101
Room 101
If you’re not familiar with Room 101, it’s a television programme and celebrities vanquish all the things they dislike or hate to Room 101. My fellow bloggers will like this idea because they too can write Room 101 blogs and tell the world their dislikes and hates. This is probably better than writing a bucket list of things you want to do before you kick it…
Another interesting week
Hospital
If you read my blogs, you’ll know I had a hospital appointment. It’s only three miles to the Manor hospital. Over the humps, past a few mini roundabouts, then negotiate a wide main road that they have made narrower with traffic calming measures. There is even a bus stop out in the road. Arriving at the hospital I drove as close to the car park ticket machine as I could and going over the first hump leaned out to press the button. Grabbing my ticket, I went over more humps through the barrier, which had by now lifted and through the maze of a car park to park close to the machine where you actually pay.
Vouchers | Use them just like money
Money
I wrote about the nature of money earlier. I know, two blogs in one day! The Bank of England issues notes and the Royal Mint issues coins; this is money. The government also issues bonds and they are paper and valuable and so just as good as money and can be exchanged for money. Originally, money was gold and silver and both gold and silver can still be exchanged for money. Even private companies can now print their own money in the form of vouchers and even make electronic money in the form of vouchers. (more…)
Finance | money to burn
Burning money
If you burn paper money, do you destroy it? The answer is technically, no. The value of money is all about supply and demand and so if you burn a 50 pounds note, a 50 dollar note or a 50 Euro note; you are decreasing demand and making all the rest of the money in circulation more valuable. You may be destroying one note, but you aren’t destroying overall value! The Bank of England is currently doing the opposite, creating rather than destroying money but in doing so they are increasing demand and so making the money already in circulation less valuable. (more…)
Thrifty | Comparing Prices
Aldi
I went to Aldi in search of bargains again this week. I usually go there first but went on the way home forgetting they closed early. You really need plenty of time to search for bargains and 10 minutes wasn’t enough. I still got chicken and eggs at a better price than the larger supermarkets.
Neodigital Art | Winter locations
Art or photography?
I regard photography as a branch of art. Just snapping a picture isn’t art but if you put some effort into producing something aesthetically pleasing, then I think it’s art. I don’t edit a great deal and wouldn’t consider making the sky in my photograph blue. I think the trees looking like silhouettes against the sky and the rather dull colours tells you this is a winter photograph. It was in fact freezing! It was a nice church though, a shame there was no where else to park my car. (more…)
International Friends
Sunday afternoon photography
I took this photograph yesterday afternoon, we tend to go out on a Sunday because the roads are quiet; in theory. Yesterday, I got caught in a traffic jam and again trying to come back because of road works. I can share this information using my blogs and when I got back yesterday, I edited the photos and shared the best on Facebook with friends around the world. To make friends on an international scale you do have to find common interests. (more…)
Keep Young and beautiful
Keep young and beautiful – if you want to be loved…
Slowing the ageing process.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could find a super-food that not only slows the ageing process, but helps us live longer and protects us against nasty diseases? This is exactly what I have been researching using all the resources the internet has to offer. I have been looking at the science of ageing!
Yes, I have not only found super-foods and an elusive dipeptide that appears to slow down ageing! You want me to share these secrets don’t you? This dipeptide is already used in anti-wrinkle creams and a lot of research has been done. (more…)
The Post Code lottery
Unequal Britain
In Britain your post code; where you live, tends to determine a lot of things. How you are viewed by society in general and by public servants in particular. It tends to determine whether you get a good education, good health care, a decent job and equal opportunities in life. It also determines the way you speak and the way you behave. It can even determine whether you are polite or not! (more…)
Frugal Friday | Grow your own
Grow your own
It seems a little early for thinking about growing your own in the garden, but you can at least prepare and plan. I have seen seeds for growing salad and root vegetables on offer for just 39p a packet at Aldi and Poundland have offers too. Getting our 5 portions of fruit and veg a day is getting more expensive. We can look for the bargains, the carrots are just 39p a kilo at Aldi this weekend and ideal for winter soups, stews and casseroles. They are still worth growing though! (more…)
The potential of Facebook Timeline
I cropped the above picture to make it suitable as a cover on my Facebook Timeline. If you want a Timeline that looks good, I think photos are essential and most people have a digital camera. Windows live Photo Gallery is good for editing and free. It seems that Facebook is a better site for dating than the dating sites now and so a good Timeline can even improve your love life! (more…)
Frugal Food | Lots of choose from
For this stir fry, I cooked the chicken in sunflower oil until it became white, then added thinly sliced red onion and the cooked rice and cooked for a few minutes. Then add the peas, soya sauce and 5 spice. It was exotic, tasty and didn’t cost much! There are lots of other meals using staple foods like rice, bread and potatoes. (more…)
Neodigital Art | A cold wet Monday
Icy water
Finding something to photograph on a cold wet Monday is challenging to say the least. My main problem taking this photo was trying to get it level; that and keeping the rain off the camera and trying not to freeze to death. I edited the photo a little to add a little colour to the foreground. You can also take colour away to set a mood… (more…)
Finance | What would you do?
Lotto
The slogan for this week’s national lottery draw here in the UK is – what would you do? What would you do if you won £4,000,000 on the lottery? Would you buy a lots of food and drinks and have a party to celebrate? This week the British government again pumped 50 billion into the economy, affectively devaluing money again. This will probably cause inflation over the next year of around 5% devaluing £4,000,000 by around £200,000! Michael Winner once described having £3,000,000 as being comfortable; now we find with £4,000,000 you lose £4,000 a week as your money is devalued! (more…)
The Search for a Better Tax system.
Fairer taxes
I live in Britain but taxation is very similar all over the world. Many countries copied our system! I read an article that proposed a different tax system the other day but it only covered income tax and wasn’t a lot different. We need a fairer system. One that acknowledges social injustice. (more…)
Finance | Saving for the future
I read earlier that the average household in the UK saves around 10% of their income and this compared to Germany where they manage to save twice as much. In China they save an amazing 47% of their income but have no welfare state like us. How can you save when money is constantly devalued by the government? (more…)
Blogging | Be Positive
It snowed yesterday but that’s no reason for me to feel depressed. I saw it as a photo opportunity. Even after it had stopped and it was dark the light reflected off the snow to give me a good photograph. (more…)
Making a Start
This is my first blog on this site. I feel like those geese that I photographed the other day. They were slipping all over the place and this site is like that until I figure it all out and configure it. I have to submit to search engines, deal with spam, get the header right and so on before I can start doing what I enjoy; actually writing! There’s no real hurry though!
Thrifty | 5 a Day keeps the doctor away
The department of health recommends that we eat 5 portions of fruit and vegetables each day. A portion is about 80 grams.Those grapes were 500 grams and more than enough for one day; but we need a variety. Food keeps going up in price and so it can be difficult to get your 5 a day unless you shop around. Imported fruit can be expensive. I had nectarines from Asda at Christmas but had to buy 8 for £4.00 or they were really expensive. I bought grapes for £1.99 at Lidl last week but this week did much better at Aldi. They were £1.25 but marked up as 30% off so I paid just 87p for enough fruit for an entire day! (more…)
