DrSteveW's Boring Blog

Got a nice big carbon steel knife where the blade has gone a bit "black" (as carbon steel does) ?? One of those green plastic scouring pad things and a bit of Hob Brite will get it sparkly and new again ;-)

Obviously not just knifes, anything carbon steel.

For the uninitiated Hob Brite is the stuff you use to clean electric hobs.

Knife waving, Steve.

Apparently her ladyship says there has already been adverts on TV for creme eggs, it's only the 4th of January FFS :(

Irritated beyond compare by TV adverts, Steve.

Is it just me or does anyone else not think Christmas is a complete and utter pain in the butt ?? We did the same thing we do every Christmas (more or less), and I STILL didn't get the present I wanted. Just what is the point ??

I used to like it all, and would say "bah humbug" to those doubters who would say "it's just a commercial thing", well they win, I agree with them now. To be honest I'm glad it's over for another year.

Having said that they had Hot Cross Buns in Marks And Spencer yesterday.... Are they serious or taking the mickey ??

Ho ho blinkin' ho, Steve.

Guaranteed to make you cringe....

Bah humbug, Steve.

The perils of diabetes :(

I have been told that I am a very naughty boy and I MUST have breakfast every day. Yawnorama. I don't do breakfast (well I have been known to pig out on the all you eat cooked breakfast in hotels but hey it's bacon, who DOESN'T like bacon (well except vegetarians, Jews etc.... Ok there's probably someone who doesn't like bacon and I bet some Jews yearn for it on the quiet, lol !!) and sausages (ditto all the drivel about bacon, as most sausages are also pork) and fried eggs.... Heck I want a cooked breakfast now just typing about it....

BUT when I'm at home and I get up the idea of breakfast doesn't excite me at all. I mean cereals.... They send my blood sugar levels crazy and if I have to eat the sugar free ones (Shredded Wheat or Weetabix) then I might as well eat the box it comes in, same thing to me ultimately. As for toast I am sick to death of toast, toast with jam, toast with marmalade, toast with Marmite (just about tolerable if I absolutely have to have something). Then I had tomato juice and a bagel, fed up with that now.

So I've been on a mission, a mission to find more interesting breakfasts. So far this week I've had Hueveos Rancheros (Mexican breakfast). I tried the version Rick Stein made on TV. It's corn tortilla with fried egg, hot tomato salsa type stuff (but chunkier) and refried beans (I used a tin). I loved it, although it's a bit "hot" for breakfast I guess. I made the tomato part the night before. Her ladyship tried it.... "Oh that looks nice...." Let's just say her chilli tolerance level is a lot lower than mine.

Today's delight was kedgeree. Not bad although I did put some onion in mine (her ladyship sneered and said "ewwwww onions for breakfast" but she's a culinary peasant lol). So not bad at all, I may have rediscovered an appetite for breakfast....

All I need is some suggestions for more unusual breakfasts, I mean I can't eat Huevos Rancheros all the time, what the refried beans do to you is unspeakable, especially if you're on Metformin....

Windy, Steve.

Spent the morning in North Staffordshire Hospital Fracture Clinic. Her ladyship is pleased because the cast comes off Christmas Eve. I'm not pleased because eBay went "doolalley" while I was out. I've sold 20 trillion Warhammers or so (ok a slight exaggeration). I wouldn't mind so much but eBay has this "let's make the seller sign in every 5 minutes" bug going on right now. How can a company as big as eBay not get something as simple as this right I ask myself ?? Anyway I need to list more stuff, there's DVDs and games from 99p each, enjoy:

DrSteveW on eBay

Fuming, Steve.

Is it just me or does anyone else find Christmas advertising really really annoying ?? (well any advertising really, not just Christmas).

ASDA has this really irritating Christmas advert with Perry Como's "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas" and Tesco has this really irritating advert with Des O'Connor on (nice Cardigan Des, not).

Well the ASDA one is particularly annoying (for a reason other than the usual patronizing "you only buy from us because you're a pikey chavskate" subliminal messaging, oh and the music) and that's the so called "party platter" for £5. You know the sort of thing, chicken kebabs on sticks, mince pies, vol au vents etc, all the shitemarkets supermarkets sell them this time of year (if it wasn't for the "Christmas food" in my local supermarkets (Somerfield and Co-Op) you wouldn't even know it was Christmas, the town decorations are as unnoticeable as ever). Well let me pose a challenge, find me one of those "party food pack" things which is anywhere near as nice as it looks on the advert or indeed on the package.

Oh and the Somerfield cheese bites really are disgusting. Don't go there.

Chundering on cheese bites, Steve.

Here's a interesting quote I pinched borrowed from an eBay forum (some of the irrelevant bits about partners etc chopped out but the gist is there):

"Nopsie I went to the Trafford Centre on Sat with Mr xxxxx and did all my presents in one go. Done, sorted. The deals to be had in the shops are crazy at the moment, but it can not continue, down and down the prices were going, although the Traffy was busy, for a December Sat - I though it was quiet. In some ways seeing Vivienne Westwood, Armani, CK and DKNY all with sales and discount pricing was a let down. Why? Exclusivity - now its affordable to the masses, - great short term gain, but again - more brands heading the same way as Regatta (which you can get in Bon Marche!). Call it snobbery- but I used to like the feeling of having something exclusive - but there now is very little which is truly exclusive unless you go to really silly money (like Patek Phillipe watches)."

I particularly find the highlighted bit (bit I've added bold to) interesting. Is it snobbery ?? Or is it just designer brands have been "ripping us off" for so long ?? Should I cancel my order for an Armani suit ?? (ok I made the order up, I don't "do" suits and I'm still wearing the Christian Dior I bought in Allders Croydon about 20 years ago, on the odd occasion I need a suit, although I do have more than one suit).

I think the original author of this quote was right (in italics above if you're thinking "eh what the f is he on about). We used to strive for something, we saved up our money, and got something "cool", a bit "exclusive" and we thought more of it as a result and made it last. Now we buy something and throw it away when we get a bit fed up with it and I think it's a combination of this lack of exclusivity and prices being TOO CHEAP which is causing it.

I consider myself, what consumer product do I "desire" ?? The highlight of my year is probably my new chef's knife.... Her ladyship nagged me a couple of times suggesting I get a new (and I mean NEW) car. She knows I like Mercedes and pointed out the E63 AMG Mercedes Estate (automatic and estate is what I like). I saw the car (Mercedes website) but I can't see the point, it's just a newer version of what I already have. I'd like an Aston Martin but I'd probably only get fed up with it and moan every time I got in and out of it. There is so very little in life (consumer products now) that I actually want. Ergo the infamous knife, £110 for a 1960's knife sounds daft but I love it, it's a miniature sword and a pleasure to use.

If everything is too cheap it becomes commonplace in my opinion, and as we (we as in most people, not as in me personally) mostly buy "brands", people like "exclusivity". People now have to resort to different strategies to find something exclusive, because it's not on your High Street. And this is why eBay will fall in my opinion. When it becomes an "also run more of the same" venue and less of a place to find something cool and elusive you were looking for, it will cease to be any good in my opinion.

PS for those who don't know the Trafford Centre is a stinkin' great nasty noisy shopping centre/mall place just off the M whatever it is Manchester ring road, and a right pain in the bum it is too.

Off to find some more Sabatiers lol, Steve.

Couple of emails lately saying "Biddulph where the blinkin' 'ell is that then, sounds like a made up town dunnit ?!". Well just for you here it is in its glory:

Biddulph courtesy of Wikipedia and the Biddulph website. And here we have the truly awful Witherspoons:

What a dump, Steve.

Council wants to wrap up takeaways.

I was "perusing" the BBC News website and found the article (link above) about Highams Park council in East London who want to restrict the number of fast food outlets appearing in their area. I understand the rhetoric and the reasoning behind this decision and can understand why "local" people are supporting the idea.... BUT (there's always a "but")....

Have we stopped to consider WHY some towns/boroughs/etc have so many fast food outlets. Let's try my hometown of Biddulph as an example. According to Wikipedia we have a population of about 20,000 people (I have no idea how accurate that is or isn't). The "High Street" isn't very long, it's easily walkable. From Congleton Road end we have Rupeyal (not very nice curry but the pizzas are half decent), A Taste Of Paradise (completely disgusting), a Chinese Takeaway (very good but no home delivery), Biddulph Kebab (kebabs aren't bad, pizzas are horrid), then a fish and chip shop, 4 (YES 4) more Chinese takeaways, and off the "High Street" two more fish and chip shops (Pete's Plaice being the best but really quite nasty kebabs).

These takeaways seem to be the only businesses that do any good (I forgot to mention above there's two Indian restaurants as well, both do takeaway, both are horrible AND a Witherspoons (and yes I do mean WITHER) pub as well. take away the takeaways and the only "family" businesses that do any good are the bakers (sandwich and soup, you know the type) at lunchtime and one of the three butchers.

So consider this.... You fancy starting up a little business in town. Are you going to open a haberdashery ?? Maybe a jewellery store ?? Maybe a toy shop (we have one and she's not exactly making a fortune from what I can see) or a florist or even a tattoo parlour (we have one, no idea how well it does/doesn't do). No you're probably going to open something that makes money and food makes money, it always has and probably always will. Opening a takeaway is a far safer bet than opening a retail shop in my opinion.

So if you want less takeaways, SUPPORT LOCAL SHOPS. Say bollocks no to tesco/ASDA/Morrisons. Support your local retailers and then maybe your high street won't smell of vomit, piss and kebabs every morning....

20,000 residents and we have shops which sell 1 item a day (on a good day). Biddulph citizens come on....

Steve