WBMT.....What baffled me today

Microwave cooking is cheaper than an electric cooker if cooking small meals, but living on ready meals is an expensive way to eat. I did it for a few years when I didn't have an oven/cooker and I wouldn't want to go back to it.

I find the most economical way to eat (and healthiest) is to prepare my own 'ready meals' for the microwave. I batch cook about ten portions of any given dish at a time and then freeze them so they're ready to put in the microwave on demand.
 
Sky said:
Microwave cooking is cheaper than an electric cooker if cooking small meals, but living on ready meals is an expensive way to eat. I did it for a few years when I didn't have an oven/cooker and I wouldn't want to go back to it.

I find the most economical way to eat (and healthiest) is to prepare my own 'ready meals' for the microwave. I batch cook about ten portions of any given dish at a time and then freeze them so they're ready to put in the microwave on demand.
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Obviously that assumes someone has a freezer, but yes.

Also electric slow cookers and electric pressure cookers (some do ’slow cooking‘ too) are economical I think.

Even without a freezer or refrigerator stews can be eaten for several days. We didn’t have either when I was young.

When I was a student it was bread & cheese, pickle & tomato/lettuce for lunch every day -- yes, it was in a pub so there was additional ’liquid’ but bread, butter, cheese, milk, salad, is probably still a cheap meal and nutritious.
 
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Sky said:
Yum! You can't beat a good stew that's been left in the pot for a few days. (y)
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Odd thing about the beeb story is why they didn’t link to their bbc food (not the bbc “good food”) site which has lots of budget recipes and instruction videos (how to slice an onion etc!) eg

Budget recipes, ideas and tips

If you're trying to save money but still want to eat well, get the best budget recipes and advice on BBC Food
www.bbc.co.uk

I remember HMG forced them to cut back on that site some years ago.
 
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mj4456 said:
Second day stovies, yum.
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The way things are going, we'll all be eating road pizza before too long :D

I used to work with a guy (bird control on landfill) that lived in a large motor home.
If he was there for a few days he'd sleep on site, and have a large pot of food on the go.
What ever his birds caught, or he manged to shoot when no one was looking,
would go straight in the pot.

Stewed seagull? I don't think so!
 
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Certainly not one off a site! Apparently, "proper" seagull tastes like slightly fishy chicken.
 
Nod said:
Certainly not one off a site! Apparently, "proper" seagull tastes like slightly fishy chicken.
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Not something I am willing to test.
Even coastal seagulls scavenge.

Besides they are all a protected species these days, due to dwindling numbers.
Who ever did that survey, never looked on any given land fill site :D
 
Nod said:
Certainly not one off a site! Apparently, "proper" seagull tastes like slightly fishy chicken.
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I once went to a restaurant in San Francisco; it was on a cliff beyond the bridge looking out to sea. They advertised seagull in many of the menu items but on the bottom last page of the menu was a note to say "we do not really use Seagulls but chicken instead".

I live almost as far as you can from the sea in England and we have a real problem with seagulls who also attack other birds. They certainly do not need protecting and numbers are still increasing inland.

Dave
 
Nod said:
Certainly not one off a site! Apparently, "proper" seagull tastes like slightly fishy chicken.
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Reminds me of this -

A man walks into a butchers shop. "I'd like a barn owl please"

"A barn owl?" questions the butcher, "You can't buy barn owls, especially not to eat! It's illegal to buy birds of prey to eat!"

"Oh dear" answers the man, "I didn't realise that, I ate one last week that I shot by mistake and it was rather tasty"

"Well, you're probably better off just buying some pheasant or grouse, as I can sell you one of those" says the butcher, "by the way, what did the barn owl taste like?"

"Well its quite difficult to describe " said the man, "but it was a bit like golden eagle"

Dave
 
(Unsurprisingly) Swan tastes exactly the same as goose, according to my Grandfather who shot one in Ireland many years ago. (He misheard "There - Swan!" as "There's one!" from his broad accented Irish guide and bagged it!)

The seagull taster was Icelandic.
 
I put a carpet offcut on Freegle and said that it was light coloured and approx 1.17m x 4m long
I got a response today asking what width and length it was :confused:
 
Suvv said:
I got a response today asking what width and length it was :confused:
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Why are people so bloody stupid? It drives me crazy. :runaway:

I gave up trying to give stuff away on the likes of FreeAds etc. because I got fed up with people asking me if I could deliver. :headbang:
 
Suvv said:
I put a carpet offcut on Freegle and said that it was light coloured and approx 1.17m x 4m long
I got a response today asking what width and length it was :confused:
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Obviously longer than the interested parties 'attention span' ;)
 
Sky said:
Why are people so bloody stupid? It drives me crazy. :runaway:

I gave up trying to give stuff away on the likes of FreeAds etc. because I got fed up with people asking me if I could deliver. :headbang:
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Why are people so bloody stupid? It drives me crazy.
:runaway:



Strange that.....:D ....because research from YouGov found that only 2% of the UK population thinks that they are below average intelligence. The rest of the population are split between those who think they are more intelligent than the national average (47%) and those who think they are about average (43%). 7% aren’t sure where they stand.

You must be dealing with the 2%,Trevor ...or the 7% not sure ... :D
 
Sky said:
Why are people so bloody stupid? It drives me crazy. :runaway:

I gave up trying to give stuff away on the likes of FreeAds etc. because I got fed up with people asking me if I could deliver. :headbang:
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Perhaps you need to explicitly state collection only......although if anything like carpet non- measurer that would be ignored!

PS none too sure I would like any Tom, Dick or Harry calling round :thinking:
 
Talking or free ads.
Yesterday I put one up on the local FB community page...

I've been sorting out the pond, getting it ready for winter, I pulled out a bucket full of eloda that I didn't need, so I offered on FB.
2 people wanted it, there are loads, so I said I'd split it in half.

Then one woman started with the mobility issue thing, and can you deliver?
son has gone back to Uni, otherwise, he'd pick it up.
As it happens I can walk to hers in 2 mins, so I said I'd drop it off late morning.

She's been on facebook first thing this morning, asking "what time" ?
Errr late morning,

I dropped it off just after 10 on my way to shopping, no answer so I left it on the step.
Got home about 11:30 to a message, "I'm in that's perfect".
It's on your door step. Had you answered the door when I knocked, you'd know that.
Daft bat :rolleyes:


I've just seen a post from her asking for boxes, as she needs them to pack her sons stuff up
for when he goes to Uni!
Someone is taking the p*** I think!

Had it not been a 2 minute walk, I'd tell her to forget it.
 
What double baffled me today? I ordered a large bag of pond fish food,
It comes in one of those semi-indestructible foil bags, and the last one arrived with the address label on the bag.
No problem. This one arrived in a box large enough for 2, and acres of brown paper filling.

Baffle #2
the security taping along the top of the box had been split down its length, not cut with something sharp, but a ragged cut from, I don't know what, but it wasn't sharp.
To be fair to the driver he asked me to inspect the contents while he waited.

All present and correct.
Did he load the van? probably not.

Going on the weight and size of the box, I guess someone thought it contained expensive Eletronic goods.
I'd like to have seen their face when they were confronted with 24l of fish food :D
 
Nod said:
(Unsurprisingly) Swan tastes exactly the same as goose, according to my Grandfather who shot one in Ireland many years ago. (He misheard "There - Swan!" as "There's one!" from his broad accented Irish guide and bagged it!)

The seagull taster was Icelandic.
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Another swan story. A couple of days ago I saw one of the programmes about lifeboat crews. This one was on the Thames and in one action they saved an injured swan. One of the crew said that swans are dangerous and 'they can break an arm'.

I am still baffled that this myth persists. I can imagine an aggressive swan might cause someone to fall and as a result they might break an arm, but the impression of the myth is that swans can wack you and break a bone!

Dave
 
Cobra said:
What double baffled me today? I ordered a large bag of pond fish food,
It comes in one of those semi-indestructible foil bags, and the last one arrived with the address label on the bag.
No problem. This one arrived in a box large enough for 2, and acres of brown paper filling.

Baffle #2
the security taping along the top of the box had been split down its length, not cut with something sharp, but a ragged cut from, I don't know what, but it wasn't sharp.
To be fair to the driver he asked me to inspect the contents while he waited.

All present and correct.
Did he load the van? probably not.

Going on the weight and size of the box, I guess someone thought it contained expensive Eletronic goods.
I'd like to have seen their face when they were confronted with 24l of fish food :D
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More likely something heavy was lobbed on top of it.
I have couriers turn up all the time at work and when you see them just tread on a load of parcels to find the one they want you wonder how on earth anything turns up undamaged.

One lobbed a box of greeting cards over an 8ft fence this morning at 7:30am. We dont open till 9am and the label on the box clearly said deliver between 9am and 4pm. Th bbox and its contents was all over the place
 
AgentOrange76 said:
More likely something heavy was lobbed on top of it.
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The box wasn't crushed at all, just the security tape sliced open with what appeared to be something blunt.
 
I used to work in a despatch department and it wasn't unknown for the corner of a box to punch a hole in the tape of another and that hole to spread along the full length of the "seal". That was plain brown parcel tale rather than security tape.
 
The BBC's coverage of the funeral of the Queen.

There obviously should be coverage but why have it on BBC1 and BBC2?

Dave
 
My local Tesco fuel pumps, it used to be 4 pay at pump now they all are :thinking:
I drove out again, on my way home I passed a BP garage, 1p / l cheaper.
That was fortuitous. :)
 
All our local Sainsbury's pumps have the option to pay at the pump but I always go in and pay a real person.
 
Nod said:
All our local Sainsbury's pumps have the option to pay at the pump but I always go in and pay a real person.
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Until last week 4 pay at pumps the rest were optional.
Now there is no option :(

But at least when I leave Tesco, for shopping, I drive right past the BP garage.
That'll be my preferred fueling station for now.
The Texaco, at the end of the road, is normally 1-2p /L more expensive than Tesco.
But if I'm not heading into town to shop, I'll generally put a few quid in from there, to tide me over..
 
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I’m told our local Asda I all ‘pay at pump‘, and they charge £99 minimum, any excess overpayment is returned in a few days back to card, I’ll pass and go elsewhere.
 
mj4456 said:
I’m told our local Asda I all ‘pay at pump‘, and they charge £99 minimum, any excess overpayment is returned in a few days back to card, I’ll pass and go elsewhere.
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There seems to be some discussion as to whether its "held" or paid back immediately.
If its "held" and they do that to a few million customers over the course of a week / month whatever,
they are earning a lot of interest on that money.

Also they maybe people that want to put, say 20 quid in, and all they have is 50 quid allowance on their card.
They can't fill up, either that or the garages put them over their limit, and they get charged interest ...

As above either way, I'm moving away from Tesco and other supermarket fuel as more and more seem to be coming on board with this.
 
I’ve been using Shell E10 fuel in one car as the price was competitive but their E5 Optimax was a 20p+ Premium so it’s supermarket for that at a few p. more, my Honda demands the higher octane fuel.
 
mj4456 said:
I’m told our local Asda I all ‘pay at pump‘, and they charge £99 minimum, any excess overpayment is returned in a few days back to card, I’ll pass and go elsewhere.
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It is £99 MAXIMUM and you only pay for what you put in the tank.
 
mj4456 said:
I’m told our local Asda I all ‘pay at pump‘, and they charge £99 minimum, any excess overpayment is returned in a few days back to card, I’ll pass and go elsewhere.
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Lots of petrol stations do it and have for some time. They reserve the £99 or £100 but do not actually take it so it does not leave your account but it reduces your available balance until it is reversed. This normally takes minutes but there used to be delays, I have no idea if there are still delays. ASDA introduced it years ago but then changed back, I assume that they have re-introduced it.
What they are trying to prevent is someone putting their card in, filling up with a large amount and then finding out that there is not enough money on the card. Unlike buying groceries etc. it is hard to syphon the fuel back out of the tank.
 
mj4456 said:
I’ve been using Shell E10 fuel in one car as the price was competitive but their E5 Optimax was a 20p+ Premium so it’s supermarket for that at a few p. more, my Honda demands the higher octane fuel.
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I put E5 in all our petrol vehicles and pay the premium rather than risk the problems that E10 causes. Had to put E10 in one of the bikes a while back and it didn't like it much (increased fuel consumption and rough running).
 
Nod said:
I put E5 in all our petrol vehicles and pay the premium rather than risk the problems that E10 causes. Had to put E10 in one of the bikes a while back and it didn't like it much (increased fuel consumption and rough running).
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Yep I use E5 in all the bikes don’t want to chance it the car is fine on E10
 
Suvv said:
What they are trying to prevent is someone putting their card in, filling up with a large amount and then finding out that there is not enough money on the card. Unlike buying groceries etc. it is hard to syphon the fuel back out of the tank.
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In that case they have out of date technology. Here in Norway, when you use a card that has a low balance, the system restricts the value of the fuel to under your balance and the pumps stop automatically when that amount is reached.
 
I was told that the pre-charge was the only way that the fuel station could tell whether there were sufficient funds available in the account being used. Data protection (among other things) stops the supplier asking the bank/card issuer whether there's (say) £100 available to pay the potential bill so they check it by debiting the account and refunding as fast as possible (allegedly?)
 
WBMT?
On the local news hub :-
People complaining that they are unable to get or book for the Covid booster,
and the fact that those that could found themselves almost packed in like sardines, while they tried to get through
as many jabs as possible.

And yet I'm just back from shopping at a large supermarket, which was bustling with shoppers.
Not a single person was wearing a mask.
Apart from me. (those that glared, got the "Paddington hard stare" in return :D )
It seems people want to try and protect themselves, but not others.
 
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