pumpkinstrokemarrow

Next, we decided to clear some stuff out of the attic. Now with both our backs nearing free bus pass land, we also decided that we had better be careful. Great opportunity to play boy scouts with the small pulleys acquired from our naval uncle. Hooked them up to a beam over the hatch where they looked a little naff, being rigged with white nylon cord - the sort with an interior and a woven casing. About 3mm in diameter. Very strong but doesn't look as cool as a good bit of hemp and a bit hard on the hands. Nevertheless, it did an excellent job of getting various boxes containing dusty treasures from yesteryear from the attic to the upstairs landing, without risk to back or anything else.

Much more serious, tried a bit of painting. That is to say converting the very worn Oxford blue paint on the outside of our kitchen window to shiny new white gloss. Dulux Weathershield of course. Now reached the second undercoat stage and the blue, while visible, is much toned down. But I had completely forgotten how casements start to bind when you paint windows. Forgot that several layers of paint add up to some appreciable fraction of a millimetre and if the window was snug before, it will squeak or worse now. Fortunately, undercoat dries very dry and is not prone to sticking. But need to take stock before moving onto gloss which does not dry very dry and is prone to sticking. Which is apt to leave one with unsightly blobs of paint pulled off, in this case showing the blue interior. Not nice at all.

I had also forgotten how to make corn beef hash. Something I have probably made a small number of hundreds of times. I do remember that I started off by doing the last stage in the frying pan whereas now I do the last stage in the oven. But I could not remember whether or not to put onions in. Consulted the trusty Radiation Cook Book and not present at all. So then tried the Boston Cook Book which had several pages devoted to the subject. I learned that one could, for instance, substitute beets for some of the potatoes. Not sure about that at all. Also, that regular hash did not have onions in it. So, being perverse, decided that I would do onions, although it might be an idea to pre-cook them. So chopped and gently fried in dripping from more than one animal (see above), then added to the corned beef and cooked potatoes. Baked for about an hour in a covered dish. Tasted fine and, after the event, BH was able to say that her usual approach did indeed include onions and exclude beets, whatever the Boston Cook Book might say.

Intrigued by the ongoing law suit between the Google Corporation and others. It seems that dubious people like Fred's Discount Handbags are paying Mr G. to pop up an advertisement for them (Fred's that is) whenever anybody does a search for fancy handbags. Worse still, they may be able to pay Mr G. to do the same thing whenever anybody does a search for, say, Chanel, that well known maker of fancy handbags. The Chanels of this world are, it seems, getting the hump. At first I thought that they had a point. But then I thought it was always open to them to outbid Fred. Mr G. does not care one way or another so long as the revenue roles in. Third thought was that given that Mr G. has a pretty tight grip on the search market, do we really want him to be selling important subliminal facts like 'X sells posh handbags' to the highest bidder? The X web site telling you this is one thing, you have to make a bit of effort to go there. But should it be popping up as the result of a casual search? Should Mr G. really be run on not-for-profit lines, perhaps be financed by the UN or something? I remember being given a long lecture on this very subject by an Irish barman in a little pub in Oxford Street in Reading. Not far from the little hotel I used to patronise which subsequently was home to a rather grisly murder. Or at least host to some of those involved. Must ponder further.