Val’s Comments (group member since Aug 28, 2019)

Val’s comments from the Beyond Zon group.

I've been meaning to post this article for ages. It appeared in our daily paper on April 29. Just in case it help someone:

"New Smarts for Old TVs - How to keep your TV but upgrade the smarts"
https://www.smh.com.au/technology/how...

We don't have a smart TV and watching free-to-air-catch-up was a pain because it always had to be done on the computer. We were thinking of getting a Chromecast dongle but around the same time we had to change over (compulsorily) to the National Broadband Network. Getting the NBN installed was free but you then had to choose who would provide your internet service. We decided to stay with the mob we were with (Optus, a Singaporean company) as we had very few problems with them and if we did, the customer service was excellent. We had been paying £45 a month for unlimited cable internet and landline telephone with unlimited local calls. The same company, in a flooded market, offered us the same deal/price plus a Fetch Mighty set-top box which retails for £225. The set-top box gives us all the free-to-air stations catch-up, Youtube, access to Netflix (if we subscribed), a movie library, plus Optus Sport (all Premier League games) . Optus cable TV also gives us most of the programs we get via Foxtel - the cable TV service that we still subscribe to. We have kept on with Foxtel because it also gives us BBC First, Showcase (HBO programs), and every game in the AFL (Aussie Rules footy), NRL (rugby league) and cricket from around the world. It is expensive but we have it in two rooms. There was no start-up fee for the new Optus service, no charge for the new modem, they sent a technician to set everything up, including changing our mobile phones, tablet, etc over to the NBN and we had a personal concierge manager (available by phone or message) for a month after installation in case of any problems. We feel we're winners having not paid a cent more than we were previously.

P wrote: "Just been up to the lads room as he’s been unusually quite, found him in bed sweating profusely so checked his bloods and he’s having a hypo with readings of 2.6...he was fast asleep but got him ro..."

Wow! How lucky that you checked on him P. I suppose this doesn't help you sleep any better yourself, always having to be on guard. You did well. I hope you managed some rest yourself.

Roast pork shoulder with loads of crackling, roast potatoes, carrots, peas, gravy and apple sauce.

Hi Duke - I looked at reviews for your computer and they were nearly all 5 star, even with an i3 processor. I thought this part might interest you (posted March 2020):

"I shrunk the Windows partition and loaded Linux in the space that I needed."

Another one from April this year said:

"The picture is misleading ,however, as it DOES NOT come with an HDMI port." - but he/she still gave it 5 stars.

Looks like you've got a winner!

we had five avocados just cherry ripe so opted for fresh rolls with sliced cold chicken breast and avocado for dinner tonight.

My youngest child got married in June 2015. In those 5 years she has given birth to two children, graduated with high distinction, moved states, bought a house, held down a high-powered job, etc, etc. And in those same 5 years we have stored her wedding dress, a dinner service, many of the decorations from the wedding (including a photo board about the size of a single bed) AND the top layer of the wedding cake. I have gradually ferried stuff back to her (she even sold the photo board for £50 even though it was inscribed with their names and the date on it!). When she was over last week, I told her that the 5th wedding anniversary was the perfect time to remove the cake from our freezer. Amazingly, she did - and it was delicious! Now, if i can just convince her to take the wedding dress, I'll be home scot free.

Spag bol last night, quiche with leeks and bacon tonight.

Chicken Provencal - recipe in the daily rag provided by chef Neil Perry (easy cooking in lockdown with ingredients you should have to hand). Not sure if everyone has black olives in their pantry but we did, plus dry white wine, garlic, onions, etc. And the flat leaf parsley self sows everywhere. Served with plain boiled potatoes and peas. Got the tick of approval from Mr H so can't be bad.

We've been on a soup kick of late - must be winter coming on - tonight's dinner will be leek and potato.

Butternut squash soup (with Lez's suggestion of a tin of chick peas added) and the mandatory fresh rolls. Yum!

Happy Birthday Duke! I hope you manage to celebrate in some way.

And belated birthday wishes to Q. Hope you had a good day. Your present sounds pretty swish!

The vegan burgers I've had always taste of chick peas. I like chick peas so not a problem for me, but I wouldn't go out of my way to buy them.

Last night's tea was chicken sausages, potato/carrot mash and baked beans.

I'm becoming the soup queen. Last night's cream of broccoli soup went down a treat!

https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/crea...

I didn't bother with the parmesan wafers - we had fresh rolls. I think the cup of frozen peas added to the flavour and also helped it to retain the green colour.

P wrote: "Val, seen on the news today that Australia is easing the lockdown, really hope it’s ok for you all👍."

Our situation is not unlike yours where you have national governments in Scotland, Wales, N. Ireland. Here we have 8 states and territories. 5 are governed by the Australian Labor Party, 3 by the Liberal/National Party coalition (think Conservative) and the latter holds power at Federal level. After a bit of argy-bargy the PM said that each state had the right to make their own rules so we have two states (Western Australia and South Australia) with closed borders. Western Australia even has smaller enclaves within the state that you can't move between. Schools have resumed in Queensland, New South Wales students will go back next week. Here in Victoria children in Prep, Grades 1 and 2 will go back on May 26 and Grades 3 - 6 on June 9. That only leaves 2 weeks before the next lot of school holidays. Restrictions in Victoria are:

Previously there were only 4 reasons to leave home:
1) shop for food and other necessary goods and services
2) access medical services or provide care and support to an unwell, disabled, elderly or pregnant friend or relative
3) attend work or education where you can’t do those things from home
4) exercise and participate in some recreational activities adhering to the rules

From 11:59pm last Tuesday night, a fifth reason was added: visiting friends and family – with a maximum gathering of up to ten outdoors and having up to five visitors in your home.

We are still expected to observe social distancing (1.5 metres). We had our first visitors last night - my son, daughter-in-law and baby came round. Tomorrow 5 of us (me, Mr H, Daughter No. 1, her partner and toddler) are going to have lunch with Daughter No. 2 and her family. We'll see what, if anything, happens next. Many people are still working from home (assuming they still have a job) but more shops seem to be opening. It's a day-by-day situation.

Lenovos won the tender to supply most state schools here and, as I said above, they're a good workhorse, built to take the sort of punishment primary school children are capable of. P's set-up sounds a good one. Don't discount!!

theDuke wrote: "Hello folks and good morning all.

Still hunting around for a new lappy....starting to get some idea of what i want....but as usual..what i want tends to come with large price tag attached it! Me i..."

If you got the i3 processor, it drops the price a bit - £529; if you can find it in stock anywhere.

I wouldn't discount P's suggestion of a Lenovo - they're a good workhorse.

£429 at Amazon
Lenovo V145 A6 15.6" Laptop, AMD A6-9225, 8 GB RAM, 1TB HDD, DVD-RW, Win 10 Pro

£487 at Amazon
Lenovo IdeaPad S145 15 Inch (15.6") FHD Laptop - (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Windows 10 Home S Mode) - Granite Black

£359 at Amazon
Lenovo V145 15.6" Laptop - AMD A9 3.1GHz CPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Windows 10

Lez wrote: "My sis and I like to make butternut squash soup - just the squash with a tin of chickpeas added and whizzed. It’s yummy!

Edit:Forgot to mention vegetable stock. c..."

I've got half a butternut squash in the fridge. I was planning to make a soup but wasn't sure how to tart it up without fresh ginger or coriander. Now I know - a tin of chickpeas! Plenty of added protein there, and I've got parsley growing wild everywhere so that's dinner sorted. Thanks Lez!!!

Some relaxation of restrictions here. From midnight tonight:
"From 11:59pm this Tuesday night, there’s now a fifth reason to leave home: visiting friends and family – with a maximum gathering of up to ten outdoors and having up to five visitors in your home."

Oh help, is that my daughter knocking - is she going to dump the 3 year old and 1 year old then vanish?

Self isolation has made a change in our meals routine. Normally I would take the car to the supermarket once a week to stock up on the heavier/bulkier items : laundry liquid, fruit juice, mixer drinks, toilet rolls, paper towels, tissues, pantry staples, etc. Mr H would walk to the shops every day (mostly for exercise) and would buy specials/mark downs on meat, fruit, veg, dairy, etc. For the last 8 weeks we have been having a supermarket delivery once a week so I make sure to check out what's on special and order accordingly - particularly in fruit and veg. And that means more forward planning on how we're going to use those items. I mentioned above the curry I made with cauliflower, pumpkin, spinach and beans. Last week's special was on red capsicums so I looked out a recipe for roasted red pepper soup. Didn't turn out well which was a shame seeing I had gone to so much trouble with chopping the carrots, onion, celery and garlic, roasting and peeling the peppers. I think the recipe was in error - a tablespoon of cumin! It also called for a teaspoon of garam masala and cayenne pepper. Anyway, the end result was a dark brown sludge that was so hot, it just about blew the roof off your mouth. Even cream and plain yoghurt couldn't save it. I won't make that mistake again! Mr H was not impressed! He's the main cook in our house. Not that I'm bad - in fact, I'm pretty good, but I tend to favour vegetarian dishes whereas he likes meat or fish. And he is very good. Anyway, I still had celery and cream in the fridge so I thought I'd try a cream of celery soup - used a BBC Good Foods recipe with a few tweaks of my own like doubling the vegetable stock, adding a smallish pink lady apple (celery can sometimes be a bit bitter) and it was a raging success - thankfully! I think I've restored Mr H's faith in me for the time being. But he did take over the kitchen again today for two of his amazing quiches. We have been eating very well in lockdown, just less fresh meat and fish. Tinned tuna and salmon has been getting a work out in a lot of recipes and we have plenty of salamis for homemade pizzas. I haven't any plans for the week ahead but there's plenty green beans to use up.