Refrigerated Food

I read yet another online article today about food storage.  And, yet again, that keeping certain foods in a refrigerator isn't a good idea or even necessary.  The list of these foods included:

Bananas, bread, melons, peppers, pineapples, tomatoes, pears, beans, eggs

Some of these I was aware of - and have to tried to make certain other family members also aware of - but some of these I am not.  I definitely keep more fruit and veg in my fridge than apparently I need to - but just like certain family members, I'm probably not going to change my bad habits.

When you have a bad day ...

... sometimes you just need the soothing tones of Bob Ross to make the world better again.

Print Media

Print media is gradually dying, and it is starting to reflect in their really poor customer service.  I’ve got issues with Time magazine now, a magazine which I’ve subscribed to ever since a subscription was gifted to me a while ago (thank you if it was from you, definitely one of the better gifts I’ve got!).  I hadn’t received this week’s issue, and I went online to check my account and it says it has expired.  What?  Even though the box for automatic renewal is checked.  I have contacted customer service, but haven’t heard anything back yet.  I remember I previously contacted them to complain about why my automatic annual subscription was so much more than what I’ve seen online for the same subscription – and only got back a nonsensical reply from someone whose first language was clearly not English.  I wonder if they’ve interpreted that to mean that I want to cancel my account.  God knows.  What a pain in the ass.

Tire Pressures

New cars have lots of flashy safety features – but not all of them are good.  I’ve already expressed my displeasure with the lane assist system on my car which occasional causes my steering to veer away suddenly and frighteningly even though I’m perfectly in my lane.  Another feature that gets on my nerves is the tire pressure warning system.  We’ve had some colder weather recently, and not for the first time when the temperature has dropped my tire pressure warning light has come on.  So I checked the tire pressures this morning, which were good enough, then re-calibrated the tire pressure warning system.  But I have no doubts that it will come on again the next time there is a drop in temperature.  I don’t need this system to come on every time the temperature gets a bit colder (even though colder temperature does cause a slight but not significant decrease in tire pressure), I only want it to come on when I have a puncture and a tire is actually going down.  However, I don’t think the system is even good enough to tell you which tire it is if a problem like that ever happens.  For all the bells and whistles on new cars, they are a long way from perfect – which I think makes the advent of self-driving cars still a long way away.  And I miss having a CD player in my car.

Christmas Decorations

I wish there was a fixed date when you are supposed to put up and take down Christmas decorations – I’m never quite sure when to do mine.  Unofficially here, it’s the Thanksgiving weekend (though the Christmas tv ads start airing almost immediately after Halloween!).  But this year, Thanksgiving was way too early.  So I put up my decorations this weekend – but even that feels kind of early, so although they’re up I haven’t turned anything on yet.  Compared to some of the excessively gaudy and tasteless displays that other household have round here (not to say expensive, some of their electric bills must be shocking), my decorations are really pitiable.  But then, I don’t really need to try since you can’t see my house from the road and the decorations are really only for my own pleasure and benefit (plus a few of my immediate neighbors).  Nonetheless, I wish my decorations were classier and a bit more refined than they are – and I should make better use of my surroundings, I could hang some lights on some of the trees outside my house and that would be really pretty.  But instead I shall make do with what I have – and maybe get some better quality Christmas decor on sale in January. 

24 Days of Christmas: Days 1-2

Day 1

Day 2

Palace 2-0 Burnley

That feels like an important win.  Breaks a run of 8 games without victory.  Finally won a home game.  And all against a fellow bottom dweller.  I only saw brief highlights of the game, but by all accounts played well and deserved it.  Hopefully can build on this, and string together a few more good results (starting with Brighton on Tuesday) to go with the good performances.