Credit where credit's due.

I've had a busy day today. In the morning I got a man in to fix a broken underground sewer pipe. It was broken when I moved into the house in 1991, but I was quoted £600 to dig up the path and replace the pipe back then. I couldn't afford that, so I rodded the pipe every few years to clear any blockages.

In the spirit of New beginnings, I decided to "get it sorted". So I got a man who knows about these things in. It cost under £100 to do the job, as the whole pipe didn't need to be replaced. That's Karl Gratton, Aldershot, Hants. 07851 894256. Here's an "after" photo after chucking a couple of buckets of water down to clear the cobwebs. I didn't take a "before" photo, but there was a hole in the bottom of the inspection chamber (now cemented) as well as the broken pipe.


After Karl left, I walked to my local Waitrose. By pavement, it's a 20 minute walk, so I took a short-cut through the woods. It was pouring with rain, the path was very muddy and full of puddles. I felt a strange sensation....


My soles had cracked. Oh, wow! What an amazingly heavy bummer!

When I got to Waitrose, I was dismayed to see that they had sold out of Burgen Soya & Linseed bread, as I had a 50p coupon that expired that day. Two assistants (Sally & Barbara) told me that I could get 50p off on a future visit if I showed them the coupon. I bought some nosh as a treat for the soggy walk home. While I was waiting at the checkout, Sally (or maybe Barbara) approached me, holding a loaf of Burgen. Now that's what I call customer service! That's Waitrose, Tresham Crescent, Yateley, Hants, GU46 6FR - 01252 861888.

EDIT: When I'm in Henley, I have lunch at Jay's Kitchen. I phone/text my order in advance and get a freshly-cooked Full English (2 bacon, 2 sausage, 2 egg, baked beans, fried onions, mushrooms & tomatoes) for £3. There's a table & 2 chairs on the pavement. That's Jay's Kitchen, Newtown Rd, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.


EDIT: Today (16th February), I got this:-


EDIT: Just around the corner, also on Newtown Rd is a car wash done by hand. A basic wash is £6 and a full inside & outside clean is £12. I was given a free bottle of water to drink.

And finally...

I want to give credit to....Gary Taubes *sound of people fainting*. His curate's egg Good Calories, Bad Calories is good, in parts. The parts about the Diet-Heart Hypothesis, I completely agree with, as I have read The Great Cholesterol Con by Anthony Colpo, which pretty much ties-up with The Great Cholesterol Con by Dr Malcolm Kendrick, which pretty much ties-up with Ignore the awkward! How the cholesterol myths are kept alive by Uffe Ravnskov. See also The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics.

Here's a picture to warm the cockles of your heart.

When you get the bad parts sorted, we'll stop prodding you with a pointy stick!

Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes

I haven't yet fully read the book mentioned in the title, but I've read the Cliff Notes. I have the following comments, based on these notes:-

1) I agree with 99% of what Taubes has written. Do I really need to buy Good Calories, Bad Calories?
2) I disagree with the following:-

a) Fattening Diets
▪ it's impossible to fatten people on high-fat, high-protein diets: they just can't eat enough
▪ in one experiment, the volunteers would sit staring at "plates of pork chops a mile high" and refuse to eat enough to get an excess thousand cal/day

b) The Carbohydrate Hypothesis, II: Insulin
▪ so: carbs = glucose = glycerol phosphate = trigs = fattening

a) There's an obvious problem with trying to fatten someone using "plates of pork chops a mile high" and that is BOREDOM. Even I, who loves meat, would baulk at eating pork chops washed down with more pork chops plus a side helping of even more pork chops. However, if I had a plateful of fatty roast beef, pork, lamb & duck with all of the crackling/skin plus lashings of juices, I wouldn't have any difficulty in getting thousands of excess kcals/day. Om, nom, nom!

b) See I have a theory and Enzymes.

P.S. Today's featured article on Wikipedia is....The ketogenic diet!