IOB IN 2020

I'm aware recently that as a curmudgeon I've become a little bit too quiet and nice of recent so, perhaps a new year resolution is in order.

It may be time for a new blog or at least an extra one.

Richard of Richard's Bass Bag has created a bogus curmudgeon blog named:

THE FILL IN CURMUDGEON

Which so far hasn't produced any posts but does suggest the need for another, more vociferous one.

I think that I'll create the IOB or IRASCIBLE OLD BASTARD for use when events require something to be posted that is more mean than anything that THE CURMUDGEON or the other CURMUDGEONS can produce.

Stay posted.

OLD NAG

NOT THIS ONE



***********************


THIS ONE

"UPDATE YOUR BLOG, UPDATE YOUR BLOG,UPDATE YOUR BLOG, UPDATE YOUR BLOG, UPDATE YOUR BLOG, UPDATE YOUR BLOG, UPDATE YOUR BLOG, UPDATE YOUR BLOG, UPDATE YOUR BLOG, UPDATE YOUR BLOG, UPDATE YOUR BLOG, UPDATE YOUR BLOG....... "

It's enough to send you crazy ..... which reminds me:

CRAZY

We've got guests here this weekend and The Old Girl disapproves when I hide myself away in the study as she says that I have to join in the conversation and entertain!

I'll get back to writing posts tomorrow so hope that this little bit suffices and STOPS THE NAGGING!

LET'S TALK ABOUT RADIOS.......

...car radios to be precise.

Years ago when cars didn't come fitted with radios I used to buy my own. These were carefully selected, within a budget for power, range, function and ease of use. Ease of use while driving was the essential criterion, safety being paramount.

Over time cars have developed so as to have mandatory extras including car radios. These are fancy schmancy items that, if had to be bought separately would cost a fortune.

The trouble with these is that they are totally digitalised and computerised so that there are generally no large dials for volume and for channel selection.

When I drove the Volkswagen Passats the reliable German technology ensured that in addition to the excellent quality there was also practicality so they fitted nice big dials so you could easily change volume and station.

The Toyota I drive has a great sound system that integrates phone, radio, CD, bluetooth and functions as an on-board computer for information on the car. All good but - it's digital. There's a changer on the steering wheel which is very handy to change channels, modes and volume but, for fine-tuning you have to use fine-tune buttons on the console and you have to be looking at the damned thing. This makes it virtually impossible to do (safely) while driving. I'm a tactile person. I want nice big dials that I can turn with my left hand while driving without needing to watch anything other than the road.

How difficult is that?

IS BOXING DAY OUT FOR THE COUNT?

We didn't bother going in to town for any Boxing Day sales. There are too many sales nowadays. I bought what I needed (home security camera system and some garden tools) in the Black Friday sales in November which seem to have become a 'thing'. Bloody Americans!
I bought a couple of pairs of SKETCHERS shoes in a 50% off sale before Christmas (how stupid is that?). I think Boxing Day is finished. It used to generate so much excitement when I was a kid. Believe it or not it was the only day of the year when shops had sales. Fire sales were exactly that - a sale where fire-damaged goods were sold cheap. They used to smell of smoke and would have smoke and water damage. It was another time.

BUY NOW- 40% OFF!

*****************

The weather has come right up here - nice and sunny with no wind. This morning I played 9 holes of golf early before going to tennis. I then had a swim. All this before lunch-time.

How's your day going?

NEW POST - THE RELIGIOUS CURMUDGEON

FAITH

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!*

Well it's Christmas Day.

We woke reasonably early, not having given it too much of a bash last night (shared a bottle of Champagne and then had another glass each of wine while playing pool). It's a nice morning but we've been lazing around in bed reading, drinking cups of tea etc. No hurry.

We didn't swap Christmas presents this year. The Old Girl has her eyes set on some things to buy for her Wellington apartment and I bought two new pairs of Sketchers shoes the other day. Sketchers are the most comfortable shoes I've ever worn but the other ones I have look a bit like an old man's slippers - yes, you're right, like Richard going out to the shops -

- so I elected for a pair that look a bit like walking or sports shoes and another that will be ideal with jeans or chinos. I think it best that I explain this with more narrative, photographs and diagrams in a separate post. Stay tuned.

I might play some golf later if the weather holds and the wind doesn't come up.

I hope that you are all having a nice day and that not too many of you have gone to church joining hands and playing ring-a-ring-a-rosy. Just relax and enjoy the holiday.

*********************

* "Happy Holidays" is a stupid greeting invented by the obsessional Americans who thought that saying "Merry Christmas" to all and sundry was politically incorrect. They not only worry about possibly offending a person from another religion or no religion at all by saying "Merry Christmas" but they have politicised and given it demographic significance too. For example the person most likely to insist on “Merry Christmas” would be a Republican man over 60 who lives in the Midwest; the archetypal “Happy Holidays” proponent is a young (18 to 29) female Democrat living in the Northeast.
A 2016  survey found that in response to the question, “Do you think stores and businesses should greet their customers with ‘Happy Holidays’ or ‘Seasons Greetings’ instead of ‘Merry Christmas’ out of respect for people of different faiths, or not?” 67 percent of Republicans said “No” and 66 percent of Democrats said “Yes.”
These people are nuts.

STUFF US!

Tomorrow is Christmas Day and traditionally the day for big celebration at the dining table (if one is in funds and not on the bread line).


In the past we have 'gone the whole nine yards' and cooked several types of meat (lamb, turkey and ham) with all the roast trimmings followed by several desserts (plum pudding, trifle, pavlova et.) and entertained friends and family staying with us.
Not this Christmas. We don't have anyone staying. It will be just the two of us. We won't be cooking a big meal but will be cooking something elegant and tasty without overindulgence (too much).

The plan is to have a spinach and feta pie as the main dish possibly with a salad on the side.

We've had this before and it's a really nice dish. Non-traditional for sure but just the thing for this warm weather.


We will follow this with The Old Girl's excellent fruit flan.

She's a dab hand at making this, making the pastry and custard from scratch and using fresh seasonal fruit. We'll top it not with cream but with some creamy Piako yoghurt. Yummy.


Champagne will be the drink to have with this.

The line-up we have isn't as classy as the vintage offerings in the picture but I have bought some bottles of NV when on special price over the last month or so. We have: Lanson, Taittinger, Veuve Cliquot, Perrier Jouet, Piper Heidsieck, Mumm, Drappier and Moet et Chardon which will be our Christmas New Year, The Old Girl's birthday and anniversary drinking over the next few weeks.

************************

We haven't spent too much on the food with no meat involved and using fresh vegetables and fruit.
The Champagne is a luxury but I was very careful to seek out tremendous supermarket specials in wine sales over the last couple of months so I don't think we are being gluttonous. Some other might see it as this but hey - stuff them!

MONDAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Damn I'm playing some good golf at present.

I rejoined the club a few weeks back and have been getting out early in the morning to play between 6 and 9 holes each time.
The last few times I've been hitting the ball well and have done good approach shots and putts without having to resort to a Donald Trump gimme.

"That's near enough"

The other day I played 9 holes and averaged four per hole. I was 'on-fire'.
This morning I played 8 holes and had 4 fours and 4 fives.

I pushed myself hard as well as I'm doing this to help build up fitness. I feel really good afterwards so it's working. I also think that the change from beta blocker medication to calcium channel blockers has made a difference. I don't feel so tired now and seem to have more energy. I noticed this last week when I last played tennis.

DAMN SANTA!

Hello everyone and Happy Christmas.*

It's only two days to Christmas Day and everyone is busy. THE CURMUDGEONS INC.ⓒ decided to run some features on Christmas and how the blogging community is coping with the responsibilities that this great festival entails. We've come up with the idea of interviewing each person behind the blogs but, due to time constraints have limited this to the blogs leader. In Richard's case this is Richard himself who will delegate for the other 'personalities' in his consortium.
It might prove easier with Robert and his blogs as they never seem to run concurrently with each new one overwriting the one that's gone before. The current infestation manifestation is ROBERT THE SINNER but, going by previous history this is likely to be deleted anytime soon which will save us the bother of an interview. THE CURMUDGEON will delegate for the other members of THE CURMUDGEONS INC.ⓒ


☎☎☎  RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING  ☎☎☎

(Voice)  "Oh the Grand Old Duke of York. He Had 10,000 m....."


THE CURMUDGEON: Richard? Is that you? Can you....

RICHARD (of RBB): "He marched them up to the top of the hill and he marched them down again"

THE CURMUDGEON: (sotto voce) Fuck!

RICHARD (of RBB): Pronto!

THE CURMUDGEON: Hi, Richard. Remember that we had this call scheduled. we ....

RICHARD (of RBB): Buon Natale stellato stiamo mangiando trippa e gelatina per il tè vuoi unirti a noi?

THE CURMUDGEON: Umm, yeah, great, sounds lovely. Can we get on with it?

RICHARD (of RBB): Jasper viaggia a miglia x all'ora e penso che il gatto abbia preso le mie pantofole, io ...

THE CURMUDGEON: Wha...? Richard. Richard. RICHARD!

RICHARD (of RBB): What?

THE CURMUDGEON: That's better. Are you feeling alright?

RICHARD (of RBB):I'm not feeling too good myself...

THE CURMUDGEON: Yeah, yeah 'Feelin' Alright - Three Dog Night. I've got the album. We need to discuss Christmas. How have your preparations gone this year?

RICHARD (of RBB):

Ah Natale. Beh, ovviamente quest'anno non abbiamo Zia e non ci sono molte persone che ci si aspetta. George e la sua ragazza sono in Australia e molti della famiglia festeggeranno altrove. Robert ha spaventato i più piccoli con la sua religione e le sue cazzate e il gatto è fuggito. Lo zio Steve sta arrivando, quindi è una benedizione e una maledizione come senza dubbio lui porterà un po 'di spazzatura dalla punta che vuole regalarci. Intendiamoci, Robert pensa che invece di portare la spazzatura in punta regalandola come regalo sia molto cristiana, forse forse mi manca qualcosa eh? Ho i miei soliti vecchietti che hanno a che fare con il portare i vicini in chiesa, all'ospedale, al caseificio, al negozio di scommesse e al bordello, quindi non sarò in grado di incazzarmi con il vino come mi piace, forse aspetterò fino a dopo mezzanotte (bravo Miles Davis lo segue) e poi un paio. Malato ...

THE CURMUDGEON: Umm, Richard? Richard? RICHARD!

RICHARD (of RBB): Che cosa?

THE CURMUDGEON: Never mind. Hey! Happy Holidays!

RICHARD (of RBB): Gracie. Saluti.

THE CURMUDGEON: Yeah, chow.

*************************

I think we'll leave it there for now, Maybe this wasn't such a good idea,








*If I was talking directly to Robert (The Sinner) I'd say "Happy Holidays" because I know that annoys him.

Anyway Robert - here's a song for you:   SINNERMAN - NINA SIMONE

PEEPING IN

I mentioned before that I cancelled my Facebook accounts after that company's appalling response to the request by Jacinda to take down the posts of the Christchurch shootings.

There are many public accounts that use Facebook however and without having an account it's difficult to access and post. Neighbourly is a good example.

I started a new account titled Blue Man which I will use in a limited way. I might also use it to check out what Richard and Robert are up to on Facebook although I guess that'll be like watching a boxing match or a catfight.

THE GOOD LIFE

I visited Tony and Alison at their country home on Saturday.

They've built a huge house on their large property in the Hunua district. This is an area of lush farmland which because of its rainfall is home to large dams that provide a lot of Auckland's water.
The outlook over the valley has been great for Tony to relax and gather strength in after his illness.

They have landscaped nicely and have alpacas in a field by the house, the youngest being just 4 days old.

Each year just before Christmas they host friends and work colleagues to an afternoon of food, wine and conviviality. They've been doing this for many years initially at their home in Point Chevalier and now in the Hunua countryside. It's truly amazing, given the remoteness of their new home at the number of people who come along. I drove down from Whangarei and stayed for a couple of hours before having to head back up to Auckland to pick up The Old Girl from work and head out to my sister's place. While I was there many people turned up and as I was leaving many more were arriving. It's a tribute to their popularity and Alison's hosting. Her Christmas celebrations are famous. They had eleven Christmas trees in different parts of the house and lots of Santas of different sizes.

I last visited their house when it was under construction four years ago just before I left to live in England for a while. I can't remember if it was Richard or Mike that I was with as we visited a few times before and during the construction. They were living in a kind of prefab cottage at the time.

I remember visiting with Richard. I drove and he acted as scout. He had satellite navigation loaded on to his phone so was confident of finding the place. The trouble was that he had downloaded an Italian language version. This was in the earlier days of Richard's Italian language learning and, to be frank (or Luigi) he was crap at it. The female Italian voice rapidly gave directions that Richard either couldn't understand or misinterpreted. It took us many wrong turnings and about four times as long to find Tony and Shelley's farm.

It was fun though.

NEW POST - THE RELIGIOUS CURMUDGEON

JESUS CHRIST!

WHAT DO WE THINK OF IT SO FAR?

RUBBISH

Why rubbish?
Well, the standard of some of the latest posts in the blogging community has slipped a bit.
I include my own in this as I've been busy (and lazy) and my posts haven't been up to the standard that the readers of THE CURMUDGEONS INC.ⓒ expect.
Mea Culpa - which reminds me that Robert's posts have been crap but actually up to the standard that his blog readers have come to expect - full of religious oddness, bizarre observations about foreign immigrants in the cleaning industry and general moaning about liberals, Labour voters and people on benefits.

Richard's posts have shown the most decline and he's now writing them in a kind of pidgin Italian. See:

RICHARD'S LATEST POST

To be honest he'd be better off just writing them in English and providing a Google translate link for anyone who could be bothered to see what his wittering looks like in Italian.

As I said - rubbish.

NEW POST - THE FOOD CURMUDGEON

I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER

NEW POST - THE CURMUDGEON EXPRESS

COMMUNITY HUMOUR

WANKERS

The assault rifle and illegal firearm amnesty runs out at the end of this week but apparently 70% of suspected guns are still 'at large'.

The wankerish owners, via their spokes-group the Council of Licensed Firearms Owners are pleading that they don't know which guns are illegal or not.
What fucking (pretend) ignorant shitheads. This is schoolyard behaviour and doesn't deserve respect. I hope that the police take strong action against them.

I'd like to see smartarse owners arrested and thrown into prison for non-compliance. They've had well over 6 months notice and 9 months since the Christchurch mosque shootings.

I apologise for the brevity of this post but am angry over this.
My brother was a gun owner (not the illegal type) but if he was alive and was holding one back I'd be calling him to tell him that he was being a shithead as well.
I don't think I know anyone who has an assault rifle but if I find out I definitely will bail them up. I think that issues like this are the general public's responsibility as much as that of the police and the government so I hope that others do this as well. The best way of getting results is by a groundswell people's movement as per the tearing down of the Berlin wall.

NEW POST - THE MUSIC CURMUDGEON

THINGS AINT WHAT THEY USED TO BE

NEW POST - THE CURMUDGEON EXPRESS

ALAN

THE THING ABOUT SLIPPERS

I used to give Richard a hard time about wearing slippers outside.

SLIP SLIDIN' AWAY

Every time I saw him in recent years he's been wearing his old man shoes:

*****************

In January of this year I was in Wellington and again met up with Richard (that photo of the shoes above was taken of him at the airport where he met me).

I was wearing 'young man shoes' some rather nice and trendy Ecco street shoes. These have always been comfortable and for several years I've been buying the brand.

I was staying at Oriental Bay and the next morning walked from there to the railway station to get the train to Paraparaumu. When there I walked from the station to my sister's new place.  The walk nearly crippled me. For some reason the shoes that I'd been happily wearing for at least a year were really hurting my feet. When back in Wellington, before I made my way to the airport, I  went to about 6 or 7 shoe shops looking for 'orthopaedic' or wide fitting shoes to ease the pain. No one seems to stock the Scholls shoes anymore but at the last shop I visited they had some SKETCHERS shoes. Old man shoes.

They were amazing and I've been wearing them and another pair I bought everywhere I go.

Last night at the club I took note of what people were wearing on their feet. Of people over the age of say 50 (the younger guys wear hipster shoes) most of the men were wearing Sketcher-type shoes and the very old ones were wearing Richard-type outdoor slippers.

The times sure are changin'.

NEW POST - THE RELIGIOUS CURMUDGEON

INSIDE MARY - THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT HER

IT'S FRIDAY AND ALL'S WELL (FOR ME).

I played golf early this morning- started just after seven.
The weather was idyllic and there was no wind.
Once again I had the thrill of being first on the greens I played and the ball left tracks in the dew.
I played early as I knew that today would be a scorcher. I played very well (for me) playing 7 holes and averaging 4 (28). There's no way that I'd be able to keep that up for 18 holes which would give a theoretical handicap of 1. That'd never happen.

I spent most of the rest of the day gardening - weeding, tidying and spraying. At 3PM I was so hot and tired I called it quits and went for a swim even though the tide is way out. It was lovely.

After a shower I thought about our bay which is really a big caldera that has filled with water after the violent eruptions of millions of years ago.

Northland is home to a higher density of extinct volcanoes than anywhere else in the world.

Or at least I hope that they're extinct.

Whangarei Heads volcanic formations

Whangarei Heads where I live has a few mountains that were volcanoes and the strange rock formations that ring McLeod Bay and other bays are the outlying rim of the caldera.

Obviously my thoughts went to Whakaari and the body recovery today. The very brave armed forces and police recovered six of the remaining eight people. Hopefully the last two will be recovered before the island blows again as it's been given a 60% chance of doing so in the immediate future.

I'm a bit stuffed now so will have a cuppa and one or two of the shortbread biscuits I baked the other day. I'll probably go up to the club for tea tonight.

How is your Friday going?

ANOTHER POST - THE CURMUDGEON EXPRESS

" ... YOU UNDERSTAND NOW WHY YOU CAME THIS WAY"

NEW POSTS

THE CURMUDGEON EXPRESS  and THE RELIGIOUS CURMUDGEON have new posts.

2:30 APPOINTMENT

WE'VE GOT TO MOVE

SUDDENLY ..... *

A noise woke me in the middle of last night.

It was different from the usual noises that an old house makes when the timber and roofing iron cools down after dark and makes the odd thump or bang. I listened for a few moments and was sure that there was a furtive movement at the end of the house.
I got up, pulled on some shorts, grabbed a torch and made my way down the passage.  I kept the torch turned off as there was a bit of moonlight coming through the windows. I checked out the snooker room. Nothing. I then checked the rooms at the back of the house - lounge and kitchen, bathroom and laundry, first spare bedroom, second spare bedroom. Nothing. I was about to go back to bed and then had a creepy feeling that if someone had got in - I had left a window open - then they might be hiding in the wardrobe in the second spare bedroom. I turned on the light, threw open the wardrobe doors and ........

THERE

............ was nothing other than clothes. There was no crazy person peeking out. No axe-armed murderer lurking. No deranged intruder looking to make trouble.

I closed the cupboard doors and the window and went back to bed.

* Nothing happened.

HANDS UP FOR CHRISTMAS

So it's nearly Christmas again.

Richard has sent out his annual Christmas letter and Robert seems to have cornered the market on Christmas kitsch.

Not to be outdone The Curmudgeon will have some 'Christmassy' posts for your edification, enjoyment and to help pass the time.

Here's a list of 'Christmassy' things:

• Trees
• Bells
• Manger
• Candles
• Cards
• Church services
• Letters
• Letters (2)
• Letters (3)
• Carols
• Wine
• Decorations
• Lights
• Music
• Music (2)
• Music (3)
• Eggnog
• Crackers
• Father Christmas
• Cake
• Presents
• Holidays
• Food
• Food (2)
• Food (3)
• Mince pies
• Mistletoe
• Jesus
• Shopping
• Dinner
• Visitors

The more observant of you will notice that some of the things in this list have links to previous posts that The Curmudgeons have written. Feel free to revisit these and enjoy all over again.

The list is a condensed one but even so there are still some unlinked items on the list that are worthy of a post or two and even some that have been written about previously but can be added to. Christmas Dinner is one example and The Food Curmudgeon will be publishing a post soon.

NOT A TRAVEL BOOK

I listened to an interesting interview on Radio New Zealand with Jim Mora talking with Jennifer Mallinson about her book TARANTO TO TRIESTE.


TARANTO TO TRIESTE INTERVIEW RNZ

The book is a history of New Zealand armed forces campaign in Italy from 1943 to 1945.
It is of particular interest to me as my dad was part of this campaign and went from Taranto to Trieste with The Divisional Cavalry. Mallinson stresses that the book isn't a military history but more a recount of what the 14,000 New Zealanders faced in their travels. She is a New Zealander but lives in Verona and did her research to be able to answer queries from her friends as to what New Zealanders were doing in Italy in WW2. I must buy this.

Richard will be interested in this as there is mention of Bari where he has friends I think and no doubt will have mention of other places he's been to.

WEATHER*

Richard recounts in his latest post how the weather in Wellington is bad and that he's hiding indoors doing violin practise. Poor Shelley.

At least the old guy has a sensible response to the rain and thunderstorms. He hasn't been (I hope) outside railing against it: KING LEAR

There are idiots (not Lear's Fool) who not only rail against the weather when it's bad but against NIWA, transport services, emergency services, hotels and airlines and blame everyone except themselves for their misfortune.
See this about some people who got stuck in the South Island due to road closures  and complained that the airline didn't hold up flights to wait until they could get there. If the airline had delayed flights many people would have complained about that.

NZ Herald


I recall, over the last week NIWA forecasting severe bad weather for the South Island and lower North Island for the following week. This has happened. Did people plan for it? Many didn't.

Dicks!

* Weather
   verb

    to deal successfully with a difficult situation or a problem

**NEW POSTS**

Your wait is over. Some of the guys have written new posts as promised.

You can find them here:


THE CULTURED CURMUDGEON


THE FOOD CURMUDGEON


THE MUNDANE CURMUDGEON


THE CURMUDGEONLY INVENTOR


THE CURMUDGEONLY LUDDITE



THE PHILOSOPHICAL CURMUDGEON and THE POLEMICAL CURMUDGEON have just written posts which, going by the comments you have read and enjoyed.

☝MAKE THE CURMUDGEONS GREAT AGAIN!☝

We are awaiting letters to THE CURMUDGEON'S AGONY AUNT so that suitable responses can be made. A post from THE MUSIC CURMUDGEON is pending and THE RELIGIOUS CURMUDGEON is watching Robert's Harlot blog with interest and will soon write a post about the current events.

Enjoy!

NEW POST - THE PHILOSOPHICAL CURMUDGEON

The Philosophical Curmudgeon has a new post for you:

THANKS DAD

NEW POST - THE POLEMICAL CURMUDGEON

The promised posts are coming in thick and fast. Here's a new one from The Polemical Curmudgeon:

GOOD OLD NANCY

FRIDAY NIGHT IS CLUB NIGHT*

Tonight I'm going up to the local club for a couple of glasses of wine.
The wine isn't really that good but it's OK and better than the cleanskin crap that some people drink. The problem (for me) is that: the chardonnay is from Marlborough; the pinot noir is a light Marlborough one; the riesling is from a producer I refuse to support and the roses are candyish rubbish. I don't drink sauvignon blanc, pinot gris, shiraz, merlot or cabernet sauvignon so my choices are limited.

Yes, I know I'm fussy. The only saving grace is that the wines are cheap ($7 a glass) and that the glasses are filled to the brim.

Richard no doubt would approve as would Robert although Robert might prefer to drink from this glass:

When I go to the club I sometimes eat there at the restaurant. The meals are really good and cheap too ($15 to $20). It's so hot here though that I don't feel like ploughing my way through a big plate of snapper chips and salad or a gourmet burger so will probably have a light snack before I go up the hill after 7PM.

On Friday nights they have a 'Members' Draw' where a draw is made of membership numbers and, if you are in the club at the time win the pool. The pool starts at $50 and increases by $50 each time that it isn't collected. Tonight it's up to $650. I could do with this to go towards the cost of the root canal work I'm getting done at the dentist.

Here's hoping.

* Occasionally and depending on whether The Old Girl is up here or not. She doesn't like going to the club. This weekend she's staying in Auckland.