The Duchess of Seacroft has nailed yet another recipe, this time easy home made naan breads.

With a hat tip to Jamie Oliver for the recipe, here’s how the magic happens :-

• Put 375g of self-raising flour into a bowl and add 8 tablespoons of Greek yoghurt
• Add a tablespoon of honey and a pinch of salt
• Mix it all together than knead it until smooth (takes more work than normal dough but persevere)
• Divide into 6 portions, rolling each one into a naan shape, fairly thin as they will rise during cooking
• Get a pan very hot on the stove then place the naans on the pan.
• When the naans get a little charred (roughly 90 seconds) turn over and do the other side
• Take naans out of the pan and rub a little butter over the top to melt in.

They’re crisp on the outside but almost marshallow soft inside, great for mopping up the curry!

Just returned briefly to Facebook to help provide The Duchess with guidance on restoring her news feed, and it popped up a warning that it had removed a photo that I’d posted previously, along with offers of help if I’m feeling vulnerable. Aw bless, thanks Zuck, I didn’t know you cared!

This is the cartoon they took down.

Now there a couple of things I’d have to point out about this picture :-

1. I uploaded it to Facebook over 2 years ago in 2019; not a particularly timely response.
2. It’s a cartoon making a joke about nagging, not a cry for help (about suicide or being nagged)

I’m all for social media platforms being more alert to warning signs and helping its users, however it does demonstrate that while they’ve made great advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence, they still fall short of providing a genuine responsive, which would require artificial wisdom to properly assess the nature of the risk, as opposed to detecting a noose in a cartoon. (I wonder how many Tex Avery and Chuck Jones cartoons will get similarly flagged?)

That in itself gives me some comfort that human beings – collectively dumb as we are – still have the edge over the machines. Maybe I don’t want to hang myself after all 🙂 JUST KIDDING!

Just to put people’s minds at rest, I have checked and can confirm that Hull City are NOT joining the new European Super League. Not that the Allams wouldn’t do it if there’s a dollar to be made out of it.

My colleague asked me this week how big a file was. I said ‘6 Gig’

He didn’t understand what I’d said so I repeated it. Still nothing.

‘Sux Gug’ I said.

‘Oh right, thanks’ he said.

Sometimes you have to go native to be understood.

Whenever I have to raise a technical support ticket with a vendor it asks “which would you prefer? Email or Phone”.

Every single time I choose Email. Not Phone. Email.

Every single time I get them trying to ring me. From Australia, Singapore, the US, probably Mars.

EMAIL ME MOTHERF*CKERS!

They should change that field on the web form from preferred contact method to “Are you borderline mobile phone phobic who only ever answers a call if it’s your other half ringing and you’re expecting them to call you and a text isn’t appropriate a text and you’re not currently on public transport?”

</rant>

Got this bad boy for $12 from the local butcher. About to cook her up with some chups and peas and a big glass of Pinot Noir. Living the life! #meat_sweats

Having managed to migrate my old employers to a proper email solution – one fewer Domino servers in the world has to be a good thing – I’ve now moved on to a new contract back in Wellington’s CBD.

Took a couple of weeks to line something up despite the job boards being busy, which got a little worrying. Had a good lead with Ministry of Coughs and Sneezes but despite telling the pimp they had chosen me from the candidates it never progressed to a contract. Thankfully the Ministry of Flying Safely came along with a three monther, which I started last week.

I’m backfilling while they hire a replacement for an engineer that’s moving to a new role elsewhere – to my first Kiwi employers no less … Wor Lass’ assertion of Wellington as “a city that thinks it’s a village” isn’t far off the mark….

I had three fairly intense days last week trying to get to grips with the client and its infrastructure and suck information out of the guy’s head before he left. Apart from uncomfortable chairs, colleagues all around me eating crunchy foods (my phobia is widening from just apples to include celery, carrots and other crunchables) and ridiculously slow lifts (right up to the 15th floor) it’s looking promising so far.

Not enjoying wearing face masks on the train though, makes for some awkward juggling of coffee cup and book to sneak a sip; plus the foggy glasses issue makes it difficult to read. Still, if that’s the worst thing I can live with it until we all get jabbed up.