Month: May 2020

Potato Peeling Secret

/ John Bartels / Leave a comment

How to use a potato peeler in a different way.

I tried this during the lock down.

It works!

Almost no more holding the potato in one hand and peeling towards it with a sharp knife or sharp potato peeler.

Here is what you need:

  • A chopping board
  • A potato peeler
  • A knife (to cut the potato in half)
  • A potato (of course!)
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First cut the potato in half.

Next – see picture below

Place the half potato on the board. and rest the potato peeler on the table (as shown below) with the blade of the peeler resting on the board and on the side of the potato. Rotate the potato clockwise with the left hand against the potato peeler blade. The potato will peel easily and quickly

Last – see picture below

Repeat with the peeler resting on the board. The peeling will continue one layer up.

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You are done except for a little trimming at top and bottom.

Good luck

Keep safe

Watch the Video if you need to.

https://videopress.com/v/ejC9oZH1?preloadContent=metadata

Churchill Diplomacy Masterclass

/ John Bartels / 1 Comment
Sir Winston Churchill

Lady Churchill and Sir Winston Churchill were at a function. The hostess noticed that a visiting diplomat, at the function, had secretly pocketed some silverware. It may have been a salt cellar. She was at a loss what to do and quietly asked Lady Churchill for advice. Lady Churchill said she would ask Winston.

This is what Churchill did.

He found a piece of similar silverware and put it in his own pocket. Then, when he got the chance, he went up to the diplomat and quietly showed him the piece of silverware in his pocket and whispered “somebody has seen us taking the silverware so we’ll both have to put them back”.

A Wise Owl
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

The diplomat then quietly put back the salt cellar.

This really showed that Sir Winston Churchill was a master diplomat.

Churchill and COVID19

Source: I think in a book about Lady Churchill.

Verbal abuse incoming? A tip from a USAF female combat fighter pilot

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Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
I don’t know which jet fighter Sn. McSally flew.

You are in an important discussion. You are about to demolish your opponent’s argument, Your opponent knows it and starts to abuse you verbally instead of dealing with the issue. Lots of verbal flack is coming your way.

You can be sure of one thing: You have found the weak and vulnerable spot in your opponent’s argument. You are at the jugular.

This was very well summed up by Senator Martha McSally, a former USAF combat fighter pilot and squadron commander, who said:

“We fighter pilots have a saying: You know when you are over the target when you are getting flack”.

There we have it!

Take care next time you are in verbal combat.

Source: CNN 27 May 2020 and here.

Speckled mousebird nest destroyed in storm ðŸ˜¥

/ John Bartels / 1 Comment
Photo A Hannington

A few days ago, a gale, accompanied by hail, destroyed this beautiful speckled mousebird nest in Port Elizabeth.

In the days leading up to the disaster, my good friends had been watching the mousebirds build the nest, which was not finished.

There was no evidence of eggs or chicks.

You can see the size of the nest by comparing it with the tennis ball.

For the mousebirds it’s “Back to the drawing board”.

Very sad. but nature will bounce back. 🙂

Click here for more about mousebirds – probably the birds that lost this nest.

Intellectual Honesty

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“Intellectual honesty consists in stating the precise conditions under which one will give up one’s belief. …”

Imre Lakatos

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Take Away One.

In an argument when your opponent is adamant that they are right ask them: What evidence would convince you to change your mind?

Take Away Two.

Ask yourself the same question before you yourself pontificate about some topic!

What has a gadfly to do with this?

A Hedgehog Sanctuary

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One of the three rescued hedgehogs

Three little one year old hedgehogs have been given sanctuary in a beautiful East Sussex garden. They came from an Animal Rescue Center. All three for various reasons, are vulnerable. One of the hedgehogs is blind. Another is partially sighted. They will never survive in the wild.

Below is the beautiful garden which has become their new home. The garden has been made badger proof – important because a badger with its sharp claws could easily kill the tiny hedgehogs, now named Bluebell, Blossom and Buddy.

When they first arrived, the family had to feed them. Now they feed themselves, using no doubt their keen sense of smell. Apparently slugs and beetles are at the top of their menu. Hence they are called “the gardener’s best friend.

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The hedgehog sanctuary
East Sussex

When not in their straw filled box in the garden the three new members of the family can be seen rolling at great speed across the small lawn. Clearly the three are bringing great joy to the kind family.

When I heard of the family’s love for these three vulnerable creatures it reminded me of the words of Emily Dickenson:

“If I can …help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.”

.

A Lesson from Michaelangelo

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Michelangelo apparently said that in every block of marble there was a beautiful statue and all that he did was to remove the marble covering the statue. Easy!

A lesson? Yes. In every bad situation, good is waiting to come out’ What should we do? Work hard to get rid of what is bad so the good can grow and flourish. The good is there even in worrying times.

One day Michaelangelo started chipping away at a beautiful block of marble.

Here is what he found inside the marble! No further comment except wow!

SONY DSC Attribution: Michelangelo/CCO