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Hi HomeMakers,
Thanks to all of you who sent me emails this month.
Did any of you pay attention to the new NZ budget? I am intrigued at how the NZ Government is forcing people to save money from their weekly pay with an offer of a top up from the government which many people think sounds very generous. Yet I am sure there was a time when the government said they would put aside a percentage of the tax you paid to help cover superannuation, which they had tied to the average wage. Then I believe the government dipped into this fund and now they have essentially offered it back, in a way that makes most people think that they are being generous, when really it is more like another tax cleverly reworded! Removing the Tax on savings (Resident Withholding tax) would also encourage savings and massively reduce administration. Isn’t this a much easier and more practical way to encourage people to save?
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Would you rather fix a problem or be proven right. I heard Dr. Phil use this quote once and I think there are too many times when people would rather be proven right than fix a problem which is a great pity.
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I don’t know about you but I hate leaving messages on answer phones. The following are some of the more amusing messages people have on their machines:
“Well I finally got an answering machine. Now how does this thing work? Hmmm. Press record button, I did that, and the light should be on. I wonder why it's not working right. Hmmmm, I wonder what this button does...”
“You know what I hate about answering machine messages? They go on and on, wasting your time. I mean, all they really need to say is, "We aren't in, leave a message." That's why I've decided to keep mine simple and short. I pledge to you, my caller that you will never have to suffer through another long answering machine message when you call me... “
Drawling granny voice: “Way back inna winner of fifty-two, we didn' have fanshy gadjets like no ansherin' machine. You jusht had to call and call until shummbody got home. Now, shum people, dey shay dey don' like 'em, but I shay it'll shave you a lotta trouble if you jusht leave a meshage. Thanksh a lot.”
Computer style monotone: “Hello, I am the XSX86 Mark Five answering machine. I am equipped with the new Pentium processor to assure that nothing can go wrong... Gowrong... Grong.. Grong gronggronggrongBEEP”
“Hi! John's answering machine is broken. This is his refrigerator. Please speak very slowly, and I'll stick your message to myself with one of these magnets.”
“Hello. This is Ron's answering machine, Marvin, and I'm so depressed. I have 50,000 times the memory capacity of my owner, but all I get to do is answer the phone. Life. Don't talk to me about life. Just leave your name and number after the beep. Here comes the beep, how I hate that beep, it's so cheery sounding.”
“Thank you for calling 217-2962. If you wish to speak to Tim, push 1 on your touch tone phone now. If you wish to speak to Lynn, push 2 on your touch tone phone now. If you have a wrong number, push 3 on your touch tone phone now. All of this button pushing doesn't do anything, but it is a good way to work off anger, and it makes us feel like we have a big time phone system.”
Voice 1: “Answer the phone, please, Hal.”
Voice 2: “I'm sorry, Dave, I can't do that.”
“Lindsey's not home now. This is his domestic droid speaking. I'm not programmed to answer the phone, so just leave a message, and Lindsey will get back to you as soon as possible.”
“No! NO! Not THAT! Anything but that! Not the beep! No! Please! Not the beep! Anything but the beep! AAAAIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!”
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Can somebody please explain to me what NZ MP Sue Bradford’s anti smacking law is really about? The recent successful prosecution of a mother for using a wooden spoon on her child proves that the old law allowing reasonable force worked fine. And my understanding of the law was that people had to be reasonable. So in effect this bill has meant that parents are now not legally allowed to act in a “reasonable” manner?
I think that this legislation is more about power and control than it is about a genuine desire to help people create loving happy families.
What do you think?
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Some cats have much stronger tails than others.
Most cats have fairly sensitive tails and I would not dream of ever picking them up by the tail as it would be cruel and hurt them. But I have a cat with an extremely thick and strong tail she doesn’t mind in the slightest if you pick her up by her tail! I wonder if she has some opossum blood in her?
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Global warming - creating better longer lasting products.
As we have become a throw away consumer society some companies actively encourage manufacturers to make products that have shorter lives, thereby increasing their number of repeat sales and also the amount of waste generated.
I was talking to an importer the other day who has dealings with a place that slogan says “…gets a bargain.” The person I was talking to imports some products for this major NZ based chain store. He was telling me how the buyers had insisted he get the factory he deals with to make the product entirely out of plastic. Normally it has a small amount of metal to help with the longevity of the product. All of the other businesses he deals with want the metal and a product that lasts, but not this major company who sells what appears to be the same product as other more ethical retailers sell although possibly at a slightly cheaper rate.
This unethical and greedy way of doing business effects peoples ability to save, as they end up spending more than they would were they to purchase better built and longer lasting products. But also it must impact on global warming because more products need to be produced to make up for all those poorly made products that have such short lives.
You can do your part to help save the planet simply by buying better quality products that will last and not being conned into falsely believing that buying the cheapest product on the market is the best way to save money.
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I really hope you are feeling better. Best wishes, Judith, Birmingham, England
PS Exercise, my mother started walking 5 miles a day when she was 60, shes 90 now and we have no idea where she is!
Thanks Judith. I’m over the flu now! Thanks also to both Anne & Te Ara for their wishes and recommendations of Transfer Factor Yes I should give it a try.
Hi Diana, I moved to Auckland from the UK a year and a half ago and have been recreating all of my favourite recipes my mum used to cook for me back home. I have been cooking chicken stew but cannot find any suet mix to make dumplings with. In the UK the brand is called Atora and you mix it with flour and then cook the dumplings in the stew. Can you shed any light as to where I might find such a thing?
Many thanks Tania
Hi Tania, Sorry about the delay in getting back to you. Suet is just another name for animal fat or Lard which is available under various names in most supermarkets. Alternatively you can happily substitute with butter. Margarine can also be used instead of butter but the dumplings will be a little more solid and less fluffy.
Regards, Diana.
My eMail address is diana@allwaze.com and I’d love to hear from you. You can also use the HomeMaking forum anytime. Check out the interesting posts and it's totally FREE.
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I was sent a very believable email linking anti-perspirant to breast cancer tumours! I almost printed it here but as always went to verify the information and…
It turns out that it was a HOAX.
Visit http://www.hoax.it/archivio/cancer(63).htm for the full details or www.hoax.it for other hoaxes…
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Walnut Pie
We had a friend visiting last night. After putting dinner on I had 10 minutes to create a delicious desert … Panic what to make?
We have an abundance of walnuts which are similar to pecans and although I
have tried a piece of pecan pie once I did not have a recipe but what I created
worked out superbly
Take half a block of flaky pastry, roll out thin to cover the base of a pie
dish.
Press lots of fork holes into the pastry to prevent it from rising too much.
Then place in a moderate oven for around 10 Minutes.
Into a bowl place 100g butter, melt,
then add ½ cup brown sugar, mix well.
Add 2 heaped tablespoons of flour, mix.
Add 1 tin of highlander caramel, mix well.
Add I egg, mix well.
Add 3/4 cup of milk, mix well.
Place in microwave for 1 minute on high, remove, mix ,replace and repeat until
mix has almost boiled and is nicely thickened.
Add 1 cup of walnuts, pull almost cooked pastry out of oven then cover with mix
and place back in oven for another 5 –minutes. Serve with whipped cream. Yum.
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On Monday nights on TVNZs TV One there is a very interesting programme – The Truth about Food – Last week they took a scientific look at the benefits of eating various things. Among other things they showed how eating tomatoes improves the skins ability to fight UV, eating ½ a cup berries helped improve memory and mental agility, a glass a day of red wine helps the blood vessel elasticity, etc.
Mostly the programme backed up what common sense and many people have known for ages – eating fresh fruit and vegetables is good for your health and eating processed foods is not good for your health. Unfortunately this message isn’t promoted enough in our society.
Contrastingly I heard on the news that somebody had just finished a study that discovered a link between a diet high in artificial preservatives and colours and an increase in health and behavioural problems. No surprise there.
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With the recent spat of horrific dog attacks some people are calling for all “bad breeds” of dog to be put down. However how dogs are raised, cared for and trained, plays a big part in how they behave.
If we follow this logic and kill all dangerous breeds and if this strategy was to work, do you think that further down the line the government will look at families who have a history of bad or antisocial behaviour and compulsorily sterilise of all these “bad people” at birth?
Until next month, take care, count your blessings and enjoy life,
Kindest regards,
Diana.
P.S. Moving? Changed email accounts? Please drop me a note with your updated address. Every month I get hundreds of “address not found” replies.
To contact me please email me at diana@allwaze.com
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Copyright 2007 (c) Diana Henderson
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