Moan, moan, moan----get it off your chest or have a chat

[Lesley Cox]

I like Martin's life motto, very apposite.

Our NZ consumer advocate TV programme "Fair Go" frequently reminds us that if a deal sounds too good to be true, it IS. But so many people continue to be sucked in by apparently foolproof schemes to make quick money.

[Anthony Darby]

The local authority I work for has the motto: "every expense spared". The school motto is: "it wuznae me".

[Joakim B]

Just a reminder of the smaller irritations in life.
We went shopping and as so often we ended up in the fast food section afterwards.
This time MC Donalds did have their special. "M" that had been sold out in at least two places before.
I ordered 2 and got two ones after just a few minutes waiting.
They were very juicy and more than expected so  first I thought they were deep fried in oil rather then fried but the juice was not that warm. I realized that they had put lard on the bread and tat if You wait long enough i melts and if You wait even longer it becomes solid once again.
Lard is usually made of pig fat and even though I have no restriction in my diet of medical or religious reasons I still think that that should be stated some where. It was not even stated on the package. My wife refused to eat the salad left in the box since it was full of fat. Not what I call health food After reading what they promised it sounded quite nice and healthy. Eating fries and drinking Fanta made it less healthy so I may not have much reason to complain.

Just a small reminder for me that I have so much to be thankful for since this is my major complaint
Kind regards
Joakim

[johnw]

Like the cod we've been both frozen & battered.

Cod?  What cod?  They went the way of Lehmann Bros. here years ago.  Another story of greed and battering.

johnw

[Anthony Darby]

I guess the cod's had his chips then?

[johnw]

I guess the cod's had his chips then?

Anthony - Tongues 'n cheeks?

johnw


(http://www.funtrivia.com/en/subtopics/Traditional-Newfoundland-Nosh-and-Libations-217391.html)

[Lesley Cox]

It is surprisingly difficult to buy an ox tongue nowadays, almost impossible, an oxtail. Apparently these and other interesting bits are not returned to the beast's owner when it is slaughtered but kept as a perk by the abbatoirs. If I want one, I have to ask my butcher to order - and buy back - one for me, even though it was his in the first place, courtesy the ox of course. We know of the dog with two tails: an ox with two would be even better. Pork cheeks are very good too!

[Michael J Campbell]

Joke. The Americans have George Bush, Johnny Cash, Bob Hope and Stevie Wonder. We have Brian Cowan (the PM) No cash, No Hope and No Bloody wonder

[Maggi Young]

    

[gote]

Joakim,
'Aktiebolagslagen' says that you must immediately make a 'kontrollbalans' if not 50% of the total share capital or 100.000 whatever is the larger is available as "Eget kapital". Otherwise you as a director, are personally responsible for the company deficit. 100.000 is not a big deal. In Germany it is 500,000 Euro for an Aktiengesellshaft. However, these figures are minimum for starting new companies. To give an example: Volovo AB cannot let the Eget kapital fall below SEK 1 277 052 100 (Yes over a billion) and that pays quite a number of peanuts.
No law can prevent bad business decisions or crashing markets but in this case it makes sure that the directors cannot run the capital down to zero. A value representing at least half the stock of shares must be there to help paying the creditors.
Göte
 

[Joakim B]

Göte You are quite right about the need for liquidation but that may also mean that there are not enough money left to pay the debt.
Volvo is a huge company and yet the own capital is just over 4300 sek per car produced annually so that is in some way peanuts. Just realised that Volvo AB is not making cars only trucks and I do not know that number but I think it is around 100000 so then it would be some 13500 sek per truck annually produced as their own capital
I saw on a MC Donalds reciept that they have the "own Capital" written on all so that You know what strength they have.

It is a tricky thing this and luckely we do not see that many big crashes in Sweden. Maybe the laws have some effect in this I do not know.
Kind regards
Joakim

[gote]

Lesley,
I see no oxtails here either but I think that the reason is that very few know how to use them and thus next to nobody would buy. Also it takes some five hours to cook. The scare of mad cow disease might even have made them illegal in some countries.
It is the same with tongue. Many people (including my grown up daughters who will lead that on to my four grandchildren) refuse to eat it. We usually cook one at Christmas.
Another piece that is rarely seen nowadays is heart.
I think that hearts and tounges end up as sausages, hamburgers and possibly in food for dogs and cats.
As usual it is the consumer's i.e. our fault.
Bon appetit
Göte
 

[Lesley Cox]

You are right Gote, about many (especially younger) people not wanting to eat "offal," such a shame as it generally has great flavour compared with the dearer parts of an animal. It all depends on the cooking.
Farmers' markets here in NZ are doing much to reverse this trend though, and I buy all my meat at the market I manage.

Tongue is a wonderful filling for sandwiches, along with mustard or pickles and a lettuce leaf or two. I must admit to leaving heart to someone's cat, but liver, kidneys and the like - and sweetbreads are wonderful meals. I'd better be careful here in case I'm making someone feel ill.

Mercifully, we never had mad cow disease here in New Zealand though at least one person has been known to call me a mad cow.

[David Nicholson]

Why do we in the UK continue this archane practice of putting back the clocks by one hour earlier today-what on earth does it acheive? Apart from, that is, the odd day I'm able to get out in the garden I have to pack up at 1630 or earlier

[derekb]

David you can always get out an hour earlier mornings

Derek