The 50+ Blog

Curiously, you can now attend classes in Reality TV - how to gain an edge over your opponents reports Heather Alexander on BBC News! To get your 15 minutes of fame nowadays you need to be just a bit better prepared than the average stupid applicant.

In case you hadn’t noticed, political correctness is frowned on here so go here for translations if you are a sensitive soul.

Reality TV shows have few redeeming features but those that do spring to mind include keeping moronic viewers off the streets for while.

The only Reality I can see is that contestants are universally stupid; production crews are universally patronising while viewers are manipulated as usual. Still, it’s an effective way of keeping millions quiet when the required medical treatment would be too expensive to be made available by NICE.

I thought I’d add this section as I have loads of easy recipes that I’ve made up or modified over the years. This one’s really quick and tasty!

You’ll need (per person):

1 chicken breast (or Quorn pieces/fillet for veggie version)
1 red bell pepper (or mix colours)
1 onion
4 medium sized mushrooms
1 packet Discovery fajita mix
Half a cup of long-grain rice
Sunflower oil

Takes about 20 minutes:

Start the rice cooking. I prefer to use a steamer that I got many years ago as you just bung in the rice, add hot water and shove it in the microwave for about 5 minutes. Use whatever method suits including boil-in-the-bag.

Peel and slice the onion, slice the pepper removing seeds. Clean the mushrooms with a damp cloth, remove stalks and slice. Heat some oil in a frying pan or wok and add the onions. When they are starting to soften, after a couple of minutes, add the pepper and fry for another couple of minutes. Finally, add the mushrooms and fry until they have softened. Remove the vegetables and stand to one side, drain on kitchen roll if you’re watching the pounds!

Slice the chicken/Quorn into strips. Add a little more oil and put the chicken/Quorn straight in. Fry for a few minutes until golden. In the case of chicken turn to ensure thoroughly cooked. Add the previously cooked vegetables to the pan, stir and warm through. Sprinkle the fajita mix on, a little at a time, until everything has a light coating. As a guide, half the packet provides enough for two people. Stir thoroughly and turn down the heat.

Rinse the rice with boiling water and add to a serving bowl. Mix in the chicken/Quorn and vegetables. Serve immediately. Alternatively, you can warm this up in the oven later.

As you all know those awfully nice people at Aaland let us use some of their office space and provide the space for this blog on one of their servers.

For some reason, another Company on the same site has decided to use Aaland’s address on their web site claiming it as their own. No-one has really managed to work out why this is unless they are deliberately trying to mislead.

The upshot is mail gets mis-delivered as do parcel deliveries and visitors are understandably confused.

Stayput Tags have a big number 10 by the door of their building and this should have served as some kind of clue but they haven’t managed to work out this simple giveaway. The number by Aaland’s door is 9 (another clue!) but they persist with their subterfuge anyway.

Anyway, for everyone out there looking for Stayput Tags they are at number 10, Aaland is at number 9 and always has been.

My neighbours like dressing up in leather and whipping each other’s…

Whoa, too much information already and that’s my whole point really. I’m not interested in what Max Mosley gets up to in his private life although, at 68, his stamina is to be admired (I’ll have whatever he’s having).

We may disagree with what people do but it’s a matter of individual choice and personal freedom. Special cases exist (or should do) where National Security or credibility of an organisation may be affected and then it’s a matter for the relevant authorities. It’s not a matter for people to bleat about ‘freedom of the Press’ - all the Press are concerned about in this case is how many papers get sold.

It’s sad that anyone finds reading about this sort of thing even remotely interesting. My neighbours, by the way, have never been in the papers; have, as far as I know, no positions of responsibility to maintain; and, happily, have never kept me awake at night with whacking noises or grunts of ecstasy in German (or any other language).

Hopefully, things will stay that way but, if they don’t, I won’t be calling News of the World.

Stunning news had me sitting up sharply in my bed this morning as it was revealed that Daniel Craig had to use stacked heels on the latest Bond film!

Scanning the rest of the item rapidly I expected to find revelations that it was medical intervention to correct an injury sustained during filming and that hip replacement surgery was planned for the Autumn.

However, it appears that it was just the fact that the current Bond girl was slightly taller in her high heels.

Must be a real shortage of entertainment news about at the moment…

It appears that the photo galleries have been broken for a bit and I never noticed

They’re fixed now…

The Government is reeling from the overwhelming backlash of the electorate during the recent local elections and the election of Boris Johnson as the new Mayor of London. Well, it’s taken long enough but the people have finally figured it out - they’re being shafted, again.

This is not a political rant, it’s a common-sense one.

Governments are elected by us to manage the Country, sometimes there are difficult decisions to be made and that’s where leadership comes in. This Government simply rides rough-shod over any of our concerns or, more likely, does not even listen.

The trouncing at the weekend should be a wake-up call not only for New Labour but for anyone involved in Government from the smallest minority party through to every single public servant.

We live in a democracy, not a dictatorship, and don’t ever forget that.

Another month is just about to start and I’m looking forward to more exhilarating conversations with telephone companies wanting to introduce me to their exciting new tariffs that will save me a fortune. That and the fact that my local exchange has recently been upgraded.

I’ve got news for all the telephone companies out there, I need information about telephone tariffs like I need a second arse.

My local exchange has been upgraded every month for as long as I can remember; it’s probably running 23rd century technology by now!

What would be useful is a curly lead for my telephone that doesn’t kink after half a dozen calls but nobody seems to have got that nailed yet.

Last year there was a spate of telephone scams around drugs abuse, this year it’s bullying.

This is how it works. You get a cold caller on the telephone who claims to have spoken to you several months, or even a year, ago. They remind you that you agreed to help by taking advertising space in the booklet they are publishing. The booklet has been published and now they want payment.

There never was a prior call and there probably is no booklet, although a few scrappy copies may have been produced to keep everything just about legal.

Last year the Drugs Awareness booklet was destined for all local schools; this year the Anti-bullying Initiative booklet is destined for guess where? Yes, all local schools.

Take a look in your local school, do you see any? Ask the staff, have they had any? No! Any booklets of this kind are generally made available to schools through websites such as http://www.talktofrank.com and are free. Small businesses are generally the target for these scams as you can see on this blog.

So, if you have a couple of hundred quid to spare and you don’t mind donating it to a good cause give us a call. At least you’ll know where it went

If the Government would like to make a major environmental impact (positive, of course!) could I make a suggestion?

Outlaw junk mail!

It won’t cost them a penny; it will save millions of trees; it will significantly reduce levels of waste and it will be supported by most of the population.

It doesn’t get much better than this…