Teenspeak Online - Can You Crack The Code? Yep PIR!

A recent report by CNN, covered in the Daily Mail Online lists 28 internet acronyms used by youngsters to shield their online activity from their parents' beady eyes.

The list was compiled by Kelly Wallace with the help of Internet safety expert Katie Greer and contains details of slang such as "420" for marijuana, "POS" for parent over shoulder and the worrying "L(MIRL)" - let's meet in real life.

Ieuan plays with carefully supervised games apps!

Happily my kids are not yet of an age to have social media profiles but my nieces and nephews are and I figure that, as parents, we should all make sure we are aware of the dangers facing our children both now and in the future.

Common sense suggests that it is best to have a family PC in a room where internet activity can be monitored, but, as we all know, real life isn't like that. We are already explaining to our daughter (7) that it is very easy for people to disguise who they really are online. She enjoys looking at her cousins' Facebook pages but under close supervision.

I really recommend that you take a moment to read the Daily Mail's article which also advises on talking to teens about online safety and here's hoping you don't come across any of this list.

1. IWSN - I want sex now

2. GNOC - Get naked on camera

3. NIFOC - Naked in front of computer

4. PIR - Parent in room

5 CU46 - See you for sex

6. 53X - Sex

7. 9 - Parent watching

8. 99 - Parent gone

9. 1174 - Party meeting place

10. THOT - That hoe over there

11. CID - Acid (the drug)

12. Broken - Hungover from alcohol

13. 420 - Marijuana

14. POS - Parent over shoulder

15. SUGARPIC - Suggestive or erotic photo

16. KOTL - Kiss on the lips

17. (L)MIRL - Let's meet in real life

18. PRON - Porn

19. TDTM - Talk dirty to me

20. 8 - Oral sex

21. CD9 - Parents around/Code 9

22. IPN - I'm posting naked

23. LH6 - Let's have sex

24. WTTP - Want to trade pictures?

25. DOC - Drug of choice

26. TWD - Texting while driving

27. GYPO - Get your pants off

28. KPC- Keeping parents clueless

Not comfortable reading, is it!

Here's the link again:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2874340/The-28-internet-acronyms-parent-know.html

Read more

Hangover Cures - I Will Survive!

Now at the risk of sounding like Great Aunt Augusta who firmly believed that the decline of the Roman Empire began when someone had a second small Sherry, and lest you may have accidentally purchased a wine which could fuel a tractor, I include below some helpful advice to avoid the feeling of imminent death.

Source: intrigue.ie

Incidentally that wise Roman, Pliny The Elder recommended deep frying a canary and chomping it down whole. Pliny The Elder was a Roman author, naturalist and philosopher who was also a naval and an army commander.  The fact that he was "The Elder" might mean he was on to something. Or on something.

Either way......here's my mullings

Avoid Mulled Wine

That's it really.  It may taste nice but it's the stuff of the devil.

Crisps & Coke (The Walkers of Shame)

Ask around and you'll find there is a secret club of people who firmly believe that the number one cure for a hangover is a combination of salt & vinegar crisps and coke.  The husband says full fat coke but I've heard recommendations for the diet variety too.

Recent research in China though suggests the best drink for helping with your hangover is Sprite which topped a list of 57 drinks, from water through to fizzy pop.

The Full English (or Welsh) Breakfast

None of your airy fairy egg white omelette nonsense - sausages, bacon, fried egg, beans, fried bread, black pudding and tea as strong as you can take it.

Hair of the Dog

I've never been strong enough for this one but if you have a Bloody Mary at least the tomato juice and celery should go some way to repair the damage whilst the vodka will give at least some temporary relief.

Fruit Juice

The fructose (fruit sugar) in the juice should perk you up. It's the boost of glucose, apparently, that helps your body process the alcohol.

Pickles

Apparently drinking pickle juice is a common hangover remedy in Poland. No.  Just no.

Water & Paracetemol

The best way to flush out the alcohol and help your beleaguered liver, but make sure you stick to the recommended dose of your pain reliever of choice.

Sleep

Let's be honest, when you're a parent, the option to go back to bed is usually non-existent but if you can manage an extra hour, go for it.

Exercise

A good walk can often perk you up - all that fresh air.  Just 20 minutes can help. Or you can pretend you're going for a walk and have a nap in the car.

Bear in mind that having a hangover will also involve some United Nations level negotiations with your other half viz "oh I see, when I went out for the rugby I was only allowed to sleep in till noon but YOU CHECKED OUT FOR A WHOLE DAY". Can't think where I heard that recently. Cough. The only way around this is pleading and offering marital privileges. (I should stick a time limit on them though, like they do on Tesco Clubcard Vouchers - "oopsie, that one expired at the end of November love").

Anyway, just be thankful you don't live in Mongolia where their hangover cure of choice is pickled sheep's eyeballs with tomato juice.  The best hangover cure is, well, not to drink in the first place. As the great English Restoration poet John Dryden (1631 - 1700) put it "penance, fasts and abstinence, to punish bodies for the soul's offense". Think I'd rather have a night out with Pliny The Elder.

So cheers everybody!  I'll be raising a glass to you all. And if you do know of any miracle cures, be sure to comment!

Read more

Review: Ozeri Savore Electric Pepper Grinder

Here's a nifty little stocking filler for the aspiring foodie or gadget lover. 

The Ozeri Savore Electric Pepper Grinder is a push-down button operated grinder which instantly grinds and releases seasonings. 

It has a see through container so you can see at a glance whether it needs refilling and it seasons well with a front to side ceramic grinding mechanism which means that you never need to invert the gadget. 

Powered by six AAA batteries, it's durable ceramic motor copes with peppercorns, salt and spices. It has a soft textured non-slip grip with, Ozeri say, finger-print resisting coating.

The Ozeri Savore Electric Pepper Grinder

Being somewhat ham-fisted when it comes to assembling gadgets, I found the Savore Grinder easy to put together.  

The grinder has three parts

Slot the three pieces together and hey presto. 

The front switch also has three settings allowing you to select different coarsenesses of pepper. 

I am also pleased to report that it does not leave an annoying circle of pepper whenever you leave it on a table.

A small detail I know but when you've brandished a dishcloth for the umpteenth time only to find the seasoning equivalent of a crop circle on the table it does get a bit irritating. 

Or is that just me?  

Anyhoo....

Now you may well be asking why not stick with an ordinary 'twist' salt or pepper grinder. 

We found this easy enough for the kids to use without creating a pepper dust storm and it would also be great for those with limited mobility in their wrists or the elderly - although changing the batteries might require some assistance.

Ieuan, randomly face-painted as 'Evil Rudolph' testing his unique pepper and pear combo

Caitlin, sensible like her mother (ahem)

The Ozeri Savore Electric Pepper Grinder is available from Amazon.co.uk and retails around the £11 mark. We haven't stopped using ours and the old twist to grind model is languishing in the cupboard.

*A Savore Pepper Grinder was received for the purposes of this review.

Read more

Silent Sunday - 30/11/2014

Read more

Stay Safe This Christmas Party Season

My daughter is only 9 years old, but already she can make that sound - "harrumph" - which implies she hasn't the faintest intention of listening to me; a situation that I fully envisage will continue when she hits her teens.

Christmas Revellers The Worse For Wear - Mirror.co.uk

Since this is now the season when Daily Mail journalists polish their camera lenses and lurk around the many pubs in St. Mary Street in Cardiff (or any other busy city centre) on Fridays and Saturdays hoping to catch party goers in less than dignified positions (i.e. spark out on the floor, face down in the gutter, etc), I found myself wondering what advice I'd give Caitlin in the years to come on how to stay safe on a night out.

I suspect that very few of us have personal safety at the top of our agenda for a good night out. Most of us are more concerned about whether our dress looks good and we can actually walk in those heels.  But safety IS an issue, particularly at this time of year.

According to the Home Office, more than 300,000 women in England and Wales are sexually assaulted and 60,000 raped each year - a truly staggering statistic.  This means that in the month of December an average of 25,000 women will be sexually assaulted and 5,000 women raped, without allowing for any seasonal fluctuations in statistics due to the party season.

So, below are some tips it would do all of us, male and female, well to read and inwardly digest before stepping into that taxi.

Before You Go

• Make sure your mobile phone is fully charged.

• Carry a personal alarm with you - men as well as women - as statistics show that men actually stand a higher chance of being attacked in the street.

• Keep some money separate from your purse or wallet.  A friend of mine shoves a £20 note down her bra!

• If you're using public transport, find out the times of the buses / trains so you're not waiting about too long at the bus stop / station and know what time you have to leave so as not to miss the last one home altogether.

• Make sure you have the taxi firm's number in your phone.

• Let someone know where you are going and roughly what time you plan to be home.

• Don't get too tipsy before you leave.  It's tempting to have a few glasses before you go to get you in the party mood (and to avoid the hefty prices some clubs charge for drinks), but you're likely to end up drunker than you might otherwise have been much quicker.

And, on the subject of drinking ...

Festive Tipples

• Don't drink on an empty stomach - the levels of alcohol in your blood will rise quicker, which means you'll be drunk quicker.  Try to at least have a high protein snack - some cubes of cheese and some crackers, or even a bowl of cereal will be better than nothing.

• Try to control your drinking - set yourself an upper limit and stick to it.

• Avoid drinking in rounds - it puts you under pressure to both drink and spend more. The Government advises 3-4 units of alcohol a day for men (equivalent to a pint and a half of 4% beer) and 2-3 units a day for women (equivalent to a 175ml glass of wine). And there's always someone who manages to avoid paying for a round, isn't there?!

• Watch your, and your friends' drinks - take turns to watch each other's drinks when you go to the toilet or outside for a cigarette.  One of my girlfriends drinks bottled beers and advises keeping your thumb in the top of the bottle when you're not drinking.

At The Club / Party Venue

• Stick with people you know - and try to go home with them.

• Don't get drawn into problem situations or arguments  - just walk away.  

• If you still don't feel safe then call the police.

Getting Home Safely

• Book a taxi before you go out - and make sure the taxi firm's number is on your phone. I'd have the number of two or three firms to be on the safe side. And if possible get them to identify both the model and registration number of the car which will be collecting you. The taxi firm I prefer to use here in Cardiff, Premier Cabs, will send a text to your phone with this information when your taxi arrives.

• Make sure you have enough money for your journey - and use a reputable firm who won't take the mickey by grossly inflating the fare.  Another of my girlfriends was recently asked to pay £75 to go from the centre of Cardiff to an address on the outskirts - a journey which should have cost £15 - £20.  She had not been drinking on that particular evening and was able to tell the driver where to go! But it is obvious that there are unscrupulous drivers out there who see tipsy revellers as fair game for a financial fleecing.

• DO NOT TAKE AN UNLICENSED MINICAB! Only licensed taxis are allowed to pull up at the kerb.  You have no idea who you might be getting into a car with.

• Use your gut feeling - if the driver starts to ask you inappropriate questions or if it's clear you are being driven the long way round or along a route you do not recognise, ask to be dropped off at the next available bus stop / shop / anywhere open and full of people.  Better to wait for another taxi than to put yourself at risk.

• Sit near the driver on a bus and in an occupied carriage on a train.

• If you HAVE to walk home, try not to do so alone - and use well lit, busy streets and main roads wherever possible.

• Take a pair of roll-up flat shoes with you - companies such as Rollasole and Tipsy Feet make roll up ballet flats which you can take in your bag so you can walk home comfortably without having to teeter in heels.  It's much easier to run in flat shoes too.

A lot of this is common sense, but it is human nature to assume that "it will never happen to me". 

Avoid using the body language of a "victim" too.  Stand tall, walk swiftly and with purpose.  Look like you know where you are going. It is illegal to carry weapons of course but I like to carry my house keys in my hand. 

There are also numerous apps now which allow you to use your mobile as a torch but, since mobile phone theft is so prevalent it would be better to keep your phone to hand but concealed.  

Do NOT stop in the middle of an empty street to take a mobile phone call or answer a text.

With these tips in mind, you can enjoy your night out without compromising your safety.  Then all you'll have to worry about will be the photos of you dancing on tables appearing on Facebook the next morning.

Read more

Coffee With Currys At Waterloo Tea, Cardiff

When I received an invitation from the lovely folks at Joeblogsnetwork.com to spend several hours with Curry's PC World and Nespresso talking about, playing with and tasting quality coffee made from one of those clever little Nespresso machines I've added to my Christmas list, I accepted with alacrity.

The event, with a certain degree of irony, was held at Waterloo Tea in Cardiff's Wyndham Arcade but being a caffeine fiend this was in no way off-putting.

Cardiff's Quaint, Christmassy Wyndham Arcade

Waterloo Tea

After a delicious lunch featuring flavoursome salads, canapes and wonderful chocolate 'bites', our first challenge was to become baristas for the day and create a latte lovingly adorned with a heart.

It is not as easy as it looks and the coffee making equipment is more sophisticated than I had expected.

The water pressure must be just so as must the size of the ground coffee grains - the latter affecting the taste of the espresso if the grains are too big or too small.

My fellow bloggers and I had been divided into four groups undertaking each activity in turn.

My group and I surveyed the hissing piece of equipment in front of us with something approaching terror. Needless to say, our tutor produced a latte with a perfect heart.

Coffee love

I'm afraid I managed to produce what can best be described as a blob or possibly a runner bean, neither being required in someone's latte anytime soon.

Our next activity was cupping.

No, not the weirdness espoused by Gwyneth Paltrow but a lesson in the art of coffee tasting.

Using one of the natty little Nespresso wizards a range of coffees was placed before us and we were asked to taste each one by slurping some off a spoon.

Noisy slurping is apparently required, if somewhat unladylike.

We were surprised by how much coffee is packed into each of the little coffee pods and also at the variety of flavours available.

There are 22 varieties of coffee to choose from.

The coffees are ranked according to intensity and flavour so Livanto, a blend of Central and South American Arabicas is a medium roast with an intensity of 6, whilst aromatic Volluto has sweet biscuit and light fruity notes and an intensity of 4.

There is a flavour and intensity to match every taste and moment of the day.

Cupping in action

Things were now getting serious and it was time to learn how to combine coffee with alcohol.

I have to say I have been doing this reasonably successfully for years just not in cocktail format.

We learned how to make an Orange Coffee Martini which so entranced me I completely forgot the name of the second - although I do recall it featured espresso and Baileys which is enough information to work with in my book.

We were also shown how to make coffee 'mocktails' but again, I'm afraid my attention wandered back to the martini at this point.

Coffee Cocktail Time

A Raspberry Coffee Mocktail - Sadly Not One Of Your 5-A-Day

Lastly we were given a demonstration of a range of Nespresso machines ranging from a basic model, retailing around the £70 mark such as the Krups Nespresso Inissia to a more sophisticated version such as the Nespresso Lattissima & Espresso Machine at around the £179 mark which also has a milk frother and jug.

Be gentle with me ladies!

We learned that when you buy a Nespresso machine you automatically become a member of the Nespresso Club.

The Club offers numerous privileges including personalised contacts with Nespresso and its coffee specialists.

You can order your coffee fix online, by phone or fax, day or night to the delivery address of your choice or to one of the Nespresso Boutiques.

And, should your Nespresso machine need repairing during its guarantee period, Nespresso will collect it and provide you with a loan machine, subject to availability.

Repairs out of warranty are carried out at a flat fee.

I was impressed by the ease of use (pop a pod in, press a button and hey presto!) but the team at #CoffeeWithCurrys really showed us that there is more to these little machines than just a quick coffee break.

For those who are interested in gourmet coffee and expanding their knowledge of what I think Blackadder once referred to as 'that naughty bean', this is an excellent and cost effective way of doing so.

Yes, the cost per cup using the pods may be slightly higher than a jar of instant and a spoon but in terms of taste, the coffees I sampled were certainly excellent quality.

A Nespresso machine is now definitely at the top of my Christmas list.

More information about #CoffeeWithCurrys is available HERE.

Read more

Review: A Star Is Quorn

Being a regular reader of the Daily Mail online, I have the opportunity to enjoy a positive cornucopia of health related scare stories which demonise a food group (or, more usually alcohol) one week and then sing its praises the next.  

Like most of us, I have what can best be described as a rather 'pick 'n' mix' approach to health and nutrition. 

That said though, there are some simple common-sense ideas which even the Daily Mail would struggle to turn into five paragraphs of hysteria and a picture of a journalist writing from a Boden-covered semi in Primrose Hill.  

One of these rules is to eat less meat on the basis that it is better for us, better for our animal friends and ultimately better for the planet.

Whilst, here at Downton Shabby, we have not quite managed to adopt "meat free Monday", I have flirted with vegetarian cookbooks and when we were given the opportunity to try out some Quorn, it seemed like the ideal time to test Mo Farah's rocket fuel.

 

Quorn is meat free and made with mycoprotein.  

It is also low in fat and a source of fibre.  

We need protein to maintain normal bones and muscle mass and consuming less saturated fat helps to maintain normal blood cholesterol levels.  

Quorn is now the leading meat free substitute in the UK and Ireland and, since its launch in 1985, is now sold in over 16 countries.  

We tried the mince which is cooked from frozen in either 12 minutes on the hob or 9 minutes in a microwave - extremely quick and easy.

There is a range of products made from Quorn and the website contains a number of easy to follow recipes.  

Whether you fancy burgers, sausages, chicken pieces, a hearty chilli, shepherd's pie or spaghetti bolognese, there is a recipe for every taste - these being also available on a free ios app for your mobile.

Just some of the products in the Quorn meat-free range 

We tried Quorn spaghetti bolognese using the recipe on the website and despite my rather limited lack of cooking skills, I found the recipe simplicity itself.  

The true test, of course, would be to serve my meat free dish to the rest of the family to see if they would notice.

Quorn, straight from the freezer

The Quorn itself does not have a strong taste but is easy to cook with and so it is easy to add flavour using herbs and even a dash of red wine.

A tasty meat-free spaghetti bolognese

So easy, even I can make it

Both the kids and the husband cleared their plates expressing surprise at how tasty it was.  I have to say that I noticed very little difference between a meat and a non meat bolognese.

No complaints here!

We are now looking forward to trying the sausages and burgers and plan to make Meat Free Monday a regular event in the Hobbis Household.    

I will certainly be keeping a bag or two of Quorn mince available for those days when a speedy nutritious tea is needed.  

A 350g bag of frozen Quorn mince retails at around the £3 mark making it a comparable price to minced beef.

Further information is available at www.quorn.co.uk.

*Vouchers were received for the purchase of the products featured in this review.

Read more