Randomness

I often have some random thoughts that are too short for blog posts, and too long for Twitter. Here are a few:

Gout: Vegans’ Revenge

The greatest irony about gout is that while the affliction is virtually unknown among vegetarians, once it develops, the staples of a vegan diet can cause attacks: Beans and pulses (including soy products, like tofu), mushrooms and even asparagus. Mind you, other completely non-vegan foods are bad, too, like red meat, shellfish, offal (mammal guts—sorry, but that’s what it is; as I often say, “it’s not called awful for nothing”). The specific “trigger foods” vary from person to person, but for me, beans, pulses and mushrooms are the worst.

I Didn’t Believe Them

Yesterday morning, I heard the weather report on the radio. I ignored it. It wasn’t just that weather reports are almost always wrong, but that they predicted thunderstorms—we almost never have thunderstorms in Auckland. I was wrong, they were right—complete with surface flooding. But I’m sure I'll still basically ignore weather reports.

We’re Leaving Hell

No, it’s not some sort of religious conversion, but an abandonment of a New Zealand pizza chain. We always chose them, even though they’re expensive, partly because, unlike the American brands sold in New Zealand, they offered gluten-free bases, important for one of our family members. But when the recession kicked in, they started re-jigging their menu and skimping on the ingredients. We could deal with that, but all the past few orders have been screwed up in some way. You know how they say a happy customer may not tell anyone, but a dissatisfied customer will tell twenty people? Well, I’ve just told millions (joking). We’ll point out to them the error of their ways, but we’re not expecting much.