Farewell, Friend

Anton The Cat

In 2001 my wife and I decided that our son - four years old - should have a companion. My wife voted for a dog (we were both brought up with dogs) but I managed to hold out for a cat.
My Wife and son then found a cat with a litter in a local shelter, with just one kitten left .... all the others had found homes.

Good friends of ours were adopting a son - Anton - so this adoptee became Anton-the-Cat for ever more.

That was in 2001.

It's 2018 now.

Anton the Cat was 17 this year, but his health was failing 

and he was increasingly uncomfortable and unhappy.

Anton the Cat has left us now. 

He leaves us the best of memories.

Thanks to Nick Irwin for the photos.

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The Three Fundamental Principles of Programming

Well! Quite a serious topic!

A very long time ago, over an amount of beer that I suspect would be termed "binge drinking" these days (but was simply normal daily intake then!), I came up with some advice for beginning programmers.
The more I see modern bloopers the more I think that maybe these should be taught in school!

There are only three, and below are some explanations.

1. If you don't absolutely, positively, have to do it, then simply just don't !!
2. Perspective! Remember where your towel is!
3. If it's getting really really really difficult then don't do it like that!

Explanations:

1. a.k.a. wasting cpu cycles is the ultimate sin and you will be inserted into a DEC RP04 for your stay in Hell!
2. You can go swimming in a pool full of people and not forget this; don't forget why you're writing your code!
3. The the whole universe runs on e = mc**2 so just how hard can programming be?
   If it's getting really tough then either you're doing it the wrong way or else you're doing the wrong thing!

Finally, before wrapping up, 

a mandatory cat-picture 

because,..... well, ....... because 

this is the InterNet, you know, 

and cat pictures get everywhere!

And that's it. 

(from Cu Chulainn and me!)

Sweet & Sharp Pork Tenderloin

I'll admit to stealing this a while ago, but I've now no idea from where! I've made it a few times and it's always been devoured with murmurs of sated satisfaction. The nicest part (from the pov of the cook) is that it's easy to prepare and tastes great. Surprisingly it's usually quite cheap too!

This is an easy recipe that involves much more hanging around waiting than actually doing stuff, which means that you can make other things to go with/before/after it while the meat is just doing all the work!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons honey	2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1/4 cup white wine vinegar	1 tablespoon dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper	1 1/2 pounds pork tenderloin (1 piece)
Potatoes, peeled and boiled	Sweet Corn

Preparation

1. Whisk together honey, mustard, vinegar, thyme, and pepper. 
2. Place pork tenderloin in a large zip-top bag and pour in honey mustard mixture. 
3. Squish around to make sure pork is completely covered. 
4. Refrigerate at least one hour.
5. Heat oven to 425F. 
6. Lightly oil a baking dish.
7. Place pork in dish, reserving marinade. 
8. Roast 35 minutes to an hour (depending on the thickness of the tenderloin), checking internal temperature at 30 minutes. Pork is done when a thermometer inserted into the center reads 145F. 
9. Remove from oven and rest 10 minutes before slicing.
10. Place reserved marinade in a small saucepan and boil 5 to 10 minutes or until thickened, adding water as needed to keep from sticking and to maintain the desired quantity.
11. While working with the marinade to make gravy, you can use some Bisto (original) powder or granules to thicken it and give a good colour.

I serve the pork drizzled with the honey mustard gravy, and with boiled potatoes and sweet corn.

Note: 425F is a good temperature for roasting baby potatoes or vegetables, so cook them at the same time on a sheet pan while the pork is cooking.

Enjoy your meal - I'll add pictures when I make it next!

TTFN