tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87855737088474564872024-03-18T17:48:11.016+08:00Beware the GunMonkeyA unique blog about me - just like everyone else'sDr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999712948059124532noreply@blogger.comBlogger769125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785573708847456487.post-85445615787770973362024-03-10T17:44:00.001+08:002024-03-10T17:44:06.619+08:00Over a thousandChopping down trees, and moving the bits off onto the burn pile. Not a huge drama, chainsaw makes short work of dropping trees and cutting them into manageable bits.<div><br></div><div>The problem? Green ants. Lots of them, very angry. I suppose justifyably so, I was busy cutting down their homes and source of food. Still, the bites are annoying and painful. Luckily I don't seem to react to them, though I do feel like garbage.</div><div><br></div><div>Estimate over a thousand bites. I was getting covered in ants as I was picking up branches and logs to move around. I was countimg them, and stopped counting when I'd hit 20 (sometimes 30). Each trip I still got more bites on the way to the dump point. Some trips I'd reach 20 just before I dropped that load off. Some trips I hit 30 before taking a few steps.</div><div><br></div><div>And I did a lot of trips.</div><div><br></div><div>So just had a shower, took an anti-histamine and generally feeling like garbage. Oh well, managed to clear some land. Still lots more to go.</div>Dr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10506549335041950194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785573708847456487.post-18066436262384045322024-01-23T14:30:00.015+08:002024-01-28T14:34:29.700+08:00First run<p> Been pretty hectic and working non-stop on the new place since June. Making progress!</p><p>Went for a run - first one since 28 June (according to my records) where I went for a run on my own account. We do some exercise for work, but even that has been lacking due to all the downtime I've had. Not too bad - did 2.9km in 18min, going to be feeling it in the morning!</p><p>Edit late 25 Jan - yup, really feeling it in my legs!</p>Dr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999712948059124532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785573708847456487.post-27114907941402041152024-01-17T18:29:00.002+08:002024-01-17T18:30:06.753+08:00Joys of PalmerstonWaiting in the carpark, all I can hear is a constant stream of fighting, shouting, cursing and breaking bottles. Kind of admirable really, that they have the energy to keep on carrying on non-stop.<div><br></div><div>And it's a Wednesday night, not even the weekend yet.</div>Dr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10506549335041950194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785573708847456487.post-46974669927424571982023-09-11T20:36:00.001+08:002023-09-11T20:36:11.011+08:00And still busyMaking some progress, but still very time poor. I don't expect that to change any time soon.Dr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10506549335041950194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785573708847456487.post-67267156481812630082023-07-22T16:11:00.001+08:002023-07-22T16:11:58.939+08:00So, so busyNew place, lots of space but so much work to do. Not enough hours in the day, or dollars in the bank. :(Dr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10506549335041950194noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785573708847456487.post-24032334662059498982023-04-28T14:55:00.006+08:002023-04-30T14:58:34.067+08:00Got my Vivillion<p> Yay! Took a while and I was way behind most other people, but I finally collected from the last region. Turns out I had enough friends (other players, not actual friends) from around the world to get most of them. Savanah and Sandstorm I was able to get relatively easily but the last one - Tundra - proved quite elusive. I had needed just one more for ages!</p><p>Another box ticked, wheee!</p>Dr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999712948059124532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785573708847456487.post-49990157329158325112023-04-18T19:40:00.002+08:002023-04-18T19:40:51.780+08:00Making an offer<p>We've found another property and have made an offer on it. Fingers crossed!</p><p>We had a nice big property we'd been chasing for a few years (long story), it finally went to auction a few weeks ago but we were outbid. And of course my pet peeve, the reserve was higher than it should have been. Seems like such a waste of time to me - just come out and say what the seller wants for the property rather than running through the charade of an auction just to wrap it up with "reserve not met".</p><p>If we don't get it, we'll keep looking. If we do get it, we'll have a few busy weekends... for the next year or three.</p>Dr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999712948059124532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785573708847456487.post-45448057562614195522023-04-05T16:21:00.006+08:002023-04-05T16:21:59.760+08:00Everything everywhere all at once<p>We tried watching this movie the other day, it's meant to be some you-beut aweseomsauce movie ... but we just couldn't get into it. Very muddled, hard to follow - not for us. Loads of people liked it (I believe it won a bunch of awards as well), but not our thing.</p><p>In a similar vein, a few weeks prior we watched the Queen biopic. I can honestly say I never thought about Freddy Mercury's name. Now that I've spent three seconds thinking about it, it is kind of obvious that it was a stage name. I didn't realise his ethnicity either - again, probably because I don't spend a lot of time thinking about celebrities.</p><p>The way I normally work is I'll like a specific song (or songs) from a band but not be a fan of their other stuff. No idea why, but I know some other people love bands and all their works. I'm not a fan of country music, but there are some specific country songs that I like.</p>Dr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999712948059124532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785573708847456487.post-21934198444404958032023-03-04T10:25:00.006+08:002023-03-04T10:25:56.059+08:00Protein Ball experiment #1<p> So, I made the first batch. Basically used the ingredients that I had on available:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Sultanas, chopped up small. About two tablespoons worth of bits. Would have done more, but started chopping and kept going until I got bored.</li><li>Cup of oats (I used quick oats, which are pre-chopped relatively fine. Rolled oats would be too chunky)</li><li>2 & 1/2 cups protein powder (started with two, added a bit more)</li><li>About 1/2 cup of peanut butter</li><li>About 2 tablespoons of honey</li></ul><div>I found the ingredients mix was a bit dry in the bowl while I was mixing so I also added a sprinkle of water to help to ingredients mix. I made them late last night, made the balls and popped them in the fridge to firm up.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the morning I tried one to see how it came out and found it to be a bit dry. Tasted ok, nothing to brag about. Mostly tasted of peanut butter and protein powder, couldn't even detect the sultanas. Not much pointing eating them when standing around, so next part of the experiment was to go out for a run and take some with me.</div><div><br /></div><div>I put two into separate mini ziplock bags as I honestly expected them to collapse into powder and crumbly bits and loaded them into my off-brand camelbak along with a 2L water bladder and my bluetooth speaker for some tunes.</div><div><br /></div><div>I had the first one at the 5km mark, and the second at around the 7.5km mark. The first one was easier to eat as I had stopped to take a Pokemon Go gym. The second one had been slightly squished out of shape but both had kept their structural integrity. When I ate the second one, I put the whole thing in my mouth - that was a mistake! Very dry, couldn't drink, made it hard to breathe. May need to make them smaller or make sure to take bites. Not sure how much having them along with me made a difference but I was able to do my 10k run in 1h 11min. A bit slow off my personal best of 1h 1min, but I also hadn't done a long run in around a year.</div><div><br /></div><div>Changes for next batch: I want to try and work out a way to make it more moist. Maybe add butter? Less protein powder? Egg would give it more protein and make a good binding agent but would probably need to bake them a bit which would make them firmer. If I can make the base mix sticky, I can then coat the individual balls with desiccated coconut to stop them sticking to each other. I also want to add sugar, for that raw energy. And possibly a pinch of salt, since I tend to carry water instead of electrolytes when jogging. Would help on the longer runs.</div><p></p>Dr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999712948059124532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785573708847456487.post-34376046945263710542023-03-02T13:44:00.001+08:002023-03-02T13:44:03.520+08:00Trying new protein powderLast night I bought myself some Musashi protein powder. Tried to find the stuff that's really basic with as few additives as possible. Not a fan of pre-workout and other "energy" things with a long list of unclear ingredients.<div><br></div><div>Tried the first lot today after a 6.4km jog on the treadmill, see how I feel in the morning.</div>Dr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10506549335041950194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785573708847456487.post-30662827691869077112023-02-28T13:00:00.018+08:002023-03-01T04:48:02.514+08:00Goal complete!<p> And one more makes 28 - nice!</p><p>First time ever making a post every day on this blog. A bit annoying that I did resort to making a few "forced" <i>making a post for the sake of making a post</i> posts. I didn't really have anything to say, but I said stuff anyway - not my style.</p><p>Happy to have set a goal and completed it, would be happier if I'd actually posted meaningful stuff each time. But at least I have one up for each day of the month.</p><p>Am I going to do it again? No, I dont see any advantage in trying to force more posts for the sake of making posts. I will be trying to post more, but mainly when I have something to share.</p>Dr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999712948059124532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785573708847456487.post-7527160493028789312023-02-27T15:30:00.039+08:002023-02-28T04:16:56.179+08:00Powerball ideas<p> To aid in post workout recovery (and as a snack), there are a bunch of different recipes for power balls - also known as sports balls or protein balls. Loads of places sell them, but I'm always a bit wary about what stuff companies put in them. Home made is more likely to be better, though not cheaper.</p><p>Most of the recipes that I've found use peanut butter as a main ingredient which sounds good to me. Adding some type of protein powder is good and will help with muscle recovery but not all protein powders are created equal and tend to be expensive. Egg is a simple substitute though then storage becomes an issue. Not much point eating something healthy that makes me really sick!</p><p>A common binding agent is butter, which would have similar refrigeration and short shelf life issues as the eggs. A bunch use coconut shavings on the outside as a way to stop them sticking together.</p><p>I might have a go at making some, if I can. Hunting around for a good recipe with ingredients I can afford and tastes halfway decent is proving a challenge.</p>Dr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999712948059124532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785573708847456487.post-45761965230173356942023-02-26T17:12:00.003+08:002023-02-26T17:12:24.740+08:00Hoenn tour<p> Yay, another post about Pokemon Go!</p><p>This weekend was the global version of the Hoenn Tour. Caught a fair amount of Hoenn mons which helped, and it was brillinat that I was able to get a Relicanth (the reason this is important is because this one is normally only able to be caught in NZ, and was the only one I was missing from the complete Hoenn set).</p><p>Did a fair amount of walking, but we "cheated" and were walking around the air-conditioned shops. Much better over the alternative of walking in the rain on the muggy streets.</p>Dr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999712948059124532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785573708847456487.post-5982910913476766082023-02-25T06:30:00.022+08:002023-02-26T08:07:40.554+08:00Appeal worked!<p> I've been playing Pokemon Go for a while now, and I've been high enough level that I can nominate new places for the game. Some get accepted, some don't.</p><p>There is an option that if a submission is rejected, a player has an option to appeal and see if it can be checked by a staff member and see if it's meant to be accepted.</p><p>I made a submission in September last year, and it was rejected. The reason given didn't line up with why it would be, so I figured I'd give making an appeal a go. I already knew it would take a while, but I made the appeal and then promptly stopped worrying about it.</p><p>Sometime last night, the appeal was approved and my submission was added to the game - whee! Took five months to go through the system and get a result. Could be better, could be worse. I assume they have a lot of appeals coming through. And now I know the system works.</p>Dr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999712948059124532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785573708847456487.post-64462950218098103982023-02-24T15:11:00.001+08:002023-02-24T15:11:15.954+08:00Flat tyre - again<p> It was only this week that I rotated all the tyres on both cars, today had a flat on the one I was driving.</p><p>Though I strongly suspect it was less "flat" and more "losing air". The difference? The rim wasn't all the way down, so it was still holding some air. I did feel that the car was a bit "wobbly" on the drive to work this morning - one of the reasons I checked it this afternoon before leaving. It was pouring down with rain this morning, so I was more preoccupied with getting in to work, but glad I checked before driving home.</p><p>On the plus side, this is the tyre that had already been identified as needing to be swapped. It's over 20 years old, and tyres should be replaced when they get to about ten years. So we got a fair amount of use out of it! Though most of that was as spare wheel duty. It has a long-ish gash along an edge, so I suspect it may have been partially torn or weakened when we went off roading 20 days ago. Or just from driving around on it the last few days since the rotation.</p><p>Anyway, it was relatively fast to get the spare swapped over. This is the shaky one that had been on the front, but the vibration isn't as noticeable on the rear axle. Going to be a few dollars to get another new tyre, but can't go driving around too far without a spare!</p>Dr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999712948059124532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785573708847456487.post-48714508400309871772023-02-23T15:30:00.007+08:002023-02-24T04:37:21.672+08:00Fitness test<p> One of the fun joys of where I work is semi-regular fitness tests, to make sure we can still do what we need to do. Did one earlier today and I passed it. It wasn't as easy as I would have liked, may need to increase the amount of exercise that I do.</p><p>Still happy to pass and had a good margin, but can always be fitter!</p>Dr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999712948059124532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785573708847456487.post-71017007207439993322023-02-22T20:00:00.010+08:002023-02-24T04:39:51.096+08:00Night shift<p> Definitely not a fan of working overnight. Good news is that I don't have to do it very often, but it's still annoying.</p><p>Just need to remember to bring in the laptop, or a book or something to keep me entertained. A quiet shift is a boring shift - but a boring shift means no paperwork! If there are incidents, it can take weeks to get everything sorted. Not fun.</p><p>In this case, boring is good - just don't get bored! :D</p>Dr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999712948059124532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785573708847456487.post-23999867668572051692023-02-21T18:16:00.004+08:002023-02-21T18:16:48.017+08:00Rains<p> We had a wee spot of rain today. Nothing too drastic, but it was heavy for a few minutes.</p><p>It's nearing the end of wet season up here, won't be long until the monsoon rains are gone for another eight months or so and we have the long dry. I'd been really hoping we'd get a cyclone (or two) this season, help scare away the southerners that came up here post covid. We're still looking to buy property and with all the demand of the people that flocked up here when the borders lifted, prices have jumped up.</p><p>Fingers crossed they go down soon, we're itching to get onto our own land. Most properties that come up for sale are getting snapped up pretty quickly.</p>Dr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999712948059124532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785573708847456487.post-53668211339846238742023-02-20T14:30:00.011+08:002023-02-21T17:26:41.588+08:00Tyre rotation worked<p> Yay, driving the cat around it no longer has that vibration on the front end - so I'm declaring success. I suspect that the tyre that was repaired wasn't balanced, and the small amount of extra weight from the patch / plug / whatever was enough to put the wheel slightly off.</p><p>That one is now the spare, which kind of mucked up my rotation pattern. But the old spare (which was brand new) is now the front left which is the wheel that tends to wear out the fastest. Not ideal, but I might leave it there for the next rotation so that it wears down to match the others.</p><p>So far, looking good!</p>Dr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999712948059124532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785573708847456487.post-43820812971048534572023-02-19T12:00:00.001+08:002023-02-19T12:00:01.518+08:00Tyre rotations<p> Busy morning, today I rotated the tyres on both cars. Need to be done every three months or so, next rotation due around the end of May.</p><p>Might need to add a reminder to my calendar or something, I'm unlikely to remember it! Don't want to do the same thing as last time and leave it too long so we end up with one tyre super-worn and three only lightly worn.</p>Dr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999712948059124532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785573708847456487.post-67039242975871355142023-02-18T16:30:00.014+08:002023-02-19T05:36:00.206+08:00Fogg Dam<p> Had a nice day out at Fogg Dam today. The drive out wasn't too far, we did both walking trails and we drove across the dam.</p><p>Actually, we only did one and a half of the walking trails - the south one had a bit about 20 to 30 meters or so that was under water and we didn't want to cross. The north path had a few wet spots where our shoes got muddy but no ankle deep or deeper water across the path.</p><p>Good day out, got to see lots of nature and found two geocaches. And a stack of Pokemon - we dropped some into a gym out there, where the ones we kicked off had been there for up to 138 days. So it'll be interesting to see how long our ones sit there for.</p>Dr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999712948059124532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785573708847456487.post-73314233461891610672023-02-17T20:43:00.001+08:002023-02-17T20:43:48.638+08:00Friday!End of the week. About time, next week is going to double extra suck.Dr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10506549335041950194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785573708847456487.post-35805433303375531782023-02-16T18:00:00.015+08:002023-02-17T04:26:18.601+08:00Cat is grumpy<p> Poor little kitten, taking the longest to recover out of all the cats we've ever had. She's not happy about having to wear the cone of shame and she really isn't happy about being isolated. Problem is, every time we let her out to socialise and have a bit of time out in the rest of the house, she insists on play fighting with her older sister or trying to jump off things.</p><p>Neither of those are good for a little kitten with stitches!</p><p>Hopefully her wound will be healed enough that we can let her out soon, I worry about her being isolated too long.</p>Dr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999712948059124532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785573708847456487.post-51623351009931670022023-02-15T17:03:00.002+08:002023-02-15T17:03:38.335+08:00Rode the bike yesterday<p> Had taken a bit of a break over wet season due to the rains, but rode the bike to work yesterday - last time I rode to work was 12 December. A slump of 64 days, or just over two months. Admittedly the rains shouldn't be too much of an issue as it's always warm here, but I was slack and didn't want to be riding around soaking wet.</p><p>All things considered, didn't do too bad: 49 minutes to ride there, 59 minutes to ride home in the afternoon. Though I did do a few PoGo stops on the way back. Getting a sub-50 minute ride there in the morning was pretty good, for not having ridden in two months.</p><p>I had planned to ride tomorrow but I don't think I will. We had a semi-decent workout this morning which wouldn't have been an issue but I was stopped early and didn't get a chance to cool down and stretch. I know me - I'll be sore in the morning!</p>Dr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999712948059124532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785573708847456487.post-13954419605196658642023-02-14T17:42:00.001+08:002023-02-14T17:42:49.070+08:00Valentines Day<p> Yay! Tenth year together with my awesome wife. Would be eleven but we didn't start dating until later in the year. <3</p><p>The last time I <a href="http://drneolao.blogspot.com/2015/02/valentine-day.html" target="_blank">made a post about Valentine's Day</a> was 2015 - when I was away from home and couldn't even give my one and only a hug and a kiss. Not sure how many I didn't post about in previous years because I was too busy with work or because I was away. One more reason to make more posts - to remind me of what's happened before.</p>Dr Neo Laohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15999712948059124532noreply@blogger.com0