Category Archives: Recreation

How To Boil Eggs – Simple Instructions on Boiling Eggs

Although to some people boiling an egg might seem like a simple task, it is like everything in life you only learn how to do something by either reading about it, watching someone else or learning from family etc. If you haven’t had anyone in the past who has taught you how to boil an egg and for how long you need to boil an egg for then it’s probably about as simple as changing the oil on a car would be for me!

So below are my instructions for how to make soft boiled eggs and how to make hard boiled eggs.

Basic Procedure For Boiling An Egg

Firstly it is best to use eggs that are not straight out of the fridge and that are at room temperature but if you want to boil an egg now and the eggs are in the fridge then just take it from there!

Fill a small pan with water so that there is enough water in the pan to cover the egg(s) by about half an inch or so. Put the eggs into the pan of cold water. The reason for using cold water rather than putting the eggs straight into boiling water is that this helps to stop them cracking.

Put the pan on the heat and heat it until the water starts boiling. Once the water is boiling then take note of the time – it helps to have a second hand on your watch but it is not essential. The time it takes to boil the eggs depends on if you like soft boiled eggs or hard boiled eggs.

Soft Boiled Eggs – How Long?

Now everyone likes their boiled eggs slightly differently but I like mine with the yolk (yellow) soft and the white cooked all the way through – I can’t stand any uncooked white in my eggs! So, to get soft boiled eggs like that you need to cook them for about 3 minutes 45 seconds as far as I am concerned. 4 minutes is fine if you don’t have a second hand on your watch! Try this out and see if this is how you like you eggs boiled and if you want them a bit more soft boiled or slightly more hard boiled then adjust the time accordingly.

You do need to be reasonably accurate on your timing otherwise, if you do leave them even a little bit longer then you will end up with hard-boiled eggs

Hard Boiled Eggs – How Long?

The same applies to hard boiling eggs in terms of how you like them – how hard you want the centres of the eggs to be. For me, if I want to have hard boiled eggs that I might want to chop up and add mayonnaise to and then put in a sandwich, I will boil the eggs for 5 minutes.

If you want to hard boil eggs for a picnic so that you open them when you are out and you are guaranteed of no runny bits then I would boil eggs for around 7 minutes to make sure they are totally hard boiled. Don’t boil them for too much longer than this otherwise they will likely taste a bit rubbery.

When the eggs are boiled, run them under a cold tap straight away and this should stop that green colour from appearing between the yolk and the white.

 

Where Can I Get a Waterproof iPod?

So I have recently taken up swimming as a great form of exercise both to keep fit and also to keep my back flexible and stop my back pain. I am not a great swimmer but I can keep going for a bit doing breaststroke and although that is not as good as doing front crawl I’m sure the swimming helps as part of my exercise regime.

However, the more I swim and the more lengths I do, the slightly more boring the swimming gets so I decided to see if I could get a waterproof iPod or some kind of music device to help stop the boredom and keep me swimming for longer.

I am a big music fan and I find that it helps in the gym, particularly on the treadmill to make the time go quicker. However, my everyday iPod will was obviously not going to be any good for swimming and so I had a look for a waterproof iPod, as I wasn’t sure if there was one, and found that there was indeed such a thing.

Actually there are two options for getting music in your ears while you swim and one is to buy a custom waterproof iPod or MP3 player and the other is to buy a waterproof case for your existing iPod or MP3 player. There are companies that take standard iPod shuffles and waterproof them with a 2 year guarantee.

Waterproof iPods

Waterproof iPod Shuffle options
 

Obviously there are pros and cons to each and it is a personal decision as to which one will be better for you but I would suggest the following:

If you are a frequent swimmer then maybe a waterproof iPod would be better then you don’t need to keep taking your iPod out of the waterproof case and also you can load up some songs that are perfect for swimming to. You can also get hold of a smaller iPod shuffle that is easy to attach when you are in the pool.

Waterproof MP3s can also be used in snow and for other watersports and not only for swimming. In fact obviously you can use them whenever but they are designed to work in water so you might as well use them for that!

The iPod can be attached to your goggles and you will also need waterproof headphones or earbuds to go with it. A waterproof iPod can also be used just like a normal iPod.

Waterproof Cases

If you just want to waterproof your iPod for going on holiday then think about getting a waterproof case, there are plenty available and the majority of these are cheaper than buying a waterproof ipod or MP3 player so you don’t have to shell out a lot of money.

You can also just get waterproof cases that will protect your iPhone or other smartphone for when you are at the pool or the beach so that your phone doesn’t get damaged by water.

However, if you are planning to swim with music then it is probably better to get something much smaller and easier to use than using your iPod or iPhone.

 

Summer Holiday Cheats – Cheap Cinema Tickets

If you are looking for things to do with the kids in the summer holidays then one thing you may not have realised is that a lot of the cinemas have special screenings for kids (and their parents!) at really great prices this summer.

Often these screenings are in the mornings as this is a time when the cinemas are normally closed and also is a good time for younger children to venture out to the cinema.

Not all of the cinemas in the particular group show the same films to it is worth looking around to see what is on where.

Check out the information below for details for the larger companies:

Cineworld

cineworldCineworld has 82 cinemas in the Uk and over 800 screens and they offer morning showings of child friendly films at around 10am during the summer holidays and selected weekends.

Their promotion is called Movies for Juniors and prices for a 2D film showing are £2.00 or £1.80 if you book in advance with a Cineworld account. 3D films cost £3.50 again with a 10% discount if you book online.

Odeon

odeon-kidsOdeon have over 120 cinemas in the UK and also have special movies in the summer holidays and weekends through their “Odeon Kids” scheme. These films are £2.50 for children and adults and can be (and are advised to be) booked online in advance as they prove pretty popular.

Vue

vue_logo_headerVue has 85 multiplex cinemas in the UK and offer a similar scheme known as “Mini Mornings” which cost from £1.99 for 2D and £2.79 for 3D films at weekends and during summer holidays.

 

Empire

empire-jnrs.bmpNot as big as some of the cinema chains but Empire have their “Empire Jnrs” movies for all the family every weekend. So these are not specifically for summer holidays but if you have an Empire cinema near you this could be good at weekends.

Ticket prices are not specified on the Empire website but said to be at ‘pocket money prices’ but when we tried to book a price of £1.75 per adult and child was quoted for the particular movie and location we chose.

So on a rainy day this may be a great option to keep the kids occupied for a few hours. Summer holidays can be an expensive time and although obviously this is not a free activity it is certainly a lot cheaper than normal screenings which are becoming out of reach for some parents on lower incomes.

How Much Do Golfers Earn?

It is no secret that top sports people, including golfers, can earn a lot of money. Not only do they earn money from taking part in (and hopefully winning) tournaments, but they also earn a lot of money from sponsorship deals, in fact these days they often earn more money from that than their actual sports earnings!

tiger-woodsBut regardless of sponsorship deals it can be interesting to look at money that golfers can earn from tournaments. In order to check on the top level of earnings that a golfer might be able to achieve, we have looked back on the earnings of Tiger Woods from when he turned professional.

Obviously looking at someone who was so successful will give a good idea of the maximum earnings a golfer can strive for not including sponsorships. But also in Woods’ case, you can see the effect of the bad years that he has had due to his personal situation and injuries.

Most tournaments that you take part in as a golfer offer prize money to all levels of participants – the bigger the tournament the higher the prize money of course.

Dropping just one extra shot in a tournament can lose you a large chuck of money so it is no wonder golfers need to be concentrating at all times and don’t like to have any distractions when playing.

So here are the annual tournament earnings of Tiger Woods from when he turned professional in 1996:

2015 – $448,598
2014 – $108,275
2013 – $8,553,439
2012 – $ 6,133,159
2011 – $ 660,238.00
2010 – $ 2,090,477.00
2009 – $ 9,434,813.00
2008 – $ 5,875,000.00
2007 – $ 12,217,052.00
2006 – $ 11,291,563.00
2005 – $ 10,870,522.00
2004 – $ 6,925,471.00
2003 – $ 7,373,413.00
2002 – $ 8,789,225.00
2001 – $ 6,846,108.00
2000 – $ 10,318,321.00
1999 – $ 6,816,584.00
1998 – $ 2,241,116.00
1997 – $ 2,376,831.00
1996 – $ 906,170.00

Looking at the annual earnings for other golfers it seems that the top golfer of the year earns around $8-12m depending on how many events they play and how dominant they are in those events.

For example in 2015 Jordan Speith was dominant with earnings of over $12 million, up with Tiger’s top earnings.

However, in 2014 Rory McIlroy was the top earning golfer but he actually ‘only’ earned over $8 million.

 

How To Use Manual Settings On A Digital Camera

SLR Camera Settings

If you have an SLR camera, whether it be digital or not, you have the option to choose different settings with which to take your photos. This gives you much more control over how your pictures turn out.

However, a lot of people buy a good camera and then just use it on the automatic setting so that the camera itself decides what speed and what aperture the lens will fire at. It may also choose the ISO setting for that shot. It is very easy just to keep using the camera on the automatic setting and you can get perfectly good shots by doing this, but if you want to be a bit more inventive with your photography then you need to take that step to learn how to use the manual settings.

So, if you want more control over how your pictures turn out, and you want your pictures to look more professional, then try experimenting with the different settings. The best idea is to actually read the instruction booklet that came with your camera but some of those are hundreds of pages long and realistically how many people do that?

So, there are some different settings on your camera – you may have the picture icons which will customise the kind of settings that you might use – for example if you choose the sport option you will get a faster shutter speed at the expense of depth of field and it may also automatically turn on the multi-frame option.

Otherwise you may have the following setttings:

Av – Aperture priority – where you choose the width of the aperture (this controls the depth of field)
Tv – Shutter priority – where you set the shutter speed and the camera chooses the aperture
M – Completely manual – you choose both settings which means that you need to make sure that you have the right combination that will let enough light in for the picture to be correctly exposed.

I will explain the first two options below.

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