Our hearts are breaking for the division, violence and desecration that we saw at the Capitol yesterday. We were glued to the news as we would have been at home. In stolen conversations in the exercise yard yesterday, returnees from the US shared our horror and sadness.
No good segue …
A drizzly day today, almost a little cold but don’t let the caution sign fool you. We haven’t had any weather below 50 degrees F. What there is to do is walk, so we donned our rain jackets and did just that. Minor excitement this morning as a crew with a cherry picker was replacing the security cameras in the exercise area. The wellbeing team called us to assure us that this was a legitimate procedure and not TV cameras coming to get a scoop (or snoop).
In one of our meal bags, we get a few snack options. One was a small pack of crackers and hummus. I was shocked to see the high calorie count but noticed that it said Kj. A little googling revealed that Kj stands for kilojoule which is a unit of energy. In NZ, kilojoules (kJ) are used to measure how much energy people get from consuming a food or drink (instead of calories). I think I must have been asleep for high school Science.
- The kilojoule content of foods depends on the amount of carbohydrates, fats and proteins present in the food, and the portion size.
- Foods that are high in fats, added sugars or alcohol are by far the highest in kilojoules.
- Foods such as fruits, vegetables and legumes are lower in kilojoules.
- You can find out how many kilojoules are in packaged foods by checking the label.
- When eating out or grabbing food on the run, check for kilojoules on the menu or food display tags
To convert from kJ to calories, divide kJ by 4.18. The dividend seemed much more reasonable. So, I ate the hummus and crackers! We’re going to have to sharpen our mental math or get used to the different measures. In addition to Kj to calories, we are converting Celsius temperature to Fahrenheit, kilometers to miles, grams to ounces, and NZ dollars to US dollars.
Another quaint speak came on the lid of the berry yoghurt – ‘no pips or bits’, very smooth! But I’m pretty sure that ‘refridgerator’ on the hummus pack is a typo.
I greeted one of the NZDF guys as I came in from the exercise yard yesterday, “Hello, gorgeous day isn’t it?” He responded, “Bloody Crackin’, isn’t it?”, which leaves no doubt about his enthusiasm for the weather.
And today’s highlight might be our newsletter that arrived with lunch. Please don’t ask what it says, but it does sort of confirm our earlier post about the reason for shrinking the exercise yard. Best intel yet suggests that the residents there are mariners from three ships. Strong evidence that at least some of the crew is Russian!
