A month ago, I finally succumbed and bought an iPhone4. It's only taken me 3 (or is it 4?) years. I think I started my "iPhone fund" when they were first released. I've wanted a smart phone forever - I like the concept of the multi-purpose device: phone, camera, pocket computer, portable internet access - but the iPhone was something better. It may not have the best camera or the best battery life, but one big thing makes it market leader. And the thing that makes it better? The Apps.
The Apps are Apple's genius. Anyone can develop an App and sell it through the App store. And that immediately gave Apple competitive advantage over their rivals. Want to keep notes on your future projects? KnitMinder does that. Need to convert currency? There's an App for that. Want to catalogue your novels? My Library does that by reading the bar-codes on the back of your books. There are Apps for budgeting, for counting calories, for mapping the route of your morning run.
It was (what?) another year before the competition caught up? And that involved them adopting a third-party operating system, Android, so that they could offer a large enough customer base to make it worthwhile for developers to create Apps for their phones too.
All this is a long preamble to explaining why I forked out £429 on an iPhone. I did look at the competition but, in the end, it was one App that swung it in favour of the iPhone, the Weight Watchers' App. I have been a member of Weight Watchers since 2003, when I lost 28lb for my wedding and kept most of it off for two years. My weight ballooned upwards when my thyroid started acting up and I feel like I've been fighting a losing battle ever since. Some of the problems were always having to lug the books around or needing to go on-line to point up foods and recipes or the constant necessity to update the restaurant and shopping guides. Oh, and Weight Watchers have changed the entire basis of their programs three times since I first bought one of their recipe books back in the 1980's.
As far as I'm concerned, all of those problems have been solved by their iPhone App, which not only replaces all the books but allows you to track your points and your weight both on your phone and on-line. Unlike the Android App, it fully replicates the functionality of the Weight Watchers website. (The Android App is only a points calculator.) Even better, the App syncs with it, so I can point up recipes on the website then find them on my phone to add to my tracker later on (e.g. when I grab a container of mystery lunch from the freezer, defrost it at work and then discover it was beef chilli instead of the curry I was expecting). Also, I can point up items while I'm walking around the supermarket, which makes it less of a guessing game and easier to choose a sandwich, if I need to buy one.
Why not just rely on their website? Well, I've been a subscriber for eight years, but this makes it so much easier. I don't have the hassle of switching on my home PC or logging in. It's all there on my phone and I can sync whenever I have WiFi access or via 3G. I didn't need to go to a meeting to pick up the new books or update the restaurant guide, either.
I've been using the Weight Watchers App for two weeks now and lost 5lb in the process. I haven't eaten typical diet food either during that time, just a normal diet (including burgers, pavlova and wine at an Anzac Day BBQ). This is great tool and I can thoroughly recommend it.
- Pam
Saturday, 30 April 2011
Royal Wedding
Did you watch it? What did you think of the dress, etc? And what about the guests' dresses?
DH and I watched it from the comfort of our sofa. I didn't really consider trekking into London to try a be there in person - after all, if you didn't have an invitation, how much would you really see? There'd be crowds and crushes and queuing and standing for hours (and England's unpredictable but usually cold weather), and that just isn't me. So I watched it all on the BBC.
Most of the dresses were beautiful. Kate looked stunning and her gown was an absolute classic with it's sweetheart neckline and lace over-top. Her sister's dress was also beautiful - I loved the line and the fit - 1930's curvy.
On a negative note, Beatrice and Eugene need someone to take them in hand and dress them. They're in their early '20's and yet they looked like mutton dressed up as lamb. One (the redhead) wore an OK outfit but the colour completely wiped out her complexion; the other wore a good colour, but the cut just made her look dumpy and fat. Both of them need to be given make-up lessons, since their eye make-up just looked tarty.
Personally, I thought it was a lovely wedding. With the exception of the crowds outside and the world's media watching, it could have been anyone-else's wedding, albeit one where a lot of money was spent. William and Kate are such nice, normal people. Outside their Royal duties and visits to his family, they live a normal life - grocery shopping, cooking each other meals, making tea for their friends/colleagues. They've both held down jobs and earned their own income. I just hope the press will give them the benefit of a private life and leave them alone when they're not "on duty".
They are very much in love and obviously very good friends. I wish them a long and happy life together. If they're as happy as DH and I, they will be very lucky indeed.
- Pam
DH and I watched it from the comfort of our sofa. I didn't really consider trekking into London to try a be there in person - after all, if you didn't have an invitation, how much would you really see? There'd be crowds and crushes and queuing and standing for hours (and England's unpredictable but usually cold weather), and that just isn't me. So I watched it all on the BBC.
Most of the dresses were beautiful. Kate looked stunning and her gown was an absolute classic with it's sweetheart neckline and lace over-top. Her sister's dress was also beautiful - I loved the line and the fit - 1930's curvy.
On a negative note, Beatrice and Eugene need someone to take them in hand and dress them. They're in their early '20's and yet they looked like mutton dressed up as lamb. One (the redhead) wore an OK outfit but the colour completely wiped out her complexion; the other wore a good colour, but the cut just made her look dumpy and fat. Both of them need to be given make-up lessons, since their eye make-up just looked tarty.
Personally, I thought it was a lovely wedding. With the exception of the crowds outside and the world's media watching, it could have been anyone-else's wedding, albeit one where a lot of money was spent. William and Kate are such nice, normal people. Outside their Royal duties and visits to his family, they live a normal life - grocery shopping, cooking each other meals, making tea for their friends/colleagues. They've both held down jobs and earned their own income. I just hope the press will give them the benefit of a private life and leave them alone when they're not "on duty".
They are very much in love and obviously very good friends. I wish them a long and happy life together. If they're as happy as DH and I, they will be very lucky indeed.
- Pam
Wednesday, 27 April 2011
Sheer frustration
I have been trying since yesterday to buy my sister's birthday present. So far, neither major Australian department store website is willing to play ball. One keeps crashing on checkout. The other, won't let me even get that far.
Her birthday is Friday. And it's a big one. I want to get her something she'd really like instead of another bunch of flowers.
- Pam
Her birthday is Friday. And it's a big one. I want to get her something she'd really like instead of another bunch of flowers.
- Pam
Saturday, 16 April 2011
Dear Sirdar / Sublime
Dear Sirdar
Please reconsider the decision to discontinue Sublime Organic Merino DK. It is a luscious yarn to knit with, buttery soft to the touch and warm and cuddly too. I was lucky enough to purchase some from Black Sheep Yarns and I'm currently knitting your Willow jumper out of it. My only regret is that I didn't purchase more for my stash.
This is a lovely woollen yarn, why did you stop making it? Please reconsider.
Kind regards
Pam (emailed today)
Please reconsider the decision to discontinue Sublime Organic Merino DK. It is a luscious yarn to knit with, buttery soft to the touch and warm and cuddly too. I was lucky enough to purchase some from Black Sheep Yarns and I'm currently knitting your Willow jumper out of it. My only regret is that I didn't purchase more for my stash.
This is a lovely woollen yarn, why did you stop making it? Please reconsider.
Kind regards
Pam (emailed today)
Thursday, 14 April 2011
Daydreams
Today had one of those frustrating afternoons. I had a report to produce that I'd forgotten how to do, followed by the finance system going on a go slow. By 6pm, it had ground to a complete holt, twice, but I had an invoice to get out, so had to persist. Lots of time spent waiting for the system to respond to even the simplest commands. With my computer seizing up, I daydreamed, wistfully deciding what I'd do if I won certain amounts of money in the lottery.
£100,000? I'd clear our debts (say, £10,000), buy a new car (another £10,000), finish the house (£20,000), get the garden sorted out professionally (£2,000), fully fund an emergency fund (say £20,000), spend £10,000 on IVF, throw away a bit on gifts, travel and toys (say £8,000), and invest the leftovers in shares (£20,000).
With £500,000, I'd do all of the above, pay off the mortgage (£200,000) and split the remaining £200,000 into deposits for between 3 and 6 flats to have as rental properties. (Each property would cost between £120,000 and £200,0000, with the balance coming from a mortgage.) £500,000 would produce enough income that only one of us needs to work, so DH could retrain to become whatever he wanted. And, having paid off the mortgage, we could invest each month's "mortgage money" in shares.
A win of £1 million, would mean we'd both be able to retire. I'd do the above, and then spend another £300,000 on rental flats - maybe buying a couple outright for the income, as well as using some of the money to fund deposits for others. The remaining £200,000 would go on shares.
If it was a £10 million win, we'd be able to do all of the above and give some sizeable cash gifts to family. With £10 million, none of the properties would need mortgages, so would give us a sizeable income every month, to live off and reinvest.
I didn't get any further - a colleague interrupted my reverie and I didn't feel like sharing my thoughts with him. Instead, I had to turn my mind back to work.
- Pam (if it was you, what would you do?)
£100,000? I'd clear our debts (say, £10,000), buy a new car (another £10,000), finish the house (£20,000), get the garden sorted out professionally (£2,000), fully fund an emergency fund (say £20,000), spend £10,000 on IVF, throw away a bit on gifts, travel and toys (say £8,000), and invest the leftovers in shares (£20,000).
With £500,000, I'd do all of the above, pay off the mortgage (£200,000) and split the remaining £200,000 into deposits for between 3 and 6 flats to have as rental properties. (Each property would cost between £120,000 and £200,0000, with the balance coming from a mortgage.) £500,000 would produce enough income that only one of us needs to work, so DH could retrain to become whatever he wanted. And, having paid off the mortgage, we could invest each month's "mortgage money" in shares.
A win of £1 million, would mean we'd both be able to retire. I'd do the above, and then spend another £300,000 on rental flats - maybe buying a couple outright for the income, as well as using some of the money to fund deposits for others. The remaining £200,000 would go on shares.
If it was a £10 million win, we'd be able to do all of the above and give some sizeable cash gifts to family. With £10 million, none of the properties would need mortgages, so would give us a sizeable income every month, to live off and reinvest.
I didn't get any further - a colleague interrupted my reverie and I didn't feel like sharing my thoughts with him. Instead, I had to turn my mind back to work.
- Pam (if it was you, what would you do?)
Wednesday, 13 April 2011
Scrummy with a touch of spinach
Several months ago while surfing the "condemned food counter" at Tesco, I scored the final four inches of a chorizo sausage discarded from the deli. like many such prizes, it went into the freezer until I decided what to do with it. I was really tempted to try Kale and Chickpea Stew a la Crazy Aunt Purl but DH doesn't like cooked kale or many of its relatives (cabbage, etc). He'll eat them raw, but not cooked.
Saturday, when we were grocery shopping, I hit on making it with spinach. Thanks to an offer, I could pick up a large bunch of spinach for 60p. DH will eat spinach raw in salads and cooked in Sophie Dahl's Dhal so I rationalised that maybe, just maybe, he'd eat it in this. The original recipe is here. This is my version.
Chickpea and Chorizo Stew
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 red jalapeno chillies sliced
100g/4oz chorizo, diced
450g cooked chickpeas (drained weight)
1 large bunch of spinach roughly chopped
1 bay leaf
500ml chicken stock
500g potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch dice (preferably use a boiling potato)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Method
This goes well over couscous or with good bread for dunking. It is even better when left to be eaten on the second day.
And the verdict? DH declared it "Scrummy", went back for seconds, and then demanded that I make it again soon. Even the dreaded spinach got the thumbs up.
- Pam
Saturday, when we were grocery shopping, I hit on making it with spinach. Thanks to an offer, I could pick up a large bunch of spinach for 60p. DH will eat spinach raw in salads and cooked in Sophie Dahl's Dhal so I rationalised that maybe, just maybe, he'd eat it in this. The original recipe is here. This is my version.
Chickpea and Chorizo Stew
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 red jalapeno chillies sliced
100g/4oz chorizo, diced
450g cooked chickpeas (drained weight)
1 large bunch of spinach roughly chopped
1 bay leaf
500ml chicken stock
500g potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch dice (preferably use a boiling potato)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Method
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan/stew pot. Fry the onion and chorizo together until the fat starts running from the chorizo (it will be red-ish).
- Add the garlic and chillies. Fry for two or three more minutes.
- Add the stock, chickpeas, potato, spinach and bay leaf. Bring to the boil and simmer for at least 20 minutes or until the the potato is cooked and at least half of the liquid has evaporated. The dish should look stew-like not soupy.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve in deep soup plates.
This goes well over couscous or with good bread for dunking. It is even better when left to be eaten on the second day.
And the verdict? DH declared it "Scrummy", went back for seconds, and then demanded that I make it again soon. Even the dreaded spinach got the thumbs up.
- Pam
Monday, 4 April 2011
We Did it!
To everyone who has already sponsored me for last Sunday's Lincoln10k: a BIG THANK YOU. If you haven't and you want to, there is still time. Just click here.
In the meantime, I promised you photos. The Mrs Slocombe Academy for Young Ladies turned out in force. Naturally, we hurt the eyes of everyone who looked at us.
(From left to right, Fifi, Dorothy, Sheila, Scarlet and Hester. Chris W is missing because he is a serious runner and was busy "getting in the zone".)
There was a small panic on Friday, when I realised I couldn't find my race number. I phoned the council and they sorted me out with a backup one, which I collected during the morning before the race. Dorothy sorted us out with pink gym-bloomers - Mrs S would be proud.
Once the signal blew, it took us about 10 minutes to cross the starting line. All the walkers were in the slowest group, at the back.
Our official times haven't been posted yet, but we know we completed the race in less than 1 hour 46 minutes, because that was the time on the race clock when we crossed the finishing line. Here is the whole team:
And heading back to our hotel:
I must say, the staff in the hotel didn't bat an eyelash when we staggered into the bar dressed like that and ordered a victory round. At that point, I had a Gin and Tonic in my sights and wasn't stopping for anyone.
We had a great time. Thank you Lincoln, and thank you to everyone who has sponsored us.
- Pam
In the meantime, I promised you photos. The Mrs Slocombe Academy for Young Ladies turned out in force. Naturally, we hurt the eyes of everyone who looked at us.
There was a small panic on Friday, when I realised I couldn't find my race number. I phoned the council and they sorted me out with a backup one, which I collected during the morning before the race. Dorothy sorted us out with pink gym-bloomers - Mrs S would be proud.
Once the signal blew, it took us about 10 minutes to cross the starting line. All the walkers were in the slowest group, at the back.
I must say, the staff in the hotel didn't bat an eyelash when we staggered into the bar dressed like that and ordered a victory round. At that point, I had a Gin and Tonic in my sights and wasn't stopping for anyone.
We had a great time. Thank you Lincoln, and thank you to everyone who has sponsored us.
- Pam
Friday, 25 March 2011
Shameless Plug
Please sponsor me to do the Lincoln 10K next weekend, Sunday 3rd April 2011. I'll be raising money for the Shooting Star Children's hospice.
When one of my oldest friends said he wanted to do some fundraising to mark his 25th year in London, I said "Sure, why not?". When he asked for suggestions, I came up with his home-town's 10K race and then uttered the fatal words: "Do it in drag. If you like, I'll even walk it with you". (He's not a runner.) Thus was born The Mrs Slocombe Academy for Young Ladies: Scarlet (Howard), Dorothy (David), Sheila (Chris F) and Fifi (me) their French maid. We won't be fast. We will be funny. And we will surely burn the retinas from your eyes:
Here's Dorothy and Scarlet posing for the camera. Aren't they fine strapping young gels, as our headmistress Mrs Slocombe would say?
- Pam (I must be mad. But please sponsor us.)
When one of my oldest friends said he wanted to do some fundraising to mark his 25th year in London, I said "Sure, why not?". When he asked for suggestions, I came up with his home-town's 10K race and then uttered the fatal words: "Do it in drag. If you like, I'll even walk it with you". (He's not a runner.) Thus was born The Mrs Slocombe Academy for Young Ladies: Scarlet (Howard), Dorothy (David), Sheila (Chris F) and Fifi (me) their French maid. We won't be fast. We will be funny. And we will surely burn the retinas from your eyes:
Here's Dorothy and Scarlet posing for the camera. Aren't they fine strapping young gels, as our headmistress Mrs Slocombe would say?
- Pam (I must be mad. But please sponsor us.)
Thursday, 24 March 2011
Thanks George
Yesterday was Budget Day for the UK. At 12.30pm, George Osborne stood up in the House of Commons and delivered his budget speech. All the tax changes and personal allowance rises, etc, that have been hinted at by the press became real (by "hinted" I mean embargoed until 12.30 but they couldn't keep their mouths shut). In the UK, the new tax year starts on 6th April so the effects won't be long in coming. On a personal tax front, this is what will affect me directly:-
I feel most aggrieved about the drop in the banding for higher rate tax. When you think about it in context, £42.5k isn't that high a salary: the average salary in London is £31k; the average house price in the UK is £180k; the average council tax on that house is £1.5k; the average car costs more than £10k; and an outer London zone 5 annual travelcard is £1,880. This isn't the first time games have been played with the 40% tax band - when I started working in tax, the higher rate kicked in at about £37k; 20 years later, while average salaries have more than doubled, it has barely moved. If it had risen at the same rate as inflation (which is what the bands were meant to do), then it would be over £50k.
As for me, I expect to be £20/month or £230.93 per annum worse off. That's what the BBC's budget calculator tells me http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12773565.
- Pam (more belt tightening)
- Fuel duty went down by a penny.
- Employees' National Insurance went up - that's the "con" tax which pretends it's our social security tax but actually just goes into the general tax pool. The chancellor announced he is going to consult on merging NI with income tax. About bloody time too.
- The tax free personal allowances goes up by £1,000 from 6th April BUT the band where you start to pay higher rate (40%) tax drops by £2,400, so anyone earning over £42,475 is immediately worse off.
I feel most aggrieved about the drop in the banding for higher rate tax. When you think about it in context, £42.5k isn't that high a salary: the average salary in London is £31k; the average house price in the UK is £180k; the average council tax on that house is £1.5k; the average car costs more than £10k; and an outer London zone 5 annual travelcard is £1,880. This isn't the first time games have been played with the 40% tax band - when I started working in tax, the higher rate kicked in at about £37k; 20 years later, while average salaries have more than doubled, it has barely moved. If it had risen at the same rate as inflation (which is what the bands were meant to do), then it would be over £50k.
As for me, I expect to be £20/month or £230.93 per annum worse off. That's what the BBC's budget calculator tells me http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12773565.
- Pam (more belt tightening)
Thursday, 17 March 2011
Stitch & Craft Show, Olympia
Errr.... How do I put this? "Forgive me Father for I have sinned...?" No, I'm not Catholic. How about "I've solved the dilemma about whether to buy a 16GB or a 32GB iPhone4. It'll have to be the 16GB one because I've spent the rest of my money on yarn"?
Yes, I think that works.
Today, I took the day off work to go to the Stitch & Craft Show at Olympia, the little sister to the big Knit & Stitch Show held at Alexandra Palace every October. This is the second or third time I've been to this particular show and I may not have gone if it wasn't that one of the magazines I subscribe to offered discounted tickets at £5.
I told myself: it'll be a cheap day out. I can take my lunch and some coffee and save my money for yarn.
I told myself: no stash enhancement unless I find something amazing or an amazing bargain (and, preferably, aran/worsted weight).
I told myself: I don't need any more yarn. I'd just buy some tools, maybe some KnitPro/KnitPicks crochet hooks.
I told myself: I'll set the budget at £30 and stick to that.
I lied.
I'd barely walked in the door when I encountered the Black Sheep Yarns booth. (They were directly in front of the door.) I've mentioned them before. Every show, they bring along thousands of skeins of yarn, which they sell by the bag at half-price or less. The owners dump all the sealed bags into a big heap and the knitters just dive in. It resembles a rugby scrum. Would you believe me if I said I was sucked into the vortex and barely made it out of there alive, clinging to bags of yarn to escape?
No. I didn't think you would.
My haul from Black Sheep includes:
The Jawoll Magic is for a pair of socks for DH; the other two are self-patterning and we may fight for them. Total cost: £19.
So much for self control. [sigh]
I did buy some tools: stitch holders and the like, spending £9.45 in the process, but not the KnitPro hooks - the available sets didn't appeal to me.
Anyway, I've just added up the cost of today's haul and I'm not proud of myself: £141.38.
Yes, I have the money in the bank to cover it. Yes, I won't get into debt over it. Yes, I will use it all... Eventually. But I'm not pleased with myself for walking in the door at the show and diving straight into the Black Sheep yarn pile, going "Aran! Aran! Must have Aran! What can I make with it now I've found it?". (The light blue wasn't even a colour on my list - it was the only shade they had that appealed to me that both DH and I can wear.)
[sigh]
This was meant to be the year when the stash decreased NOT increased. If I knit for an hour a day, every day, until Christmas, do you think it'll make a difference? (Like I don't do that already? [sigh])
- Pam
PS: The show wasn't just about yarn. One of the stands was manned by Corum, the charity that was originally the Foundling Hospital. They were displaying some of the thousands of foundling tokens left with the children by their mothers (in an age of illiteracy and before fingerprints, the tokens were a means of identifying a child should the mother come back to claim them later). Most of the tokens are cloth, sometimes embroidered, sometimes just a piece of ribbon onto which was written a name. (Many mothers tried to name their babies even though they knew they'd be renamed once they were admitted.) The token was attached to the child's record of admittance. They form a valuable textile archive, which is why they are being displayed a this show. Someone commented to me that they found it fascinating. "It's heartbreaking," I replied and started to cry.
Yes, I think that works.
Today, I took the day off work to go to the Stitch & Craft Show at Olympia, the little sister to the big Knit & Stitch Show held at Alexandra Palace every October. This is the second or third time I've been to this particular show and I may not have gone if it wasn't that one of the magazines I subscribe to offered discounted tickets at £5.
I told myself: it'll be a cheap day out. I can take my lunch and some coffee and save my money for yarn.
I told myself: no stash enhancement unless I find something amazing or an amazing bargain (and, preferably, aran/worsted weight).
I told myself: I don't need any more yarn. I'd just buy some tools, maybe some KnitPro/KnitPicks crochet hooks.
I told myself: I'll set the budget at £30 and stick to that.
I lied.
No. I didn't think you would.
My haul from Black Sheep includes:
- 30 skeins of Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk Aran, in the coast colourway (light blue). Sufficient yarn to make a sweater for DH. (I've probably bought far too much but that was the quantity recommended by Carole from Black Sheep for a man his size.) I was thinking of making the Inishturk Sweater from Lionbrand for him. If he doesn't like the yarn, I'll make it for me. Total price: £68.97.
- 20 skeins of an unknown brand pure-wool 4-ply, in a really pretty baby-pink. Given their size, I assumed the skeins were 25 grams each - I've just weighed a bag and I was right. Knitting destination - something vintage. Total price: £19.98.
- 10 skeins of Sublime Soya Cotton DK in shade 085, Noodle, bought to make the pattern, Souk, from the book shown, The Luxuriously Exotic Soya Cotton Hand Knit Book also by Sublime. Cost including the book: £23.98.
(I really like the cover pattern, Passionflower, and the colour it's in (shade 088, pomegranate) which is why I returned to the yarn heap. However, they didn't have any pomegranate and it does occur to me that it would work well in the Sublime Angora Merino in Giggle Pink, that I already have stashed.)The other place I dropped money on yarn was the Lang booth, home of Addi Turbo knitting needles, and Jawoll sock yarn.
The Jawoll Magic is for a pair of socks for DH; the other two are self-patterning and we may fight for them. Total cost: £19.
So much for self control. [sigh]
I did buy some tools: stitch holders and the like, spending £9.45 in the process, but not the KnitPro hooks - the available sets didn't appeal to me.
Anyway, I've just added up the cost of today's haul and I'm not proud of myself: £141.38.
Yes, I have the money in the bank to cover it. Yes, I won't get into debt over it. Yes, I will use it all... Eventually. But I'm not pleased with myself for walking in the door at the show and diving straight into the Black Sheep yarn pile, going "Aran! Aran! Must have Aran! What can I make with it now I've found it?". (The light blue wasn't even a colour on my list - it was the only shade they had that appealed to me that both DH and I can wear.)
[sigh]
This was meant to be the year when the stash decreased NOT increased. If I knit for an hour a day, every day, until Christmas, do you think it'll make a difference? (Like I don't do that already? [sigh])
- Pam
PS: The show wasn't just about yarn. One of the stands was manned by Corum, the charity that was originally the Foundling Hospital. They were displaying some of the thousands of foundling tokens left with the children by their mothers (in an age of illiteracy and before fingerprints, the tokens were a means of identifying a child should the mother come back to claim them later). Most of the tokens are cloth, sometimes embroidered, sometimes just a piece of ribbon onto which was written a name. (Many mothers tried to name their babies even though they knew they'd be renamed once they were admitted.) The token was attached to the child's record of admittance. They form a valuable textile archive, which is why they are being displayed a this show. Someone commented to me that they found it fascinating. "It's heartbreaking," I replied and started to cry.
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
A Diagnosis (and a car review)
The garage finally called me today. The Toy didn't have a broken clutch or a damaged gearbox; it was a broken drive shaft. Cost to repair £400. He'll be ready tomorrow. I'll collect him on Saturday, which is the first chance I'll get.
In the meantime, I've driven to Site in a hire car, a Honda Civic. So far, I've done over 260 miles in it. On the one hand, it's not a model I've driven before, so I'm quite happy to give it a test drive; on the other, the designer seems to have swallowed some of the same rubbish that Renault feed their designers: all style and no function. Take a look at the rear end; can you see what I mean? (Pictures courtesy of Honda.)
See that spoiler, half way across the rear window? Not only does it put a thick band of (?) metal across the window cutting the view in two, it almost obscures the headlights of any vehicle behind you until, that is, said vehicle hits a bump in the road which creates the optical illusion that it is flashing you. Add to that the fact that the car doesn't have a rear wiper or washer, throw in a total inability to demist the lower half of the window (the top window has an electric demister) and the whole design of the hatch seams totally stupid.
(Interior shot of a left hand drive, automatic Civic.)
Another gripe (I have three, in total), is to do with the central console between the two front seats. Like most cars in Britain, this one has a manual gear box. The position of the gear lever is, probably, fine in an automatic (see above), but it is awkward for a manual driver. In addition, having the only cup holder directly in front of the gear lever is insane because you have to reach over your travel mug, holding your elbow at right angles, to avoid knocking the cup over (see below).
My final gripe is minor. I'm having problems coming to grips with the high beam on the headlights. It seams that on virtually every other car I have ever driven, you pull the indicator lever towards you to put on high beam and push it away from you if you just want to flash your headlights. In this car, it's the opposite. (In some older cars, you pushed a button on the floor with your toe.)
OK, so those are all the bad things. On the plus side, it handles well and is fairly nippy. On the motorway, it was a comfortable drive so long as I didn't have to change gear. It was easy to set up the mirrors, seat, etc, to suit me. It has good wing mirrors which made reverse parking at work easy. The interior is versatile, with the rear seats folding up as well as folding down flat to create a large rear space for transporting goods. The driver's seat can be raised or lowered using a pump-action lever at the side and it's something you can do while you are driving, when you discover you can't see the speedo because the steering wheel is in the way. The instrument display is clear and sensibly laid out. Visibility is good to the front and sides of the vehicle. It doesn't have a electronic demister for the front window but that window defrosted fairly quickly this morning in -2C.
Over all, I can't give it a higher score than 6 out of 10. If it was an automatic, I'd give it a 7.
- Pam
(edited later to add: that rear window thing is REALLY ANNOYING!!! You can't see a damn thing out of it if it's raining and, of course, you can't clear off the rain drops because THERE IS NO WIPER!!! After driving in the rain this morning, the score just dropped to 5.)
In the meantime, I've driven to Site in a hire car, a Honda Civic. So far, I've done over 260 miles in it. On the one hand, it's not a model I've driven before, so I'm quite happy to give it a test drive; on the other, the designer seems to have swallowed some of the same rubbish that Renault feed their designers: all style and no function. Take a look at the rear end; can you see what I mean? (Pictures courtesy of Honda.)
See that spoiler, half way across the rear window? Not only does it put a thick band of (?) metal across the window cutting the view in two, it almost obscures the headlights of any vehicle behind you until, that is, said vehicle hits a bump in the road which creates the optical illusion that it is flashing you. Add to that the fact that the car doesn't have a rear wiper or washer, throw in a total inability to demist the lower half of the window (the top window has an electric demister) and the whole design of the hatch seams totally stupid.
(Interior shot of a left hand drive, automatic Civic.)
Another gripe (I have three, in total), is to do with the central console between the two front seats. Like most cars in Britain, this one has a manual gear box. The position of the gear lever is, probably, fine in an automatic (see above), but it is awkward for a manual driver. In addition, having the only cup holder directly in front of the gear lever is insane because you have to reach over your travel mug, holding your elbow at right angles, to avoid knocking the cup over (see below).
My final gripe is minor. I'm having problems coming to grips with the high beam on the headlights. It seams that on virtually every other car I have ever driven, you pull the indicator lever towards you to put on high beam and push it away from you if you just want to flash your headlights. In this car, it's the opposite. (In some older cars, you pushed a button on the floor with your toe.)
OK, so those are all the bad things. On the plus side, it handles well and is fairly nippy. On the motorway, it was a comfortable drive so long as I didn't have to change gear. It was easy to set up the mirrors, seat, etc, to suit me. It has good wing mirrors which made reverse parking at work easy. The interior is versatile, with the rear seats folding up as well as folding down flat to create a large rear space for transporting goods. The driver's seat can be raised or lowered using a pump-action lever at the side and it's something you can do while you are driving, when you discover you can't see the speedo because the steering wheel is in the way. The instrument display is clear and sensibly laid out. Visibility is good to the front and sides of the vehicle. It doesn't have a electronic demister for the front window but that window defrosted fairly quickly this morning in -2C.
Over all, I can't give it a higher score than 6 out of 10. If it was an automatic, I'd give it a 7.
- Pam
(edited later to add: that rear window thing is REALLY ANNOYING!!! You can't see a damn thing out of it if it's raining and, of course, you can't clear off the rain drops because THERE IS NO WIPER!!! After driving in the rain this morning, the score just dropped to 5.)
Saturday, 5 March 2011
Not a good evening
Ever heard a tale about how bad things come in threes? Well this is one of those.
The only thing I had on my mind, when I left work on Thursday, was whether I should buy a 16GB iPhone4 or hold out for another month so that I could afford to buy the 32GB version. My inner geek says "get the one with bigger storage", but I am about £40 short. I drove home scheming: the arguments in my head running along the lines of "if I take £40 from this account, I could get the phone now and pay it back next month" or "why don't I just charge it and finish paying it off next month?". (I quickly shushed the latter argument.) Another part of my brain was arguing: "Why not settle for the 16GB? Do I really need 32GB of storage?". It lost.
Holding of purchasing for another month was still winning later on my way to a pub quiz, when I turned the car around outside the pub. Then I heard it. A metallic crunching noise, followed by "clatter, clatter". I quickly parked the car up. I first thought I'd damaged the steering (I'd had it on full lock); no, that felt fine. Wheels, then? They were still turning. I decided it had to be a wheel bearing. First thing wrong.
I went to the quiz, knowing that I could drive home with a broken wheel bearing, even if it wasn't safe to drive on the motorway to work. We won. And promptly donated our winnings to charity. (You have to if you're known to be a friend of the quiz master.)
Afterwards, S offered to shadow my drive home, in case something happened on the way. Turned out, he didn't need to. The Toy rolled about 2 feet before something seized up and he stopped. So I phoned the RAC, switched off the engine, switched on the hazard lights and settled down to a long-ish wait. When he arrived, the RAC mechanic determined it wasn't a wheel bearing. It was the clutch. The self-same clutch I'd had replaced 6 weeks ago.
(Incidentally, the most bizarre thing happened while I was waiting. A car pulled up beside me to ask directions. Given that the only way to identify that my car was possibly occupied were its flashing hazards, I was a bit surprised to say the least. Still don't know why they didn't walk into the pub and ask them. It was fully lit.)
Watching as the mechanic hitched the Toy up to tow home, I noticed a long scratch on the passenger side. Some bastard had keyed the Toy while I was in the pub. Second thing wrong.
Got home well after midnight. DH greeted me with a hot drink. Then noticed a puddle of water on the oak floor in the hall. Underneath the radiator. A radiator that had suspicious looking rust marks down one edge. It was obviously leaking from a seal near the valve you'd use to bleed it of air. We could see the water drops forming. I switched the radiator's thermostat to "off" and positioned a tupperware container under the drips. Third thing wrong.
Definitely not a good evening.
In the morning, the RAC towed me to the garage, while DH followed and then drove me into work. All I know is that the Toy will take several days to fix, so I've arranged a hire car for my trip to Site next week. And we'll get the plumber in to fix the radiator next week. It's still dripping a little, but not enough to get close to filling the Tupperware box.
- Pam
The only thing I had on my mind, when I left work on Thursday, was whether I should buy a 16GB iPhone4 or hold out for another month so that I could afford to buy the 32GB version. My inner geek says "get the one with bigger storage", but I am about £40 short. I drove home scheming: the arguments in my head running along the lines of "if I take £40 from this account, I could get the phone now and pay it back next month" or "why don't I just charge it and finish paying it off next month?". (I quickly shushed the latter argument.) Another part of my brain was arguing: "Why not settle for the 16GB? Do I really need 32GB of storage?". It lost.
Holding of purchasing for another month was still winning later on my way to a pub quiz, when I turned the car around outside the pub. Then I heard it. A metallic crunching noise, followed by "clatter, clatter". I quickly parked the car up. I first thought I'd damaged the steering (I'd had it on full lock); no, that felt fine. Wheels, then? They were still turning. I decided it had to be a wheel bearing. First thing wrong.
I went to the quiz, knowing that I could drive home with a broken wheel bearing, even if it wasn't safe to drive on the motorway to work. We won. And promptly donated our winnings to charity. (You have to if you're known to be a friend of the quiz master.)
Afterwards, S offered to shadow my drive home, in case something happened on the way. Turned out, he didn't need to. The Toy rolled about 2 feet before something seized up and he stopped. So I phoned the RAC, switched off the engine, switched on the hazard lights and settled down to a long-ish wait. When he arrived, the RAC mechanic determined it wasn't a wheel bearing. It was the clutch. The self-same clutch I'd had replaced 6 weeks ago.
(Incidentally, the most bizarre thing happened while I was waiting. A car pulled up beside me to ask directions. Given that the only way to identify that my car was possibly occupied were its flashing hazards, I was a bit surprised to say the least. Still don't know why they didn't walk into the pub and ask them. It was fully lit.)
Watching as the mechanic hitched the Toy up to tow home, I noticed a long scratch on the passenger side. Some bastard had keyed the Toy while I was in the pub. Second thing wrong.
Got home well after midnight. DH greeted me with a hot drink. Then noticed a puddle of water on the oak floor in the hall. Underneath the radiator. A radiator that had suspicious looking rust marks down one edge. It was obviously leaking from a seal near the valve you'd use to bleed it of air. We could see the water drops forming. I switched the radiator's thermostat to "off" and positioned a tupperware container under the drips. Third thing wrong.
Definitely not a good evening.
In the morning, the RAC towed me to the garage, while DH followed and then drove me into work. All I know is that the Toy will take several days to fix, so I've arranged a hire car for my trip to Site next week. And we'll get the plumber in to fix the radiator next week. It's still dripping a little, but not enough to get close to filling the Tupperware box.
- Pam
Saturday, 26 February 2011
Frugal Friday (on Saturday): Think when you spend the money
Have you been following the news about the Christchurch Earthquake in New Zealand? Have you donated? The Red Cross are running various donation sites - I used the British one to ensure they could claim tax relief on my donation and thus increase its value by 20%.
I was thinking about the earthquake on my drive home from Site yesterday, wondering what I could do from 15,000 miles away. Australians tend to think of New Zealand as our little brother; they were part of the federation talks in the 1890's until New South Wales pissed them off. You didn't need a passport to travel between the two countries until the 1970's, when the Australian government imposed that requirement. And about a third of all Kiwis live in Australia.
Anyway, I was wondering what I could do. As a knitter, my first instinct said "Knit something to donate", but I'm so far away that donating knitted goods is impractical. So I settled on donating cash.
Then I saw this, on the back of a toilet door in the motorway services at South Mimms:
And it made my blood boil. So much so, that I took a photo.
I have nothing against Red Nose Day, the biennial fundraising event run by Comic Relief. I'm sure they're grateful for the free publicity. However, what made me angry is the implication that they'll get the £1.50 or £4 if I buy those products from the services shop. They'll be lucky if they get 10 or 20 pence. How many people fall for this? Sure, if you were going to buy an overly expensive box of Maltesers from the shop anyway, then buying the packet that ensures a donation to charity might be a nice gesture. But were you going to buy two before you saw the promotion? And at a price where you could get four or five packets from the supermarket?
Surely it's better to donate money directly to the charity involved and cut out the middle man? In the case of the Maltesers, if I really wanted a snack, I could have bought something healthy from the Waitrose next door and donated my change to Red Nose Day and still given more than they'd receive from the promotion.
This happens at Christmas, too, with all of those "charity Christmas cards", when the charity named is lucky to get a couple of pennies from an expensive packet of cards.
We all have limited funds. If you want to donate money to charity, give it to them directly. That way, they'll get the most benefit.
- Pam
I was thinking about the earthquake on my drive home from Site yesterday, wondering what I could do from 15,000 miles away. Australians tend to think of New Zealand as our little brother; they were part of the federation talks in the 1890's until New South Wales pissed them off. You didn't need a passport to travel between the two countries until the 1970's, when the Australian government imposed that requirement. And about a third of all Kiwis live in Australia.
Anyway, I was wondering what I could do. As a knitter, my first instinct said "Knit something to donate", but I'm so far away that donating knitted goods is impractical. So I settled on donating cash.
Then I saw this, on the back of a toilet door in the motorway services at South Mimms:
And it made my blood boil. So much so, that I took a photo.
I have nothing against Red Nose Day, the biennial fundraising event run by Comic Relief. I'm sure they're grateful for the free publicity. However, what made me angry is the implication that they'll get the £1.50 or £4 if I buy those products from the services shop. They'll be lucky if they get 10 or 20 pence. How many people fall for this? Sure, if you were going to buy an overly expensive box of Maltesers from the shop anyway, then buying the packet that ensures a donation to charity might be a nice gesture. But were you going to buy two before you saw the promotion? And at a price where you could get four or five packets from the supermarket?
Surely it's better to donate money directly to the charity involved and cut out the middle man? In the case of the Maltesers, if I really wanted a snack, I could have bought something healthy from the Waitrose next door and donated my change to Red Nose Day and still given more than they'd receive from the promotion.
This happens at Christmas, too, with all of those "charity Christmas cards", when the charity named is lucky to get a couple of pennies from an expensive packet of cards.
We all have limited funds. If you want to donate money to charity, give it to them directly. That way, they'll get the most benefit.
- Pam
Friday, 18 February 2011
Frugal Friday : How I Saved The Week
I had a "well D'uh!" moment this afternoon. After I collected my new glasses (see below), I popped into the bank to deposit a cheque and ended up having a chat with one of their advisors. In the middle of her trying to sell me one of their "new, improved" cheque accounts complete with shiny fees, we both had an epiphany.
Her rationale for "upgrading" my account to a shiny new one was that it because it has a much lower rate of overdraft interest, even with the fees it'd be cheaper. They're currently charging nearly 20% p.a. on overdrafts for accounts like mine. Plus they've imposed a monthly fixed fee of £5 for each month in which the account goes into overdraft. And even with last year's good effort, I'm still overdrawn for much of the month. If I didn't want to do that, she suggested, what about taking on a bank loan and transferring my overdraft to that? Or utilise a 0% credit card offer? "I've got a 0% credit card offer. I used it to pay for the freehold to my flat," says I.
"And why haven't you transfered your overdraft to that?" she demanded.
At which point, I stared at her. And the penny dropped.
Hard.
I could do that. And I could continue paying down that debt and pay it off faster because I wouldn't be clobbered by interest and charges each month. The effective interest rate is about 4% p.a. instead of 20% p.a., so why haven't I done it before? (4% because that's the rate of the balance transfer fee. I'm simplifying, of course.) The 0% rate runs out in November - that should be enough time to clear the overdraft, while continuing to pay down the balance already on there for the freehold.
There are risks. The biggest being that I could drift back into overdraft, ending up worse off than where I started: heavily overdrawn but this time carrying a similar balance on a credit card. Can I trust myself not to do that? A year ago, I don't know, but now I think so. I've paid a lot of debt off in the last year. I track my spending. I've put money into savings. I've recovered from the drain on my finances of having an empty flat (better, the tenant has just signed a new 12-month lease with a rent increase of £25/month). And my salary's gone up (I've had two raises).
When I got home, I logged into the credit card website and made the transfer. It does make sense.
- Pam
PS: About the title, one of the podcasts I listen to is the Knitcents podcast. Roue, the host, does a segment called "How I Saved The Week" where she lists her latest efforts to save money. I've stolen it from her.
Her rationale for "upgrading" my account to a shiny new one was that it because it has a much lower rate of overdraft interest, even with the fees it'd be cheaper. They're currently charging nearly 20% p.a. on overdrafts for accounts like mine. Plus they've imposed a monthly fixed fee of £5 for each month in which the account goes into overdraft. And even with last year's good effort, I'm still overdrawn for much of the month. If I didn't want to do that, she suggested, what about taking on a bank loan and transferring my overdraft to that? Or utilise a 0% credit card offer? "I've got a 0% credit card offer. I used it to pay for the freehold to my flat," says I.
"And why haven't you transfered your overdraft to that?" she demanded.
At which point, I stared at her. And the penny dropped.
Hard.
I could do that. And I could continue paying down that debt and pay it off faster because I wouldn't be clobbered by interest and charges each month. The effective interest rate is about 4% p.a. instead of 20% p.a., so why haven't I done it before? (4% because that's the rate of the balance transfer fee. I'm simplifying, of course.) The 0% rate runs out in November - that should be enough time to clear the overdraft, while continuing to pay down the balance already on there for the freehold.
There are risks. The biggest being that I could drift back into overdraft, ending up worse off than where I started: heavily overdrawn but this time carrying a similar balance on a credit card. Can I trust myself not to do that? A year ago, I don't know, but now I think so. I've paid a lot of debt off in the last year. I track my spending. I've put money into savings. I've recovered from the drain on my finances of having an empty flat (better, the tenant has just signed a new 12-month lease with a rent increase of £25/month). And my salary's gone up (I've had two raises).
When I got home, I logged into the credit card website and made the transfer. It does make sense.
- Pam
PS: About the title, one of the podcasts I listen to is the Knitcents podcast. Roue, the host, does a segment called "How I Saved The Week" where she lists her latest efforts to save money. I've stolen it from her.
Got my voice back
Hello, did you miss me? It feels like forever since I last wrote. Where do I start? I've written a thousand blogs in my head but now they've all vanished. (Typical.)
OK, let's start with the computer. I took it to a local tech place, where they found a damaged sector and nothing else. There were no viruses, no bugs, no identifiable cause for Windows going SNAFU. I got it back last weekend - they did a complete rebuild and reinstalled Vista together with all the drivers. £69 very well spent. There is only one remaining problem: my bluetooth mouse won't work. I haven't tested yet whether the problem is the mouse or the computer. If the latter, then it's a physical problem and not the driver - I've managed to test the driver. Any suggestions?
In other news, I have new glasses - my first pair of verifocals*. Collected them this afternoon. They look pretty similar to my existing glasses, so no great change there. First impressions of verifocals: the reading "corner" by the nose is fine, easy to adjust to; it's the change of focus out by the arms that is weird. I wasn't expecting that. It's like looking into a mirror in a hall-of-mirrors and using the reflection to see with. It only happens if I turn my eyes instead of my head to look at something at a range of 3 feet or so away. Monday night's rehearsal is going to be a big test - can I read my music and watch the conductor without feeling sea-sick?
- Pam
* This feels like a further step in the transformation into my mother. Not only do I look like her and suffer her infertility problems, I've developed her eyes too. Short sight and long sight in the same eyeball. < sigh >
OK, let's start with the computer. I took it to a local tech place, where they found a damaged sector and nothing else. There were no viruses, no bugs, no identifiable cause for Windows going SNAFU. I got it back last weekend - they did a complete rebuild and reinstalled Vista together with all the drivers. £69 very well spent. There is only one remaining problem: my bluetooth mouse won't work. I haven't tested yet whether the problem is the mouse or the computer. If the latter, then it's a physical problem and not the driver - I've managed to test the driver. Any suggestions?
In other news, I have new glasses - my first pair of verifocals*. Collected them this afternoon. They look pretty similar to my existing glasses, so no great change there. First impressions of verifocals: the reading "corner" by the nose is fine, easy to adjust to; it's the change of focus out by the arms that is weird. I wasn't expecting that. It's like looking into a mirror in a hall-of-mirrors and using the reflection to see with. It only happens if I turn my eyes instead of my head to look at something at a range of 3 feet or so away. Monday night's rehearsal is going to be a big test - can I read my music and watch the conductor without feeling sea-sick?
- Pam
* This feels like a further step in the transformation into my mother. Not only do I look like her and suffer her infertility problems, I've developed her eyes too. Short sight and long sight in the same eyeball. < sigh >
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