New paintings and regular art updates.
My car is old! Tonight the clutch went in it. I was revving the engine and creeping forward in 1st gear, smoke billowed out from under the bonnet.
I had to park at an angle sticking out into the road. I called a break down service and after an hour and a half got through. An hour later some just came. They managed to park the car safely. But the clutch has gone. Goodness knows how much it will cost to fix. I really need an automatic.
What technology would you be better off without, why?
Expensive hair curlers that cost the Earth, but don’t do much better than cheaper ones. The cost and power they use must be excessive for people with low incomes. The fact that they often come in “exclusive” colours so they can charge more is ridiculous.
The amount of effort to make something use the Coanda effect to pull hair round onto a heated surface? Is it worth the effort? I wonder.
I am annoyed. I put this glass down by my chair this morning after drinking some fruit juice. I went out to an appointment, came home, went to walk into the kitchen and caught the glass with my foot. Of course it smashed. It had a heavy base but the ridged sides were thin and delicate. Result, glass shards everywhere. I hope I have swept them all up.
I don’t know if it’s possible to make glasses like this stronger, it was an expensive glass and I’d like to buy a replacement, but dare I? Do I have to treat it like a rare jewel?
What are your favorite brands and why?
Things cost too much so I try and be selective in what I buy. I go to a few different shops and try and buy what’s cheapest, but of a reasonable quality. I don’t want to buy a tin of beans only to find out half of its weight is tomato sauce.
It turns out a lot of own brands can be as good or better than the more well known ones. So they can be cost effective to buy. I also buy food close to it’s sell buy date, it means there are savings to be made there too. I live close to shops so I can pop out and top up with things relatively easily.
As to other things, anyone who knows me knows I’m not into fashion or expensive objects. If I have money it gets spent on bills or repairs or art supplies.
I hate adverts, I never buy things I see on TV or online. It doesn’t tempt me to see expensive perfume or clothing. I’m not a brand buyer, I can’t be bothered with merchandise like handbags or shoes.
So that’s your answer… None.
I just had to have work on my car. It had lots of problems with corroded brakes and break pipes, plus my old mechanic has retired. So I don’t think I got as much support as we have had for the last twenty years or so. My car is pre 2000 so parts are hard to get.
It’s worrying because I don’t think I will be able to afford to have it fixed again next year
It also has several advisories that show that there will be similar problems or worse next year. I will have to think outside the box. Really I think I need an automatic, I want to stay safe on the road.
What’s the most money you’ve ever spent on a meal? Was it worth it?
We went out for a lovely meal at a Japanese Restaurant called Miso in Stoke on Trent. There were three of us so we agreed to share the cost between us as it was a family outing. It’s actually mentioned in a Novel by a Richard Osman, one of his Thursday Murder club series.
We had sushi for starters, with Miso soup, then each of us had a different Bento box, including Duck with teriyaki sauce, and mackeral with black pepper sauce, salad, rice, and guyozo.
Finally we has pistachio ice cream with sesami seeds.
Drinks included iced tea, sake, and cold japanese lager. I think the cost crept up because we kept ordering sake and I also had a glass of peach wine. Very tasty.
We love the place, but they were being refurbished recently, I know it’s reopened but we haven’t had the chance to go back and I will have to be more careful about what I spend!
We were thinking of replacing a garden bench with a new one. The seat has rotted through because we didn’t use wood preservatives and there were a few ones for sale at a garden centre we visited at the weekend. But I gasped when I saw the prices! This one was almost £500! I used to pay less than that for a few nights holiday accommodation, although I can’t see us having a holiday this year. Everything has got too expensive.
At least we have some money to spare, but only because of cutting back. It meant we could afford the vet bill today. I’d rather do that than buy clothes or shoes. Life is crazy, but I’m not going to complain, a lot of people have it far worse than us. I think we have to learn to be kinder to each other…. (and not buy benches…)
Magnolia blossom about to open, the ones with the dark pink/purple outer petals and pale pink insides. They are expensive to buy, so this one stayed at the garden centre last weekend. We do have a small magnolia stellata in the garden, but as its been cold here it is yet to flower.
I went to buy a few groceries today and was shocked at the price of a branded can of beans. £1.45! The shops own brand was 36 pence a whole £1.09 less. So the most expensive can was four times more !
This is madness, the food you buy is costing more and more. But why should something cost that much more. I wonder how much more they will charge if they can. How much is because of limited stock, the cost of delivery, manufacture or because of making profit from people who can’t afford the increasing cost. This would be difficult to determine, except for the cheapness of the other can!
On sale, you can build your own scale model of the Titanic. It’s being advertised at the moment on TV. Working parts and museum quality.
Sounds great? The first installment is £1.99, and there are 140 issues… So that would be around £280….expensive I know, and you have to put it together yourself…
But don’t forget to read the small print. The first issue is £1.99, the further 139 issues are £9.99 each! So that’s £9.99 x 139 + £1.99 = £1390.60! What? And if you miss one edition, or they don’t do the whole run? I think you’ve got to be very dedicated and strongly motivated to do it and spend so much!
Mallaband-Brown