Reach for the stars...

Butti

niccatw wrote: »

The weather was glorius! We didn't camp as wee broken legged child has a stookie (is that a universal or a Scottish term?) from thigh to foot and will not be allowed to weight-bare for the next 8 weeks.

In saying that I am also having a dilemma about a very good offer at salon that does my waxing! Excellent offer though it may be, it is not MSE and will increase my debt if I go for it.

Essentially it is a years worth of 4-weekly IPL laser hair removal treatment and you can get whatever you want done in that time... She gave me a free trial and it has made a big difference in just 4 weeks (It works very well if, like me, you are very pale with very dark hair!). Given the amount I spend on waxing and given how sensitive my skin is to shaving/bleaching and almost every other hair removal thingy under the sun, it does make sense. It is also the only thing I have ever said I would be willing to pay for. And it's just over 65% off the normal cost.

But it's still a lot of money for what is essentially a beauty treatment. And half the time I think "go for it" because it is something I want to do. And half the time I think "don't be ridiculous!" (Half the time I think this because the numbskulls in my head are humming "Your so vain" and the other half of the time because it just doesn't sit well with paying of my debt and aiming to VSO in 18 months.)

So I've still not come to a decision. I did ask her to calcualte the price for a smaller amount of areas that I could get done first. It was half the price of the offer but isn't even close to half the areas I could get done with the offer.

I have to the end of this month to think about it and she said she'd extend the offer for a week in August if I wanted (I'm assuming this isn't just for me and she's doing that anyway).

I think this might need to be one of those spider diagram decisions my friend talks about! (I feel very shallow even thinking about spider diagrams for a beauty treatement given the events in the news this week. )

Maty... good luck for tomorrow! Given you're likely reading this after the event, I hope it went well!

Is a stookie a cast then? I have no idea.

I think laser treatment seems like a no brainer to me. Lets replace Martin's usual questions with slightly more appropriate ones.

1. Do you normally have this procedure done?
2. Would you normally do something instead - waxing etc. (if so you need to price up a lifetime's worth of waxing strips / razer blades)
3. Is this going to be it or will you then feel the need to get a boob job, liposuction etc.etc.
4. How far back is it going to push back the VSO?
5. Do you want it?

I would have it done because you want it done and I suspect it will just push VSO a few months. But then I have had my boobs and eyes done so maybe 'I am so vain'!

B

MrsMoo2U

I like Butti's questions. I think number 3 is the crucial one. I would have it done if I was remotely into that kind of thing. Ok so it will push your debt free date back a tad but remember you are working 2 jobs and life isnt always about work, work, work. Sometimes you have to have a treat in order to give yourself the incentive to keep that work up.
Festival sounds like fun and that drunken man - what a star. A random drunk just told me that I had a lovely smile (which appeared because he was staggering along singing at the top of his voice whilst I was waiting for my lift after a long miserable train journey and he seemed so happy). Hurrah for drunken men.

Butti

cherisong wrote: »

A random drunk just told me that I had a lovely smile (which appeared because he was staggering along singing at the top of his voice whilst I was waiting for my lift after a long miserable train journey and he seemed so happy). Hurrah for drunken men.

Drunken men telling you that you have a lovely smile. Way better than someone yelling 'woof' out of a van at you, although I have to admit that did make me smile - sure it wasn't supposed to.

B

MrsMoo2U

Butti wrote: »

Drunken men telling you that you have a lovely smile. Way better than someone yelling 'woof' out of a van at you, although I have to admit that did make me smile - sure it wasn't supposed to.

B

I hope that you growled right back at them! Idiots.(although that is the kind of thing that makes me laugh too)

Butti

cherisong wrote: »

I hope that you growled right back at them! Idiots.(although that is the kind of thing that makes me laugh too)

Someone had wolfwhistled Cheri the previous day so I just thought it was amusing!

B

MatyMoo

Plan for Scotland trip is 25th Aug head for Ayr, 26-28th Aug Glasgow, 29th head back south. Does that fit in with you at all?

niccatw

:rotfl:Loving the drunken men stories. SOme-one woofing at me would crack me up. :rotfl:

Ok, Butti's questions...

1. & 2. Normally I'd be paying for waxing every 4 weeks. IPL will have paid for itself within 3 years at the current price I pay for my waxing. Less than that if I add up the cost of waxing areas I don't wax but would use IPL on.
3. That will be it. I'm not remotely interested in allowing some-one to slice me open if there is no medical need for it. And even then I was dubious about the sinus op I was supposed to get a good few years back so when they cancelled it I never pushed for it to be rescheduled. It wasn't a huge medical necessity as far as I was concerned.
4. It'll push debt repayments back a bit but I'd reckon I could still have it all paid off within my original VSO time-scales.
5. Yes, I do want it. It is just the thought of paying out so much money for it that doesn't sit well.

And yes, a "stookie" is a plaster cast.

Maty, that'sperfect timing, you'll be coming up as my doggy-sitting comes to an end. I might have to drag you on a pre-marathon training walk though... :rotfl:

Tonight I have been with a couple of the other conference girls. Our flier is published and now we need to advertise and get bums on seats! Now it's like hoping people turn up to your party! It's a fantastic opportunity and the first time all the speakers have got together in Scotland so we hope people recognise this. Especially as we aren't a big group with money behind us, just three colleaugues trying to get it off the ground here because we think it is important. If it doesn't work out, it won't go forward as we will take a huge step down and continue to meet for peer support but less the stress of big projects!

Although we did talk shop and wondered what on earht we were doing when we have no clue on how to promote a conference, it was a lovely evening and I really enjoyed the tangential conversations! Nothing like a cat jumping on to a window sill behind your friend when you weren't expecting it to make you fall of your seat with such pizazz! :rotfl:

MrsMoo2U

Good luck with the conference. I would suggest getting a twitter account and start following lots of organisations in the field and start tweeting about the conference, asking others to retweet for you. Have you thought about speaking to an SMP who might have an interest in the area to see if they could guest speak at the conference and thus raise any profile and issues within the area to Parliament? If you go down that route that would instantly create a buzz around the conference as you might get public affairs groups and pundits interested. Another way to promote it would be to ask the speakers to advertise via their networks that they are attending. Also you could try to get an interview with the local press and radio stations and any specific interest publications. If the area of interest is in voluntary sector then contact all of the local voluntary sector umbrella organisations and CAB and ask them to promote it in their publications and via their databases. Hope that you dont mind me suggesting these. I know what it is like to organise an event and then worry that nobody will turn up. Luckily it hasnt happened for me yet and I have organised a fair few conferences and workshops now.

niccatw

Thanks Cheri. We thought of contacting our MSP, but not some of the others. Our profession is also running a campaign with a "mass mobilisation" event in October so we could possibly link it in with that. I might speak to the Scotland officer for the profession. Think the big difficulty for us is just not having named contacts! It's very time-consuming googling all sectors Scotland wide!

Plus it's summer holibags and people are just not that interested right now. Fingers crossed for us!

Weird... I've just received a bookhopper request from some-one from Littlehampton. It's a decorating book. Methinks Lisawaters might have more than one alter-ego! :rotfl:(Those of you in the know, have a fabulous weekend and give evey-one a big hug from me! )

Oooh, ooh, ooh.... can't belive this wasn't the first thing to burst forth... but I have finally received a reply from VSO. Yay! :j Erm, actually don't get too excited, it's just the supporter's group. I still haven't actually applied. They are next meeting beginning of September, which seems far away but is probably good timing for me giving how busy I am right now and doggy sitting will be just before it too!

Doc has written me a nice letter for the lovely uni prof too, so let him know it's not all my fault I'm a muppet about course work right now and could he be as lovely as always and giveme yet a little more time! Feel a bit of a fraud and yet I still can't find the motivation. Sat in the library today and wrote threee pages of A4 - for the meeting I have with my boss tomorrow where I plan on telling her if the situation with my supervisor doesn't change, I will endeavour to change my situation. I don't know if that's a tad too far, but trying to sort out what Ineeded to say was a nightmare, there are so many strands to it! Ultimately, I need her to know that occy health and use of the capability policy are unecessary. It's stress that I can specifically pinpoint and it's her job to do something about it. And if not, it probably is a union issue? (I wouldn't go down that route at all but it might be worth pointing that out rather than threatening to quit! My VSO plans are well under wraps at work! Obviously.)

And Barclaycard said yes. So IPL is on the cards - literally! And I hope all the paperwork is processed before my next credit card payment is due (currently set to "pay in full" so if it isn't sorted I need to get on the phone to them or get a massive fright when they attempt to take it from my account!!!)

And tonight I am determined to get to bed at a sensible time so I'm off to catch up with every-one. See you later.

Maty - glad it went well! Mind and have enough fingers left to enable you to drive where you need to go at the weekend! I hope it goes your way!

MrsMoo2U

Great news on the conference. Definitely link it up with the mass mobilisation. Does your professional body have a policy officer? If so then ask them to do some promotion for you. If you contact the Scottish Voluntary Services Organisation http://www.cvsscotland.org.uk/Home/Home.aspx they will be able to advise you on how best to get the information out to the voluntary sector and they will probably send out a targeted email to the relevant voluntary organisations if you ask them nicely. Trust me that is how I do it. Lots of smaller voluntary organisations dont have a lot of money so if you are offering the conference at a reduced rate for them even better.

The Dr would not have done a letter for you if you were a fraud so stop that thought right now. I am sure that the professor will understand. Good idea to write everything down. Finally being able to pinpoint the stress and being able to back it up with evidence (notes on the filing cabinet !!!!!!) will be even better. One thought that might be worth considering, is your supervisor suffering from stress or depression causing this reaction or is she just a bit loopy? If you discuss with the manager in the form of you being concerned in case she is stressed might make the discussion a little easier.