Preparedness for when

GreyQueen

Very good post, VJsMum. There's a high caliber of thinking on this here thread, isn't there? And zombie jokes and great recipes, too.

I've often thought that the advertising slogan (L'Oreal?) is the perfect summation of this attitude; Because you're worth it.

Yeah, right. Because your hair is privileged hair and can't be cleansed with a cheapy supermarket shampoo. Because you deserve a treat for the great achievement of having made it through another taxing day at t'office. Because you're entitled to your 2 weeks on the Costa Brava and gawdelp anyone who tries to suggest that spending the only bit of savings you have on a holiday when your job is uncertain is a leetle bit unwise.

One time in my life I owned just one pair of shoes. And one of the blasted things leaked. Never could find where to stop it but going out in the rain meant that my right sock would be saturated from toe to mid-foot. Great fun in a Scottish winter - not! The utter bliss of being able to replace those with a pair which didn't leak. Coming back to my bedsit and taking both shoes off and having both feet dry. Pure joy.

But buying 5 pairs of new waterproof footwear wouldn't have made me joyous x 5. I can only sleep in one bed at a time, and there's a limit to how much I can eat or drink. I read voraciously but still only get thru 180 a year and most of them library books.

Fretting about whether you're fulfilled or reaching your potential or need to have bigger or smaller (insert body part) or that your furnishings aren't this year's style is the sign of a degenerate society with far too much time on it's hands.

But I was always the odd one out...........

westcoastscot

Vjsmum i agree - the first three tiers are paramount to achieving four and five.
I agree also that in days gone by a higher proportion of our wages went on living expenses and for many those days are returning.

We stock up on groceries etc over the summer to free up a little extra fuel money in winter - its really important to keep warm. Pops why not eat from your stores for a while and have your heating on? Also do you get cold weather payments?

GreyQueen

westcoastscot wrote: »

Vjsmum i agree - the first three tiers are paramount to achieving four and five.
I agree also that in days gone by a higher proportion of our wages went on living expenses and for many those days are returning.

We stock up on groceries etc over the summer to free up a little extra fuel money in winter - its really important to keep warm. Pops why not eat from your stores for a while and have your heating on? Also do you get cold weather payments?

When my parents were young marrieds, they used to continue to buy coal throughout the summer. Because if you left it all to buy in the winter, the money would have been spent elsewhere. They lived paypacket to paypacket and had to be very careful.

I shop for gifts thoughout the year so that there is almost no uptick in expenditures in Nov/ Dec when most people seem to go insane for a few weeks, with the subsequent January hangovers. And I work the seasons; this weekend will see me taking possession of 2 of those orange tubs of cream crackers that were sold off at £1.50 each as opposed to £4.99.

Little bits can add up then you can divert some money into seasonal expenditures like the fuel bill.

[Deleted User]

GQ I think we've collectively reached all the potential that we had to begin with, and recognised the fact which gives us all a much more thorough grounding and acceptance of life in all its many guises. The strivers never do reach thier potential and are like the blindfolded one in a game of 'Blind Mans Buff' always seeking in the dark for something they cannot quite find, then like a scared child they feel the need for the 'treat' to make it all better. I think quite a lot of us feel 'I wont buy it, because I'm worth it!!!' We can't change the world but, by setting an example we might just change the life of someone who needs it, yes? You can only lead from the front and do any of us really care what others think? I know I don't!!! Cheers Lyn xxx.

[Deleted User]

GreyQueen wrote: »

Quick Q; I saw one of those little square stoves which comes in it's own carry case today on sale but didn't have time to study on it.

Is this the sort of thing you saw?

If yes, then the answers are as follows.

Could someone tell me if they run on gas bottles, or if their fuel supply is included in that size?

All models run on these type of gas cartridges

but some models will also run on gas cylinders. You can tell whether it will work on cylinders, by looking for a hole (about the size of a 2p piece) at the back of the unit, in line with the control knob.

If there is such a hole, you can feed a hose from a suitable regulator through it, to run the stove off a cylinder.

No hole means you can only use the gas cartridges.

How much use do you get from their fuel and how much are refills/ new cartridges (whatever you call them)?

The cartridges last 2 to 3 hours, depending on if you have the stove running flat out to boil, or turned down to simmer/fry.

Prices vary (plenty on Ebay - it's the P220 type you need), although I get them from a stall on my local market, at about a fiver for four.

One good thing about the stove. It has Piezo ignition, so no need to search for matches or lighters to light it.

I have two such stoves, and find them excellent.

GreyQueen

:T Here, here, Mrs LW.

I've sometimes been disparged for not being more ambitious. I'm clever, what the hell am I doing working in a call centre, is the general gist of it. Sometimes people give me the fifth degree which is darned cheeky when some of them are only casual acquaintances. Sometimes the dispargement is in the form of a look or a throwaway comment, such as Are you still........? said with a barely-disguised curl of the lip.

I actually like my job and it works because I don't do stress. I'm a cool cucumber in a crisis but I can't hack prolonged stress. Stress makes me very ill. Nervous-breakdown ill. So I choose to live a simple life with fewer material things than some of my peers (but still far more than subsistance). And I get to put my headset away at the end of each shift and not have to worry about a thing.

My workplace is full of people who have led very interesting lives and downsized from some downright impressive achievements. The quality of wit and banter is hard to match; I love my colleagues lots. A lot of us are middle-aged with advanced academic and professional qualifications and have reached the point where we have called the bluff on the endless striving for more which seems to be the heartbeat of our age. We work hard and then we knock off and get on with the real business of living; family, friends, pets, hobbies, playing silly games and music.

I think of it as being like Tyler Durden's rants in Fight Club.

**You’re not your job. You’re not how much money you have in the bank. You’re not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet. You’re not your f***ing khakis. You’re the all-singing, all-dancing cr*p of the world.**

PS It's a brilliant book, highly recommend it.

ETA, Bedsit Bob, thank you, it looked like that on the picture on the outside. I'm glad of that information.

JayJay14

We have had one of these stoves for years, OH uses it for fishing trips, it goes in the car in his emergency kit every winter, the kids have borrowed it for camping and it has seen us through power cuts. Was probably the best £15 we ever spent.
B&M is a good source of refills if you have one handy

GreyQueen

JayJay14 wrote: »

We have had one of these stoves for years, OH uses it for fishing trips, it goes in the car in his emergency kit every winter, the kids have borrowed it for camping and it has seen us through power cuts. Was probably the best £15 we ever spent.
B&M is a good source of refills if you have one handy

Thanks for that endorsement. We don't have B & M around here but I'm sure I could find a source of refills.

I'm going to get one and encourage the parents to get one. I feel that there's a risk that things might go back to being as unreliable as they were in the seventies but at least we have better outdoorsy kit now. The one I saw was reduced to £14.99.

It's great to get the opinion of people who actually use the stuff and don't have a vested interest in selling you something. I appreciate people taking the time to answer my questions.

westcoastscot

Well i'm stepping away from the internet for a while in a move to re-simplify my life. Stay safe and prosper everyone, i'll be back to visit in the autumn.
WCS

[Deleted User]

GreyQueen wrote: »

The one I saw was reduced to £14.99.

Check ASDA.

They were (and some branches may still be) selling a similar one for a tenner.


Argos also do the same stove as I've got, but marketed under the Campingaz brand name.

It's a bit expensive @ £20, but if you are desperate.



ETA: B&M are selling the same stove for just £8-99.

BTW. Here's how the gas cartridge fits in the stove.