OS Singlies - We Do It Our Way!

calicocat

Something else i've done in restaurants too as I find it funny, is when the waiter comes to take the drinks order I ask him something, jot something down in my filofax, ask another question....then carry on as normal.

The reason for doing this was so that I might look like a food critic....!!....lol....and so they wouldn't ignore me and would send me lovely food.

I know...i'm a bit bonkers....lol.

Funny though , as sometimes I think it really works.

nicki_2

Hi all, been lurking more than posting lately as I've not really had much to add, but today I wanted to posted about some things I've done with DD's help (she's only 13 so this impressed me!) recently and have really boosted my confidence.

We've lived in this rented house for 10 years, and for the first 4 ex lived here as well. When we first moved in, the house was stuck in the 80's/90s and needed decorating throughout and all the rooms except the livingroom were just given a coat of paint to make them presentable as this house was meant to be a temporary thing. The livingroom was in such a bad way decor wise we stripped the wallpaper, put lining paper up and then painted that. Lots of jobs were added to a to-do list if we were staying here and just stayed there. After having central heating fitted in 2009 there were exposed copper pipes everywhere and I've been meaning to decorate ever since. Nearly 2 years ago we had a new gas fire fitted and I bought a second hand surround for it and added fitting that to the list. I have a male friend who said he'd come round and help me with the decorating but mainly fitting the fire surround....

Well this past 2 weeks I've been tackling that list with DD's help We've:
- stripped the livingroom wallpaper
- spent days filling & then sanding down all the holes/bumps in the walls which were very obvious through the wallpaper (on the list for years)
- Fixed the top on a built in cupboard which had collapsed on top of the gas meter! Turns out someone built the cupboard using a nail replacement adhesive and no other support! (on the list since around Easter I think?)
- Put 2 shelves in a small alcove (35cm wide!) which DD did almost on her own, I just did the drilling and spacing out. This means that alcove has gone from having 2 shelves near the top and then a 4ft space underneath to having 4 useable shelves for my candles etc and the bucket for cleaning can live on the bottom On the list for 10 years
- Built out & fitted the fire surround which was a nightmare because of the way the gas pipe runs to the gas fire. I bought the surround in August 2012 and been waiting for my friend to come and fit it ever since!
- Fixed the hardboard on some boxed in pipes (on and off the list for 10 years as we'd fix it and then we'd notice another bit that needed fixing lol)
- Fixed the understairs cupboard door which was coming apart (made of 1x1 & hardboard!) and has been driving me mad for I don't know how long!

DD has now primed the new shelves & fire surround ready to be painted with gloss paint The house is chaos, I'm stressed as I want it all done yesterday, but DD is learning so many valuable life skills its worth it. However why I ever thought it could be all done and dusted in the space of 2 weeks I'll never know :rotfl:

Oh and the male friend who said he'd help....he'll be getting a photo sent to him of the room done and dusted with "I got sick of waiting for you" on it :rotfl::rotfl:

calicocat

Wow.......
Well done Nicki, and to your daughter too.


It will never happen yesterday, it's taken me a year to change barbie-room....but it will be done eventually, and you will feel fab and really proud of both of you. it's amazing what we can do once we set our minds to it.......go sister(s)..!!

I have done nothing so far today except plant up some cat grass seeds. It's going to be raining most of the day, so may take a trip to b n m's to see what they are throwing at the general public this week, or maybe the shops at the next town for a change.

Horace

Wow Nicki and DD - you have done an enormous amount. Love the idea of sending a pic to the male friend who promised to help but didn't.

Calico - you are a devil, might try that trick myself and see what happens.

I have been a sloth today eventually shifting myself out of bed at 8.45am but not getting dressed until 10am. I have been to the polling station - we have to elect a new police commissioner but as neither of the candidates have even bothered to say what their policies will be to encourage me to vote for them, I am afraid I voted for all of them and wrote a message across the ballot paper. The chap that handed me the ballot paper asked if I had trouble with the paper because I was in the polling booth for quite a while, I said not and then because I was folding the paper, he asked if I was going to make a peacock.

Still working on the application form - I do wish that employers would consider whether or not their forms are disability compliant, this form is quite difficult for me as it seems to consist of grey boxes with white lettering - it looks to me like grey blobs with space underneath for writing. I have been told that I cannot submit a CV and have to use their form.:mad:

Thankfully for Wednesday's planned lunch - I only have to cook for two of us. I need to think about dinner tonight - I have a lb of minced beef so I might just cook it all up and serve some as a spag bol and some as a cottage pie, if I could get over the phobia of sticking my hand into raw meat then I will make some meatballs.

moneyistooshorttomention

Charis wrote: »

I fall into each of the other three categories that can still be discriminated against as well, ie being older (although I don't feel or act my age, even if I do look it) wearing glasses (along with being post menopausal that's almost as good as an invisibility cloak for remaining unnoticed while waiting to be served)

There is hope though,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28292651 :T

:rotfl:at being ignored for wearing glasses and there's been me all these years thinking it sends out an "intelligent aura" and therefore tells people "Do not mess with...this one is capable of arguing back". Have I got that wrong?:think:

I read that article with interest. I'd heard of the Dutch place and thought "Good for them". I like the sound of the others too. As a bit of a foodie (give me half a chance) I definitely like the sound of taster menus and being able to chat to the chefs and possibly get samples of what they are cooking (dual purpose too, in that I could check the cleanliness of the kitchens). That sort of service might actually entice me to head out specially for a meal when I hadn't intended to in the first place. Those places have acknowledged that one of the pleasures of accompanied dining is being able to have a taster of your companions' food, so you've tried two things for the price of one iyswim.

lillibet_dripping

I have been an OS singlie for 12 years. At first, it bothered me hugely but with age (now 53) comes an 'I don't give a damm' attitude.
I will happily walk into a pub/restaurant/caf! and order a meal/drink by myself. After all, I don't ever intend to have another partner (long story!!) and I don't want to waste the rest of my life NOT doing things just because I'm single.


I'm currently waging a campaign against our local 'upmarket' restaurant. We often eat there when the family are visiting and so they know me fairly well. Each month, they hold a 'Gourmet Evening' where I suspect the chef tries out new dishes on an unsuspecting public. Now, I love food - I was a Food Technology teacher until Rheumatoid Arthritis caused early retirement earlier this year. I am also a MasterChef semi-finalist (from years back in the Lloyd Grossman days!!). However, I am also conscious of the fact that the restaurant won't want a single person seated at a table at which they could earn twice the money.


I keep suggesting to them that on these evenings, they provide a circular table for, say, 10 persons and advertise it as such. That way, I get to eat at the Gourmet Evening along with like-minded foodies AND maybe make new friends. So far, they are not playing ball, but I won't give up!!


Re: DIY - it's amazing what you can achieve without a man when you put your mind to it!!


Edited to add: re doggy bags. I have always done this. Initially, it was genuinely to feed the dogs but now it is distributed between the cats, dogs, chickens or compost bin. After all, I've paid for the meal and am saving the left-overs from going to landfill. I have yet to find a restaurant which has 'looked down' on me for doing this. Usually, they will put all the scrapings from each plate into a foil 'basket', but I have been known to take my own plastic container to places where I know the portions are large!!

moneyistooshorttomention

Yep...I'd go for that idea too personally, ie table for 10 unrelated singlies to have a Gourmet Evening of food.

That wouldn't bother me, as we'd all be in the same boat and there's always the chance of maybe meeting a new friend in the process with something like that.

moneyistooshorttomention

Been doing the washing-up and pondering Singlies Social Lives generally.

I've moved from a small city that is a bit of a "powerhouse" type place to a semi-ruralish type location and have now had several surprising discoveries of something that hadn't crossed my mind I'll admit. That is that I'm used to weekly activities happening weekly (ie throughout the year, with perhaps a bit of an "everyone seems to have gone into hibernation mode" thing in August each year).

In this area, lots of regular weekly activities seem to stop happening in the school holiday periods:huh::shocked:. That hadn't even occurred to me and I've queried it and get the same reply each time, which boils down to "Oh well...parents won't come then" and that means the rest of us cant attend either then.....:cool:

This year, well I'm busily investigating all the local festivals/carnivals/etc that happen around here at this time of year, but shall have to give some thought to future years, when I'm about to set off for dance thing no. 1, dance thing no. 2, exercise thing, off to do one of my volunteering type things I do and find they're all doing the "No parents around...school holidays doncha' know...wait till next term" thing. I queried this with a married friend of mine here and she said its not my imagination, she'd also noticed this area is much more "family-oriented" than either of us are used to.

So, who else lives in an area like this and attends a fair number of regular weekly things, only to find that they aren't there during those school holiday periods? What's your take on large chunks of your regular social life going missing during those weeks? What do you do instead whilst these things aren't happening or have you managed to make alternative arrangements with other singlies to keep things up during "Parents Missing" type weeks of the year?

ellie99

Nicki WELL DONE for getting all those jobs done :T
and even more brownie points for showing your DD that you both can do it when you try.

Just think how chuffed you're going to be when everything's finished and you can sit down and admire the results!

(Does anyone else keep going into the room they've done work on, just to admire it, or is that just me? :rotfl:)

lillibet_dripping wrote: »

I keep suggesting to them that on these evenings, they provide a circular table for, say, 10 persons and advertise it as such. That way, I get to eat at the Gourmet Evening along with like-minded foodies AND maybe make new friends. So far, they are not playing ball, but I won't give up!!

That is such a good idea, what a pity they've not taken you up on it...yet! Do they have a social media page? Somewhere where you could suggest it, and it's out there in the public domain? Then if there was a good response from others it might make them think again?

On the subject of dining, another thing that annoys me...I occasionally have a meal with a male friend (just a friend!) and the staff always assume and talk to us as if we're a couple. I can't really blame them for that, I'd probably assume the same, but it bugs me! As I get older sometimes I'm really chilled, but sometimes I'm grumpy :rotfl:

There's a name for a friend of the opposite sex who may put others off approaching you, but I don't think I can mention it on here :rotfl:

(and I can't take him anywhere male-orientated if I'm buying, or the staff just talk to him and ignore me. He was once visiting me when I had an emergency plumber in to fix a leak in my loft...the plumber explained all about the job and what he'd done - to him, and he didn't even live there!)

But I guess that's not a proper complaint, just me being grumpy!

ellie99

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

So, who else lives in an area like this and attends a fair number of regular weekly things, only to find that they aren't there during those school holiday periods? What's your take on large chunks of your regular social life going missing during those weeks? What do you do instead whilst these things aren't happening or have you managed to make alternative arrangements with other singlies to keep things up during "Parents Missing" type weeks of the year?

I don't attend things like this myself, but my (adult) DS does, and yes, they stop in the school holidays. One because it's held in a school hall. Another sport one they'd be happy to keep running, but every week they meet they all pay their sub to pay for the hall, and when a good number don't turn up in the summer there's not enough money to pay for the hall, so it's easier not to meet in the holidays.

I don't think there's an easy answer to this. If I was still a parent of young children, I'd prioritize being with/looking after them in the holidays over going to a weekly hobby meeting, *especially* as a single parent.
But I can appreciate it might be annoying to non-parents. Maybe some of your clubs have taken the decision because of finances as well? It's rare to have a meeting place which is free.

Personally I think I might get a bit fed up with meetings if they were every single week of the year with no breaks, but that's just me. And I do live in a semi-rural area...:)