Breaking Through, Travelling On

Karmacat

Today has been a funny shaped day - I'm usually here first thing, but had some paid work first thing, which meant I was dressed and respectable early on: I liked it! Even though I get going very early, I'm not often dressed for the outside world thats what working from home for years will do to you :rotfl: but I liked being up like that, I must say. No paid work tomorrow, so I'll try it then

More work later, and a humongous Sainsbo delivery ... plus singing the praises (internally, anyway ) of mould killer. Not bleach, but mould killer. With bleach, the nasty black stuff grows back in a few days. With mould killer, it doesn't :j and best of all for me, with my arthritis all over my active hand, arm and shoulder, no elbow [STRIKE]great[/STRIKE] grease involved. You wipe it off with water, but a lot of it, mostly on grout, just seems to disappear, and my bathroom is starting to gleam. Colour me relieved dotcom.

I haven't managed to write down the three things I'm grateful for every day, the way Greying does, but I am grateful for:
- the acceptance of friends, and the spontaneous friendships that have a chance to grow in a place as big as this.
- mould killer I'm not kidding, this has been a big part of my life in the last four days :rotfl: it smells like a swimming pool afterwards, which is also nice
- supermarket deliveries! So much time saved, so much physical effort of lugging it back saved. I wouldn't want to do it all the time, but for a big stock up of staples, I find it invaluable.

Karmacat

Sigh ... El has been educating me about RDR, the Retail Distribution Review ... for such innocuous words, it seems potentially very, very expensive. But I *think* I might have clicked as to what its about - its about the advice you take when you start making contributions to a pension scheme or savings. And I've always gone out of my way to avoid advice - I won't share the opinion upon which this decision is based, as its mostly both intuitive and scatological

But its put me, I **think**, in the fortunate position that I'm not affected by this round of changes.

Its something else that will have to be checked in February, though, when I'm going through the savings pots and finding out whats going on.


ETA - I must stop using the computer late at night. In the meantime, I was trying to avoid going to bed by looking at what John Lewis and Harrods have to offer in the cat departments. How about a cat collar for £67? An ipad case for £55? Or how about a Saint Laurent scarf in baby cat design? Looks like abstract black and white spots to me, but there you go. Plenty of money at the high end.

Must go to bed ... must go to bed ...

Karmacat

I've been working on my tax return the "whole" day - inverted commas are there because I loathe this work so much I take any chance I get to run away from the computer, or switch tabs. I taped The Eagle last night - set in Roman Britain, and while I didn't actually watch any of it except over lunch, I did end up mooching about on imdbn:o:D norty, norty KC :rotfl:

Anyway, I was bored but decided to stay with it, and started fiddling about at the end of the form, which was showing 9 errors. Bliss ... the errors were simply that they wanted a yes or no to questions I hadn't got to yet! Happiness is a big red cross turned into a green tick :rotfl: My tax return is always really complicated by the French apartment, but at least I know I've used the right rate of exchange this year. As far as the whole thing goes, I may well end up paying out a bit more tax than last year, because I cut down so far - I don't have as much as usual to claim for :eek: seems quite annoying, but there you go, if you don't spend it, you don't get an allowance for it :money:

Quitting time! Enjoy the Friday night, folks

DedicatedDFW

Whoop! to the tax return being complete :j :beer: i bet that feels good and sorry if it was me that interrupted you Actually KC i realise i do have a pension :T - i just never think about it :eek: i see it as being a bill - that meant during horrid redundancy and debt time i still paid it. It is a personal one rather than with work - hence i don't really think about it. And i pay into it less than a days wage of my small salary. It is nowhere near enough to retire with also why i don't really see it as a pension *silly of me really* - i need to think do i increase payment ? Or look for another account oh dear... i am confused... i can speak to my bank for free but then they will promote their own products

Cats quite a few years ago when i had more spare time i used to volunteer at an animal place and my role was looking after the cats :)who had been through some terrible things and :mad:

How did getting dressed at the start of the day go? i was going to set myself a challenge this year of getting dressed on the days when i don't need to leave the house but i thought it might sound bad i love being snuggly in my pjs when i've no-where to go and no-one coming round But i have also considered the psychological impact on productivity on being dressed and ready for the day :think:

oh dear RDR is that something else i need to find out about *gulp*

And Mould Killer - oh please do share the one you use? I *need* this then we can celebrate super sparkly bathrooms together

Enjoy your evening x

Karmacat

DedicatedDFW wrote: »

Whoop! to the tax return being complete :j :beer: i bet that feels good and sorry if it was me that interrupted you

Nobody interrupted me except me, I guarantee you that

Actually KC i realise i do have a pension :T - i just never think about it :eek: i see it as being a bill

:j you have a pension - the start of one, anyway! Mine's nowhere near enough to retire on either, but its still better than a slap in the face with a wet kipper

It is nowhere near enough to retire with also why i don't really see it as a pension *silly of me really* - i need to think do i increase payment ? Or look for another account oh dear... i am confused... i can speak to my bank for free but then they will promote their own products

Its great news that you have a pension - and rather than speak to someone that I *know* has an agenda, I'd read Martin's articles on the main site first. Go to the banks to learn their language, by all means - personally, I'd never trust them. Just my opinion ...

Cats quite a few years ago when i had more spare time i used to volunteer at an animal place and my role was looking after the cats :)who had been through some terrible things and :mad:

Oh my word! So you're on the list of interviewees too, if you'll do it! I'm not sure I could cope with doing that, I identify so strongly with animals ...

How did getting dressed at the start of the day go? i was going to set myself a challenge this year of getting dressed on the days when i don't need to leave the house but i thought it might sound bad i love being snuggly in my pjs when i've no-where to go and no-one coming round But i have also considered the psychological impact on productivity on being dressed and ready for the day :think:

I did it by accident at the right time, but truthfully, I completely forgot, all I could think about was that I *had* to break the back of the tax work today :o:o As for being in pjs sounding bad - I can't tell you the number of people recently who've told me that they come in from work and they get their jammies on - they're from different parts of my life too, they don't know each other, but they all do the same thing - so if I were you, snuggle and be proud :j:j:j

oh dear RDR is that something else i need to find out about *gulp*

Its the advice, you see, thats what they want to charge you for - admittedly, it was set up to make the industry more transparent - they can't get their fees from the people who run the schemes they recommend to you, they have to get them more directly, i.e. from you. Considering how big the charges are, I don't believe people at our end of the market need to be paying for advice. We may not quite get the best deal - but if we're half a per cent off the best rate, maybe we come out even because we haven't paid the fee? I don't *know*, but I'm not likely to trust someone because they're a financial adviser, more likely the reverse in a professional capacity

And Mould Killer - oh please do share the one you use? I *need* this then we can celebrate super sparkly bathrooms together

:j:j:j its this stuff: http://reviews.diy.com/2191-en_gb/10287856/reviews.htm you might need a couple of goes, and it hasn't got the grout perfectly clean where I'd scraped the top layer off but thats my fault. And it only takes *black* mould - there's brown water staining on a flat bit that I have, and that hasn't gone. I've treated it, though, and I'm ready to use a grout pen on it.

Enjoy your evening x

Thanks hun, I have!

Pippilongstocking

Hands up to putting jammies on when I get in often too and sometimes never getting out of them if I'm at home

:-)

Have a good weeekend kc! I'm working (not in jammies) but its good fun so I shan't be moaning :-)

Karmacat

I like that, Pippi :rotfl:do you still put your wellies on with your pjs sometimes? :kisses3:

Hope work goes well - wombling has to take place at all sorts of hours, its true. I'm off to my Egyptology meeting, very early so I can "interview" (a.k.a. chat with) the first guy on the list, who fosters cats for his local cat rescue centre

The meeting is listed as being on "the workmen's huts in the Western Valley" - i.e. where the families of the guys who actually did all the work lived. I've seen a bit already, and the medical care was something special, only equalled in the past 100 years - healing a broken leg so that it healed straight, and the person didn't even have a leg, for instance, ordinary workmen too.

Hope everyone has a good day :j




ETA: the person doesn't have a limp. Not a leg. A limp :rotfl:

rtandon27

Another vote for jammies!

Must admit though, that I have "house-clothes" and jammies! In other words day-time jammies and night-time jammies! On days that I go to work, three changes of clothes are in order. The OH confirms that this is one of the nuttier things I'm prone to do! (...but then again, can you imagine anything more uncomfortable than suits, nylons & high heels?)

Today's jammie attire consists of the most comfortable pair of "yoga" pants (smarter than track pants - lol) and a long sleeve thermal t-shirt! As it was a bit chilly in the house (no central heating) have added a fuzzy scarf and thermal socks!

As to affecting productivity? I find that like our dear Pippi, a monster list helps, as does the mental shift from night-time to day-time gear. I think it's mainly the routine of tidying up in the morning and putting a brush through the matted locks that produces a mind shift!

DedicatedDFW

Karmacat wrote: »

I like that, Pippi :rotfl:do you still put your wellies on with your pjs sometimes? :kisses3:

Hope work goes well - wombling has to take place at all sorts of hours, its true. I'm off to my Egyptology meeting, very early so I can "interview" (a.k.a. chat with) the first guy on the list, who fosters cats for his local cat rescue centre

The meeting is listed as being on "the workmen's huts in the Western Valley" - i.e. where the families of the guys who actually did all the work lived. I've seen a bit already, and the medical care was something special, only equalled in the past 100 years - healing a broken leg so that it healed straight, and the person didn't even have a leg, for instance, ordinary workmen too.

Hope everyone has a good day :j

Thanks for all the input again KC and nice to see some fellow house pj wearers out there :T I had to say this egyptology sounds really fascinating - i keep trying to persuade my Mr for us to go on hols there..

Karmacat

Hi folks!

Actually, RT, I wear house-jammies - trackie bottoms with a couple of fleeces my feet still get cold, so I often go for a walk round the block to get my circulation working again

The talk was good - I hadn't understood what he meant by workmen's huts - he meant literally the huts in the Valley of the Kings that they used to store their copper and stone tools when they finished for the day, instead of taking them back to their sleeping quarters. They slept "nearby" during their 8 days at work, and then went back to their village for their 2 day weekend. And they've found little slabs of the local limestone (called ostracons, no idea why) where a wife is writing to her husband about sending more rice and beans. So its definite that in these upper working class families, some women, at least, could read and write. And we're talking about 1500 - 1300 BC!!! It continually amazes me.

Got a lift to the station from a friend, and waited about 30 seconds for my train, so I was home double quick too ... they have a library there, and I've got a whole book entitled "Cats in Ancient Egypt" :j:D:rotfl: :j:D:rotfl: :j:D:rotfl: :j:D:rotfl:

DD, if you want to go, go for it! I'm penniless in terms of cash flow at the mo, but it'll be one of the first things I do when I start making dosh, as long as the security situation is okay.