The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

rachlikeswinter

michaels wrote: »

Hopefully once you are in Europe it will be too cold for bugs and lurgies.

Do you mind saying where you are going? I did Montgenevre, Val D'Isere and then Zermatt and then made the major mistake of getting a 'proper' job

I’m off to Morzine for the second year - I was only supposed to do one season (quick career break before heading back into adulthood again) but here I am doing a second one...

And unfortunately there always seems to be icky guests with flu breathing all over you haha!

PasturesNew wrote: »

It depends how you're measuring them.

What are they for ... is that the only food you'll eat all day? Or a starter for a banquet.... will you eat 3 meals that day, or just have one in a sandwich for lunch.

I "aim for" a total food budget of £1/day. When I overspend I know I have, but I keep my eye on the £1 as my measure for affordability.

One avocado is £1 at L1dl, or 90p-£1.15 at Waitrose (essentials range).

I've never had one ....

For something that appears to be "an item, not even a whole meal" that seems pricey unless you're utterly addicted to them.

I can get a bag of five doughnuts for 65p if I want a treat!

Pyxis wrote: »

I do like them, though!
Plus, they are quite nutritious, and even though they have more calories than a lot of vegetables, they are 'good' calories, iyswim.

They are an acquired taste, though, Pastures, if you're ever tempted to taste one, and if they are underripe they aren't nice.

However, they are great for anyone who is underweight, or unwell/ill as they are an easy way to get nutritious calories into someone; they don't take any effort to eat, you see.

Plus you can eat them raw, on their own or in salads, or you can spread them on toast or crackers, or you can chop them and add them to stir fries, so they are quite versatile.

Edit....Plus you can spread it on your face as a face-pack!

Yes - I would class avocados as a ‘luxury’ item however I probably eat a couple a week. I’m actually vegan so they’re a very good source of fat for me; as my diet is naturally low in fat as I eat no animal fat. So they’re not a ‘necessity’ but definitely great for nutrition. But yes the main cost really is these darn brunches where you order avo on toast with some kind of fancy bread and they charge you £8 :eek:

So hi vivatifosi - I’m somewhat of an expert in all things non-meat ha. I do however like ‘fake’ meat and tofu but I limit it because it is, essentially, processed rubbish, and protein is easy to come by elsewhere.

LydiaJ

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Do watch out for the weather Nice Peeps as it's treacherous out there in some parts of the country and forecast to be more so early in the morning, managed to prang a car tonight for the first time in donkey's years, black ice, sideswiped a kerb, and then it all went Pete Tong.

Bit sore, car will need some new bits, but not too bad an outcome all things considered.

Glad you're OK Hamish. Hope the car is better soon.

vivatifosi wrote: »

The four ripen at home avocados are what I buy. They aren't very big. My favourite way to eat them is in an avocado and ementhal toastie, which also contains tobasco, mayo and black pepper. Nom nom nom..

Ooh! I must try them in toasties. Can't think why I've had them in bagels, and had toasties, but never thought of putting avocados in toasties. I'll rectify that omission for lunch today, I think.

lildoonbuggy wrote: »

Hi all! Inner hertsian here joining for the first time. What are you all doing here? Is it just about randomness or a safe place to rock in the corner after posting on the main forum? Looking forward to learning more

Hello! :hello:
I came on the House buying etc board years ago when I was thinking of buying a house. I learnt a lot, but I also got drawn into the debate board when I was a renter unsure if I'd ever be able to buy and hence interested in what house prices might do. I joined the thread because it looked fun. These days I am not interested in house prices at all - I own a house and am not likely to want to move for decades - but I stay on the NPT because the NP are now my friends.

lildoonbuggy

Sue, your purpose and drive sounds like an absolute gift. I think true happiness comes from knowing the positive change you've brought to others, rather than hearing it from them direct. I happen to love a lot of people who struggle to communicate, but in a strange way all it has led to is me getting better at it - almost like I want to give each of their behaviours a voice. I am so grateful for that experience and would not trade it. A glint in their eyes, the firmness of their grip, or a sudden gentleness to their tone is enough to fill my heart with joy. It's nice to learn to become that sensitive to the beauty of the world. Right, enough soppiness for the day. Must get things done! Today will be a day of cleaning, baking and returning Black Friday deals!!

LydiaJ

SingleSue wrote: »

I have thought about changing it but parents of autistic children are protective as anything and can get quite er, stroppy. As an example, I offered my services to a local autism parenting group but because I don't subscribe to the "My child can't do that, they are autistic" or "You must do special things as my child is autistic" way of thinking, she thought my input would be 'too disruptive'.

I get where they are coming from, I was like that in the early days of diagnosis and you just want to protect your child from the big nasty world but in doing so, they are relegating their children to a life of fear and hopelessness. Joe has put it into words, he has his behind the gates life and his life since the gates opened, he describes now being able to see colours where before everything was monochrome.

Ok he will never be able to experience feelings like everyone else and has described himself as a human robot and that the world can be a confusing place but he also much prefers his life now that he is not behind the barrier.

The thing about a sig is that it doesn't require a response. You can put information in it, and if people don't like it, they don't have to mention it. But if they decide, in their own time, that what you've put is something they'd like to know more about, then they can contact you. If you put something in your sig about what you've achieved with your boys, then stroppy protective parents of autistic children are free to decide that it couldn't possibly be done with their children and to ignore it, but maybe out there is a mother like you were back in the day, who might read it and think "She did it, so maybe I could too".

Talking of sigs... I am thinking of changing mine. I could apply to the forum team for permission to have a charity link in it, and put something like:

Do you know anyone who's bereaved? Point them to https://www.ataloss.org which does for bereavement support what MSE does for financial services. Select a few basic details and it will give you a list of relevant support organisations for the circumstances of the bereavement and the person's local area.

The problem is that I don't want to stop warning people about changing their tyres, but I don't think I can get both messages into one sig. Or can I? If it said "PS Change your tyres at 3mm instead of 1.6mm and prevent accidents in wet weather" on the end, would that be in poor taste???

lildoonbuggy

Lydia, I'm not sure if I'll ever complete my house buying journey in the UK. Being of mixed heritage means I do have a flat (being paid off directly to parents) in Germany and a traditional mortgage in Australia. After a year of grafting though we are finally free of unsecured debt and in a position of saving each month. I'm still deciding whether we will put it towards a deposit in the UK, or use it to reduce our mortgage in Australia (which is 4.19% interest with 26 years to go, but a year ahead in offset payments). House prices are so high in the south that I do question if we'll ever be in a position to afford it! Plus with Brexit, real estate prices make me nervous. Husband is a brit.

LydiaJ

lildoonbuggy wrote: »

Lydia, I'm not sure if I'll ever complete my house buying journey in the UK. Being of mixed heritage means I do have a flat (being paid off directly to parents) in Germany and a traditional mortgage in Australia. After a year of grafting though we are finally free of unsecured debt and in a position of saving each month. I'm still deciding whether we will put it towards a deposit in the UK, or use it to reduce our mortgage in Australia (which is 4.19% interest with 26 years to go, but a year ahead in offset payments). House prices are so high in the south that I do question if we'll ever be in a position to afford it! Plus with Brexit, real estate prices make me nervous. Husband is a brit.

That does sound complicated, lildoon! My journey to home ownership was more straightforward although hardly conventional. When I was in the middle of it (before buying, and then after buying but before paying everything off) I spent some time on the MFW board, mostly lurking, but occasionally posting. I would really recommend the people there if you decide you'd like support in paying down your various things - there's something incredibly motivating about having a coloured sig with debt numbers that you can keep decreasing every time you pay a little off.

vivatifosi

Where are you from in Australia lil?

We lived in Melbourne for a bit when I was a kid, absolutely loved it. I still have family there and in Qld. My mum's side of the family spans both countries.

vivatifosi

Speaking of mortgages, as of this week and an additional payment, we own 96.3% of the replacement cost of our house. 1 year, one month to go to mortgage free.

LydiaJ

vivatifosi wrote: »

Speaking of mortgages, as of this week and an additional payment, we own 96.3% of the replacement cost of our house. 1 year, one month to go to mortgage free.

Nearly there! Well done you. :beer::j:T
Not long before you get the little "mortgage free glee" badge that I think of as looking like the Parthenon. I have one, but I do not own the Parthenon. Or anything with columns and a pediment, for that matter!

lildoonbuggy

Good advice Lydia, I definitely need direction, even if it just somewhere for me to focus on for now. It was the debt for so long (first car, then dental loan - luckily never credit card or pay day debt) that I feel a bit lost at the moment.

vivatifosi, lived a long time in Adelaide but it never felt like home. Melbs is so much nicer. Our mortgage is in Adelaide, which thankfully has very reasonable real estate prices.

A massive congrats to you on being imminently mortgage free, especially given how busy you sound to have been over the last years!! At one point our plan was to pay down ours in 10 years. Then brexit mortally wounded the pound, and my parents decided to sell the family flat in Germany. I couldn't bare to lose that foothold to home so that became our unexpected little bundle of joy. It was touch and go earlier this year, but we've finally got back to a safe point.