2020 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

PollyWollyDoodle

Wow what a great bike, I love the basket!  I Freecycled my (much less glamorous) one during lockdown, when I realised that I had not used it since I moved here 14 years ago. The town I live in is actually called XX Hill and there is a reason for that!  Much as I would love to think of myself cycling everywhere I don’t think my fitness levels or my balance are up to it any more. Kudos to you, though. 

Pip, good luck with the job applications, is there any prospect of home working in any of these?  From experience, a long commute can be bearable if you know you only have to do it a couple of times a week.  I think there will be a lot more homeworking in future now employers have realised that most people do actually work and some are even more efficient than when they’re in the office. 

TwibbleDee

I have problems with certain parts going numb when riding bikes.  If I get another, I’ll take it by the bike shop and have them properly adjust it for me.

PipneyJane

PollyWollyDoodle said:

Wow what a great bike, I love the basket!  I Freecycled my (much less glamorous) one during lockdown, when I realised that I had not used it since I moved here 14 years ago. The town I live in is actually called XX Hill and there is a reason for that!  Much as I would love to think of myself cycling everywhere I don’t think my fitness levels or my balance are up to it any more. Kudos to you, though. 

Pip, good luck with the job applications, is there any prospect of home working in any of these?  From experience, a long commute can be bearable if you know you only have to do it a couple of times a week.  I think there will be a lot more homeworking in future now employers have realised that most people do actually work and some are even more efficient than when they’re in the office. 

I honestly don't know, @PollyWollyDoodle.  You'd expect most companies to be happy with people working remotely some of the time, particularly since we're bound to go back into Lockdown with the second wave of virus.    Two of the jobs are in London, so Tube travel is essential, at least part of the way.  It's the Portsmouth job that I'm prevaricating over, because of the distance.  Logic tells me that the commute is about the same time/distance as the one I did to a certain highways depot off-and-on during 2017, 2018 and 2019, so I should be able to manage it comfortably, M25 willing.  Heavens, if I took a job in central London, it'd take me an hour and 15 minutes to get there.  (And back and fowards I go....)
  
- Pip

Baileys_Babe

@PipneyJane would you be able to work a compacted week to reduce the  amount of times you  need to commute a week. In any of the roles.

thriftwizard

Mother-of-the-bridegroom update: Can't remember whether I said, but I'm definitely going to wear the blue Phase8 dress; I'm just happier in it! Some secondhand smart but comfortable midnight-blue shoes have popped through the postbox; some pink suede ones also appeared, but are murderously tight, so they're going back on sale ASAP! I'm waiting on a midnight-blue bolero, also secondhand, which may or may not fit, but again, I'll sell it on if not. Hopefully, just a bag to find now; I've been looking at clutch bags, which are undeniably smart, but - where would I put my camera? So maybe something a little bigger is in order, even if that's not quite the Done Thing.

I am toying with the idea of a new bra, though, so the odd coupon may yet vanish! 

PipneyJane

Baileys_Babe said:

@PipneyJane would you be able to work a compacted week to reduce the  amount of times you  need to commute a week. In any of the roles.

Now that would be lovely.  I used to do a 40 hour week in 4.5 days.  I've mourned the loss of my Friday afternoons for the last four years.  There were so many things I could get done on a Friday afternoon, even just pottering around stuff to free up the weekend.  (It's four years and two weeks since I was made redundant from there.  Not that I'm counting.  < cough > )

Only the Civil Service job description has mentioned doing a compacted week, but that doesn't mean the others aren't amenable to the idea.  

In the end, I applied for the job in Portsmouth. 

thriftwizard said:

Mother-of-the-bridegroom update: Can't remember whether I said, but I'm definitely going to wear the blue Phase8 dress; I'm just happier in it! Some secondhand smart but comfortable midnight-blue shoes have popped through the postbox; some pink suede ones also appeared, but are murderously tight, so they're going back on sale ASAP! I'm waiting on a midnight-blue bolero, also secondhand, which may or may not fit, but again, I'll sell it on if not. Hopefully, just a bag to find now; I've been looking at clutch bags, which are undeniably smart, but - where would I put my camera? So maybe something a little bigger is in order, even if that's not quite the Done Thing.

I am toying with the idea of a new bra, though, so the odd coupon may yet vanish! 

The wedding is next weekend, isn't it @thriftwizard?  Good luck with the bolero.  Does the camera have a wrist strap?  That'd work with a clutch bag.  Not as tidy as having a bag that would take the camera, but wearing it/carrying it on your wrist would work.

Buy the bra.  You will feel more comfortable with better support.

- Pip

Baileys_Babe

PipneyJane said:

Baileys_Babe said:

@PipneyJane would you be able to work a compacted week to reduce the  amount of times you need to commute a week. In any of the roles.

Now that would be lovely.  I used to do a 40 hour week in 4.5 days.  
- Pip

Both OH & myself have worked compacted week of 35/6 hours over 3 days as well as a 40 hour week, OH did it over 3 and half days, working the half day from home, when I did a compacted 40 hour week I did one week of 3 days and one of 4 days. We have both worked compacted weeks for the majority of our working life. I saved so much time on my commute each way my days weren't significantly longer.
Also, various friends and family who have long commutes have combined compacted working week with staying in cheap basic accommodation (think travel lodge or similar) near work a night or two a week.

PipneyJane

Baileys_Babe said:

PipneyJane said:

Baileys_Babe said:

@PipneyJane would you be able to work a compacted week to reduce the  amount of times you need to commute a week. In any of the roles.

Now that would be lovely.  I used to do a 40 hour week in 4.5 days.  
- Pip

Both OH & myself have worked compacted week of 35/6 hours over 3 days as well as a 40 hour week, OH did it over 3 and half days, working the half day from home, when I did a compacted 40 hour week I did one week of 3 days and one of 4 days. We have both worked compacted weeks for the majority of our working life. I saved so much time on my commute each way my days weren't significantly longer.
Also, various friends and family who have long commutes have combined compacted working week with staying in cheap basic accommodation (think travel lodge or similar) near work a night or two a week.

Too true.  When I was an M25 Road Warrior and studying at the same time, I worked out that if I didn't leave work before 5.15pm, I might as well not bother leaving until 6:30pm, because leaving any time after 5:15 would mean I'd get home at exactly the same time as if I'd stayed until 6:30. I'd take my books into work and study for an 1.5 hrs each evening.  (I was meant to finish work at 5pm in that job, but you know how you get delayed....)

- Pip

Baileys_Babe

PipneyJane said:

Too true.  When I was an M25 Road Warrior and studying at the same time, I worked out that if I didn't leave work before 5.15pm, I might as well not bother leaving until 6:30pm, because leaving any time after 5:15 would mean I'd get home at exactly the same time as if I'd stayed until 6:30. I'd take my books into work and study for an 1.5 hrs each evening.  (I was meant to finish work at 5pm in that job, but you know how you get delayed....)

- Pip

Sounds like a productive use of your time
Good luck with all the positions you have applied for.

CraftyLittleLisa

Good luck with the job hunting Pip.  You seem to be making some progress there if you are getting the interviews.  Hopefully the right job will be found shortly.

I haven't made any coupon spends to report but I do want to try and stop making quite so many clothes for myself but also want to still do crafting as it is my go to thing to relax.  I have started making a Christmas present for my niece.  I made a rag doll for her a couple of years ago (which I liked so much I made another one for myself) so for this year's present I want to make her a wardrobe of clothes so that is what I am going to concentrate on for the moment.  I have quite a few remnants of fabric that I have left over from other makes and I have made a start on using them up.  So far I have made a dressing gown, a coat, a denim jacket, a denim bag, a denim skirt and jeans, a cotton skirt and some pyjama bottoms (still making the top).  I absolutely love it all and I think I'm going to ask my brother and sister-in-law that if they ever do want to get rid of the doll and clothes can they give them back to me.

I have also got a list of projects I can do that won't cost anything so I will keep that in mind as well to keep me off the clothes making.

How's things at Little Mending on the Borrow today?  Are the vegetable plots getting blown about by the wind?