Dusty's Frugal Fortnights Return!

dustydigger

Hi,I took most of the day off using the laptop. Lots of work with Mr Dusty. Once again,after only 4 days he messed up putting in his pin and got locked out and once again I had to go through the rigmarole of a new pin. No amount of telling him,showing him,seems to work......sigh.......

Anyhoo,I have been engaged in sorting out exercise and diet regimes for the next 10 weeks.I managed this week to get back to 15st 13lbs,hated seeing that 16 stone figure. Started the year at 16st 3lb,got down to 15st 9ib in the first half of the year,happy that I was starting to lose 2lb instead of 1 lb a month,and rarely moved up more than a pound above that months level. Imagine my depression when I started to go up again. I know that 1 lb to most people seems laughably small,they expect to lose half a stone a month,but I was happy that it was steady,and comfortingly going in the right direction. 17 months I continued that,and seeing that weight gain,very little on paper,upset me. All the stress of the energy situation didnt help at all either,or Mr Dusty's deterioration. If I am really strict I hope to at least get back to 15st 9 by Xmas. We'll see...

I started my walking campaign yesterday,10 minute walk.I was fine for about the first 6 minutes,but the hip started to protest a little,and was quite irritating after the 10 minutes,was glad to stop.. I will try to stick at the 10 minutes for a week or two,and then increase weekly. I did that in 2017 after I was finally able to walk after my knee op.It had gone sceptic in hospital,and I had to stay in 9 days whilst the rest went home after three.It was late April before I could even limp around. My first walk round the block probably about 500 yards,took 18 minutes.Thats about a 54 minute mile

Well ,this took 10 mins ,so much better. In 2017 I slowly increased the walking,and by September could walk for 45 mins. I'm sure that was what helped me to lose.  I went from 17st 9lbs to 14st 3lb before winter  and bad weather came on.The weight slowy came back on, of course ,then covid self isolation came,and the anaemia,and  I was in despair when I got back up to 17st 3lb and for a whole year lost not even an ounce. Thats when I learned I had thyroid issues.  I instigated my 1 lb a month loss in 2021,and felt good about that.

So its back to hard work. Daily walk,strength exercises twice a week. Intermittent fasting is usually good,for me,but now that I have medications that are supposed to be taken with food,I'm not sure if I can go right till 12 midday before taking the tablets without comproming the drug regime. I find 12 to 8 pm the most comfortable regime for me. Perhaps if I do 10 - 6 pm? But that makes for a long 5 or more hours without eating,not much fun,especially when I make Mr Ds supper at 8.30. .

Would just taking the tablets with water early morning,without food do any real damage to the efficacy of the pills? I know an awful lot of forumites are on meds,so I would appreciate your input

dustydigger

@beanielou

I dont need any SW bumph,thanks,I have plenty of my own I still feel the old Green Day/Red Day regime,was the most effective for me. I stuck easily to green,because I love carbs,but once the diabetes struck,I couldnt do those lovely big carb meals.

I am starting off with just IF for a couple of weeks,working my way in.Then probably SP (speed and protein) will be the way to go.The less carbs the better. Loads of veggies,not a lot of fruit,few carbs........sigh........

dustydigger

@pollyanna_26

I think I am slowly getting used to the metformin,not so much stomach troubles,but I get grumpy about the weight issues.

About taxis. I really hate getting taxis,even pre covid,never mind today. As a a regular contender in the Mrs Scrooge contest,I hate the expense. To go to that Wingate meeting would be £40-£45 each way. EEK!

I previously did a similar course back in 2017,and learned a few things,and did lose weight. dont think I would learn much more this time. If necessary I could ask my surgery to send me on a diabetics course. Its only a 10 min bus ride away,then barely 5 yards away from the bus stop. Mrs Scrooge approves .

 In the past the NHS were very much against IF and low carb,my surgery didnt even want to talk about it,but I think now,6 years later,they are more receptive. Probably I'll just tailor things for myself,but no extreme dieting,its not worth it. But regaining my one pound,even 2 pounds a month loss,would be fine.

Not a good week politically,cutting the energy guarantee down to 6 months,then ''targeting'' Ouch,that means millions of people getting no help at all. cuts in real terms.

saw this morning that inflation is now 10%. We are now entering the time zone where the inflation rate determines the pensions etc for next April. I cant imagine them,in dire times,giving us £27 a week rise.This year Boris went back on the triple lock,he said the 8% rise in wages was an anomaly,caused by opening up the economy after lockdown etc. If they once again evade the triple lock,we may get a much smaller rise,probably in line with stagnant wages. We are sorted this winter,but I will heatily concur with T S Eliot ''April is the cruelest month''. People are going to suffer.

Right,I have put on the spuds,chopped onions and mushrooms,I am now off to peel the carrots.Beef stew for dinner.

dustydigger

Oh boy,what an afternoon. My back always hurts after all the work involved in  making meat dishes,so I sat down after dinner to rest,and fell fast asleep. Woke to find Mr D asking me something about his phone,then he decided to bleed the radiator in the hall,which has been getting cooler and cooler for several weeks. Next thing I know water is everywhere,he had somehow lost the little nut that fills the hole and it was squirting out everywhere I looked everywhere for the nut to no avail. Phoned DS1,heating engineer par excellence,he came ,couldnt find the little thing,so he isolated the whole radiator,will look around for a replacement,but is so busy (he left a job halfway through to come and help us) could be a while,. The hall,fortunately tiny is now totally cold.. The floor is saturated with water,and I am not so very happy to say the least.Waiting for my medal for patience to come through the post. My annoyance this afternoon may have have caused a delay in the matter.......

My son has been urging me on for weeks to order a new carpet for both the living room and the stairs. My health hasnt been good,I wanted to clean the carpets before calling someone in. Also was waiting to see what the final tariff was for the energy,plus money for Xmas etc being put aside, to see what sort of budget I would have for the carpets. I have around £500 I think.

Good job about having my B12,2 weeks ago I was total rubbish.Now,can I deal with cleaning carpets,  plus the exercise and diet regime,or will my head explode?

I sometimes smile to myself thinking of all my visitors to the Frugal Fortnights,you probably get a little apprehensive popping in,you just dont know what might be coming next!  

Its certainly a very odd thread!

Oh,just seen that the awful Suella Braverman has resigned,the rats are starting to desert the ship.Truss had a terrible time in PMQs,totally humiliated.  She claimed ''I am a fighter''. And reiterated promises about the triple lock. I cant believe we will get £27 a week rise.Expect her to resign in a week then.

Dont care about her,but the small gains in the pound this week have already evaporated.Enough to make the angels weep.

beanielou

My wee bit of wisdom would be to update carpet now before they get any more expensive.

dustydigger

+What a miserable wet windy foggy day its been. The bedroom was almost completely dark at 8 am. Roll on the end of the month when daylight saving ends,and for at least a few weeks it is a little lighter in the morning. Of course it gets darker earlier in the evening,and the lights go on ever earlier,but I dont mind that so much,we are not going out in it.

+Had all sorts of chores planned today,but it was so dark and dreary I wasnt up to dragging everything out from the cupboard under the stairs to get out the carpet shampooer.Its tucked away in the far corner behind hedge clippers,lawnmower,strimmer crockpot and all sorts of things.Couldnt face it all. Carpet on hall floor is really wet

+GD6 has just come from nursery to give us a Halloween card she had made for us. A ghost dog with the word spooktacular underneath. She was so active and bubbly,and soon had all her usual toys all over,but she's getting good at putting them back. DS2 told me that she had nearly £1000 cash gifts from her christening do. Wow. She is so bright and clever,and at that wonderful age when everything is new and exciting. She's a real pick me up,especially one such a grim dark day.

DS2 had a bit of a cringey day at work. He installs smart meters,and unfortunately his company have taken on a contract to install prepayment meters in homes who have fallen behind with payments. To his horror today a bailiff was supposed to come and demand entrance to a home,but the occupier wasnt at home. As my son left he saw a locksmith coming,and he hastily left before getting involved in breaking in and installing a prepay meter.Not fun for anyone involved.. He's hoping some other fitter gets that house on their list tomorrow. He has been doing the job for 3 years,but only for people who wanted a smart meter. He never expected to be having such a nasty job to do. Told him he better get used to it,there are going to be many many more like that. Awful.

+ Well Truss has gone,achieving not one article of her agenda. Its cost nearly £90 borrowing to get back nominally to where  we were 6 weeks ago,but  the interest rate is now 3 times as high,with catastrophic results for mortgages  and loans. Terrible times ahead.......

Today the arm and side of Mr Dusty's office/computer chair broke,the whole thing is listing to one side. He had me searching online for the very particular details as to size and style of a replacement. Ouch,the prices are ridiculous. Strong and sturdy comes at a premium,around £85 for a good one that wasnt slated in the reviews. Saved by the bell,DS2 told me DD1 has one she doesnt use,and arranged for us to get it though not sure when. For now the broken one,which was second hand 5 years ago.is sitting in the living room,the weather was so dreadful Mr D refused to take it outside.......sigh.......

+ on the exercise front nothing achieved today,I was coping with backache,but didnt do so badly on the food side. doing intermittent fasting,12- 8pm.. Hovering between 15st 13lb and 15st 12lbs.. If I finish the month steady on the 12lb level I will be happy after 3 solid months either not losing any weight,or actually going up,from 15st 9lb,to 16 st. That wiped out almost all of my weight loss for the year so far!

+ doing very badly on my reading. Only 8 reads this month,and several of them were short stories. Life has been fraught,both for me and the country,focus and concentration have been in short supply.. I'm part way through 3 books,and have 3 short stories to do,so if I work very hard I may reach 12 or 13 reads in total. I had so much interest in this month's spooky October theme,and had hopes on 16 or more in total. Far below that.,I think this whole year is a bust where reading is concerned. I still have to read 16 books over on my SF website to complete a challenge. Have been doing this challenge years,this is the 7th year,and I normally complete the whole 80 books late October,first week in November tops. This year I am only around 60 books! Never been known to read so few,and even then lots of them are short fiction.

+ oh boy,my group has just put up the November Board Game Challenge,the game called Risk. I still have two books unfinished of the three choices for October. Not looking good,folks.........

I'll post it down below just for interest sake.

dustydigger

Beguiling Board Game Countdown: A November Night of Risk!

The next entry in our Board Game Countdown is the 10th most popular board game, that game of world domination, Risk!



Risk is a strategy board game of diplomacy, conflict and conquest for two to six players. The standard version is played on a board depicting a political map of the world. Turns rotate among players who control armies of playing pieces with which they attempt to capture territories from other players, with results determined by dice rolls. Players may form and dissolve alliances during the game. The goal of the game is to occupy every territory on the board and, in doing so, eliminate the other players.

Risk was invented in 1957 by Albert Lamorisse, a French filmmaker, as La Conquête du Monde (The Conquest of the World) in France. It was bought by Parker Brothers and released in 1959 with some modifications to the rules as Risk: The Continental Game, then as Risk: The Game of Global Domination. It became one of the most popular board games in history, inspiring other popular games such as ‘Axis & Allies’ and ‘Settlers of Catan’. The simple rules but complex interactions make it appealing to adults and children. It is still in production by Hasbro with numerous editions and variants.

Equipment includes a large tabletop board depicting a political map of the world, divided into forty-two territories, which are grouped into six continents by color. In addition to shared boundaries between territories which define routes of attack/defense, numerous special trans-oceanic or trans-sea routes are also marked. Each Risk game comes with a number of sets of different colored tokens denoting troops. Also included is a deck of Risk cards, comprising forty-two territory cards, two wild cards, and twelve or twenty-eight mission cards. Each of the territory cards also depicts a symbol of an infantry, cavalry, or artillery piece. There are also five or six dice in two colors: three red dice for the attacker, and two or three white or blue dice for the defender.

Setup consists of determining order of play, issuing armies to players, and allocating the territories on the board among players, who place one or more armies on each one they own.
At the beginning of a player's turn, they receive reinforcement armies proportional to the number of territories held, bonus armies for holding whole continents, and additional armies for turning in matched sets of territory cards obtained by conquering new territories. The player may then attack, move their armies, or pass.
Attacks are decided by dice rolls, with the attacker or defender losing a specified number of armies per roll. When attacking, a battle may continue until the attacker decides to stop attacking, the attacker has no more armies with which to attack, or the defender has lost their last army at the defending territory, at which point the attacker takes over the territory by moving armies onto it and draws a territory card for that turn.
A player is eliminated from the game when they have lost their last territory. The player that defeated them receive the defeated player's territory cards, if any. The victor is the last player remaining when all other players have been eliminated.

Fun facts:
• A game of Risk can be lengthy, requiring several hours to multiple days to finish. European versions are structured so that each player has a limited "secret mission" objective that shortens the game.


• The rules of Risk neither endorse nor prohibit alliances or truces. Players often form unofficial treaties for various reasons, such as safeguarding themselves from attacks on one border while they concentrate their forces elsewhere, or eliminating a player who has grown too strong. These agreements are not enforceable by the rules, and are often broken. Alliance making/breaking can be one of the most important elements of the game, and it adds human interaction to a decidedly probabilistic game.


• On January 11, 2021, it was reported that a television series adaptation of the game is in development from House of Cards creator, Beau Willimon.


• There have been several video game versions over the years. The first was a Commodore 64 edition in 1988, while in more recent years there's been the iOS app Risk: The Official Game and Risk: Global Domination for the Nintendo Switch.


The Challenge:
1. Read a book where a character takes a big risk OR Read a book set during a war OR Read a book with a character who is or has been a diplomat.

2. Read a book that was published in 1988 or earlier OR Read a book with a map or chart on the cover OR read a book that is long (400+ pages).

3. Read a book that has been adapted for television OR Read a book in which a main character is in a country foreign to them OR read a book whose author’s first and last initials can be found in SECRET MISSION  

pollyanna_26

Hope all is well . Weather has been horrble here which always means pain and lack of sleep not  season of mist and mellow fruitfullness;

Watched PMQs yesterday but stayed in bed today hoping to reduce the flare. I've not long come downstars and turned the news on to the news the PM has resigned. Not a surprise it was just a matter of time and here we go again.

Our local tv news has been talking to the pubic and I'm surprised many who suffered cuts, lost work and kept the rules whie BJ and co weren't are saying bring him back as PM  The same on national news

An emeergenacy coalition govt followed by a general election could be one way of regaining some stability. We must be the laughing stock of the world.

pollyx

dustydigger

Its a really risky time!But bring on the challenge :0)
1. Read a book with a character who is a diplomat : Keith Laumer - Retief of the CDT

2. Read a book that was published in 1988: Robert B Parker - Crimson Joy

3. Read a book whose author’s first and last initials can be found in SECRET MISSION : Edward Marston - The Railway Viaduct

weenancyinAmerica

Don't worry - most of the world is having political meltdowns too. The ones we are having here in the US wouldn't be believed if written into a novel - unless it was a horror story. I didn't post anything while DJT was president because I always felt I needed to apologize for how awful he was (and still is). If he comes back in office, I may have to go into hibernation.