Dusty's Frugal Fortnights Return!

beanielou

I am a chrome girl.

dustydigger

I am not keen on chrome,I always disliked the layout. On my Firefox I have so many saved sites etc,I cant be bothered to try getting all the info uploaded on Microsoft or chrome. All other websites seem to work for me on firefox,its only these two shopping sites that are a nuisance.

At one point about 5 years ago when firefox was very bad I used a browser called Opera,which wasnt bad,just once again there wasnt much  stuff ready for use,I always return to firefox. I have so many book sites I use or run groups on. Then lots of informative sites about literature and art,language and history,politics,news channels and all sorts of things.. I come online in a hurry to go on some site,I suppose I should try transferring info bit by bit to other browsers,but I am a technical dinosaur! I am so used to firefox and know where everything is.On my home page I have 32 thumbnails of my most used websites,plus a load of other bookmarks off to the side. I just have an enquiring mind and have masses of sites with useful info.A quick check shows I have visted at least 20 websites today!. Pretty typical for me. I have been using this latest computer ,an Asus,for about 6 months now,and it is quick. I now have all the sites I use ready at my fingertips My last computer a Lenovo,was awful. It was always very slow,and the machine itself was very heavy,not good for my arthritic hands at all.I hated it from the get go. In the end I saved up cash and bought this Asus. I will keep the Lenovo for emergencies,but I would never buy another,though some stores really promote them as the best thing since sliced bread.

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hmm,I see the Xmas songs are in full flow already. Amazing how much money the artists can make. Noddy Holder,of Slade group calls their Xmas song  his ''pension'' He makes a minimum of half a million each Xmas as he both wrote and sang it.! . Mariah Carey still makes a fortune from All I need for Xmas is you,well over 50 million since its release in 1994. Biggest song is Pogues and Kirsty McColl Fairytale of New York,royalties up to a million a year. Incredible!

dustydigger

Hi all,small improvement in the chest department. I still get coughing fits,but not so much. Exactly 4 weeks since I caught Mr Dusty's cold

Well,we got the Autumn statement off Hunt. Got to admire the way he smoothed over dire news and made it seem a rational compassionate tough attack on our problems. Devil in the detail though. A 7% fall in living standards? Biggest for 40 years. A total return to the 70s awful times. Then it was the arabs putting oil prices up 400%. Same old,same old.. Do we never learn? Make every attempt to make your nation self sufficient in energy.. If we had been doing that for the last 50 years we would be in the same position as Norway is today! No we went off down the path of privatisation,selling off our precious national resources for almost nothing,destroying our industries to promote a financial sector which are deserting us daily for Europe (for the first time ever we have lost our spot as the greatest financial sector in the world behind Wall Street to Paris,with Frankfurt close behind. 20% of financial institutions and banks have moved their HQ to Europe.).We are the only major European economy that has not yet recovered to pre-covid financial levels.(huh! We have barely reached the level of the pre 2008 credit crunch!) We are 19/20 in energy storage supplies for the winter ahead,scrambling to buy fuel at the desperately high level prices of a volatile market,only having 7-9 days supplies,whereas the EU have filled up stores so that they have up to a couple of months supply in their storage tanks. We of course closed down our storage facilities a couple of years ago,and sold off surpluses,and now can only store a few days supply in our meagre storage facilities. Unbelievable.

And I draw a veil over the disaster of Brexit. The govt seem to somehow be pretending that it never happened.Yet we are feeling the dire effects daily. Words fail me.

And through it all the rich are getting richer,the rest are in a bad place.

OK,will end rant there before I burst a blood vessel from stress! I should do some gratitudes there must be SOME  good things happening? OK,3 gratitudes:

1. Its not raining!. What a week we've had with rain. Of course when the window cleaner did the windows on Monday it was a given it would absolutely pour down. So how lovely to see some sunlight today.

2. All the wind has  removed the leaves off our trees. We have less than a fortnight before it is officially winter..We have had a lovely long autumn with high temperatures this year after an amazing summer,so the effects of the energy prices have been somewhat mitigated by reduced usage,helping us to ease into the harsh times ahead.

3.I had Icel@nd delivery of xmas chocs yesterday ,and all my wine for family from asd@ the day before. Wednesday I will get the spirits and I need some black bullets for one person,and Ferrero Rocher for Mr Dusty,and thats it.I will pack bags next week and then do the tree and decorations the following weekend,and xmas will be sorted by 4th December hopefully. But I still havent located my pretty pack of xmas cards,no clue where they are. Plus I need some stamps. Not many actually,I give my cards out to family,and most of my generation have already passed away. I send to 2 cousins and a sister-in-law by post,thats it

dustydigger

Had a fraught day really. Just after doing the ''gratitudes'' post we got a call from Africa. My stepdaughter's chemo failed,they now want to do a mastectomy. I will leave research on the subject for a little while,my nerves are too upset for now. Mr Dusty went to town and sent £500 for the surgery.  We have sent something like  £1200 so far this year to help with treatment,was no sweat in the past.Mr Dusty saves religiously for helping them. We will manage,we always do

Auntycaz

So sorry Dusty . Try to stay positive.

dustydigger

Just arranged a covid and flu jab on Monday 28th. How to be a pincushion in one easy lesson.

I am supposed to arrange a diabetes appointment sometime,but I have enough on my plate at the moment,will arrange it nearer Xmas. My brain is whirling with all the appointments for me and Mr Dusty,hospitals,surgery,diabetic clinics etc etc.,ordering our meds. One good thing at last they have Mr Ds preferred Pfizer eyedrops,after a hiatus of 3 months. This last month,after nearly burning his eyes out with Zentiva,and then using another brand which was a bit harsh,so that he had to only use it alternate nights,its great to be using his Pfizer,no pain,no irritation,just perfect.

beanielou

So sorry to read the latest news 

dustydigger

Went for my orthopaedics appointment this morning,waited 15 mins then 20 mins for buses (one son in Scotland,one on call at work),it was freezing. then walked to the clinic,and with the sun now shining it was quite pleasant. Arrived exactly on time,and then was kept waiting a full hour to see doc!

never met such an unpleasant doc,certainly seemed disgruntled at dealing with deaf old patients. Fortunately he had a sweet young nurse who kept trying to smooth over his brusqueness. Not a smile,not a please or thank you in sightfrom him.tapped my knees and fet with that little hammer. Made me stand,then stand on tiptoes,bend forward,back,and then stand on my heels. First four things were fine,then I looked like an idiot tottering when trying to walk on my heels,as I couldnt straighten my painful knees enough to do it well. He then just said I'll arrange a scan for you,and make a n appointment afterwrds to explain results. Then it may be physio. He then turned his back on me and started talking into his dictaphone,no goodbye. He would surely win the gold medal at the Mr Grumpy awards. I was in less than 5 mins.

I had missed the bus,30 minute wait for next,so instead I got another bus that took me into the town centre,then walked 10 mins to my bus station. The weather was lovely by then,and I enjoyed the walk,but of course by the afternoon the stiffness and pain in the legs had set in,and I've had a miserable time.,will be glad to get to bed. Will take ibuprofen which will hopefully help.

have done my asd@ order,ordering the Bailey's,Jack Daniels and some red wine for someone,plus some black bullets for one person. I think that completes all the goodie bags.Last week was £81,this week £98. Next week I will be ordering some meat etc.I will cook early and freeze. I dont have to make Xmas dinner,DS1 will bring us a plate each. On another day I can defrost the sirloin steak for a meal. I will also order a couple of chinese meals and freeze them for other days. All in all I am determined to do as much prep well before Xmas,and little as possible that Xmas weekend.

Only thing annoying me is I still havent located my Xmas cards. Looks like I am going to have to buy more,then of course the others will turn up at once

Well,first match of World Cup is over. Non stop football tomorrow,three matches  one after the other.........sigh..........

Chinese tonight,then salmon tomorrow,and sirloin steak after that.

If I ever won the lottery(a tad difficult since I never put a slip on,ever) I dream of moving into a comfortable hotel.  No cooking,no cleaning. Ahhh,bliss....... No washing bedding and wondering how to dry it.....Paradise

 

beanielou

I loathe rude doctors.
No need.

dustydigger

Hi people,sorry not to be around much,but the World Cup has started,and Mr Dusty plonks himself in the chair in front of the telly for breakfast,then watches FOUR matches throughout the day,starting at 10am and ending at 9pm. I am bored to tears by football,but he wants me there to pontificate about football. He is going getting out of the chair to go to the loo. We were in bed by 9.30 last night,though I am suffering so much from what the consultant made me do (walking on heels) my back and knees are very painful. I think I went to sleep about 1.30 am. And woke at least 3 times,tossing and turning for ages before getting back to sleep.

Had an asd@ delivery today,and was so concentrating on storing things away,it was afternoon before I noticed that the bottle of Bailey's cream for DS1 for xmas had a security tag still attached. Its going to be a right carry on to sort. They want an email with loads of details about the item,but besides that they want a picture of the item attached to the email. I am such a tech dinisaur I dont have a clue,so I will have to wait till the weekend when one of my sons can sort it. They say that even when they get the email it could be several days before they read it and get in touch about what has to happen. Very annoying.

We are waiting now for whatever the govt will be sending us as a cost of living support. We are going to be fine but looking ahead to next year many people are going to cast adrift without support. Nightmare.

Weather has rapidly declined,and it gets cold as soon as you turn off the heating.

I will post the next month Boardgame challenge just for you to have a look.

On the reading front I am doing well. I am reading a book a day ,urban fantasy about werewolves,vampire,and angels. Great fun,and they cheer me up from the boredom of the football