TICTH international sizing. I ordered some shirts from one of those websites that come up every few minutes on Farcebark, because they looked lovely and baggy. I ordered something calling itself "4X", thinking that would surely be big enough for someone who's a British size 22.
When I got the tracking e-mails, the goods appeared to be coming from the US, where sizes are often more generous, but alas no. I could get into them, and button them up, but generous they most certainly are not.
Because I really can't be bothered with the faff of sending them back, I'm going to regard them as a charity contribution and give them to Oxfam, with the caveat to take the size on the label with a large pinch of salt.
They may have said US but I bet they were Chinese made.
Currently most of my clothes are Sainsbury's own label, where the sizing (which goes up to 26 for some lines) is not bad for the cheap-as-chips prices.
@Wesley J - the sizing in women's clothing makes it hard to find clothes to fit outside a small range of sizes. Most standard ranges don't go below a size 8 or above a size 18 (otherwise known as XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL). If you're smaller or larger, then you just lucked out and it's time to learn dressmaking.
I agree Curiosity killed, not only that but the same size by different companies are not the same. You have to learn if I buy it from x brand I wear a medium but if I buy it from Y brand then I need a large.
Mrs BA is lucky to be able to shop at a chain of shops here in Australia called Taking Shape, which specialises in sizes 12-24. The clothes are generally bright, attractively designed and comfortable, unlike many of the dismal choices in the cheap department stores. She has bought travelling wardrobe there. They appear to offer online purchases for both NZ and UK.
Isn't there something fishy about cheap-as-chips prices?
I, myself, try to buy possibly hard-wearing quality stuff, but always look out for special sales. Best of both worlds, I find. But each to their own.
In what way? One item in their range, of which I've bought many, is a tunic top - loose fit, gaudy patterns, goes over trousers - just what I like. I wear them constantly, and after 2 or 3 years and many washes the older ones are getting a bit limp and moving towards the gardening end of the wardrobe. But for a price point around £16 I consider that adequate value.
If and when (and even in a capital city that's not often) I come across a shop selling quality clothing in large sizes, I'll happily buy whether on sale or not. I have a good few of that ilk in the wardrobe, but they tend to be at the dressier end, for which I have little occasion these days.
I have now been making successful porridge for some time.
Some of us might demur at the suggestion that "successful" and "porridge" are words which can go together.
That gave me a laugh out loud - thank you!! :
This week I have had delivered a worktop oven, about the size of a microwave, and an electric egg boiler. I wonder how much of them I shall have to condemn to the All Saints hell?!
We no longer have shops for larger sizes (women, at least) in this rather large city--except for a single one I visited which concentrates on the extreme low end of that range, reduplicating what is in ordinary shops--and which is more of a showplace than an actual shop. Meaning you can find six one of one thing, all in a single (smaller) size, but the total number of distinct styles in the shop is about a sixth of normal. And all in black... at least, it sure looks that way.
I'm having to order everything online, and it's nearly pure luck if it happens to fit.
I notice that the clothing I bought at a more expensive shop has lasted much longer than the cheap stuff, but like Firenze have little need for dressy clothing. The more expensive clothing I buy is from shops selling clothing for outdoor activities MacPac and Katmandu (both NZ shops) because not having a car I rely on a combination of walking, cycling and a brilliant local bus service.
That's the trouble with ordering online - the size lottery. I shall, however, hie me to the Sainz Breeze website.
There's a couple of good Large Lady shops in Canada, which I patronised muchly when I lived there (one of which still sends me e-mails on a daily basis), but I imagine the postage would be prohibitive for getting their stuff over the big pond.
I shouldn't complain. I knew it was here when I moved here. I thought people who wanted it stopped when it was here before the village were daft. And it isn't all that often, and when the wind is blowing the other way it's inaudible. And I expect a lot of people are enjoying it. But Brands Hatch has bike championships today and the whining is winding me up.
I also have a "shouldn't complain, I knew the schools and university were all there when I moved here" moment to have, especially I am rarely inconvenienced by any of it as I work in education, have left the house before the worst starts, and deliberately don't come home on my early day until after 4.15 p.m. when the worst is over.
But, just occasionally, when I do come home to find
your children trespassing on my front garden, and I'm supposed to let them carry on whilst you stand ignoring their behaviour (I do not ignore such poor behaviour, I will ask your children to get off my garden, and I will ask them not to do it again. I am informed I am Mean And Evil and don't understand Children and Their Needs....oh, I do, I really do).
when I waste time de-littering my small hedge of your carefully folded up and meticulously placed face masks. Yes, plural. Yes, I saw you do it as I walked up the road.
Also a more long term related condemning to hell. Cigarette butts littering the alleyway, my garden, both front and back (which means they've been thrown over my fence at the back) which only re-appeared since I cleared up at the beginning of the summer and started reappearing on the training days before the children returned. Home learning days gave me a very interesting insight into the smoking behaviour of the primary school staff/parents who wait in that alleyway. Smoke as you will, - just don't litter my garden and locality.
I can relate to that Japes. When we got married we borrowed my in-laws house for a year (they lived on a college campus most of the year). It was next door to the village school and parents thought they could park on our drive (we had no car), block our drive and let their children wander through our front garden despite it being hedged off. Even when I confronted a parent in her car on our drive she did not apologise and just said she didn’t think anyone lived there, as if it is quite normal to park on the drives of random houses.
A little further to the east in Arkland, and the wind is indeed changing from south-south-easterly, to southerly (for a short time), and then to west-south-westerly.
That might make a difference to whether you hear the ghastly noise, I suppose.
Similar pattern here, which means I heard it from upwind. Definitely southerly now, orthogonal to the line from Brands, and will be worse tomorrow. Those must have been loud engines.
TICMyself TH, for not being able to find something I had earlier this morning.
Mr Puzzler and I both have birthdays in December, so we tend to look out for suitable gifts about this time of year. Yesterday we went to an antiques fair and each found something we liked, and would put away till December. Both were in my rucksack which I unpacked on to the sofa before rushing out to choir practice so it was this morning before I sorted everything out. I gave him his gift to me to put away. My present to him was there, but by the the time I had dealt with everything else it had disappeared. I have gone through all my bags, all my pockets in coats, the recycling bin, the pile of newspapers…..It is a small but distinctive package.
I cannot blame anyone but myself.
TICMyself TH, for not being able to find something I had earlier this morning.
Mr Puzzler and I both have birthdays in December, so we tend to look out for suitable gifts about this time of year. Yesterday we went to an antiques fair and each found something we liked, and would put away till December. Both were in my rucksack which I unpacked on to the sofa before rushing out to choir practice so it was this morning before I sorted everything out. I gave him his gift to me to put away. My present to him was there, but by the the time I had dealt with everything else it had disappeared. I have gone through all my bags, all my pockets in coats, the recycling bin, the pile of newspapers…..It is a small but distinctive package.
I cannot blame anyone but myself.
Found it!
I had slipped it in a pile of presents for my sister. It is now safely in my upstairs present hiding place.
That’s two hours of my life I won’t get back.
Found it!
I had slipped it in a pile of presents for my sister. It is now safely in my upstairs present hiding place.
That’s two hours of my life I won’t get back.
TICTH the incessant heavy rain currently soaking Autumnal Arkland.
I need to go on deck soon to fetch in more coal and wood for the Dragon, and would very much appreciate it, O Controller of Weather/Great Pumpkin/Lord Cthulhu (delete as appropriate), if you could arrange for the taps to be turned off for a few minutes.
TICTH swollen knuckles. I had some X rays last week and was asked to remove my wedding ring, at which point I discovered I couldn’t.
Advice on the internet suggested cooling your hand might work, so a few days later I tried removing the ring during a cold walk round the park after work. After about ten minutes (and a scary point when the ring got completely stuck in the middle, my finger changed colour and I thought I might have to visit A&E) the ring finally came off, so I transferred it to my little finger, which it fitted fairly well. But by the evening I realised I’d lost the ring and so far it hasn’t turned up (not that I am tempted to try wearing it again).
It seems that every day in our very quiet street, some bloke or other has a job to do involving loud power tools - petrol mowers, leaf blowers, chainsaws, electric planers, pressure washers, you name it. And then there's the teenager across the road who has upgraded to a more powerful and louder trailbike.
We theoretically come out of lockdown next Monday, although COVID is still very active in our area, so maybe they'll go back to work and we'll have a little peace and quiet.
It's one of the *bits of a spider's web* sort, rather than the *Mr Blobby* one in my left eye (which, oddly enough, I don't seem to notice anymore. Maybe it's gone? ).
Thanks @Wesley J - I did, in fact, see an ophthalmologist a while ago, when Mr Blobby first appeared, and he (the ophthalmologist) reassured me that this was not a problem, but simply Evidence Of My Age. *Flashes and Floaters* are to be expected, he said.
He advised me to consult him again if the condition worsened suddenly, but other than the appearance of Spider's Web (hardly noticeable today), nothing much has changed.
I'll keep an eye on it (Ha! See what I did there?).
TICTH Sun Life Insurance, who last year were quite content with about £152 to insure Château Piglet and its contents (which include some quite irreplaceable bears*), but now for no discernable reason want nearly £200 to do it next year. There have been no claims, so why an increase of nearly 33%?
Is it another Brexit Bonus, or did they just see me coming?
* Quite Large Bear may only have cost $3.50, but to me he's priceless.
Always shop around for insurance whenever the renewal comes in. They put up the price because they think you won’t bother. Comparison websites are your friend.
Yes, we yo-yo between two providers as each puts the premium up for the following year and when we contact the other it’s miraculously less again. Extremely annoying, especially if you haven’t the time or energy to shop around 😡! If it varied by just a fiver or something all well and good, but it’s always substantial. Car insurance is even more prone to this.
As Doone says, it's a pain in the arse when you have limited resources of energy at the end of a busy day!
It may be worth using one (or more, if you can face it) of the comparison websites out there - because they remember your details from year to year. So it's a pain filling in the details the first time around, but after that you can probably just reuse last year's information.
Yes - I found the best price car insurance by using one of the comparison sites - can't recall which one, except that it didn't involve those bl**dy meerkats...
@Piglet - it might just be worth phoning your insurers, using a melancholy and sad tone of voice, and ask them if the price they're quoting is the lowest they can offer.
You may find they'll bring the price down to not that much more than you paid last year.
Yes - I found the best price car insurance by using one of the comparison sites - can't recall which one, except that it didn't involve those bl**dy meerkats...
@Piglet - it might just be worth phoning your insurers, using a melancholy and sad tone of voice, and ask them if the price they're quoting is the lowest they can offer.
You may find they'll bring the price down to not that much more than you paid last year.
Or have a look around, then contact your current insurer and tell them you are considering moving your business as you had a better quote from Company Z... It's not at all unknown for them to then find a reason why actually, they might be able to match it
I noticed on my house renewal notice a reference to flat roofs, one of which I have, as if they did not know. So I rang them up, and they said it did not matter as I started my insurance when they were not asking that question.
I found out from my neighbours yesterday, who had had a leak from the toilet fill pipework which caused a ceiling collapse in their kitchen, that the plumbing work was not covered as they have a flat roof. Which was not involved at all in the issue. The ceiling was covered, thank goodness, and the plumbing wasn't a huge amount.
Next year I will be interrogating the companies more carefully. The one I am with I am with because my previous company upped my premium by a large amount when I took my friend and his mother in. They revealed that, despite this hike, any claim due to their presence would not be covered! I can see they have a point about claims due to incontinent elders being predictable and therefore not insurable, but to charge extra for what they won't pay for is a bit strange, in my eyes.
Yes - I found the best price car insurance by using one of the comparison sites - can't recall which one, except that it didn't involve those bl**dy meerkats...
@Piglet - it might just be worth phoning your insurers, using a melancholy and sad tone of voice, and ask them if the price they're quoting is the lowest they can offer.
You may find they'll bring the price down to not that much more than you paid last year.
Or have a look around, then contact your current insurer and tell them you are considering moving your business as you had a better quote from Company Z... It's not at all unknown for them to then find a reason why actually, they might be able to match it
Yes, that's a better idea. Keep the melancholy and sad tone of voice, though.
After a quick check around, I had decided to stick with my car insurance cover this year because of their additional good deal on Breakdown cover, and when I rang to discuss it, and showed an interest in continuing, they knocked a further £50 off. I wonder whether that would have been £100 if I had been more melancholic.
This morning I am consigning one particular aspect of bureaucracy to, well, perhaps to a place where they are condemned to spend the rest of eternity filling in useless forms!
During the past two years I have realised that, in order to remain safe and independent, I need to have a change in my bathroom. I asked for a visit from an Occupational therapist and a member of theSensory support team to advise. They recommended having a walk-iin shower instead of one over the bath, i.e. remove the bath and re-position the shower. Better to have it done in advance of necessity.
I could apply to have it done through the County Councilwhich I thought would be better from the point of view of safety problems which might arise after the work was done.
I knew I'd have to pay but my son filled inthe forms for me. An architect drew a design, a builder came to look and that seems okay.
However, now, it seems, I have to fill in another set of forms which, if I had the help of someone from the CC would cost around £80! Well, my son can't drive yet (after his by-pass) so yesterday I sat down at the CCTV and worked slowly through the 11 pages, both sides of a form which was all except for one question for those who need help with payment.
And it had already been clearly stated that I would be responsible for the cost.
Tomorrow, I'll phone the architect and point out, politely of course!, that unless they can dispense with that form, I'll just go privately anyway!
Comments
When I got the tracking e-mails, the goods appeared to be coming from the US, where sizes are often more generous, but alas no. I could get into them, and button them up, but generous they most certainly are not.
Because I really can't be bothered with the faff of sending them back, I'm going to regard them as a charity contribution and give them to Oxfam, with the caveat to take the size on the label with a large pinch of salt.
Currently most of my clothes are Sainsbury's own label, where the sizing (which goes up to 26 for some lines) is not bad for the cheap-as-chips prices.
I, myself, try to buy possibly hard-wearing quality stuff, but always look out for special sales. Best of both worlds, I find. But each to their own.
In what way? One item in their range, of which I've bought many, is a tunic top - loose fit, gaudy patterns, goes over trousers - just what I like. I wear them constantly, and after 2 or 3 years and many washes the older ones are getting a bit limp and moving towards the gardening end of the wardrobe. But for a price point around £16 I consider that adequate value.
If and when (and even in a capital city that's not often) I come across a shop selling quality clothing in large sizes, I'll happily buy whether on sale or not. I have a good few of that ilk in the wardrobe, but they tend to be at the dressier end, for which I have little occasion these days.
I like the sound of the Sainsbury's stuff though - shame my local branch is too small to stock clothes.
For top half clothes I tend to go one size larger.
This week I have had delivered a worktop oven, about the size of a microwave, and an electric egg boiler. I wonder how much of them I shall have to condemn to the All Saints hell?!
I'll get me coat, and see meself out, even though it's raining...
I'm having to order everything online, and it's nearly pure luck if it happens to fit.
There's a couple of good Large Lady shops in Canada, which I patronised muchly when I lived there (one of which still sends me e-mails on a daily basis), but I imagine the postage would be prohibitive for getting their stuff over the big pond.
But, just occasionally, when I do come home to find
I'm not impressed.
That might make a difference to whether you hear the ghastly noise, I suppose.
Mr Puzzler and I both have birthdays in December, so we tend to look out for suitable gifts about this time of year. Yesterday we went to an antiques fair and each found something we liked, and would put away till December. Both were in my rucksack which I unpacked on to the sofa before rushing out to choir practice so it was this morning before I sorted everything out. I gave him his gift to me to put away. My present to him was there, but by the the time I had dealt with everything else it had disappeared. I have gone through all my bags, all my pockets in coats, the recycling bin, the pile of newspapers…..It is a small but distinctive package.
I cannot blame anyone but myself.
Gremlins.
I had slipped it in a pile of presents for my sister. It is now safely in my upstairs present hiding place.
That’s two hours of my life I won’t get back.
Blame the Gremlins.
(Glad you found it, though!)
I need to go on deck soon to fetch in more coal and wood for the Dragon, and would very much appreciate it, O Controller of Weather/Great Pumpkin/Lord Cthulhu (delete as appropriate), if you could arrange for the taps to be turned off for a few minutes.
TICTH swollen knuckles. I had some X rays last week and was asked to remove my wedding ring, at which point I discovered I couldn’t.
Advice on the internet suggested cooling your hand might work, so a few days later I tried removing the ring during a cold walk round the park after work. After about ten minutes (and a scary point when the ring got completely stuck in the middle, my finger changed colour and I thought I might have to visit A&E) the ring finally came off, so I transferred it to my little finger, which it fitted fairly well. But by the evening I realised I’d lost the ring and so far it hasn’t turned up (not that I am tempted to try wearing it again).
I hope it turns up, Aravis.
It seems that every day in our very quiet street, some bloke or other has a job to do involving loud power tools - petrol mowers, leaf blowers, chainsaws, electric planers, pressure washers, you name it. And then there's the teenager across the road who has upgraded to a more powerful and louder trailbike.
We theoretically come out of lockdown next Monday, although COVID is still very active in our area, so maybe they'll go back to work and we'll have a little peace and quiet.
It's one of the *bits of a spider's web* sort, rather than the *Mr Blobby* one in my left eye (which, oddly enough, I don't seem to notice anymore. Maybe it's gone?
Can you have it checked out ASAP, please? Better safe than blurry!
He advised me to consult him again if the condition worsened suddenly, but other than the appearance of Spider's Web (hardly noticeable today), nothing much has changed.
I'll keep an eye on it (Ha! See what I did there?).
Is it another Brexit Bonus, or did they just see me coming?
* Quite Large Bear may only have cost $3.50, but to me he's priceless.
As Doone says, it's a pain in the arse when you have limited resources of energy at the end of a busy day!
It may be worth using one (or more, if you can face it) of the comparison websites out there - because they remember your details from year to year. So it's a pain filling in the details the first time around, but after that you can probably just reuse last year's information.
@Piglet - it might just be worth phoning your insurers, using a melancholy and sad tone of voice, and ask them if the price they're quoting is the lowest they can offer.
You may find they'll bring the price down to not that much more than you paid last year.
Or have a look around, then contact your current insurer and tell them you are considering moving your business as you had a better quote from Company Z... It's not at all unknown for them to then find a reason why actually, they might be able to match it
I found out from my neighbours yesterday, who had had a leak from the toilet fill pipework which caused a ceiling collapse in their kitchen, that the plumbing work was not covered as they have a flat roof. Which was not involved at all in the issue. The ceiling was covered, thank goodness, and the plumbing wasn't a huge amount.
Next year I will be interrogating the companies more carefully. The one I am with I am with because my previous company upped my premium by a large amount when I took my friend and his mother in. They revealed that, despite this hike, any claim due to their presence would not be covered! I can see they have a point about claims due to incontinent elders being predictable and therefore not insurable, but to charge extra for what they won't pay for is a bit strange, in my eyes.
Yes, that's a better idea. Keep the melancholy and sad tone of voice, though.
Stuff all filled in, direct debit set up and Bob's your uncle.
During the past two years I have realised that, in order to remain safe and independent, I need to have a change in my bathroom. I asked for a visit from an Occupational therapist and a member of theSensory support team to advise. They recommended having a walk-iin shower instead of one over the bath, i.e. remove the bath and re-position the shower. Better to have it done in advance of necessity.
I could apply to have it done through the County Councilwhich I thought would be better from the point of view of safety problems which might arise after the work was done.
I knew I'd have to pay but my son filled inthe forms for me. An architect drew a design, a builder came to look and that seems okay.
However, now, it seems, I have to fill in another set of forms which, if I had the help of someone from the CC would cost around £80! Well, my son can't drive yet (after his by-pass) so yesterday I sat down at the CCTV and worked slowly through the 11 pages, both sides of a form which was all except for one question for those who need help with payment.
And it had already been clearly stated that I would be responsible for the cost.
Tomorrow, I'll phone the architect and point out, politely of course!, that unless they can dispense with that form, I'll just go privately anyway!
Thank you for reading!!!