A few things rattling around my head:
Waistline
I had a frustrating trouser-trying-on session last night. The reason is simple. On the face of things, despite having shed over 3 stone since May, my trouser size doesn't appear to have changed. Of course my body has changed shape quite radically, as has my overall level of fitness and posture. However, the problem is due to the way that trousers work and sizes are determined. When I was at the larger size, I could squeeze myself into a pair of trousers whose label probably lied by a couple of inches, and which would stretch to accommodate me. Now those same trousers are significantly looser and, thus, not stretching. They're not falling off me completely, but I feel a bit like I'm wearing clown pants. More importantly, I feel like it's time that I officially declared myself a trouser size down.
I was able to get a pair of trousers to fit me in a lower size last night. They're not tight. They're not loose either. Other pairs would probably have fit better in the higher size, but I am not interested in the higher size. In my opinion, the waist is planned to decrease in size, so getting trousers that fit ok in a lower size makes more sense than ones which fit ok in a higher size. Slightly tighter trousers in a size I'm heading into should surely be better than slightly looser trousers in a size i'm heading away from... right?
Well, probably not. You should buy trousers that fit you, rather than looking at the label. A measurement of my waist on a tape measure confirms that it's at the higher waist size... but in myself I want to feel like I've achieved something physical with the weightloss. So this is nothing to do with trousers. It's just about body image and self-esteem issues.
So, maybe I should be doing something proactive to change my body shape. Just dropping weight won't necessarily guarantee me the shape I want. I should be walking or cycling... or something.
I think I'm hoping to use the opportunity of having to work on a house as a way of getting healthier. Life will certainly involve more effort once the house is bought. We'll see.
Housing
Yesterday I chose the mortgage, confirmed the solicitor I'll be using (thanks to all concerned) and got things moving. Today I have applied for the mortgage I want and I'm currently awaiting the decision. I don't anticipate any problems with the mortgage decision. Having written this, I've probably jinxed it, but there you go. Once the application starts moving, there are surveys to organise and then things should get going quite well. I have to show the buyer that I'm not hanging about, so I will try to pass lots of information about progress through when I have it.
The practicalities of a house are such that my mind is a awash with trivial plans - like how to protect a carpet against boxes of stuff, or whether to buy a wardrobe or build one out of MDF... I like that sort of thing.
Lost - The Connections
Buying a Lost DVD box set is a fairly large time commitment. There are 24 episodes in a series, each of which has a running time of about 43/44 minutes (actually, there were 23, as the last was a double episode). So, in total, that's a watching time of about 1044 minutes or 17.4 hours. This can be achieved within a week's evening viewing. Sadly, these things are written well enough to keep you hooked for all 17.4 of those hours. Damn them!
At the end of the voyage through the jungle romp that is Lost, you wonder what could possibly be on the bonus disc. Actually, there were some fun things on there, including a montage of all the one-liners from Sawyer, the character who gives people amusing nicknames. One of the more thought-provoking features was something which showed how a number of the characters were linked outside of the events on the island. This is a game the writers have played. To give the programme a sense of mythology and interrelatedness, they have the characters unwittingly interract with each other in the past. For example, Sawyer, who was once served in a cafe by Kate's mother, once slept with the lottery announcer who announced the lottery numbers (the numbers in fact) when Hurley won, something which was playing on the screen in the background when Jin was intimidating someone in Korea. Have you heard of these people? If so, then you'll appreciate it in a fan sort of a way. If not, then it sounds a bit like a crap soap opera... which, were it not for the budgets and the mysteries, it would be.
Still, the Six Degrees of Separation concept, which is what they illustrate on Lost in their bloody-writer's-mind-games is quite a fascinating concept. Last night I tried to work out how I might be linked to my girlfriend if we'd not met where we met and have never dated. It wasn't difficult. My sister's husband does work for the local football ground in Reading and my girlfriend's sister knows someone who works there too. Though we'd perhaps have to work hard to name all the links in betweeen, they're undoubtedly possible.
I would recommend having a go at this. Can you establish a non-obvious route of friend-of-a-friends or whatever to someone you know? Or perhaps you could establish a mutual acquaintance chain with a complete stranger. It's easier than you think. There are various wild cards. Places where lots of people interact - football grounds, supermarkets, whatever, are bound to help. I think I'm a wild card. I travel up and down the country and have friends all over the place. Edinburgh is an incredibly useful nest of links too.
Money Scams
In a bit of synchronicity, I have recently noticed a link to an interesting 419 scam website. In this case, they've got stories from people who have baited the scammers. The story of "Ethel" is pretty funny, resulting in the scammer posting a ten Euro note to the "victim". See What's The Bloody Point.
Waistline
I had a frustrating trouser-trying-on session last night. The reason is simple. On the face of things, despite having shed over 3 stone since May, my trouser size doesn't appear to have changed. Of course my body has changed shape quite radically, as has my overall level of fitness and posture. However, the problem is due to the way that trousers work and sizes are determined. When I was at the larger size, I could squeeze myself into a pair of trousers whose label probably lied by a couple of inches, and which would stretch to accommodate me. Now those same trousers are significantly looser and, thus, not stretching. They're not falling off me completely, but I feel a bit like I'm wearing clown pants. More importantly, I feel like it's time that I officially declared myself a trouser size down.
I was able to get a pair of trousers to fit me in a lower size last night. They're not tight. They're not loose either. Other pairs would probably have fit better in the higher size, but I am not interested in the higher size. In my opinion, the waist is planned to decrease in size, so getting trousers that fit ok in a lower size makes more sense than ones which fit ok in a higher size. Slightly tighter trousers in a size I'm heading into should surely be better than slightly looser trousers in a size i'm heading away from... right?
Well, probably not. You should buy trousers that fit you, rather than looking at the label. A measurement of my waist on a tape measure confirms that it's at the higher waist size... but in myself I want to feel like I've achieved something physical with the weightloss. So this is nothing to do with trousers. It's just about body image and self-esteem issues.
So, maybe I should be doing something proactive to change my body shape. Just dropping weight won't necessarily guarantee me the shape I want. I should be walking or cycling... or something.
I think I'm hoping to use the opportunity of having to work on a house as a way of getting healthier. Life will certainly involve more effort once the house is bought. We'll see.
Housing
Yesterday I chose the mortgage, confirmed the solicitor I'll be using (thanks to all concerned) and got things moving. Today I have applied for the mortgage I want and I'm currently awaiting the decision. I don't anticipate any problems with the mortgage decision. Having written this, I've probably jinxed it, but there you go. Once the application starts moving, there are surveys to organise and then things should get going quite well. I have to show the buyer that I'm not hanging about, so I will try to pass lots of information about progress through when I have it.
The practicalities of a house are such that my mind is a awash with trivial plans - like how to protect a carpet against boxes of stuff, or whether to buy a wardrobe or build one out of MDF... I like that sort of thing.
Lost - The Connections
Buying a Lost DVD box set is a fairly large time commitment. There are 24 episodes in a series, each of which has a running time of about 43/44 minutes (actually, there were 23, as the last was a double episode). So, in total, that's a watching time of about 1044 minutes or 17.4 hours. This can be achieved within a week's evening viewing. Sadly, these things are written well enough to keep you hooked for all 17.4 of those hours. Damn them!
At the end of the voyage through the jungle romp that is Lost, you wonder what could possibly be on the bonus disc. Actually, there were some fun things on there, including a montage of all the one-liners from Sawyer, the character who gives people amusing nicknames. One of the more thought-provoking features was something which showed how a number of the characters were linked outside of the events on the island. This is a game the writers have played. To give the programme a sense of mythology and interrelatedness, they have the characters unwittingly interract with each other in the past. For example, Sawyer, who was once served in a cafe by Kate's mother, once slept with the lottery announcer who announced the lottery numbers (the numbers in fact) when Hurley won, something which was playing on the screen in the background when Jin was intimidating someone in Korea. Have you heard of these people? If so, then you'll appreciate it in a fan sort of a way. If not, then it sounds a bit like a crap soap opera... which, were it not for the budgets and the mysteries, it would be.
Still, the Six Degrees of Separation concept, which is what they illustrate on Lost in their bloody-writer's-mind-games is quite a fascinating concept. Last night I tried to work out how I might be linked to my girlfriend if we'd not met where we met and have never dated. It wasn't difficult. My sister's husband does work for the local football ground in Reading and my girlfriend's sister knows someone who works there too. Though we'd perhaps have to work hard to name all the links in betweeen, they're undoubtedly possible.
I would recommend having a go at this. Can you establish a non-obvious route of friend-of-a-friends or whatever to someone you know? Or perhaps you could establish a mutual acquaintance chain with a complete stranger. It's easier than you think. There are various wild cards. Places where lots of people interact - football grounds, supermarkets, whatever, are bound to help. I think I'm a wild card. I travel up and down the country and have friends all over the place. Edinburgh is an incredibly useful nest of links too.
Money Scams
In a bit of synchronicity, I have recently noticed a link to an interesting 419 scam website. In this case, they've got stories from people who have baited the scammers. The story of "Ethel" is pretty funny, resulting in the scammer posting a ten Euro note to the "victim". See What's The Bloody Point.
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