Assorted disappointments

[white_hart]

I thought I was getting over the slight cold I've had all week, but today it has turned into a much-less-slight cold instead. (At least it's the weekend; I was already planning to spend most of tomorrow in bed to try to shake the blasted thing.)

T is out tonight, and between a busy week and the aforementioned cold there was no way I felt like cooking, so I went to M&S intending to buy ravioli, but they were out of every type of ravioli apart from the "lasagne" one (meat and bechamel sauce filling) which I don't much like the sound of even if I wasn't trying to choose meat-free meals when I have a choice in the matter (ie, I will eat meat if T or someone else cooks it for me, but not if I'm cooking for myself or ordering in a restaurant). I got macaroni cheese instead, but it's not the same. I wonder if I should add ravioli to my Brexit stockpile list, given that it freezes well. (I also wonder if the people of North Oxford are way ahead of me on this, and that’s why there wasn’t any tonight.)

I also ordered some sports bras from M&S as they were relatively inexpensive and I thought they might be a good alternative to my normal bras when I want to look less feminine, but although they do have the right compressing-and-minimising-bounce effect the fit is dreadful, so I think they are going to have to go back and I will just have to save up to replace my current bras with better-quality sports bras.

Bah.

Comments

[mountainkiss]

Ah, I wasn’t assuming that we could either cook or freeze things in event of disorderly exit.

[white_hart]

I think the main worry is disruption to the supply chain, not total social collapse. I know at least one person who is considering buying a chest freezer for it.

[mountainkiss]

I am assuming - quite possibly incorrectly - that there will be second- order systemic effects that we cannot predict and therefore we should not take anything for granted. Therefore I do not think I would want to rely wholly on a chest freezer (or indeed the ability to defrost), although I would hope that it would still work.

[alithea]

I too am considering we may have power cuts but a chest freezer full of frozen stuff stays frozen longer than an upright at least. But yeah, we have a cupboard full of tins and a camping stove just incase...

[mountainkiss]

Clearly I do not know enough about freezers.

[alithea]

Because the cold air sinks, they don't warm up every time you open them like uprights and the insulation is usually better because they're specifically designed for long term storage.

[mountainkiss]

Every day a school day. (Not that we are getting a chest freezer even if we leave the EU without a deal, at least in part because there is nowhere to put it.)

[alithea]

I gave mine away years ago and now I also have nowhere to put it because I actually have a whole kitchen, rather than half a kitchen and a stupid breakfast bar.

[mountainkiss]

giggling

[tree_and_leaf]

I don't know if I'm that person - if not, you can add me, though while I'm not expecting total social collapse, I'm tending to prioritise things in tins or jars, because I suppose a three day week scenario (or more random brown-outs) isn't outwith the realms of possibility.

I do have a gas cooker and I would have thought the gas supply is much less likely to be intermittently buggered up, though.

[white_hart]

I think it was you. I'm not basing my entire stockpiling strategy on freezing ravioli, or frozen food in general (though I have a lot of frozen soup and leftover chilli and things as well), but I like ravioli and it is the thing I can always actually cope with preparing for myself so having some on hand doesn't seem like a terrible idea. (And it could also be cooked very easily on a camping stove, though we don't actually have one and I am not particularly concerned about interruptions to the gas supply anyway. I am reserving my worry for goods that have to physically come into the country from somewhere else.)

[alithea]

Yeah, I think brown outs aren't without the realms of possibility but I'm not expecting gas outages either, although I guess that may be dependent on how long any power cuts last as that might increase gas usage a chunk as everyone has to boil their kettle on gas.

[antisoppist]

I'm sticking tins and baking ingredients under the bed but currently trying to eat everything in my freezer because it needs defrosting and then I will fill it up again. It's not just Brexit, it's also sensible in case there is snow and the Co-op's daily delivery lorry can't get through. Last year they ended up rationing milk to 2 pints per person for a week. I am not that bothered about milk but it demonstrated how reliant the village food supply is on one daily lorry.

[tree_and_leaf]

Yes, the supply chains are a lot more fragile than we like to think!

[notasupervillain]

I'm stocking up on cat food. I can eat almost anything, but my cats are very particular on eating cat food.

Plus, the brand of cat litter we buy is German.

[tree_and_leaf]

Admittedly I've also been thinking about a chest freezer ever since I moved to this house (or more accurately to this garden!), so it's not *quite* as dramatic a gesture as it sounds. But stocking up on a few things that you like, are easy, and will cheer you up a bit at what is likely to be a stressful time is a good idea.

[white_hart]

We don't have a chest freezer, but we do have both a fridge-freezer and a standalone under-counter freezer, because when we had our kitchen redone we didn't want to plan it around the fridge-freezer we bought in 1999, and which is still functional and full of soup. A few packets of ravioli wouldn't go amiss, though.

[ankaret]

Royce do pretty good tank-style sports bras.

[white_hart]

They do look good, though in the same price range as eg Shock Absorbers - the chief attraction of the M&S ones was that they were 2 for £29.50 but they really just aren't as good, even if you aren't planning to do actual exercise in them. (Given that my two forms of exercise are (a) swimming, for which I just rely on the Lycra in my swimsuit's bust support bit, and (b) walking, which can be done in an ordinary bra though it's better if its a comfy one, I wasn't worried about that.)

[alithea]

Sympathy on the bra front, that sounds very annoying

[white_hart]

I assume that this is in fact the reason why I haven't bought bras from M&S in well over a decade.

[alithea]

Me either, although my fit problem is that only the tank top style sports bras are actually small enough, which is a rather lesser problem as I don't actually need to wear one except for running.

[mrs_redboots]

We will almost definitely be in France on 29 March - and as we are in the motor home, if we have to, we can stock up there before coming home! I can see myself asking on Facebook and ringing my family to ask whether I need to, and whether anybody (local) needs anything! And yes, we are going to get IDPs and ask our insurer for a green card, just in case.

Bras are a huge pain. I can usually get nice ones for just daily living, but when I was skating, it was very hard to find ones I could jump in. Which is one reason I mostly focussed on ice dance!

[notasupervillain]

I have a deep love for Bravissimo, as the only place I've ever found bras for large boobs that were reasonably priced. I haven't tried Marks and Sparks for bras, though, so I can't compare.

[white_hart]

Bravissimo are very good, though their cheery pro-boob attitude can be a bit difficult to cope with when I’m wishing I didn’t have any and trying to find non-lacy non-girly bras that might make them a bit less obvious. They’re also considerably more expensive than M&S, though as the M&S bras didn’t fit at all Bravissimo is clearly still better value for my money, at least.

[notasupervillain]

I can ask my agender friends for advice on buying binders, if that's what you want?

Bravissimo is my go to place for secure bras that keep my boobs still. I have a nude t-shirt bra from them, but it makes them more prominent, not less.

The only things I own that sound like what you want are my sports bras, and I got those from sports stores. I probably paid a bit extra since I got them from a sports store instead of a clothing store, but they're plain white, and they hold my boobs down. Which sounds easy, but having big boobs, most bras can't handle it! They're not as good as binders, but they definitely flatten and compress my boobs.

[white_hart]

I'm not sure a binder is what I want (though it may be); I was thinking of trying sports bras as a sort of halfway house. I have an old Shock Absorber bra which does seem to do the right kind of thing, but they are quite expensive and I thought maybe the cheaper M&S ones would do the same job, but alas not.

[notasupervillain]

The impression I get is that really good binders are expensive too. Unfortunately.