(no subject)

[dragonlady7]

I have ranted on this before: clothing manufacturers need, need to standardize their sizes, so that you can order clothing online. The only way to find precisely what you need, if you are a nonstandard size and have unusual preferences or needs (and by "unusual" I just mean "different from what those ordering stock for the stores expect", such as not wanting a padded 32A, or not wanting a 36F with eight hooks in the back which could be used in rescue operations), is either to go to every store within 100 miles and hope to get lucky in finding what you want, or to go online and type in what you want and find it right away and then have to order seven of them and pay extra shipping to send back the ones that are the wrong size after all.
Sigh.
I should start my own online clothing store. I wouldn't even have to sell my own stuff, I could just rigorously detail the sizing info on the products I sell, and give really detailed reviews of everything. It'd be labor-intensive, tho', but wouldn't it be great? I'd specialize in hard-to-fit shapes and call it "figure features dot com", to be more positive than the usual descriptive, figure flaws. Slogan? So You're A Weird Shape-- The Power Of The Internet Can Bring You Clothing You Don't Hate Anyway!
Ok, maybe I'd need to work on the slogan a bit.

I have been drooling over Bravissimo for hours now over the course of last night and today. Of all the lovely links helpfully given to me while I was searching and ranting, I like their store the best because they've got a very limited range of sizes that happens to just include mine, which appeals to me because a) I am terrible at finding things in more comprehensive sites, and b) everything they have I can buy. (!!!!!!) (Unless they're sold out of my size, which they are on some things, more's the pity. But still. !!!!!! Has Never Happened To Me Before.)
Also, they don't sell any of the Comfy-But-Urrghly bras that most stores have in their "Oh, You're Busty? Poor Thing" section. Not a single dull cotton/elastic five-hooker in the lot, which just comforts me in so many ways.
I have finally placed an order, bolstered by my mother's promise to give me money because what she tried to order me for my birthday was sold out. I am going to try and forget about it until it arrives, because there's no point going on about this any further. And we'll see when the order arrives-- their return policy seemed good enough that I just picked the size I am fairly sure is the right one, and will exchange anything that doesn't fit. (Crossing fingers.)

So I just have to wait for the order to arrive, and then I'm sure I'll have either rants or raves to fill up yet more space here.

In other news, since I randomly had the day off (and yet, they won't give me off next Saturday, which i actually asked for; no, just this one, which I didn't care much either way about), Z and I went to the Erie County Fair, and had ourselves a blast. We watched a demo entitled How To Give A Chicken A Bath. I was sure they must be joking; I had chickens for years and we didn't bathe them. But sure enough, there was a cheerful and practical middle-aged woman dunking chickens into buckets of fabric softener. Holy cow.
So I had a grand time and managed to avoid sunburn, and we ducked out just before the downpour, so go us.

The coolest thing we saw at the Fair, though, I have to say, was the RV display where they were trying to sell camper trailers etc. Holy smokes. I tell you what, I want more than anything now to dump my stuff into storage, rent out my house, and drive across country with my home in the bed of my pickup. There was one that was just perfect-- a double bed, a weensy range and oven, a sink, a shower and toilet, a fridge and freezer, a microwave, and a tiny little table and chairs. Also had cabinet space all over. It was all you'd need to live comfortably and cheap for months.
I had an idea, while in college, that it would be neat to travel around for a while, and travel really slowly, getting jobs in towns when funds ran low and sticking around for a couple of months, really getting to know areas, amassing a tremendous collection of photographs and stories, and then trying to cobble the thing into a book of some sort when finished.
And I'm still thinking that would be neat. Having one's home on one's back like a snail would make it even easier. I was thinking it would be cool to do that for a honeymoon or something...

But I digress.

Meanwhile, Z has been shopping for a used iBook for me, and raises the excellent question: if a used one will be $700 for a reasonable one, then why not just pay the $900 and get a new one?

And that is what I am pondering at the moment. Thoughts, anyone? Used or new? $200 worth saving?

Comments

[tehta.livejournal.com]

I think if I were saving money, I might look into apple-refurbished ibooks. The grad students have a theory that these break less than new ones, as they are more rigorously tested.

And good luck with the bras. One problem with standard sizes is that it's not just a question of size, but of shape, and people are very different shapes: e.g., DKNY jeans are my shape, and so fit properly and even allow me to go a size lower than jeans that pinch in some places and sag in others, but a friend of mine has the same experience with... eh... some other brand, Guess maybe?

[lenine2.livejournal.com]

Oh, you should watch the movie THE LONG, LONG TRAILER with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez. It's SO funny. She was stricken with the same desire, to just give it all up and drive around the country. And many of us have that same desire. But after watching this movie you might change your mind.

Mr. L and I have camped in a tent for the past (fill in the blank) years. We both love it. We've thought of buying a small trailer, but never felt like spending the money. All you need is a Coleman stove, an air mattress, and a cooler. It's wonderful.

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

My 20-year-old sister Ann and a friend of hers just did that this summer. They got a tent named Teddy, a plastic sheet, two sleeping bags, and filled their trunk with cheap peanut butter from Aldi, and they drove across the country for a month and a half, visiting major national parks and the like.
And I admire them for it, and have pondered it a bit, and no way. No way.
You have to be 20 for that.

The things that appeal to me about the trailer are the fridge and the dresser drawers. I can't live for any length of time on food that needs no refrigeration (when Z and I were first dating he lived in an apartment in Jersey that had no freezer and only a tiny fridge, and I Could Not Deal), and I hate packing and unpacking and packing and unpacking.
Z is in agreement with me on this, and he's now plotting to get the scooter, and then eventually get a trailer for it, so we could go RVing and have the scooter for day trips. He thinks that'd be super-keen. (I am still afraid of the concept of two-wheeled vehicles, but am hoping I'd come around.)

Maybe someday.

[lenine2.livejournal.com]

PS - did you get my bizarre/random item in the mail?