Like a Motorway

I've been back at work for four days, and it’s been OK. Not going to bitch about it here anyway!

But this felt like the first “normal” week for literally months. So much has been going on (see blogs passim ad nauseam) and then when you have holiday coming up that tends to effect what you do. At present I have no more hols booked, so in theory have got the best part of four months until Christmas. Hard to put stuff off until then.

Amusing (and expensive, but also very pleasing) news this week. On Thursday I had the first sort of important meeting I've had in ages – for about six weeks. So, went to put a suit on. Not a tie – I mean, nobody died, but a suit. And none of them fit. And none of my belts fit either. I went and got measured on Friday. My 44L jacket size now needs to be a 40L. Trousers down from 36 to 32, and shirts from 16.5 to 15.5. The last time I wore a 15.5 collar shirt was when I first went to college in 1987. It was tight then...

I will admit (but don’t tell the others, they will tease me) that when the lady in M&S did these measurements, it made me feel really good. But then, when she said “and given your shape you should go for the slim fit shirts rather than the regular” she did actually bring me to tears.

So I have bought a suit, and a few other things, and will need to build up a new wardrobe as and when money permits. If anyone wants clothes in the sizes above – let me know!

Work has got in the way of me exercising this week, and I've really missed it. At least Thursday and Friday I could go to the gym after work, but I was out the other nights. At this rate I’m going to have to go first thing in the morning. There are worse things to be addicted to. Like any good addict, I managed two hits today - a decnet walk and a trip to the gym.

(Whilst typing this I am listening to Saint Etienne, and the majestic ‘Hobart Paving’ has just come on. If you don’t know it, YouTube it – a brilliant song, even if Sarah C is sometimes on the flat side.)

I went to see Avenue Q on Tuesday at Wimbledon. I’d seen it before, in the West End, but this production is just as strong. The woman playing Kate and Lucy is super-talented – actually, all of them are, but I thought her vocals were excellent. And any musical with a song called ‘Schadenfreude’ is worth checking out.

Dinner with some good friends on Wednesday and Friday made for a good week all in all. I do feel so balanced right now (I’m not sure that’s the right word – I am looking for something that says I feel on a really even keel and completely able to deal with anything the world throws at me, whether it be work crap or anything else). Doing lots, enjoying things, and feel that my confidence is higher than it has been for a while. In part this is weight/appearance-related but it’s also deeper than that. Maybe not – I might be a gibbering wreck by next weekend.

What else to say? Voxcetera start rehearsals again on Tuesday – with only a month before our concert on 4^th October. It’s a free one in North London at noon on a Saturday. Find us on the web or Facebook and come along if you like. There will be Gershwin, but no Kate Bush.

On consumerism

In the post-festivity and pre-work lull of the last couple of days, I had my normal "spring" clean (well the weather is mild right now).

Having noticed that drawers are getting harder to close and my wardrobe is so full it's hard to get stuff out, I thought I would change tack this year. Normally I chuck out all the stuff that is too old or tatty to wear. This is usually not very much - maybe one bag-for-life's worth for a charity shop, and one for the rag bin. Groaning rails evidence that my clothing input is much greater than this.

So I went a bit further - what haven't I worn, and just can't see myself wearing? What is a bit tatty but. in my normal view would do for a while longer? What did I buy - in a sale or online usually - wear once (if that) and thought nope, but is too good to throw out?

The result: Still only one bag that is fit for the recycling/rag bin. But a minor mountain of decent stuff that I am not going to wear. Judging on the space I now have reclaimed, about two foot of hanging rail and one 3 foot wide drawer's worth. And I think I probably still have too much, but didn't want to be too ruthless yet.

This makes me feel really quite uneasy. I don't see myself as a big shopper, and yet over the years I have obviously bought so much stuff that I haven't needed. This amounts to a huge waste of resources - and cash - though I feel worse about the environmental aspects of all this right now.

So, a new regime begins today. No new clothes are to be bought without a demonstrable need. Something has to fall apart before I can consider a replacement, and even then, particularly when it comes to shirts etc., I should wait. In fact, waiting is the key. I think that a month or two needs to pass to give the item a decent burial and if I am finding myself short of stuff I will buy.

As my cull came from a desire to free up space, I know there is more I could do, but with much less effect. I think I wear a tie about once a month, but I have about 30. Well - they don't go off, and I used to wear one five days a week. So that could come down. Something for a cold February evening.

Now I have a clothing pile to go to charity, I need to figure out which of the local shops to take it to. The nearest and most convenient is one for a local Steiner School. I don't know much about their education ideas, but Steiner himself had some unusual beliefs, which are as hard to swallow as they are to say - see Anthroposophy here. And he had the charming idea that plants grow better according to the phase of the moon when you plant them. Looks like a duck, sounds like a duck? Yes - it's probably a quack of some variety.

Which got me thinking, rather than viewing a charity shop as a way to dump my decent older clothes, I should be favouring the one(s) that I agree the most with. Oh dear, that means the pile of clothes is going to have to stay there for a while until I do some research.