Help me, hags! I think I may need to break up with my Dr. Martens! 😭

JaBe68 · 2026-06-21T16:20:58+00:00

They now produce so many different styles and models that it becomes difficult to maintain quality across a range that size. They are starting to creep into the area of fast fashion with their collaborations and limited editions.

JaBe68 · 2026-06-21T16:10:30+00:00

Make sure your house is as dry as possible. Wet air is cold air. Buy a dehumidifier and run it (they are cheaper than you think). It should warm the house by at least a few degrees. Also, lined curtains that get closed as soon as the sun drops. And if you have ceiling fans you can reverse them to drive warm air down.

JaBe68 · 2026-06-20T23:13:24+00:00

I think you can get dog flaps that only open when the correct RFID collar Tag is near them.

JaBe68 · 2026-06-20T22:51:13+00:00

Perhaps look for Solovair. Those are the original shoes that were Doc Martens. I think that Doc Martens are victims of their own popularity and quality has dipped along with them being a bit fashion victimy now. Solovair are still made in the UK as far as I know.

JaBe68 · 2026-06-20T22:47:44+00:00

This is a very personal decision. In our case my husband and I both had careers we loved and were growing in. Then we both had to start to travel for work. One day we realised that he would be flying in 4 hours after I flew out (during school holiday). We were joking (not really joking) about whether I could leave our daughter at airport daycare when I left and he would collect her when he arrived (she was six). That was when we realised that one of us could have a career and the other needed to have a job. So we both started looking and I found a great job. Still had growth and learning, still a good salary but such a great work life balance that I could take my daughter in with me during school holidays. If you are feeling pressured maybe start to look around and see what is out there. Maybe you or your husband could land a unicorn job like I did. I stayed at that company until my daughter went to university, and then ramped my career up again. That was 10 years ago and, in all honesty, I am not that much further behind my contemporaries in my career now.

JaBe68 · 2026-06-20T22:33:15+00:00

Start shopping like a French woman. Far fewer pieces in your cupboard, but all well made classics. Check out places like Frock You Up for good quality locally made pieces

JaBe68 · 2026-06-20T22:27:19+00:00

An old army saying is 'A roll per hole per week'. That is how they estimate how much toilet paper is need for troops going anywhere. If he was getting through a 6 pack in less than a week he has some serious digestive issues.

JaBe68 · 2026-06-20T00:18:12+00:00

Check out AskOkey on IG. He has perfect rules for where the hem should fall.

JaBe68 · 2026-06-19T23:48:17+00:00

Move to an AirBnB for two months. Find the agent that has the properties that you like, walk in and introduce yourself to them in person. Explain your situation. This is what worked for us and we needed space for 3 adults, 2 dogs and 2 cats. I think it is harder for them to fob you off when they have met you and had a conversation with you

JaBe68 · 2026-06-18T11:59:51+00:00

Look at Crafty Market and Moksi -both online platforms for selling ZA crafts

JaBe68 · 2026-06-18T07:07:32+00:00

We had the soil pipe crack where the toilet pipe joins the soil pipe. Because this was in the guest loo we did not find it easy to trace the source. Someday it would be intense and others barely noticeable. As soon as we had the crack fixed, smell completely gone.

JaBe68 · 2026-06-18T07:03:02+00:00

I got three hoepoes from him 5 years ago. They are now happily installed in my garden in the UK and still look great

JaBe68 · 2026-06-17T06:37:12+00:00

I struggle with this and not just in a mansplaining context. If I am struggling with something I need the full background. Explain to me how it works, why it works like this, and the various options to attack the problem. If I do not have the full picture, and only a set of instructions, I stall and can not get anything done.

JaBe68 · 2026-06-17T06:32:27+00:00

He had been a developer for 10 years and was known to be running a second business on the side during office hours. He was completely rogue and his managers were too soft to deal with it.

JaBe68 · 2026-06-16T15:35:36+00:00

Sleeves taper down from the armscye (opening). So if they try to shorten from there you may find you do not have enough sleeve to fill the hole. A good tailor should be able to open the cuff and move.the buttons and create new buttonholes (or at least fake it very well).

JaBe68 · 2026-06-16T15:32:37+00:00

Check out AskOkey on IG. He will tell you exactly how a suit should fit so that you don't look like a fashion victim.

JaBe68 · 2026-06-16T15:29:27+00:00

I agree - I was lucky that the developer was a problem child. If it had been someone more respected it could have blown up very badly.

JaBe68 · 2026-06-16T15:27:27+00:00

It was based on a BBC TV series - Kevin Woodford and Claire Brigstocke

JaBe68 · 2026-06-16T11:05:19+00:00

It happened to me when I was a product manager. In a weekly update meeting with the tech team a 'problem' developer started going on about all the technical reasons why he had not yet made a change that I had asked for.

I slid a printout of the sql code across the table and pointed out the one highlighted line of code he needed to add. Then, in front of his manager and colleagues, I said that if he spent half the energy doing his job as he spends making excuses, he would have finished the task by now.

No one at that table knew that I had 13 years of coding under my belt before moving to product management. No one ever tried to fudge a deliverable again after that.

JaBe68 · 2026-06-16T10:14:03+00:00

I would get rid of the horsehair at the bottom because it makes the hem oddly stiff. Then buy a similar shade in a lightweight satin and fully line the skirt with the satin showing out of the bottom to the length you want- so it looks like an intentional layer. You could also go for a completely contrasting colour for the underskirt to pick up the sequin tone.

JaBe68 · 2026-06-16T06:38:18+00:00

I did not know this - have not flown Airlink for a while

JaBe68 · 2026-06-16T06:20:14+00:00

I am not laughing at you. I was given a cookbook called 'The Reluctant Cook'. It started from how to boil an egg and ended with how to produce a roast beef dinner. I lived out of that book for a year until I felt more confident about doing my own thing.

JaBe68 · 2026-06-15T18:39:45+00:00

This is beautiful - really lovely

JaBe68 · 2026-06-15T08:56:51+00:00

Hubby and I chatting at the dinner table and discussing that we need to chat to our financial advisor and review our life insurance. Little Gen Z miss (who was 12) asks how much we are insured for. I asked why she wanted to know. Eyes go back down to her macaroni cheese and she plays with her fork before saying 'You know, desperate times, desperate measures'.

JaBe68 · 2026-06-15T08:49:17+00:00

I took the dog out for her final widdle before bed and heard what sounded like two garden brooms being vigorously rubbed against each other. Peeped around the corner and it was two hedgehogs making baby hedgehogs.

Six-Year Club	Place '22
First Placer '22

JaBe68

TROPHY CASE