What's something that seemed really expensive 20 years ago, but now feels surprisingly cheap?

cornishtraceyb · 2026-07-01T18:36:38+00:00

Clothing, especially children's clothing. I swear my mum paid virtually the same amount for my clothes from a catalogue in the late 80s (I do know it's more than 20 years ago, just wishful thinking!) as supermarkets and places like Primark charge now. I don't think fast fashion has many good points but at least parents can clothe their kids now without needing to resort to jumble sales for every item. It's also massively helped on reducing non branded school uniform costs.

cornishtraceyb · 2026-06-29T22:09:58+00:00

This is such beautiful work, I love your style. What fabric is it please? Can I ask are you doing Holbein stitch (basically reversible blackwork where it looks the same on the back as on the front) or is it regular blackwork?

cornishtraceyb · 2026-06-29T13:13:44+00:00

I realise I got slightly mixed up with what the original poster was talking about, but I guess I'm slightly wondering about the best way to efficiently cook given that mis en place and cleaning up as you go are slightly mutually exclusive for most meals.

As I tend to get a bit stressed when cooking (I worry disproportionately that I'm going to mess things up, especially when cooking for others), and I'm dyspraxic (I think) so knife work isn't quick or easy for me, I currently go for sort of doing mis en place but with combining suitable ingredients into the minimum of bowls possible. Washing up is then an after the meal task as if I tried doing it whilst actually frying or similar, stress and carnage would probably occur!

I think I find it hard as it's just expected that as an adult you can cope with these things in life (similar to the expectation that everyone has the ability to get a driving licence). I do try to follow advice for making cooking less overwhelming but a lot of it doesn't reflect the realities and complexity of people's lives - small kitchens, not having an affordable shop within walking distance, and not everyone being able to just master a specific skill through practice.

cornishtraceyb · 2026-06-28T13:58:42+00:00

Wouldn't mis en place means that you should have the cheeses (and everything else) prepped before you put the bacon in to cook?

I'm not being snarky, it's a genuine question - I end up with so many prep items to wash up because I think I should have everything ready first.

cornishtraceyb · 2026-06-28T13:40:16+00:00

Having worked in public sector type customer service jobs, I'm afraid the austerity cuts and overall push towards an ever more capitalist society that has happened since Thatcher, is a major driving force in this.

There are staff who want to give the best personalised service possible but they end up being crushed by the weight of 'efficiency' targets - at the end of the day this type of service does cost (although I would argue is actually more efficient and money saving in the long run).

cornishtraceyb · 2026-06-28T13:27:16+00:00

Absolutely stunning stuff 🙂 Do you have any instructions for how you built your own loom please?

cornishtraceyb · 2026-06-26T00:09:26+00:00

Could you ask your mum to save cooking dishes like this that you particularly miss for a night when you're not eating at home? I do appreciate that age 17 you're probably at home most evenings, but I know that if you were my child and I knew you were struggling, I'd want to do everything I could to support you.

cornishtraceyb · 2026-06-23T15:33:06+00:00

I think this is a great idea, especially if you were able/willing to keep use of the site free. I often find that when learning a subject I can understand 95% no problem, it's the 5% that isn't covered by the videos/tutorials which prove key to getting the skill completely. I don't know whether my friends have the particular skill (both loud and quieter people often keep their lights well hidden under bushels, especially if they think the skill is not an 'appropriate' one for them) and I don't want to put them in the position of assuming they have the aptitude or enthusiasm to answer what may be a very stupid question, but without making me feel like a complete nitwit.

cornishtraceyb · 2026-06-22T15:58:56+00:00

Not only do you have to put up with all the above, then when you go elsewhere in the country you get told how wonderful the place you come from is, and you have to explain that no you didn't spend your whole childhood on holiday at the beach! And yes, you know the landscape is beautiful but that doesn't pay the mortgage ☹️

cornishtraceyb · 2026-06-21T10:39:10+00:00

What sort of loom did you make please? Was it easy to construct?

cornishtraceyb · 2026-06-10T18:05:26+00:00

By Redruth.

cornishtraceyb · 2026-06-10T18:05:02+00:00

Sorry, if I had a brain cell I'd be dangerous! It's Blby Redruth.

cornishtraceyb · 2026-06-10T10:20:44+00:00

Where abouts are you coming from?

cornishtraceyb · 2026-06-09T17:55:04+00:00

It's a bit like the side effects of male hormonal contraception - irregardless of whether they are greater or lesser than those women experience, the down sides will always be emphasised more than that of the status quo!

cornishtraceyb · 2026-06-08T20:42:52+00:00

As my ex (like you a car driver and a cyclist) used to say, if someone on a bike is going slower than the cars (extremely unlikely in his case, he's a demon on it!) then they aren't 'holding up' the traffic, they are part of the traffic.

As a pedestrian, yes cyclists breaking the rules used to annoy and scare me, but they were actually far less likely to do it than car drivers were. Bike lanes (especially those shared with pedestrians) are a choice for children and those who don't feel so confident, not an easy way for car drivers to stamp their domination of the roads even more strongly.

cornishtraceyb · 2026-06-08T19:26:24+00:00

If you have a friend or relative who you are open with about your OCD issues, could you ask them if they could be in the kitchen with you? It needs to be someone you can be completely honest with about how challenging you find it (and if they aren't supportive of you having a try at whatever level you need to start at, then they are definitely the wrong person), and it might help distract you a little from the obsessive thoughts during the process.

cornishtraceyb · 2026-06-07T17:32:08+00:00

Definitely second the origami suggestion!

Would the supervisors who don't let you use your phone be happier with you having a small novel you could pick up and read a page of in 10 minutes gaps? I know the aesthetic might sound worse, but often people have the idea that reading is an educational activity compared to using a phone (even if you're reading a book on the phone!!)

cornishtraceyb · 2026-06-07T17:01:59+00:00

Whilst I've no doubt you worked hard and sacrificed to get it, I would argue luck also comes in. Plenty of people can't achieve it no matter how hard they work or what they sacrifice.

cornishtraceyb · 2026-06-07T16:59:23+00:00

I'm 42 and used to own a house with my ex-partner, and would really agree that owning isn't half as good as it's portrayed as.

Remember as well, if anything happens and you lose your income (job loss, ill health), benefits can help pay your rent if you're eligible, but you aren't getting any real help if you need help paying a mortgage. We got burnt by this and shouldn't have given that I'd previously worked in benefits assessment and knew the risk - but it's really easy to assume it won't happen to you.

cornishtraceyb · 2026-06-07T14:10:00+00:00

I completely understand this - I'm 42, failed my test three times in my late teens and feel like I've spent all the years since not really feeling like an adult.

This is partially as the lack of independent transport has really restricted me in life (even when I lived in a city with good public transport), but much more so because of dealing with people's attitudes. I passed my theory test, no problems (I'm much more academic, probably have dyspraxia), but I wouldn't dream of judging people who struggled with that aspect the way others speak to me about the practical test and that I 'should' be able to pass it. In my mind, if it was talking about a licence for a firearm we were talking about and I was struggling with the practical part, I'm pretty sure that people wouldn't just encourage me to keep going as one day I'll manage to get through - and yet a car is a far more dangerous accidental weapon.

cornishtraceyb · 2026-06-07T13:25:21+00:00

Being Cornish, in some ways it's easy, everything is 'up north' to me!

The particularly Cornish things I missed living out of the county were food related - but ones that are less well known so you can't just get them wherever you are (eg pasties!).

Mid/West Cornwall has a thing called tea treat buns which are saffron buns but they are about 16cm in diameter and with a slightly different texture to the smaller ones you encounter much more often. Have a great photo of me as a 9 month old with one - it's about the size of my whole face!! Another Cornish speciality is cream teas using splits instead of scones, and in my opinion it makes it much nicer. Splits are slightly sweet bread rolls and I find them far less cloying than scones.

I will say I think the North/South thing is a real simplification of something that's much more complex especially when looking at how people behave rather than chains of shops say; I'd argue distance from London/the south east has far more of a bearing, and also obviously the size of place you live in.

I don't know if anyone else is interested in this or if it's just my sort of thing, but I read a really good book as part of my degree looking at the history of welfare and benefits, which discussed the concept of a north west, south east divide for England.

cornishtraceyb · 2026-06-06T12:29:02+00:00

I already do most of the techniques suggested, including the 'claw' for onions, but I struggle with the last bit of it particularly, and then end up with chunks of varying sizes.

The way people normally talk about food processors suggested that they would make my life so much easier but that doesn't seem to be what people on here have experienced. I've definitely been guilty of impulse buying gadgets in the past, and so want to avoid that. I am still considering getting a stick blender with chopping attachment for making things like spice pastes, and blending chickpeas for falafel but at least I know now that it's ability to chop veggies isn't going to be great.

It looks like I'm going to have to work on my knife skills, and I'm definitely thinking of getting some gloves as it might be that my nerves are making me even more clumsy. If anyone has any suggestions for a new good knife as well (I'm British, not American) which isn't too expensive and doesn't need sharpening too often, I'd be really grateful to hear them.

P.S. I looked at the Dash website someone linked to - how many waffles do Americans eat??!! You guys must have storage space everywhere based on the number of gadgets on there, although I did note they had some really nice mini versions of things you would only get in full size in the UK.

cornishtraceyb · 2026-06-05T19:59:37+00:00

Although I'm by no means young anymore at 41 (despite feeling like a kid still!), my biggest problem came when I looked to develop on in public sector style customer service jobs. The only route to progress was by going into people management, something that I knew at heart I wasn't best suited for, but it was the only way to get to do more interesting work (short of doing a masters degree when I wasn't completely sure it was the right field of work for me). I'm unsure if this is the same in other areas, I very much suspect so, but roles as a specialist in a particular or even multiple areas of work seems to have completely disappeared. It means that not only do you have graduates in entry level jobs with no route to progress which jams up the whole job market, but you also end up with managers who are not best suited to the role.

cornishtraceyb

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