Problem
Last year I was not a golf widow but a traveller's widow.
At first I used to go out shopping for a break and an entertainment. I went to charity shops and ended up with a house full of clutter.
Then I switched to supermarket shopping for a break. Tesco. Morrisons. I ended up buying more groceries than I needed, two for one prices.
My family and I were yo-yoing back and forth. I was often stuck at home alone waiting for deliveries. Just as I was about to go out shopping, I would get an email: so and so is delivering such and such an item between this time and that time today.'
By the time the delivery came, it was dark and I was immersed in my travel writing, editing photos or other work I did not want to leave. The idea of home delivery shopping for food became a focus. It can take up to six months before I take action.
Procrastination
I thought I was unique. I was a procrastinator. I had some totally unusual and unheard of character defect. I didn't dare admit it to anybody.
Then I went to a series of speeches at Toastmasters International in clubs at both England and Singapore. I was astonished to hear, again and again, people saying that they had known about Toastmasters for some months, and been meaning to come along, and finally made it anywhere from a month to two years, or even six years later! Phew!
The same applied to all sorts of other activities, from moving house, to changing jobs, to doing to another country, to leaving a supermarket. Some people won't change their habits until a shop or garage closes down and they are forced to do so.
Last Minute Shopping
For late booking of holidays, there's lastminute.com But I have more frequent last minute problems. Shopping. I would hold a book group or committee meeting and race around doing last minute shopping, whilst people were trying to phone me for directions, a day or two ahead or even on the day.
People, family and friends, put me off ordering on line. They said they liked to see the size of fruit, test how it was soft and ready to eat or hard and not yet ready. Ripen at home is no good when you are ready to serve dinner tonight.
So, sometimes, ordering online can be a good idea. Shops complain that customers look at goods in the shop and then go home and order online (after checking rivals for cheaper prices). But other shops are happy.
I've even seen clothes and shoe shops which carry no stock. Their sole purpose is marketing, to get people to try on the goods, want them, and then go home to order several sizes and colours.
Back in the 1950s and 1960s, people were suspicious of anything bought online. Mysterious sellers who hid in back rooms and foreign countries and sent shoddy goods you could not return. They vanished with your money. Nowadays free returns and Paypal have changed all that.
Useful Websites
morrisons.com/storefinder
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Last year I was not a golf widow but a traveller's widow.
At first I used to go out shopping for a break and an entertainment. I went to charity shops and ended up with a house full of clutter.
Then I switched to supermarket shopping for a break. Tesco. Morrisons. I ended up buying more groceries than I needed, two for one prices.
My family and I were yo-yoing back and forth. I was often stuck at home alone waiting for deliveries. Just as I was about to go out shopping, I would get an email: so and so is delivering such and such an item between this time and that time today.'
By the time the delivery came, it was dark and I was immersed in my travel writing, editing photos or other work I did not want to leave. The idea of home delivery shopping for food became a focus. It can take up to six months before I take action.
Procrastination
I thought I was unique. I was a procrastinator. I had some totally unusual and unheard of character defect. I didn't dare admit it to anybody.
Then I went to a series of speeches at Toastmasters International in clubs at both England and Singapore. I was astonished to hear, again and again, people saying that they had known about Toastmasters for some months, and been meaning to come along, and finally made it anywhere from a month to two years, or even six years later! Phew!
The same applied to all sorts of other activities, from moving house, to changing jobs, to doing to another country, to leaving a supermarket. Some people won't change their habits until a shop or garage closes down and they are forced to do so.
Last Minute Shopping
For late booking of holidays, there's lastminute.com But I have more frequent last minute problems. Shopping. I would hold a book group or committee meeting and race around doing last minute shopping, whilst people were trying to phone me for directions, a day or two ahead or even on the day.
People, family and friends, put me off ordering on line. They said they liked to see the size of fruit, test how it was soft and ready to eat or hard and not yet ready. Ripen at home is no good when you are ready to serve dinner tonight.
So, sometimes, ordering online can be a good idea. Shops complain that customers look at goods in the shop and then go home and order online (after checking rivals for cheaper prices). But other shops are happy.
I've even seen clothes and shoe shops which carry no stock. Their sole purpose is marketing, to get people to try on the goods, want them, and then go home to order several sizes and colours.
Back in the 1950s and 1960s, people were suspicious of anything bought online. Mysterious sellers who hid in back rooms and foreign countries and sent shoddy goods you could not return. They vanished with your money. Nowadays free returns and Paypal have changed all that.
Useful Websites
morrisons.com/storefinder
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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