General Chat Thread (PLEASE READ POST #1)

XxMCRxBabyxX · 01-02-2015 1:15pm

fits wrote: »

I think a post was deleted on there since but as far as I remember they stood to lose a lotta money.

Weird about the link not working... if you search for Cartier and tiffany and "should I change my engagement ring" you'll find.

I tried that on my phone and it still wouldn't work!

Slattsy · 01-02-2015 1:20pm

Had our pre-marriage course yesterday. Complete waste of time, absolutely pointless.
The plus was its beside The Long Hall so had a lovely few pints after

But its done now.

Toots · 01-02-2015 1:29pm

fits wrote: »

They are completely loaded. But I agree. But if she didn't like it at the start... they should have changed it then. And I am sure it was returnable.

The thing is I reckon it probably would have been 'returnable' but that she'd have had to choose something else from the same company. I'd be surprised if Cartier (or any of the stores) would let you return a (let's say) $40,000 ring, and walk away with a full refund.

However, unless it's a one-off custom piece, I can't imagine that they wouldn't have let her pick another ring from their collections. I wonder was the fiance a bit embarrassed at the thought of going back to the store, so told her it couldn't be returned.

My cousin lives in the US and he bought his now-wife's engagement ring from Cartier (it wasn't $40k) and he wanted to get it engraved on the inside of the band. The store specifically said to him to leave the engraving until after the engagement because if the ring didn't suit, he could exchange it for something else, but if it'd been engraved then they couldn't.

I'm not sure if the policy is different if you're spending >$10k (for example) so maybe the fiance was telling the truth, but I suspect he wasn't being entirely upfront. Or if he did something like brought a bit of string with her finger size, and had the ring specifically sized before giving it to her, then that would probably mean he was stuck with it.

LynnGrace wrote: »

My eyes were out on stalks, looking at those...not even so much at the rings, as the prices! 46k! 90k! I was trying (and failing) to imagine going around every day with something that cost so much, on my hand .

Imagine you dropped it down the sink when you were washing your hands!

LynnGrace · 01-02-2015 7:04pm

Toots wrote: »

Imagine you dropped it down the sink when you were washing your hands!

Exactly. I'd be petrified

.

liz lemoncello · 01-02-2015 7:09pm

LynnGrace wrote: »

My eyes were out on stalks, looking at those...not even so much at the rings, as the prices! 46k! 90k! I was trying (and failing) to imagine going around every day with something that cost so much, on my hand .

I couldn't find the thread, but whenever I see very expensive rings, with huge diamonds, I just know I could never wear one as I will never have the manicure to live up to it. In fact, I think I'd need a hand transplant.

LynnGrace · 01-02-2015 7:44pm

January wrote: »

There's a range of them on ebay starting between 4,500 dollars and going up to 11,000 dollars.

This website has it priced at anything between €8,000 and €90,000 depending on the diamond :eek:

http://luxehighlife.com/jewellery/top-10-engagement-rings

liz lemoncello wrote: »

I couldn't find the thread, but whenever I see very expensive rings, with huge diamonds, I just know I could never wear one as I will never have the manicure to live up to it. In fact, I think I'd need a hand transplant.

These were the ones, on the link January posted, that I was talking about, putting my eyes on stalks.

Agree, then again, if I had that much money to spare, I'd probably be having daily manicures

.

January · 01-02-2015 7:47pm

liz lemoncello wrote: »

I couldn't find the thread, but whenever I see very expensive rings, with huge diamonds, I just know I could never wear one as I will never have the manicure to live up to it. In fact, I think I'd need a hand transplant.

This exactly...

I got married a month ago and I didn't have an engagement ring beforehand because I had lost it... when I got the wedding ring on my finger I had lovely acrylic nails and when they came off I was so disappointed with how my hand looked so stumpy and my lovely ring didn't look as glamorous without perfectly manicured fingers... we went on honeymoon and we replaced my engagement ring and now I can't wait to get my nails done again! I usually hate acrylic nails but I love how they make my fingers look longer and more slender so the rings look better ha

pooch90 · 01-02-2015 8:43pm

Haha,what I said to the girl in the jewellers when we got my engagement ring was "I want something that will still look good when I'm slobbing in a tracksuit with broken nails". And it does!

westernlass · 01-02-2015 9:47pm

Slattsy wrote: »

Had our pre-marriage course yesterday. Complete waste of time, absolutely pointless.
The plus was its beside The Long Hall so had a lovely few pints after

But its done now.

That's actaully comforting to hear. We are having a humanist ceremony and something about not doing the pre Marraige course has been bugging me. Like we'll miss something important. I actually googled it and made him talk to me about kids, religion, money, house plans, etc. we had already discussed it but I was being a bit paranoid

Toots · 02-02-2015 2:36am

TBH they can be very hit-and-miss depending on who you get. I was dreading the bit where the priest came in to talk to us, but it turned out that the priest was great and really helpful - answered loads of questions we had about stuff. The two women who were giving the course were odd to say the least, though. One was grand, but she seemed to be 'newer' to the role than the other one, so mostly took a back seat.

The other woman would have been in her 60s or thereabouts, and honestly from hearing her talk I felt very sorry for her hubby! He was the butt of all her 'jokes' that day. Every time we got to a new topic of the course, she had a little story about her marriage which inevitably ended up with her husband burning the dinner/tracking spilled paint all over the house/running the lawnmower over her flowerbeds/expecting his breakfast brought up to him every day/leaving the toilet seat up/not knowing how to cook/trying to do the laundry and failing/etc. Oh, and the weekend was also peppered with announcements about how she'd hurt her toe the previous week and it was all bandaged up. By the end of it, every time she mentioned it, everyone was staring at the floor, because if you' caught anyone's eye it would have been game over, and you wouldn't have been able to hold in the laughter.

Neyite · 02-02-2015 11:04am

I don't get people who moan about their partners the whole time like that. I think its really disrespectful. And people who witter on about their ailments constantly are so boring!

In some ways, addressing topics you wouldn't normally do is a good idea- for instance, because of the couple of cases in the last couple of years concerning maternal deaths during pregnancy, it made me more certain I want my partner, and not my current next-of-kin to make decisions on behalf of me and my family, because my partner would be very much on the same page as me, whereas my NOK is a bit, eh, iona.

lazygal · 02-02-2015 12:14pm

A lot of people really need to educate thesmselves on the whole next of kin thing. I think many were taken aback by the fact that the clinically dead woman's father rather than her partner and the father of the foetus was the one involved in end of life decisions in the recent case. One of the main, less romantic, reasons we got married was because of that. My parents wouldn't think to not have a full catholic funeral for me and would be squiffy about cremation or other preferences I have expressed. Whereas I know my husband would do what I would prefer and what we have discussed, and vice versa.

It was also because we both wanted children and wanted to be their next of kin that we got married. My husband has seen too many men caught out by not being married when it comes to dealing with their children that there was no way he'd have had a child unless we were married. I know most people manage to deal with having children outside of marriage pretty ok but I'd rather not take the chance.

tinkerbell · 02-02-2015 3:27pm

Completely agree, lazygal. It's a massive bugbear of mine when I hear people going on about how marriage is "just a piece of paper", it changes nothing, etc.

No - it's actually a pretty big deal. People are just so ignorant to the reality of what marriage is - you become Next of Kin to each other and if you have children, your partner gets automatic rights. It's foolish IMHO to just plod along without marriage when you do intend staying together and / or have children.

Scarinae · 02-02-2015 6:32pm

Toots wrote: »

I felt very sorry for her hubby! He was the butt of all her 'jokes' that day. Every time we got to a new topic of the course, she had a little story about her marriage which inevitably ended up with her husband burning the dinner/tracking spilled paint all over the house/running the lawnmower over her flowerbeds/expecting his breakfast brought up to him every day/leaving the toilet seat up/not knowing how to cook/trying to do the laundry and failing/etc.

That just makes me think of Father Ted!

“Remember last year, Mrs Dunne, when your husband tried to wash a cup and burned the house down? And Mrs Collins, when Mr Collins tried to make a bed on his own and lost a leg?”

Toots · 02-02-2015 10:27pm

It was pretty much exactly that! I'd have loved if the husband had been there giving the course too, and we got his side of the story. I reckon he's one of those guys who spends a lot of time out in the shed, ostensibly fixing stuff, but really just trying to avoid her!

fits · 05-02-2015 10:41am

So excited. Been saving like crazy for the last year and think we have the wedding covered. Got an unexpected windfall last week and am using part of it to treat ourselves to a weekend in the europe hotel in killarney for our birthdays. Had been looking into london but realised we could do something uber fancy here for less. Yay! We havent had a break in ages and OH is working mega hard at the moment.

Milly33 · 05-02-2015 11:21am

well done fits!! And enjoy the break...well deserved I am sure.. I must get my arse in gear now and start saving more..Himself is great at it, but Im not doing the best lately

MistyCheese · 05-02-2015 11:46am

These stories are making me glad my husband and I didn't have to do a pre-marriage course! It sounds a bit patronizing.

stargazer 68 · 05-02-2015 11:52am

I got engaged at the weekend!

:D:D

Nothing else to say really - just had to tell you all!

MistyCheese · 05-02-2015 11:58am

Dovies wrote: »

I got engaged at the weekend! :D:D

Nothing else to say really - just had to tell you all!

Congratulations! Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of wedding planning.

stargazer 68 · 05-02-2015 11:59am

MistyCheese wrote: »

Congratulations! Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of wedding planning.

Did all the organising for my sisters last year - Bit different when its your own though as I don't know what I want!

Toots · 05-02-2015 12:14pm

Congratulations Dovies!!

It can often be tough deciding what you want, especially cos there's so much to choose from! Just take your time and go around various venues etc, and see if anything jumps out at you!

MistyCheese · 05-02-2015 12:35pm

Being newly engaged is a wonderful time where every option is a possibility. You could get married on a beach, by a waterfall, in a forest, whatever you like. Only recently did Ireland allow couples to get married outside. Or of course you could go abroad; ornate church in Italy, tropical beach in the Carribean, big park in Prague...

fits · 05-02-2015 12:41pm

its often easier to think about what you dont want, and work from there.

westernlass · 05-02-2015 8:04pm

Pinterest will be your new addiction

Toots · 05-02-2015 8:07pm

Jaysus that can be a dangerous passtime!

westernlass · 05-02-2015 8:08pm

I know, I have about 20 secret boards. At least I'm getting married. Had 2 before that

Liam McPoyle · 05-02-2015 8:49pm

Dovies wrote: »

I got engaged at the weekend! :D:D

Nothing else to say really - just had to tell you all!

Congrats D, I saw your thread on venues yesterday and I remembered you from the old online dating thread in tGC, delighted for you.

Re the pre marriage course, I have to say, both burd and I really enjoyed ours.

The facilitators were fantastic so I'm sure that helped.

We got our suits 99% sorted last weekend too which I'm delighted with as my best man is in Canada and won't be home til a week before the wedding and my groomsman is moving to New Zealand in 2 weeks and he won't be back til a week before too.

fits · 05-02-2015 8:59pm

Where did you get the suits business cat?

Liam McPoyle · 05-02-2015 9:12pm

Protocol on Dawson St.

100% getting groomsmens suits there, we just have to go back to one other place for a fitting for myself.

Renting for the lads and buying mine.

Toots · 06-02-2015 12:25am

I was reading this earlier today and actually laughing out loud

If you've read 50 Shades of Grey you'll get this, and if you haven't, it's a fairly spot-on synopsis of the story!

Probably NSFW

Fifty Shades of Tedious Fcukery

edit: fixed link, thanks How so Joe!! :pac:

How so Joe · 06-02-2015 1:10am

Toots wrote: »

I was reading this earlier today and actually laughing out loud If you've read 50 Shades of Grey you'll get this, and if you haven't, it's a fairly spot-on synopsis of the story!

Probably NSFW

http://redlemonade.blogspot.ie/p/fifty-shades-of-tedious-****ery.html

Link doesn't work because it's been caught by the censor. Here's an alternate! Click

Toots · 06-02-2015 1:28am

Haaa! of all the things to get censored out!

MistyCheese · 06-02-2015 9:24am

There's so much talk of these books I'm seriously considering giving the first one a go. Just to see what all the (positive and negative) fuss is about.

fits · 06-02-2015 10:34am

Its just a fairy tale. (beauty and the handsome beast). With sex. Thats all. Oldest formula in the book.

Neyite · 06-02-2015 10:35am

Those reviews are awesome. They put into words what I was feeling reading the awful things.

fits · 06-02-2015 10:44am

Im just going to leave this here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7AvZPTT4kU&sns=tw

Toots · 06-02-2015 1:03pm

MistyCheese wrote: »

There's so much talk of these books I'm seriously considering giving the first one a go. Just to see what all the (positive and negative) fuss is about.

If you've ever read twilight, the plot line is fairly similar. Except that in Twilight it takes 4 books til they get the ride, whereas in 50 shades it's not even 4 chapters.

I wasn't a bit surprised to hear that E.L James started out writing twilight fan fiction.

How so Joe · 06-02-2015 7:04pm

Toots wrote: »

If you've ever read twilight, the plot line is fairly similar. Except that in Twilight it takes 4 books til they get the ride, whereas in 50 shades it's not even 4 chapters.

I wasn't a bit surprised to hear that E.L James started out writing twilight fan fiction.

The whole story was originally posted on a fanfiction site, and it was called 'Master of the Universe' - how very he-man. James just changed the names before she published it as a standalone. Lots of the characters are instantly identifiable as their Twilight counterparts.

ShazGV · 06-02-2015 8:11pm

^ That's such a lazy way to write a book. I know of different fan fiction authors at the moment working on transferring their works into original novels, and are working ten times harder to create new characters, new back stories, just working with the basic plot of the original fanfic. It's a shame when they aren't the ones to get all the publicity in the end.

cactusgal · 06-02-2015 8:32pm

I'm not a book snob, but 50 Shades of Gray was honestly the most poorly written and horribly edited tripe I've ever had the misfortune of reading. Read 50 Shades of Tedious Fuc*ery on Red Lemonade Blog (what Toots linked), it is infinitely better!!!

Toots · 06-02-2015 11:43pm

How so Joe wrote: »

The whole story was originally posted on a fanfiction site, and it was called 'Master of the Universe' - how very he-man. James just changed the names before she published it as a standalone. Lots of the characters are instantly identifiable as their Twilight counterparts.

I know, it's just awful! I mean she didn't even make an effort to come up with very good different names. It's like she just got a book of baby names and looked a few lines along in the chapter with the same letter and went "that'll do!". When you think of the amount of would-be authors out there absolutely killing themselves to even get a look in with a publisher, and this wagon trots out this crap.

For anyone who has read Twilight but hasn't read 50 shíts, here's a character guide for you. May contain slight spoilers if you plan on reading the books.

Christian = Edward
Ana = Bella (only whereas Bella seems reasonably well able to take care of herself, Ana is just crap at life in general)
Mia = Alice
Grace = Esme (would you look at that, a parent who's a doctor!) and a bit of Carlisle too.
Mrs Jones = Also Esme
Taylor = Jasper
Mr Rodriguez (Jose's dad) = Billy Black
Taylor's Goon Squad = The Quileute wolf pack
Elizabeth from the office = Victoria
Kate = Rosalie with a bit of Angela
Ethan = a mixture of Mike Newton, Emmet
Paul Clayton = Mike Newton

Then she obviously got really lazy with these characters, because she wasn't even arsed changing the first letter of their names:

Elliott = Emmet
Jose = Jacob
Jack Hyde = James
Carrick = Carlisle
Carla (Ana's mum) = Renee
Ray = Charlie (see what she did there, reversed the parents and just used similar sounding names)

The only somewhat-original character is Elena (Mrs Robinson) because in fairness, Twilight largely stayed away from the area of statutory rape. Although it could be said that she's got a basis in Lauren & Jessica from the Twilight books, who go all claws out when Bella comes back to school after going insane when Christian Edward left.

Neyite · 06-02-2015 11:50pm

I've never read twilight. Should I?

cactusgal · 06-02-2015 11:54pm

Just following on from your point about her not being arsed changing the names/characters ... Another thing that really bugged me was that she had set the book in the USA, but kept using British English words, like "rucksack" and "plaited" and the ever-present foil "packet." (There's loads of other examples, but those are a few that I remember off the top of my head) If you're gonna set the book in the USA, at least make a minimal attempt to make the characters sound American.

cactusgal · 06-02-2015 11:56pm

Neyite wrote: »

I've never read twilight. Should I?

It's very poorly written, although I thought the idea behind it (vampire characters in the modern world) was interesting. I read the first book out if curiosity, but I didn't think it was great. But Twilight is like Shakespeare in comparison to 50 Shades!

(Again, I'm not a book snob, I loved Harry Potter and buy New magazine every week and have an unhealthy attachment to the celebrity column in the Daily Mail)

Neyite · 06-02-2015 11:57pm

Actually red lemonade linked to an Irish review

MistyCheese · 07-02-2015 12:03am

Toots wrote: »

If you've ever read twilight, the plot line is fairly similar. Except that in Twilight it takes 4 books til they get the ride, whereas in 50 shades it's not even 4 chapters.

I wasn't a bit surprised to hear that E.L James started out writing twilight fan fiction.

I've never read Twilight. I don't have any desire to read Twilight. That's not me knocking it though, I can't knock it if I haven't read it.

Toots · 07-02-2015 12:21am

Neyite wrote: »

I've never read twilight. Should I?

I actually quite like the Twilight books, I first read them when I was 19/20 I think, but have re-read them a couple of times. I'm not mad on the films, but the books at least have like-able characters.

cactusgal wrote: »

Just following on from your point about her not being arsed changing the names/characters ... Another thing that really bugged me was that she had set the book in the USA, but kept using British English words, like "rucksack" and "plaited" and the ever-present foil "packet." (There's loads of other examples, but those are a few that I remember off the top of my head) If you're gonna set the book in the USA, at least make a minimal attempt to make the characters sound American.

Oh god, the 'foil packet'. Talk about a passion killer!

GUY: "Ooh yeah baby, I've got a raging horn, let's bone!"
GIRL: "Hang on, you're riddled. I don't wanna get the clap, or pregnant."
GUY: "Don't worry baby, just grab one of those foil packets out of the nightstand."
GIRL: "One of.....what......?"
GUY: "A foil packet. They're in the top drawer there. Just grab one and I can get on with impaling you on my pork sword!"
GIRL: "You mean a condom?"
GUY "Yes, but it's contained within a foil packet, so therefore you must first grab the foil packet, in order to get the condom. I mean, it's just common sense. So if you'd just hurry up and hand me the foil packet we can get on with things..."
GIRL: "Ok, I'm going to just have to stop you there. It is not normal to refer to condoms as 'foil packets'. It' just not. Condom, johnny, rubber, helmet, cock armour, rain mac, protection, hell even prophylactic would be preferable. 'Foil packet' just makes you sound like an anally retentive nut job. And with that, I'm leaving. You can finish yourself off, you probably won't need a 'foil packet' for that."

Seriously, with all that's wrong with that book, the LAST thing E.L.J. needs to be worrying about is getting criticised for implying that the characters don't practice safe sex. It's not like it's going to be read by a bunch of impressionable 14 year olds!

cactusgal · 07-02-2015 12:29am

Toots wrote: »

GUY "Yes, but it's contained within a foil packet, so therefore you must first grab the foil packet, in order to get the condom. I mean, it's just common sense. So if you'd just hurry up and hand me the foil packet we can get on with things..."

Lolz. And the number of times that Ana flushes, blushes, or bites her lip. Or refers to turning on her laptop as "firing up the mean machine." And don't even get me started on her Inner Goddess, or whatever the F it was!!!

Toots · 07-02-2015 12:34am

Let's not be too hard on the girl, she's probably hitting the menopause early. I hear those hot flushes are a killer.

General Chat Thread (PLEASE READ POST #1)

Comments