Oh man, seeing all these steps makes me feel like giving up and just accepting I'm never going to have a place where I can live alone ðŸ˜
Process of buying a house: timeline | MoneySavingExpert
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/buying-a-home-timeline/
At least I've found my guide, anyway 😞
I need to boost my credit history if I want to get approved for a mortgage. I barely have anything. I've been with my current account since I was in school, so I might try applying for a credit card with them. I'm sure they've sent me an application invitation before. The MoneySavingExpert checker said I should be 100% pre approved (subject to checks). Now I will have to stress about it for several weeks. I don't spend above my means (I'm Indian, I'm super stingy with spending!), so as long as I do a direct debit I should be fine, right?
I found this:
https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/help-and-assistance/passenger-assist/
Which is reassuring. Has anyone in the UK used this service before and if so, how happy were you with the help you got? This is the thing that scares me about travelling: too much input, really bad sense of navigation and not knowing what I'm meant to do. So I lock up and freeze.
Looks like I'm going to have to use this. My aunt refused to help me. Because apparently anywhere outside London is unsafe? London, where I got held at gunpoint at 19. Where my nephew got beaten unconscious. Where bike theft is rampant. Sure. The Enfield NAS just replied with a stock message about social groups and employment support, so I guess they're out. It's just me and ChatGPT.
I'll try to break it down. There's a shopping area just opposite the station. So maybe I can plan a trip to just there using passenger assist to help navigate the stations. Do some Lidl shopping, look at some bikes and then go straight back home. If I can manage that without getting lost, maybe I can go down to the beach next time. I don't like how the area around the station looks like there's no pedestrian areas. That scares me. Maybe I will ask the mosque there if they have any sisters groups. Though at this point, I'm just assuming no one is willing to help.
Now I have to find out how rail tickets work. Do I have to book a specific train time? Specific seat? I will look this up. Also I hear rail is more expensive than flying. Nice. Will my practice runs eat up all my savings?
@pathfinder that's a good protip, thank you.
@actuallyautistic can anyone recommend a budget GPS/app that's good for walking or cycling? I think I messed with the privacy settings too much on my phone, because last time I got lost in Finsbury Park, it said I was in Surrey 😅
Would I be better off just buying a budget smartphone just for maps? I don't want to be holding out my main phone to navigate, I get paranoid about it being snatched.
My main issue is getting lost, which is what triggers the anxiety. If I have maps and especially street view, I can build up that mental picture so there isn't so much new input to process and overwhelm me.
@actuallyautistic look what I found! I just searched for "autistic guide to national rail" and this came up!
https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/help-and-assistance/advice-for-autistic-passengers/
Direct link to PDF: https://assets.nationalrail.co.uk/e8xgegruud3g/rHn9EMVr2lJkmohJRUi1M/fb543e89e6668a8c56fe6734a6e8c641/FB-5458_Autism_Friendly_Guide_A4_Single_FINAL___8_May_2025.pdf
It really goes through everything and has PICTURES!
In other news, when I did a test print 2 days ago, all my ink was fine. Today I try to print my train tickets, guess what, I have no black. I checked the cartridge and there's plenty of ink. I wanted a hard copy just as a backup. Because you never know.
Anyway, tickets are booked and non refundable. My homie better not cancel on me!
#actuallyautistic #autismguides #autismtips #autistictravel #ukrailways #nationalrail
Wow, the culture is so much different in #Dorset! Drivers stop even at green lights and there's no one behind them, to let you cross the road! It happened a few times. It's so different from London, where they'll be happy to plough into you if it shaves three seconds off their journey.
I'm worn out, because my friend didn't want to take the bus, so we walked everywhere. We took the wrong path, so we had to walk all along the east cliff before we found a way down to the beach. We went all the way to #Boscombe pier, did a bit of souvenir shopping (my friend left his bag of stuff he got for his mum on the bench, I felt so bad for him). Then we walked down the beach to #Bournemouth pier. The beach at Boscombe is a lot quieter!
Oh the sea! I haven't seen the sea in years! I loved the sound, and we both just sat and watched the waves for ages. Next time, I need to get a burkini, because I really wanted to go wading!
We spoke to the bike hire guy on the beach (it was his first day), and he gave us some good tips on which areas are cheaper to live in. My friend liked it there so much, he said he's thinking of maybe moving there too. He's already planning on visiting again. I said, next time, you have to pay for your own ticket (the return tickets cost me £114 for both of us)! Coach is much cheaper, but it's three hours each way. He wouldn't stop talking for most of the journey 😅😅
Here's the #souvenirs I got. I'd have liked to have bought stuff for the kids, but I had to keep the trip secret, because I'm sure my family would try to stop me if they knew I was planning on moving there. I didn't get back till after 10pm. No one has asked any questions yet. Probably because they know they'll get no answers.
It's worth shopping around because I got the sand bottle (you have to fill it with sand yourself) for £1.50 near the Bournemouth pier, but they were £4 at Boscombe. The rock at Boscombe didn't have the text inside, but the Bournemouth ones did, and were 6 for £5. Souvenir tea towels are £5 at Boscombe, but double at Bournemouth. I was hoping to find the tea towels at Bournemouth to replace the one my friend left at Boscombe. I still feel really bad about that. I told him to put his other stuff in my bag and to bring a backpack next time. The seagull magnet and one of the rocks is for my boss. I might send a postcard to my friend in NI ðŸ¤
The rock has the same ingredients list for all flavours, but I checked the e numbers against this:
https://www.veganfriendly.org.uk/food-drink/vegan-e-numbers/
And they're all #vegan friendly.
I forgot #Wimborne was in #Dorset! Tickets are £10 for an annual pass for adults (£7 for kids, under 3s free). If you've followed my old account, you'll know I absolutely love miniatures, so this would be really nice to see!
Overall, I really liked it there! The people were really friendly, and I was worried about sticking out as a religious/racial minority, but there was a mix of people from different backgrounds there, no one gave me weird looks, the drivers stopping even at green lights (I still can't get over that!) and it's easy to walk around. London is so huge, it was surprising to see a whole town fitting into the area of like, one London borough! And the buses have only one door. So I'm going to look around and see what rents are like in Boscombe. Assuming my family does give me my share of the money when they sell the house, I only need to have enough to rent until they sell. But as I said, I'm half expecting that they'll just use my entire share to buy a house in London for me without my consent, or maybe they'll even decide since I'm gone they don't need to sell. Maybe they'll surprise me and hand it over without fuss, but I can't bank on it. If I go again, I'll have to check out some of the independent bike shops and see if they have someone who will be willing to give me a chance like my current boss is doing.
It can take a good deal of time and effort to be a vegan. A lot of this time and effort is well-rewarded, such as that spent creating tasty and healthy meals, perhaps following the latest exciting vegan recipes. But few people who took their first steps into veganism realised they would have to become
We spent more time in #Boscombe this time. Boscombe Chine Gardens was really nice! The tree ferns make you feel like you're going back in time! It's very peaceful. There were some totem pole art projects, but they had to be taken down due to rot. This might be one of the surviving ones? I'm not sure what the fish thing is about 😅 I think this was more on the #Bournemouth side.
We explored Bournemouth Town centre the next day and I still can't navigate to save my life ðŸ˜
I got to go splashing in the sea this time! Typical of my luck, the day we had the hotel was the cloudy and windy day. I still went to about chest height. I can't swim so I just had fun trying to not get knocked over by the waves for about an hour.
The next day was super hot and sunny, but we had to check out at 12 and I didn't fancy lugging soggy swimwear around with me the rest of the day. So typical!
I hope it won't be too long before I can get a place nearby, so I can enjoy the water when the weather is good!
For the #drwho fans!
Edit: https://dorsetview.co.uk/daleks-reveal-best-kept-secret-in-bournemouth/
That's what the Daleks at Deveron Hall are about!
Ohhh look what I found!
I knew I had this somewhere.
It's the Lifebyte guide to life! I got this when I finished my GCSEs!
See? Hoarding is good! (Sometimes.)
Now this book is 25 years out of date, but I'm sure there's still some useful stuff.
There must be an updated version of this! What is Lifebyte and does it still exist?
Posting this for @actuallyautistic in case anyone finds this useful or would like to see any other pages.
#actuallyautistic #lifebyte #autism #autistic #tryingtoadult
I showed this picture to my toddler niece and she said, "Oh! It's Darlings!"
She's so dang sweet!
The lengths people will go to to stop the unhoused sleeping on a bench.
I suppose it's meant to be some kind of art installation. It just makes no sense to put it on a bench.
Silver Arrows
Kevin Davy