40ish - Lightbulbs, Chickpeas and The Everything Rant
Episode Date: June 10, 2025Today on unfiltered, Nicole's is in the grip of a midlife meltdown encompassing everything that perimenopause has thrown at her and the list is long - very long (and it includes chickpeas.) Lauren’s... is raging over a pair of trousers that refuse to move. Elsewhere, one woman breaks down in B&Q over the emotional minefield that is buying a lightbulb, and another returns from a weekend away to find her husband has absolutely annihilated the dishwasher. It’s chaos. It’s midlife. It’s Unfiltered. To buy tickets to our live show click here - https://cheerfulearful.podlifeevents.com/festival/40ish---live-from-cheerful-earful-podcast-festival-16-oct-2025-tickets?clientside_routing=true Get 10% off Daily30+ today. Go to zoe.com/daily30 and use promo code 40ISH10 We love to hear from you! To share your feedback, dilemmas, rants, funny stories or general complaints about midlife please be in touch at: Email hello@40ish.co.uk Instagram https://www.instagram.com/40ish.podcast TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@40ish.podcast Facebook https://www.facebook.com/share/DVQWb6y2vesgeHEK/?mibextid=LQQJ4d To order our book HAVE YOU TRIED THIS?” click here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Have-You-Tried-This-Only/dp/1801293139/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1O7EA4ZF1O5CS&keywords=have+you+tried+this&qid=1699449028&sprefix=have+you+tried+%2Caps%2C125&sr=8-2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Please share any issues, any rants, anything you're struggling with, any midlife meltdowns.
We love the meltdowns. Oh yeah. Any feedback that you have on our shows, we would love to hear, just we just want to hear
from you. Be part of the conversation. Hit us up. Hit us up. Hit us up. How modern of you. I know.
What's your midlife meltdown this week? I've actually written a list. Oh God. Wow. Okay. I have written a list. I'm ready for
it. Please share with the group. Let me get my list up. I was just so fed up the other
day. Utterly, utterly, completely fed up of being 40 ish. I don't even know if it's going to be worse
at 50ish, but I reckon it might be 40ish. And it's things that I now have to worry about
that I didn't five years ago, not even a long time ago. In fact, I think even three years
ago, you know, things seem to be on the fucking turn. Eyebrows, that's the first one.
They're disappearing.
Yeah.
And they're going a bit gray.
That's not cool.
So now I have to color in my eyebrows, chin hair.
I'm actually not even talking about that one.
I'm just not.
But it seems to be here.
My hormones, they're constantly, constantly changing.
I never know how I'm gonna feel,
never know how I'm gonna wake up,
never know what I'm gonna say,
or who I'm gonna fuck off,
or who's gonna fuck me off. I never know. It's a constant fucking surprise. I'm not here for that. I'm
constantly injured
Look at my arm. This goes all the way up to my ears
This this thing here. I'm constantly injured. I get a small little
Shred of an injury and it takes about six weeks to figure out
Skincare regime I now skincare regime. I now
have to have, I now have to do that apparently. Um, early nights or I feel like shit nutrition
has to be on point or I feel like shit alcohol. Can't have it. Feel like shit sugar. Kind
of that. Cause I feel like shit. Um, chickpeas. What's wrong with them? They'd suddenly seem
to make me feel like shit. So suddenly they suddenly don't like me. Chickpeas.
That's random. That's new. I was making crispy chickpeas until very recently. I won't anymore.
I love a chickpea. Who doesn't love a chickpea?
I sight. Oh yeah.
I mean, I even can't see with my fucking glasses on now. Oh, my teeth are moving. Oh yeah.
That does happen. Yeah. And the gray hair. my fucking glasses on now. Oh, my teeth are moving. Oh yeah, that does happen.
Yeah.
And the gray hair.
I have the strip now.
The strip.
You know the strip.
The strip.
They are all the things that weren't happening three years ago that are now happening.
And I am just fucked off about it.
I don't blame you.
Thanks.
I mean, they sound fairly like generic to everyone of our age, but yeah, it's all annoying. Apart from the chickpeas that might just be you. It's not funny. I
don't know why you're laughing. What happens with the chickpeas? Tell me more. No, no.
Can't you use your imagination? Just no. Okay. Okay. Just no. Just they just I like a chickpea. You know,
I like chocolate. Who doesn't? I like a glass of wine. None of these things can happen in
my world anymore. Or I feel like shit. I think we should just say to anyone who's 35 and
younger, please indulge. It's not 35. It's 45. Okay, if you are... I was flying up until 45. If you are 44 or younger, just please indulge in all of those things now, now, while you
still can.
Just eat as many chickpeas as you can.
Have the booze, have the sugar, have the chickpeas, have it all.
And wake up tomorrow feeling normal.
Good for you.
Have late nights.
You know what, it wasn't even 45.
It was the menopause. It was the minute I
started with the perimenopause things very slowly and then suddenly very quickly went
downhill. That's, that's what's happened. And now it's just everything. Everything just
feels different. Ah, it just fucks me off. Fucks me off.
Not a lot you can do about it really though, is there?
Yes. What?
You're here now?
What do you mean? You can't get in a time machine and reverse it. I don't mean that,
but you have to be so up on how I look after myself. It's so boring. So boring when you
could just like have McDonald's and go to bed at 3am and go to work the next morning
and everything was fine. I mean that to me just sounds like a stomach ache, a dry mouth for three days and possibly a migraine.
I mean, I just couldn't do that.
Okay, let me ask you a question and don't lie. Have you been fiddling with my Spotify account? Have you? Have you? Are you laughing because
you have? Have you? Have you?
No. First thing, why would I fiddle with your Spotify account? Secondly, I don't know your
password. Thirdly, you always play. Passwords? I don't have a password.
It's just, you just press Spotify and it opens.
I know what you mean.
So I locked.
Oh, like what?
I do love how technically backwards you are.
But it never ceases to amaze me because it seems endless to how technically backwards
you are.
I mean, these are your words.
I mean, you say why, why have you, but you did like make me a lanyard saying professional
numpy.
So you clearly enjoy sometimes occasionally messing with me.
And I wondered if this was another one of those special times.
Listen, you always claim that you don't listen to Spotify.
You don't use Spotify.
You don't really get Spotify.
There's always things that I get Spotify.
I don't need Spotify.
Who needs Spotify?
Yeah.
You know, you're very middle-aged when it comes to Spotify.
But then sometimes I have DJX on as I told you the other week and Post Malone was
playing and it was really sweary and rude and it was about the hose and the drugs and my mum was here
and I'm telling the honest truth I was in the car and I thought okay I'll you
know hit up field because I'm alone and maybe I'll get a bit of gangster rap
going while I drive home.
Is that what you would have put on?
Dry cleaners.
Is that what you would have put on?
Well, TJX serves me stuff, you know.
If you had to pick something to listen to immediately on Spotify, what would you pick?
Like what would be your song of choice?
That would really depend on my mood.
This mood.
Right now today.
Right now, yeah, because you seem a little stroppy.
I mean, I could happily go with a bit of M&M.
Anyway, I turned it on.
On my word of honor, the song that played out was
High on Hills, the lonely girl turns.
You lay, you lay, you lay, you lay.
Right? The sound of music.
And then I thought, it's you, you and your musicals obsession
and you've hit, you've like put some musicals list into my thing. And now it's just playing
me musicals, but not like cool musicals, like children's musicals. Not like a bit of Les
Mers, a bit of Hamilton, not that I've seen Hamilton, a bit of like Phantom. No, it's giving me children's.
Firstly, I like how you say cool musicals and then you pick out like Bar Hamilton. Like
these are not adult musicals. These are not contemporary musicals. Musicals have moved
on since Phantom of the Opera. Just saying.
It's playing me children's musicals.
Listen, there's
nothing wrong with Julie Andrews. It was not what I was expecting. That's all I can tell
you. Okay. Maybe, maybe you know how like a lot of the time on my laptop when I go to,
you know, auto fill my details, yours go in to my Laura Mishcon and then it's like your
address, your phone
number goes in. I'm like, sometimes he does it with bank details. Like sometimes your
bank card is on my Google pay. I don't know. I really don't know. Worrying. But it happens.
Yeah. Well, you know, it happens because Daisy made an urban outfit order on your bank card.
She did. Yeah. So I don't know how that's happened.
I think we're just like slowly sinking into one married basically was it's more than married
because now I think you've just logged into my Spotify account. You must have done. I
don't know what happened, but it was very weird. And also by the way, you do need to
log into Spotify. You do actually in order to access
Spotify, it does require a login. It's not like, oh, I just open Spotify. It doesn't
work like that. It needs an account. You must have an account.
I don't know. Maybe. Give me your phone.
I have a family account. Anyway, can tell you the other thing that really annoyed me
is that on our banisters
outside our bedroom, Ollie has had a pair of trousers hanging there for over a week.
Haven't moved.
They haven't moved.
Right.
Now they're not going to move.
Why would they suddenly move?
Because he psychically expects me to understand whether they are for the dry cleaners, are
they for the dry cleaner, are they for ironing, are they for the wash, are they for the charity
shop? It could be any of those things, but he doesn't share the information nor does
he put it in the required place. He just leaves them there. Where's the required place? Well,
either a dry cleaning bag, the charity shop or the laundry room. There's a dry cleaning
bag. Yeah. We have a dry cleaning bag so we can take it
all to the dry cleaners at the same time. So organized. Yeah. So organized. How often
do you go to the dry cleaners? I don't. He deals with dry cleaning. I don't dry clean
anything. I don't own anything that's dry clean. I don't either. I refuse to buy it
these days. Me too. How middle-aged is that? Well put it in the washing machine or don't
own it. Yeah. Yeah. I don't need to keep investing in like silk. I've got nine week old puppy at home. Time for silk. Satin crepe. Anyway. Yeah. Anyway,
on Sunday, I just thought I'm just so I'm just I can't look at them anymore. So I came down and I
said, you know, your art installation upstairs, you've called it an art. Yeah. I said, is it a
permanent exhibition or are you planning on touring? He knew exactly. He knew exactly. And then he said, Oh no,
it is, it is going on tour. I was like, great. Any idea when the exhibition might be moving
on? I've seen it now and I'm over it. So, um, yeah, that was, that was how it really
annoyed me. Just like put your staff where it goes. I am really sorry.
I said it was very minor compared to gray hair and gray eyebrows and being allergic
to chickpeas. Would you leave a top out or a pair of trousers out for over a week and
expect Adam to psychically know where they go? No, you just put them in the correct place.
I don't like it. It's annoying.
I told you you was a bit stroppy today. You are a bit stroppy today. What's happening?
Tell us. Tell us what's going on. I can't talk about it. Why? Because it's just so long
boring. Oh, is it about the doctors? Yeah. Oh no, we don't want to hear that. Trust me
listener. Neither do you. No, you really don't. But something really surprising happened.
What?
Last night.
Yes.
Late at night.
Scrolling on my phone, you know, I can get up to no good late at night scrolling doom
scrolling.
Yes, how you end up with puppies in your house.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
What did I find?
For some reason I was on TikTok.
I don't know why I was on TikTok.
Yeah.
This isn't a melt, midlife meltdown.
It's just more of a, you know, at the age of 48, few things surprised me. Well, apart
from the chickpeas, few things, you know, I'm not often sort of taken aback by things.
I've seen a lot of life. You've seen a lot of life.
I've seen enough.
We've seen, you know, I've seen bits and pieces.
I would say at 10 o'clock on a Wednesday night, it's not usually the time where you are taken aback by something.
I was a bit taken aback by Aidan's wanking in and just like that.
We all were.
Episode one, the hand palm licking, unnecessary.
That did, I was taken aback by that it just wasn't cool
go back to the wood making that's the only wood I want to see out of Aiden is his carpentry
do you know what I mean I'm not into it it was gross it was so gross anyway yeah um
also who wanks in the truck? Oh, just the whole thing.
I'm just trying to think of who I know that has a truck. But it's also like drunk wanking in a truck.
There's nothing you shouldn't be driving either.
He wasn't. He was parked in the field at the back of his house because of Wyatt.
This child that's ruining their relationship was in the house.
But still don't drink beer and wanking.
He's trying to drive the truck there.
No, I think it was on his land. I don't drink beer and wanky truck. Drive the truck there. No, I
think it was on his land. I don't care. It's a bit tragic. I mean, I know what you're doing.
I know what you're doing. So you're changing. I'm not to me. It's a need. It needs to be.
Please. I have nothing to hide because you know, Lauren and I usually tell each other
everything. Don't we? Would you say we tell each everything? I would say we do. Yeah? Yeah. Would you?
Everything. Everything. Occasionally Lauren goes a little rogue and she'll do things that
are quite surprising like when you have your matcha. I mean wow! Just saying.
Occasionally.
Sometimes I order a match and I don't tell you in advance I'm going to order it and then
you're very surprised.
I am because you bitch about it most of the time and then all of a sudden you're stitching
there with a match latte and I'm like hold on. I thought we hated matcha.
Sometimes I like it.
You know it's like when you slag someone off and then you expect your best friend to
hate them. It's like that kind of thing. Hold on. I don't like match because you don't like
match. What's going on here? Yeah. Yeah. I allowed to like match. I fancy to match up.
Yeah. It's a bit like that. Okay. Anyway, scrolling on tick tock 10 o'clock. Don't judge
me. And you know how it sometimes pops up with a few accounts of people you may know. Well, who popped up?
Who? Lauren's puppy popped up. Beba, new account, people you may know. So I'm like, hmm, she
looks very much like Lauren's puppy. I'm going to have a look at what this account is. Oh,
it had a profile name, a profile picture. It had two, not one, two videos.
And I would say the second video even had an overlay,
an audio overlay.
What's that?
You put some audio over the video.
Yes, you did.
Don't pretend you didn't.
What is it?
What is the audio?
As in like a song?
Some music or a sound bite, or I can't remember what it was now. Wasn't it just me talking?
No, no, the first one was you talking. The second one had an audio piece of audio on it.
Wow. There was like some serious editing involved. So I'm lying there, lying in bed. I'm very confused. I'm like, has Lauren actually gone onto TikTok managed
somehow managed to create a new account on her own? It's not even attached to all of our accounts
on TikTok, right? Let me tell you something. You heard what she said about Spotify. Didn't
you listeners? You heard what she said. I don't need a login for Spotify. I just go in and it's there. Like Lauren does not know how to do these
things and throughout our entire working relationship, I have had to do these things and she pretends
that she can't do these things. But suddenly there is this brand new TikTok account with
two videos, one which has audio that she has
intentionally put on top of the audio.
What is the audio?
So there is editing involved. She has edited two videos and set up an account. I will also
state it has no followers. And then I thought, oh, maybe I'll follow her. And I thought,
no, she's been lying to me. She didn't even tell me. Fuck that. I'm not following her. Oh my God. Okay. I
mean, so I messaged you last night. What did I say? A whole like, we have to discuss this
immediately. There's an account. It's your account. You sent a'm going to take care of your puppy. Where are you? Hello? Hello?
This needs discussing now. And I was like, she's lost her fucking mind. She hasn't lost
her fucking mind. It's like, hello, you can't do anything on social media. Nothing. Nothing.
Sometimes, sometimes like an element of genius hits me and then I'm able to do stuff and
then I can't remember anymore. And then you set up a whole account. Yeah. You uploaded two videos. I'll assume
it was at two separate times. It wasn't just I think it was at the same time. I basically
manifested this puppy into being because my whole feed is just gay comedians and golden
retrievers. That's like my whole algorithm. I need to,
we're not getting off this. This is the same subject. And then I thought these videos have
like, they've brought me so much joy and love and I just love watching other people's golden
retrievers. And then I got the puppy and I have basically been housebound apart from
coming into the studio for two weeks now. I was bored and I thought, oh, that'd be
cute to like share her with
other people and then other people could enjoy it because I enjoy other people's golden retrievers
and then don't really know how I did it, but I did it. And then I think I did both at the
same time. And then I was like, oh, I can't be fucked with this. But then I didn't know
how to delete it. So hold on, I'm stuck with it, but I don't know how to
delete the account. And then I got absolutely terrified that if I did try and go in and
delete it, I was going to delete our work TikTok. Cause I have no idea if it's a link,
not link what I was deleting. So I thought best to just shelve it, leave it alone and
ignore it. So I just did two on the same evening and just
I've left it.
Two more favoritism. If, if you are interested, go and give her a follow. I don't even think
I can get back into it now. So I haven't even seen, I haven't even seen them since the day
I did them. So here's the question.
Non event for me. Here's the question.
I loved it. I loved it. Made me so happy. Great. So happy. So confused. So unexpected.
Keep you on your toes. Keep you on my toes. And I'm like, well, maybe she is more able
than she makes out. Have you seen my matcha account? I cannot tell you what pleasure that is.
It's where I travel the cafes of London and I test out all the matches and then I put
videos and I rate them.
Yeah, but also you'd make matcha, maybe you made matcha muffins.
Oh yeah.
You make all the matcha bakery.
Yeah.
It's called rate my matcha.
It's blown up. Why didn't you tell me? Why did I tell you? Come on.
We want the truth. We don't want no. And this is the answer. This let me just clarify. And
then no, I don't want that answer. I don't want the, oh it didn't occur to me to not tell you. I want the real answer of why you didn't tell me. Make it up.
And make it juicy.
Okay, so after the thong-thong gate, Jen says, a total first world problem but following on from last week's lady with the flappage issue, I want to have a little rant. I'm
finding it impossible to buy swimwear. I find it all so revealing or, on the other end of
the scale, so frumpy. I just
want something pretty that covers my bottom half a bit better. I don't want to have to
shave or wax while I'm away for two weeks, so knickers are a bit too revealing. I feel
annoyed that men don't have to decide whether they want their pubes on show.
Why do the bottoms only cover half a bum cheek? Perhaps a lot of retailers believe that women want to bear as much flesh as possible. I just don't get it. You know what? I like, I hard relate
to that. She is right. We just accept this stuff and it's not okay. She is right. She is right.
accept this stuff and it's not okay. She is right. She is right. She is right. Yeah. Toilet paper hanging debate. Knox of Knox tasks says this is an HR issue. How can this
explain what it is? This was a woman in the office who there was a mad woman in the office
who kept turning the toilet roll so that the paper came over rather than under and she
was leaving passive aggressive post-it notes
and this woman was writing in to say this woman in the office was nuts basically.
This is an HR issue. How could she be this emotional about toilet paper?
Do not let it go! Hang your toilet paper under.
Someone else said, I used to hang it however I wanted, but my ex, near the end of our marriage,
suddenly became bothered
about it and wanted it over. I couldn't care less but he would change it if I put it under
so I used to change it randomly just because it was very satisfying so I say hang it under.
Okay.
I can't remember what you said was.
I said over. My mum said over. Oli said under. You said you don't really care.
I could not care less.
No, Christine says it is always over
and I would swap it at work,
but I wouldn't leave a note about it.
It's more of a hygiene thing with me
because if it's over, you don't touch the wall
where the other hands have touched.
What?
Do you touch the wall if it's under?
Also at work work I would imagine it's more of a dispenser. Oh not the shiny tissue paper toilet paper. That's awful. They had that at the
gym. It is awful. Oh no. I mean this went on and on. Leslie, mine are over. Donna, over. Adam,
always over. Dr Sweden, over is easier to grab and
the original patent displays it like that. Who cares? Do we actually care? You don't
care about this to you. I don't actually have emotional feelings about it. I have a general
preference. So you do have feelings about it. I have a preference but it doesn't, I'm not emotionally attached to the preference. You
know? Like I prefer hermeseed to sweeteners, but if you gave me a candorl, I'm okay with
that. I have a preference but I'm not emotionally attached.
Yeah.
Know what I mean?
That is a very, very good analogy.
Thank you so much.
Because I feel exactly the same. This I don't care about.
It doesn't, it does not take up any, not any headspace.
Nor should it. You've got enough going on.
Thank you.
I have, I have with my gray hair and my chickpeas and all of it.
I do have enough going on.
Remember with the coffee grounds in the garden, I told you that I got my coffee grounds.
Oh my God. How many messages did we have about that the people all do it? I am gobsmacked. I do it says Maximus Wee Woo and I'm pretty sure my sister does we're both in our 40s. Twiggy says I'm 32 and I do it. Nicole says not you. My husband does it every day and our plants are loving it. And AC said, you are both going to be exactly the same
in 30 years. I love the dynamic between you both.
Is it talking about you and your mom? You and me. They're talking about you and me.
We're going to be exactly the same. Yeah. In 30 years. Why? I don't know. We just are. We're like polar opposites. Aren't we? Yeah. Now I think
he means exactly the same now as we are now when we're in our seventies. He means we're
going to be exactly the same. We're not going to change. That's what he means or she means.
Now, I mean, no, we're not going to be exactly the same as each other. No, just exactly the same.
And Raylan says, if you compost as well, I don't chuck it in there too.
And if you and it helps, I'm surprised you don't.
I don't.
Also, he says, I don't think I've heard the word nightie in a very long time.
When did you say nightie?
I said I've tipped it out in my nightie.
Yeah, that's not good.
Do you have a nightie? No, you don't. I said I've tipped it out in my 90. Yeah, that's not good. Do you have a 90? No.
You don't, do you? Of course I don't.
Have you ever had a 90 since you were like eight?
No. No.
Have you? You have an actual 90?
Yeah. It's from Zara.
You shouldn't. Why? It's nice.
Is it? Yeah.
Is it nice? It is nice. It's navy.
Oh, you know what? It's from Zara.
I do have a 90. Do you?
I only wear it on holiday. Oh, holiday nightie.
It's like a very big caftan. Oh, yes. And I just like, I throw it on, you know, when
I have to walk around the hotel room, around the hotel room or if we're staying at like
an Airbnb, like I would put it on over that to go make breakfast. And you know, yeah,
it's very airy. Yeah. Because in days gone by, you didn't really need to wear anything.
But when you've got teenage kids, you need to wear something.
Well you do to walk around.
Yeah.
To make breakfast.
I wouldn't make breakfast naked.
Neither would I, but a nightie's fine.
Yeah.
I think the nightie just, it brings up some images
that are very like stale.
I know, but mine is not like high-necked and long-sleeved and made out of flannel. It's
like a little navy, cottony, lacy thing from Zara. It's fine. Why, you're giving me the
side eye. Okay. Like my puppy.
She gives a good side eye. Princess Diana looks, she gives. She doesn't mind my nightie. I'm going to
put it on TikTok. You and the puppy in your nightie on TikTok. That would be viral. I
might buy her a nightie. You might get a follower then. I might. It's true. I don't want to be following
it. He had no followers. I'm too old. I'm too old.
Okay, this is the first one. Hi. Hi. I'm 46 and last week I had what I can only describe as a full-blown emotional
collapse in the lighting aisle of B&Q. Wow. I went in to buy a bulb for my bedside table
lamp. It's already so middle aged. So middle aged. But then I stood in front of the wall
of LEDs, bayonets, warm whites, cool
whites, dimmables, non-dimmables. And I felt such overwhelmed that something inside me
snapped. I stood there holding two identical looking boxes whispering, what do you want
from me? I am like, so understanding. It gets worse. It gets worse. Bulbs are a nightmare.
I then found myself in the garden ornament area crying over the small figurine of a black
Labrador puppy.
Oh my god. When I finally got home I realised I had bought the wrong bulb, I had left my
coffee on the roof of the car and I had eyeliner smeared down my face.
For crying.
Yeah. So now I am questioning everything, my career, my sanity and whether I should just live
in the dark from now on. Is this perimenopause? Is this a nervous breakdown or is this just who
I am now?
Right. Firstly, I'm going to break this down for you. Okay. Okay.
Right. The bulb thing. I have never ever come home with the correct bulb. Who does? It's just impossible because
you've got all the different bases and all the different wattages and the voltages. Is
it a screw? Is it a click? Is it this? I can't stand bulbs. I hate them. I hate them. I also
hate them. I hate them. And I hate lithium batteries
because they're all a different fucking size. Yeah. The round ones. Yeah. My kitchen scale
ones have run out and I don't want to deal with buying the new ones. You know, and I
have so many batteries at home. Guess what? None of them fit. They're all the wrong size.
I don't even know what we bought these batteries for. Bulbs and batteries can go
fuck themselves. I agree. I agree. I agree. So you know what? What is this woman's name?
RG. She just gave her initials. We are with you. We resonate. We resonate. We are with
you. Bulbs are assholes. A lot of them. They are. And they are especially assholes when
you are in perimenopause. Cause who needs that shit? You need things to be calm and cool and serene and simple and easy.
And bulbs are the opposite of all of that. Living in the dark might be easier. Just light
a candle. Easier. I'm just telling you, just stay away from chickpeas. Okay. Does she say is this
perimenopause? Yeah. Yeah. Also when I first thought that I was having a
nervous breakdown, remember the Phoenix furniture department? Yeah, I went, I
wasn't there, but I was there. You were on the phone to me. I was crying to you.
That was your sister? No, I was on the phone to you too. After my sister, I was on the phone to you too after my sister. I was calm then. My sister had calmed
me down. This was the first moment where I thought I was having a nervous breakdown.
On a display sofa. Let me tell you now on a display sofa, I was in the Phoenix furniture
department. I burst into tears. I couldn't breathe. I mean, it's funny now. It wasn't funny at all. I couldn't
move. I sat in the middle of the Fenix furniture department on the phone to my sister doing
breath work. I mean, it's so not funny. Breath work. And then I had to sit because there's
like a cafe Nero attached to this Fenix. And then I sat there for two hours and I remember
phoning Lauren and saying, I don't know what's going on with me. I think I'm having a nervous
breakdown and Lauren said, what is it you need? I said, I need to go home. I need the
house to be tidy. I need dinner to be cooked. I need everybody's just to be where they are
and just doing what they're doing. And Lauren said, so you need a wife. I said, yeah,
I need a wife. I don't have a wife. Anyway. And it took me a long time to figure out and get myself
an HLT. It was a whole journey. So RG, honestly, you are not having a nervous breakdown. This is
probably the start of perimenopause. It sounds like it. I'm just giving you love and support.
And from my knowledge and experience, this is how it starts.
Can I just say, go to the doctor and get your blood stung
and get someone else to deal with the bulb issue.
And also take a photo of the bulb or take the bulb.
Take the bulb.
I take the batteries so that I can check it's the same size.
It won't get you a bulb though.
It won't.
Sarah said, Hi ladies, here is my rant.
I went away for the weekend with my girlfriend and I came home to find that my husband has
been using laundry pods in the dishwasher.
Now everything that is cooked in our nonstick pots and pans
and the air fryer drawer tastes and smells of laundry detergent. No matter how many times
we wash them and put them through the dishwasher with normal tablets, we have cleaned the dishwasher
too, but it has literally permeated all of our pots and pans. Sara. That is a proper problem. Yeah. And I understand why she's ranting about that.
I would rant about that too. I would really piss me off. And also because he's done a
nice thing because he's just being helpful around the house. But also Sarah, I am interested
that he would put an unstick pan in the dishwasher because I would wash that up. I knew, I knew the minute she said air fryer, I knew that you were going to go there.
Well, I put my air fryer bits in the dishwasher, but not nonstick pans. They get washed by
hand. Lauren is very protective over her nonstick pans and mine. Yes, I am. Yeah. Yes, I am.
Yeah. I am looking. I'm taking care of them. Oh, yeah. Well, she, she's not taking care of them. She's judging them. Just so you know,
she's judging them.
So who's winning this week? You with your plethora of issues, including the chickpeas,
yours with Spotify and the trousers. I mean, I'm not winning. Okay. I'm not winning. You're
not. Okay. You're not. Okay. You're not. RG with the B and Q existential crisis
or Sarah with her beautiful smelling pots and pans. RG. It's hands down it's RG because
this is the beginning of her perimenopause. I'm sorry to tell you. I'm not a doctor. I
am not a doctor, but I honestly, I recognise irrational rage, my love these days.
That's where we leave you listeners, but we're going to be back on Thursday with our main show.
Don't forget to send us in your dilemmas. We love them.
We do love them. Please be in touch, hello, at 40ish.co.uk and we'll be back on Thursday
with a brand new episode. See you then.
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