Rock-a-bye baby
The One Where I give you a bit of an update about what’s been going on in my life, notably flat-wise
So first let me rant about tonight’s power cut for just a minute.
Oh you want longer than that? Ok. The power went, I went downstairs, found half the house (meter readers) was dead but the other half wasn’t (all fuses were fine); called John & whinged, was told “well I can’t call anyone right this second,” said “well you don’t have to this second but how about within the next 10mins cuz I have no light and no heating!” Got a call back 10 mins later (!) saying someone was on their way.
Some time before electricians arrived my neighbour came back and God he’s scary. By that time I was lying in bed (God it gets cold cold sooo quickly!!) so just listened in to his “discovery” that he was in the dark. :)) Then figured I should probably go out to tell him it’s already taken care of… but by that time he’d buggered off to the loo and left the front door open (emergency lighs from the hallway provided minimal lighting) and OMG that place looked such a state!!!! (from what I could see in almost-darkness anyway) It was like a skip!!! No furniture as far as I could tell, and just stuff piled up everywhere. *shiver* I’ll be glad to be out of here.
Yeah so I went back to bed. Soon after that the electricians did come and informed me it was an area-wide problem and EDF were on it (apparently there are 3 “phases” which explains why half of our house was fine. yes apparently a house can be split). So I decided I couldn’t be bothered to go check if new flat or Amex still had power and would just go back to bed. Again. By this time it was too cold to do online-stuff on my iGor (cold hands!!!) so I just slept. And was roused by a phonecall from John to ask if it was ok if he came round to pick up the rent (and my notice! woooo!) and I said yeah whatever. Luckily 10mins later the power returned.
Yeah then John came round, his usual lovely radiant self 😡 (ahem) and aaaargh someone give me the power to resist guys like him!!! :)) Anyway, we chatted about new flat for a wee bit (and when I said “sorry my notice is a bit incomplete and whatever” he said “you know you can do whatever you want poppet” 😡 😡 😡 ) aaaand he’s invited me round to dinner to his place. :)) 😡 =P~ Apparently he’s bought a new place too (no doubt worth 3 times as much as mine – bah, but I bet he had to get a mortgage :] ) and says I have to come and see and have dinner now that “there’s no conflict of interest cuz you’ll no longer be a tenant.” 😡 😀 And I’ve invited him to my flatwarming party too! 😀 Aaah John. 😡
Oh aye I might not have mentioned that we found him on Facebook when squiZZ was here… I’m sure I’d looked him up before but whatever. He’s oh so cute so have a look!! Yeah so there’s dissent about adding him on Facebook, some people think it’s ok, some think it’s inappropriate. Maybe after he said the “conflict of interest” thing I should’ve said “oh so I can add you on Facebook now!!!!” =)) *ahem*
Ok so I should be telling you about new flat. Ain’t done that in a while. Main news in bullet point format as usual…
- Heating was completed within a day and a half. They left them on after they were done installing and it gets hot. Oh damn yes it gets hot! So I don’t think I have to get worried about freezing or anything. I got a bit freaked out when I realized that the storage heaters stand firmly on the carpet by means of two screwed on feet. I knew this (storage heaters are big heavy things containing bricks), I’d just totally forgotten about it / not given it much thought.
- Figured this might cause problems with carpet fittings, but after deliberations with both electricians and carpet fitters I have been told it should be ok.
From this it follows that things with carpet fitters are moving on. We (Jana and I) made our final decision regarding carpets on Saturday: sprinkly orange in the lounge, very yellow in the hallway, apple green in the bedroom. They’ve done the measurements, I need to chase them about a final quote so we can order. - On Sunday Antje Jana and I had another “date” to do some more painting (we were still stuck in the lounge!!). They both turned up late which left me plenty of time to start painting, get frustrated, freak out and go “I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS, I’M PAYING SOMEONE TO DO THIS NOW, I CAN’T BE ARSED ANYMORE!!”
The result of which was that Jana’s friend Matthew (who was gonna come round to give advice anyway) ended up doing a massive part of it (for money of course!). This was an interesting experience on its own cuz there was a certain level of… “grating of personalities”? Anyway he did in 2.5 days what would’ve taken us two weekends – and he did it more professionally too. - I had appointment with very cute plumber today re: bathroom. She’s given me a quote and I will maybe check an alternative to make sure she’s not ripping me off, but I think I’m gonna go with her cuz she’s… cute. She did point out one thing tho that’s not gonna please some of you lot… if we replace loo & washbasin (which we will), we’ll most likely have to replace the floor laminate too cuz the holes etc will just be a different shape. :)) 😐
- That leaves the kitchen. Yeah so I had appointment at Homebase with squi, but of course I’ve had 2nd thoughts about professionally fitted kitchen for a while – too pricey, not worth it for a room that for me is nothing more than a pure necessity. On the other hand yes I can afford it, and maybe it would give me pleasure to see a pretty kitchen when I get home everyday.
This is the only rooom where I am still entirely undecided. I have another appointment with B&Q later this month. They have some really cool stuff: silver worktops, glass wall covers with backlights… it just looks really really cool. But it might look over the top in a flat that is ultimately a pretty cheap deal. An off-the-shelf kitchen might just look… more appropriate? So yeah I don’t know, and I suspect this will carry on into whenever I move in there.
Cuz yeah I have officially handed in my notice to lovely John 😡 today – less than a month to go now until I move out of here. Which is – as I have already pointed out I believe – longer than I have ever lived anywhere outside of Luxhole. I felt a bit freaked out today when crazy-junkie-neighbour ranted about the power cut. I don’t get scared of people, but after I saw his flat-hellhole (yeah yeah I admit I was spying) I felt mildly out of place. No, not mildly actually. I moved in here over three years ago and I’m by far the longest tenant.
So moving out of this place will certainly be weird. This was the first place I truly made my own (maybe even more so than the next one, where I have solicited the advice of about a dozen people). But I think I will feel mildly relieved to get away. On the other hand “scary downstairs neighbour” in the new place, a.k.a. Rita, is making me seriously concerned. She’s lived there 22yrs (!) and she’s, well, nosy. She came to see me on Saturday, to “say hello,” which is all fine and well – and I may just be prejudiced, but my “asocial radar” tells me she’s gonna be trouble. So I’ve asked carpet people to go for the best available sound insulation.
I guess you can’t have it all. Here I have blissful anonimity and the knowledge I can mostly blast my music at 11pm, but on the downside I have serious doubts all my mail reaches me and I have scary junkie neighbours with domestic violence issues.
In the new place… well we’ll see how I cope with being part of a “house community”. I’d been looking forward to the pros and sort of disregarded the cons. :)) Hopefully I’ll be able to gracefully settle into the role of the “house eccentric” and they’ll leave me alone. Yay.