Thursday, September 23, 2010

From despair to where

A long silence, I know. Back from holiday, I struggled to adjust to real life and fell into a bit of a deep funk - and not in a Parliament kind of way.

Port Isaac is a pretty special place, still, despite the attention it gets because of a popular ITV prime-time drama series. The last time I was there would have been in the mid/late 80s, I think. We were in the harbourside pub and the fishermen had just accidentally caught a huge leatherback turtle in their nets.

No turtles this time...just a big old slate-covered house with a steep garden. It's been a while since I have slept so well - we did a lot of walking, so I felt pretty healthy, despite the vast amounts of tasty Cornish ice cream I consumed. I did feel rather sad while I was there, occasionally. North Cornwall was our most popular holiday spot through the 80s, so being there reminded me of family holidays, and of course, my parents.

Back in real life, the house sale appears to be drawing to a close, and I hope that contracts will be exchanged very soon. I am beginning to find the whole thing rather a drag. This weekend I'll be helping to clear the place out, which is going to be tough, but better now than later.

At home: yet more plumbing hell! We are having to totally destroy our bathroom flooring to get at the source of a leak that is damaging our neighbours' ceiling. Not. Happy.

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Monday, December 14, 2009

Something's gone wrong again

Why is it that the shit stuff always seems to happen in December?

After a very pleasant evening out on Saturday, we arrived home to a note from our downstairs neighbours to say that they had discovered water dripping through a light fitting outside their bathroom. One expensive visit from a plumber later, we discovered that the bathtub that was put into our flat about three years ago has been an accident waiting to happen - incorrectly plumbed in, and a mess in general.

Job one on the list is to track down the perpetrators of the crime and take them down to Chinatown. Never piss off a person who is good at admin, like me. I have already planned out a systematic and comprehensive business-ruining drubbing that involves two local councils and Trading Standards.

Job two, infinitely less fun than part one, is to find a competent plumbing firm that would be able to fix the problems for us. This will take several hundred pounds, I estimate - that's not to mention the cosmetic stuff that will need doing as a result of the works, and the sheer bloody inconvenience of having no bath or shower available to us during the coldest week of the year thus far.

One word: bastards.

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