Banana's, Boys & Bathroom Leaks

It’s only been a week and already Phil is driving me bananas. For a start he hasn’t set up his base in the conservatory like he said he would. This means that his laptop and all of his bits of paper and IKEA pencils are strewn all over my kitchen table on a daily basis. Also he hasn’t done any food shopping or cooked any meals and we’ve been either been eating out or ordering in a takeaway. Not good for anybodies diet. Even Harriet got fed up of the bare fridge and dug into her own pocket and brought a few supplies. Nothing I would eat mind you and so reluctantly on Wednesday morning I caved in and went to Sainsbury’s. I cooked a big pot of lemon grass chilli chicken to last us a couple of days and a big jug of wagamama salad dressing. Phil’s excuse was that he has so much to do at the TMA flat and has no time to shop. I said that it’s all a question of planning and he should get to Sainsbury’s bang on the dot of it opening at 7.30am, come home to cook, plate up and then start work at the flat. He tutted at me which of course I ignored. But just goes to show you that men really can’t multi-task, unlike us girlies, who have to do it for our whole lives.

In actual fact we have been really busy all week. I don’t know what I was thinking when I said that I thought we’d be finished in the TMA flat on Monday. We’ve been pretty much there all week finishing off odds and sods. Gee from Polifix (actually his real name is Gracjan but we couldn’t pronounce this so he said we could call him Gee) finished off painting the communal hall, stairs and landing. It’s looking a lot better; even the postman said how much he liked it. Phil put up the new blinds in the landing and I brought each flat a new mat for their doorway. Phil thought this was a bit OTT but it’s the finishing touches that make the difference and besides their old dog-eaten mats were causing me much distress. Today is a great day because the carpets are being laid this afternoon. I can’t wait. For some reason this flat has been a hard slog but at least now we are ready to go on the market.

We’ve had the CCF (city centre flat) in the paper and with only one call which resulted in a viewing, I had no option but to agree a short term let with Mr & Mrs Duttu. With a bit of a language problem, I’ve had quite a few interesting phone calls with Mr Duttu but we’ve sorted everything (I think) and tonight we meet up to handover keys and sign contracts. Phil and me went yesterday to check up on the flat before they move in and is was only by chance when I was scrubbing the loo with bleach that I happened to look up at the ceiling and saw that it had a big brown water stain. I climbed up and it was very damp, so obviously it was from a very recent leak. I knew it was recent also because I’ve just finished painting the flat. I was very cross, this is third leak we have had from the flat above us. Even though it was Phil’s lunchtime I marched him to the MK council offices where we waited nearly an hour to be seen. We were finally seen by Jamie, a nice young man with great customer service skills who managed to calm me down and we left the civic offices feeling that the problem would be dealt with.

In the afternoon Phil dismantled one of the old kitchen cabinets from the lean-to shed and he went to the gym while I ended up loading it in my car and dumping it at the tip. Not sure why it panned out that way but as it happened I didn’t really fancy a work-out; I’m always too knackered in the afternoon. I did however ended up going to David Lloyd with the intention of having a swim but when I got into the pool it was packed out with kids so I ended up in the Jacuzzi and having a steam. I’d just got home when I got a call from Lindsay (the tenant above us in the CCF) to say that the council plumber was with her and couldn’t find a leak in her bathroom and could I come to show him where the water had leaked in our flat. I was cross because I wanted Phil to go and see him but he was still at the gym and wasn’t answering his mobile. Typical!

I got in the car and rushed to the CCF but when I got to Lindsay’s flat she said the plumber had found a leak in her toilet and gone to get some bits. I decided to wait in the foyer for him to return so I could be sure that the leak would be fixed that night, but after half an hour I got fed up and decided to go home. I pulled onto our drive the same time as Steve Buxton from Loughborough. Steve had driven down to catch up with Phil one last time before flying to Japan on Monday to work. He’s goes all over the world I can’t keep up with him. We went to The Giffard for a couple of beers and a steak and I have to say mine wasn’t very good. Steve complained and they brought me another one which was really nice. It was good to catch up with all of Steve’s news and when we got home, after a while I went to bed and left them chatting. Phil is definitely not in the wide-awake-club this morning and judging by his grunts and groans when I tried to stir him, my guess is they stayed up late. That’s okay and after all, it’s not as if Phil has to get up to go to work.