Life in the Big City

Steve Pem sent me an email with a subject heading called ‘Life in the Big City’ which I thought was quite apt for the title of today’s blog. I never did mind a spot of pilferage and I’m sure Steve won’t mind either! I don’t have any good photographs to post so I have just decided to post general views from the kebab flat so you can get a feel for our new home.

I shall start on a positive note, with all the doom and gloom in the news at the moment I don’t want to add to it with all my miseries. So the format of today’s dribble will go in the way of, the good, the bad and the ugly.

First the good; Christine phoned me last night to say that John was brought home by ambulance from Kings Cross hospital the day beforehand. She said that he’d contracted the super bug Clostridium Difficile (C Diff to you and me) and wasn’t sure that he should have been released so soon. Poor John hasn’t had a easy ride lately and I really feel for him but when Christine told me that day he had toast at 7am followed by a bacon sarnie and had asked her to fetch him a big Mac from McDonalds for a mid afternoon snack, I just had to laugh. You have to remember that this is a guy who has just recently had most of his stomach removed. John has a way to go, not least shaking off this super bug but he will be fine, I just know he will.

Still on the good and I am pleased to say that I’ve lost 2 pounds since living in the kebab flat. I actually made it to the gym for a workout and a swim yesterday. Okay it was only 20 minutes on the cross trainer and 20 lengths in the pool but it was a start in the right direction. I have read somewhere that exercise helps to improve your mood so I am going try and go every day from now on. Actually I have no choice; I can’t bring myself to use the shower in the kebab flat, don’t ask me why, but the showers at David Lloyd are very powerful and very clean.

I am finding it hard to blog from the kebab flat; when I was sat in my beautiful kitchen in the cul-de-sac, the words just spilled onto my screen but the last two blogs, the words have had to be forced out and I have struggled to translate thoughts into words, which is so unlike me. I don’t suppose it helps that we haven’t set up a broad band wi-fi connection or landline yet. I have been able to get on a low strength connection unsecured network via BT Open zone but this is very shaky and can be very slow at times. So I am able to check emails periodically and can do very basic web surfing but posting a blog is almost impossible.

I posted the last blog from Milton Keynes Library. The connection is fast and you get access to a USB port so you can plug in a data stick, plus it’s really quick to download photographs. The bonus is you get 30 minutes free with your library card and can buy an extra half an hour for a pound. I must remember to get Phil’s library card off him so I can get an extra half an hour for free. As a member at David Lloyd we get free access to the internet but I was unable to post the blog from there when I tried yesterday. I got into my Google account with any problems but when I clicked on blog to do a new post it wouldn’t let me in. Worse still, a message came out of a speaker somewhere near telling me off for trying to access an unauthorised website! Good job there wasn’t anyone around. My guess is they picked up on the word ‘naked’ from the URL http://www.thenakedbloggers.blogspot.com/ . Also there was no where to plug in my memory stick so I wouldn’t have been able to download any photo’s. It will however, be a back up connection to the library and after my workout and shower and, I can at the very least, check my hotmail for emails. I think I am going to be spending a lot of my life at David Lloyd from now on!

It’s a big day in the kebab flat because the communal heating comes on in the block. We have been slightly cold and living with the heat of just one portable heater for the last few days so heat in all the rooms will be nice. The only concern I have, is that I seem to remember the last winter tenant living here, phoning me to say that she couldn’t control the temperature and the flat was like a sauna. If this is the case, I guess we will have to have another ‘sit in’ at the council.

Life is a constant battle and I can now get to the ‘bad’. I didn’t mention it in my last blog but we couldn’t get the washer/dryer machine to work over the weekend. Even Phil tried and he couldn’t get it to go. However I tried it again yesterday and it does work on a economy setting and it dries the clothes very slightly. This is not good enough for yours truly because if I put the clothes to air on the clothes horse they end up stinking of BO which is the very core smell in this flat.

And finally to the ugly bit! I have decided if I am to say in this flat then I need to chuck out the 3 seat sofa because not only does it stink but it is also broken. We also need to retile the floor in the kitchen and bathroom. There is no doubt that the second bedroom needs to be totally redecorated. In fact I started stripping the wallpaper yesterday afternoon. Phil wasn’t happy when he saw this because we currently have the kebab flat on the market to sell and he was worried about potential views. "What viewers" I said to him? Don’t you know the property market is dead as a dodo!!! I also want to replace the worktop in the kitchen, get a new washer dryer and a larder fridge/freezer and get rid of the oven and replace with a combination microwave. I thought they could be saved but the bedroom carpets will need to be replaced as they have virtually worn away. Phil has agreed that the bedroom blinds need to be changed as do the wardrobe doors. The bathroom also needs close attention. All this work and yet more money to shell out but it’s got to be done; not just for my own sanity but also in view of selling or renting. Me thinks we are going to be busy!