Tempus Fugit.....

I can't believe it's almost three weeks since I moved!

The journey itself went OK if you overlook that the M1 was logjammed, and we couldn't cut across country from the M40 as someone had incoveniently staged a Grand Prix downstream from our destination, and closed the roads to all through traffic. A scenic detour through Banbury and Daventry eventually got us here, albeit in just over 4 hours instead of the usual 2hrs 10. Add to that an hour in the letting agents signing multiple lease documents in triplicate, (I'm now afraid to even fart in case I break some sub-clause in the tenancy agreement) then 2 hours unloading, and it made for a long day. At least every single item in the 7.5 ton lorry arrived intact and undamaged. Fortunately after we miraculously crammed it all into the front room, all I had to do was lead the boys to the pub and pour beer down them - not a hard task at the best of times.

Since then I've been pretty much flat out everyday, either doing something to the house, or waiting around for someone else to turn up and do something to it, or deliver something for it...One day last week I had a plumber, the SKY TV guy, a bed delivery van and an IKEA delivery van all here at more or less the same time. It's a good job that the cottage comes with two sheds, or barns as they are euphemistically called, (actually I think they are old tack rooms) as I have already filled one with cardboard and polystyrene packaging waiting to go to the recycling centre.

The most ardous job was lugging boxes up to the 2nd floor - or "the garret" as I have taken to calling it, where I have a spare room that I have set up as part storage depot, part office. As I type this I am surrounded by so much stuff in and out of boxes that it looks rather like Steptoe's yard. The stairs are very narrow, and ridiculously steep and winding. It might be considered as "characterful" I suppose, but when you have to heave 40 packing boxes of books to the top it's more a test of patience, as well as of wind and limb.

Still, bar waiting for delivery of the lounge suite, I'm now just about done, and finally got the broadband hooked up again this morning.... I had to admit defeat in the end and have a man from the Yellow Pages come and sort it out for me. Or rather, sort out the spaghetti wiring I need to run a telephone, a digibox and a PC on this floor, all off one phone socket. It seems that I had cabled it in "parralel" when any fool knows I should have been in "series", whatever all that means. The price of my enlightenment was thrity quid, but it was one that I was happy to pay, just to get my trembling hands back on the superhighway again.

Oh yes.... there is actually one other thing I still need to do......get a job!