Day 6 Thursday November 17.

Last night was the first time in a week that I got to bed before 2am. This morning I had to climb the fire escape and come all the way down inside to check my mail and electric meter, I am a little concerned as to the amount of electric I’m using at the moment, £2 yesterday as opposed to 80p I was using at Orchard Street. Mail wise there was a card informing me that I have a parcel ready for collection at the sorting office on Blyth Street, that will mean a bus journey tomorrow as my poor legs won’t carry me that far and back again. It is either the free Stella Artois Cidre glass or the free energy monitor both of which I applied for on Offers Oasis online, loads of free stuff and great free competitions on that site, Well there will be once Virgin pull there fingers out and get me reconnected. On the plus side so far today the first of four suitcases I went trawling through contained my travel document wallet containing my travel insurance policy and most importantly my passport, panic over and something else to tick off from my “Things to do” database.

I put my leather’s on for the first time in two years and made my way into town briefly stopping of at the medical practice to make an appointment to see Dr Bruce on December 1. I checked my lottery ticket at the Coop, no luck. , then went to Wilkinson’s on the pretext of buying a washing up bowl. Okay I’m not desperate for one but my logic thinks that it takes a lot less hot water to fill up a bowl than a sink and the £2.50 It cost me will pay for itself eventually. I also bought a teaspoon and teabag rest, I’m just still in the mindset of keeping everything clean and tidy, the only trouble now is that I’ve bought these two items from the Poppy Collection at Wilkinson’s I will now have to collect the rest of the set. I do actually need a new bread bin and biscuit jar as the old ones went in the bin and the tea, sugar, and coffee jars that I’ve had since the late 80’s are showing their age mainly because of the scrubbing they’ve had mainly because they used to sit beside a deep fat fryer (Won’t have another one of those again).

I dropped into Bond’s for a drink and to catch up with friends, one of which is Dave who told me he has a fridge/freezer and only wants £40 for it, definitely something to consider.

At present, I’m going to clean the vegetable storage bins so that tomorrow I can finally get to clean the oven that I have putting off for the last four days and the cheese encrusted toasted sandwich maker.

Vegetable bins cleaned and draining and washing up bowl in its new place. As I said before, tomorrow I shall finish the kitchen, I need 30 minutes to 2 hours to leave the oven cleaner to work its magic before I can clean it off and then go to work on the exterior, in the meantime I can clean the toasted sandwich maker and then apart from acquiring a fridge or fridge/freezer and replacement microwave, which should be here by the weekend all I need to do is mop the floor and I can finally make a start on the bathroom, the bedroom ( when the old junk has gone Saturday morning. I can’t really do much more until I have a wardrobe, wall unit and bookcase, then I can finally go through all these boxes and clean the carpet in the living room and the laminate floor in the bedroom a few more tasks to tick off the list, I must remember to take the bus to collect my package from the sorting office tomorrow, actually, I could do that whilst the oven cleaner is doing it’s job.

I can’t believe it is after 10pm already, Tempus Fugit, I think I shall finish off the Mushroom Stroganoff and mashed potatoes and think if there is anything else I need to do or put on my “To do” Database which is now down to 43 items from around 70.

I need to watch the cash flow situation, okay, I’m fully up to date with my TV license payments and the Council Tax for this year is paid apart from 72p and £19.28 “for other notices” whatever the fcuk (stet.) that means and I also have plenty of food in but I want to keep at least £10 aside just so I can have a few drinks with friends on my birthday a week tomorrow.

Word for the Day:
Callipygian: A person with very shapely buttocks. (I kid you not.)

Day 7 Friday November 18.

Slow start to the day but Friday for me is the most boring day of the week as no one is about and nothing much happens. I hobbled down to Victoria Road to catch a bus to the Post Office sorting depot (£1.20 there, £1.20 back again.) I stopped off for a drink and to examine my new package as I know I haven’t ordered anything from Amazon in 3 months. It revealed as a cordless phone and I thought, “I didn’t order that!” Then I saw the note inside it was a birthday present from Julie in Bristol, thanks for that sweetie XXX.

Early evening and I had no sooner got through the door than I got a text from Rose telling me they would be down at 9am in the morning; I hate mornings, better set the alarm. No sooner had I received that text Julie rang to catch up, she has no electric and has to take Ryan to the hospital tomorrow, very stressful.

I put my rubber gloves on and sprayed the oven, need to leave it to work its magic until no later than 8:45 pm. I went to the end of the drive for a smoke and watch the world go by. The National Grid are doing some gas works down the road and have set up a set of temporary traffic lights. A couple of blondes in a hatchback pulled up, wound the window down and started chatting to me, It’s great just to get a smile from a pretty girl but being chatted up puts a spring in my step. It’s the leather jeans. I must get another pair, they are serious lady killers. Lol.

I went up to the phone box on Wiggington Road with the intention of contacting Virgin but that particular call box doesn’t accept coins only credit/debit cards after phoning a number to leave your details. B*ll*cks to that! I backtracked and used the payphone at Morrison’s and the engineer took my number and is due to phone me tomorrow between 11am and 1pm, hopefully I will get connected very soon. Right now the oven should be ready for wiping, I’ve left it an hour and a half, and can’t stand the smell of ammonia any longer so I best get to it.

I feel more than a little queasy now, when they said “give it a liberal spraying”, (Spray on and wipe off my @rse!) I wished they’d defined liberal, William Gladstone Liberal or Lloyd George liberal. Anyway the internal oven is clean and when I feel a little better I shall tackle the outside with a cleaner that has a shorter half life then I can do the toasted sandwich maker and mop the floor and apart from a fridge et voila! Bathroom tomorrow I think, that shouldn’t take too long, famous last words.

It is almost 10pm now and as Rose and Pete are coming first thing I’d better think about bed. I finished the outside of the oven and overall I would say that I was 85% satisfied with it, there are some stubborn stains that even Cillit Bang couldn’t shift but when I get into a regular cleaning regimen I hope to wear them out eventually I just don’t want to scratch the surface and spoil it, I want it as pristine as when Ron and mum gave it to me. I didn’t get round to the toasted sandwich maker or clean the floor as the smell of ammonia is still quite pungent. I’m going to find something simple to have for supper then go to bed.

Thought for the day:
If Wile. E. Coyote has so much money to spend on all those Acme products why doesn’t he just go out and buy dinner?

Day 8 Saturday November 19.

Early start by my standards, Pete arrived bang on 9am with new cushions and a birthday card from both he and Rose, thanks both I was ready and waiting, Cliff however had overslept but I guess he’d had a hard week. The oversized TV, futon, its base, the hi-fi stand and two speakers all fitted nicely into the back of Cliff’s estate and off to the dump they went.

In the afternoon I phoned the engineer from Virgin again and he said he would call me back soon with an instillation date… he didn’t. I had to phone him again just after 5:30pm at which time he was at home with a screaming two-year-old in the background, he did promise to call me tomorrow, I hope so, I am rapidly running out of credit on my phone.

Early evening and it’s time to finish the kitchen, minus a fridge of course, just last night’s washing up, the toasted sandwich maker and a mop of the floor then it’s done, I will do the hallway and the bedroom floor while I’m at it then put the brushes in bleach to soak then tomorrow I will clean the bathroom.

The engineer from Virgin called back and will give me a ring tomorrow and send a contract through the post which I should receive by Tuesday. Doesn’t look like I will be connected before my birthday I think. Nevermind, apart from the mopping the kitchen is now done, I was going to do that then I saw the state of the mop bucket so decided to put that to soak for an hour or so. I gave my world globe a good wipe over as it was a little grubby, “Come here Eritrea. It’s about time you had a good scrubbing, you too St Kitts and Nevis.”

Mopping done, just can’t leave the living room until it dries,). My mop is looking a little worse for wear but Orchard Street was all carpet, even the kitchen so I haven’t used it in a while, I think I had better put that on my Christmas list to Santa as well. The list of things to do is actually below 40 now so I am getting there. Back to Orchard Street, I met one of my old neighbours in the town today and he told me that my ex landlord had already rented out my old place for £360 more per calendar month than what I was paying, In the words of P.T. Barnum, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Wait until the poor individual finds out he hasn’t any central heating or hot water, the front door is hanging by a thread, the smoke alarm doesn’t work, the electrics are dangerous and the overflow from the kitchen sink empties into the cupboard below.

After careful consideration and mopping scrubbing etc, I decided that the one thing that this place is missing is a utility cupboard for things like mops, buckets, vacuums, ironing boards, (when I get one) etc. I’m sure I’ll find space for everything eventually.

I was going to get the chicken out of the freezer to defrost over night but earlier I realized that without a fridge I can’t store what is left, so frustrating not having a fridge. What I’m doing now is using up the chicken in sauce, the last of the mushrooms and some onion with some of my spices to make a curry and eat that in some tortilla wraps for supper. That’s three things out of the freezer bag.

Quote for the Day:
“If it starts to thunder and lightning whilst I’m on the golf course it’s safer to wait it out. If God wants to play through let him.” Bob Hope.

Day 9 Sunday November 20.

Lazy Sunday, I have decided to just consolidate what I have got done so far, and not start anything major today, okay the wet room just needs the sink and shower cleaning and I made a start on the latter last night and I might get to that later on and sorting my tool box and having a sort through my clothes draws but there isn’t much more I can do especially until Virgin transfer my services which looks like it may be next weekend, the problem seems to be that I had conflicting information from the engineer and initially the call centre in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai or wherever it is, certainly not anywhere within a 2000 mile radius. So, as I said consolidation is the word for today, a quick going over of the kitchen which smells of the Madras chicken curry I made last night and I will take the mop and brushes out of the bleach I left them in to soak overnight.

Maybe it is because it is dark earlier or more likely that I have no external stimulus such as TV or broadband that it seems a lot later than it is. Any road up as my grandmother used to say I finished the kitchen and cleaned the wash basin in the bathroom and I thought that was enough for today consolidation being the watch word. I got my mail which was late on delivery from yesterday, just need to see the council tomorrow about this I guess standardized letter they always send out, I certainly don’t owe £300 + in council tax. Idiots!

I have spent the afternoon generally tinkering about and updating documents on my PC, I tried to connect the TV to the DVD player but I was never very good at that so I hope Virgin will sort it out for me. I thing I did manage on My PC is to sort out a cleaning regimen and as tomorrow it is the living room, well a quick wipe down of the walls and a vacuum of the 50% carpet I can actually get to at the moment.

I have basically just put things in some semblance of order, I shall go to the council first thing, post Julie’s birthday present, enquire at the credit union about opening an account and the possibility of volunteering. I suppose I should try and contact E.On about my supply and there was something else but it will come to me, I did note it down in my pad. Yes! Specsavers regarding a change of address, not so important, my next check up isn’t due until next June, I also need to check my lottery ticket, you never know.

Thought for the Day:
Dogs have owners, cats have servants.

Day 10 Monday November 21.

Frustrating, that is the word to describe today. It didn’t help that it was the coldest day of the year as far as I remember. First pointless stop was to the council to sort out this Council Tax bill, I was told that it was basically a standard letter they send out and the Council Tax department had acted before the housing department good do an assessment, the phrase putting the cart before the horse is very apt. Next stop Coop to check my lottery numbers, no luck there and then a glimmer of hope, I managed to post Julie’s birthday present off and it only cost just over £2, she should get it by Thursday at the very latest. As I have no landline as yet I knew the next task would be a nightmare but little did I know how expensive and frustrating it would be. It was my fourth attempt to contact E.On to cancel the electricity contract for the new flat. I ended up putting £3.80 into a call box whilst being put on hold for 20 minutes listening to music with the occasional message “Thank you for continuing to hold one of our advisors will be with you shortly” or “We are currently experiencing a higher than normal call volume” that is the same whatever time of day you call them. And my personal bête noir, “Your business is important to us please continue to hold, one of our advisors will be with you shortly” If my business is so important to them why don’t they employ more staff to deal with the calls? God knows these companies make enough profit every year. One solution I can think of to afford more staff is to sack these pointless PR spin doctors who appear on TV and expect consumers to swallow there b*llsh*t. “Oh the price of electricity has gone up” and when it goes down, “Well it will take time for the savings to filter down to our customers” My personal opinion (and I’m not alone) is that the utility services should never have been privatized, thank you so much Maggie bloody Thatcher. My next job, seeing as I can’t contact E.On by phone is to write them a very terse letter cancelling the contract and letting them know that the £10.88 that I was in credit has been gobbled up by their 0845 numbers, which should be made illegal for such services.

Why do I bother? I was just on my way to the post box to send my letter to E.ON when I got a call from the Virgin engineer, it will now be December 2nd before I get connected. I was still fuming and a little crestfallen on my way out when my picture of the Japanese goddess of Spring fell off of the wall, I hung it else where and literally 3 minutes ago it fell off again, maybe she is trying to tell me that winter is only five weeks away. I had enough by now and whacked in a panel pin instead of the sticky hook this time so she shouldn’t be going anywhere this time.

Thought for the day: I’m so broke I can’t even pay attention.

Day 11 Tuesday November 22.

A slow start to the day, better than yesterday anyway, I remember waking up this morning to complete silence, no yapping Jack Russells, So silly old women nattering outside my front door, nothing. In between washing and tidying up the kitchen and vacuuming what bit of the floor I can see, Cliff phoned to see how things were going, he said he would look out for a wardrobe for me on Freecycle, which will be a great help.

I received the contract from Virgin Media in the post this afternoon and signed and posted it back off, I can’t believe it is going to be another 10 days before I get my services connected but at least I won’t have any charges for those three weeks, the electric is still a major concern, I seem to be spending more than double than I was previously and going onto emergency credit now seems inevitable. I’m not sure what I’m going to do tomorrow, it’s cleaning day off according to my new rota, there are a few things I can still do it just depends on how I feel after my dentist’s appointment at 2pm, I have to have a cap on a molar on my left lower jaw and an extraction on the right lower jaw but to be fair, I have been putting that off since May.

The rat’s nest out the back has increased, new sofa there now but I have been told that it is all being sorted out this week as the council have intervened, we will just have to wait and see.

Quote for the Day:
“A man is a success if he gets up in the morning, goes to bed at night and does whatever he wants in between.” Bob Dylan.

Day 12 Wednesday November 23.

I don’t know if it was my trip to the dentist that got me down or the fact that I’m bored stiff. I was in the dentist’s chair for half an hour and that was just preparation work for my new crown, I have to go back she same time next week to have the crown fitted and probably the extraction of the molar on the other side. The tooth itself even with Novocain was extremely sensitive and as usual when I’m in the dentist’s chair I try and think happy thoughts, this time, as with the last couple of occasions I was in Papa’s bar in Calella on a hot Catalonian afternoon sipping on an ice cold pint of Damm Estrella lager. I really want to go back there some time next year.

When I got home I checked the mail and electric, no mail and just 43p on the electric meter so I had to go on emergency credit but it is still going to be touch and go as to whether it will last another seven days. Thinking back over this last week it is shocking to think of how much money has been wasted. Those heaters are expensive to run as is the water heater, this time last week the meter read in the region of £14 - £15 that has almost all gone now and there was that scandalous waste of over £10 trying four times to contact E.ON, those 0845 numbers should be made illegal. I really have to watch my cash flow now as I’m down to my last £2.31, just enough for one pint on my birthday on Friday unless I can rely on friends to buy me a few bevies.

As for cleaning, my rota says Wednesday is consolidation day so I finally finished the bathroom, lord knows what that black stuff was around the shower drain; I think I’d rather not know. A quick flick around the kitchen and then I went around the whole flat getting rid of the scuff marks and mucky fingerprints on the walls. The final item on today’s list is going through a couple of suitcases and putting as many clothes in draws as I can, I have emptied one out on to the bed and sorted through it, I shall put those things away and do at least one more suitcase tonight, (there are four in all plus a laundry bag).

Forget that idea, I finished one suitcase and the laundry bag and the drawers are full, the other three suitcases went under the bed for now but at least I can now see around 66% of the living room floor. My “To do” database is also shrinking, from the initial 71 things I think it was and taking into account I added a few things, the list is now down to a mere 26 items none of which I can do at the moment without an injection of cash or my internet connection back on. I have £50 of Amazon vouchers in various online survey accounts plus around £25 in cash on another but I can’t get at them for another nine days which is so frustrating.

A quiet and pleasant end to the day, my temporary crown came of my tooth but in my experience they always do. I evicted a few daddy-long-legs spiders from the bathroom earlier thanks to the long handled dustpan and brush which was a present from Rose and Pete, that thing is an absolute godsend. I also have my pictures hung up, My Japanese goddess of the spring, my favourite, bird’s eye view map of Paris from 1993 and my print of Monet’s Japanese bridge at Giverney. All needed a good cleaning as the years of tobacco stains had dullened them somewhat but that won’t be a problem anymore. The only print I would really like is one that Julie had in her bathroom of all places, a copy of Renoir’s Umbrellas, I really love that painting. As last night, I imagine I shall be “faffing” about doing the slightest little cleaning jobs until the early hours because I can’t settle but at least I’m keeping the place clean and when it is complete I will be proud to invite visitors in and call this place “my home.”

Thought for the day:
When flying to Spain I like to sit at the rear of the aircraft, you never heard of a plane reversing into a mountain.”