Well I'm back, the problem hasn't been with internet access as I thought it would but with the laptop charger dying. The best part was that it died quietly so I had no idea until the message flashed up that I had no battery power left. As the lappy had arrived via Emma's partner, I left it to him to get a replacement charger. As it turned out it had to come from Germany so took about 3 weeks.
That wasn't the only bad news that dogged us from Day One. My Debit Card details were cloned and the fraudsters had been using the card to buy a range of products all over Europe, and so I was unable to do anything, even obtain cash, as my card was stopped. So after a month I eventually was taken to the bank by wheelchair to prove that I am me, and without using a mirror! Having a driving licence, even though not being allowed to drive, does have its uses after all.
So, I had a month without being able to make online purchases [we desperately needed curtains etc.] and a further two weeks having no means to able to access anything online.
Right, so I will start at beginning and tell you a moving story of moving.
We were told by the woman who came to assess us for priority that we would only be offered a ground floor flat and that would take until December. So to be offered a property [which the occupational therapist had approved] at the beginning of October came as a bit of a shock. We arranged to do a viewing the next day, and did it rain! The officer who was to accompany us at the viewing was running late so we were left in the rain for 10 minutes. We liked the kitchen which was brand new [exactly the same fittings that I had chosen], the bathroom was a wet room, and the garden was the ideal size for the dog. We were asked to give our response by 10a.m on the following Tuesday, we spent all weekend wavering and decided to ring on the Monday and request a second viewing. This was done with the proviso that if the answer was affirmative they needed to know on the Tuesday so the upshot was that we made an appointment to sign and did the second viewing alone straight afterwards.
At the signing we had the bombshell of being told that we would only have one week in which to move before we lost housing benefit. We decided that paying for one week at the full rent to give us more time was worth it and so we did. We arranged for the move by hiring a van to be on Thursday the 14th October. Luckily my son was off work that week and so him and his step-children had to pack most of the stuff for us. [I wasn't capable and Alan was doing his headless chicken impersonation] Every evening we discussed how we wanted the interior to look, making plans for the furniture etc.
I wanted to have the same provider of television, phone and broadband in the new residence, so arranged to have this installed the day after the move. When the engineer arrived he informed me that he could not do the satellite installation because, being a bungalow on a hillside, the surrounding buildings were too high, as were the trees. So we were left with no alternative but to find a service that was not satellite based, and the only one we found was the main telecommunications provider in the country which provides all three through the telephone line, and we have subsequently found to be very expensive!
We moved in with Alan being here doing all the directing and me staying at the house with the dog to arrive later. As it turned out Alan was sat in the cold because we didn't know how to turn the heating on, although a plumber did come out immediately the next day. The heating and hot water is through the district heating system which, it transpired, needed to be turned on at the mains, and we have discovered is either on or off, which means we either melt or freeze. New thermostatic valves are to be fitted in about February [and they will be on the sides of the radiators not underneath as they are now!] but I have heard intentions regarding the council work before and know that a 3 month planned waiting time can be 7 or 8 months because their pace of work.
Then there is the bathroom; it has been blocked since day one. When I say all, first it was the toilet that would fill to the top when flushed and slowly go down in its own time. We have got a better fix today, two nights ago the washbasin would not drain and last week Alan had to clear out the shower drain to stop it smelling and the water spreading into the hall every time it was used. Today's plumber [the fifth in as many weeks!] has investigated further because of the total blockage and cleared the drain outside so all seems OK for now.
We were to have all the bungalow painted white [anything to cover up the artexed salmon pink walls] and Alan's cousin Ken was to do it. We've since discovered that Ken is a bit of an 'old woman' and can only work 1 day a week for various reasons so its a room or area a week apart from the hall that had 6 brown doors and so they have taken a few weeks. Now we are ready to have the laminate floor fitted and buy all the new furniture we want, but it seems that we are now too near Xmas.
The snow has arrived and so stopped all deliveries for the past few days and future undetermined days. It is only about 2 feet deep so I don't see what the problem is, and the dog disappears whenever she goes out!
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