Yes well, we were a bit dilatory in getting the flat sorted out – there are a few minor things to attend to but we thought we’d have plenty of time before we got a tenant in, but we had a phone call from the agent yesterday afternoon, three days after being engaged to find a tenant, to say that someone wants to move in on 29th September, which is Monday week We’d said to Weeza and Phil not to worry about redecorating, we’d do it. Er. This means me, next week. Fortunately, and rarely, I have three days that I can clear, so I’m planning to go up on Wednesday evening and stay until Saturday, hope to finish by lunchtime, go to a social (blog-related but not a blogmeet) occasion and get home on Saturday evening.
I think it will be a bit odd really. The flat is completely empty, though the water and electricity are still on. I shall take an inflatable bed and a sleeping bag but nothing to sit on, nothing to amuse myself with apart from a book and radio. A kettle and mug and plate but nothing to cook with. When I finish working I will go out for dinner and if I want a break in the day I’ll go to the pub, but that’s it. No one to talk to, nothing to do but work or lie on the bed reading. I feel a bit lonely already at the prospect, and yet it surely will be pretty unstressful. I will go to quite low-key places to eat, being on my own, and I will just get on with the work and chat in a friendly way to myself and argue with the radio. I must remember to charge up the iPod.
Oh, and the stairs need repainting. That day, I won’t be going anywhere.
No,wi-fi laptop?
Sadly not, John. There is an internet cafe five minutes away, and I’ll check out its opening times, but unless it’s open well into the evening, I’ll have to go without. I don’t have a laptop. I don’t really need two computers, tempting though the thought is.
Ooh. 29th September. That’s Nelson’s birthday.
Not the one out of The Archers, the one from Norfolk.
I’ve been ivited to a social event in london that day, but it seems an awfully long way to go for such a short time. And you know how much I like parties.
It must be my grandfather’s birthday then. His first name, which he never used, was Nelson in honour of the event.
He was always called David.
Parties depend on the company. It is a long way though. I don’t suppose you go home from Liverpool Street now?
Dear z, if you feel you need company, I could always come and talk at you for a while.
There. Now, the being alone can feel like a choice.
That would be lovely. I have decided to paint alternate steps each evening, so that they’ve the night to dry and I can still get in and out if the paint is still tacky, so I can be talked at without shouting.
And there’s always the pub next door.
Bless you, sweet Z. Could I suggest you try doing the stairs left one night and right the next? That’s what my decorator did for me, and she placed tape strategically, so I didn’t forget.
Very good stair-painting ideas you two. If it was me, I’d just leave the stairs till last and then paint my way down them till I got to the bottom, and then close the door behind me and go home.
Sorry z, I don’t understand the last part of your comment to me – are you suggesting that Liverpool Street isn’t the way to reach south Norfolk?
Exciting options regarding the stair painting, I hadn’t expected to choose from 3 ideas. I’ll make up my mind when I get there.
I wondered if you were on the Wymondham Line, Dave, as the Norwich line doesn’t go through your town. Or maybe you don’t have a station and, like me, have to drive 20 minutes to catch a train.
There is no rail station here, so I do indeed have a 20 minute drive, or ½-hour bus ride, to either Diss or Norwich.
That explains why I’ve never stopped at the station then.
It takes considerably longer to get to Norwich from here by bus; a 25 minute journey in the car is 55 minutes by bus, and that doesn’t take me to the station.
I am lucky, living on a major road the bus doesn’t wind around through every village, and the journey takes little longer than by car (especially if one factors in parking times). I used the bus to get to the airport last week (admittedly I had to change at the bus station). Our bus doesn’t go to the railway station either (a lack of joined-up thinking there) but I can get to within reasonable walking distance.
I have had a similar experience and enjoyed the change. Despite the hard work, it felt like a vacation. I love air mattresses and eating out!