Showing posts with label New House. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New House. Show all posts
As I sit here on Sunday morning at 10AM, it feels like the first time for a few weeks that things have been under control. The house move went fairly well, save for a few companies making things difficult (I am still without broadband, but thanks to "3" have an interim solution). Rest assured plenty of "Blog Fodder" so expect plenty of stories (or is that moans ?).
Of course just as things get sorted I'm off to the US on travel tomorrow and don't get back until next Sunday. Still, it feels good to finally have things sorted.
Finally finished as much as I can do in terms of tearing down stuff in the house. Worst task of all was removing the washing machine (I didn't want to leave it as I spent a fortune on it a few years ago and they really don't make them like they used to). Actually removing the machine wasn't the difficult part, it was putting back the parking bolts that hold the drum in place during transport. Took me over an hour, rest assured cursing and swearing ensued. Eventually go there though !
Visited the site and I'm a little concerned things won't be ready on time, though the guy working on the kitchen told me has wasn't going home until it was complete. Here's where things were at on Friday:
Will it be complete ?I've come to the conclusion that buying a house is (relative to selling) easy, whilst selling a house is a complete pain. I spent 2hrs yesterday with the people buying the current house going through everything and explaining to them the procedure. Then several hours on the 'phone this morning chasing up things and pulling it all together. It frustrates me as it feels like there isn't a boundary between work and personal life right now.
I've set 8 October as the completion date and will be pushing hard for that, so far it looks achievable but you never know with people involved..
A new term I thought of this morning to define things that I see and need to blog about, specifically things that are irritating/funny. Well, today's trip involves going to Cambridge rail station, then sitting on a train into London, so I'm absolutely sure there will be ample fodder...
Upper Crust, Cambridge Station
A particular 'favourite' for criticism. The service is always so slow in this place and it seems to attract very indecisive people. I usually get frustrated in the queue. In this case, a couple of Cambridgeoids that couldn't make their mind up what they wanted. Not helped by the English of the guys serving being fairly poor. I try to remain as calm as I can at this place as I did have a bad experience once with a group of (let's just say) less able people where I gave them a really hard time- only to realise that (for once) there was actually a reason why they were slow. One of those moments where you want the ground beneath you to swallow you up.
Now the biggest surprise - that was it ! Ticket machines working, trains running on time. Decent service in restaurants/bars (well it is London after all, not Cambridge).
Back home, good mood, opened Solicitor letter...
Good day in London sorting out furniture for new house. Went very well. I like doing business with London people, pretty straight up, and used to dealing with business people who are going to ask for a discount/negotiate. I managed to get another 5% off since I was buying 2 sofas, several items of bedroom furniture, and a couple of really cool desks I'd found (they can tilt up 30°- great for sketching/ reviewing presentations). Contrast this to buying stuff locally, where people would think they'd be doing me a favour by selling me furniture !
Got back home and discovered a letter from Solicitor about house sale. I thought we have concluded the buyer enquiries, but no, a whole raft of additional random questions. I was particularly angry since much of them I had already pro-actively addressed when I sent off the initial paperwork as I thought they might come up. Still, resolved now I hope.
Then I hear that buyer wants to postpone the moving date. At this point I hit the roof, had to relax for about 15mins before I crafted message back. It is happening 8 October, or it is not !
Another long day, 7AM to 9PM in the office. A good day, though a call at the end I ended up loosing my rag a little. Heading up to Scotland on Thursday night- meet up with friends back from New Zealand and then off to Edinburgh to meet up with people from our Taiwan office.
Tomorrow meeting solicitor to discuss agreements for the new house - I feel it is coming to a close (having had the planning restriction removed). I'm hoping it goes well and then it's just up to the people buying the current house. Of course I've already planned pretty much everything that's needed - thankfully there's full multimedia cabling in so of course much research on routers etc. has been undertaken !
