A busy week

Lots of running around and organising things has been going on this week chez Jennyta. For various reasons, not least of which is 'because we want to,' we have decided that we want to up sticks and move to France; not next week, you understand, but in the not too distant future.
So this week, I have been mainly meeting with estate agents and showing them round our palatial mansion, resulting in an interesting range of reactions and suggested prices.
One wanted us to practically re-decorate the whole house and redesign the front garden for her to take it on board, whilst another quoted a suggested asking price considerably less than the others and hoped I hadn't spent too much on having the conservatory built, with the inference that it would have been a waste of money as regards selling the house. He spent most of his time enthusing about France and telling me about his recent holiday there before apparently realising that he needed to be somewhere else, as he put it 'to ruin someone else's afternoon.' Naturally, we want to sell the house and so are all in favour of a realistic price but we also don't want to give it away!
Anyway, the choice of estate agent has now been made and the HIP (Home Information Pack) ordered and paid for - with gritted teeth - and a programme of touching up, brightening up and tidying up has begun.
Now the good side of this, from my point of view anyway, is that all the estate agents, without exception, suggested that it might be a positive selling point if NASA were no longer commandeering the living room. Now that Keith has his new laptop, a little twist to his arm has persuaded him that the PC can now be moved upstairs to the study to do duty as a server and the living room can finally become a 'proper' living room.
My dream of achieving the minimalist look may at last become a reality!


End of an era

Three months ago, Keith decided to throw in the towel and give up the shop. The lease was coming to an end and the new rent was going to be increased by 50% whilst business was decreasing, in common with the experience of most other small businesses, so he went mobile. The shop still needed clearing, however, which is gradually being done, but yesterday, it was all hands to the pump (in a manner of speaking), as we dismantled the fixtures and fittings ready for Keith and Giles to transport them to their new home in 'Sath London'.
So that's where Keith has been today - a long trip to London and back, and now, completely exhausted, he is tucked up in bed, snoring away to his heart's content.
A good day's work.


Back again

Yes, I know I have been conspicuous by my absence for a few days but I just haven't been in the mood for blogging, I'm afraid. A distinct lack of energy and motivation has been the problem, which could just be a bit of reaction to what happened in France as Keith has been similarly afflicted. However, I haven't been languishing on the sofa doing nothing, oh no. There have been the insurance claims to sort out, which fortunately, have been fairly straighforward, so we have now replaced our laptops and GPS, which just leaves the phones.
Now that's another story. We have a contract with a company called Challenger, and boy is that name appropriate. It started off all-right. We were given new sim cards in loan phones (the size of small house bricks, but they work) and told that our account handler would be in touch when he returned from his holiday. That was a week ago yesterday. Since then, Keith has managed to speak to him twice, each time to be told that he was just about to go into a meeting and would return his call afterwards. You can guess the rest.
So, ever the impatient, I decided to take the bull by the horns and ring the company myself.
"Oh, hasn't he got back to you yet?" the receptionist tutted. I'll send him an email right away and I'll email his boss too."
"I'd be glad if you could do that," I said. "Keith needs his phone and especially the mobile broadband for work and it's causing him problems not having it."
Another day passed.
Today I tried again.
Again the receptionist commiserated with me and announced that she would put me through to the boss, only to report seconds later that, guess what, he was on his mobile, but he would return my call as soon as he had finished.
Half an hour later, I decided that he must have finished his call by now and rang again, this time to be answered by another of the office staff who toddled off to find out what was going on and came back saying...yes, you've guessed it... our account handler would ring me back before the end of the day.
I am presuming she meant midnight, as I am, yet again, still waiting.
Tomorrow, they ain't gonna know what hit them.
Jenny is not happy!


Plaster board and dust

So, we're still no further forward on the British Gas smart meter front and I've given up making non-existent appointments with them...