Week of 14th November, 2016

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Monday, 14th November

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Tuesday, 15th November

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Wednesday, 16th November

This morning, someone is supposed to arrive to light up Katy's phone and broadband. Both are from $ky, as part of the triple-play deal she's getting. The appointment is "between 8 am and 1 pm", and knowing my luck, if I get there after 8, there'll be a note in the mailbox, "Couldn't get an answer, please rebook", timed at 2 minutes before I get there. So I need to be on site, 45 minutes or more from home, as soon as possible after the 8 am start. Which means, catch a bus at 7 am, since parking is restricted/unavailable on site (due to building works) and larcenously priced on street. Besides, Freedom Pass...

I got there just after 8 am, and sat down to wait. And wait... and wait. No chair, of course - the flat is, as yet, unfurnished, so I used a step-stool as a chair. Very hard, and after a while uncomfortable, but there's no other option.

4 pm comes around (I allowed extra time because there's a not-insignificant possibility of delay on roving installations like these) but then I decided, "Enough is too much", and bagged it, with Katy's approval - in fact, she wondered why I waited so long.

But the time wasn't completely wasted - I took tools and DMM with me to attempt to diagnose the failure of the shaving light in the bathroom. Turns out, there's power available at the wall, where the wires come out, but it gets no further. The fitting is kaput - light and shaver outlets both. So that will need replacing. Probably at the weekend.

Or maybe Friday, when Katy is hoping to get new carpet laid. I'll be on site again, to provide access control. And I'll take my folding chair with me - it's got to be more comfortable to sit on than that step-stool. And then we can get her sofa-bed moved from my store.

In the evening, Katy had a kvetch at $ky, at 0330- phone rates, and eventually ascertained that OpenReach (read: BT...) had been tasked with the work, but $ky would have no access to work notes until tomorrow - that is, Thursday - today, as I type this. I don't understand this - the previous owner had had similar triple-play connectivity from $ky, so the landline is already unbundled. Unless the unbundling is reversed whan a $ky contract is ceased - I don't understand the politics of this.

Anyway, phone and broadband are now scheduled for installation on Dec 12th, all same the TV. But that's an all day appointment - 8 am to 6 pm - with 2 visits. Boredom, here I come.

And her bed is due to be delivered on the 28th of this month.

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Thursday, 17th November

Today, I tried to obtain a new shaver outlet for the bathroom at Katy's flat. And both B&Q and Wickes, the two local DIY superstores, don't stock such things. The linear incandescent bulbs to fit them, yes; the actual fittings, no. Maybe one of the local builders merchants will have such a thing.. if not, there's sure to be an online source.

<pause>

And there is - Amazon, no less.

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Friday, 18th November

Sure enough, I got message traffic from Katy, "Carpet fitters are coming soon - about 1 pm." This at 12:45. No way, Jose. Unless they pick me up en route. Which they did.

We got the vehicles - 2 of them, a van and a car - on site, so no major expenditure of beer tokens for street parking. Carpet laying took about 2½ hours, including ripping up the old and disposing of  it. The new carpet (with the associated underlay) is much thicker than the old, to the extent that the doors bind on the carpet. But it's laid, and it's very soft and bouncy, which is what Katy wanted. It's also covered in fluff, and will need frequent hoovering (or in our case, Dysoning) to keep the fluff under control, until it's bedded in and settled.

And very nice it looks, too. Which is good.

Now Katy wants to get the sofa-bed out of store and installed. She hopes to be able to get it into Nyree, but I suspect a 15 hundredweight van will be needed - not because of the weight. It's the size of the thing - it's L-shaped, in two parts, and about 2.4 metres on a side. The flat is almost too small for it. And she wants to move the dining table and seating benches as well. So that's either multiple trips in Nyree (if the bits of the sofa fit) or a hired van. I'd hold out for the van, personally. If we can get this done, I'll not need my folding chair, and I'll get half my storage space back - which will allow me to move stuff from house to store, pending throwing some away.

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Saturday, 19th November

Katy's flat needs curtains or blinds at the windows, so this morning a (relatively) local custom blind vendor came to measure. Their blinds clip into the frame over the double-glazing units, so there are no holes to drill anywhere. As far as I know, that happened. The vendor was also supposed to attend here at Semi-Detached Bedlam this evening, but the measurer had multiple-booked herself, and couldn't get back round the North Circular Road to us at a reasonable time. So we've rebooked for Monday morning. Then, in the afternoon, comes the text message, "Can we get the sofa-bed out of storage? Will need you to bring keys."

No van, so Jane's car. We managed to get the main part (there are 2 parts) of the sofa-bed into Nyree, with all the cushions. The other part is too big, so we'll need avan for that. But then I had to come home to be available for delivery of some stuff, so I didn't have to help carry the bed. Katy was mob-handed, though, so there was no problem. Katy and Sarah will move the pack-flat dining table and bench seats tomorrow. Also the FreeView TV and DVD player, which I will then set up at a later date.

We'll probably have to take up the carpet underlay in the hall - although you can open the front door, it binds a lot on the carpet, and Katy's afraid of ripping the door handle off. I'll leave her to arrange that, I'll just go down to let the carpet fitter in.

Then bed delivery a week Monday, and she can move in. Still no satellite TV, landline phone or broadband, though. December 12th for them, and an all-day appointment for 2 technician visits.

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Sunday, 20th November

As far as I know, Katy and Sarah moved the pack-flat dining table and seating benches today. I need to get the key to my storage locker back. When you sign the rental contract, you have to buy a custom barrel lock, which comes with 3 keys. I normally keep a key on a clip-hook on my belt, and the other two are on a shelf in the study. I know roughly where, but there's too much stuff. I've actually got another lock barrel, easily accessible, with its regulation 3 keys, so I could swap them over. And may yet do that. That second lock dates from a time when I had 2 lockers at this facility, before I amalgamated both of them into one, larger unit.

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