Shift it

I found an island of calm amidst the relentless, churning sea of chaos that I fell into last week.

Moving to my new flat has been pretty hectic. First the finance, identity, and employment checks were taking forever. One estate agent wasn't talking to the next. Then there were more complications with money and deposits. Then there was the furious last minute packing and sorting and communicating. I'm still wondering if my bed even comes apart because there's no way I can get it downstairs in one piece (it's metal too!); I've got to see about either hiring a van or asking my mum to help me out again and I know she has enough on her plate as it is between doing her own things, helping Sam out with his applications and appointments, and helping ever-indecisive Marcos move out. Then there's the electric reading to take. I found that the meter does not have an easy-to-read dial or series of digits, but instead several thousand dials and faces, each pointing at a different number.

There's the underground car park space to sort out, which I have only just this morning managed to get the ball rolling for. In the flat itself I have been provided with an electric cooker, which is great, but whoever installed it left the high-voltage cable trailing out into the kitchen proper because there are no holes in the divider board it is next to. So I had to call the estate agents and have them liaise with the landlord/lady to have a hole put through the board and the cable rerouted so I don't electrocute myself or trip over the damned thing. I also had to mention I had foreseen the same problem with the plumbing for the washer/dryer which I have to buy on Wednesday morning on the way to work after a doctor's appointment to look at these dark spots floating around in front of my eyes which is probably thanks to this crummy little office and the horrid artificial lighting in here.

And the electrician who is fixing all these not-holes and making them into holes is coming tomorrow morning but of course I am at work, so instead of going over to the flat this evening after work to hoover the place in preparation for my mum coming down on Tuesday with her car to help me with anything else I have forgotten, I have to hand over the keys to the estate agents because they don't have a spare so the electrician can get in tomorrow and hand the keys back over to the estate agents for me to pick up before finding mum and thanking her over and over for her patience and assistance.

Not forgetting having to be present for the washer/dryer and the fridge/freezer to be delivered on Saturday. I still have to contact BT and after that I'll have to select and call an ISP to get Internet access set up.

Not that it'll be of much use because my computer isn't working, remember? I think I'll take my computer over to the flat tomorrow along with anything else I can think of. I've bought two books: the Eisenhorn trilogy and The Last Wish, I can read them for entertainment I guess. There's always the collective 360 and N64 if I get really bored.

The isolated island of tranquillity was staying over at my mum's at the weekend. She's helping me move, using her car to transport things to and fro. She has been a huge help and I know she's had to be very patient with me as these things have been disquieting at best for me.

I don't know how to say thank you enough. But there you go, I'm adding something else to think about to my obstacle course.