Junk Mail
I had a new working experience today - working without any furniture. Not just without a special computer desk, without anything. In particular: no chair, no sofa, no table of any description, no comfy bed to sit on, no cushion, no kettle to make tea and no mug to put it in even if I did manage to make some.
The flats here come unfurnished and when they say that, they mean it.
Now this is not just a case of failed planning on the part of Sean and myself. Although we picked up the keys to our new flat yesterday, we are not moving in until Saturday. On Saturday we plan to buy the necessary cushions, sofas, beds and so on to make our life there a happy one.
Today I was working in an unfurnished flat for two reasons. Firstly a guy was coming to connect the phone line so that the Telco (I assume this is an Australianism? I've never heard this abbreviation in the UK) can initiate the broadband process. Secondly, a fridge was being delivered. And even though I suffered a sore rear, neither were achieved very successfully.
The telephone line was connected, but when I asked the technician if it would support broadband the answer was no. Apparently although he connected a new line, a different technician has to come and change the new line to a copper line. Hmm. Neither the company I am (aiming to) use to get broadband access (AAPT) or the Australian equivalent of BT who are in charge of the lines (Telstra) seem to agree that this could be the case. After much 3 way telephone tennis (as plausible a sport as it sounds), the situation remains that AAPT think they are just going to connect the broadband up tomorrow. We shall see.
The other reason for lack of success is partly my fault as I forgot to take my mobile telephone. I refuse to accept full responsibility for this though: fridges used to be delivered before people had mobile phones! Anyway failure number two was that the fridge delivery people turned up, phoned my mobile and went away again. The buzzer system is quite complicated so I am not completely surprised. I now have to go back tomorrow and wait for them again. I will be taking my mobile phone and I may buy a cushion on the way. They say they are aiming for 9:30am though so I may be back in my (now viewed as remarkably more comfy) desk chair soon enough.
The fridge company said that the delivery company had left me a card under the door to say that they had been. This I find hard to believe. They would not have been able to get anywhere near my door unless I had buzzed them in and they would have been crazy to leave a card under the main lobby door that clearly leads to lots of flats. Just to check this theory, on the way out of the new flat I checked the post. I thought I would look foolish opening an empty letter box, but I had failed to reason this through in advance. An empty flat receives as much post as an occupied one, it is just never emptied! So I had a whole armful of mail, some of which was actually for us: a resident's newsletter, an invitation to join in a local forum on the area and a letter from the Telco saying that they were happily charging my credit card (they got that bit right then). Of the rest, many letters for a mysterious Duncan Browne (Sound familiar Ickenham boys? Another of Duncan's shady off-shore scams?), and much junk mail.
I think we are making a trip to Ikea to acquire the more essential furniture items on Saturday and we should be living in the new flat from then. You may remember that this was Sean's first choice of flat and not mine. However going back last might and looking at the view I have re-assessed. Panorama to follow when I have composed it...
I had a new working experience today - working without any furniture. Not just without a special computer desk, without anything. In particular: no chair, no sofa, no table of any description, no comfy bed to sit on, no cushion, no kettle to make tea and no mug to put it in even if I did manage to make some.
The flats here come unfurnished and when they say that, they mean it.
Now this is not just a case of failed planning on the part of Sean and myself. Although we picked up the keys to our new flat yesterday, we are not moving in until Saturday. On Saturday we plan to buy the necessary cushions, sofas, beds and so on to make our life there a happy one.
Today I was working in an unfurnished flat for two reasons. Firstly a guy was coming to connect the phone line so that the Telco (I assume this is an Australianism? I've never heard this abbreviation in the UK) can initiate the broadband process. Secondly, a fridge was being delivered. And even though I suffered a sore rear, neither were achieved very successfully.
The telephone line was connected, but when I asked the technician if it would support broadband the answer was no. Apparently although he connected a new line, a different technician has to come and change the new line to a copper line. Hmm. Neither the company I am (aiming to) use to get broadband access (AAPT) or the Australian equivalent of BT who are in charge of the lines (Telstra) seem to agree that this could be the case. After much 3 way telephone tennis (as plausible a sport as it sounds), the situation remains that AAPT think they are just going to connect the broadband up tomorrow. We shall see.
The other reason for lack of success is partly my fault as I forgot to take my mobile telephone. I refuse to accept full responsibility for this though: fridges used to be delivered before people had mobile phones! Anyway failure number two was that the fridge delivery people turned up, phoned my mobile and went away again. The buzzer system is quite complicated so I am not completely surprised. I now have to go back tomorrow and wait for them again. I will be taking my mobile phone and I may buy a cushion on the way. They say they are aiming for 9:30am though so I may be back in my (now viewed as remarkably more comfy) desk chair soon enough.
The fridge company said that the delivery company had left me a card under the door to say that they had been. This I find hard to believe. They would not have been able to get anywhere near my door unless I had buzzed them in and they would have been crazy to leave a card under the main lobby door that clearly leads to lots of flats. Just to check this theory, on the way out of the new flat I checked the post. I thought I would look foolish opening an empty letter box, but I had failed to reason this through in advance. An empty flat receives as much post as an occupied one, it is just never emptied! So I had a whole armful of mail, some of which was actually for us: a resident's newsletter, an invitation to join in a local forum on the area and a letter from the Telco saying that they were happily charging my credit card (they got that bit right then). Of the rest, many letters for a mysterious Duncan Browne (Sound familiar Ickenham boys? Another of Duncan's shady off-shore scams?), and much junk mail.
I think we are making a trip to Ikea to acquire the more essential furniture items on Saturday and we should be living in the new flat from then. You may remember that this was Sean's first choice of flat and not mine. However going back last might and looking at the view I have re-assessed. Panorama to follow when I have composed it...
posted by Zoe at 5:56 PM
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