Putting everything you own in a big pile is an enlightening experience, in the Zen sense that you invariably realise (I am led to believe that many people have had this experience) that you have far too much stuff and you should really be seeking to relieve yourself of as many of your possessions as possible. I used a grand total of eleven heavy duty grey plastic crates from B&Q (and Homebase - B&Q ran out. Well, they didn't run out, but they only had one left, one which I'd pointed out as having a defective hinge, but it was still there on sale and presumably they weren't going to order more until this defective crate had been sold, so I guess they just aren't interested in my custom? Homebase stocked the exact same crate. Pity they were more expensive. Although the reduction of VAT from seven fortieths to six fortieths has made things cheaper all around!), and copious other luggage containers besides. Boy do I need to get on eBay and get rid of some of this. And maybe get a sheet-feeding scanner and scan the mountains of old paperwork from my mathematics degree. (I'm hanging on to my notes because I may go and do a master's degree at some hypothetical future time, you see.)
The place where I am hoping to live - along with recent new acquaintance R. - is not yet built. Well, it's built, but not... I guess "furbished" might be the word? "Habitable", either. Apparently there are cash flow problems on the part of the guy who owns it and all kinds of rubbish. So I've come down with a bag of clothes and I'm living in a Bed & Breakfast for a week, which is costing me. And if it's not done within a week then I might be in what you might call actual trouble. What with Christmas coming - and apparently the building industry shuts down entirely for an inordinately long period of time at Christmas - I can't say I like the possibilities which are spinning out from this. It would be a really nice place to stay in for Christmas. You could have one heck of a Christmas party. But it would be a really horrible place to not be able to stay in. Hopefully by next weekend - which is the latest date this side of the new year which my parents are going to be able to bring my remaining stuff down - there will at least be a cool dry room, protected from the elements, in which my stuff can be stacked, even if I can't have direct access to it.
This part of the world has almost no mobile phone coverage. I knew if I got one I would eventually become dependent on it, and what do you know, five years later it has happened. Since I do have an internet connection in this bedroom, I'm looking into Skype.
Buying dinner every night isn't cheap either. Not cheap enough for my tastes, anyway.
And this bedroom. It has three completely superfluous cushions which reappear on the bed every evening. There were no towels (until this evening). And it's old, and it's cold! There is no heating in it! The shared shower room next door, which I have to use? The window's patched up with brown packing tape, and it doesn't close properly! At 7am in December, this is hardly optimal in a window!
Still, I did have the presence of mind to bring my external hard drive down with me. What with all the free time on my hands, I've been watching old TV and anime I never found time for. In the last two evenings I've seen most of a season of Deep Space 9 and a decent amount of Cowboy Bebop. So in short, I'm alive, but I wish I could be more optimistic about the Christmas season.
*
I guess the other thing I should cover is my first day of work.
Friend P. suggested it would be amusing if it turned out I had mistakenly applied for a company called "BIM".
One of the first things I was present with when I arrived was a large pile of boxed computing equipment, and a completely empty desk. My first task of the day was to unpack everything and set it up. I love opening new hardware and I do especially love putting everything in its right place. The company has a clear desk (and lock everything you've cleared away in the drawer!) policy of which I wholeheartedly approve. I have no desktop computer, just a big monitor and a docking station for a Thinkpad. This is a space-efficient and energy-efficient and logical configuration which I may steal for my future home. The docking station also locks. And the Thinkpad has its own security cable thing, with its own lock. So I have a total three new keys on my keyring. This is to say nothing of the swipe card system for getting in through the front door (or any of the various other doors), or the myriad passwords I am even as I speak forgetting (it takes too long to think up a password these days). The job looks interesting, but, as you'll have gathered, that may be all I can say about it, besides "I haven't done any work yet".
I used my knife to open the boxes. Cheers, P.
