Horace's Biting the Bullet Diary

beanielou

When are you suppossed to move?
They need to get organised.

Horace

Beanie - we get the keys on 25 June and I move in on 30 June. Week commencing 25 June mum is having her electrical chap go in and replace the fusebox because the one currently in there is illegal. The vendors are vile and are the most awkward people to deal with? If their stuff is still in the house when we get the keys then we will arrange for the house to be cleared and they will be sent the bill.

Our contracts have been exchanged and it has been agreed that we get the keys on Monday 25 June.

I am trying to get myself organised as I have a lot to do including swapping over suppliers etc which reminds me I need to call the water board to find out where the meter is in the house and how we read it.

beanielou

Blimey thats next week.
Hope all goes to plan.

Aesop

great news on the move, pah to the lazy vendors and for being so horrible.

hope you find your document.

Do you think you can convince A dr to come and see your dad? that might be a sign of dementia what your dad did or alzheimers, which would explain the laziness, the anger, etc.

Horace

Aesop - I cannot get a GP to go and visit dad, the surgery they have attended for the past 50 years don't do home visits in fact they don't treat pensioners with anything but contempt. Dad's problems stem from smoking and I wouldnt be surprised if his brain was addled by all the nicotine.:(

I have taken 4 bags of stuff to the charity shop today and once again I was chatted up by the chap but I made it quite clear that I wasnt looking for a relationship with anyone after a messy divorce (the divorce wasnt messy but he needn't know that).

I am starting to lugg bin bags out towards the bin and that will give me some space in the office to start filing a packing box with more stuff.

As for the poxy vendors - there is such a thing as breach of contract and penalty clauses. They have been eternally cursed by me too. There is no excuse for their behaviour to date other than greed:mad:.

short_bird

Did you put anything in the kitty for replacement locks? I feel a bit concerned about the overlap between you getting keys and moving in, especially if the property isn't cleared by vendors...

Horace

It will cost me £15 to get the locks changed, I asked a local door shop last month (a place where customer service is key). The vendors are in breach of contract so penalties will apply and I don't think they want to be hit in their pocket. Mum will have the keys and I can get the locks changed as quick as anything anyway.

Phew I am pooped, I have been traisping up and downstairs all afternoon to the bins. I found a load of old union stuff which has been binned and I have been quite ruthless with other stuff too. Mind you I did find the recipes that one of my now ex work colleagues wrote out for me when I first moved in here so I am keeping these as they are so easy and quick.

I still have some bits to pack e.g. clothes, stuff in the living room (it needs going through and binning basically), same goes for the front bedroom as I need to get rid of all those poxy law books that are taking up space and are no use to man or beast. I will shift them tomorrow as I am too hot from going up and downstairs this afternoon.

I shall have a bit of a break before I crack on again.

chevalier

So let me get this straight. Your parents GP WON'T do home visits for anyone? Or only NOT for OAP'S. If it is the latter then this is discriminatory and should be challenged.

If you worry about your mums health, then I guess the way to get a home visit is to call the out of hours line. Don't they still do home visits now? Really feel for you as your mum is obviously got her head in the sand about how bad things are with your dad. Yes he maybe lazy, but that doesn't help her have a break. Could you talk to your dad about this, or would he give you short shrift? It makes me sad to think that old people who have been married so long, don't seem to see how they impact the other person once they get older...

Horace

Mum has her head screwed on Chev, she doesnt have her head in the sand by any stretch of the imagination. I have tried to speak to dad several times about the impact his behaviour has on her to no avail. It is unfortunate that they live in an area where the PCT is the worst in the country - all they care about is money, they do not care for patients at all and offer a very bad service either in the GP practices or in the hospitals. Earlier this year mum was rushed to hospital by ambulance (she only told me after the fact) and within an hour she was outside waiting for dad to collect her - she bumped into the ambulance staff who took her in and they were astonished that she was being sent home and did say that if she has problems again then to call them (the ambulance station being at the top of the road).

The GPs are so bad that mum had been misdiagnosed for months - they said she had angina and treated her for angina yet she didnt have that at all she had something wrong with her stomach and this was only discovered when she saw someone privately. She has been given all kinds of wierd drugs but she is quite naughty because sometimes she won't take them as she looks them up in Mimms and if she doesnt like what she reads then she won't bother.

Their GP surgery has a new system - if you want an appointment, you ring you do not go into the surgery to book one otherwise you are sent on your way. You don't speak to a person either, you get an answering machine and if you are lucky a GP may call you back otherwise you are sent a prescription or referred to hospital and if you are really lucky you get an appointment. There is only one decent GP at the surgery and she is always fully booked. They don't do home visits for anyone. Due to my parents' age none of the other surgeries will touch them - such is the system here in the UK.

Still packing - at long last I have gotten rid of the law books, I gifted my two super soaker water guns to the lad whose dad lives below me. His eyes were like saucers when he saw them and he had to be prompted to say thank you because is his quite shy..bless him. I still have stuff for the charity shop and more to be binned.

Spoke to mum earlier as she is fretting about bills - I explained that I could not get hold of the leccy company but I will be ringing them on Monday. Must remember to advise the council and the benefits people. I explained that I would be having virgin installed on 7 July too.

Horace

I took time out for lunch and to watch the motorracing and promptly fell asleep after the trophies had been handed out and I especially wanted to hear what was being said. I have decided to chuck out my sewing box because the lid has never fitted properly so everything is now in a cardboard box ready to be transported. More rubbish has been sorted out. Alas Beer my dutch bear is one of the casualties as the moths have eaten him and he is looking rather shabby, funny how he has been affected despite being far younger that Mr Ted Wood, my aged bear that I have had since I was born.

I even managed to work out how to erect my craft table after having never been able to figure it out - it then took me 10 mins to de-erect it.:eek:

Just having another little break before I carry on.