Nice people thread part 5 - nicely does it

silvercar

Following my moan about the Severn Bridge toll - at least its only in one direction.

LydiaJ

sss555s wrote: »

The interesting thing is they say they have to pay upfront for the panels as distributors don't give credit on panels, which you can understand.
Did you have to pay upfront or after the job was done?

I paid 25% upfront. The other 75% was due after installation, but they don't give you your MCS certificate until you've paid in full, and without the MCS cert you can't claim any FiTs, so there's a big incentive to pay immediately (which I did).

sss555s wrote: »

You have to try and be emotionally detached and try and understand their "needs", which can be quite hard when it's a similar house to yours as you realised the last time.

I was very very well behaved! :A I think it really helped that it wasn't just her and me, but another friend as well - the same one that was there last time. The house-hunting friend said she was surprised to find she preferred the one next door to me over the other one we saw after lunch, and she knows she definitely doesn't want the one she's seeing later this afternoon (although the teenager has set her heart on it). I made lots of positive comments about the one we saw after lunch, but did also ask questions that showed up its disadvantages - "Which child would you put in which bedroom?" - that kind of thing.

She's got a fourth one lined up to see tomorrow, but the other friend and I persuaded her that it's really not practical for her family at this stage of their lives, at least not without a lot of work, which they wouldn't be able to afford on top of the purchase price.

It's hard for her - she can only afford to have 2 out of the 3 things she wants: enough space, right school catchment, and the period features she loves. In the discussion after we'd got back from the second one, the house-hunting friend and the other friend boiled it down to a choice between the one next door to me and getting an extension on the house she's already got. I have recommended a builder to her.

The other friend also suggested that if they did end up living next door to us, we'd need to sit down before they moved in and talk about how we wanted it to work, and make some ground rules about asking before popping round etc, and then enforce the rules on all the kids. I agreed, and pointed out that we already have ground rules about asking each other to look after our kids - it's always OK to ask, and it's always OK to say no, so nobody has to guess how anyone else feels or worry about being a nuisance.

The two of them have gone off together to collect their kids from school - a different school from my kids. I expect they'll talk a bit more about it now I'm out of earshot. I'm cool about it either way, mainly because she seems to have abandoned her earlier idea of moving right out of town, so wherever she moves to, she'll still be near enough for our kids to see plenty of each other, which is what I want.

The closest I got to encouraging her to go for the one next door was when I said that my kids and I were hoping for a family next door, when it eventually sells, rather than people with no kids. Whereas when we were discussing whether they should move their current house to a different estate agent, I was much less non-directive, and told her how different my buying experiences had been with the one they're considering (kept emailing me details and persuading me to view places) as opposed to the one they're with now (never did anything unless I contacted them).

One of the things attached to my hot water tank has started dripping water. The boiler man (the one who installed it last year) is coming round later this afternoon.

lostinrates

silvercar wrote: »

Are you having check-ups?

Nah.

Tbh, that sort of thing doesn't worry me. The other stuff has been a bit grim recently, not terrible, but i probably should go and see someone soon...but they just sort of shrug.


I am thinking about doing something about the gp issue too..but not sure what. I get quite cross with myself for having devleoped this freaky fear of gps. I saw the emergency gp for that cat scratch and that was ok, and i don't find casualty distressing. Just normal gps in normal gp surgeries. I am not terribly tolerant of the problem in myself so avoiding it has been the best solution, but it won't always be. I know one thing, and that is that the gp surgery here is not going to help it. They have been carp with dhs stuff and mine when i went with dh. My old gp is happy to chat on the phone or for me to drive back and see her, which is ok but still an avoidance technique, which isn't really good either.

vivatifosi

LydiaJ wrote: »

It's hard for her - she can only afford to have 2 out of the 3 things she wants: enough space, right school catchment, and the period features she loves.

Maybe for her what she moves to will be a for now house, rather than a forever house. That's something she needs to think about before spending out on extensions, etc. Not that extensions are a bad use of money, but they can be if you design them yourself to high specs and then don't recoup that when you do move.

LydiaJ wrote: »

The other friend also suggested that if they did end up living next door to us, we'd need to sit down before they moved in and talk about how we wanted it to work, and make some ground rules about asking before popping round etc, and then enforce the rules on all the kids.

Sounds like a good friend, brilliant idea!

LydiaJ wrote: »

One of the things attached to my hot water tank has started dripping water. The boiler man (the one who installed it last year) is coming round later this afternoon.

Good luck getting it fixed. That's what happened to mine when I was on holiday for two weeks. I had to throw the carpet out and the floor underneath took until December (from end Sept) to dry out completely, even though most of the moisture was retained in the underlay (thankfully nothing went under the floorboards, that would have been an expensive fix). The cost of the call out and part for our Megaflow was £160 incl new valve if that's a useful ballpark.

vivatifosi

lostinrates wrote: »

I am thinking about doing something about the gp issue too..but not sure what. I get quite cross with myself for having devleoped this freaky fear of gps. I saw the emergency gp for that cat scratch and that was ok, and i don't find casualty distressing. Just normal gps in normal gp surgeries. I am not terribly tolerant of the problem in myself so avoiding it has been the best solution, but it won't always be. I know one thing, and that is that the gp surgery here is not going to help it. They have been carp with dhs stuff and mine when i went with dh. My old gp is happy to chat on the phone or for me to drive back and see her, which is ok but still an avoidance technique, which isn't really good either.

Can you make a list of the GP's in whose catchment area you fall and then ask the locals as to what they think of them? I got my doctor, dentist and hairdresser that way. I'm happy that I got a good bunch, though I guess you'll have to see my haircut to know whether that's true or not!

vivatifosi

NP ladies (mostly).... I'm embarrassed but have to ask this question. Did anyone else find Pres Obama singing Al Green ever so slightly sexy? I can't imagine ever feeling that way about David Cameron and far less about Gordon Brown, but the man seemed quite hot as well as having a lovely singing voice.

lostinrates

Lydia, i think you and your friends are amazing. Honestly, a good friend moving next door would be something i would dislike.....where as becoming friends with those next door feels different to me. Odd. My neighbours are pretty much perfect, i feel really lucky. My closest friend to here is about fifteen minutes drive away, and i even find that a bit odd, one mof my best friends has a flat 25 mins half an hour away...but we have only seen each other about four times since the move. Thats enough for me. tbh. Next nearest bf is brizzle....ehich is about perfect. Close enough for meeting up, far enough for not having to meet up. I love friends, i just also have found since i becAme more stuck at home, that i really like my own space too.e.g. I love having friends for a weekend. A week is not something i would enjoy.

lostinrates

vivatifosi wrote: »

Can you make a list of the GP's in whose catchment area you fall and then ask the locals as to what they think of them? I got my doctor, dentist and hairdresser that way. I'm happy that I got a good bunch, though I guess you'll have to see my haircut to know whether that's true or not!

Yes, i have done this. The three nearest are all one practise, with no competiton in the nearest town. Its actually a bit odd to have one group covering the area with no competition imo. They are the ones we are with but who i know i cannot see again.

The nest nearest is my bf's dad. I am private enough for this to be abhorant to me. The nxt nearest is bf's dads greatest enemy. They are proud enough that if they new i was seeing them there would be bad blood. The next town, which davesnave knows well has a few, which i am trying to find out more about, and the nicest one is the next town in the other direction, who i asked but they don't want to take me.

I imagine if i said...i have this weird gp phobia thing going on, people would probably be quite helpful but ....i just find that hard too now. My old gp knows pf cours,e mainly becuase i burst into tears when i went into see her and had to apologise and explain...which is why we developed a very good phone relationship, lol, but also, she was really patient and just kindly ignored the tears so when i had to go a few times a week we both just accepted i would cry, and to ignore it. I also laugh ...which is a bit odd, and try to carry on as if my mascara were not on my chin.

I am not at all worried about any procedures. I can inject myself and take a needle well. I like to watch. Its not what they do, its just...who they are.:o

Wheezy_2

vivatifosi wrote: »

NP ladies (mostly).... I'm embarrassed but have to ask this question. Did anyone else find Pres Obama singing Al Green ever so slightly sexy?

It was better than Putin singing Blueberry Hill, that's for sure. :rotfl:

PasturesNew

In the last 12 appointments, call outs and visits my old required, I doubt the same GP was seen twice. It was a constant, disjointed, collection of all sorts - including imported out of hours GPs (they usually fly in just for the shift), and my old couldn't even understand them so it's a good job I went. Having said that, it's also a good job I went because the old couldn't then remember what the Dr had said, and had to be reminded constantly how many of which tablet to take and when and why.



People over 75 should really have it written down clearly ...... and, preferably, have somebody with them so they understand what to do.

The old also failed to understand the instruction of "take one every 4 hours" by forcing themselves to stay up all night so they didn't miss one

I explained to them it only applies during waking hours, but it did mean they missed an important day out at the day centre as they were too kn4ckered to go.