Evasive action! Stop the trench becoming a hole.

KeepOnKnitting

Yesterday's lunch was nut/fruit/crisps medley again, but at least I took a tin of stuff for dinner. Not a success, will not buy again. 

Working from home this afternoon, but have to get some stuff done this morning before meetings from 9-12, so need to get to work early. Should maybe get a wriggle on!

KeepOnKnitting

I've not been deliberately AWOL. I've got internet problems. I switched to a better deal, but turns out that expensive internet is better than cheap nothing.  I finally managed to speak to the phone people on Saturday morning to log the problem. They are currently blaming it on Openreach, so it is anyone's guess how long it could be before I am back online properly. Currently using my phone as a hotspot.

The good side of that is that I have no TV, so I've been pretty proactive about getting stuff done instead. I wanted to paint some woodwork while the scaffold is up, and I managed to get that filled, sanded and then two coats of paint over the weekend. I've started sorting out the neglect of the back-back garden, although I wasn't feeling up to the corpses left by a neighbourhood cat, so they can wait until I am feeling more ready to deal. I cleared the weeds taking over the gravel bed, pulled many of the sycamore seedlings that were trying to take over, cleared the garage gutter, including the ball that was blocking the downpipe, and swept up the never-ending dust and rubble left by the builders.

Going to have an early night with my book ready for work tomorrow.

KeepOnKnitting

Still no internet.

Swept up more dust left by builders. Also dealt with ex-pigeons.

Found out that the builders had not been sweeping up dust, but instead have washed it down the drain.

Drains are now blocked.

Scared to flush loo/shower/use washing machine in case the water just sits or flows back up.

Exhausted. But, payday, hooray!

WinterWarrior

What a pain about the internet and the builders..grrrrr! 

KeepOnKnitting

I have internet again!

Only taken 3 weeks.

Things that have broken in my house recently: internet, drains, toilet cistern, toaster, old roof, window frames
Things that have been fixed: internet, drains, toilet cistern, old roof
Things that should be fixed today: window frames

Which just leaves me with a dodgy toaster. I'm going to see if I can fix it, as it is only the handle that has broken, all the mechanisms still work otherwise. 

I'm in the middle of doing some landscaping in the garden this week, and I have a skip coming. Need to go get a wheelbarrow and some shelves for the garage as I am having a big sort out. Been planning this for two years since I moved in. I've got a week off and I can't believe it is Thursday already. Time passes too quickly.

Aimingforthegoodlife

Hi @KeepOnKnitting gosh there has been a lot going on, can the builders be held accountable for blocking the drain? Glad the internet is finally working for you, I would feel lost without it! Hows the lodger getting on? Good luck with the lanscaping!

KeepOnKnitting

Thanks @Aimingforthegoodlife, it has been busy. The builders arranged for dynorod to come and sort out the drains while I was at work, so that was a load off my mind.

Lodger seems to be doing fine. Not here much to be honest. 

Garden work on the back burner at the moment, been doing fun things at the beach instead recently. 

Student loan interest rate is going up again to 7.9%. Furious. I don't mind so much when it was 2.6%, not much more than the mortgage at the time, but now it's nearly double my much higher mortgage rate. 

Otherwise things are pootling along. Funny knocking noise in the steering of the car is (according to the bodywork guy) ?rack-top bearings if I remember correctly, so that needs doing as well. I've opened some regular saver accounts and making some progress with having an emergency fund, although the progress isn't smooth from month to month at this point. 

birdsfoottrefoil

Oh no on the car! Hope it isn’t too expensive!

KeepOnKnitting

It was quite expensive, once you add in suspension and new tyres.

KeepOnKnitting

Ugh, been neglecting the diary. This always happens when I feel like I am not heading in the right direction. I knew I was going to need to borrow some money to pay for the window repairs, and the bill came due a couple of weeks ago. I found a credit card offer that would give me a balance transfer for 18 months at 0% for a 1.5% fee. The windows were about £3k, but I decided to leave as much in savings as possible and instead borrow a bit extra, so I did a balance transfer for £5k. Total fee was £75.  

The discomfort comes from knowing I have borrowed £3k that I don't have saved up elsewhere. Maybe once I have that money saved I will feel better. So I am back to stopping the trench becoming a hole. Feel like I am two years on and no further forward. Why does adulting have to be so hard?