From the Drafty Garrett

It's all new!

The laptop is new, for the portability. The internet connection is new, arrived today. The flat is new-ish, with a patina of grime that I am slowly beating back and killing off with chemical weapons. I have rediscovered Ribena, formed new hatred for the Caps Lock key and am finding my way around Leicester unaided. All is well.

The landlord I dealt with by waving money at him; it's a human interest story really, the poor chap was attempting to invest in property just before the housing bubble burst and ended up desperately needing tennants. The last lot moved in, failed to pay anything and left again, so when I showed up basically glad for anything he was only too happy to waive the usual and sensible requirements in ordewr to have a tennant who isn't likely to do a bunk.

Since moving in and scrubbing the kitchen until it screamed I have been collecting the ephemera of modern life. The electronics were an obvious choice, but I was surprised at how much more pleasant life has become since I acquired a teapot.

I am also delighting in the area. The houses around here are largely victorian, but I know that Leicester has a medieval heart and I intend to find it. I shall use this as an excellent excuse to go mooching about in museums.

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Settling In

In which our hero encounters unexpected difficulties and setbacks, but things work out pretty well in the end...

Setback #1 turned out to be the postal strike which delayed banking paperwork. Sympathetic as I am to the postal worker's dispute, that was seriously annoying because it left me essentially penniless and spinning my wheels for a couple of days.

Setback #2: Guarantors, the requirement for which had me thrashing around desperately, asking favours of friends and desperately searching for a way around the problem. This reminded me of a couple of things: I have a fine collection of friends, many of whom stepped forward to offer help. They are excellent people and I am indebted to them whether they could ultimately help or not. Also, there are ways around every situation; the key is in knowing when the right opportunity has arrived.

I'm looking forward to explaining this in more detail, but I move into a new flat in a week and there are another hundred and one things to do in the meantime.

So, more from the New Drafty Garret.

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