It's often said that the three most stressful things we might have to confront in life are the death of a loved one, getting divorced, or moving. Moving I'm well acquainted with, having done so several times in my adult life, and I can well believe it's one of the most stressful events out there. However, for all its ups and downs, it has a readily identifiable conclusion and once the move has taken place, the stress is replaced with a renewed sense of optimism for the future. I wonder then how the situation that's facing me and mine 24 hours from now ranks in terms of stress: living with builders. Or more accurately, having builders take over your home. For tomorrow morning, after over 2 years of meetings, inspections and negotiations, work begins to rectify the subsidence of the place that is my home, workplace, sanctuary and haven. Family life is being turned on its head as we will effectively have to vacate the premises for an estimated two weeks whilst the ground floor is dug out and removed. My office is being sealed off as from 08:00 tomorrow morning and life will become somewhat difficult. I fly out to the U.S on Thursday morning for a two week holiday, effectively removing myself from the situation, but until then, I will have to try and live within the constraints imposed by having no ground floor to talk about, the world of dust and dirt that all that encompasses, and having access to just one room (the lounge) via the garden. The house will be out of bounds between the hours of 08:00 and 17:00 daily, meaning I'll have to be up and out with somewhere to be and something to do that doesn't revolve around my being at my desk, working, as is the norm when I'm not away on assignment. From 17:00 each day, if I'm so minded, I can access the upstairs (bedrooms, ensuite and bathroom), via the kitchen - and a plank of wood, which will act as a bridge over the abyss that will exist where we once had a floor. Deep joy. Tomorrow, after driving our two Russian Blues to a cattery for the first time in their ten years on earth, I've got a meeting and a lunch appointment in the City, meaning I have to dress and equip myself for that. And on Tuesday, I'm in work mode as I fly off on assignment for the day. Somehow, I need to ensure I remove from my office everything I'm likely to need until Thursday, together with whatever non-work things I'll need for my holiday. However, it's the knowledge that even when I return from the U.S, there's at least another six to eight weeks of stress waiting for us. Six to eight weeks in which we live without carpets whilst we wait for the newly laid floors to dry out. Almost two months of redecoration, cleaing, tidying and making good, as one by one, each of the ground floor rooms are cleared, repainted, etc. We've had to choose new wallpapers when there was nothing wrong with those they're replacing. Choose new floors etc. None of which is massively problematic. But the prospect of having to share my sanctum with a team of builders for the forseeable future, trying to work whilst they bang, chisel, hammer and hang, doesn't exactly fill me with joy. Still, it has to be done, and getting stressed about it ain't going to change any of that or make it any easier. So today, sees the sun set on one chapter of our lives, for a new one to open tomorrow. After tonight, I'll be surfing on my laptop from wherever I can get wi-fi access, so my presence on here will probably be intermittent. I'll be around though; I should have some interesting photos and a story to upload after Tuesday, so whether I manage it here or after I arrive in America, I'll endeavour to blog something. There is one positive to report; our close friends Nick and Eva became the proud parents of twins in the early hours of yesterday morning as Sophia Alejandra, then Antonio William took their first breaths. Eva is likely to be discharged from hospital today with the new additions, and a new chapter will begin for them, too. Congratulations to the proud parents! I'll take this opportunity to wish a Happy Easter to all my readers; thanks for your support as ever, and I look forward to catching up with you all after the holidays.
PARKED
2.4.06 11:27
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(2.4.06 11:38) Good luck. I've experienced similar, albeit a long time ago. It's the sort of upheaval I wouldn't want to go through again! Enjoy your holiday. Here's an early Happy Easter to you too. |
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(2.4.06 11:50) Flighty: Cheers, fella. Keep an eye out for an entry on my day with 'B' flight, 32 Sqn and I'm hoping for some great air-to-air pix over London which should add just the right splash of colour if the forecast weather is accurate. My only concern is weather or not 20six is still in its current state when I return. Still, I've backed my blog up, so if the move to a new platform takes place before I get back on the 20th, it's not the end of the world! |
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(2.4.06 11:51) Happy Easter to you too, Blackrat. And good luck with all that mess at your place, although I see you already know how to take care of it: going on holiday. Good on you! |
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(2.4.06 12:19) Atrus: Thanks very much; couldn't see that I'd be much use hanging around with all that's going on. Our daughter's flying out to the Middle East tomorrow for the Easter Holidays, so she'll be out of it too, courtesy of her Grandparents. Sadly, the only person who can't is The Blonde, as she's working. So she'll be off to stay at a friend's, popping back occasionaly to check on progress. Poor thing! |
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pixeldiva / Website (2.4.06 14:56) ... and so the wheel turns. Congrats to the new parents. Hope it all goes well, and remember... this too shall pass... |
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Matt / Website (2.4.06 15:55) Sounds like a really stressful nightmare. Without the holiday it would be intolerable, I think. Good luck and happy easter. |
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(2.4.06 16:04) PixelDiva: Thanks, I shall pass your best wishes along. And I'll try to bear in mind that 'this too shall pass', although I suspect it might prove a little too taxing five weeks hence! |
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(2.4.06 16:06) Matt: Cheers fella. And however bad it gets for me, I'll bear in mind that I'm the lucky one; at least I've got the opportunity to go away. My other half sadly has no choice but to be here :-( |
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(2.4.06 19:12) Have a fantastic time in Louisiana! I must confess that No Angels is my all time favourite (well, at the moment anyway!) Happy Easter xxx |
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(2.4.06 19:38) StarCorner: Thanks, hon. Loving No Angels atm, and with my cunning plan to watch this week's episode, followed immediately after by next week's on E4, I shall only miss one episode in my two weeks away! Happy Easter to you too, enjoy however and with whomever you spend it ;-) xx |
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lisa / Website (4.4.06 00:28) But I bet it will be so worth it when it's done. There's nothing like new carpet, is there? Have a good trip to the US, and, I guess, relax whilst you can! |
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Megan / Website (4.4.06 16:32) A good time to get in touch with your reserves of patience, no? Have a good trip to La., and don't forget to check in with your Yank friends while you're over here. And Happy Easter to you and yours as well. |
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(5.4.06 08:30) Lisa: No, good point. And I have to confess, the builders are polite, considerate and reliable as you like. Considering the damage they've inflicted (on purpose) already, the rest of the house remains clean, tidy and unobstructed. And like you say, we eventually end up with a new downstairs, so not all bad. And there isn't that much to do in La.,, so I fully intend to relax - I have a suitcase full of books and DVDs which I'll be working my way through! |
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(5.4.06 08:33) Megan: Nicely put ;-) Quite it may be down there, but I fully intend to enjoy it. And with that good ol' Southern hospitality, and the Cajun cookout at Easter weekend, there will be plenty of opportunity for revelry! Enjoy Easter and take it easy. |
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gemmak / Website (8.4.06 21:44) Ugh! Sounds a nightmare, I hope it at least goes to plan for you. |
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(11.4.06 13:16) Enjoy your holiday; you deffo deserve a bit of time away :P |
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(11.4.06 21:52) Gemma: Thanks hon, although I fear your best wishes have fallen on deaf ears. Going by what I've heard, the news is significantly worse than expected, and we could be talking about months of upheaval now. No point in bitching about it, but I can't profess to be looking forward to it all, either. |
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(11.4.06 21:53) Tosh: Cheers, fella - it's none to shabby here, I must admit. Warm, sunny and relaxing. And yeah, I know what you mean - I spend far too much time in the UK! ;-) |
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(15.4.06 19:50) Happy Easter! x |
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(19.4.06 21:53) Welshchick: Thanks, honey. A little late, but same to you x |
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(1.5.06 23:28) Hey Blackrat, hope all is going well, don't work too hard! |
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Lisa / Website (2.5.06 23:47) Hello? Is anyone home? |
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gemmak / Website (10.5.06 21:44) Where have you gone?  /
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(12.5.06 22:48) Hello world! Thanks for the comments and emails asking after me. All good, if a little hectic at the moment as my life has turned upside down courtesy of building works not going...er...quite according to plan. Arrived in the U.S and got a phone call from my wife a couple of days later to tell me that the subsidence was far worse than first thought and having dug out the dining room, hallway and downstairs bathroom floors, the builders stopped work and the structural engineers came back. The upshot? Rip up the original plan and start again...which means piling down to a depth of 30 feet, 3 to 4 months of work and...us moving out. So whilst I was in America, my wife was busily running around looking for somwhere for us to live as the building work couldn't recommence until we'd moved out. Which bascially meant my trip to the U.S was a waste of time given that I'd gone to escape the mess and make life easier for the builders. I got back to half a house, with no downstairs floor and have spent the past few weeks trying to work in an office piled high with furniture and boxes, living in a world of dust and mess amidst the stress of having to cope with an imminent home move. Since I've been back, I've secured a great new commission to write regular features for a new magazine, driven 2000 miles in three days as I headed down to the South of France on assignment...and amongst all that, I've had to write, pack, and basically rethink the immediate future of our lives. And that begins tomorrow as we move out of the place that we've called home for longer than I care to remember, whilst the builders return to render the ground floor into a barren wasteland. Still, on the bright side, we'll get our cats back from the Cattery on Monday, six weeks after I dropped them off and some four weeks later than expected. That little stay will cost us £1000, just another drop in the ocean that is the mammoth insurance claim that I'll be filing to cover our expenses for this little debacle. So as I write this, I'm sat in a house that echoes to the sound of my fingers dancing across th keyboard, boxes piled high, personal effects God knows where. The phone has been disconnected, although my ADSL connection remains active until tomorrow morning when we'll be out of touch for the best part of ten days. Ten days to await the transfer of my broadband connection (funny that BT can transfer my phone number seamlessly but for Pipex to transfer my ADSL connection, it's 7 days or so). Work's going to be interesting to say the least, what with no email or internet at home, although it looks like I'll be splitting my time between trying to get straight as we work our way through the myriad boxes that contain our lives, and camping out at Starbucks or Corney and Barrow to check email, surf the web and file copy. But I'm still here, and I've got a whole load of stuff to blog when I'm back online - from the debacle that was my assignment flying with the RAF's 32 Sqn on the day that they took delivery of a fleet of new helicopters, to the trip to America and my recent road trip to the South of France. Thanks for staying tuned to those of you who have been checking back in search of updates...I'm most certainly still around. And I shall return soon. Take care all. |
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Moobs / Website (22.5.06 16:03) I have just moved out so that the builders can start 10 months of work (sob). If it doiesn't go exactly accroding to plan there is going to be a rampage with automatic weapons and swearing. |
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best / Website (15.7.07 06:12) Yes, it's true |
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