The Progress So Far:

Bed reassembled and very comfy, tyvm. I have missed it so much. Been years since I slept on a big, proper, firm bed, and starfished to take up as much room as I want. Pleased. Predictably, I kept waking up last night, confused. Yawned my way through work today...

Several crates sorted; several emptied. Wardrobe now in correct position. I'm becoming more aware of how mismatched my furniture is, and it's pretty dang ugly. Some of it I'll reinvent with a coat of paint at some point in future. I had been hoping to just get rid of my metal shelves, but I might have to put them back into use - somewhere. Oh, and this morning I spied two folding white chairs and a small side table, on my way to work. They're pretty grubby (and I already own two blue metal ones) so whichever ones end up looking better will stay, and the other two I'll put in the backyard.

Poppet (from Small Supermarket) has successfully interviewed at my new work and is starting in just over a week. Yay! I have given her some trousers and a shirt (way too small for me) in the "correct colours" for her first week, until the official uniform arrives. Hopefully they'll fit and she won't need to waste the money.

Spendy McSpenderson: a breakfast muffin from McDonalds.

Sad Laundry Times

I knew I shouldn't have gotten so excited over the washer. It did exactly one load. This morning the clothes weren't quite dry so I decided to restart the dryer... but no. The door light is beeping and flashing and it just won't start. I've spent plenty of time resetting it, reading troubleshooting, watching videos... seems like the door sensor is just cactus and thinks I haven't shut it. Won't wash, won't dry, won't dance. Soooo new door sensor ordered on eBay (£6) and I figure that is worth a go. Let's see if I do as good a job as I did with my new car key fob...

My last two attempts at the Couch to 5k have been a fail. Muscles and joints just immediately yelled at me. As a compromise I walked, with the incline setting turned on. It's something. It's frustrating!

Unh: Dilemma has sent a "payment demand" for my yearly building maintenance expenses for 2022-2023. It's bloody expensive (basically the same price as the agent we had in 2019 which everyone was desperate to get away from) and because it is so expensive I looked over it to see how long I had to pay. Not to worry, it contains a statement that it will be considered late if not paid by March 2023. I have decided I'll pay it in time. I will probably pay it in February 2023 😂

In the meantime I have asked her where my £1,000 contribution is that I paid already, where 2021-2022's accounting is, how can the balance carried forward be zero when the previous year's accounting hasn't been done, and how she intends to pay this year's bills with no money. She has not yet responded. While I was busy typing, Owner #2A called me, furious with the similar idiotic bill he had also received. He's going to ask her why the plumbing hasn't been sorted out after several weeks, and that he hopes she hasn't paid that bill since they didn't do anything. You wish you had popcorn.

Owner #8 is currently hacking down the vegetation swamping our shared backyard, under the glaring eye of tenant #2B who thinks it's his private yard. This is gleeful. More popcorn!

Oh and Dilemma says the fire alarm test will be carried out shortly, so I say, the fire evacuation notice you put up is wrong. And she says: What notice, we have never visited. Lovely...

OMIGOD You Idiot

This key is not cut.
It'd be just as effective.

Look at me, Mrs Smart MoneySaver, buying a new plastic keyfob for her car on eBay for £4 instead of getting a Peugeot one for a billion trillion bucks. Swap casing over, put the circuit board tidily in the new fob, test the lock, central locking is working perfectly, pat self on the back and grope own arse. I'm so good at this "saving money" thing.

Jump in car the next day to go meet Mr Removalist... car will not start. Turns over but no go.

The poor RAC man spent ages dismantling all the fuses, spent forever testing everything he could think of, and finally diagnosed it to learn that yes, the immobiliser was the problem. While we were making arrangements to get it towed to a mechanic, I finally asked if the plastic key cover would cause this.

Yes, I'm a moron, a tiny black immobiliser code chip the size of a tic tac was in the bit of broken plastic in the bin, and as soon as he waved the broken bit of plastic near the ignition, Pugsley turned over and purred into life.

#howtosavemoney - figure out that you're a moron BEFORE getting your car towed. Thankfully he was kind enough to declare that we had both learned something, because even though he had been a locksmith before, he hadn't thought to ask me to grab my spare key (which would have started the car just fine). It is very lucky that I'm not now facing a very expensive repair for nothing. #dodgedabullet

Happy Happy Thing - my washer is installed and currently running a short wash to give it a clean. I am SO INCREDIBLY EXCITED about having a washer again for the first time in two-and-a-half years. I plan to Wash All The Things™.

Angels Drive Removal Vans

So Angel Man, whom I've used before, texted me three hours early to say he was free if I wanted to get started? Brilliant. Except then my car just would not start. This lovely man then drove all the way to pick me up, took me back to the storage, where two more angels were there to get it all packed up, then they even stopped for me to visit the cashpoint, and once they had brought it all into my flat he even assembled some of it (despite me telling him not to worry). After nearly three hours of mucking about he still only asked for £120! For the three of them, including the diesel for two trucks.

I gave him £140 and three cans of Coke. And I got an hour of chatting to someone as interested in property as me, which was a huge surprise but really nice.

Everybody wins. Also, we agreed that we really need a block of land to plonk a dozen shipping containers onto so that we can store stuff for people and get insanely rich. Or, buy the block of 30 garages for sale right now nearby and sell them off and get rich off other people that way. There really aren't very many people who think like we do 😁

But anyway. My flat is now a giant game of "dodge the PILES OF STUFF" since it's all just strewn about randomly. This ain't anyone's fault but mine. I had had vague ideas that today I'd empty ten boxes into my wardrobe, but this will have to wait until I've at least made it walkable. But hey, it's my flat and my stuff and if I want to take a month to rearrange my PILES OF STUFF then I can. 👉

Now to drink the last can of Coke and wait for the road service people to come and figure out why my car won't start...

Bargain Food! What?

So Rose-Boss offered the remaining reductions to us at 10p each. GET IN! I do enjoy a BLT after going to the gym 😂 (kill me now). I even got my staff discount on that lot, and Ninja laughed at my hefty 27p purchase.

Speaking of Rose-Boss (the lady who first chatted to me at the job centre) I found out that after our first chat she went straight to our store manager, and said, "We're having her. You need to hire her. I don't care. I want her." 😍 But this week she declared in front of several of the other cashiers... "Because she's got management experience in a supermarket and Rusty-Boss will be moving to Spain in September for his gap year." 😕

Er what? I can only imagine what they thought of that, but no, this idea/plan had not been discussed with me. Since the day I started, till is the ONLY thing I do. Talking me up in front of hard-working more-experienced colleagues is a recipe for awkwardness. While I'm on a roll, I got nominated for a staff award by management, which made Grumpy Smurf really bloody furious about not getting nominated. Dude, if you'd take the lemon out of your mouth and stop hating everything on this planet, you would find that people actually think you do a great job.

I am in a weird Twilight Zone in regards to Rusty's role. Sister Store has a trainee named Blondie who has told me he thinks he'll be transferring into the role. Fait Accompli. But now the application deadline has been extended by another month, which suggests "not enough applicants" or that they haven't found a good match. I hate that I'm even considering this. It's 40h a week on your feet. It's also really good pay. Urgh. Pondering that shitty trick of applying even if I don't plan to accept. Vaguely wondering if Rose was trying to hint at me. Paranoia.

I have emailed HR to ask if this company ever does job-sharing.

Spendy McSpenderson: £12 on a new pair of jeans (my current ones, which I wear to work, are wearing out in the crotch, in the way that jeans infuriatingly do). I have also booked the removalist to empty my storage tomorrow, so that will cost me, plus some Coke which I plan to give him as a thanks, since it will be warm tomorrow!

Winning: Ran at the gym again. 6x 1-minute runs. I'll get there eventually...

Lovely, Lovely

So I keep my eyes peeled for new 0% interest offers on my various credit cards, to refinance my existing balances. I feel like I should defend myself here - these are not credit card debt I just didn't repay! - these were to save myself interest on my main, painful loan. Anyway.

Nationwide has offered me 9.9% with no transfer fee. Insert shock here. It's not what I would call low, but it's less than my actual LOAN with them. The most bizarre part is that I tried extending my actual loan and was rejected. So they won't allow me to borrow at 11.5% but they will allow me to "borrow" at 9.9.

Banks be crazy. Like Zopa, who cheerfully informed me that my borrowing power was so much improved that they would kindly offer me a personal loan at 33%. 😱 I mean, I know I'm doing a good job at chipping away at those debts, but you're too kind, Zopa, too kind.

I did some quick maths and since I have bought my flat 16 months ago, the total cost has been somewhere around £57.000. I still owe just under £27,000. Although I did come into this with savings, by my best estimate I've still paid off £19,000 since buying. I am really quite shocked and also insanely proud of those amounts. I think I have proven to myself that I can focus on financial priorities. Self-pat on the back for me, but the marathon isn't finished yet, there is still work to be done. I won't reach that kind of level from here on - I'm not paying much more than minimums on everything. Still, I am going forwards and not backwards.

While I would have liked to flip within two years, it isn't realistic in my current health and financial situation, not to mention, it's taking time to get this building sorted out. So I will be patient and aim to upsize to a bigger flat around 2025. It would be even nicer if I have paid this one off at that point - but I can't predict the future!

Yesterday: 5x 1-minute runs in my "walk". Although it really took it out of me, I am almost ready to try the Couch to 5k again. I am hopeful.

Regrouping

In what I consider completely annoying, The Allies™ have given up trying to change agents, at least for now. As one said to me, the morons aren't going to commit to either a decision or a change, so we might as well push the current one, Dilemma, to actually do some work.

No idea who this is.
But he's awesome.

A very simple proposed budget has appeared and while nobody has actually asked if we all approve of the budget itself, it has been suggested we all pay for the year up-front, to avoid cash-flow issues in the event of any unexpected bills. This is because nobody collected a reserve fund last year and there is currently nothing on hand to pay ongoing expenses (we do not know if/how Dilemma has been paying things like water bills, insurance, etc). I am not pleased about the all-up-front idea given that I would have to borrow the money to do that, so I'm adopting the tactic that others use.

I am just making no response at all.

If anyone complains, I'll just point out that people ignored me when I've tried to sort things out. And they've ignored requests to pay things. So.... shrug. Whatever. I'll consider paying something (maybe) if/when it's done correctly and in accordance with both the law and with my lease. Perhaps.

I still have a voucher to spend at Big Supermarket and I am weighing up whether to go out there soon...

As Expected

Our "Manager", who I will call (Dill)Emma, has lived up to her expectations. On reporting a leak requiring an urgent plumber to attend, she took three days, and then ignored what we requested the plumber to do. The plumber attended, stood there saying it's inaccessible, stood there a bit longer while an owner and a tenant pulled the wall apart so he could access it... then he stood there a bit longer, said yeah too old to even touch (what?), then went home and promptly forwarded a bill for doing nothing.

I am taking the attitude that because Dilemma has never sent us any accounts, budget or demand for a maintenance fund, she is not having a penny from me for the plumber. I'll tell her I'm happy to contribute once I have a full understanding of who hasn't paid their share and who is in credit.

I have a great guy lined up to replace her but at this point we only have 4 out of 9 votes, with two silent and three having a moan that they aren't sure and let's allow Dilemma do her job. You would think that the water leak would help them see she isn't actually doing her job...

Even Ice-T is incredulous.

She finally sent "our accounts" and quite frankly it is beyond embarrassing, it's incompetent. It's essentially a polite Word document with a tidy row of zeroes all dated November last year, plus an email message that nobody owes anything. THAT AIN'T ACCOUNTS, DILEMMA. ACCOUNTS SHOW STUFF LIKE WE PAID £247 FOR THE ELECTRIC BILL, JOE IN NUMBER 7 SENT £987 FOR HIS YEARLY CONTRIBUTION, EVERYONE NEEDS TO PAY £1,025 FOR THE COMING YEAR, AND WE'VE CURRENTLY GOT £3,384 LEFT IN OUR KITTY.

There's a bloody irritating lack of anger (or even any reaction) from the three morons who want to stay with Dilemma and won't switch over to the very-competent new guy that we found...

Just Do Your Job

Yet again our block manager is just, well, not managing anything much at all. We asked for our basic yearly accounts and she ignored us, three times. Finally she lets us know the great news, she's going to get (one of our leaseholders, who OWES US MONEY) to do the books for free to save us some money!

WHAT. The Hell. No. Giving our private accounts to a third party... and it's someone who owes us money? Do we really think we'd get the accounting done honestly here... I'm sure that "his" outstanding large bills would miraculously be quite cheap once he had reviewed the accounts.

We politely told her "hell no" and she responded that we might need to pay a specialist accountant. There's nothing "special" about our books, they just aren't done, and what's more, this is included specifically in her fee. In writing. Why she thinks she doesn't need to do them is anyone's guess.

Currently pursuing other companies willing to take over our management, and one looks good, so, touch wood.

Because great things happen all at once there's a leak upstairs near the brand new skylight, from a weird water tank in a ceiling cupboard. Which nobody understands. We're now discussing whether to ask the "manager" to deal with it in the morning, or just accept that she's rubbish and get it sorted ourselves...

How To Get A Sunday Off Work

> be me
> sign yourself up for a ton of hours/days
> have a Big Boss who suddenly desperately needs help on a Friday evening and asks you to work a longer day than you had planned
> agree to do it if he takes you off the 6am Sunday shift
> profit?

Technically, I did profit, because I gained an hour of work, avoided an extra car trip, and can enjoy a day at home (priceless). I also win because the 6am Sunday shift would have entirely consisted of unloading stock, a task I won't in future need to do at all (because Good Boss) and now I don't have to do it even once. Win.

AND! It turned out that I was working late because Star had to do his Office Stuff™ and he can't be in the building alone and Star is cool and good company. It doesn't really feel like working when you're just doing general tidying of the store and chatting, so no complaints there.

Walked an hour in the gym tonight. Felt pretty shaky by 45min in but managed to stick it out and wobble myself to the hour mark. Felt a lot better after my shower though.

Currently enjoying enduring a chicken hot pot microwave dinner and a yummy glass of orange-passionfruit drink. 

It Was Lush.

The lasagne. I resisted having seconds and dutifully portioned it up into dinners. Am proud.

I have finished two of the games for cash and now have a new one which is American-style Bingo... it's supposed to be an easy task for the cash, but it is annoying me as I have to concentrate 😂 First-world problems eh?

What I've learned from this (or rather been reminded) is that people, on the whole, are mostly good, or if not, mostly decent. Remember back in the dark ages when we used to have Facebook feeds chock-full of Dennis from primary school asking everyone in his friend list for 7 more garden forks so that he could build the next level of his chicken coop in Farmville? Those days are gone - Farmville is gone - but today, I "friended" about 15 complete strangers inside this Bingo game and almost all of them responded by sending me items which I needed in order to level up. Completely unasked. It was a nice retro throwback to a time when a bunch of pixels was a central part of our collective self-worth.

About to start seven days in a row working (such is life) and I'm beginning this streak with a mammoth shopping trip, in which I fully intend to buy gardening stuff and will probably forget and come home without it.