Beautiful sunsets!

If one more smug homeowner says to me in a patronising voice that it is perfectly acceptable to rent because everyone does it abroad then I will probably slap them.  No offence to homeowners – I want to be one and not all people who own their own home do this, but we have received a lot of derogatory comments of this nature, usually from very well off people who don’t have a clue.  Here is an account of the last two days:

We moved into our new house at Christmas to find that the cooker ignition didn’t work.  Two engineers later, it was confirmed that a new cooker would be a good idea, because the one in place was so rubbish that a replacement part would be more hassle than it was worth.  

So yesterday the landlady came round with Mr cooker engineer Corgi registered la la la and fits the new cooker.  It turns out she is an old battleaxe in her 70s.  Until yesterday I was really proud of what we had managed to do with the dining room (considering the AWFUL décor).  She looked round it disdainfully and said “golly, you’ve been here for a week, you’d think you’d have it straight by now, but obviously not.”  She then looked at our big mirror and said “and where on earth are you thinking of putting that??”  ”On the wall…” I said, perhaps not too helpfully.  She started to get her granny pants in a twist about holes in the wall, the state of the plaster, could we not lean it on the sideboard (the mirror is huge and would fall down and knock someone out if we did this so no….) etc.

Then she walked into the kitchen and noticed that we had hung a hook for the oven glove.  More complaints about holes in the wall, fire hazards, etc etc.  I nearly exploded.  I might look like a young thicko blonde idiot, but I would have thought she might assume that JT is no longer a child.  

The drain had a gargantuan blockage problem, which she could not accept was not our fault and not just a frozen pipe, until the ‘engineers’ turned up and confirmed that yes we were telling the truth.  Anyway, all this kind of stuff went on for an hour and a half – I went upstairs as was having a big attack of stress which brings on IBS and everything else.

This morning we got a letter from Alex Shark (NEVER rent with them).  It said that they had carried out the inspection on our old property and unfortunately it was not up to scratch for the following reasons:

*  The skirting boards were not cleaned

*  The kitchen cupboards and sides were not clean and dirt could be removed with a wet tissue

*  The window sills were not clean and had mould on

My version of events:

*  My friend and I spent two hours cleaning the kitchen, which ended up cleaner than it had ever been, so that comment is just a downright lie.

*  We hoovered the skirting boards, what more can you do?

*  I tried to clean the crap wooden window frames but the mould was so deep that it was taking the wood away, so I didnt risk cleaning any more.  Obviously they were like that when we moved in, if I hadn’t lost my disk data I would have photos to prove it.

*  The house was in a much much worse state when we moved in

* We spent £130 cleaning carpets and curtains which were not done when we moved in

*  We were in that house cleaning for three nights until 11pm

 Now we have an admin fee of £45 (for what?!  A letter and a phonecall) and are awaiting an invoice for the cleaning work.  ARGGHHHHHH!!!!

Much as I loathe a cliché, my motto for this year is “Carpe diem” – seize the moment.  Last year made me realise that days pass you by, so this year, my hope would be that anxiety would get stuffed and I would stop saying ‘what if’ and ‘but’ and just be spontaneous.  So this morning when I woke up and saw the snow, I was out before 9am taking photos.  If you don’t get out early it gets ruined and the light isn’t as special.  As it happened, I was a bit too early and ended up with dark photos.  Never mind!  

…By Megan Landry.  They are covers to put on old jars in order to make them re-usable.  Brilliant idea.

I have always been amused by the lyrics of “The Trees” by RUSH.  Today I decided to look them up:

There is unrest in the forest,
There is trouble with the trees,
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their pleas.

The trouble with the maples,
(And they’re quite convinced they’re right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light.
But the oaks can’t help their feelings
If they like the way they’re made.
And they wonder why the maples
Can’t be happy in their shade.

There is trouble in the forest,
And the creatures all have fled,
As the maples scream “Oppression!”
And the oaks just shake their heads

So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights.
“The oaks are just too greedy;
We will make them give us light.”
Now there’s no more oak oppression,
For they passed a noble law,
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe, and saw.

Now this could well be a song about politics and government, but apparently Neil Peart was just amused by a comic strip he saw about trees arguing like people!

Political correctness is something that really winds me up.  Now don’t get me wrong, I am all for equal opportunities, when equality means stretching and challenging people in order to achieve their maximum potential, utilising creative methods that might deviate from convention.  I do not consider equality to mean that everybody must allowed to be the same.  In fact, that is just ridiculous. In suggesting such an ideal, we create a false notion that people are as programmable and interchangeable as robots, which is simply not true.  You may consider it to be possible, if you are a Darwinist/idealist because if you are, then the human race is undergoing a constant state of improvement.  One of the facets of Darwinism is (coupled with) the phrase coined by Herbert Spencer – “the survival of the fittest”.  If this were true, then a lot of us would not exist.  It is certainly not politically correct.

 
Anyway, I deviate from my point.  Political correctness irritates me, because it seems to have swung so far in the opposite direction, that it is beginning to rule out the majority.  This can often be a facade for a myriad of excuses.  For example, as the church, we might say that we should not use the internet for evangelistic or communicative purposes, because, in terms of political correctness, not everyone has access to the internet.  We are alienating the poor, the illiterate, the elderly and perhaps the disabled.  We forget, that we are missing the rest of the world.  So use the internet and then alternative methods, don’t rule it out just because not every single person uses it.

This is a very light-hearted example, but hopefully you see my point.  At best, this kind of ‘equality for the sake of something to say’, is nothing but deception.  Don’t be trapped by it.

Well the house is slowly starting to look more like a house.  We are decorating our bedroom and the bathroom first, so I have had to set up the study with just a few minor improvements until I can paint!  Here we go:

Desk – looking a bit messy due to the imminent start of uni…  New curtains (they are actually really nice, this photo definitely doesn’t do them justice!!)  The Macbook Pro is up and running, as is our broadband – hurrah!

Freebie shelf, Sony Bravia bunny and wall planner – very important

Many a weighty tome in these shelves, along with hidden stationery etc.

A new lamp shade… Phew.

Naunton Park was beautiful in the frost yesterday… Once again the kitties decided to come for a walk with me and followed me all the way to the school.  ”I’m dreaming of a whiiiiite new year!” I sang to myself, then woke up this morning to mediocre “damp Britain” as per usual.  How dull!

HAPPY 2009 all!  May it be a jolly sight better than 2008.