Random Ramblings And Rantings - September 25th 2020 Edition

The photo above is one I took when Lilie was looking out of the window so you could enjoy the view of the ocean with her... I'm told it's not all that great of a photo, but I figured I'd share it anyhow.

 

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By the way, this post might get a bit long, and contains some complaining and ranting.  Consider yourself warned.

 

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Between writing my post from three weeks ago   and it going live, there was an update on the gas and electric situation, but I didn't get a chance to edit the post to update that, so I'll tell you about it today.

 

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On the morning of September 3rd, so six days before they were meant to be coming to install the smart meters, I got a message from them saying they were cancelling the job.  Considering it had only been arranged a few days before, and they'd told me even if they cleared the supposed debt it would be incredibly difficult for them to pay me what I'd be owed from paying what I shouldn't have needed to until my smartmeters were installed, I wasn't happy.  So I called them - again.

To cut a long story short, after I yelled at them some more, they eventually agreed that not only was the debt no longer applicable, since they finally considered my tenancy pictures acceptable, so they owed me money (like I'd been telling them all along) but my being on their priority register because of health issues and disabilities and having so little money on the gas and electric at the time because of having lost so much to paying the debt that wasn't mine, meant I was enough of a priority case that since my appointment for the following Wednesday had been cancelled they'd send someone out that very day.

 

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They did as well - eventually.

 

It took them seven hours to get someone they said would be with me in three hours to arrive, our smart meter doesn't have a digital display screen (because they apparently are out of stock of those due to the virus causing supply issues) and I had to phone the company after the guy had left because they hadn't given him the authorization to credit what we were owed on to the meters.  But by the time the post linked to at the start of this one went live, we had smart meters, and they had been credited for the amounts that were already on them when the guy got here, as well as the amount we - the company and I - agreed I was owed from attempting to keep my gas from running out while dealing with this situation.

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We're still waiting for the digital display for the smart meters.  But at least we have them, there are other ways to check the credit, and we're no longer losing money to someone else's debt.

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Despite having resolved that issue, at the time of writing this, we have no gas.  In other words, we have no heating or hot water.  Though all being well we will have both back by the time this actually goes live.

 

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To cut a long story short, on Sunday we almost ended up evacuating the building because of a gas leak.

 

Thankfully it didn’t come to that, but when the guys came out to check what the problem was, they discovered three breaks in the gas lines, which will take them several days to fix.

 

Meanwhile, we’re off supply.  Though at least they did make sure we had a way to cook for these few days (our cooker is electric, so that’s fine) and lack of heating wasn’t going to be an issue (unless we have a drastic drop in temperatures, that’s also fine, since it’s been quite warm here).  The issue is with hot water, since we have to boil the kettle or heat up a pan of water to do the dishes, and none of us are enthusiastic about the idea of doing that enough times to be able to have more than a quick wash at the sink, so no baths or showers.  Doing Lilie’s paws is hard enough, and we only need a small amount of water for that.

 

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Anyway, they’re doing their best to not leave us too long without gas supply.  It doesn’t help though that they can’t close off the road to do the repairs, because the council will only close off a road if you give a minimum of 28 days notice.

 

Yes, really.

 

Luckily, the gas lines are towards the rear of our property, where the road is a side road rather than the main road.  Not that that makes things easier for the guys trying to deal with it.

 

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In other updates from that post I linked to from a couple of weeks ago:

 

Our friends, Lorna and Andy, had some curtains that were long enough for the windows here.  Or, to be more accurate, long enough that they'll do for now, especially since we don't plan to stay here longer than absolutely necessary (so don't want to have to pay out for the extra long curtains the windows could really do with).

 

Anyway, now three of the four windows have curtains up, even if one window the curtains are only just long enough, and with the others there's a slight gap at the bottom of the curtain (which Lilie and Logan say is perfect for peering out of).  Most importantly, we have curtains on the windows we'd put blankets up at, so the landlord and his building manager haven't needed to complain about blankets at the windows, since there aren't any.  There aren't curtains at the living room window, but there's no blanket there either, and it's not at ground level, so never mind.  Luckily, the windows not being at ground level makes spotting the gap difficult.

 

If you're interested, the curtainless window is the one Lilie's looking out of in the photo at the top of this post.

 

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The landlord and his building manager apparently only mind if it's blankets and not curtains up, since I know they've been to the building, and they haven't complained about the window that hasn't got anything up at it.

 

It's just a shame the landlord is still hastling us about other things, like constant phantom smells from pet mess, which only he seems able to smell (nobody else who's entering the building - not the neighbours, not the guys delivering our shopping, and not the workmen - are smelling anything).  I could so do without the stress of him doing this, and am only tolerating it because I'm reluctant to take legal action against anyone - especially a landlord, and especially right now with the threat of a second lockdown looming.

 

  

 

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I could also do without them renovating the hallway, since it means only Kelly can take the dogs out right now, because it's not safe for me.

 

We won't go in to how I almost wasn't warned about it, and then it was a short notice, "Oh, by the way," type text from the building manager.  Or how the downstairs neighbour only had time to move his stuff out of the hallway cupboard because we warned him when I got that text.

 

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It wouldn't be so bad, except it's been going on for a couple of weeks now - and looks like it will be going on a bit longer - and half of it isn't even work that needs doing.

 

Most of it is because he wanted a wall removed to allow better light in to the hallway - which would apparently make it more appealing to visitors.  Thankfully the people doing the work had enough sense to not just knock the wall down, but to just remove part of it where the beams holding up the stairwell aren't.  Yes, he was going to knock down the wall offering support to the stairs that are the only way in or out of this building for the top two flats (our current one, and the one we used to be in).  All in the name of, "Making it look nicer," for potential visitors.

 

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In the meantime, the jobs that actually need doing aren't being done, or - like was the case with the issue we had with our kitchen taps - are taking longer than they should to get done.

 

It took them three days to send someone to look at our tap, which was alternating between not turning on properly and not turning off properly.  It might have taken longer if I hadn't given them a nudge.

 

Plus, our buzzer still doesn't work properly.  Something we've been dealing with since we moved in to this property, which he promised to fix the moment he had the freehold back for the hallway (which we know he now does, or he wouldn't be able to do the renovation work he's doing in it).

 

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Oh, and... On top of everything... The landlord says if we want to stay past the six months our tenancy was signed for, we'll be paying about £155 more rent than we now are a month (that's around $200 US, give or take).  The amount he wants us to pay for rent as from February is about as much as we've seen two or three bedroom houses going for in town proper, and more than it costs for a four bedroom place in some areas.

 

Even without the issues we've been having with him, this place wouldn't be worth that much.  Yes, it's in a good location, but it's also not very big (it's a small two bedroom apartment) and in need of repairs.

 

We  told him we don't feel we can pay that.

 

So, even if we weren't already trying to get moved, we would be now.  It also now needs to be in January.  So we have to hope we can both get the money together and find a place by then.

 

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 In other news:

 

Someone has moved in upstairs.

 

It’s the family who had moved out of one of the properties that’s part of this building about a year ago, so we know they’re nice neighbours (apparently they missed their local friends, so wanted to move back to this area).  They've got a couple of little kids, one of which is autistic.

 

I’m glad we have nice neighbours living above us – even if the little girl is on the end of the autism spectrum where she’s quite loud and boisterous sometimes, so she can get a bit noisy - so at least we won’t have awful neighbours adding to our stresses while we wait to move.  They don’t even mind if the dogs bark when the little girl’s noise gets their attention (they probably figure a bit of barking is worth the fact we don’t complain about any of her noise).

 

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On the other hand, I'm both sad for them that they'll have to deal with this guy, and angry with him for moving someone in - especially someone with small children - when he hasn't finished the repair work.  The roof and windows, for example, still aren't fixed.

 

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In other news...

I was meant to go to the dentist last month for a checkup, but they cancelled it a couple of days before my appointment.

 

Apparently my dentist was suddenly unavailable, and they weren't sure how long she would be unavailable for.  If I had an issue I wanted/needed looked at, they'd see if another dentist had a spot for me, otherwise they couldn't make me a new appointment right now.  Since I didn't have an issue I knew of, they told me they'd get back to me when they knew when my dentist would be back.

I haven't heard from them since.

 

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I'm not exactly eager to have a dentist poking about in my mouth.  Though she is a reasonably good dentist (not the best I've had, but one of the better ones).  But it does make me wonder if maybe I got lucky not seeing her (I could have had an appointment a couple of days earlier, but had spacifically asked for the date I did).  Does the uncertainty of when she'll be back mean she - or someone she's connected to - got the virus? Is it because she was sick (or worse) and they haven't found a replacement to take over from her that I haven't heard from them? Worse, did other dentists from the practice I go to get sick too? Honestly, I'm not sure if I do or don't want to know the answers to those questions.

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After I started seeing the way things were going, I made a point of not discussing too much regarding the virus and current world events in my posts.  However, while we’re on the subject of the virus, I’d just like to say a couple of things:

 

1.      The government were pushing for everyone to get out and visit pubs and such – there was even an, “Eat out to help out,” scheme – and now there’s a huge rise in cases of the virus.  Why are people surprised about this? It wouldn’t have been so bad, except the whole social distancing thing went right out of the window, because people assumed the government switching focus to the economy meant the virus-related danger was over.  Support your local cafes and things, yes.  But bear in mind that the pandemic isn’t over, and you still need to be careful.

2.      While I agree that there are benefits to wearing masks, there are valid reasons why some people aren’t wearing one.  Not everyone, but still.  It’s really getting beyond irritating how people are constantly posting things claiming people who don’t wear masks just don’t care.  In some cases that might be true.  However, before assuming that’s the case, please bear in mind that there are reasons why people aren’t wearing masks besides thinking they won’t be much – if any – help, such as anxiety issues whenever things are put over the face.  If you can wear a mask... Great! Please do so.  If you can’t for some valid reason... That’s fine too.  If you see someone not wearing one when you’re out... Leave them alone.  They might have a good reason for not wearing one, or they might not, but whatever the case, don’t attack them for not wearing one.

3.      How does the government think sending children back to school and people back to work is a good idea, while at the same time insisting we shouldn’t meet in large groups...? How is that logical? If we shouldn’t meet in large groups, shouldn’t schools stay closed, and everyone who can do so keep working from home, too?

4. The government is urging the general public to report their neighbours if they’re violating social distancing rules (in particular the rule about no more than six people gathering together).  So, now they’re trying to turn neighbours against each other? Look, I get that we want to stop this pandemic, but is that really the way to go? I’d hate to think we’d be returning to a time when there was nothing but suspicion and mistrust among neighbours.  I’ve heard stories of how that ended up when people were encouraged to report their neighbours during WWII, and am not eager to see things become like that in my lifetime.  I’m pleased to see that – judging by the comments on the posts I saw about it from local authorities on Facebook – a large number of people feel the same way.  I hope people will be following social distancing rules, but I also hope they won’t be turning on their neighbours if they don’t.  If you don’t like what they’re doing, just stay out of it, and keep as far from them as you can.  Don’t let this pandemic turn potentially cordial relationships in to ones filled with hatred and mistrust.

 

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Speaking of hatred and mistrust: this racism and discrimination has got to stop.

 

What is wrong with people these days?

 

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All lives matter, whether black, white, or somewhere in between.

 

People are entitled to have the kinds of life partners or religious beliefs they want.

 

It’s not for us to choose whether another person does or doesn’t eat meat, processed foods, etc.

 

People should be allowed to identify with whatever gender they want, regardless of what they were born.

 

Disabilities are neither diseases, nor reasons to treat someone differently.

 

People are entitled to their own opinions, whether they differ from yours or not.

 

Women and men are both just as likely as each other to be intelligent, or skilled at something.

 

 

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I would have thought that in this day and age people would have moved beyond the point of discriminating against people who don’t share their skin colour, beliefs, etc.  It saddens and sickens me that not only have we not moved past that point, but some people think it’s acceptable to attack another human being for simply being different – often attacking them physically.

 

That’s not OK! Just stop!

 

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If you don’t like something about someone, whether that be their background, their beliefs, or a physical difference... Fine.  Nobody’s forcing you to be friends with someone you don’t like.  But either ignore those people and avoid them, or – if placed in a situation where you have no choice but to interact with them – at least be civil.

 

Sorry... Just needed to get that off my chest.

 

 

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In other personal news...

 

My Aunty Joyce (sister-in-law to the Nan who died last month, so my great aunt) died last week.  She died on the evening of September 15th.

 

Like with Nan, it was nothing to do with the virus, but age and health issues catching up with her.  Still sad though...

 

I haven't seen much of Aunty Joyce in recent years, but I always loved her visits when I was younger.  Not only because she was one of those aunties who comes bearing treats and money either.  She was a lovely woman.  Uncle Amos (her husband, who's been dead a couple of years now) was lovely too.  Their visits are all wonderful memories.

 

Rest in peace, Aunty Joyce.

 

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OK, let's try and finish this post on a more positive note...

 

With that in mind, here are some photos of Logan.  His fur is damp from being in the bathtub here... I love his curls, even if they do make him look scruffy.  Anyway, here you go... Even if the photos are insisting on showing up in reverse order when I preview this... Well, here they are anyhow:

 

    
 

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Logan's going in for his neuter next week (he's going in on October 2nd).

 

On the one hand, we could do with leaving it, because the money would help towards moving.  On the other hand, Logan is already late being nuetered with one thing and another (first the vet asking us to wait a bit to be sure he was done developing, then the lockdown, and then the move to this place) and we don't want to keep leaving it, especially after the near accident where it's lucky the owner of the dog in season had the sense to warn me she was, because aeven with hat warning I only just managed to keep Logan back from her (had both dogs not been on leads, there might have been an accident, if you know what I mean).  So, yeah, he needs to be done, because I don't want him responsible for any unwanted puppies.

 

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Anyway, just because he's super cute, here are some more photos of Logan.  Kelly took the other Logan photos in this post, but these ones I took while I was playing with him when Kelly took Lilie to get her nails trimmed a few days ago (for those who don't know, she's not heavy enough to wear them down during walks, so needs them trimmed between grooming sessions).

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Last, but certainly not least, here's another photo of our beautiful Lilie.  This one was taken by Kelly a couple of days ago.