Apologies for not having blogged much this month. On the 4th of January it was Tom Brown's birthday - we didn't do very much, and my present was belated but still pretty awesome. The day passed without much note.
I think we'll have to throw a surprise party next year. On the 5th of January Tom fell ill, he had a raging fever through the night, and he was sick. On the 8th of January it was the narrative/verse poetry submission.
Not my best work it has to be said, but still good enough to pass and besides I don't even like poetry so. Tom's condition had worsened and he had to take some time off work. We made an emergency appointment with the dentist because his gums were all swollen and infected, and he was put on antibiotics.
On the 13th of January I went to Emily's birthday party. We ended up in Plug. I lost Emily and was kind of on my own so I left at about 1.
30. Was still nice to see her though. On the 17th of January I went down to Blackpool to do dad's legals.
As you may or may not know my mum (his 1st wife) is applying for ancillary relief and dad is representing himself. Anyway I had to finish off our schedule of issues in time for the first appointment. On the 18th of January I met nan in Blackpool town centre for lunch, and it was gale force winds.
The prom was shut because of the sea, and some of the town centre was blocked off because slates were coming off rooves and falling onto people!! The police were walking round in raid helmets!
! Anyway it was very exciting. On the 19th of January pops drove me and Johnny back to Sheffield, Johnny came to stay for the weekend.
We watched ferris bueller (whom I've got a major crush on) and Jade was evicted (more on that later). On the Saturday I met Emma T M and we bought/decorated everybody's t-shirts for Big Suze's birthday. That night we ordered Chinese in On the 21st of January (Sunday) Johnny, Tom Brown and I went to Meadowhall.
Tom was in a bad mood (as is becoming his regular disposition) so it wasn't that enjoyable, although Johnny bought some stuff for him and Phil. Unfortunately I have no money at the moment so it was kind of agony for me to go shopping. On Monday morning (22nd) I got up really early with Johnny and he got a morning train home because he started work at 11.
That night was Big Suze's 21st birthday party. I got her a pink t-shirt, pink fluffy fairy lights, Julian, and a little pink VW camper piggy bank with chocolate coins in it! (Kind of like the one Yorkshire got me but not as big).
Anyway, I wore my Irregular Choice jungle boots, and all was well. I've posted the photos up for your perusal. On the 22nd, I woke up with a headache even though I hadn't drunk a drop, which I thought was totally unfair.
I had to tidy up the flat because apparently a man from Blunders, er, I mean, Blundells was supposed to be coming round to value it. Our landlady (Caren) is selling the apartment, and maybe she wasn't happy with the valuation from Bairstow Eves, or whatever they're called. Anyway, the people at Blundells didn't even bother coming round, they called Tom at work about an hour before I was expecting them and said that since they'd seen a similar flat upstairs in our building, they didn't need to come round and they'd just use the photos of that flat.
All I'll say is, I certainly wouldn't want them selling my house/apartment, that's for sure. I remember, we were supposed to be viewing somewhere and we'd made an appointment with them. We turned up on time, and stood waiting.
Then we called them and they were like 'oh, yeah, sorry that flat's been let now.' No apology or anything, didn't even think to let us know. I mean, considering how much estate agents get out of you, you hope to get a bit of effort and professionalism from them, don't you?
I wouldn't mind but they screw the people selling AND the people buying or letting. And what's all this about pricing as well? If you owe £100k on your mortgage, and they say the property is worth £150, so put it up for £160 but take £135 for a quick sale?
And give the monkeys at the estate agents a few grand for the pleasure? I mean, what the hell? I've a good mind to set up a professional and ethical estate agents, but call it estate diplomats.
Agents implies that they're working for one party or the other, when really all they're doing (or should be doing) is negociating a sale that's beneficial for both parties. And instead of all this 'put it up for this price and haggle' and all that bullshit, why don't they say, ok, you owe £100k, what's the minimum you'd be happy with? £135?
Then put it up for £135 and don't accept any less! And the estate diplomats should employ some independent surveyors and they should pay for a proper, full, structural survey, so that they know the sellers aren't trying to hide a problem, and then you aren't selling a piece of shit to the poor buyers! Plus, how much business would that generate, if you knew the estate diplomats would pay for everything and there would be no hidden problems with the property you were buying?
Because basically, buying a property is almost definitely the biggest purchase you will ever make in your life. Why do we accept such shoddy, unprofessional cowboys to rape us in the ass in the transfer process? WHY?
Apologies for not having blogged much this month.
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