0 comment Sunday, May 4, 2014 | admin
It's absolutely mad how much an infected cyst can hurt. I keep telling myself "I survived labour, I did two three-hour sessions under a tattooist's needle one day after the other, I will jolly well survive what amounts to a giant zit on my shoulder." But the pain woke me up last night. I can't do anything without having to move my arm and the pain is setting me into a fibro flare. When that happens there's really not much else I can manage to do but sit tight and find a way to distract myself.
Today I am distracting myself by looking at rental homes in new areas. Yeah, I know....but there's a bit of a reason for this.
it's been brought up by the Disabled Facilities Grant people that there is a chance there is some major structural damage in the house due to damp getting into the bathroom floorboards - hence why the boards are giving in the hallway floor and why the ceiling has cracked in the kitchen. Chances are the landlord knew about this and just has done some rather naff repairs, but when I moved in, the upstairs sink sprung a leak and totally flooded the bathroom and I'd only been here two days! Now, while the grant is supposed to cover up to �25,000 of works on a house, if they come in for the main inspection they may rule that the house isn't fit for a disabled person - actually it was said it might actually end up falling under a clause that it's unfit for human habitation (!!!) and that they'd actually rather I moved somewhere more suitable than do anything to the house - and if the costs ran well over the �25,000 range, I'd really not have much of a choice.
A lot of things round the house are indeed starting to fall apart - the ceiling in the kitchen (again, possibly related to the bathroom), the sinks constantly leak, the insulation still needs to be fitted and yet although I applied in march, I haven't seen anyone yet. I had no intention of moving out with the garden finally in a decent state but if the house itself is in such a dire state, I am considering it.
I won't know officially until they get their main surveyor in, which won't be till November or so - but a call WAS made to get their senior surveyor in, so I guess there must be enough concern to warrant it. And I have no intention of rushing a move; we grabbed what we could and the house was a good one for the time I needed it. But I am putting a plan together just in case I do have to move - and it's going to involve clearing out as much stuff as possible and doing a major declutter. The less stuff I have to move, the less need there is to get movers to deal with, which I cannot afford (the church group who did my garden said they could help with that if need be).
The other conclusion I've come to, which sort of sucks, is that the town I currently live in is now too expensive for me to stay here. I hate this choice, really I do, but Salisbury suffers from a sense of wild optimism when it comes to its rents. At one point this was the ideal place for London folks to have their homes as it's pleasant and had lovely shops, and the commute to London is a straight shot. But now, people have moved into other areas - and the landlords aren't prepared to take cuts in their rents, either for residential or commercial, still pricing for the London commuter. Shops are closing all over city centre - the yuppies are moving out and it's obvious that this village is losing money fast; jobs are therefore more scarce than they used to be, and still, the town itself doesn't seem to have caught on that they can't keep charging �750 for an ex-council one bedroom.
So, painful as it is for me, I may have to leave this place and all my friends and find somewhere a bit more rural, and a whole lot cheaper. Ex is already complaining that will bugger up his commute to see sproggo; "There goes my flexibility" he moaned. Yes, well there goes my house and garden that we put all this work into. Cry me a river. I'm not happy about the move but the one thing I've sort of been chuffed about is I can get a really characterish property with an open fire and all those lovely English bits I love for as much if not less than what I'd pay here; I've already looked and found quite a bit. I could even be a bit more isolated as, with a care package, part of the package would be transport and inclusion and that means I could be as rural as I like - they'd have to take getting me transport into consideration and most rural areas have a transport scheme to get people into town if they choose. The council would still be required to get sprog to his chosen school, and if I choose carefully I can still get roughly in the area of the two special schools for child with autism - and that in my opinion over-rides any "inconvenience" my ex may experience with getting to see his son.
With a lower rent, this means more cash free for things I've had to put aside, such as hiring more help round the house (experience seems to show the Council is always going to under-provide rather than the other way round). I can therefore do more work and fun things with my son as I don't have to worry so much about housekeeping and shopping and all that other rubbish that gets in the way. I can get more physio in, and more time and energy to garden and draw and paint and write and....well, do a lot of things I've had to shove aside just to get the necessities done.
Again, I don't know what they're going to come back with but I have a feeling any work the DFS would have to do may prove to be more extensive than I want to deal with, especially if they have to rip a hole into my ceiling to fit a bath safely. And I have no intention of staying here if the bathroom proves to be unsafe and it's only a matter of time before the bath goes through the floor. If I needed to make a move it wouldn't be till spring, preferably during a half term so sprog could settle in and not have to move right in the middle of a term.
So I'm eyeing houses, and checking for fireplaces (I miss having a proper fire!), large gardens, pets and children welcome, and if I'm really lucky, in the middle of nowhere.
Today I am distracting myself by looking at rental homes in new areas. Yeah, I know....but there's a bit of a reason for this.
it's been brought up by the Disabled Facilities Grant people that there is a chance there is some major structural damage in the house due to damp getting into the bathroom floorboards - hence why the boards are giving in the hallway floor and why the ceiling has cracked in the kitchen. Chances are the landlord knew about this and just has done some rather naff repairs, but when I moved in, the upstairs sink sprung a leak and totally flooded the bathroom and I'd only been here two days! Now, while the grant is supposed to cover up to �25,000 of works on a house, if they come in for the main inspection they may rule that the house isn't fit for a disabled person - actually it was said it might actually end up falling under a clause that it's unfit for human habitation (!!!) and that they'd actually rather I moved somewhere more suitable than do anything to the house - and if the costs ran well over the �25,000 range, I'd really not have much of a choice.
A lot of things round the house are indeed starting to fall apart - the ceiling in the kitchen (again, possibly related to the bathroom), the sinks constantly leak, the insulation still needs to be fitted and yet although I applied in march, I haven't seen anyone yet. I had no intention of moving out with the garden finally in a decent state but if the house itself is in such a dire state, I am considering it.
I won't know officially until they get their main surveyor in, which won't be till November or so - but a call WAS made to get their senior surveyor in, so I guess there must be enough concern to warrant it. And I have no intention of rushing a move; we grabbed what we could and the house was a good one for the time I needed it. But I am putting a plan together just in case I do have to move - and it's going to involve clearing out as much stuff as possible and doing a major declutter. The less stuff I have to move, the less need there is to get movers to deal with, which I cannot afford (the church group who did my garden said they could help with that if need be).
The other conclusion I've come to, which sort of sucks, is that the town I currently live in is now too expensive for me to stay here. I hate this choice, really I do, but Salisbury suffers from a sense of wild optimism when it comes to its rents. At one point this was the ideal place for London folks to have their homes as it's pleasant and had lovely shops, and the commute to London is a straight shot. But now, people have moved into other areas - and the landlords aren't prepared to take cuts in their rents, either for residential or commercial, still pricing for the London commuter. Shops are closing all over city centre - the yuppies are moving out and it's obvious that this village is losing money fast; jobs are therefore more scarce than they used to be, and still, the town itself doesn't seem to have caught on that they can't keep charging �750 for an ex-council one bedroom.
So, painful as it is for me, I may have to leave this place and all my friends and find somewhere a bit more rural, and a whole lot cheaper. Ex is already complaining that will bugger up his commute to see sproggo; "There goes my flexibility" he moaned. Yes, well there goes my house and garden that we put all this work into. Cry me a river. I'm not happy about the move but the one thing I've sort of been chuffed about is I can get a really characterish property with an open fire and all those lovely English bits I love for as much if not less than what I'd pay here; I've already looked and found quite a bit. I could even be a bit more isolated as, with a care package, part of the package would be transport and inclusion and that means I could be as rural as I like - they'd have to take getting me transport into consideration and most rural areas have a transport scheme to get people into town if they choose. The council would still be required to get sprog to his chosen school, and if I choose carefully I can still get roughly in the area of the two special schools for child with autism - and that in my opinion over-rides any "inconvenience" my ex may experience with getting to see his son.
With a lower rent, this means more cash free for things I've had to put aside, such as hiring more help round the house (experience seems to show the Council is always going to under-provide rather than the other way round). I can therefore do more work and fun things with my son as I don't have to worry so much about housekeeping and shopping and all that other rubbish that gets in the way. I can get more physio in, and more time and energy to garden and draw and paint and write and....well, do a lot of things I've had to shove aside just to get the necessities done.
Again, I don't know what they're going to come back with but I have a feeling any work the DFS would have to do may prove to be more extensive than I want to deal with, especially if they have to rip a hole into my ceiling to fit a bath safely. And I have no intention of staying here if the bathroom proves to be unsafe and it's only a matter of time before the bath goes through the floor. If I needed to make a move it wouldn't be till spring, preferably during a half term so sprog could settle in and not have to move right in the middle of a term.
So I'm eyeing houses, and checking for fireplaces (I miss having a proper fire!), large gardens, pets and children welcome, and if I'm really lucky, in the middle of nowhere.
Labels: Good Life