Hurry Up and Wait
Jan. 4th, 2024 03:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gervase_fenOn Tuesday the 2nd we drove down to Fareham through the squalls of Storm Henk to view two properties - a terraced house on Trinity Street and a flat off of Hillson Drive. I know Trinity Street very well indeed, having walked up and down it to go to primary school, or to walk in to the Town Centre. Decades walking past an anonymous terraced house - what secrets would be revealed inside?
Nothing remarkable for something built over fifty years ago - a very narrow and steep staircase between the floors which Sheena worked out had probably been moved from its original position. Downstairs bathroom next to the kitchen, no shower fitting. The sort of property that Martin Roberts would suck his teeth in about on Homes Under the Hammer - except this property had already, presumably, 'been done up to a high standard'.
We took a drive out to look at the outside of the flat I had visited on my own earlier in December. This one is basically the fall back candidate, as it's just a little too far to walk to work from. Sheena hadn't realised that access was from an exterior metal staircase.
We'd passed the local Harvester restaurant on the way, so keen to give Sheena a treat and a respite from driving in crosswinds, we drove up and went inside. "I'll just check with the manager" said the only visible staff member. We were shown to a table and never saw them again. We left after forty minutes, keen to find something to eat before the flat viewing at 3.15.
Easier said than done. Two pubs in Trinity Street within a stones' throw of each other, neither serving food. "Chef's back on the 17th" said the timid seventeen year old girl behind the bar of one of them. At which point we walked into the crosswinds for ten minutes to find the local Wetherspoons, which served food in double quick time. I'm not going to begrudge Tim Martin his gong.
So, on to the last viewing, and I became more and more excited as the SatNav sent us up Gudge Heath Lane, then down Highlands Road, and then past my new shop.... and five minutes later into a small housing estate of 60s/70s build flats. We met Jessica from the estate agents and fell in love wih the place there and then. Masses of light from the windows, masses of storage, a proper kitchen, decent parking. Before I started my 6 to midnight shift I juggled some money and paid the holding deposit to take the property off the market.
My final ever finish-at-midnight shift followed the pattern of so many others - one staff member AWOL, chilled/frozen delivery an hour late, one complete newvbie on the till to keep me company. There had been a power cut earlier so I'd already had a phone call asking me how to rest the link between the pump and tills (answer - push in a reset button on the pump controller in the cupboard by the side of till 1. They will miss my institutional knowledge if nothing else.) It did remind me how much I enjoy coaching, and how this was one of the main reasons I've been hired for the new shop.
Wednesday and today has been spent completing tenancy referencing checks. This has moved on a bit since I last did this ten years ago. You can upload jpegs and pdfs of bank statements and payslips, the system links into your online banking, and you get updated in real time by text as your landlady and financial referees sign off your submissions for you.
So the mood is cautious optimism - our joint salaries are more than enough for the rent, we get the deposit back from 115 Skipetts which will help, and Sheena's loyalty bonus is due in a couple of weeks. Lots of adulting still to do, which honestly, can be so tiring!
Nothing remarkable for something built over fifty years ago - a very narrow and steep staircase between the floors which Sheena worked out had probably been moved from its original position. Downstairs bathroom next to the kitchen, no shower fitting. The sort of property that Martin Roberts would suck his teeth in about on Homes Under the Hammer - except this property had already, presumably, 'been done up to a high standard'.
We took a drive out to look at the outside of the flat I had visited on my own earlier in December. This one is basically the fall back candidate, as it's just a little too far to walk to work from. Sheena hadn't realised that access was from an exterior metal staircase.
We'd passed the local Harvester restaurant on the way, so keen to give Sheena a treat and a respite from driving in crosswinds, we drove up and went inside. "I'll just check with the manager" said the only visible staff member. We were shown to a table and never saw them again. We left after forty minutes, keen to find something to eat before the flat viewing at 3.15.
Easier said than done. Two pubs in Trinity Street within a stones' throw of each other, neither serving food. "Chef's back on the 17th" said the timid seventeen year old girl behind the bar of one of them. At which point we walked into the crosswinds for ten minutes to find the local Wetherspoons, which served food in double quick time. I'm not going to begrudge Tim Martin his gong.
So, on to the last viewing, and I became more and more excited as the SatNav sent us up Gudge Heath Lane, then down Highlands Road, and then past my new shop.... and five minutes later into a small housing estate of 60s/70s build flats. We met Jessica from the estate agents and fell in love wih the place there and then. Masses of light from the windows, masses of storage, a proper kitchen, decent parking. Before I started my 6 to midnight shift I juggled some money and paid the holding deposit to take the property off the market.
My final ever finish-at-midnight shift followed the pattern of so many others - one staff member AWOL, chilled/frozen delivery an hour late, one complete newvbie on the till to keep me company. There had been a power cut earlier so I'd already had a phone call asking me how to rest the link between the pump and tills (answer - push in a reset button on the pump controller in the cupboard by the side of till 1. They will miss my institutional knowledge if nothing else.) It did remind me how much I enjoy coaching, and how this was one of the main reasons I've been hired for the new shop.
Wednesday and today has been spent completing tenancy referencing checks. This has moved on a bit since I last did this ten years ago. You can upload jpegs and pdfs of bank statements and payslips, the system links into your online banking, and you get updated in real time by text as your landlady and financial referees sign off your submissions for you.
So the mood is cautious optimism - our joint salaries are more than enough for the rent, we get the deposit back from 115 Skipetts which will help, and Sheena's loyalty bonus is due in a couple of weeks. Lots of adulting still to do, which honestly, can be so tiring!
