Friday we spent in chasing up all the things we had to terminate. The TV licence can be cancelled online but when you actually do it the response tells you that someone will be in touch in 5 days and then it will be termination will be finalised. So we actually called the office and did it over the phone. So instead of having to repeat the online and then phone call we just went with calling all – water, gas, electricity, TV, BT, insurance (who asked us to ring on the day we were leaving and not before). Also we found that the online organisation of insurance for the house as landlord was not what we thought. As we rang to get the policy they refused to give it saying we could not do it until we had a tenant! The estate agents told us to try another company as they routinely dealt with it. Success but only when we discussed policies with them we realised that it was not as cheap as the others had led us to believe. The policy had to cover accidental damage and this made it more expensive. Most of the day it felt as if we were moving against the tide…. In the afternoon Paul went and handed the car in and got them to give him a lift home. It was sad to see the car go. I had called my mother and Preeti to tell them how empty the house felt.
Friday, 21 January 2011
The Move - 13th Jan 2011
Thursday we were supposed to go for dinner at Rushi’s but after a night of difficulty in sleeping due to pain I did not feel up to having another long day. Not only that, Paul’s wrist was aching still. So rang Jalpa and cancelled our dinner date. Today was the cleaners’ day. Chris and Tom arrived at about 10 am. They started with the sofa and washed the carpets next. They were kind enough to clean kitchen and the bathroom as well. While they got on with the cleaning Paul decided to visit the dump with a few more items. He picked up the old tv and forgot it was plugged in! This made him stumble and hurt his 2 left toes. They were badly bruised at the least. I had to strap them up together to immobilise them. By next day they turned black! Jalpa had said we could ring in the evening if we had changed our mind about going for dinner, but now with the toes injured it was not possible at all. We ordered a pizza and watched the small tv which was the last thing to be thrown away.
The Move - 12th Jan 2011
Wednesday was the day to collect my medical summary from the hospital, solicitor’s appointment and visit the post office to fill the forms to redirect our mail. It was a nice and wet day so we left early. However the post office had no queue and we were in and out in 15 minutes. The same goes for hospital as I had arranged that I would pick up the letter at around 10 30 am. So here again we were just 10 minutes. The solicitor’s appointment was also fairly quick. So we stopped for lunch at the Colony Fox and had the rest of the day off! The only snag had been Paul slipping down the stairs in the car park in St. Albans. His right arm got wrenched as he was holding the railing and his left wrist banged on the stair. This by evening was giving some pain.
The Move - 11th Jan 2011
Tuesday we woke up early as we needed to be ready before the removal people came. Even so we were tidying up and putting all things to be sent off together so that the men packing would not need constant instructions as to what was moving and what was not. At 9 am three young men Roy, Dave and Craig arrived. They were pretty impressed at the way we had organised the items we wanted packed and moved. For example the clothes were all moved to a cupboard and half rather than across 3 and books confined to the bookshelves and 3 other boxes instead of spread through the whole house. After a few cups of tea they were removing boxes from the house and the rooms one by one got empty. It was very strange to see the rooms empty after 20 years of seeing then getting fuller and fuller. In total 89 boxes of different sizes were taken away. Of which am sure 40 or so were just books, the one thing we found to be expensive in Australia. Some were novels and fiction, geology, health, nursing and education texts, travel guides and encyclopaedia as well as Paul’s music literature. I must say we had a lot more which we discarded as they were very old text books and those we did not wish to keep. I gave away about a 100 novels to my friend Margaret just to reduce the numbers. She loves to read as well and I am sure will pass them on to her friends. After the removal guys left at 2 30 pm we had a snack lunch. Then put together the last bits for the charity shop and drove to give them. Again it had been a long day and strangely sad and happy. It truly was end of our time in this house and this country.
The Move - 10th Jan 2011
Monday Paul went to Glyn Hopkins and sold the car! We did not get the price we wanted but it was sold and we were pleased. We were to do another round of the house and check on things that needed to be given away or thrown out. Also we had to pack our bags to identify the clothes and certain items that we would travel with. All things we would need for about 3 months or more as it would take that long before we saw our stuff. I had a few odds and ends that needed to go to the charity shop in Welwyn. Paul had lots of things to throw and spent the whole day doing it. I think it suddenly struck him that he would need to be ruthless in what he decided to keep and what he did not need to take with him. There were still more videos and tapes that went into the bin along with a sack full of bits of paper. It certainly was a long tiring day.
The Move - 9th Jan 2011
The week before the big move was crazy I think. There was so much to do which was last minute considering there were many things we cannot do much in advance. Sunday was kitchen day. Sartia came over early and helped clear the kitchen. All the lentils, flour, spices, beans and any food that would not be consumed during the week had to be packed for Sarita to take. The things to be sent to Australia were washed and dried. Most of the utensils to be taken were stainless steel. We had 2 new sets of cutlery so the ones in use were to be given to Sarita. There was some china, mugs and bowls which were also to be taken with us. All pots and pans were to be thrown away as they were in need of replacing anyway. After the hard work of emptying the kitchen we went for a lovely Indian buffet at Sakoni’s. After good food there is nothing to do but rest or nap.
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