Wednesday 5 October 2022

An update

The weather is turning chilly and damp, it's overcast today and windy. I think the cottage is going to get very cold over winter as the landlord has decided against putting curtains up.

My daughter is keeping on the solicitors case with regards to our flat but it is having little effect. The holdup is with the company that owns the flats and they are in no rush to complete.

We are paying £1200 a month rent, it's a fair rent for what we have, a bedroom, bathroom and an all in one lounge,kitchen, diner. We cannot rent on the open market as we have no history and we'd need to rent for a one year minimum. We were paying the same for the bedsit above the garage but I really struggled with the stairs there as there was no banister and they were quite steep.

Obviously we'd like to move as soon as possible as every month we stay here is eating into our savings. Mind you, if we'd stayed on the boat we'd be in a worse fix. The mooring fees have skyrocketed, a friend of Steve's phoned him last week, his mooring fees went from £299 pcm to £659 which is a hell of jump.

I've asked for her another referral to the audiology dept. The last one didn't materialise. Jennie phoned on my behalf, to start with she was told I should just "put up and shut up". At my age I needed to realise that bits of me aren't going to work as they did.

Unfortunately my eyesight was damaged by an attempt to repair the macular traction, that eye is now irretrievably damaged. The other eye has developed the same problem but I don't fancy letting the surgeons having another go! 

So I rely on my hearing which has deteriorated recently, one audiologist suggested a reason, vestibular schwanoma. This was some years ago but nothing was done. The head audiologist informed me that treatment wasn't available at my age. They don't want to waste money on someone who is too old to make a useful contribution to life!

And so I battle on, pissed off and battle scarred.

11 comments:

Dc said...

So much for the NHS being from cradle to grave! Reference curtains, could you use extending poles inside the frames to hang curtains from?

Barbara Anne said...

I cannot understand why the UK public puts up with such long and unnecessary waiting times for real estate sales and transfer to the new owners. We were halfway across the country (USA), flew in to look at houses, chose one, made an offer that was accepted, and our transaction took one month.
Could you get tension rod for hanging blankets over the windows where you currently live?
Wishing you well with all you have to deal with.

Hugs!

Col said...

It may be time to more or less demand that your landlord puts some form of window coverings up.
It is really not reasonable to expect you to live with no curtains as winter fast approaches.
You're paying a lot every month to rent the property, and as such you have the right to expect warmth, comfort and privacy!
I'd be on their case day in, day out until they sorted something out.
They may not want to put curtains up, but they should have a lot more consideration to their tenants!
Do they have curtains at the windows in the part of the property they live in. If they have, then it would be reasonable to assume that they know curtains make a difference to living conditions!
I don't agree that you should have to put tension rods up to hang curtains on, you're paying a lot of rent, so should not be expected to pay out anything towards window coverings that would possibly useless to you in your new flat! X

Col said...

I just had a thought, as you have a lounge/kitchen/diner, can you put the oven on and leave the oven door open to add extra heat into the room?
I know it would use quite a lot of power, but hey, if they put curtains up, you wouldn't need to do it! X

Col said...

Barbara Anne,
Our house transactions take so much longer here in the Uk than they do in the USA for several reasons.....
Our conveyancing laws are far, far more strict than those in the US; our properties have extremely rigorous surveys done on them before a purchase is approved; mortgages, when needed, are more difficult to get approved; our properties, per square foot, are much more expensive than those in the US; our planning laws are incredibly strict compared to in the US as we have so many properties and areas where 'add-on' building work is forbidden, sometimes due to the impact on neighbours, or the property being of historical importance, or in an AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty).
Of course, all this takes time, even when we sold our last property, which was months after we had moved to our new property, we did almost all the legal work ourselves, just needed a solicitor for the finer details, and didn't use an estate agent (realtor) at all, and it still took over eight weeks!

LameWolf said...

Just my twopenn'orth, but I consider it totally inhumane to tell someone who is losing both her sight and her hearing to "put up and shut up".
As for not making a contribution - that is utter *inserts rude word*.
Who is it who looks after the grandchildren at need so that their mum can do what she needs to in order to run her household? Grandma, that's who.
Who is looking after a man who, through an unfortunate turn of fate, isn't really and truly able to properly look after himself? His wife, that's who.
Who is the aforementioned Grandma and wife? HESTER! That's who!
It may not be a going-out-to-work-for-pay contribution, but by heck it IS a contribution.
Even if it wasn't, what happened to compassion?
*Gets off soapbox*

marlane said...

I am curious as to how do you read comments and write your blog if you cannot see very well. Just asking.

Karen Smith said...

Marlane - you do know there’s technology for that don’t you?

susie @ persimmon moon cottage said...

For Marlane: Vision can be a tricky thing sometimes. Hester most likely only has partial vision if one retina has had a failed attempt at medical repair, and now her other eye is having retina problems also. Hester may be able to enlarge the print size on her computer to make it easier for her to write her blog and read the comments. It most likely is still difficult for her to see the print well due to the limitations in her vision. Retina problems can be a very difficult problem for eye doctors to treat, or even worse there are some problems that have no successful treatment. Read about vision problems caused by retinal problems. It may well make you a little nervous, because they can happen to anyone at anytime. I know from personal experience. I suddenly developed poor vision in one eye due to a retinal problem. Went through a very intense surgery and recovery with it, and my vision is still not very good in that eye at all. I enlarge the print on my computer.
I hope that Hester is able to find a way to get all of the help available to her.

Take care Hester. I hope you will find a way to solve your curtain problem. Doesn't that affect the privacy in your home? I hope no one across the way has binoculars.
In my life (I'm 68) I have only lived in my Mom and Dad's house, an apartment for 4 years, and our current home. My husband and I had just gotten married and didn't have enough money for a house yet. Curtains were provided in our apartment (48 years ago). We moved out of our apartment after a scare with a Peeping Tom lurking in the basement bending the furnace vent that was for the bathroom. I was going to the basement of our apartment where the storage area was, and the light was off down there. I went back into our apartment and made my husband come down with me. I had a flashlight. We got down there, and strangely, the light bulb had just been partially unscrewed till it was off. My husband screwed it tighter and the light came back on. Then my husband saw an old mop handle leaning there and he was playing like he was doing martial arts. (He was only 22 years old). I was over getting the item I wanted out of storage and all of a sudden I saw a man squatting, hiding behind the furnace. I was so scared I could barely speak, but managed to say to my husband "There's a man over behind the furnace". My husband with mop handle still in his hands, asked the crouching man what he was doing back there, and to come out. (Lucky the guy didn't have a gun). The guy came out and had some explanation that he had come into the basement to get something out of the storage area that he left there when he moved. Luckily the guy was ready to get away from us in a hurry. Thank goodness I didn't go into that basement alone, and thank goodness for that old mop handle that my husband was "playing" at martial arts with. The Peeper looked really scared of my husband. After the Peeper left, as we started to go back to our apartment. Then I noticed a chair under our furnace vent to the bathroom, and it was bent so one could see into the entire bathroom. I kept a rug over the vent after that, even though it made the bathroom freezing cold in winter. We moved out as soon as we could and we are still in the same house we moved into way back then. 48 years, 2 kids, multiple dogs, and a cat later we are still here.

Anonymous said...

I needed accommodation and decided on a short term let. It was for a 3 month period but I could have extended it if needed. The holiday season is over so it can be easier to obtain and it was a good solution to a difficult problem. It was through a real estate agency and I had no history but as I was able to prove I could pay the rent I had no problems as that's mostly what they are concerned about. I opted to pay two months in advance to secure and overall it was much cheaper than other options available. Just a thought to keep in mind if your situation goes on which is the hardest part of crystal ball gazing. Settlement could be a month off and then again it could be six months. Oh! the Joys!!! Good Luck Hester and I keep everything crossed for you and a speedy conclusion. From Che

marlane said...

Thanks for the explanations which were not answered by the blog author though, so I am still curious.

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