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Well I did manage to move
into my house on 9th May but the cable company went to the wrong address
on the 10th and after a bit of a row they said they'd do their best to get
things installed on the 11th which they did.
On the evening of the 9th I headed out to do shopping as I knew I'd likely
be tied up all day on the 10th and I certainly filled a shopping cart
getting all the base food in. They even gave me a hand out with it all. I
then headed to the LCBO (Liquor Store) and then the Beer store. So by 9pm
that night I had been provisioned with food and drink and various things
like garbage bags, wishing up liquid, etc.
The 10th was a frustrating day having to wait in for the cable people. At
16:15 I decided to phone them only to be told that they had appeared at
the house but no-one was in [sheesh]. I got a bit heated I have to admit
and after talking to the supervisor she arranged that someone would call
in the next day but again that 8-5 thing. It appears their people went to
the wrong house!
Anyway... I was busy on the 10th getting more stuff put away and trying to
re-organize my kitchen so I could find things and for that matter reach
them. I figure I won't be able to reach the top three shelves unless I
have a step ladder!
The fridge and cooker are all working fine although I noted the floor lamp
wasn't working but my builder, George, fiddled with it and got it working.
While the TV and everything had been delivered I was still down a hi-fi
unit and my one chair. They have lent me a chair until my one arrives
which they think will be next week. Also they weren't able to test the TV
as I had no cable so that was another job to check.
I did open up my wee portable hi-fi unit only to discover that it didn't
have a cassette player. So back onto the phone with Tom & Al's and they
agree it is the wrong model and will be ordering up the correct one for
me.
on the 11th the cable folk arrived and got me onto the Internet and
plugged into the digital cable TV service. Of course after the tech person
left I found that I had to spend some time with their tech support folk to
get my service switched on. That was a bit of a problem as once it was
switched on I still couldn't get anything on the TV. Their tech support
folk then decided that it must be the TV to blame... it's always the other
guy in these situations [sigh]
And so it was back to Tom & Al's and they are sending someone out tomorrow
morning to get it all configured. And as it happens the telephone isn't
working either so someone from Bell is also coming out tomorrow to get
that working. So.. hopefully by tomorrow I'll be fully operational.
Today 11th, George, my builder, brought his wife over and she worked with
me to measure all the windows for blinds and then we headed away to buy
them which we did. Once back we discovered that one of them was faulty so
had to go back up at night to change it. So this evening I am still
without any window coverings but hopefully this will be the last night
where I feel I am in a fish bowl :-)
George is working on the bathroom and almost finished. New toilet, new
sink, new floor, new extract fan and new ceiling. Only the sink left to go
in.
The house has now mostly
been repainted with just a few wee bits still to do.
The wooden floors have all been sanded and poly something or othered and
have to say they look fantastic. The chap is coming back to do the outside
doors and the stairs. Today they also pressure hosed down the outside of
the house in preparation for painting.
I was also shown how to work my heating system and air conditioning. I
haven't a clue if I'll remember it all but at least it is set up for the
right temperature. Once it gets hotter than 72 degrees I just click the
switch over to "cool" and the air conditioning will come on. I'm told that
if I made it any lower it would likely be on all the time and cost a
fortune.
They did a very good clean up on the back garden for me and got rid of a
lot of mess that was there and also a bit of clean up on the front. I will
need to get a lawn mower for the front bit of grass as that really needs
done.
The trees have been trimmed back so they don't touch the roof and that's
also allowed the Hydro cable to have proper access instead of being pushed
by a branch. The Hydro wanted to cut down the tree! [sheesh]
I also got my first bills in for Gas and Telephone so needed to get the
first checks off for those and arrange for standing order payments. Also
got a survey in for the local authority which also needed to be completed.
So.. all that done.. just need to find the post office tomorrow to get
them posted.
I am still trying to make sense of the rubbish collection system but I
dare say I'll figure it out eventually.
I also found my way to the Office Depot place and ordered a printer but
seems my luck was out and they didn't have one in stock so they are
ordering one from another depot which should be here in 3 working days
although the chap said likely Monday which really meant more like 5
working days so we'll see what happens.
So that's about it... I have taken some pictures of the house which I show
below so you can see the work they've done on the painting and floors.
Tomorrow it will be back to work on the site between all the other things
I need to do to get settled.
This is intended to be the dining room
Dead chuffed with my new floors and in the
above picuture you can see my new computer desk on my new office :-)
And a great shot of my stained glass window
and my new dart board :-)
My single chair and TV set which in my living
room
OK.. just showing off my floor! [grin]
And here is the kitchen with the fridge,
cooker and microwave
The chap will also be doing the stairs but did
do the first landing so you can see how it will look when finished
This will actully be the library but as there
was no room in the guest room the beds are in here until it gets cleared
out. You will note however that there are beds for guests :-)
This is the wall that I am building a bookcase
along
The master bedroom! I do have a couple of good
tables coming from Scotland which fit in here nicely.
It's nice to have a clean painted look to the
house. You might even say a blank canvass. I do have a number
of paintings coming from Scotland which I think will look good on some of
these walls.
As you can see the new floor is starting to go
down and the extract fan is already installed
As you can see the attic is still to be
finished but a useful place to store some of my stuff
And down to the basement which has also been
cleaned out and painted
I still don't really know what I cam going to
use the basement for but dare say I'll come up with some ideas once I'm
settled.
And my washer and dryer
And then outside to see that they have done a
good job of cleaning up the garden
And the Hydro line now clear and the utilities
on the outside wall
On the left is Johnny who is mainly an
electrician but as you see also does blinds and even mows the laws!
On the right is Junior who was washing down all the sidings and external
woodwork and guttering in preparation for it being painted
And here is the Bell engineer to fix the phone
system which is now operational
And you can now see the blinds have been going
up
And this is George Molson, Master Builder, who
is in overall charge of getting my house together :-)
You
might compare these pictures with the ones I took when I first came to look
at the house The
main difference so far has been the removal of all wallpaper and having
all walls painted. Virtually a new bathroom with ceiling, floor, toilet
and sink replaced and an extract fan added. Floors have been sanded and
cleaned and stairs will be done next week. Several ceiling fans added or
replaced and kitchen cupboards painted. Furnace upgraded and basement
cleaned up. New blinds up on the windows. Some woodwork done with a a bit
more to do. Like the doors are to be sanded and cleaned. The garden
and garage have been cleared out. So that's about it at the moment.
The externals have been cleaned in preparation for painting with some
gutters being replaced and also the garage roof. So we're getting there.
I do need to arrange the kitchen a bit better and of course things will
look more homely when I get my stuff over from Scotland which is a couple
of months away. |
