Moderate Chaos

The big move today.

The plumber called last night. He had started to worry a bit about having to rip up the floor in the house to lay pipes at the same time the removal men would be hefting large pieces of furniture into the place.

Probably not the ideal combination I agree.

Luckily I managed to convince him that it would all be okay and sure enough at 7:50 am he appeared at the house.

I then dashed back down to the flat to help MrsClix packing and at 9:30 am Ali and his crew appeared.

At least there were three of them this time. And we weren't moving the range cooker either.

Furtive packing and loading of the van and I headed back to the house.

Luckily the plumber had managed to put the floor back down in the living room just prior to Ali turning up with the van full at the house. Some rooms though still had no floor so we defaulted to piling everything in the living room to sort out later.

Van emptied they set off back to the flat to fill up for the second trip.

Things seemed to be going according to plan.

Then the plumber found out he would need to lift the floor in the girls' play room and smash out the sink and vanity unit there. Okay, go for it.

Ah, then he found out he needed to lift the floor in the girls' bedroom and smash out the sink and vanity unit there. Um, err, okay, go for it.

Bing bong. Door bell.

"Is that your van mate?"

"No, it belongs to the plumber."

"Well, let him know I am about to dig up the pavement right behind his van and it's gonna be messy."

Cue plumber, myself, and a pair of newly appeared workmen out on the street discussing how to proceed. All calm. All very reasonable.

Cue Ali and his team appearing on the street with second van load of furniture to find us lot, a Stihl saw cutting the pavement, and the space he needs to unload completely blocked by the workmen's lorry.

Not funny.

"I was here first."

"No, this is our second load. We were here first."

Luckily things calmed down and the workmen's truck was moved. A blanket was thrown over the side of the plumber's van to protect it. The digging up of the pavement continued. And Ali and his crew unloaded their van.

"Oh, by the way", said the plumber. "That sink in the study...."

"Smash it out. Just smash it out!"

And why was the pavement being dug up? How could such an event conspire to occur at just that moment. What mad mind came up with that great idea?

Turns out some new people on the street wanted broadband and an access point had to be moved before it got installed tomorrow.

Oh, that would be us then.



PS. Ali and his crew were fantastic. Again. I couldn't recommend them highly enough. If I get reincarnated and Ali is still around I would use him to move again for sure. But I am never going to move ever again in this lifetime that's for sure.