Getting Stuff Done

Today has been a pretty productive day all in all. I started with a trip into town to open a new bank account to pay all the bills from. We have agreed that this is a much better way to do things than the old wall of debt style system we have had for the last two years. It also means I wont end up chasing people for money when we all go our separate ways at the end of the year.

Next stop turned out to be lunch after failing to find the other household necessities I needed in town. That isn't strictly true it's just that I realised I couldn't be bothered to carry the larger items back on the bus. Instead I decided to wait and get them from the friendly hardware shop virtually next door to us. A plunger, mop and bucket were in order to unblock the drains in the showers which had been turning them into a bath each morning previously. The kitchen floor also needed a good cleaning so that I didn't get half the carpet stuck to my feet when I left - not pleasant.

The afternoon was spent on the phone to the various utilities providers. They were very helpful - as they would be to get your custom - and apart from having to register with another company separately for our electricity only so that we can be moved to the same provider as the gas, it all went smoothly. Until we came to the water bill that is. As the landlord pays for our internet and thus phone line, he has barred outgoing calls that cost. That was fine because British Gas have an 0800 number and despite giving us an 0845 number for the other company, I managed to find a free-phone alternative on their website. No such luck for Yorkshire Water and so I had to resort to the extortionate rates of my mobile for that. Only to find out that it is currently in the name of our landlord.

This seemed most peculiar as the previous tenants would have only been gone a week or so - not enough time to warrant the bill having the name changed in any case. I decided to take a trip to the lettings agency to get a definitive answer and despite arriving fifteen minutes after their advertised office closing time, was let in. I bet they wish they hadn't now because I ended up causing quite a kerfuffle. They too had no knowledge that the landlord would be paying the water bill and couldn't understand why it was in his name. At one point they thought that the previous tenants were trying to be cheeky but after about twenty minutes of document searching, they eventually found reference to it. Apparently there is no mention of it (or the internet) in the contract - rather worryingly - but the matter was settled and another bill we don't have to pay! Whilst I was there, I decided to check that I hadn't missed something obvious whilst trying to get the boiler to work. After five minutes of searching for a photo of the boiler - apparently she has to visualise it before she can answer any questions - she found one and confirmed that everything I had done was correct. Let's hope it gets sorted pretty sharpish as their official times leave a lot to be desired. Non-emergencies can take up to seven working days to be sorted.