Eish! London 17 August

Monday, 17 August

I finally finished putting a long email together to let friends and family know how I’m doing. Overall you already know what’s been going on with my life in London, but even so the dog is still getting to me; (at least none of his bowls are in the dishwasher anymore - yay for that). The latest development is to leave the doors to the kitchen and garden open so he can have free range of the house, lying on the couch, parading through the rooms etc. How rude! I approached Ara, after having already asked Jay to keep the doors closed (he said he'd tell Ara - clearly he didn't, or they ignored my request) and asked her why the doors were now being left open? She said "They've always been open." Blatant lie, because the last housemates did not let the American Bull Dog in the house. So I said: "Well then why is he now bounding at people who enter the house?" She shrugged! What am I supposed to say to a shrug?

Dee, the newbie, was a really funny, bubbly chick - she used to work as a security guard on the set of Harry Potter - COOL! Apparently the company only hires Saffers for security – “because we are tough.” As far as the lease situation goes Jay has now said that “apparently” the landlord says that “apparently”, the lease only ends in October... Jay doesn't have a copy of the lease; and the disorganised confusion continues to be BEYOND me! Dee’s happy with October though, because that’s when she is moving back to South Africa. She’s had enough of London.

Latest bugbear - Someone has taken to setting their cell phone alarm on noise and vibrate for 5am, and then they don't stop it, but let it go on and snooze off and on again over the course of 40 minutes! Grrr!

Ok - So you may be asking why I'm sticking around. Answer: rentals in London are SHOCKINGLY high (and you need a deposit to move...I didn't need one for this place) and as supply teachers aren't paid for holidays and as supply work has apparently also been hit by the recession (now over 2.4 million unemployed in London!); I have to take a place that I know I can afford each month without having a nervous breakdown worrying about finances... So5am, dogs, and Afrikaans people whose conversations I can barely understand have to stay for now.