So much for July...

…as one of my many emails waiting for a response said last week. Some may have noticed the lack of activity of late. Some may recall that I was due to move house. Some may even have been able to deduce that those two events are not totally unrelated. Throw in yet another deadline to the mix and an inability to pass by the local after a long day and you might be able to understand my lack of updates.

The start of July saw me somehow managing to pack all my worldly possessions into boxes in the evenings after getting home from work. Well, just about. I was finishing off the last box when the man with the van turned up on the Saturday afternoon. Actually it was two men with a van. And not so much a van as a warehouse on wheels. At least I didn’t have to worry about fitting everything in it.

The move was relatively painless. With it being so hot and my move being the last of the day, the van loading was carried out with the enthusiasm of two men looking forward to an early finish and a pint in the sun. Once at the other end, unloading was equally swift and in just over an hour I had moved house.

Opening a celebratory can of beer and sitting on the doorstep, enjoying the sun and my new surroundings, I looked down at the ground. Outside the front door was a small sticker, stuck to the ground, with a number printed on it. I had to double-take and then wonder if my new housemate was having a joke at my expense. Why else was there a 23 outside my new home?

Of course, physically moving is only a small part of the job. Over the last 3 weeks I’ve bought and assembled furniture, done a couple of minor repairs and somehow managed to fit a flat’s worth of possessions into a modestly sized room. I hasten to add that I’ve been far from dedicated to these tasks and allowed distractions such as sailing, clubbing or just drinking in the pub keep me from these more pressing tasks.

However, slowly, bit by bit, the chaos in my room has diminished. With Jon tidying the flat this weekend and myself contributing by brushing and washing the yard and roof terrace with a steely eyed determination that had my new housemate wondering if I suffered from OCD, I can let out a huge sigh of relief and finally relax in clean, uncluttered surroundings, happy that it’s finally all done.

Now, I have another task hanging over me to worry about as well as attempting to finish off writing about Barcelona and responding to the 90 odd unread emails in my inbox. With my project at work now entering the final phase and my schedule being somewhat aggressive, I’m going to be very busy and putting in the extra hours.

So much for August.