Weeknotes 43/2023 & 44/2023
I didn’t write a weeknote last weekend as we were deep into moving house. It took a full week, from exchanging contracts on Friday 27th October to completing on Friday 3rd November. We planned it that way, as it meant that Hannah and I could both take a week off work while the kids were on half-term holiday, and could help out.
Having moved plenty of times before, although not for almost a decade, I didn’t think it would be that much of a big deal. After all, given that we’re renting around the corner from our current house, surely hiring a van for a couple of days would be enough? Oh my days, how wrong I was. When we’ve moved previously, it’s either been just us as a couple or while the kids were small. Now, with four adult-sized humans and all of the accumulated stuff, it was quite the task.
We decided not to go ahead with the purchase of a house after getting a flood report, so the place we’re renting is a listed building that’s almost 400 years old. It’s an old coach house with a large and easily accessible cellar. There is a lot of our stuff in there, accompanied with an oil-filled radiator and dehumidifier. Hopefully, there’s plenty of stuff which we can do without for a bit and just leave down there.
Upstairs, the house is comfortable and would make a great Airbnb. However, although it has been for sale, we’re not interested in buying: there’s no garden, and the parking situation is horrendous. Our plan is to find somewhere to buy pretty soon so that we don’t have to extend our six month rental term. As our combined requirements are reasonably specific, this might not be easy, but one thing we can agree on is that we’ll definitely be getting a removal firm to help us shift things next time!
The move has consumed almost all of my waking physical and mental efforts, and I can’t even really remember what I was working on in the days up until we started moving things across. I’m sure it will all come back to me when I get back on Monday, though. I’ve got a separate room in the house as my office, our 4G/5G router plus mesh network is giving good coverage and speeds, and the kids seem happy enough.
In a couple of weeks time, when I’m back to my routine, this week will largely be forgotten. I’ve got my MSc to get started on, new and existing projects to work on, and some planning to do for ePIC 2023 in Vienna in early December. In between doing all of the life admin involved in moving houses, I’m going to look to see if Team Belshaw can get away on holiday during the first week of January. Some sun and relaxation would be nice.
Photo taken by me of sundial above the front door of our rental property, which would suggest it was built in 1661. Although, if that’s true, it means that the story I was told about Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) once staying there can’t be true!
