Now that I’ve finally finished work it’s time to start getting the house ready for sale. There’s going to be so much to do that I’m going to forget eventually just what has been done so I’m going to use this blog now to record progress. Probably going to be a bit boring for anyone reading it but it will be a good record to look back on when it’s all finished.
Rather strangely we will probably be finishing off many of the projects we started 25 years ago and never finished! Then we’ll sell the house!
Finally made redundant last Friday and actually received all of my redundancy pay today which is pretty impressive since Sandy only received her final payment a week ago having been made redundant on 27th March. Now it’s time to sit down and work out just what to do next. Have signed on for the Jobseekers allowance which I might as well claim having paid in for 45 years. At just under £65 a week it ain’t going to pay for much - god knows how people survive when they don’t have any savings or other income.
Making a start now on doing up the house ready for sale. There is a hell of a lot to be done to make it look presentable. It’s a bit strange really doing so much work purely for phsycological reasons but if the estate agents think it looks good then the selling price will be bumped up and if it’s ‘ready to move into’ then we stand a better chance of selling. Just got to live in a nicely decorated but very bland and neutral house now at least until the end of September and try to keep it tidy! Plan is to put it on the market once we get back from our holiday in Sepetember.
Last September my son, Sean, was made redundant. That didn’t have any effect on our plans until, after eight months without a job, I realised that we might have to stick around in case he needed somewhere to live. Luckily he started a new job a couple of weeks ago.
At the end of March my wife, Sandy, was made redundant and that might have affected our plans but luckily she found a new job a couple of weeks ago.
Today I learned that I will be made redundant in a couple of weeks time. That will affect our plans. But how? We shall see.
If only we had all fiddled our expenses!
Our son, Sean, starts a new job today after having been out of work for eight months so I hope that means the final obstacle to fulfilling our plans next year is removed. I have said previously that if he had to return home the date might have to be delayed as finding a job in London from a home in Lewis is pretty nigh impossible.
It’s not the best of jobs - being several thousands of pounds a year less in salary than he used to earn - but it’s a job that will get him extra experience and that will hopefully be a stepping stone to better things. For the first few months he will be barely at subsistence level able to just pay the rent and buy food. Going out or buying even the smallest luxury is out but he will at least have a season ticket to London and, as I know well from my youth, you can have a good time just wandering around London looking and not spending. London in the Sixties was a place of magic but even today it has its places and it has its attractions and charms. Just stay away from the tourists.
So that’s the good news. It could be better but then it could be a lot worse. Maybe the time has come now to get off my arse and start doing up the house instead of just sitting here counting the days. The extension roof is already done just got to figure out what to do next. Taking all the old stuff from the roof down to the tip would be a start - but I really don’t want to do that!
Today is a day that we have been looking forward to - a milestone day. Today it should be 500 days until we arrive in Lewis.
Today, however, is also the day that Sandy is out of a job. At Noon today she has been told to walk away and leave everything. Just like that. The department will be left open, the stock on display with no staff to sell it. Pretty daft but that’s what they want and we don’t give a ****. The Administrators are not paying her redundancy money, that is coming from the government.
It’s a bittersweet day but we are sticking to the belief of 500 days.
