Boiler Blues

During our last visit to Maritime Bond I had arranged an inspection of our gas boiler to check the overflow pipe which had been reported as faulty in some other apartments. Coincidentally, the boiler started to gives us problems while we were there so I assumed that the engineers might be able to troubleshoot and resolve the issue. They could not but arranged for another engineer to visit. He traced the fault to an electrical sensor. He had to order the part and it would arrive only after we had left again. Gordon arranged to visit the apartment to receive the engineer the following Friday. The engineer spent 10 minutes in the apartment and all appeared well. Gordon remained in the apartment for a couple of hours and there was a knock at the door. A leak of carbon monoxide had been detected and he was advised to leave the building. Gordon mentioned that the engineer had worked on our boiler and the finger of suspicion was pointed at our boiler.  Gordon left his phone number just in case and returned to his apartment. Later he got a call to confirm that the problem was with our boiler and her returned to the apartment to allow Scottish Gas to seal off our gas supply. This was inevitably a Friday night! On the Monday I contacted the gas engineer and explained the problem. He was incredulous as he had only installed an electrical part! Anyway he agreed to return and I took the decision to fly across to oversee matters – especially as neither Gordon nor Sheonagh could take time off.  I also made arrangements for the entryphone to be checked as the video was not working. I flew out on the Tuesday night and the engineer visited first thing the following day. He tested all the connections and could not replicate the problem. He sealed all the joints in the flue which was the likely source of the problem. The boiler has operated perfectly during the past 24 hours. This morning the entryphone has been fixed. I am now only awaiting Alfa parts! The journey has been super productive!

Maritime Bond Residents’ Association

For the last several weeks mounting concern has been expressed by the increasing number of residents of Maritime Bond that the security is lax. There have been several break-ins particularly in the garage area and one or two reported thefts from apartments too. Thanks to the power of email we have started a group dialogue and exchanged ideas and this has resulted in an embryonic Owners’ Association being formed. The inaugural meeting takes place today in the Malmaison Hotel. The meeting was a great success and a plan of action agreed upon. This will include CCTVs and optional improved door locks and home alarms.  We also discussed common charges and other matters of mutual interest. Afterwards, several of use retired to the bar to get to know each other better!  We became great chums after sinking several glasses of wine!

Spain, again, without rain

After a hectic few weeks settling in to the new apartment I was ready to join Irene in Spain. I was rather proud that I had successfully implemented smart technologies such as a 3G wireless router/modem and a cellular gateway thus avoiding the fixed cost of a landline. The router is a gadget that connects to the internet via a SIM card which I got from 3. The router then allows this connection to be networked to up to 5 appliances. It worked a treat. The speed and reliability were comparable with a fixed line. However it would work out more expensive over the longer term as the charging basis is on the volume of data downloaded. Thus for internet radio and streaming video it will be prohibitive. Still for the odd visit home which it is designed for it is ideal. The second gadget which I got in the US allows me to connect up to three cellphones to the landline wiring. The flat is fully wired for a phone line with extensions in every room. I brought the previous phones from Melgund Terrace and wired them in. The cellphones communicate with the gateway via bluetooth and I linked the gateway into one of the landline sockets. Now when someone dials the cellphone all of the phones ring in the flat and the call can be taken on any one. A call can also be dialled out from any one. I have linked the UK and Spanish mobiles and Gordon’s too. The advantage is that when the phone is on charge in another room a call will not be missed. Who’s a clever boy then!

I also arranged a cleaning lady for two hours a week as Gordon’s record in looking after any flat is patchy to say the least. He is flat hunting so hopefully something will crop up and he can move out and live with like minded people.

And so itv was off to the airport on Monday 2nd August. This time it felt different as it was  more of a permanent move. The flight was great and I snoozed almost the entire way having  got an emergency exit almost to myself. Wew arrived early enough that I was able to intercept Irene before she parked.  Back at home Jessica had finished another heavy day of sunbathing!

Boxes, boxes everywhere

The Spanish removers arrive Friday and we have amassed some 4cum to go. We will self move the 30 boxes or so over the weekend to Maritime Bond in a hired van. On Monday the removal company will move hard furniture there. On Tuesday we will donate surplus furniture to a local charity who will uplift. Meantime we have parked stuff in the lockup for Gordon; delivered to Sheonagh and we will handover et more to Ailsa at Grandads in a few weeks! We handover Melgund Terrace to Nadia next Wednesday! Whew!! Just as well we are experts.

Packing

The big pack has begun. I have packed no fewer than 6 boxes of P&Q materials for Spain and there must be the same again to go! The home videos are being copied to DVDs slowlyt but surely to save space. The paintings have been assigned to one of threre destinations – Spain, Maritime Bond, or storage.

Goodbye Melgund Terrace

We put Melgund Terrace on the market with trepidation given the parlous state of the market.  We had been depressed by one of the home valuations but the second had been slightly more upbeat. Still we braced ourselves for a loss. Noone turmed upo for the first viewing – perhaps not surprisingly as the flat had only been on the market for a few hours. We were cheered when someone booked to view the next day.  She was of Intalian extraction and seemed to like the place, bringing  along the family too. Then on the Sunday Barry who was on viewing duty received two other parties and a revisit from Nadia Crolla. Then things started to move with an initial offer slightly above gthe home report, followed by some negotiation and within 48hrs a concluded sale. I waited to see if there was further interest on the Thursday but in fact noone turned up at all even though Sheonagh stood guard. July 7th is entry date so we now have much less time to move than we had expected. Still, probably for the best!

I want to ride my bicycle

I decided it would fit our new occasional Leith lifetsyle to own a bike in Edinburgh. So I duly bought one and took delivery last Thursday. The bike shop was up past Gordon’s shop in Bruntsfield. It is a very, very long time since I rode a bike in town traffic so I was a bit apprehensive. I was not even sure or rules. Do cyclists use bus lanes? Fortunately I was able to use the cycle lanes in the Meadows to get my “bike legs” before hitting traffic. I actually found it exhilirating and am looking forward to next expedition

The Big Pack

I bought six boxes and tissue paper omn Thursday and over the weekend I started to separate out stuff for Spain, stuff for the new apart,ment, stuff for each of the kids. and stuff for chucking. Gordon picked up the repaired VCR/DVD combo earlier so I was also able to start copying old tapes over to save space.  I alo readvertised stuff on eBay. Still a lot to do but a good start has been made.

Preparations

The past few days were again spent thinning out and preparing for the move to Maritime Bond and sale of  Melgund Terrace. The focus was on the books, cables/adapters, and a start was made in the kitchen. Two estate agents have touted for our business offerring theior fvree valuation service.  A third will visit today after which we will make a decision. The hike in inflation and the likelihood of an interest rate rise later in the year and the economic belt tightening that the next Government (of whichever hue) is persuading us to sell now rather than wait.

Downsizing

Well the move in 2o06 from our country seat to a 3 bedroom apartment was tough enough but the move to our pie de terre will be more challenging still. The plain reality is that we must dispose of a lot of the accumulated detritus. We have made a start with a clean out of wardrobes, leading to donations and recycling. We are advertising the better stuff on eBay and other online resources, in the local press, and a garage sale and car boot sale will be on the cards. We have appointed a surveyor to produce a home report and are short listing estate agents.