No internet & no Sky TV make Rob a very bored boy

Not much of a bank holiday weekend. Saturday was a recovery session and Sunday's weather was bollox so no early start to mix with the penny-pinchers and mongrel-men for a car boot sale. Spent most of the afternoon and evening at Mark and Lucy's for a BBQ. With Paul & Sarah based in Ibiza and mainly on Second Life, Mark showed us Paul's online shop and a couple of nightclubs. The experience was part intriguing, funny and a little sad. My own laptop doesn't quite have the graphics card power we need to join in the fun.

Kerry had been playing with the idea of buying an LCD TV to replace the crappy 12 year old TV we're using for the flat. Put off by Comet and Curry's overpriced range and lazy staff we headed for Richer Sounds for a Samsung 23" bargain. Still, having no digital TV means no Lost, no Heroes, no interactive and 4 and a half channels of rubbish.

Although having to put up with the local air traffic with the flight path directly over the flats, we're next door to the Harbour Lights cinema so took advantage of their membership to watch Pirates of the Caribbean 3:at World's end. Usually I'm a bit more fussy about seeing films without reading reviews and remembering its prequel shambles but here we were wrapped up in the blockbuster buzz. It was less boring than the second one but they crammed in the plot within the dialogue so you just had to let the ride continue and forget why they did something. It was also too long so by the final huge action sequence we were looking towards the door.

No breakfast til Brighton

So glad I booked Thursday off to finish the packing otherwise the stress of it would have meant melt down on Friday. Our one month home in Ocena Village slowly got filled up with car boot sale crap and essentials whilst the storage stuff piled high. Friday started early at 7:30am (ok not that early for some people) as the removal men were to arrive at 8.30am. All food was packed so I went searching for breakfast vitals at local Co-op. At 7.50am I came back to our road being blocked by the removal men with 10 minutes later having to direct them to the first items for removal! The packing, dismantling of furniture and stress continued for four hours.

The new owners camped on our front lawn an hour earlier than expected with about five family members to help and a huge picnic. Thought I'd ruin their day and mention the ant's nest. Still no time to enjoy the evil moment as just as you think we were nearly there I forgot to clear up the shed. Two of the removal guys were Polish and worked their arse off whilst the English guy delegated from the lorry. The stress subsided after they packed in our nearly £40k material items into the 125sq foot space at about 8ft high. The prospect of moving it again shocked me to the core and I vow to stop hoarding, stop buying useless crap and chuck out even more tat I don't need.

The future's Brighton, the future's ginger!

University of Southampton, my current employer came up trumps on Wednesday offering us a 2 bed flat for half the price. No curry smelling grothole for us, just nice Ocean Village living to look forward to until we move to Brighton.

Thursday will certainly be a day to remember. Without Kerry's car, it was public transport all the way with only minutes to spare. The previous night I'd finished preparing for the Uni of Sussex interview with two written exercises to do. As I compared the email invite with the posted letter I noticed I had been sent a different document to base one of the tasks. Therefore I had to do the exercise on my laptop on the train journey there. Interview went really well even with 4 people grilling me.

I had only 45 minutes to bus back into town and find the next place for interview. Typical PR agency which felt like the waiting room in Spaced when Daisy goes for an interview at Flaps. The MD wasn't really taking much notice of me but felt I had to answer her questions as interesting and as quickly as poosible. Next she asked me to do a 30 minute written test to produce a press release. Then I was out the door with the message that someone would be in touch.

My mobilephone had a message waiting from the Sussex Uni HR person. I rang back and she offered me the job with a nice pay rise on top! Job would start on the 2nd of July! God bless Kerry for crying at the news and negotiating with the wish fairy for me.

Today I was shown the flat my current university would allow me to live at until the house chain completes. It was the ex-Vice Chancellors with one the best views of the Harbour Lights cinema (pictured) and marina - all on our doorstop. Life is sweet!

The smell of destiny

Stress went up a gear yesterday. After a halfday at work we went to see some flats down at Ocean Village for our short-term rent. Their office was amongst the poshest restaurants of Southampton so our expectations for the price were high. The business owner drove us to the flats past all the expensive looking flats around the boaty area and towards the Itchen bridge, a less exclusive area. We entered the choice of flats and nearly all of them smelt like an Indian restaurant and one had a close view of the road bridge. It dawned on how much of a rip-off it was and how depressing it was going to be living there. We couldn't face the prospect of going back.

At the same time I've been talking to the Accommodation office at my work who may have a spare flat but are waiting on some bumbling academic who doesn't know when he needs the flat. Its a lot cheaper and closer to work with more flexibility. Its just the waiting that killing us slowly.

Left home for Brighton for interview one of 3. Journey was delayed thanks to a mupprt who hit the car from behind. Had to stop and check the damage. Luckily for him there was nothing and we still have that previous claim. Nice ladies were understanding for me being late and left with a good impression. Won't know result until end of next week though :(

Brighton dream bruised & abused

Last Friday our plans to move out looked stable and secure. A company called Prestige okayed us to having a reserved apartment and we could use their address to forward post. Kerry had tried to visit their offices to pay the deposit but no-one was there so I left some messages to say we'd come in the next day. Storage was also sorted in Brighton plus two interviews to look forward to. I'd even managed to get a load of empty boxes from work to start packing.

We started packing on Saturday until I checked my mobilephone messages. Prestige decided to let the apartment to someone else and were 'sorry' for letting us down! I rang them and spoke to some old twat of a duffer who had no sympathy or morals, and in the end had to pass the phone to Kerry after my blood reached boiling point. They wouldn't budge so we're now left without a proper plan.

The local newspaper helped gain some useful phone numbers of landlords and thankfully sister-in-law/fairy godmother, Karol will take us in. Since then I've made other phonecalls for accommodation but nothing definate yet.

Slightly good news is that I have a third interview on Thursday raising the prospect odds. This week could be a turning point in our lives. Watch this space!

Beaulieu Bank Holiday

One very lazy day for Saturday and a rushed evening to see old Uni mate James, who did the London marathon and Paul & Sarah in London. Met James in the Lizard Lounge with booze buddy 'Drunk' Jim who we discovered lives just two streets away from us! Good to see Paul & Sarah as well on a quick break away from their Ibizan home.

Sunday isn't worth a mention and Bank Holiday Monday was an excuse to visit Beaulieu since we would be moving to Brighton. Motor museum was ok though not worth the £15 entrance fee. We saw Jason Orange from Take That with his four daughters(?could have been unshakable groupees?).

Job news
Another coulple of let-downs today. Looks unlikely that Plumbase will be hiring since the manager sounds like he hasn't found anyone to his satisfaction or the job's unfillable. The Boxharry job has gone to someone else so I'm left with just one interview next week to look forward.

Venture Bros.

Kerry’s yoga teacher recommended we try some legal highs called Purple Ohms. Last night was our first opportunity without any daytime commitment the next day. What turned to be a mild stomach ache then a few buzzy moments it carried on into a wide-eyed experience appreciating music a bit more but with a low attention span. Before taking them I’d bought a new Wii game called Eledees (previously called Elebits) after work. If you can imagine the plasma stream thing in Ghostbusters then picking up objects to find small sprites to collect power – that’s the game’s premise. Great idea using the Wii-motes which almost pulls it off but I think I’ll get bored of quite quickly.

The evening continued channel surfing for anything music or comedy related. We ended on Bravo with their [adult swim] cartoon selection. After Afro Samurai came this amazing animation called Venture Bros. which blew us away with its hilarious scripting, characters and quality animation and style. A little web research and I discover there’s two series out on DVD on Region 1. Only 20 minutes took me to be converted and but both DVDs. This morning, feeling a little bleary eyed I found a website offering both series’ for free courtesy of Video Glath.

Cosplay your dog as Okami

More doggy-game related antics. I think a bigger dog is needed or smaller shield.

Real Nintendogs and MarioKart

Road to Brighton: stress expected

The week started with a bump after confirmation of our moving out date. We exit our home for four years on Friday 25th May. Originally the new owners wanted us out within a week! Yeah right! Kerry, god bless her and her hardworking attitude, has found a weekly paid flat between the Brighton full-on move. The time we spend there will depend on when I get a job in Brighton.

I had two interviews on Tuesday with a chance to look at our new house. The first was working for Plumbase, a trade retailer specialising in the very interesting field of plumbing (obviously). Can't quite contain my excitement with that one though it does pay well but after my Uni job it sounds hardwork. The second job was for a small web agency called Boxharry. Probably the best location ever for Brighton on the 3rd floor above Browns bar in the middle of the Lanes. Job slightly moving away from marketing but could be a great potential. Still waiting for any feedback on both plus I have another interview on the 15th May for Alamo car rental.