Yes, adoring readers and/or
fans, I will be leaving Montreal forever* on the 8th November. On the 16th
November I start what is known in some circles as "a new job" doing
something completely new (but related), which I will draw a veil over for the
moment (hem hem). In the meantime, progress is as follows:
We have found a removal
company.
Referred by friends with
exacting standards and a lot of books, Robin the Removal Man is 71 and follows
me around with a clipboard saying things like:
- That
box?
- The
cat?
- Wine
cellar? (Answer: NO, I DRANK
IT.)
- Are
you sure?
- I
wouldn’t if I were you.
- Forty
cubic metres, probably.
He doesn't eat biscuits when you offer them to him, but he DOES put them in his pocket 'for later' when he goes.
I have learnt how to fold
clothes.
I spent c.
$13 on a book having read an article about the author, a lady called Marie who likes
folding socks. The book was a bit of a let-down as it contains lot of
chat about socks having feelings and thanking your t-shirts but not many
pictures.
She has
her own version of "Have nothing in your
house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to
be beautiful" (which we all know because we
are not idiots), suggesting that you only keep things that "spark
joy". By this definition I'd be surrounded by bottles of Viejos Robles cornershop
wine (c. $10), the veterinary pathologist to whom I am married, and back issues
of Which? Magazine so
I’ve ignored that bit o’ wisdom, but I have paid attention to the following:
Tidy up by category not by room. For
e.g., get all your clothes/books/hats/photos/letters etc out at a
time, don’t do it by room. It
works. Incidentally, here is some
of my own advice on clothes culling. Get rid of things if:
- you
look like a twat in it
- you
haven't worn it since you last moved continents in 2006
- it
has cat wee on it.
Folding is fun!! No. Really. I am serious. T-shirt video here. Do it. Fold your socks. It
makes room in drawers and makes you feel like an adult.
Do not categorize clothes that
are a bit shit as 'loungewear' and keep them. Hers is a more ladylike version
of: "girlfriend, self-respect starts with not spending your life in baggy
track pants and gigantic stained t-shirts with holes in - get some fucking
pyjamas!". Following this advice has freed up approximately 80% of
storage space in my house. True.
Avoid 'storage solutions'. 'Storage
solutions' are just expensive boxes for you to put your crap in. Deal
with the crap.
I have rented a flat (for a
bit)
You do not
need me to tell you that renting in London is a fucking joke. If you do not
want to live in a flat full of depressed cockroaches with bloodstained sofas,
you have to spend the equivalent of $5,000 a month and commute for 2
hours. I have gone all AirBnB and
rented a flat in Brook Green for 3 months from a psychotherapist called
Stephen until the veterinary pathologist with whom I share my life (and fleas) gets his visa and moves over. Then we'll move to the country and I will do a real commute, and a part of me will die inside, and I will make brave noises about "really switching off!" and "doing tons of reading on the train!".
That is
the update for now. If you have any informations to share I am ready for them.
Until then, I remain over-excited and unfocused, as if left alone in a
Hula-Hoop factory overnight.
Pip pip
!
NWM