h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'll see you Thursday, then. I hope you have fun in the meantme...

I sure will. I'll be in Brussels. Some w*rk related stuff but I'll also meet Hapi there. Leaving tomorrow morning.

Brussels! Chocolate, and beer, and a hippo... Enjoy!

I did enjoy indeed. It was nice and warm there, no snow.
Now, here we still have this half a meter of snow and I've got a horrible headcold. I think I need to sleep it off. Staying awake only makes it worse - endless sneezing and my nose runs like... umm... a medium size river.

It could be worse, your nose could run like a greyhound and then you'd have trouble catching it.

My brain is falling apart - tomorrow I'll make my final offer on the house I've decided I must have. If my offer isn't accepted I'll be very disappointed indeed. The house isn't that white one with the trees; I decided not to buy that one. (The land the white house is on is quite steep and as I get older I'm likely to find it too hard to manage, considering I have back and leg trouble already.) The house I've decided I want is completely different and it's on flat land. It's also closwer to shops and closer to w*rk and closer to lots of things that are worth being near. Now let's see if I get it. I might find out by the end of the week...

I can't remember if I showed you this house or not. I'll send you a link.

No, I hadn't seen that one yet. It looks larger than the previous one. Almost too large, but then that may be the photos, of course. And me, I don't like big empty spaces. I absolutely love the light in the house. And the courtyard is quite promising.
If you get old then you'll hire a servant (for bed and food) and he'll do the shopping for you. But until then... yes, it's reasonable to avoid uncomfortable places. Inconvenient.

Then again, the proper reaction could have been:

Oh, lovely! That's the nicest house indeed. I am sure you'll get it.

I tend to think of those things only with some hindsight. Or at least after the 'post message' button. But I guess you don't mind.

It isn't quite as large as it looks in the photos, and the living area can be made to look smaller by covering the whole of the long wall in bookshelves.

Even better - it *feels* really nice. It feels like it could be home.

And if I get the place I'll never have spare money ever again.

Sounds good to me. Not the spare money bit but the rest.

If my offer is accepted it will be 8-10 weeks before the place is officially mine... But if I'm planning to be there 30 years, what's a few weeks?

Then you'll have enough time to organise your belongings and do your plans and so on.

Yes, there will be plenty of time. That thought is keeping me calm.

If I don't get the house there will be even more time.

Last time I was moving I had to sell my house first. That took more than 2 years. Then we found a buyer. Then I had to find a new place. There was plenty of time for everything. Eventually I had to get everything done in 3 days or so - pack, get to the other end of the town. At -20C or colder. That was quite horrible. Well, it's horrible to look back anyway. Back then I was a bit distanced from it all.
So, 8-10 weeks is a long time for very organised people.

I didn't get the house. Someone offered more than I could afford, which was also more than the place is worth. Even the agent agrees.

I'm drinking. It seems the thing to do.

You drink, you get sober, you start the race again. It gets easier every time.

I think I'll fall asleep before I get drunk; that's probably a good thing, seeing it's only Wednesday.

Now I can only wait with a lot of curiosity, to see how the next house will look like. Houses down there look quite different from ours, in general.

I'll show you the next one just as soon as I find it. There's nothing worthwhile on the market right now. I shall just have to wait.

Yeah, it's a lengthy process, takes a lot of and .

The lease on this house ends in May. I have to decide whether to renew it for another year... I can stay here without a formal lease, but if I don't have a lease I can be given three weeks' notice to leave *at any time*. This could make life complicated.