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

I'm definitely living in a building site at the moment. The kitchen is stripped to bare walls (and by that I mean bare brick walls). The kitchen window has been taken out and replaced, but it's not yet firmly in place. I've no sink or cooker and everything is in boxes waiting for the kitchen to be installed.

The kitchen arrived flat packed last Friday and it took us four days to build it. We finished putting it together at 1.00am on Tuesday - so that was our Easter gone. It took three hours to put the first piece together. Other pieces came more easily after that but some of them were quite tricky. The worst of all was the larder unit with the swing-out baskets. It was German made and the instructions were in appalling English. That one took four hours to do and we had to take one part out and replace it as it didn't work when we installed it the way the instructions told us to.

Most of the units arrived on Friday, but the worktops didn't. We went to see them and arranged for different ones to be sent as the original ones ordered would be out of stock for another three weeks and you can't have a functioning kitchen without worktops. It was supposed to arrive on Wednesday and I took a day off work. It didn't arrive as the delivery van was too large to get down the road. They then said it would arrive on Monday, but I told them I didn't want to take another day off work and they agreed to bring it on Saturday and they'll park at the end of the road and we'll carry the worktops up to the house.

I had another problem with my awful ISP. My internet connection went off-line on Friday evening and I didn't get it back until yesterday. They said it wasn't their fault and told me to check the router and reinstall the firewall. None of these worked and lo and behold, it came back on its own about a day after the last call. I've decided enough's enough and have asked BT to take over my telephone supply and also be my internet provider.

Hello there... that'll be why you've not been around for a while What dramas.

Why is it that furniture never ever arrives when they say it will?

I've taken to paying 50% when ordering and 50% on delivery and suddenly things seem to be a little more efficient But I really feel that I shouldn't have to do that

Good luck with it all arriving tomorrow. Will you get a discount for helping to carry it along the road?

'Why is it that furniture never ever arrives when they say it will? ' Good question, FbMstar>!

Well, I haven't paid for it yet - I'm on a 6 months interest free - although I'll pay for it all in one go. I extended the mortgage to pay for it. Actually, they were very good initially - the van driver told me he thought they had dark oak worktops in stock - the kind I initially wanted, but they told me it was no longer stocked, so I ordered dark beech. As the dark oak was more expensive, and as they'd put me to inconvience, they gave them to me at the same price. I'll borrow a trolley, so it will help with the carrying.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

I'll just warn you that worktops are very heavy. If you are carrying them, you'll need two strong men at least per worktop.

Thanks for the warning, Gnomon.

I've got two solid oak worktops on the way. At least they're not granite (mind you, I don't think I could afford the 3000GBP they cost! I don't think I count as a stong man, but I do have a trolley. They'd have to go upright, which might be a bit exciting, unless I could either tether them horizontally or walk backwards while Roy walks forwards (or vice versa!).

Dear ZSF,

Well,. it is just as well that we did not make it a definite day over Easter!!

Between you and LLWaz I am the most total and complete wet.

Well done with your work.

Hope it looks quite beautiful Are you having the walls tiled?

to you and little
Christiane

I really *don't* think you're a total and complete wet, Christiane!

I would so have loved to have come to see you over Easter, but I definitely needed to do the construction work on the kitchen. It was a hard slog too, but satisfying to see it ocme together. Well, there were a couple of slip-ups. I put one drawer front on upside down (but a quick call to the company gave me the information to put that right) and Roy drilled two sets of holes in one set of cupboard doors. We'll have to fill them and find matching paint to put that right.

The wor-tops have finally come. Gnomon was right about the weight. In the end, the firm courriered them to us in a small van.

I thought the builders were going to start plastering today, but the roof had to come down as it was in too poor a state to have boards attached over them, so there's been a fresh lot of dust. We ate ready meals this evening!

'Are you having the walls tiled?' - yes. We argued a lot then we chose some dark stone tiles. They should look really nice.

I hope that both you and K are doing well, Christiane



Thanks, LadyeS. Another couple of weeks before the finish, I gather.

I've given my awful ISP the axe and transferred back to BT. Hopefully, after a period of hiatus (it will take at least 5 days to get me connected to the internet once my phone line transfers over), things should go swimmingly, if rather more expensively. Telephone transfer day is 24/4 so I'll likely be off-line for about a week from then.

Why on earth does it take BT a week to get you online after a phone transfer That's ridiculous.

Australia may be a colony but over here, it's done in less than an hour - as long as you know how to deal with the instructions on the computer... and I have a man who does

Even when I've moved house, the internet connection has been instantaneous

I'm being indignant on your behalf, ZSF

'Why on earth does it take BT a week to get you online after a phone transfer?' I don't know, Fb! - I think it's ridiculous too - however - each and every transfer I've had on my computer has taken at least that - even the one with the same company from dial-up to broadband - and there was a lot of faffing after I had clearance with getting me properly online, so I can't single out BT as being particularly bad. My current provider was much worse. Maybe Australis is streets ahead of us in the internet provision game!

Anyway, the deed is done, so I'll just have to wait. Maybe I'll decide to get another internet provider. Are there any good suggestions?