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

The really interesting news today was not the interview - which I really quite enjoyed, as a conversation between professionals, even if I didn't actually get the job (I won't really know until next week, but I think I was not up to what they wanted, even if I did have cogent things to say about most of what they asked!) - but the re-inspection of our place by the estate agents: I think I might have been evicted, for the first time in ten years of house renting!

The story, for posterity, goes like this(#). The agents last came to inspect the house three weeks ago, as I noted at the time. They asked us to fix the hole in the wall, which was expected, and which, ultimately, we did. They also asked us to remove the cobwebs around the walls, and to put hotplate protectant on the stove. These we also did. This is where the story is complicated, though. The re-inspection date arrived without me having noticed it had come, requiring me to beg a week's extension as we hadn't even started fixing the hole in the wall at that stage. The week's extension having been granted, I think expectations may have been raised that a really superlative job would be done on the stove and the cobwebs, rather than the casual application of protectant and wipe round the walls which I thought were warranted. In any case, the wall-patching job was not entirely complete by the time the agents came, either, as the plaster used to fill in the hole had not been able to dry in the cold, damp conditions which set in last night (maybe an omen? *note to self: hindsight 20/20...;- )*). All together, I think the inspecting agent went to some lengths to demonstrate that she was somewhat disappointed with our, and specifically my, efforts. The question of why this slight disappointment should necessitate eviction, however, has been shrouded in bureaucracy and "notices to improve". An exception could not be made for our case, evidently, in spite of the simple fact that the "notices to improve" were entirely arbitrary to begin with (move the car off the front lawn, clean the stove, brush away the cobwebs, fix the hole in the wall). It seems very much as though we are being eased out of the property because we are not paying the agents enough, and in spite of the deficiencies of the house itself, about which I was unable to get a word in to the agent today. Rumours of house sales have been floating about, and we've been receiving offers to buy (which we, unfortunately, can do nothing about: I'd love to sell somebody a lemon like this place...*vindictive, I know, but the b******s should be the ones who pay, not me!*) in our letterbox...

All in all, a slightly disappointing day, but my expectations were not overly high to begin with! I am more disappointed about the likely missing out on the job than I am about the house, given my ongoing dissatisfaction with my housemate and my domicile. The portended eviction is more of an inconvenience than a heartbreak, but it's still a bit of a nuisance. I am slightly annoyed that our extremely good rental record and general compliance with everything that has been asked of us have not been taken into account, and I am only a little excited at the prospect of trying to find another place to live, but at least it will get me out of here! I may finish up having to crash at a friend's for a while, though, and house rental is certainly not value for money round here at the moment.

The trials sent to try us, I suppose...

(#) Bear in mind that, although I am trying to make this account as objective as possible, most of the data informing it are generated from my side, and hence the account is doubtless somewhat skewed. The mere fact that I've been unable to find out what the whole story is, however, suggests a sub-agenda about which I can only speculate.