Be Excellent To Each Other

I learnt that broccoli, cabbage, kale and brussel sprouts are all the same type of plant.

Sprouts are tiny cabbages! I didn't know about the others. I'm surprised cauliflower isn't related to broccoli, though.

That's the same plant as well! And collard greens and kohlrabi! The exact same type of plant!

How's the leak, TheVision?

Thanks for asking! I took the bath panel off last night and I'm 99% sure that it's not a pipe that's leaking. Everything seems sound under there and I ran the taps for ages and nothing seemed to be wet.

After that, I resealed around the bath tub and around the taps again with silicone.

Hopefully that's done the trick! I taped an old shower curtain around the bath to stop the silicone getting wet so I could just leave that there forever. There's no danger of any water getting through that... ever! It looks lovely too.

Well done.

Bah, abnormal cells found as a result of a procedure I recently had. I only went to get a test because of unexpected bleeding. So that's not the best news I've had this week! However, it's relatively common and doesn't always result in cancer - especially if treated early so that's something.

Best of luck, chick

Always better to know about it.

I suspect it's going to be fine. The screeners err on the side of caution from my understanding of the process. Still, not terribly pleasent but I hope you're ok.

That sucks, but always best to catch anything early. I'm sure you're in great hands.

Fingers crossed for you, flis. Don't forget there's also the small chance that they are abnormal mutant cells because you've been bitten by a radioactive spider and might become spiderwoman. I don't think the Isle of Man actually has any tall buildings to swing between, but I'm sure it would still be useful.

Clouded in secrecy is that place. Even the cats have no tales to tell of.

Fingers crossed..

I only came to complain about an abscess in in my mouth which is cause bad toothache, and that I might have damaged a rotator cuff in my shoulder...

So no beer or swimming for a while

I have some (obviously secondhand) knowledge of this. It's extremely routine, there's a quick and painless procedure they will do to remove the cells and that will be that. It's nothing to be worried about at all.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36458472

Fuck me, there are times when I wonder if we should have a death penalty.

He gets 22 life sentences and could still be out at 53 when he will be more than able to offend again.

Now, that's the very definition of a Freudian slip!

Just got a text message from the landlord, she's selling the flat.

So much for long term. Cunt.

She can't kick you out because she's selling up. If you've got a rental contract she's selling it with tenant in situ.

I think she's going to try doing that. I just pray the rent doesn't go up because we're already paying much more than we get for it and can't afford more.

Our initial contract was for a year and we don't have one now. So yeah hoping for the best ATM. It was hard getting settled here and I finally see it as a home. Typical.

They have to give you 2 months notice.

You should be on a rolling 1 months contract. Could be worth checking your agreement

We don't have any contract fella. We signed an initial one year contract and after the end of the year we didn't get another one because we agreed (over the phone) that we weren't about to go anywhere and she wasn't going to sell (instead keeping it until she retired or it was paid off etc) so yeah, no contract.

Maybe in the eyes of the law it is what you say, a one month thing. She has said that she's going to try and sell it with us in it so I guess the only thing I can really do is just hope that we can stay here. Otherwise I will probably end up doing another stint in the local nut house because already just after her text I am having terrible trouble coping.

Just spoke with housing. Apparently if you don't sign a new contract it means you basically just use the one you signed back when. So I don't know about that as it's been a while and will need to find it (Mrs JC should know where it is).

So yeah, let the stress commence.

Kovacs is correct.

At the end of the fixed term of an assured shorthold tenancy the tenants automatically move onto a rolling month-to-month contract unless a new fixed term is agreed. All existing tenancy terms remain in force (eg. any clauses about when rents can go up, covenants regarding pets, etc.)

During this month-to-month period, the tenants can end the tenancy at any time giving one month's notice, and the owner can end the tenancy at any time giving two month's notice.

Your contract is actually irrelevant here -- these rules around month-to-month are part tenancy law that sits outside your contract.

Thank you I really appreciate that. As much as it has broken my heart I have already realised that I need to get my arse in gear and gtfo of here. I don't want to pay her mortgage right up until she sells the place given her rather ignorant way of telling us so I need to be proactive.

I've already spoken to housing and they are looking at properties for people with disabilities. Living somewhere where you can be kicked out at any minute really hasn't been good for Mrs JC or I. Our landlady is incredibly callous any way and we've had a few problems since living here.

So as much as it saddens me (and it does, I'd finally settled here and felt safe) I think I need to get with the program and get out as quickly as possible. Maybe we can find somewhere where we don't pump heat out of leaky windows all winter.

Unfortunately it is the joys of renting.

I would do what you are doing and look, or get another fixed term contract for 1 year, to make you feel more secure.

Up and at 'em, champ. It's a speedbump, it hasn't caused a dead stop.

When we sat down and explained to her that we were both not very well and needed security she was quick to point out that she was 49 years old and would be renting the property until at least retirement age. That gave us what? about fifteen years. That was the only reason we accepted her terms (she charges £70 more than we are allowed per month for rent as an example to those terms and she fucking knows it too) and so on. We were homeless basically and desperate to find somewhere stable.

Mrs JC has been quick to remind me every time we pay her rent that she could kick us out at any minute but me being me I decided to just do an ostrich. What you can't hear doesn't matter and all that....

I don't know why she's selling. Maybe the latest news on property prices about to take a shit? maybe she's got financial difficulties? etc. Thing is this can not keep happening because neither Mrs JC or I are in a financial position to keep moving all the fucking time. It's fucking expensive and we don't have a large pit of money to dip into.

So the aim now is to get the fuck out of the private rental sector. It's full of fucking leeches any way who just want mortgages paid.

And of course we are discriminated against all of the time with gold like this one -

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to- ... ype%3DLIST

pets and housing benefit may be considered with an increased deposit

That's pretty mild actually, most just point blank refuse to rent to us.

I feel for you, but you really can't be kicked out at any time, you get 8 weeks notice.

Contact the council and see what can be done.

Are you renting direct?

Yes. We did register to bid on council properties but I didn't quite understand it so we didn't bid. Plus I found logging in every single day only to look at properties that were already gone incredibly stressful. Moving in here actually put Mrs JC in hospital for three weeks. Of course I explained all of this to our landlady but why should she care right? me being a fucking dick and being too trusting as usual.

So in the end we found this flat and I needed to end up doing a ton of work just to make it livable. It was a complete dump, two of the kitchen walls had no plaster on them so were bare brick because of a leak outside that she was too tight to fix so I put up plywood walls and had them wallpapered just to make it presentable. Oh, and fixed a huge hole in the ceiling too and redecorated the entire kitchen. I wouldn't have done any of that had I known she would do something like this so the next flat we move into is going to be fucking mint or they can shove it. If I'm paying good rent I don't want a shit hole.

When I spoke to housing this morning though I did get some good news. Apparently there are flats designated for disabled couples. They tried before, but Mrs JC and I had only just met and so they would only offer me a single bed flat and I wasn't allowed to have any one living there with me. We were already living together though (as we'd known each other four years) so yeah, would have made things very difficult seeing as Mrs JC lived in Dorset and I lived in West Sussex, 2.5 hours drive.

So I decided to move to Dorset for a bit and when the house was sold and so on we moved back here, but fuck me what a nightmare. It took us three months to find a private let due to every one discriminating and when we did it was more than our housing benefit and a shit hole.

So hopefully housing can come through. I really hate dealing with people and with the very bitter taste I have in my mouth I would probably not get a flat privately any way.

Ok from a landlord's perspective as i rented my own home out.

Perhaps it is the right time for the lady to sell. I know it is not helpful to you, but situations change.

I did not want to kick my tenants out when i needed to move back in, but i needed somewhere to live.

I hope you get it sorted chap, and can bidding on a home every day really be that bad, pretend you are bidding on a new graphics card

It's pretty cut throat and all biased toward the property owner.

Hopefully I can get off that shitty end of the stick once and for all. I don't like living my life at the mercy of other people. Because in the property business (gob spit) there is no mercy.

It's going to cost Mrs JC and I about two grand to move. It will wipe us out pretty much completely.

I was not being cut throat..

I don't think JC is suggesting you were at all.

JC, I'm not sure if it is the same system that they had for bidding on rental properties at the refuge, but if it is then yes, I think 'cut-throat' is an understandable term.

As far as I can remember (and I never bid on properties myself as I moved in with Russell, so it came from seeing friends in the system) once a week the properties are updated. You are banded according to what you can bid on, according to your needs (dependents, etc) and then you bid on properties according to the points allocated. All this along with the added pressure that if you hadn't moved out of the refuge in 5 months you were moved on t a new refuge to begin the process again. Women would be desperately phoning to try and be in with a chance for a place to live, there were many tears. The cutthroat part comes in the system of actually bidding, and often the 15 women I lived with would be in direct opposition for properties, and against a whole host of other people, and there was much anguish and pain each week when people failed every single bid and had a diminishing amount of time before they were sent elsewhere in the country...

Yeah it's horrible. You need to basically hawk it 24 hours a day and then put in your bid and wait to see.. It's awful, especially for people like Mrs JC and I. I found it all very confusing too. We were in band C then IIRC, however, now that we have basically rented the place we are in for a year and never missed a rent payment we now get put in band A. Thing is Mimi I will be honest with you council properties do worry me. I really don't think Mrs JC or I could handle living on a council estate. We both get incredibly nervous around children for example.

What makes it worse is if you accept a private rental they immediately kick you off the bidding list meaning you have to wait until you are nearly homeless (like now) which means wait until the stress is the absolute worst it can be.

Last time we threw everything at them. Both my doctors and psychs all sent in letters explaining the situation yet we got nowhere. We ended up finding this place ourselves.....

So much for the Tories "Care in the community" eh? that was just a smoke screen to basically fuck off the mentally ill and leave them to fend for themselves. It'll backfire though, because if the pressure gets too much then both Mrs JC and myself will end up sectioning ourselves.

Sorry to hear that mate, the private renting market is a nightmare, I'm glad to be out of it.

If buying is not at option then make the effort to get on the council list as although it sounds like it will be stressful for you both it will be stable long term.

Are you living in Bognor Regis? Planning to go to the Butlins there soon for the kids breaks they do there so would welcome an escape!

Yeah we live about five minutes away. Hit me with a PM when you're down here and I'll get the coffee machine on

Estate agent coming Tues. She's not fucking about.

I had a meltdown over at mum's which wasn't good followed by a pretty extreme IBS flare up. After all of the crying and screaming and shouting though I did feel a bit better, and tbh a part of me is quite excited because there are some issues with this flat (the windows are all shot and rattle in the wind and leak , the kitchen smells of damp, the hallway carpet is mank, the overall deco is awful barring the living room, parking is non existent and so on).

Housing options have suggested couples sheltered living so we're looking into that ATM

Good luck with it mate.

I will probably hide away and let Mrs JC take care of it. I will be dealing with the housing options team who have said that they will do the main of it by phone so I don't have to drag down there. Just filling out endless forms and have to scan and send our passports etc.

I was accepted for sheltered housing before but Mrs JC and I had only just started living together and they told me that if I accepted it she wouldn't be allowed to stay there with me. Now we are married though I am hoping that we can get a couple's place like they're talking about. It would mean downsizing and getting rid of loads of our furniture and so on but I think it would be worth it in the long run.

Again.

Fucking hell.

Did you just quote yourself from over a year ago?

Yes.

Never change, Mali, never change.

Bah.

Holy shit! Vandalism, or did they take anything?

I suspect it was done on purpose, I can see what looks like a point of impact, the parcel shelf has been raised and shopping bags moved. The glass is everywhere and I thought impact on a window was supposed to keep it as a whole sheet for safety? There was nothing else in there though, so it was just a waste of their time.

I'm sorry this has happened to you

Thanks Russ. It's more a nuisance than anything, it's just 'stuff'.