Saturday 3 October 2009

Searching for somewhere to live

Now that it's all systems go i went over to have a look at some places that are up for rent. My mum & dad came with me for advice and we spent a weird morning driving round places judging whether the area was suitable of scruffy.
Suddenly your being judgmental of people. The building might look ok, but suddenly someone walks past who looks like a tramp and puts you off. litter on the pavement is a bad omen and a burnt out car with kids jumping up and down on it is another (i made the last one up of course).

I did manage to look at one place that seemed ok on the outside, but derelict on the inside. Then one that looked derelict on the outside and ok in.
I know from this flat that i live in now that its nothing really anything to do with the place itself. "it's all cosmetic" as my dad said. "nothing a lick of paint or a good tidy round won't fix". It's the neighbours that make a place worth living in. My neighbour from hell below is testament to that. I've only just got him trained now. We have a sort of understanding. I stay out of his way and he stays out of mine. We tolerate each other and that is fine by me. I just want someone quiet who will wave and say hello to me when passing. I don't want them knocking on my door or inviting me in. I just want a friendly stranger that's all.

There is a large Pakistani or Indian area in Halifax. It's a bit like Bradford and although its ok during the day i'm told it's a bit of a no go area at night. But then i spoke to a Pakistani man and he told me about a predominantly BNP type area of white people that is exactly the same, ok during the day, but you would want to go for a stroll through it at night.
It's early days but i'm looking.

One funny thing happened, It was windy today and when my mum came out of a shop her dress blew up revealing her knickers for a few seconds. Both she and i found it hilarious because there were a couple of teenage boys sat on a wall outside who saw it and they looked shocked. My father was mortified and telling her to cover herself up. Him being disgusted and embarrassed made it seem even funnier. All my mum could say was "it's a good job i had 'em on today isn't it?"

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good idea to look around carefully before you move in anywhere. Old estate agents' trick - look at the state of curtains, front gardens, rubbish, abandonned cars/fridges etc. As you say, it is the neighbours that make life okay or hell. Good your mum and dad came along too. Take care - Peter-D.

Anonymous said...

Instantly I love your Mum!