Tag: Charles Church

Charles Church Hell, Persimmon nightmare, Writer's Blog

Shouting my small achievement from the rooftops

Julie G

Success comes in many guises. My daughter and son-in-law might report a successful day yesterday where they and we, we being my husband and I, visited Lakeside Shopping Centre and, of course IKEA, in Thurrock.

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This was, by far, not our collective first visit to the centre but, for them, it was the start of a success of sorts. Two months ago, they were handed the keys to the first home they have owned. Months of saving resulted in a beautiful, brand new, four-bedroomed detached house in a village on the outskirts of Norwich. Unfortunately,  their joy has been marred by an indescribable number of issues, such as damaged windows, the wrong kitchen, forgotten flooring, the list was, in reality, four A4 pages long and minus minor snags! But here is not the place to be moaning about Charles Church and Persimmon, although incompetence and rudeness, accompanied by genuine data protection breaches (with GDPR at the forefront of the nation’s minds right now, indeed) were phenomenally unbelievable.

With eighty percent of their issues rectified after a battling two and a half months, the time had become ripe for adding new items to said beautiful residence.

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Armed with my daughter and son-in-law’s meticulously measured diagrams, we set off on our mission to buy them some housewarming gifts and theirs to buy furnishings of their own. The day was a success in that one larger item of furniture was purchased, some shelving and numerous smaller items made their way to our vehicles and a number of ideas for handyman son-in-law to put to the test when time allows. Success, as I mentioned,  comes in numerous guises.

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My own success yesterday was to receive an email notification of one of my ‘way out of my comfort zone’ short stories – approximately 4000 sci-fi words, which was now published in a Fantasy anthology, following submission to same. The work was one of my assignments for my ‘Comprehensive Creative Writing’ course with The Writer’s Bureau which my tutor, herself a published crime novelist, had suggested was ready for submission.

The resultant success is my inclusion in the short story anthology shown in the link below.

Fantasy Short Stories

I have to shout this achievement from the rooftops as I am told that’s what you do with success no matter how small.

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Thank you for taking the time to read about my success thus far, I hope you are joining me at the start of something far greater – I guarantee the writing is happening during every spare moment. As promised, I will continue to share unpublished stories on my blog from time to time.

I am grateful to all followers, please spread the word if you enjoy my ramblings. The more far reaching my content,  the greater the chance of more success. It’s largely down to you lovely people. Thank you!

tfs

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Charles Church Hell, Moving house, Persimmon nightmare

Moving not writing

Julie G

I don’t need an excuse not to write but today I had a good one. My daughter and son-in-law moved into a home of their own after renting for the first few years. They were given the keys to their beautiful, brand new four bedroomed detached house and those words alone should encompass an enjoyable, exciting start to a new chapter in their lives. The truth on moving day, however, was a little more down to earth and disappointing.
The past few weeks had been spent sorting through five years of accumulated hoardings, resulting in numerous trips to the local recycling centre and clothes bank.
Yesterday, they had an appointment to meet the sales team and to have one final walk through the property, checking out final fittings and receiving instruction on appliances etc. The first of many disasters struck as they walked through the front door and could see their shiny new kitchen through the door at the end of the hallway. Their carefully chosen light grey kitchen units were a deep mushroom, bordering on plum, shade. The fitters had installed the wrong kitchen. Investigations told them that head office had ordered the wrong one. As disastrous as it was, the company agreed to change it all as ordered but it would mean they could not move into that room today and unpack anything remotely kitchen-related.
A further telephone call to head office this morning had both of them agreeing to review the kitchen once their flooring was down. Yesterday none of the carpets or flooring had been laid as this is the final stage before keys are handed over.
A further call while we were all in the middle of packing up the departing boxes from their flat, advised them that there was no kitchen floor. All of the carpets had been laid but someone had forgotten to order their choice of floor tiles for the kitchen.
Stress levels were beginning to rise into the red zone and patience was nigh on non-existent.
Despite being ready to move, with two cars and two transit vans packed to the brim with boxes, by midday, they didn’t get the keys until gone four in the afternoon. Many of the boxes had to be stored in the garage and spare bedrooms until the kitchen could be sorted which took some of the shine off their big day.
With numerous issues to sort such as no water in the heating system, a leaking downstairs toilet and doors which needed planing before rooms could be accessed, they didn’t actually get a bed or other furniture moved in until later in the evening with the rest being left until tomorrow.
We still have plenty more to do tomorrow but I am sure that, once teething issues have been dealt with, their home will be a beautiful and happy one.
Maybe I will do some writing the next day…but, wait, updating a blog must keep the writing muscles moving, right?