Solicitors

I'm in the process of buying a flat in Camberwell. I have been since the 19th of August, when my offer was accepted, in fact. This is the most tedious process I've ever witnessed. Contracts still haven't been exchanged. And once they have been (if they ever are) I'm told it could take a further six weeks.

There is no chain at either end of the transaction. It should be really simple. I'm essentially paying my solicitors a huge sum of money in return for a stressful, frustrating, ill-informed state of limbo. They're very good at the:

"We'll find out and call you back* in ten minutes?"
[* this is actually a lie]

...trick, for example.

I can only assume that my documents are lying near the bottom of someone's priority pile, wrapped in red tape.

So, another six weeks of phoning them every day to go then maybe - just maybe - I'll be living back in good old SE5 again. Fingers crossed.

September 29th - update

The lady selling the flat to me has apparently fired her solicitor for not being proactive enough. So, it's not just me feeling the frustration then.

Saturday Links

Today it's all about the Commodore 64, the coolest computer ever (hush now, Spectrum heads). And more specifically the music it made. Three voices - now THAT was a revolution.

Stuck in the past you say? Me? Well there are some who go to far greater lengths in their quest for nostalgia:

C64 Orchestra rehearsal, featuring Rob Hubbard, composer of The Last Ninja theme tune.

C64 Orchestra on MySpace - Check out their rendition of Monty On The Run. Not bad. Not sure about that "Weeeee" in the middle though.

And if you're really into C64 Music you could always subscribe to the C64 Takeaway Podcast, though maybe that's going a bit far. It is presented by an amusing sounding Danish chap though.

Actually, I'd be careful about that last one. People might think you're a complete nerd or something. Instead, visit My C64 games page, blog it yourself and send it to ALL your contacts so my Google Ad Impressions go up and I make some money.

Cheers.

Tuesday Link

The Animated GIF Appreciation Society. I've added a few of my faves, under 'Ade'.

Saturday Links - Video

Do it yourself - Slightly twisted short film / video.

Neave.tv - Watch videos through an experimental browser-based full window TV-style interface

Democracy - Free Internet TV Platform. All sorts of channels, from music videos to documentaries.

Thursday Link

Needs To Be Glassed – In its own words: "Everyone featured on this site requires a fucken glassin". I don't think they're really condoning violence, it's just something silly to read if you have a moment's downtime during the day. Or even if you don't, in my case.

Not brilliant or even consistently good, but it makes me laugh in places, and I mostly agree with their choice of glassees. I feel I should point out, for the record, that I've never glassed (or bottled for that matter) anyone in my life.

Wednesday Links

Inspired by Peter Gasston I've decided to start posting links to interesting things that I find on the web. I hope you'll find them interesting too. It's cheap blogging for me, anyway.


Links for Wednesday

An Abandoned City – "Here is a little photo-session of an abandoned city. When the Soviet Union collapsed, government didn't have much funds to...". I'd love to take my camera there on holiday.
del.icio.us: photography

Hello Kitty Exhaust Pipe – Not on my car, thanks, but maybe it's your sort of thing. I wonder whether it's connected to this car ?

Red Bull non-Air Race

A friend and I set off early on Saturday to go and watch the British leg of the Red Bull Air Race World Series at Longleat. Unfortunately:

i) Due to the amount of traffic going to the event the journey took seven hours. It would normally take under three hours from where we set off in East London but the congestion was so bad that the final 20 miles from near Stonehenge took four hours.

ii) About an hour after we got there the organisers confirmed that the event was being cancelled due to strong gusty winds.

...all of which was "somewhat disappointing."

Here are some more photos of the Air Race not taking place:

Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator gave me this interesting error message earlier. I thought I'd share it with you.

Mosquitos. Still. Grrr.

I still regularly get woken during the night by the high pitched whine of mosquitos buzzing round my head. And my face and arms are dotted with mosquito bites at various stages of healing. This has been going on since July.

It's very annoying.

It also strikes me as a bit weird as this isn't Morocco, it's England. In the autumn.

Well, I suppose writing about it isn't really going to help*. It's time to hunt this one down then get back to sleep for another hour before I have to get up for work.


*Unless you have any tips