21/4/2010 A last look at Eden...

Subject	A last look at Eden...
DateCreated	4/21/2010 2:53:00 PM
PostedDate	3/12/2010 1:27:00 PM
	It's been a pretty rough year or so for me. Last year my dad died - life would never be the same again. Things have been very uncertain for me since then, and now I face a major upheaval in my life - I have had to find somewhere else to live. The family home where I grew up has had to be sold so my brother and sister can get what they are entitled to. I don't really want to move and was happy where I was, but it doesn't make much sense me living in a three bedroom house on my own and paying for it's upkeep. Finding somewhere else suitable to live wasn't easy - I was quite particular about the location. I'd love to live in Camden with all that rock 'n' roll right on my doorstep, but it's too expensive for me - apart from which, as I work outside of London my drive to and from work each day would be a nightmare! Moving out of London altogether would be cheaper, but then getting to gigs (and home again in the middle of the night) would be difficult and expensive. And I wouldn't get to see my local friends very often either. Also, I wanted to stay within easy walking distance of a tube station and night bus stop. One of the things I was determined not to lose was the ability to get into town easily for gigs, and also be able to get home again afterwards. I love knowing I can always get home again 24/7 no matter how late I stay out. So, after much searching I eventually found a flat less than ten minutes walk from where I was. It's a sad day when I have to say goodbye to the family home where I grew up, but it can't be avoided. Every room in the house is full of memories - the garage and the garden too. The place has changed a lot since I was a child, but the memories remain. I'll miss the view out over the valley - it's nothing special, but it's better than a lot of people get from their homes. It's a simple pleasure, but I've always loved looking out the window at the changing weather and seasons. Living on a hill makes life more interesting when it snows - I can look out the window and see people struggling (and often failing) to drive up the hill. It never beat me! Stopping at the bottom could be challenging though. I'll miss having a garage - I had to sell my motorcyles a few months ago as I'll have nowhere to keep them or work on them. I'll miss having a garden too, although I'll not miss having to mow the lawn! I hardly used to venture out there in the winter months, but it was lovely to be able to sit out on the grass on a summer day and just relax as the birds and animals got on with their business all around me. Needless to say, the day I moved out was chaos! That was good in a way because I didn't have time to feel sad. On the other hand, I didn't really get the chance to take my time to say goodbye to the old place as I would have liked - things were rather rushed, but that was unavoidable. I didn't make a very good job of organising things, but then I've never moved before. I was very fortunate though as several of my very good friends had volunteered to help me move - I don't know what I'd have done without them! Big thanks go out to John and Alan for their invaluable assistance, and extra special thanks go out to Jason for not only supplying his time, but the transport as well! It's said that moving is one of the most stressful things most people ever have to deal with. It's definitely not the worst thing I've ever had to deal with, but it rates quite highly. It's just as well I was only moving to somewhere a few minutes away as several trips were needed. It all took a lot longer than expected, while I had to fend off solicitors, executors, and estate agents all wanting to know how soon I and all my stuff would be out of the house. Apparently the people buying the house were very stroppy about how long things took, although we were going as fast as we could. I found out later that they had no intention of moving in that day anyway - and several weeks later they still hadn't moved in... It was quite a relief when it was all over. At one point I didn't think all my gear was even going to fit into my new place - never mind there being room for me in there as well! We got everything in there in the end - just. There was stuff literally piled to the ceiling, and you could hardly see any of the floor! I'd either thrown out or sold loads of stuff over the previous few months as I knew I wouldn't have room to take much with me - and in the week after moving I ended up throwing quite a lot more away just to make some living space. As I write this nearly six weeks later all my books and records are still in boxes waiting for me to put up some more shelves. Puttting up the first 24 feet of shelving at least enabled me to get nearly all my CDs, tapes, videos, and DVDs out of boxes and up on the wall. I'm hoping the shelves (and walls) can take the weight when I put my vinyl LPs up there as well! I'm getting there slowly but surely and have managed to make a lot more space now, but I still haven't even got a guitar out of a case since moving in. After I've put the next lot of shelves up I'll be able to start setting up the rest of my hi-fi and music gear.... There never will be enough space really, but I've made a lot of progress and things are starting to come together nicely. Fortunately, and to my surprise I settled in to the new place very quickly. It's not perfect (or big enough!) but overall things have worked out quite well and I'm enjoying having somewhere to live that is really all mine. And I'm still in walking distance of tube, night bus, and BR for trains into Kings Cross, although I have a ten minute longer walk after getting off the night bus now - some people have it a lot worse. I can still get home easily via public transport at any time of day or night, and I'm slightly nearer most the local pubs. Result! I've got through the worst year and a bit of my life, and now I'm finally getting some closure. It's time to move on to the next chapter in my life...