Musashino Musings

We are back online again after a break of a few days. And what a punishing few days it has been. Certainly the hardest work I can remember for a long time. We first got the keys on Tuesday and we immediately set to work decorating the girls’ rooms and cleaning. The people that were here before were smokers, so the living room and one of the girls’ rooms were pretty grimy. Decorating wasn’t much fun – under the roof in an un-air conditioned house in 33 degree heat. But cooled by a regular supply of cold beer from the local corner shop (open 24 hours, of course – no stupid licensing laws here!) I managed to make good progress.

The air con guys turned up on Wednesday and spent the day installing coolers for the 2nd and 3rd floors – four in total. So by Wednesday night, we actually had some cooling while we finished off the girls’ rooms.

The move itself was handled with superb efficiency by the removal company, beginning with the delivery of the upright piano. I was expecting a gang of blokes. hauling the thing over the balcony. But in the end, it was two wiry little guys and a truck with a crane on the back. They had it from the back of the truck into the music “room” (actually a cupboard) in about 10 minutes flat. Quite amazing.

The next day, the main load of furniture and stuff arrived from Seijo. Included in the consignment was Puchi the cat. She absolutely hates the cat carrier since going for an operation, so the girls were a bit worried about how we were going to keep her calm during the transit. Big M asked the removal company whether Little M could travel in the cab with the cat. They said this was not possible due to insurance restrictions. However they suggested a cunning plan – they gave Little M a job for the day so she could travel with them. She arrived kitted out with official cap and t-shirt, looking very professional. They even let her keep the shirt – very kind.

So, a few days into the move and the place is still in absolute chaos as we struggle to find homes for everything. We literally can’t move for boxes, and the thing that’s worrying me is there are another 22 on their way from England as I write. There doesn’t seem to have been much planning about where everything was going to go, and it seems fairly certain that there is going to have to be a bloody good sort-out if we are going to get this place looking nice.