on the move

dear readers, it seems that we are about to move house! as regular readers will know, the peeps have been in the financial wars lately. herself has been off work since july with stress, brought on in no small part by the horrible characters that she has come across in her job. just before christmas, with impeccable timing, her boss wrote to her to tell her that, even if she ever got round to hauling her sorry arse back into the office, her job is being made redundant.

the ever-resourceful peeps thought through the various options. pay the mortgage and keep a roof over their head, but don't eat. eat, using the money that they would have used to pay the mortgage, but get the house re-possessed. neither grabbed me, i have to say. i like my creature comforts as much as i like my grub. then they had a brainwave. they would build a house in the front garden, sell it, and use the money to pay off the mortgage. that way we got to eat and have a roof.

plans were drawn up and an application made to the local council. it seems you can't just build a house in your garden these days. the neighbours were not all that keen. the peeps have a lovely front garden with some very colourful (and indeed very useful from my point of view) trees. a house would have been something of an eyesore. the planning officer was not all that keen either. this week she rang the peeps and told them that the idea is a non-starter.

the peeps went into something of a spin. as i have already mentioned, anxiety levels rose. no-one slept. himself felt iller and iller. stress leads to high blood pressure which is no good at all for the dodgy kidneys. herself got shriller and shriller, which is no good for anyone's ears. my boy did his best to maintain order but beefburger people do not cope well with uncertainty. their beefburger tendencies get a little more pronounced. in my boy's case this has involved not being able to leave the house without being tooled up to the gills with imitation firearms and grenades and talking endlessly about the best method to use to murder the planning officer.

yesterday the peeps had a long talk and decided to move house. this will cut the mortgage down to a level they can actually afford. once a decision had been made herself swung into action. she attacked the internet with gusto, deluging estate agents with e-mails and phone calls.

this hyperactivity has paid off. the peeps have found a house, near to where himself works. it has a garden for myself and my lady friend to enjoy. it has a bedroom for my boy and one for the peeps. it has a wonderfully smart bathroom and kitchen. it even has light switches that dim (my boy loves these - i suspect that he will spend many a happy hour adjusting the lighting). and the best news of all - it is bang over the road from my good friend young rokit! i will be able to wave to him from the front window! i will even be able to pop in and visit him whenever i feel the need to have my ears chewed. and he will be able to pop over to visit me when he needs a man to man chat.

so, dear readers, things are on the up at last! i have to go now, i need to make a start on my packing...