Today sucks I'm afraid

Well, I'm sorry to say I have not had the best ever day today. On the contrary, I have found it to be most unsatisfactory. It started fine. I had a pleasant day at work, followed by a surprisingly successful trip to Lulu Hypermarket. I won't bore you with the details.

But then it all started to go horribly wrong. First I was
unceremoniously booted out of my new book club for not turning up to the discussion last week. Their zero tolerance attitude was a little heavy handed I thought - but it was all too ernest for me anyway. My book club in London was much more my cup of tea.

We set it up about a year ago, as an excuse to get together and talk about something other than work. 'Let's set up a book club!' we said, and almost immediately the thing started to fall apart. One member refused to read a specific book, finding it too restrictive; another refused to read any books, finding it too pressurised. We decided to make it a forum to recommend good books, but we struggled to remember the plots, so we turned it into a book swap, when we remembered to bring any books... In the end we just got together, ordered a bottle of wine and gossiped about work - but now we didn't call it 'going for a drink after work' - we called it 'book club' - and that made all the difference.

Today I also had to accept that my iphone is lost. Gone forever. With a recently cancelled insurance policy and a contract that runs for another year, this is sad news. As per usual, no amount of pleading, cajoling, begging or shouting could convince O2 to have mercy on me and reduce my pointless monthly payments. In the bleak closing seconds of the phone call I made the usual threats:  "I'll stop everyone I know from signing up with you!" "I'll swamp the internet with negative reviews of your company!" But I was bluffing, and they knew it.

Then we received an email from our Texan building manager telling us that the monthly rental cost she had agreed with us, prior to our moving in two weeks ago, is too low and now she's going to put it up. "But the monthly rent is on the contract you had us sign two weeks ago" - we explain. "Sorry for the confusion" says she "but my boss won't sign the contract until you agree to pay more". Can this be true? We've signed the contract, paid a months rent and a deposit and moved in, but the owner of the flat refuses to sign? I feel like I've stepped into a parallel universe. You want us to pay more? For a flat that smells of mould? ARE YOU MAD? But I fear the answer is yes, yes they are mad. So now we're thinking of moving house again, preferably to somewhere that doesn't smell of mould this time. At least I'll have more time on my hands for house hunting, now I'm no longer a member of that book club...