I'm not a plumber....

When I made the decision to move into my own flat, I had no idea what I was doing. In the 3.5 years I have lived in the UK, I have always lived with others.

There was No. 47 - My first home away from home. Rich was probably the most normal of the occupants in that house. The others were....well...unique? I think the highlight of living there was being woken up at 4:00 in the morning by someone pounding on the door and ringing the doorbell. I had no idea who the guy was, but he insisted that he "mate" was our newest housemate and he had somehow lost track of him and he didn't have his keys and please could he come in to go to sleep. My thoughts? "I'm not really interested in dying tonight. No you may not come in. Good night."

After a few months I moved a bit further up the road (near enough next door to my place of employment) to No. 124. Another shared house, and this time with all medical students! The first batch were dirty, the second batch consisted of a lad who aired his pants in front of my bedroom door, a gay Spaniard who referred to himself as "Count" and Ro - a tea drinking Irishman who had a lovely girlfriend named Amy - friends I was happy to keep!

The upside? Quickest commute to work ever. The downside? When you can see your work from your window, you are never quite far enough away. Children took to shouting "JENNY!" up to my window - just to see if I would react. Needless to say, I had to put a few thousand houses between myself and these children.

I then relocated to West Lynn to live with my mate Wharfinton in the countryside. I Loved the countryside! Cute flat. Chavs living across the square claiming benefits by lying. A LONG distance from work. Cows. The occasional smell of fish from the docks.... The chavs provided interesting entertainment.... I saw why half of my students swear at me.... Yea.

The time came to move.

I wanted to have my own space. I ended up renting a flat in an old house on dodgy London Rd. Upon walking in, it was like entering Beirut, and not as a holiday location, but once inside the flat, it was lovely! Very chic. Very me. I took it! And then I realised I had coin operated electricity. What....

Which brings me to the present moment. The sink seemed to not be draining. Rich pulled the U bend out (because I'm a girl and I can't do things like that) and we learned that the blockage was further down the pipe. The landlord came. He saw. He got soaked. He said he'd be back tomorrow.

I'm still going to use the water. Hopefully no one is passing by tomorrow morning at about 7:06. I like my coffee around that time. And I'm not a plumber.