Apologies for the gross lack of updates. I'm just not much of a blogger.
But the bigger disappointment for me is that I still live in London. On to the fifth place then.
I was sick of the rude drug addicts, vermin, and freezing conditions in the previous hole I was renting but I didn't want to get a taxi to move my stuff because it's a pain and it's expensive. Fortunately, I found a new place within walking distance.
So I moved in. No roommate and it was a small room but slightly bigger than the box room in Tottenham. The window wouldn't open, however so...the place became like a jungle. Theres horrible ventilation in the houses in this country so if you don't open the windows, mold grows all over. That's what happened. After three months living in thie place, I ended up having to throw out a lot of my clothes and my $200 mink hat that I bought in Finland was also destroyed.
But I'm jumping ahead. The place had about four Indian guys and an aboriginal Australian. I would cook hamburgers and these Indian guys would get offended. They wouldnt make occassional comments about how I dont have to eat hamburgers because theres good vegetarian options and they'd close the kitchen door when I was cooking.
I understand that they're Hindu or whatever, but it's absurd to push their beliefs on me and expect me not to eat beef. If they're that devout, they should have let another Indian person into the place instead of an American.
So these Indian people started to come and go. One would move out and they'd be replaced by another Indian person. I never really talked to any of them so I don't know who was who.
It also was quite a struggle to get a key to this place. When I first moved in, I was told that there was only one key among the four Indian guys. So I asked them why they don't just make copies. They said "theyre busy". They were students. How busy could they have been? Even if they work full time, nobody is too busy to stop and get a key made. Eventually, they gave me their key so I had to open the door for them fairly often.
But the most outrageous thing I had to put up with is that I was asked to leave whenever the landlord came over. The reason -- this asshole who rented the place to me (and lived in the house) wasn't authorized to do so. He was required to tell the landlord every time somebody moved out and the landlord would then find a replacement. And the landlord only wanted to rent to students because he gets tax benefits for doing this or something.
But this asshole thought he would let anybody in and then tell them to leave when the landlord came over. Never mentioned this to me before I got the place, of course.
So every week I'd have to go for a walk for an hour or so until this asshole called me saying its ok to come back. Totally ridiculous.
This went on for a couple months. Then for reasons that I don't remember, this asshole told the landlord that he was renting the place out to random people. So the landlord told him that everybody has to move out, including him.
I had recently quit my job, by the way, so wasnt in a position to find yet another place. Anyway, the landlord came in and said everybody has to go. I talked to this asshole who rented the place to me and he said that he's trying to convince the landlord to at least let him stay because hes a student and almost finished with his studies. Well, great.
In the end, he did convince the landlord to let him stay. And I saw an ad by him advertising the rooms. This time, he specified that you have to be a student and you'd have to be approved by the landlord. Everybody else had to move out, though.
The guy was a total cock. He also asked me to vaccuum my room before I left. I said "what's the landlord going to do?" and he said "nothing, but it was clean when you came in so it should be clean when you leave". I informed him that it wasnt clean when I moved in (which was true) but he disagreed.
A real asshole. And a lot of my stuff had to be thrown out because mold was growing on it.
Next update (whenever that may be) I'll talk about the current place Im at. Or maybe by the time I write it, it'll be the previous place.
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
Tuesday, 19 August 2008
A call from an ex-flatmate
Hey, Legin in London fans. Apologies for not posting in a while. I was checking out this map counter on the bottom of the page, and its pretty interesting. Visitors from across the globe. Most visitors are from right here in craptacular England. No surprises there. But Im also popular in France, a couple of countries in central Europe that I cant identify, and Finland! Finland is great. Always appreciate the Finno-Ugric visitors.
Also rather popular in my homeland. Some visitors from New York (or maybe New England), Florida, some Midwestern/Southern border state I cant identify, and California. Im even loved south of the border in Mexico City!
The Far East also digs reading about how awful London is. Some Sri Lankan fans. I guess because I've written about Sri Lankan flatmates. But the site is also a hit in South Korea, some Southeast Asian country I cant identify, and Australia!
Great. The world-wide appeal of a blog about how crappy London is evident.
So recently, I received a phone call from an ex-flatmate. Some guy from Sri Lanka who lived in the place I talked about in my previous entry (not the drug addict, though).
Anyway, I wondered why he called me. I didnt answer, by the way. But I bet it was because when I bought a Freeview box recently, the cashier wanted my name and address. I told them I wouldnt give it, but they said it was a legal requirement. So I gave a fake name (real first name, but used my mother's last name) and gave the address of this place I used to live at.
I used false information because in London (and throughout this shit country) you need to pay for a license if you own a tv. A license is good for one year and costs something insane like £150. Thats three hundred American dollars. All just because you have a tv.
Anyway, I bet the tv license people stopped by this old place of mine. They deserve it, though. That place was a TOTAL dump, but the guy who "owned" it (I think just sublet it out) was an accountant. You telling me an accountant cant keep a decent place? Heres my list of grievance about that place:
1. No shower for the first two months. We bathed using a BUCKET IN THE TUB! Wow. They might have been used to that being from Sri Lanka, but its crazy to live like that in London.
2. Cockroaches and mice ruled the kitchen. A few mice came into my bedroom as well. Fucking nasty.
3. The guy stopped buying toilet paper about two months before I left. So for those two months...there was no toilet paper. Had to just rinse in the shower (by this time, a shower had been installed).
4. Guy cut off the internet, about three months before I left, due to alleged phone calls by the police over underage pornography downloading. I dont think anybody was even doing that. The guy knew nothing about computers and I dont know what happened, but I really doubt it was the police. Or anybody.
5. Gay Indian flatmate was REALLY over the top.
6. Drug addicted flatmate didnt understand boundaries. He would come into the bedroom whenever he wanted. Wouldnt knock. Borrow money. Demand more money. Ate ALL of my food. Left the boxes, though. Used my George Foreman grill and never cleaned it. Kept my tv for weeks at a time.
7. "Landlord" (subletter) wouldnt let me try to get housing benefits because then he'd have to pay the taxes that he rightfully owed for renting the place out.
8. My roommate was a psycho Polish asshole and accountant subletter did nothing about it.
9. Accountant subletter once called me while I was work to complain that I didnt clean the bathroom well enough. Cant that information wait? And I think I cleaned it well enough, by the way.
10. Windows in my room wouldnt close. Also, no working radiator in my room. So the place was fucking freezing in the winter.
Probably some other stuff. The other two Sri Lankan guys who lived there were alright but this accountant subletter was a real tight ass who lived in squalor rather than spend money to fix the place up. I mean, TOILET PAPER was too much of an expense for him. He deserves a visit from the tv license people.
But anyway, when I was there nobody had a tv other than me (or the drug addict when he had MY tv). So if this is still the case, they dont have to pay for any license.
Next update: the house down the street from this Sri Lankan place, full of Indian dickheads and one aboriginee Australian dickhead.
Also rather popular in my homeland. Some visitors from New York (or maybe New England), Florida, some Midwestern/Southern border state I cant identify, and California. Im even loved south of the border in Mexico City!
The Far East also digs reading about how awful London is. Some Sri Lankan fans. I guess because I've written about Sri Lankan flatmates. But the site is also a hit in South Korea, some Southeast Asian country I cant identify, and Australia!
Great. The world-wide appeal of a blog about how crappy London is evident.
So recently, I received a phone call from an ex-flatmate. Some guy from Sri Lanka who lived in the place I talked about in my previous entry (not the drug addict, though).
Anyway, I wondered why he called me. I didnt answer, by the way. But I bet it was because when I bought a Freeview box recently, the cashier wanted my name and address. I told them I wouldnt give it, but they said it was a legal requirement. So I gave a fake name (real first name, but used my mother's last name) and gave the address of this place I used to live at.
I used false information because in London (and throughout this shit country) you need to pay for a license if you own a tv. A license is good for one year and costs something insane like £150. Thats three hundred American dollars. All just because you have a tv.
Anyway, I bet the tv license people stopped by this old place of mine. They deserve it, though. That place was a TOTAL dump, but the guy who "owned" it (I think just sublet it out) was an accountant. You telling me an accountant cant keep a decent place? Heres my list of grievance about that place:
1. No shower for the first two months. We bathed using a BUCKET IN THE TUB! Wow. They might have been used to that being from Sri Lanka, but its crazy to live like that in London.
2. Cockroaches and mice ruled the kitchen. A few mice came into my bedroom as well. Fucking nasty.
3. The guy stopped buying toilet paper about two months before I left. So for those two months...there was no toilet paper. Had to just rinse in the shower (by this time, a shower had been installed).
4. Guy cut off the internet, about three months before I left, due to alleged phone calls by the police over underage pornography downloading. I dont think anybody was even doing that. The guy knew nothing about computers and I dont know what happened, but I really doubt it was the police. Or anybody.
5. Gay Indian flatmate was REALLY over the top.
6. Drug addicted flatmate didnt understand boundaries. He would come into the bedroom whenever he wanted. Wouldnt knock. Borrow money. Demand more money. Ate ALL of my food. Left the boxes, though. Used my George Foreman grill and never cleaned it. Kept my tv for weeks at a time.
7. "Landlord" (subletter) wouldnt let me try to get housing benefits because then he'd have to pay the taxes that he rightfully owed for renting the place out.
8. My roommate was a psycho Polish asshole and accountant subletter did nothing about it.
9. Accountant subletter once called me while I was work to complain that I didnt clean the bathroom well enough. Cant that information wait? And I think I cleaned it well enough, by the way.
10. Windows in my room wouldnt close. Also, no working radiator in my room. So the place was fucking freezing in the winter.
Probably some other stuff. The other two Sri Lankan guys who lived there were alright but this accountant subletter was a real tight ass who lived in squalor rather than spend money to fix the place up. I mean, TOILET PAPER was too much of an expense for him. He deserves a visit from the tv license people.
But anyway, when I was there nobody had a tv other than me (or the drug addict when he had MY tv). So if this is still the case, they dont have to pay for any license.
Next update: the house down the street from this Sri Lankan place, full of Indian dickheads and one aboriginee Australian dickhead.
Tuesday, 12 February 2008
Thieving Recovering(?) Drug Addict Flatmate (a retrospective)
I know I promised more information on my former gay Indian flatmate, but then I realized that theres really not much more to say about him. He was gay, he was Indian, and he was annoying. He would regularly ask me to eat with him, and to go out, etc. And we did go out a few times along with this Polish guy. He was creepy and would come on to me regularly. There was also a time when he was crying in the kitchen because of something the leaseholder said to him and I just pretended to be asleep so as not to deal with that shit.
Anyway, the better story here is the recovering drug addicted flatmate. He was from Sri Lanka. Been in the country for maybe five years, though. Actually, all of these Sri Lankan guys had been in London for at least 3 years, I'd say.
In any event, this guy came in after I was there for maybe 6 months. And within a month, I'd move out. Largely because of him.
He was a really obnoxious, agressive guy. Not in a physically theatening way, but he would push himself on everybody.
I guess the first example of this is when he asked to borrow my tv. Now, nobody has ever asked to borrow my television before or after him, but his explanation was reasonable (as far as tv-borrowing goes). Basically, he said that he has a tv, but its still at his old place and he wants to play his PS2.
I couldnt understand why he didnt just bring his PS2 to my room and he could have played there, but...I figured he had his reasons. And besides, he was going to get his tv soon. He said so himself. Any day now. He'll be getting his tv back.
Couple weeks later, he still had my tv. Finally, I asked for it back. He gave it but...it made several trips back and forth during the following couple weeks. He would ask for it, I would reluctantly agree, a few days would pass, I'd ask for it back, and then the next day he'd ask for it again. This would repeat for some time.
One time I finally said that no, he can not have the tv. He became rather argumentative and said that I have a computer so I can watch tv on that, and that it would be the last time, and how bored he is, et cetera.
It was really really painful. He would also come in and watch tv semi-regularly. This was often late at night which I didnt mind, but it bothered my obnoxious roommate. So its tough to say whether this was a good thing or not.
Oh and he also borrowed money. And not in a nice way. One time he asked for 50 pounds. I had a job by this time, and he asked me right after work, so I wasnt thinking and agreed.
He didnt need the money that second, so said he'd be back in a little while for the money. About an hour later, he comes back and by this time I had time to think. I didnt want to give this guy £50. I didnt have £50 to spare. So I agreed to give him £20.
He wasnt happy with this and argued for some time. "You said I could have £50" and so on. I told him I couldnt afford it. I also asked what its for. He said it was to get medicine for his girlfriend. It was probably to get "medicine" for himself, though.
Anyway, just as I was about to take the £20 back from him, he agreed that borrowing £20 was enough, and left. He paid it back in two £10 installments. He for more money a week later and I flat out refused. This seemed to put an end to it.
One day, he was asking how much money I was making and this sort of thing. He revealed that he found a job in an off-license for like £3/hour and that he used to manage a supermarket but was fired because he got involved with drugs.
So I was sympathetic to his problems, but borrowing tv's...its just bizarre.
There was also a time when I was on the computer talking to some random Asian lunatic...trying to get something going with her on MSN...and he sat right next to me and read every message. He was in the room to watch tv, but thought it would be ok to eavesdrop on my MSNing. It wasnt. But what could I say? The guy was unwell.
There were also a few times when he would come in late at night to watch cricket or something. "His" country of Sri Lanka was playing. And he would take his shoes off...he was coming from work...and just the worst smell you can imagine. It was really hard to endure.
He also stole things. For example, he kept asking to use my mobile charger. I had no problem with this. Well, I did because it was every single day but...it wasnt so bad. But then he started to using it without asking. He would come in and take it while I was out. And not tell me about it. So I was looking for my charger and it was in his room. Completely ridiculous.
Food was another big problem. He considered any food in the kitchen to be his. Thats not even an exaggeration. He ate all of my food. Quite honestly. Didnt ask. He also ate the Polish guy's food. And everybody else's, presumably. I had six frozen hamburgers and he ate all six of them. He left the box, though. I guess he was hoping that I wouldnt notice. Why would I leave an empty box in the freezer though?
And he would cook these hamburgers on my George Foreman grill. And not clean it. The thing was absoultely filthy. So one day, I took it out of the kitchen and kept it in my room. He wasnt happy with this. Asked if I could put it back in the kitchen. I said he has to start cleaning it. He said he would. He didnt, really. He'd wipe it down a little after he would cook one of my hamburgers on it, but it wasnt what anyone would consider "clean".
This all happpened within about a month. The Polish guy had left during this time too. So naturally, I went to the internet to find a new place to live. I found a place literally across the street.
And this tv-borrowing guy asked me why I moving. He had to know it was because of his insane behavior. But I said that I dont want to have a roommate.
Tune in next time to find out just how incredibly shit this next place was.
Anyway, the better story here is the recovering drug addicted flatmate. He was from Sri Lanka. Been in the country for maybe five years, though. Actually, all of these Sri Lankan guys had been in London for at least 3 years, I'd say.
In any event, this guy came in after I was there for maybe 6 months. And within a month, I'd move out. Largely because of him.
He was a really obnoxious, agressive guy. Not in a physically theatening way, but he would push himself on everybody.
I guess the first example of this is when he asked to borrow my tv. Now, nobody has ever asked to borrow my television before or after him, but his explanation was reasonable (as far as tv-borrowing goes). Basically, he said that he has a tv, but its still at his old place and he wants to play his PS2.
I couldnt understand why he didnt just bring his PS2 to my room and he could have played there, but...I figured he had his reasons. And besides, he was going to get his tv soon. He said so himself. Any day now. He'll be getting his tv back.
Couple weeks later, he still had my tv. Finally, I asked for it back. He gave it but...it made several trips back and forth during the following couple weeks. He would ask for it, I would reluctantly agree, a few days would pass, I'd ask for it back, and then the next day he'd ask for it again. This would repeat for some time.
One time I finally said that no, he can not have the tv. He became rather argumentative and said that I have a computer so I can watch tv on that, and that it would be the last time, and how bored he is, et cetera.
It was really really painful. He would also come in and watch tv semi-regularly. This was often late at night which I didnt mind, but it bothered my obnoxious roommate. So its tough to say whether this was a good thing or not.
Oh and he also borrowed money. And not in a nice way. One time he asked for 50 pounds. I had a job by this time, and he asked me right after work, so I wasnt thinking and agreed.
He didnt need the money that second, so said he'd be back in a little while for the money. About an hour later, he comes back and by this time I had time to think. I didnt want to give this guy £50. I didnt have £50 to spare. So I agreed to give him £20.
He wasnt happy with this and argued for some time. "You said I could have £50" and so on. I told him I couldnt afford it. I also asked what its for. He said it was to get medicine for his girlfriend. It was probably to get "medicine" for himself, though.
Anyway, just as I was about to take the £20 back from him, he agreed that borrowing £20 was enough, and left. He paid it back in two £10 installments. He for more money a week later and I flat out refused. This seemed to put an end to it.
One day, he was asking how much money I was making and this sort of thing. He revealed that he found a job in an off-license for like £3/hour and that he used to manage a supermarket but was fired because he got involved with drugs.
So I was sympathetic to his problems, but borrowing tv's...its just bizarre.
There was also a time when I was on the computer talking to some random Asian lunatic...trying to get something going with her on MSN...and he sat right next to me and read every message. He was in the room to watch tv, but thought it would be ok to eavesdrop on my MSNing. It wasnt. But what could I say? The guy was unwell.
There were also a few times when he would come in late at night to watch cricket or something. "His" country of Sri Lanka was playing. And he would take his shoes off...he was coming from work...and just the worst smell you can imagine. It was really hard to endure.
He also stole things. For example, he kept asking to use my mobile charger. I had no problem with this. Well, I did because it was every single day but...it wasnt so bad. But then he started to using it without asking. He would come in and take it while I was out. And not tell me about it. So I was looking for my charger and it was in his room. Completely ridiculous.
Food was another big problem. He considered any food in the kitchen to be his. Thats not even an exaggeration. He ate all of my food. Quite honestly. Didnt ask. He also ate the Polish guy's food. And everybody else's, presumably. I had six frozen hamburgers and he ate all six of them. He left the box, though. I guess he was hoping that I wouldnt notice. Why would I leave an empty box in the freezer though?
And he would cook these hamburgers on my George Foreman grill. And not clean it. The thing was absoultely filthy. So one day, I took it out of the kitchen and kept it in my room. He wasnt happy with this. Asked if I could put it back in the kitchen. I said he has to start cleaning it. He said he would. He didnt, really. He'd wipe it down a little after he would cook one of my hamburgers on it, but it wasnt what anyone would consider "clean".
This all happpened within about a month. The Polish guy had left during this time too. So naturally, I went to the internet to find a new place to live. I found a place literally across the street.
And this tv-borrowing guy asked me why I moving. He had to know it was because of his insane behavior. But I said that I dont want to have a roommate.
Tune in next time to find out just how incredibly shit this next place was.
Sunday, 10 February 2008
My Shitty Roommate in My Fourth Place in London (a retrospective)
So this horrible Polish roommate then. First an explanation.
To American readers, you might think that when I say "roommate", I mean "somebody who shares the apartment but obviously has their own room".
No. Thats not how things are done in England. When I say roommate, I mean somebody I shared a ROOM with. A bedroom. People you share the house/apartment with but have separate bedrooms are "flatmates".
And I had three previous roommates before this Polish guy. One was an Italian guy in that shitty place in East London. He was ok, but always had some people from Italy over and some were less than pleasant people. And yeah, it really cramped the tiny shared room even more.
The second was a psycho Brazilian drug addict, also in East London.
The third was this Sri Lankan guy in this shitty place in London. Aside from putting pieces of paper on his laptop, he was actually ok.
But this Polish guy was worse incredible. He just arrived from Poland a couple months earlier. And he was 24 but totally bald. I dont mean he shaved his hair (though later he did). I mean he was bald. Not balding. Bald. The classic horseshoe shaped pattern one finds on, for example, Hulk Hogan.
I mean, Im balding myself but Im almost 30. And Im certainly not totally bald like this guy was.
Anyway, really early male pattern baldness was the least of this guy's problems. He had a degree in IT and was doing some sub-minimum wage job for a Polish company. It was IT work but, again, he was doing it for like four pounds an hour. If that. He ended up quitting.
He was unable to find a job, which, sadly caused him to spend more time at home. And I dont think I was working at the time either. I still hadnt found a job in London. And it was about a year since I moved here.
Let's just get into why this guy was a cock then.
He had no friends so kept asking me to go to pubs with him. I went because I felt sorry for him. But once there, it was boring as hell. And he found it boring as well. Drinking is genuinely dull so this isnt his fault, but he should have found some friends and gone with them instead.
The first example wasnt so bad, but heres where it gets crazy. He would watch films on his laptop when I was clearly watching television.
I mean...I would be sitting there watching tv and he would come in and start watching films on his laptop.
And I dont mean with earphones. Or even with the sound low. I mean full on sound. So loud that I couldnt hear A WORD of what I was watching. He saw absolutely nothing wrong with this. And indeed, he would tell ME to turn the tv down. Eventually, I just turned it off whenever he would do this shit. I ended up buying a Nintendo DS to keep me entertained.
After some time of this, I realized that he was never going to use headphones or show any consideration at all. So I bought headphones so I could listen to the tv. And I moved the tv next to my bed because thats the only way the cord would reach.
He actually complained about this because now he couldnt see the tv. I ended up switching beds with him instead. The other bed was closer to the tv and it was in a position so we could both see it.
He would also regularly ask me to use these headphones when he was studying (he was doing a course he found from the Job Centre which was clearly a scam) or even when he was doing NOTHING. He would be browsing the internet and tell me to use the headphones. He was not doing anything remotely important. He was just a dick.
He would also tell me to use them when he wanted to sleep. I have no problem with this. Totally reasonable. But when I wanted to sleep, he didnt give a fuck. He would watch movies, talk on Skype, listen to the radio, whatever he wanted to do.
This leads to another problem. For the last month or two of him being there, he talked on Skype CONSTANTLY. To some girl from Poland he presumably met from the internet. And he would talk to her virtually all day. Thats not even an exaggeration. Upwards of 16 hours. And well into the evening. One time, I woke up at 4am to this fucking moron yelling on Skype.
One time, I had enough and at like 3am I told him that if he wants to continue talking, he's going to have to go to the kitchen. Totally reasonable request. He should have been doing this from day one. He can easily take his laptop to the kitchen and talk there.
He said "do you see? This is how it is with you and the tv. When Im trying to sleep, I always have to ask you to use the headphones".
I said "no. I dont see." and proceeded to list my grievances. Nothing changed, though.
He was insanely rude when I was trying to sleep but demanded total silence when he was trying to sleep. It was to the point where he didnt even want me using the computer when he was sleeping. The clacking of the keys kept him awake. So he started locking his laptop so I couldnt use it at night.
I ended up buying my own computer then. I actually had to buy my own computer because this was too much of a cock to let me use his. And he used it ALL DAY. Only when he went to sleep was I able to use it. But he didnt want me using it even then because it kept the poor bald baby awake.
So I used mine. I didnt have a wireless thing, though so I had to use a cable to connect to his computer in order to use the internet. He was ok with this for a while (indeed, it was his idea) but soon he decided that I was again typing too loud. I should point out, that I was typing at like 10pm. He didnt like it, because he recently found a really shitty job in a shoe factory or something and had to wake up early.
So he started disconnecting the internet when he went to sleep. I said "are you kidding" and he said "come on! It's my computer!".
I bought a wireless thing then. And used the computer as much as I wanted. He actually started complaining that I was CLICKING too loud. I wasnt even typing. Just CLICKING was too loud for him.
I finally had enough and complained to the leaseholder. He agreed that his behavior was insane, but said to put up with it because this Polish guy was leaving in a week or so.
I mean...just a complete moron. Then he would come back every week or so to collect mail and try to be buddy buddy with me. I gave one sylable replies but he didnt seem to get the message. He couldnt understand why I wanted nothing to do with him. I moved myself about a month later.
Next time: OBNOXIOUS GAY FLATMATE!
To American readers, you might think that when I say "roommate", I mean "somebody who shares the apartment but obviously has their own room".
No. Thats not how things are done in England. When I say roommate, I mean somebody I shared a ROOM with. A bedroom. People you share the house/apartment with but have separate bedrooms are "flatmates".
And I had three previous roommates before this Polish guy. One was an Italian guy in that shitty place in East London. He was ok, but always had some people from Italy over and some were less than pleasant people. And yeah, it really cramped the tiny shared room even more.
The second was a psycho Brazilian drug addict, also in East London.
The third was this Sri Lankan guy in this shitty place in London. Aside from putting pieces of paper on his laptop, he was actually ok.
But this Polish guy was worse incredible. He just arrived from Poland a couple months earlier. And he was 24 but totally bald. I dont mean he shaved his hair (though later he did). I mean he was bald. Not balding. Bald. The classic horseshoe shaped pattern one finds on, for example, Hulk Hogan.
I mean, Im balding myself but Im almost 30. And Im certainly not totally bald like this guy was.
Anyway, really early male pattern baldness was the least of this guy's problems. He had a degree in IT and was doing some sub-minimum wage job for a Polish company. It was IT work but, again, he was doing it for like four pounds an hour. If that. He ended up quitting.
He was unable to find a job, which, sadly caused him to spend more time at home. And I dont think I was working at the time either. I still hadnt found a job in London. And it was about a year since I moved here.
Let's just get into why this guy was a cock then.
He had no friends so kept asking me to go to pubs with him. I went because I felt sorry for him. But once there, it was boring as hell. And he found it boring as well. Drinking is genuinely dull so this isnt his fault, but he should have found some friends and gone with them instead.
The first example wasnt so bad, but heres where it gets crazy. He would watch films on his laptop when I was clearly watching television.
I mean...I would be sitting there watching tv and he would come in and start watching films on his laptop.
And I dont mean with earphones. Or even with the sound low. I mean full on sound. So loud that I couldnt hear A WORD of what I was watching. He saw absolutely nothing wrong with this. And indeed, he would tell ME to turn the tv down. Eventually, I just turned it off whenever he would do this shit. I ended up buying a Nintendo DS to keep me entertained.
After some time of this, I realized that he was never going to use headphones or show any consideration at all. So I bought headphones so I could listen to the tv. And I moved the tv next to my bed because thats the only way the cord would reach.
He actually complained about this because now he couldnt see the tv. I ended up switching beds with him instead. The other bed was closer to the tv and it was in a position so we could both see it.
He would also regularly ask me to use these headphones when he was studying (he was doing a course he found from the Job Centre which was clearly a scam) or even when he was doing NOTHING. He would be browsing the internet and tell me to use the headphones. He was not doing anything remotely important. He was just a dick.
He would also tell me to use them when he wanted to sleep. I have no problem with this. Totally reasonable. But when I wanted to sleep, he didnt give a fuck. He would watch movies, talk on Skype, listen to the radio, whatever he wanted to do.
This leads to another problem. For the last month or two of him being there, he talked on Skype CONSTANTLY. To some girl from Poland he presumably met from the internet. And he would talk to her virtually all day. Thats not even an exaggeration. Upwards of 16 hours. And well into the evening. One time, I woke up at 4am to this fucking moron yelling on Skype.
One time, I had enough and at like 3am I told him that if he wants to continue talking, he's going to have to go to the kitchen. Totally reasonable request. He should have been doing this from day one. He can easily take his laptop to the kitchen and talk there.
He said "do you see? This is how it is with you and the tv. When Im trying to sleep, I always have to ask you to use the headphones".
I said "no. I dont see." and proceeded to list my grievances. Nothing changed, though.
He was insanely rude when I was trying to sleep but demanded total silence when he was trying to sleep. It was to the point where he didnt even want me using the computer when he was sleeping. The clacking of the keys kept him awake. So he started locking his laptop so I couldnt use it at night.
I ended up buying my own computer then. I actually had to buy my own computer because this was too much of a cock to let me use his. And he used it ALL DAY. Only when he went to sleep was I able to use it. But he didnt want me using it even then because it kept the poor bald baby awake.
So I used mine. I didnt have a wireless thing, though so I had to use a cable to connect to his computer in order to use the internet. He was ok with this for a while (indeed, it was his idea) but soon he decided that I was again typing too loud. I should point out, that I was typing at like 10pm. He didnt like it, because he recently found a really shitty job in a shoe factory or something and had to wake up early.
So he started disconnecting the internet when he went to sleep. I said "are you kidding" and he said "come on! It's my computer!".
I bought a wireless thing then. And used the computer as much as I wanted. He actually started complaining that I was CLICKING too loud. I wasnt even typing. Just CLICKING was too loud for him.
I finally had enough and complained to the leaseholder. He agreed that his behavior was insane, but said to put up with it because this Polish guy was leaving in a week or so.
I mean...just a complete moron. Then he would come back every week or so to collect mail and try to be buddy buddy with me. I gave one sylable replies but he didnt seem to get the message. He couldnt understand why I wanted nothing to do with him. I moved myself about a month later.
Next time: OBNOXIOUS GAY FLATMATE!
Friday, 11 January 2008
My Fourth Place in London (a retrospective)
First of all, I'd like to wish a happy new year to my legions of readers. Hopefully by this time next year, I'll be writing from a civilized country.
I left off with being evicted from a place in North London by some deeply religious Jews. So after we were illegally evicted, I stayed in a bed and breakfast for a few days while looking for another place to live. It was ok, but expensive.
I decided that I wanted to get out of London. But I didn't have enough money to properly leave this shit city. So the furthest I got was Wembley. It's a borrough in a western suburb of London.
But this was no white picket fence, good schools, and low estate tax suburb as one sees in so many Hollywood depictions of America. This place was as shit as anything I saw in London, but instead of Muslims or Jews, the place was full of South Asians. Indians, basically but after living here for a while I realized that there's actually a big Sri Lankan population as well.
And indeed, the horrible place I found was full of guys from Sri Lanka. Five of them. Packed in a little run down apartment over a Wilkinson's (a shitty retail store).
There's just so much I can say, it's difficult to think where to begin. Well, the place was infested. Both cockroaches and mice had a home here. Also, the shower didn't work for the first three months or so that I was there. Had to bathe using a little bucket that was in the bathroom. Also, the hot water didn't really work.
Perhaps it's best to just leave it at that. I can't possibly do this place justice (nor any of the other shit London places I've lived in). Let's just say it was truly awful.
As for my roommate, he was reasonably ok. Guy from Sri Lanka, of course. Then he went to Bermuda for some reason. But he had a curious habit.
About a month before going to Bermuda, he bought a laptop. Previously, he was using some ancient desktop computer. I didn't have a computer so I used his maybe three times to check my email. Three times in the 3 months or so that I was there. And I always asked him first.
But when he bought this laptop, he always placed sheets of paper over the keyboard. It was an attempt to get me not to use it. If he was that worried about it, all he had to do was say "if you need to use the computer, please use the desktop computer" and that would have been clear enough. But instead he put sheets of paper over this laptop's keyboard. What an insane security measure. And obviously quite rude.
So yeah, then he went to Bermuda. And I had the room to myself for about a month. Well, I still shared with the mice I guess. Oh, and the bedbugs. I didnt mention that. I would wake up with bug bites. Always nice.
There was also a really obnoxious gay Indian guy who moved in about a month after I did. He would come on to me and he was really aggressive and just bizarre. I think this is another thing that I'll just leave. I can't possibly describe it.
I suppose I'll leave it at that. My next post will be dedicated entirely to the roommate I got after this guy from Sri Lanka left. A real asshole who deserves his own entry.
So yeah, I paid £50/week to live in this dive. Inclusive of bills and vermin.
I left off with being evicted from a place in North London by some deeply religious Jews. So after we were illegally evicted, I stayed in a bed and breakfast for a few days while looking for another place to live. It was ok, but expensive.
I decided that I wanted to get out of London. But I didn't have enough money to properly leave this shit city. So the furthest I got was Wembley. It's a borrough in a western suburb of London.
But this was no white picket fence, good schools, and low estate tax suburb as one sees in so many Hollywood depictions of America. This place was as shit as anything I saw in London, but instead of Muslims or Jews, the place was full of South Asians. Indians, basically but after living here for a while I realized that there's actually a big Sri Lankan population as well.
And indeed, the horrible place I found was full of guys from Sri Lanka. Five of them. Packed in a little run down apartment over a Wilkinson's (a shitty retail store).
There's just so much I can say, it's difficult to think where to begin. Well, the place was infested. Both cockroaches and mice had a home here. Also, the shower didn't work for the first three months or so that I was there. Had to bathe using a little bucket that was in the bathroom. Also, the hot water didn't really work.
Perhaps it's best to just leave it at that. I can't possibly do this place justice (nor any of the other shit London places I've lived in). Let's just say it was truly awful.
As for my roommate, he was reasonably ok. Guy from Sri Lanka, of course. Then he went to Bermuda for some reason. But he had a curious habit.
About a month before going to Bermuda, he bought a laptop. Previously, he was using some ancient desktop computer. I didn't have a computer so I used his maybe three times to check my email. Three times in the 3 months or so that I was there. And I always asked him first.
But when he bought this laptop, he always placed sheets of paper over the keyboard. It was an attempt to get me not to use it. If he was that worried about it, all he had to do was say "if you need to use the computer, please use the desktop computer" and that would have been clear enough. But instead he put sheets of paper over this laptop's keyboard. What an insane security measure. And obviously quite rude.
So yeah, then he went to Bermuda. And I had the room to myself for about a month. Well, I still shared with the mice I guess. Oh, and the bedbugs. I didnt mention that. I would wake up with bug bites. Always nice.
There was also a really obnoxious gay Indian guy who moved in about a month after I did. He would come on to me and he was really aggressive and just bizarre. I think this is another thing that I'll just leave. I can't possibly describe it.
I suppose I'll leave it at that. My next post will be dedicated entirely to the roommate I got after this guy from Sri Lanka left. A real asshole who deserves his own entry.
So yeah, I paid £50/week to live in this dive. Inclusive of bills and vermin.
Sunday, 18 November 2007
My Third Place in London (a retrospective)
I had to leave this place with the Brazilians after only three weeks to a month because the landlord was increasing the rent and the leaseholder didnt want to pay it. This is probably something he should have considered before moving a new person in. But who needs courtesy?
I was tired of living with lunatics so I figured this time I was going to get a place where I DIDN'T have to share a room with a complete stranger. But I still didnt have a job so I had to keep it cheap.
I ended up in a place in North London called Tottenham. Its full of Jews. The sort who grow beards, carry bibles, and wear long black coats and peculiar wide-brimmed black hats.
The front yards was full of garbage. There were a couple of matresses there, broken chairs, and things that should have been discarded ages ago. Honestly the front yard was full of piles of refuse.
I took it anyway because I didnt have to share the room. It was in a house with about 6 people. This would later increase to about 12.
And the room I had was a box room. If youre from a civilized country, you might not know what this means. Its basically a tiny room that can fit a single bed and...basically nothing else. Its not even an exaggeration. There wasnt enough room to even stand next to the bed.
And the housemates were...all Polish. Loud, drunk, drug-addicted sorts.
But people from other nationalities would come and go. Some people only lived in this place for a week. Thats how bad it was.
As for cutlery, there really wasnt any. So I had to buy a bowl. Fortunately, they had a couple spoons so I was able to eat cereal. Although, speaking of food anything that was left out was often stolen by some Polish guys who basically considered the house theirs. I left notes saying "please dont steal my food because I dont work and cant afford this" but it didnt help. Soon they were stealing anything. Even peanut butter. So I had to stop buying milk or anything that needs refigeration or freezing and leave all food in my room.
Once, a Hungarian couple moved in. I have no idea why because everybody who lived in the place was a guy. But the girl was a complete whore so she seemed ok with it. She and some French goth would constantly flirt with eachother when her boyfriend was at work. It was well known by everybody except this Hungarian guy.
And there used to b e pictures of women from porn magazines tacked on the bulletin board in the picture (by these Polish guys). But when this couple moved in, they managed to stop that practice.
It was really a horrible place. There was a window above the bathroom door that should have been opaque. But it wasnt. So you could see right into the bathroom.
I applied for Job Seekers Allowance at this new place. I had been receiving it while I was in East London. But my application was rejected. I appealed but the appeal takes months.
So I was unable to pay the rent. And I regularly complained to some Frenchmen who came in to collect the rent that I'm not going to pay full rental price because my food keeps getting stolen and you're doing nothing about it.
They also converted a little sitting room into another bedroom in order to cram more people in. And there was a Polish guy who slept on the living room couch for like two months. They would smoke marijuana and drink constantly in there.
Theres loads more I can say about this place, but Ill leave it at that. One day, the Jewish landlord must have decided that he wants to refurbish the place. But instead of telling everybody that they have to leave, he just turned the electricity off. At least now nobody had to pay for rent.
This went on for some time. A lot of people left during this. We called the French guy to complain but he said he wasnt working for this Jew anymore so its not his problem (this would later turn out to be false).
Some French guy who lived there was so pissed off about this that he destroyed the toilet and took the frame off of his room's door. Just completely destroyed both of them. The toilet was unusable as was the door.
I went to the housing council about this, and they (eventually) came in to see the place. And I gave a statement. They said they would look into it, and the guy who came over agreed that the place was in a horrible state and something needed to be done. But nothing ever was in spite of my repeated calls to the place. I was volunteering at the time, so the Polish guy was supposed to go to the housing council for some appointment with them. But he overslept. Didnt seem to really care.
There was also a situation where a French guy living there stole some marijuana from the Polish guy who slept on the couch. He stole it because he had an expensive lighter stolen from him (clearly from the Polish guys). He left shortly after because there were threats to his safety.
After numerous confrontations with the Jew landlords, and the housing people doing nothing about it, a large Jewish man came in and intimidated and threatened everybody who was remaining in the place. The next day, they locked the doors. We called the police. Police did nothing. And I managed to get out of there.
Again, loads more I can say about the place but it would just be far too long. I was there for about three months. I paid £60/week for the experience (not including the final six weeks or so when there was no electricity...and later no gas either). Bills were included, but there really werent any bills that needed paying in the last six weeks anyway.
I was tired of living with lunatics so I figured this time I was going to get a place where I DIDN'T have to share a room with a complete stranger. But I still didnt have a job so I had to keep it cheap.
I ended up in a place in North London called Tottenham. Its full of Jews. The sort who grow beards, carry bibles, and wear long black coats and peculiar wide-brimmed black hats.
The front yards was full of garbage. There were a couple of matresses there, broken chairs, and things that should have been discarded ages ago. Honestly the front yard was full of piles of refuse.
I took it anyway because I didnt have to share the room. It was in a house with about 6 people. This would later increase to about 12.
And the room I had was a box room. If youre from a civilized country, you might not know what this means. Its basically a tiny room that can fit a single bed and...basically nothing else. Its not even an exaggeration. There wasnt enough room to even stand next to the bed.
And the housemates were...all Polish. Loud, drunk, drug-addicted sorts.
But people from other nationalities would come and go. Some people only lived in this place for a week. Thats how bad it was.
As for cutlery, there really wasnt any. So I had to buy a bowl. Fortunately, they had a couple spoons so I was able to eat cereal. Although, speaking of food anything that was left out was often stolen by some Polish guys who basically considered the house theirs. I left notes saying "please dont steal my food because I dont work and cant afford this" but it didnt help. Soon they were stealing anything. Even peanut butter. So I had to stop buying milk or anything that needs refigeration or freezing and leave all food in my room.
Once, a Hungarian couple moved in. I have no idea why because everybody who lived in the place was a guy. But the girl was a complete whore so she seemed ok with it. She and some French goth would constantly flirt with eachother when her boyfriend was at work. It was well known by everybody except this Hungarian guy.
And there used to b e pictures of women from porn magazines tacked on the bulletin board in the picture (by these Polish guys). But when this couple moved in, they managed to stop that practice.
It was really a horrible place. There was a window above the bathroom door that should have been opaque. But it wasnt. So you could see right into the bathroom.
I applied for Job Seekers Allowance at this new place. I had been receiving it while I was in East London. But my application was rejected. I appealed but the appeal takes months.
So I was unable to pay the rent. And I regularly complained to some Frenchmen who came in to collect the rent that I'm not going to pay full rental price because my food keeps getting stolen and you're doing nothing about it.
They also converted a little sitting room into another bedroom in order to cram more people in. And there was a Polish guy who slept on the living room couch for like two months. They would smoke marijuana and drink constantly in there.
Theres loads more I can say about this place, but Ill leave it at that. One day, the Jewish landlord must have decided that he wants to refurbish the place. But instead of telling everybody that they have to leave, he just turned the electricity off. At least now nobody had to pay for rent.
This went on for some time. A lot of people left during this. We called the French guy to complain but he said he wasnt working for this Jew anymore so its not his problem (this would later turn out to be false).
Some French guy who lived there was so pissed off about this that he destroyed the toilet and took the frame off of his room's door. Just completely destroyed both of them. The toilet was unusable as was the door.
I went to the housing council about this, and they (eventually) came in to see the place. And I gave a statement. They said they would look into it, and the guy who came over agreed that the place was in a horrible state and something needed to be done. But nothing ever was in spite of my repeated calls to the place. I was volunteering at the time, so the Polish guy was supposed to go to the housing council for some appointment with them. But he overslept. Didnt seem to really care.
There was also a situation where a French guy living there stole some marijuana from the Polish guy who slept on the couch. He stole it because he had an expensive lighter stolen from him (clearly from the Polish guys). He left shortly after because there were threats to his safety.
After numerous confrontations with the Jew landlords, and the housing people doing nothing about it, a large Jewish man came in and intimidated and threatened everybody who was remaining in the place. The next day, they locked the doors. We called the police. Police did nothing. And I managed to get out of there.
Again, loads more I can say about the place but it would just be far too long. I was there for about three months. I paid £60/week for the experience (not including the final six weeks or so when there was no electricity...and later no gas either). Bills were included, but there really werent any bills that needed paying in the last six weeks anyway.
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
My Second Place in London (a retrospective)
I had very little money when we were kicked out of this previous shit place in Bethnal Green so I didnt want to travel far for the next place in an effort to save on taxi fare.
Fortunately, I quickly found a place nearby. Unfortunately, it was also horrendous. I was still in London, after all.
This was a ground floor apartment sharing a room with a guy from Brazil. And two other Brazilian guys shared an adjacent room. And a Brazilian guy and his Latvian girlfriend shared a third room. This is the guy who held the lease, so he paid no rent (presumably) and had the nicest room.
I quickly discovered that the guy I was sharing the room with was a drug addict. He would be gone for days at a time (which is great) but when he came back he behaved in an absolutely insane manner. He was also in some mariachi band or something and considered himself to be taking part in the crazy rock and roll lifestyle.
We each had a set of dressers. His was new and nice and everything worked. Mine had a drawer missing, another drawer that didnt open, and three others that only sort of worked.
He also had a tv which he had positioned so that only he could see it. He actually expected us to watch our own separate televisions. So thats what would happen. I would be watching my tv, then he would come in and turn his tv on. He'd be watching something else and turn it up so loud that it would drown out the sound from my tv.
He also started coming in at 3 or 4 am and then watching cartoons. I should point out that we also had a little living room area that he could have watched television in at any time. But he watched in the room.
We also shared a closet and he would always push my clothes as far to the side as possible. And the only time he talked to me was to complain about getting the tv box out of the room. But there was no room to store it because he used all the storage areas.
He was an absolute mentalist drug addict and I eventually went to the leaseholder about this. He agreed that his behavior is insane and that he didn't know he would act like this. But he then said that everybody has to move anyway because he will not be renewing the lease as the landlord wants more money.
The place itself was a step above the first place I stayed in but thats saying very little.
So I stayed there three weeks. Maybe a month. And I paid £55 ($110)/week inclusive of bills for the honor.
Fortunately, I quickly found a place nearby. Unfortunately, it was also horrendous. I was still in London, after all.
This was a ground floor apartment sharing a room with a guy from Brazil. And two other Brazilian guys shared an adjacent room. And a Brazilian guy and his Latvian girlfriend shared a third room. This is the guy who held the lease, so he paid no rent (presumably) and had the nicest room.
I quickly discovered that the guy I was sharing the room with was a drug addict. He would be gone for days at a time (which is great) but when he came back he behaved in an absolutely insane manner. He was also in some mariachi band or something and considered himself to be taking part in the crazy rock and roll lifestyle.
We each had a set of dressers. His was new and nice and everything worked. Mine had a drawer missing, another drawer that didnt open, and three others that only sort of worked.
He also had a tv which he had positioned so that only he could see it. He actually expected us to watch our own separate televisions. So thats what would happen. I would be watching my tv, then he would come in and turn his tv on. He'd be watching something else and turn it up so loud that it would drown out the sound from my tv.
He also started coming in at 3 or 4 am and then watching cartoons. I should point out that we also had a little living room area that he could have watched television in at any time. But he watched in the room.
We also shared a closet and he would always push my clothes as far to the side as possible. And the only time he talked to me was to complain about getting the tv box out of the room. But there was no room to store it because he used all the storage areas.
He was an absolute mentalist drug addict and I eventually went to the leaseholder about this. He agreed that his behavior is insane and that he didn't know he would act like this. But he then said that everybody has to move anyway because he will not be renewing the lease as the landlord wants more money.
The place itself was a step above the first place I stayed in but thats saying very little.
So I stayed there three weeks. Maybe a month. And I paid £55 ($110)/week inclusive of bills for the honor.
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