And so we finally moved into the flat.
In the morning I had to go over and wait for the combi technician to come and turn the combi off. This required me to be present. He didn’t arrive between 10 and 12 as promised, so eventually I left. Meanwhile, the professional cleaners had arrived, and were dismantling the windowns so they oculd be cleaned from the outside. Our windows have been dismantled and reassembled many times, and will be dismantled once more when the window mechanism finally arrives and is installed.
Since I had to stay nearby in case the technician arrived we abandoned our plan of going to find furniture at this big warehouse near Yenikoy and instead walked down to Galataport which has just opened. It was good to see it open despite all the problems with it, and a number of buildings that appeared inspired by containers – appropriate for a port, perhaps, but also a bit silly when there is so much architecture these days that uses actual shipping containers. I daresay at the time the port buildings were designed it was still a fairly new look.
We bought ourselves a wifi dongle from a mobile phone shop overlooking the Marmara and then I got a call from the combi guy that he was on his way and would be there in half an hour. So I went back to the flat where the cleaning was still going on, and waited and waited. He didn’t arrive till a couple of hours later, having been stuck in epic traffic, and then it turned out I didn’t actually need to sign anything, but he did have to explain how to use the thing so I guess it wasn’t all for nothing.
So I left again, and then we got a call from the workers saying that one of the neighbours was creating a ruckus, insisting that the basement storeroom was hers. It wasn’t, as our lawyer had confirmed, so we will leave it up to the lawyer to deal with this neighbour, who is in many ways a troublemaker – she is the one who tried to shove her way into our flat a few months ago.
The cleaning was still going on, so we decided to go for dinner to a fairly high end place nearby where we were of course completely inappropriately dressed, not to mention covered in dust. But it was really nice to go to a good restaurant, it’s something we’ve fallen out of the habit of doing since the GF became vegetarian, and is something I’ve missed a great deal. There were two tables of people who looked like businessmen – all in suits and ties. At the head of one of the tables was a woman, who was clearly the most important person there, for as she spoke the entire table turned to watch her gestures. At the other table was a second woman, but a great contrast as she sat along the side, seemed to get little attention, and did not exude that air of knowing she would be listened to if she spoke.
Then we went back, and the cleaning was nearly complete. We waited for the workers to leave, and here we are in our flat. It’s a relief, but I am also so very tired, and there feels like a lot to be done. Not least, figure out how to turn the heating on.
We unpacked what we could – we must get closets as everything is on the floor. The bathroom is excellent, I must say, the shower at least, and the space we’ve carved out for it.
And now, bed, for the first time in a place that is ours. Presumably it will come to feel like it, eventually.