iDay and House Hunting

So, iDay was a dud. Or, to put it another way, I went, I saw, I did not conquer. Sniffle.

I arrived at the Institute of Education (it's over by Russel Square) at 8.40 Monday morning after spending 20 minutes playing lost and found in the surrounding area. Because I'm that kind of awesome. I interviewed with four of the five schools I was scheduled for, the fifth having filled its positions earlier in the day. The interviews themselves went well but, alas, I did not seem to be what they were looking for. Got to love coming in second. A lot. At least I still have my GPS so, you know, silver lining and all that.

How did the interviews work exactly? Well, essentially I sat in a room with other teachers waiting for consultants to come find me and direct me to the little cubbies where the school reps were interviewing. The interviews were pretty basic - strengths, weaknesses, opinions, processes, etc. - and went pretty well in and of themselves. We were served lunch (salad bar and buns with a choice of lasagna or some kind of vegetarian stew, steamed veggies and potatoes), which was pretty awesome, and I'll be paid for the day so, all-in-all, not to bad a day just disappointing results.

*sigh*

Friday night, Christa stayed the night. We ordered Chinese and watched Kindergarten Cop. On Saturday, we went house hunting. We had three appointments set up, all in the Wembley area since the prices are a mite cheaper up there.

#1 - Wembley Central
We had to go back three times because the landlady was a bit of a flake. Finally got inside to see it was caught in the middle of construction and, oh yeah, the two rooms she was advertising? They were in different houses. FAIL.

#2 - Wembley Park
It was on top of the world's steepest hill so right there I was not a fan. The house itself was something of a slum with tape on the windows, dirt and grim on every surface, stains on the beds I'd rather not think about and...well, I'd prefer just to forget the entire viewing. *shudder* I wouldn't have been the least bit surprised to learn there were rats nesting in the walls. I exaggerate nothing. FAIL.

#3 - Alperton (pictured above)
You know what they say about third time being the charm? Turns out it's true. The location was great - within walking distance to both the Piccadilly and Central lines, close to a Sainsbury's superstore and around the corner to several good bus routes. The house was clean, spacious, and nicely decorated. The landlady was friendly and understanding. And perhaps the best point of all? It had two bedrooms available and one was downstairs. WIN!

We signed a 6 month lease that can be cancelled anytime thereafter, made £400 deposits each, and need only to pay first month's rent before moving in next weekend and we're set.

My new room (just because I can):

Yup, that's a sink, boys and girls. And that window? It's a bay window. I've always wanted to have one of those! Also, the bed clothes are included and I think the drapes are just kind of random. As you can see below, there are a bunch of seating options AND a desk and OMFG I HAVE SHELVES! I'm totally counting this as an improvement in accommodation. Oh! Oh! OH! And you know what else? It's £50 cheaper a month than my current place with all the bills included save for the electric/gas bill which comes quarterly. 

Talk about your good news, bad news weeks!