After a dismal night at the Woking B&B I foolishly decided to move into, I'm back in Wimbledon.
I managed to bail out of the deal this morning, with an excuse about finances. Thank God.
I'm not sure what possessed me to say "yes, I'll take it" in the first place, aside from the obvious shorter commute time which would've saved me two hours a day. Quite frankly, I'd rather commute 3 hours a day extra than stay another night in that dump.
My initial viewing on Sunday didn't reveal all the nasty details. I certainly noticed it was a huge step down from where I was staying, but at the time decided saving a few hours was worth it.
When I arrived on Monday night after work to book in and put my bags in the room, it dawned on me how poor my decision was.
There was a pervading smell of stale oil and old carpets, curtains, bedding and furniture.
The walls were paper thin, so everything in the house was audiable, which wouldn't have been so bad if one of the other guests didn't have a horrible hacking cough which went on all night.
The furniture was circa 1970 and was cheap and nasty when new. The bad sagged in the middle. The TV remote, for some obscure reason, was covered in clingwrap. All over the walls were horrible tatty posters and bits of paper with slogans like "win. win. win big"
There was even a Dandy poster and to top it all off, a CD stuck to the wall covered with a few tatty bits of xmas decoration.
The complimentary coffee sachets were in a bowl that hadn't seen a dishwashing in a few decades.
It reminded me of the Jarvis Cocker song, made famous by Trainspotting.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a snob. I've lived in really basic accommodation, camped in all sorts of rustic locations and have even slept in a car for a few days. Heck, I stayed in Kibbuzim, Moshavs and Hostels for eight months in my twenties. The difference was that although these places were basic, they were clean.
After an hour in that B&B room, my skin was already starting to itch. Ingrained dirt like that obviously has a huge amount of nasty mites.
After a hard days work, the last thing you want is to arrive back in a smelly dump to sleep on a bed that has seen more bodies on top of it than a Soho hooker.
I'm too old to have to deal with that and now I'm working and earning, I don't have to.
The area around is actually really stunning, however, this B&B is on the outskirts of that. When I was walking around trying to locate it on Sunday, I was really looking forward to seeing it, because the houses I was passing were all really well-to-do and the people around very friendly and well spoken.
Woking center is also great - there's parks and canals. I won't knock the area at all and would live there.
You may be wondering why I didn't just get another B&B in the area, the answer is simple - time and transport.
When your getting up at 6.30am in the morning to get to work for 8.30am, working till 5.30pm to get home for 7pm, there's no time. I can't do personal surfing/phoning while I'm contracting to look for accommodation. That leaves just the weekends.
Sure, I could be looking right now for B&B's in the area - fact is, I have already looked extensively for prices in the £20 to £30 a night range - I found a few, all booked out till next year, except the dirty place I spent a night in.
My choice this morning was clear - phone the B&B in Wimbledon to see if the room was still available and return for the forseeable future.
I'm happy now, back in The Swan having a nice curry.
I have an interview after work tommorrow in a nearby area to Odiham and have Friday off because the office I'm contracting at has their office party that day. That's good, it'll give me time to sort a few bits 'n pieces out and head into London for some more exploring.
Work wise, things couldn't be better. I'm doing some easy stuff and some challenging things - honing my web skills with advanced CSS2 layouts. I tell you one thing, it's a damn side better than working in a pub, or WHSmiths !
Best of all, it's in the great dress tradition I'm used to - casual !
And my interview tommorrow ? - heh, no worries about tie and shirt, so long as I'm smartish with black jeans and a jersey and well groomed, sorted. I'm fairly certain it will mean grabbing supper on the run after the interview, as I'll only be back at the B&B after 9pm. Hope I get this job and that it starts early Jan.
Any South Africans who have never been over to the UK or to London, you can't do wrong with Wimbledon if your willing to spend £150 to £175 a week in a B&B. Even if your only in London on holiday for a week or so, it's a far better idea than central London, which is only 15 to 30 minutes journey away by train anyway.
My future plans are mixed - there's some tough times ahead. If I land this job near Hook, I will need a car very quickly, but I also need to get more permanent accommodation. At this stage, I see at least another two months of temporary living and long commute times. Fair enough.
I'm reminded how tough it must be for families who decide to go abroad to relocate - when it comes down to it, I'm on easy street.
Video - requires Quicktime - download Quicktime Alternative if you don't have it for PC. (vids around 500k each, very small, not the best quality)
Video of the Woking B&B room - http://www.3r.co.za/bb_matt/london/vid/wok-bandb.3gp
Video of the Wimbledon B&B room - http://www.3r.co.za/bb_matt/london/vid/
wim-bandb.3gp
And the kitten at Wimbledon, Coca, who loves the desk in the room -
