29 September 2020

Sleepless

It's one thirty in the morning. I went to bed early - at midnight, confident that I would soon be in slumberland. But nothing happened. Sleep refused to embrace me. 

After an hour and twenty minutes, I got up and came back downstairs. Mug of tea and two ginger biscuits. D.J.Trump on BBC World News  brazenly trying to smother criticism of his tax dodging. Apparently it is all "fake news".  Shouldn't a president play by the rules?  He even dodged Vietnam with a made-up medical condition.  It is outlandish that the guy even gets to stand for president.

I think there's two reasons I could not sleep. Firstly, the now regular Monday afternoon trip to a local pub to meet up with chums. I am just not used to drinking beer at that time and it kind of upsets my equilibrium. It didn't help that I had a half hour nap after our evening meal.

Secondly, I am worried about a huge bill for repairs and upgrading at my daughter's flat in north London. It's as if she and all other homeowners on her street have walked into a terrible trap engineered by Haringey Council. It's going to break some people and she has cried a few times about it. Not a good thing when you are twenty seven weeks pregnant. Of course it's okay for the council tenants who occupy flats on the street. They won't be landed with huge bills. It all seems so unfair and it has been preying on my mind since I heard the awful news last Wednesday.

It's now past two am. The tea is finished. The blogpost is almost done. I want to go walking in the day ahead. Good weather is promised. Like last week, Tuesday is going to be the best day. Perhaps sleep will come to me at the second attempt. I need it if I am going to head out for a walk. Night-night.

32 comments:

  1. It's rough when sleep evades us, even worse when it's because of issues we can't seem to solve. A cuppa and biscuits should help.
    The good thing about pregnancy is that the little ones are safe and growing, no matter what challenges the mother faces.

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    1. Kylie, hi, as far as I am aware anything that affects the mother-to-be will affect the baby as well; even if only momentarily. Be it the mother's surge of happiness (endorphins); be it stress hormones (adrenaline, cortisol) pouring, even her raised heart beat. And what to make, in utero, of your mum's hiccups? What an experience that must be when still encased. Maybe one's first experience of a bouncy castle.

      U

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    2. Ha-ha! Bouncy castle! That made me chuckle. By the way, Kylie knows a lot about pregnancy having assisted a good number of women through the births of their babies.

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  2. Hope you were able to get to sleep finally. It's all of 8:20 pm here and I'm going to drag my tired body to bed in a moment. I can't stay up late anymore, or rarely. I hope things work out for your daughter.

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    1. The bottom line is that along with Stewart's parents we will have to operate as financial back up. We are not wealthy people and we were not anticipating this.

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  3. I understand your problem sleeping as I am the same way much of the time. Like you, midnight is the earliest I ever get to bed and it is often much later. As I write this it is 12:45 and I know I should be in bed. There is nothing worse than going to bed and laying awake though.

    I am sorry to hear about the problems with your daughter's flat in London. I hate to hear of companies that take advantage of people like that, especially during the pandemic. I hope things will somehow work out. I hope you get some sleep too!

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    1. Thanks for your kind wishes Bonnie. It's not a company that is doing this - it's the local council.

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  4. Sorry to hear about the bills your daughter is facing. Something like that can be a real worry, and as you say, will break some people. Hopefully, it can be sorted out soon and your daughter and you can have your peace of mind back; more important than ever while she is making a little person inside her body.
    Did you manage to get back to sleep eventually? Drinking alcohol can upset my sleeping pattern, too. Reading is usually my choice of remedy.

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    1. I did manage to get a solid six hours in so I was quite refreshed when I set off on my walk.

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  5. My sleep pattern is usually predictable, I wake up six hours after I have gone to sleep. Sometimes it gets derailed if I have something on my mind. I think I ought to go a walk today, the weather might be rubbish tomorrow.

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    1. Tuesday was a very lovely day. I walked in the hills north of The Snake Pass wearing a T-shirt...oh, and trousers too of course!

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  6. Sorry to hear about your daughter's problems. It's not clear to me why she could be made to update her place at what isn't exactly an opportune time, and money to do so currently lacking.

    Anyway, there is no point fretting. There are always solutions without running oneself ragged. As they say in the motherland "No soup is eaten as hot as it was when boiling on the stove." Trust me, I am expert in damage limitation.

    U

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    1. It is a long story Ursula. "Homes for Haringey" is a project to upgrade the borough's housing stock. Trouble is that privately owned flats are mingled with flats still occupied by council tenants. Not many young people have £68,000 to spare!

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  7. Tom Grandson's girlfriend has a flat near to the Roman Road, its a newish block but has the cladding on that is now considered dangerous. Her and the other owners cannot sell until the cladding has been taken off and replaced. The cost is huge and so she is stuck with a property that she cannot sell until the work is done.
    I can see why you are worried about your daughter, we worry more about our kids than we do about ourselves.
    Briony
    x

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    1. Sorry to hear that Young Tom's girlfriend is trapped like that through no fault of her own.

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  8. Well no comments from you yet means you are either out walking or still in bed. Whichever it is I hope you are enjoying it.

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    1. You should have been a detective Sherlock!

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  9. Sleepless In Sheffield. Starring Meg Ryan and Yorkshire Pudding.

    I find a couple of paracetamol and a drink of water will soon make you dose off back to sleep.

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    1. Would there be a saucy love scene in "Sleepless in Sheffield"? I hope so.
      "Do you want the light on or off Meg?"

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  10. I'm not napping at all these days because I want to sleep well at night. Makes a difference for me.
    Funny how our worries about our children only seem to increase when their children start coming along. It's a trap by Mother Nature to help ensure the continuation of our own genes! That's my theory, anyway, and it's certainly worked on me and Mr. Moon.

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    1. Napping can take the edge off one's preparedness for sleep. Oh and your theory is believable.

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  11. You're fortunate if you have only the odd time when it's hard to get to sleep. When I can't sleep I don't get up. It doesn't help. I sympathize with your daughter's situation. I'm not sure what's going on.

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    1. It's a long story Red. "Homes for Haringey" is a project to upgrade the borough's housing stock. Trouble is that privately owned flats are mingled with flats still occupied by council tenants. Not many young people have £68,000 to spare!

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  12. The forced flat upgrade costs sound unjust. One thing about housing I'll preach to anyone who'll listen is never go shared ownership or leasehold, only freehold. Too late in this case.

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    1. I didn't like the "smell" of the relationship with Haringey Council from the outset but my perceived negativity was overridden. Now the chickens have come home to roost. £68,000 worth of chickens!

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  13. I wish your daughter the best of luck. Even from a parent's blinkered point of view, the situation seems unfair to most.

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    1. It is most unfair and of course the council have access to clever lawyers that my daughter and the other private owners simply cannot afford.

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  14. It is very , very unfair. Just as savers and homeowners pay for nursing home home care whilst those with no money or assets get it paid for.
    There's a government scheme out today offering grants of up to £10,000 for home improvement. Maybe worth a look.

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  15. What an incredible amount of money to have to fork out, just because the local council feels it should upgrade the local housing stock - which it's probably allowed to run down in the past. Of course, those like your daughter and her husband, will have to find the money because it will go towards the work done on the council owned properties. Life seems so unjust towards those who try to pay their own way.
    I do hope that the grants Christina mentions will be available to them.

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    1. I am glad that you understand the situation CG.

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