Tips on DIY and furnishing a second home or ex-pat home or job move

Problem
You leave for six months or a year and your home falls apart.
The cost of shipping all your stuff overseas, then shipping it home again, is less than the cost of buying new.

You take a job but your furniture arrives by sea and takes three weeks.

You find a great place to rent, from an absentee or elderly landlord or landlady, but lots of things need fixing.

You arrive happily. But your curtains don't fit, the funiture doesn't fit, and the bedding doesn't fit.

Answers
PROJECT PREPARATION
List all the things you need for a project from the DIY store and check everybody concerned to compile  a checklist:

For example, no good buying paint and getting home and finding we need brushes and a mixing pan.

PRICING
Make or find a guide to budget options.

List of professionals who could do the work and estimated prices so you can find out if it's cheaper to hire somebody than DIY;

TIMING
Painting and projects
Estimated times of project - can't have windows open to dry paint if going out for the day;

Estimate time it would take to paint a room of various sizes;

LADDERS

What sort of ladder do I need to paint a ceiling or could I hire one, or re-sell it - if no room to store it.

Keep a ladder or step stool to change light bulbs.

B & Q UK
See free brochures on DIY in stores.
Watch videos.

TIP
Take your shopping list.
Take your phone to photograph products.
Note or photograph barcodes, model numbers, brands, in case you want to order on line later.
Keep measurements of windows and floors and doors in the back of your diary or a notebook.
Take with you a tape measure showing measurements in inches and centimetres.

Shopping For Bedding
When shopping for bedding, note the size of a bed, width, length, height of mattress.
Check bedding to see whether a bottom sheet is included. Some sets are duvet cover and matching pillowcase only.

HOUSEHOLD INVENTORY
Check your inventory and add the brands or product codes or all furnishing and fixings.
For example, you have a Neff oven, sink, etc.
You want to record the date of purchase and number of the helpline and end of guarntee date.

When buying, register guarantees.

Photograph and print information on side of item so when the washing machine goes wrong you know the helpline.

Also keep the orignal sizes. That is handy when when buying a replacement.  You know which size for searching on line, answering questions from a salesperson on the phone, and buying another item from a sales person from a shop.

Read the instructions. For example, some washer-dryers can wash a bigger load than they can dry, because you need space to toss the wet items in the air. If you overload, the items just get tangled and stay wet and creased.

You also end up running the drying cycle longer. If the machine is supposed to last so many washes a year and you do twice that number, it might break down in two years instead of four. If you have space, it is better to have two machines stacked on top of each other, rather than a washer dryer.

If you buy two stacking machines, you also need a third item, the part which fixes them together. The two machines must be the same size. You can't have a bigger machine bouncing about and sliding off, or breaking the machine below.

Useful Websites
B & Q
diy.com

Author
Angela Lansbury

How to get help from hotel receptions, concierges, car parks

Problems
1 You arrive at a hotel but they have no room for you and they are full.
2 You are on honeymoon and your room has twin beds.
3 You want an upgrade to a room with a sea or garden view but the hotel is full.
4 You want help because you've lost your car.
5 You want help because your car won't start.

Answers
1 a) Offer a tip to reception (countries such as India and Malaysia). It may be they are waiting for a bribe before granting you a room. Stand and chat. Ask for help. Check the names of bookings to see if your name has been wrongly spelled or listed. In Asia the surname is first. A room for John Smith will be listed as Smith John.
2 a) Push beds together. b) Put mattresses on the floor. c) Turn the mattresses sideways to make a double. d) Change rooms next day.
3 Don't unpack. Find out when people check out and check in. Get an empty room in the late evening from a 'no show'. Get a room next morning before rooms are allocated to newcomers. Get room changed next day.
4 Chat up and ask for help from the car park supervisor.
5 Befriend the Automobile Association people in the vicinity.

Stories
LILLE - LOST ROOM BOOKING
I arrived with a group of journalists, four of us, for a festival opening event in Lille, a city in Northern France. The hotel had no bookings in our name.
The others travelling with me were in despair, wondering where to find another hotel. Besides we had free rooms from the paid for by the tourist board. We did not want to have to pay. The tourist board had clearly chosen an out of town hotel at cheap prices since the city was full.
I asked reception if they had any empty rooms, no shows. She had four beds not yet claimed, booked by the local tourist board.
I gasped, "They must be our rooms! They've booked in their name instead of ours." Problem solved.

Not quite. The suspicious receptionist insisted on phoning the tourist board to verify our story. But the office was closed - everybody was already on their way to the grand evening reception.

By now all my journalist friends were on the case and convinced the rooms were rightly ours. Another journalist persuaded the receptionist to let us take our suitcases out of the car to leave them at the hotel. We unpacked out our evening clothes, changed, and rushed off to the reception. The tourist board people, of course, were glad to ring the hotel and explain that the rooms were for us.

MOROCCO - TWIN BEDS ON HONEYMOON
On honeymoon, I and my new husband arrived at our hotel (The Mamounia in Marrakesh). A large coach party was ahead of us. By the time we are seen, last, the only bedroom left had twin beds.

I have never forgotten this. I spent the next ten years checking the honeymoon suite of every hotel I visited. I became a honeymoon specialist. I wrote for Brides magazines and talked on radio stations about wedding etiquette and honeymoon hotels.

2 SINGAPORE
Our first names and surnames were reversed. It happened at least once at a hotel. At least once on an airline reservation.

3 SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
We were in Sydney for about a week, staying at a grand hotel with a view of the harbour. But our room was on the back, facing a building site with scaffolding and noise. My husband was out at business meetings. I had to sit in the hotel room all day waiting for him to return. I sat there thinking, at home in London I would be looking out at my garden. I have just paid several hundred pounds to cross the world and sit looking at scaffolding. I went down to reception. I asked if I could change rooms. Sorry, no luck.


I told them, "I have booked into a room at a four star hotel facing the harbour for a week. I have travelled half way round the world, leaving my lovely home, for a view of scaffolding. Can you change my room for free? If not, how much extra will it cost? If I cannot get a room with a better view, I will check out of the hotel when my husband returns from business this evening. I will never use your hotel chain again. And I will never come back to Australia." The girl on reception said, "Just a minute, Madam." We got a changed room. I did all the packing and unpacking from drawers. The porters moved the items on hangers.

I could not contact my husband at work. He did not want to be interrupted. He had gone to a different office. He had said he had no time to change rooms.
But when my husband came back, it was fait accompli. Nothing for him to do - except try to find out which room I was in because his hotel key opened to an empty room!


Tips
1 Print a copy of your room reservation in advance. Keep the copy of your room reservation handy in your right hand pocket.
2 Make friends with the reception and concierge on arrival even if you don't need help.
3 Before your trip find out the foreign language words for common problems such as:
Where is the restaurant? Do I need to make a booking? I need a table for two. Now. Any time.We would like double beds. We would like twin beds. We want a room with a view. We are prepared to pay for an upgrade. We do not want to pay for an upgrade. It is our anniversary. It is my birthday (show passport or keep copy of passport if reception keeps passports).

Actions
Print your list of hotels, restaurants, businesses, friends you are visiting.
Check trip advisor for problems at your destination or hotel such as rooms on the road side are noisy, restaurants close early. Check for special deals.
Always have a second choice hotel and restaurant in case you need a quick decision or see special offer.
Find a favourite restaurant or hotel even if it is out of your price range. Every now and then on a trip you are offered a treat. You may need to treat a host who has invited you to their home, or boss who has bought you meals. You might want to recommend something to new friends. You never know your luck = you might see a special lunch time offer as you walk past on an off-season Monday. You might see a special offer when you open a tourist map, a local newspaper and magazines.

AUTHOR
Angela Lansbury, author and speaker.
See my other travel posts on this blog. Read other blogs on grammar, spelling, language, speaking. Like my pages and share them. Link to me on Facebook and LinkedIn. Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Watch me performing my poetry and speeches on Facebook and Toastmasters International club pages and on YouTUbe.
Author of:
Wedding Speeches and Toasts. (Ward Lock/Cassell. Several editions. In some libraries. Also second hand copies on the net.)
The Best Man. (Ward Lock/Cassell.)
Quick Quotations. (Lulu.com - or buy from me when you see me.)
Who Said What When. (Lulu.com - or buy from me and get it signed when you see me.
New copies of my books are mostly £10 / 20 Singapore dollars. One of two books which are thicker, cost me lots of postage to get delivered to my home and /or with lots of illustrations are £20. Sometimes I have an old battered copy which I will sell cheaply.

Bedbugs in hotel beds - or your home!

How do you identify a bug bite? Or spot the bugs before they bite.
Lots of tips in a newspaper article, the comments, and a website.

To summarize - what I learned and will do. Up to you which of these you feel would be helpful or necessary.
1 Bites - the picture shows dime size red marks - but are they bites or allergic reaction - does it matter - if it's caused by bugs you have the problem and the cause
2 Prevention is better than cure. Check between mattresses, behind the headboard, in the bed.
3 Check room before unpacking.
4 One reader suggested keeping all your possessions in the bathroom (on a stay of just one night that would be easier than long stay).
5 In the middle of the night you might have to change rooms. Check the room before accepting it and unpacking.
6 Change hotels.
7 Check hotels on TripAdvisor.
8 Carry bug killer and keep bug killing instructions.

Bedbugs in the USA, Florida
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-1194711/Families-horror-finding-BEDBUGS-Florida-resort-room.html

Bedbugs in London
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-300579/The-bed-bug-wont-die.html

Angela Lansbury, author and travel writer. Please follow my posts and pass on the link. Thank you.