Falling Down

No reviews of the year past or predictions for the year just started here.  In keeping with my Christmas policy, (and is still Christmas until twelfth night), of ignoring tradition, I thought we'd just hit the ground running and launch straight back into the swing of things.  That was until I got up this morning to see dire warnings from the government about yet more bad weather due to engulf the UK over the next few days.  With the damage to my roof still not repaired from the last lot of storms to hit us, (bad weather prevented repairs earlier in the week and, since the New Year, the roofer seems to have vanished completely), I'm dreading the coming days.  Further damage seems inevitable.  Indeed, already this evening there have been ominous sounds of (possibly) more slates coming down, although it is too dark outside to assess what, if any, further damage has been incurred already.  But it isn't just the roof - I'm rapidly convincing myself that the whole house is falling apart.  Thanks to having seen too many editions of Homes Under the Hammer, I'm convinced that every crack means subsidence.

My paranoia regarding the imminent collapse of my house has got to the stage where I'm considering just abandoning the property.  I keep thinking how easy it would be just to walk out and book into a hotel.  I mean, people do that, don't they, live in hotels?  I keep imagining how much simpler it would be - no worries about repairs, maintenance or energy bills.  No cleaning or changing of bedclothes.  Send all my clothes out to a cleaning and ironing service - my life would be considerably simplified.  The appeal of living in an hotel grows by the minute.  It needn't be an expensive hotel, or a lavish room.  I know it would mean having to abandon or put into storage most of my accumulated 'stuff', but, in truth, what proportion of our belongings do we ever use at any one time?  Mind you, if I wasn't paying a mortgage, house insurance and household bills every month, I could probably afford a pretty decent room at a reasonable hotel.  See, it just gets better.  Still, if the weather keeps knocking bits off of my house and the repairs aren't carried out soon, I might have no choice but to move into that hotel.