08 July 2013

Senior Apprentice

What a week, and I'm not just talking about the marvellous news about Andy Murray's exhausting great win or the sight of Abu Qatada leaving English soil!

It started last weekend, when I drove down with Kay to my mother's house. My mother has not been surviving at all well on her own since I took her back home three weeks ago. She had been in too much pain to cook or even eat, so I was on a mission to bring her to London again for some more intensive care with me. (I had only taken her home in the first place because she needed to be at an appointment, but she had insisted she could cope alone, so I had left her there). While I was with her this week, in less than twelve hours I managed to sell her house on the coast (without the use of an agent), buy her a retirement flat close to me and buy Kay a first car. Each single transaction was loaded with research, paperwork and a great deal of talking. Not bad results for a day's work. So, move over, Lord Sugar. Here's one senior apprentice, who's apparently still got the business savvy in her!

In all fairness, I did involve an estate agent in the end, as I had two very keen people fighting over mum's house and I could see it was getting a bit difficult to untangle the web. If all goes smoothly (what house purchase ever does), fingers crossed, my mother could be permanently living near me within about 8 weeks. There are no chains either side of the deal, so fingers crossed.

Kay drove her newly acquired first car (a ten-year-old Corsa which was beautifully valeted and serviced to within an inch of its life) behind me and managed the 60-mile drive back to London effortlessly, including sheep wandering all over the road in the Ashdown Forest and a tramp wandering down the middle of the road somewhere in deepest Kent.  She had some good news to celebrate too. She got a First for her dissertation at the end of her intercalated year and a 2:1 for her science-degree-all-in-a-year. One very proud mum here!

On Saturday, we went to the New Designers exhibition at Islington to see my nephew (who has just graduated from uni with a Product Design degree). He was exhibiting his idea to adapt a car to take a wheelchair as the driving seat. It was very interesting to see so many varied designers of the future there with their prototypes on display.

I looked out for Lord Sugar to snap me up, but I didn't see him. Shame.... he doesn't know what he's missing.

8 comments:

Furtheron said...

Congrats to Kay on the first.

Also well done on the all the skilful negotiations. We're still on the "is she, isn't she" mode of whether my mother-in-law will move out of her old family home. Sadly she is less easy to please it seems than your Mum!

Having reviewed your cv and successes in the allotted tasks I've decided that you wouldn't be eligible for Lord Sugar's Apprentice - you aren't an insufferable idiot with an ego the size of Jupiter and the team work abilities of a White Shark. My overwhelming opinion if ever I have the misfortune to see even a few mins of that show (normally the end bit in the board room when they are all bitching and backstabbing each other) is that frankly I'd fire the lot of them on the first day!

Flowerpot said...

Blimey well done Addy - those are incredible achievements!

Nota Bene said...

You are a marvel...really great to read!

nuttycow said...

Blimey - you have been busy. Well done to Kay on her results. Great news indeed.

I hope everything goes well with the house buying/selling...

AGuidingLife said...

good grief...that is all a very big lot of good stuff done. Well done.

Well done to Kay too and I hope your mum picks up a bit under your wing.

Anonymous said...

Wow, well done to Kay, that's fabulous news!

And great about your mother being able to move nearer to you. Fingers crossed from my end, too.

CJ x

Almost American said...

Well done to Kay! No surprise really - her mother's clearly no slouch! :-)

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

Well done Kay. And as for you Addy, you are an absolute blooming marvel!