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Some more couch, and reading
May. 19th, 2009 11:15 amRe. couch: I talked to the Austrian dealer yesterday, who was very kind and helpful. He told me to take photos (mostly details) and mail them to him, and he also told me what to look for.
The labels are there, both those sticking out from the seams and the control labels under the seat cushions.
But he also said that, if the elements didn't correspond to what B&B have on their homepage, it has to be a fake. So the mystery becomes even more enigmatic: the labels are where they ought to be, but the homepage offers neither couch elements with backrest but no armrest nor corner elements with any but a 90° angle. Curiouser and curiouser.
Dealer hasn't yet responded.
Insurance company will get back to me tomorrow
So I'm in a kind of couch limbo.
Sometimes I really, really wish I was more of a tough bitch. Because if I was, I'd cold-bloodedly point out to the landlord that the rent contract stipulates the existence of an inventory as essential part of the contract. (The inventory doesn't exist, though, because the estate agent (stupid cow) never got round to doing it, although I reminded her twice.) Since there is no inventory (which would also have to have been signed by both parties), the landlord would have a hard time proving that there was *anything* in the flat, let alone a super-expensive couch. And due to the lack of this essential part of the contract, he couldn't legally ask money for repairing something he can't prove is his.
All this goes to show that he's probably rich but certainly an idiot. Because what could he do if I simply took the couch? Nothing. No, I'm not going to take the couch. Morally (if not legally) it would be theft, and I don't do theft. Besides I don't like it that much ;-)
What I *am* going to do, though, is point out that there's no inventory. If the fabric is original B&B, I'll inquire about the price. If it costs more than € 1200 (the safety deposit) he's going to get 1200 and no more, and if it costs less, I'll pay him that amount and nothing else.
I meant to go shopping yesterday but instead ended up sitting on the north-facing balcony and reading.
Maybe you remember that, after watching The Duchess, I was going to order the book the movie is based on, i.e. Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman. Well I did, and I'm very happy I did.
Having read two thirds of the book, I'm now able to say that the film is even more crap than I thought it was. It doesn't do justice to this utterly fascinating woman, who was not merely a political hostess but a politician (if behind the scenes), who was addicted to drugs and gaming, went through bulimia and miscarriages, was a fashion icon... Her maiden name was Spencer, and she was an ancestor of Lady Diana Spencer. I'm not a Lady Di fangirl, but reading Georgiana's biography is so eerily reminiscent of her grea-great-great etc. granddaughter. Married to the Duke of Devonshire at age 17 (the age difference wasn't that big, he was only 8 years her senior), a lovely, lively, intelligent girl bound to a man unable to express his feelings, provided he had any. All he wanted was an heir and a Duchess. Of course he'd been keeping a mistress since before the wedding. Georgiana was obviously starved for affection and therefore didn't always choose her friends wisely, Lady Elisabeth Foster being the worst choice -- she was the one who became the Duke's mistress and lived with the couple for many years.
It's a fascinating read, well-written, with lots of excerpts from letters (not only Georgiana's). If you're interested in 18th century history -- not only English but French as well, because G. was friends with Marie Antoinette and Mme. de Polignac -- you really ought to read it.
The day before yesterday I read Kate Atkinson's Will There Ever Be Good News? I can't think of anoter writer who masters the technique of spinning different story threads so perfectly -- at the beginning it's like a jigsaw you think will never make sense, and then you begin to see how the different threads are related. There's crime -- past and present -- involved, but it's really a story about trauma and loneliness and dealing with one's past. She used the same technique in One Good Turn, which IMO is the better book, because the plot twists and resolutions are more credible. The end of Good News feels slightly forced (tour-de-forced, really), but it's still an excellent book.
Yesterday was the 5th day of continued Pilates discipline, and I'm beginning to feel the effect. To me, it is also visible, but what counts most is that I'm feeling my body again, i.e. not just as an occasional source of pain. And I'm less tired, too. Not that it comes as a surprise, because I knew it was going to be that way once I started exercising again. But all the knowledge in the world doesn't help, if mind and body just don't *want* to get any exercise. Well, it seems that the horrible knot is dissolving, and I'm becoming myself again.
The labels are there, both those sticking out from the seams and the control labels under the seat cushions.
But he also said that, if the elements didn't correspond to what B&B have on their homepage, it has to be a fake. So the mystery becomes even more enigmatic: the labels are where they ought to be, but the homepage offers neither couch elements with backrest but no armrest nor corner elements with any but a 90° angle. Curiouser and curiouser.
Dealer hasn't yet responded.
Insurance company will get back to me tomorrow
So I'm in a kind of couch limbo.
Sometimes I really, really wish I was more of a tough bitch. Because if I was, I'd cold-bloodedly point out to the landlord that the rent contract stipulates the existence of an inventory as essential part of the contract. (The inventory doesn't exist, though, because the estate agent (stupid cow) never got round to doing it, although I reminded her twice.) Since there is no inventory (which would also have to have been signed by both parties), the landlord would have a hard time proving that there was *anything* in the flat, let alone a super-expensive couch. And due to the lack of this essential part of the contract, he couldn't legally ask money for repairing something he can't prove is his.
All this goes to show that he's probably rich but certainly an idiot. Because what could he do if I simply took the couch? Nothing. No, I'm not going to take the couch. Morally (if not legally) it would be theft, and I don't do theft. Besides I don't like it that much ;-)
What I *am* going to do, though, is point out that there's no inventory. If the fabric is original B&B, I'll inquire about the price. If it costs more than € 1200 (the safety deposit) he's going to get 1200 and no more, and if it costs less, I'll pay him that amount and nothing else.
I meant to go shopping yesterday but instead ended up sitting on the north-facing balcony and reading.
Maybe you remember that, after watching The Duchess, I was going to order the book the movie is based on, i.e. Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman. Well I did, and I'm very happy I did.
Having read two thirds of the book, I'm now able to say that the film is even more crap than I thought it was. It doesn't do justice to this utterly fascinating woman, who was not merely a political hostess but a politician (if behind the scenes), who was addicted to drugs and gaming, went through bulimia and miscarriages, was a fashion icon... Her maiden name was Spencer, and she was an ancestor of Lady Diana Spencer. I'm not a Lady Di fangirl, but reading Georgiana's biography is so eerily reminiscent of her grea-great-great etc. granddaughter. Married to the Duke of Devonshire at age 17 (the age difference wasn't that big, he was only 8 years her senior), a lovely, lively, intelligent girl bound to a man unable to express his feelings, provided he had any. All he wanted was an heir and a Duchess. Of course he'd been keeping a mistress since before the wedding. Georgiana was obviously starved for affection and therefore didn't always choose her friends wisely, Lady Elisabeth Foster being the worst choice -- she was the one who became the Duke's mistress and lived with the couple for many years.
It's a fascinating read, well-written, with lots of excerpts from letters (not only Georgiana's). If you're interested in 18th century history -- not only English but French as well, because G. was friends with Marie Antoinette and Mme. de Polignac -- you really ought to read it.
The day before yesterday I read Kate Atkinson's Will There Ever Be Good News? I can't think of anoter writer who masters the technique of spinning different story threads so perfectly -- at the beginning it's like a jigsaw you think will never make sense, and then you begin to see how the different threads are related. There's crime -- past and present -- involved, but it's really a story about trauma and loneliness and dealing with one's past. She used the same technique in One Good Turn, which IMO is the better book, because the plot twists and resolutions are more credible. The end of Good News feels slightly forced (tour-de-forced, really), but it's still an excellent book.
Yesterday was the 5th day of continued Pilates discipline, and I'm beginning to feel the effect. To me, it is also visible, but what counts most is that I'm feeling my body again, i.e. not just as an occasional source of pain. And I'm less tired, too. Not that it comes as a surprise, because I knew it was going to be that way once I started exercising again. But all the knowledge in the world doesn't help, if mind and body just don't *want* to get any exercise. Well, it seems that the horrible knot is dissolving, and I'm becoming myself again.
