Man, my flat here in London really sucks. I can’t wait for this 6 month contract to end so I can move.

1) The Water - I guess I’ve narrowed it down  to having really hard water here. The shower stall is really tiny, so that’s already a little miserable. However, the Water in my flat is HORRIBLE.

a) It’s “hard”. This causes numerous problems. For some reason, it makes my scalp super super itchy and I have to use dandruff shampoo almost every day. When I went back to Seattle, there was a noticibledifference in how my scalp and hair felt. It also makes shaving a pain in the ass, because it doesn’t lather very well and my face always stays “dry” feeling, which means I cut myself a LOT.
b) I think the whole house shares a hot water heater. Sometimes, the water will only barely get sufficiently hot. Sometimes it swings over to scalding hot on a moments notice. Most frustratingly, it does this really really rapidly (changing from cold to hot), so there are times when I can’t stand under the water because it’s changing temperature too rapidly.

2) The Dust – So, the landlord is re-modeling the house, so men are working most days. I knew this when I moved in. What i did NOT know was that everything gets caked in dust FAST. I think it has to do with all the drywall or something, but it gets dusty/dirty FAST in my place. This especially sucks with the hardwood floor. Any clothes left on the floor (which I do often) get “dust stains” on them immediately.

3) The Heat – My flat has a radiator in it. I have no idea how to use it (I think it’s controlled through the whole house?) Sometimes it gets really really cold in here, and I have no idea if I can even turn this heater on! (this one is partially my fault because I haven’t bothered to ask the landlord yet).

4) The Neighbors – Most other people in the house are quiet. The landlord, however, lives on the ground floor with his family. They’re Indian, and they cook Indian food a lot (which means the house reeks of spices all the time). Also, his children are annoying as hell. They yell and scream a lot, climb all up and down the stairs (one morning I didn’t lock my door and they actually opened my door and started to come in while I was sleeping!) and they play on the stairs. They haven’t been taught to get out of people’s way though. The staircases are really narrow, and they’ll play right at the top of them. They won’t move to let people walk by, but just sit there and stare at you. One time I nearly fell down the stairs lugging my huge suitcase because they wouldn’t move, so I had to try to climb over them.
All of this stuff doesn’t even cover my crappy internet connection, which is making my time here very miserable. :(