If it’s too good to be true, it usually is.

Well having moved into our new flat a few cracks have appeared in the shiny new veneer, we CAN hear noise from the café downstairs. Music when they set up and close up, which is nice music so we don’t mind that but the worst is – a drinks refridgeration unit that kicks in every 6 minutes then goes off for one minute before starting up again with the gutteral roar of a phlegmy beast. And this refridgerator unit is right below the bedroom. So, I introduce myself to the manager, and rather petulantly ask if it can be turned off over night. I bump into the landlord of the local pub who tells me there is no reason for the unit to be on overnight and that the Landlord of the building has just increased their (the café’s) rent and wants them out anyway. He’s a gossip! They’ve been there over ten years, and I’m all for ‘better the devil you know’, so after a few more sleepless nights decide a better tactic is needed. All smiles I request a meeting with the manager and we talk civilly about the possibilities, all their stock comes in weekly, which is why they turn it off on Sunday nights – bliss, ready to fill up again on Monday. He is considering moving the perishables into a basement fridge, but we are the first people to complain in 10 years. Why do the english never speak up about stuff, this explains why no one has stayed in this flat for longer than the minimum tenancy, a shame as it’s a dream location and on Sunday nights, peace incarnate. The GR and I discuss, and feel bad for even bringing it up, but there must be a remedy. We decide to proffer half and half, if he keeps it on overnight Monday to Wednesday when he has more stock will he consider turning it off from Thurday to Saturday, meaning we get 4 nights of blissful quiet. It’s a Thursday and the fridge miraculously gets turned off. I’ll put it to him today, wish me luck!