Where to go, what to do? My house was a shambles.

I recently (last October!) accepted a job offer in Ericsson in Athlone, and this posed the problem of looking for accommodation. Armed with the internet, and a colleague working in the area of Athlone, I set about finding a suitable gaff. I downloaded a few houses from the net, and one day was spent ringing different places and trying to organize viewings. So after a lot of phone calls, I headed to Athlone and looked at a few spots. None were suitable in my eyes. A few days later I returned and found a sweet house in Coosan, just a few minutes from the town centre. This place seemed ideal. I'd have my own room, broadband, it seemed clean and the guy that showed me around, Jimmy, seemed dead on. I rang the landlady and told her I'd take it. I met her mother a few days later and handed over my deposit, moved in some stuff and then headed out with Dave.

I lived there for 3 weeks in total, and that equates to 11 nights in Athlone for those 3 weeks. Out of those 11 nights, I spent 4 in the house - the rest were in Dave's spare room. As Dave is the only person I know in Athlone, it was no surprise I was at his place more often than not. But on Halloween night, and the following morning, what happened in my 'official' house drove me mental.

After the bank holiday weekend, I was wrecked. I did very little at work and I was looking forward to relaxing in the house and watching Chelsea play Barcelona, followed by the new series of Lost. I ate a penguin bar when I got to the house, and I was going to have a cup of tea, only to discover the lads had drank all my milk in my absence. I sat in the sitting room and various people arrived, namely Jimmy, the 2 German lads that live in the house (Phillip and Danny), Phillips foxy 16 year old sister and his parents. They spent most of the night in the kitchen, except for Phillips parents who decided to have a ride in their sons' bed. Dirty fuckers I thought, but the mother was kinda foxy so fair play to Phillips dad (he looks like Borat). The Germans headed out that night, and after my evening of tv, I headed to bed.

At 12:44a.m. exactly, the Germans arrived home plus a few extras they met out. Danny fell into my room with a can and told me to come down and join the party. I was a bit thick, but I was awake now with a free can so I rambled downstairs for a while. Everyone headed to bed/home at about 2. The visitors headed home. Jimmy slept in his bed and slept alone. I had the same scenario. Phillip slept in the sitting room, while his parents slept in his room. Danny slept in his room, with Phillips foxy 16 year old sister. A short while later, she was been violated by Danny. And the screams out of her would suggest rear entry, or something similar. The bad thing about this is that this was happening right beside where his parents were sleeping. They had to of heard her if I was able. I eventually fell asleep.

Next morning, armed with my mach3 I headed for a shower and shave. Outside my door, I seen a bra threw on the ground. I didn't mind that too much, but in the bathroom there was worse. A used jonnie and a tampon greeted me in the bath. No shower for Brian. A very quick shave ensued and I headed for work, only to find my car blocked in by the Germans shitty little rental car. I was about to explode, but I found the keys for it and abandoned their piece of shit out of my way. On my way to work, I more or less made up my mind to move.

And that leads my nicely on the present. I'm moved into Dave's place. The room is ok, a little cold and smelly. The house has been broken into in the past, but I'm assured it's a rare occurrence. The new alarm should provide some deterrent to the wannbe tough men of Athlone. I could move into a different room there in a few months when one of the students that lives there moves out.

So thats the living arrangement in Athlone. Maybe in the summer I'll source a new gaff. Dave is talking bout doing something similar. And who knows, by then we may have JP, Pearson and possibly even Edel in Athlone. What fun that would be!

'Jimmy gets high, tonight……..'