Annoyance

When I came home tonight, I immediately knew that someone had been in my flat.

I cannot tell why, but without having seen anything unusual, I knew.

Sure enough, when I looked into the kitchen, I saw what had happened:
The works in the backyard have apparently reached a new quality and my old balcony is about to be knocked down.



The thing is, that my little bench that used to stand there, the flower pots and the contents of the little lumber-room, i.e. the barbecue, the trash bag holders and loads of other crap: they all had been simply piled up in my kitchen.

Now, I really do not think I am a difficult tenant.

I did not make a fuss about Edouard entering my apartment in the past when he thought there was a leak in the water pipes. I did not say anything when he took my car keys to move my car because I was on business trip and he needed the space for setting up a tent on the parking. And I do not complain, really, about stuff at all. Also not about why he didn't simply call to ask permission for any of the mentioned earlier situations.

But this today was not okay and I was mad!

So I headed downstairs and I told him how much it pissed me off that he did this without telling me upfront and that I thought this was unacceptable.

Yeah, I know I wrote earlier;

Whatever comes out of it - as long as I end
up with a big terrace, I am fine with it.

And I think it is great that I will eventually get a bigger terrace. The point is, however, that I do not accept coming home, finding a mess because people who I don't know have been in my flat and then hear:

What should I have done?
They had to start and you were not there.

It is not so difficult to track me down at work, even if you have lost my phone number. And in anticipation of this we could have moved the stuff already a week ago.
And quite honestly, I do not like to hear...

This is only for 4 weeks.

... because I am also not going to accept a blocked kitchen for even 1 day.

Now, to be fair, I think I caught Edouard quite off guard when I talked to him and I also do not think he wanted to upset me. I am also sure he indeed wanted to catch me before I go upstairs to warn me. But this is just not enough!
He got a bit agitated, too, and nervous, and hence started to speak in Flemish, which I must say I appreciate, because I could not have followed in French.

During the whole talk, I made sure to express my annoyance, but I never let it come to a verbal slugfest. As useless as this would have been, it would have also made an immediate and productive solution more difficult.
We then carried the heavy bench downstairs together and agreed on spots where I could keep the other things until the terrace is finished.

Reflecting on this, I am happy I have drawn a clearer line in terms of what I do accept and what I don't.
I also gave Edouard once more my business card, so he can easily reach me if he must.

And I think he will use it next time.