The last days of Dicky's Disco

[rth_discos]

=Most expat DJs do it on the black anyways.

My neighbour said her husband used to be a mobile DJ in Spain when they lived there - and did it on the black.

Charged €50 a night. My eyes nearly popped out.

Fifty Euro Jose...

[Excalibur]

My neighbour said her husband used to be a mobile DJ in Spain when they lived there - and did it on the black.

Charged €50 a night. My eyes nearly popped out.

Fifty Euro Jose...

You'd never get that round here.

[Nakatomi]

He's descended from Davy Crockett you know. That's why he has a left ear, a right ear, and a wild front ear.

Or it could be I've already lived in Shildon too long. The inter-finger webbing is coming along nicely too.

[DazzyD]

Or it could be I've already lived in Shildon too long. The inter-finger webbing is coming along nicely too.

One of the first pubs I worked was in Shildon. My memory is not great but The Three Tuns rings a bell?

[ckpr2]

Sad to hear your story, there are some dodgy people around.

I have seen problematic business dealings for many years.
Customers who wont pay.
Customers who say the service they got wasn't up to standard just to get a refund.

I did a disco in the late 1970's where my boss said I could keep the nights takings as payment for about 10 previous gigs I had done.
The end of the night came and no payment.
I found out whose birthday party it was and he said he didn't know who had organised it.
I asked my boss and he just said he hadn't got a name and was just told he would pay on the night.
So I just took a hit on it.

[Nakatomi]

One of the first pubs I worked was in Shildon. My memory is not great but The Three Tuns rings a bell?

Ring a bell? It's my wife's favourite hostelry in the town. I have it on good authority that it's the one that's most civilised by a long shot. Being the nutter magnet wot I am, I still haven't been in there for a pint yet though. Small world, this Darren, very very small indeed!

[dicky]

OK folks - time for an update

We went out to GC with a folder which had print-outs of 10 properties we wanted to view. We arrived on the Tuesday evening 4th Sept and had an appointment booked with one estate agent on the Weds 5th to view four properties in Puerto Rico. On the Weds morning we also popped in to see another couple of estate agents we had been in touch with by email.

Went to the appointment on Weds only to find that there were now only three properties as one had already been rented and we couldn't view any of those three until the Monday - but she had another one in Playa Del Ingles (not the area we were looking for but a place we really like) which we did view but it wasn't really what we were looking for - it was a very traditional bungalow with large very private terrace and shares pool but we were after something more modern. So we decided to wait until monday

Popped in to see a fourth estate agent on the Thurs morning.

The info we were getting from all of these estate agents was pretty much the same: The island is full! A lot of europeans have descended upon Gran Canaria and want to move there permanenty. These people fall roughly into three groups

Brits who want to move due to Brexit (seems we are not the only ones)
Dutch families (mainly) who want to move because they are so worried about 'Paris style' terror attacks
Germans who are angry with Angela Merkel immigration policy and no longer wish to live in Germany

And typically the Germans got there first lol!

Anyway to cut the long story short - 'Spanish Manana Time' set in and everything became tomorrow... tomorrow.... so of the 10 properties we wanted to view in Puerto Rico, by the Tuesday 11th when we had been there one week we only managed to view one, with the option to view another on the Weds. The other eight were no longer available - plus we had the option to view two in the next town along towards the airport called Patalavaca.

We went to look at this town, it's right next to a resort called Anfi Beach, and we liked the area and it's only 5 mins from Puerto rico by taxi so we were considering it.

Two of the three we were viewing on Monday were already gone - but the one we did view in Puerto Rico on the Monday was an interesting one..... and this should give you a good idea what is available there and for how much:

It was in the valley of Puerto Rico (no mountains to walk up or down and Puerto Rico is very UP and DOWN!) Two floor house (they call them a duplex) 2 bedrooms (sleeps four), main bathroom + guest shower room, spacious kitchen big enough for day-to-day living, laundry + storage room, lounge, outdoor terrace downstairs and balcony from master bedroom on first floor. Came fully furnished ready to move in, and had a large communal pool with 18 properties on the complex. Had outdoor patio furniture and sun loungers for the pool and was in a quiet area opposite park about five mins walk to the beach and five mins walk to the main centre for shops, bars, restaurants etc. Price for that 700 euro per month including water and electricity. Nothign else to pay other than food and drink. OK sounds good..... and we thought so too and nearly went for it.

As we were finishing viewing there we got a call from one of the other agents to view a property on the Tuesday 5pm in Playa Del Cura which is 5 mins by taxi to the other side (south) of Puerto Rico.

We had a really good think about the one we had seen for 700 euro as we knew the others were also a bit more money - but decided to take a chance and view the other onr in Playa Del Cura (Tues) and two in Patalavaca plus another in Puerto Rico (Weds). Also we felt we know ourselves all too well, and if we lived somewhere that close to main entertainment centre we would be very tempted to go out on the every night - which sounds like fun but we are supposed to be finding somewhere to live not party every night!

In the evenings we had been chatting with just about every english person we could meet who were working in bars or restaurants to find out as much as we could about island life and work. Now I have some interesting info to divulge. Firstly the word on the street is that there is plenty of work for english speakers and also that the money so not so bad. Talked to one girl several times and she became very chatty when she learned we intend to move there - she was living in Puerto Rico with her boyfriend. She was paying 600 euro per month, 2 bedroom house, pool etc but she had to pay water electricity and community charge on top so it was working out about 750 euro a month - and she was working PR standing outside a bar encouraging folks to come in and have a drink. For that she worked 4 hours an evening and got 60 euro a night cash in hand. her boyfriend had similar work and got same sort of money so betwen them working 6 nights = 24hrs a week they were bringing in 720 euro a month. One weeks wages payed all the living costs and the rest was spare income. Now, she tells us, that is a very pleasant life to live in the sun!

So I think that can dispell the rumours of DJs in Gran Canaria getting 50 euro a night!

The same girl also told us to have a serious look at the property in Play Del Cura as she used to live there, it is where a lot of expats are living, especially ones working in the resorts, as it's very easy to travel to Puerto Rico or anywhere else on the island being on the main bus route from the capital, airport and all the resorts to the south end of the island.

So on the Tuesday evening we went to view the property in Playa Del Cura and found out the estate agent had another property there that had just come on the market so we viewed both. The first one was a 2 bedroom house again, but larger than the one in Puerto Rico, with a terrace, balcony and massive communal pool area. This one was really nice just 2 mins walk from the beach and not too much more money - and we would have taken it if we hadn't seen the last one! This was a big apartment, 2 bedrooms again with large balcony and also a very large outdoor terrace built into the cliffside. The place has stunning sea views and is fully furnished indoors and on the terrace. Only 38 apartment in the complex and it has a heated (in winter) pool It's also so private you could walk around naked all day and no one would bother you and the outdoor terrace would be big enough for a hot tub if we can find one second hand there!!. So.... we now have our apartment in Gran Canaria, 12 months rental, to see if enjoy the island life. If so we are gonna sell up and move in a year or maybe even less.

We never got to view the last three properties - we cancelled the appointments and they shouldn't have kept saying Manana Manana or we would have viewed, but we are really happy with the place we found

Oh I suppose this thread is worthless without some pics.... This is all our private space

[Daryll]

ah.......Bognor regis . dont you just love it....

[dicky]

Ahh also didn't mention Stoke-on-Trent where we live now has one of the worse climates in England and Playa Del Cura (in the Tauro Valley) has officially the sunniest climate in Europe

Yet strangely enough a good frined of mine who lives in a 2 bedroom rental property down the road (we own our place) pays more in rental and utilities/council tax per month than we would pay in the place we want to move to........ go figure that one out

Spoke to a mate in London and we are paying less than half a rental down in his arrea (Putney)...... And that is just rent - without considering the fact we also get unlimited water, uinlimited eletricity, and our broadband internet is also included in the price - not to mention no council tax or for that matter VAT

So that will do for us. very very glad we went and researched this option. Let's see if the island life suits us