House Hunting

We should never forget that there are also advantages of living in a damp flat:
a) your bread remains soft
b) you get fantastic entertainment while looking for an alternative accommodation.

The fascination with advantage a) soon faded, so I turned all my attention towards advantage b). Yesterday, I had the chance to look at three rooms all very close to MIC. (MIC, by the way, means "Mary Immaculate College", but MIC sounds much cooler, don't you think? Like Jack Bauer's CTU (Counter Terrorist Union) or FBI or CIA or whatever. "Just a sec, I'm on my way to MIC" - wicked!)
I definitely made up my mind about the first room when the landlady opened a drawer in the kitchen and some 20 centimetre high potato plants appeared. The second room was expensive but did not even have a desk. I see, Irish students do without such extras.
The third room? Somewhere in St. Joseph's Street. "Yeah, must be that house", a neighbour said. "O'Mahony, yeah, solicitor, yeah, she lets people into her house". Was that a sneer? Wasn't I looking alright? What the heck did she mean? When I arrived I saw that there were some wooden slats put behind the window (see picture). Since there was not even a door bell, I hammered with my fist against the door. Woof-woof. Gosh, dogs, I should have known. A security freak. "Just a mo:ment, do:n't go: away!" An elderly lady with greasy hair and a very, very old-fashioned skirt appeared. She looked like anything but a solicitor. "Come in, but don't judge the house yet - I'm in the middle of renovating everything - your room will be the best part of the house - come into the kitchen". I tiptoed carefully through the construction site and entered the messy kitchen. "I have just brand-new stuff, you see? Brand-new stove, brand-new fridge - always the best". I nodded and blinked at the dirty table - were these beans? Mmh, something that had been edible at one point, at any rate. "Yeah, don't judge by the table, we had a meal some days ago." Some days ago? She took away the wooden planks from the back window to reveal two large black dogs which she had locked into the court. "Good dogs, good dogs. Caught somebody climbing over the wall the other day, good dogs." By Jove! I stepped back. "They don't attack if you come through the front door", she tried to calm me. I see. What a relief! Mere lap dogs.
We then moved to the "best part of the house". On the way we passed another window and she quickly pulled back the curtains. "Normally, they are always pulled back, always", she muttered. Of course, they are. I'm sure that also the wooden slats are only there when you expect students to drop by. Normally your house is bright and light. Now, there it was: the best part! There was a bed, in front of which she had put some cardboard boxes - covered with a table-cloth: "A perfect place to study, isn't it?" she smiled. "By the way, all extra costs are included in the rent - unless you want to heat more. Now, this heater always has to be put to level 1. You do NOT turn it up, ok? 1 is enough." 1 of 9, sure. 1 is enough or I'll pay more, understood. "Now, there you have a windo:", yes, thank you, what a great addition to the room, "and a TV, because I don't like sharing my living room with other people." I see, thank you, goodbye, I will tell you by tomorrow.
What do you think? Have I moved?