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Yet another morning when I could have slept in, but I was wide-awake good and early once more. I think I must just have so much on my mind at the moment, my brain is urging my body to get up and do some of it - sleep can wait. My body isn’t quite in agreement there.

Anyway, up and at it I was. Recent payment needs for the flat have highlighted the issue that I really do need a debit card. It’s twenty plus years since I opened my current account and they didn’t have debit cards back then. That aside, I have always managed in the past with a credit card or bankers draft if necessary, but the property agents insist on payment in cleared funds - even a bank draft has to be allowed time to clear they tell me - so I determined to get myself a debit card before the next payments were due. I checked online for the debit card accounts and Abbey are offering a good deal at the moment, so I got myself ready for a visit to the nearest branch.

I have to say, the help and service I received at Abbey was very good. Unfortunately, on the downside, their systems had gone down, so everything was being done manually. Fine. I filled in the paperwork (some of the questions on the application form forced me to resort to long division on the back of an envelope) but then the paperwork was done. My new account would be set up as soon as they were back on and I would have all the cards and cheque books within three days. Wednesday at the latest.

I had meant to go to the library and get out a book on renting property, but in the excitement that went out of my head and I found myself in Argos getting a new catalogue (potential furniture purchases are ahead!) and then I was back in the car and driving to see Mum and Dad.

It was at Mum and Dad’s that my phone rang. It was the agents. The references had gone through fine, they were issuing my tenancy agreement and I had to pay £810 now, with a further £540 by 26th June. OK, back to the bank to get a bankers draft for the whole amount.

This is the worst bank in the world

Abbey was still in chaos when I got there. Long queues. Lots of grumbling older people, including one old lady who staggered past me crying out “This is the worst bank in the world”. Well, I think that was a bit strong, but it is hugely frustrating for everyone, staff included, when systems fail and we just aren’t prepared for the backward step.

The young man who had helped me earlier spotted me in the queue and came over asking if everything was ok. Nice lad. Not local. Couldn’t quite place the accent. I told him I needed a bankers draft, and the amount, and asked if it was possible. “We can’t even see people’s balances,” he explained. “It won’t be possible.” I asked if he could phone Chelmsford and see if they were on. He took me out of the queue to a cubicle and rang another branch. I think it was Rayleigh he got through to. “Whole of Essex is out,” he explained. “If you can get to a branch outside of Essex then… but otherwise no.” I told him not to worry and I would get around it. Poor guy. I wished him luck and he said he was going to need it.

Fortunately, someone in the family does have a debit card and banks with an organisation other than Abbey (other High Street banks are available), so I was able to pay the sums due to the agent and now have peace of mind on that front. Suddenly I have a new home to go to. It’s all happened very fast - so fast that I haven’t really got used to the idea yet. I move in next Monday. Pictures to follow.

So, last night I went an viewed my first property. It all happened very quickly in the end. I found the flat (2 beds, first floor, bath and allocated parking - all the things on my wish list) while searching the web on Sunday. Immediately the photos of the interior appealed to me - this wasn’t just a boxy development, but had angles and shapes and.. for want of a better word - character. So, I fired off an email to the agent and then first thing Monday morning, I was speaking to her on the telephone and fixing up the time. I viewed at 6:00 p.m. last night.

The flat was very much as I imagined, only slightly better in reality. It’s has just been completely redecorated and recarpeted (after the previous tenant moved out) and was look fresh and clean. Those neutrals that Anne Maurice loves were in full effect and wandering around the rooms I very quickly began to get a feel for the place. But this was only the first I had seen - crazy to dive in and take it.

However, that’s exactly what I did. I paid the holding deposit first thing this morning. This afternoon I returned all the reference forms and documentary evidence. Now I wait. I hardly dare start to think in terms of “mine” or “my flat” but it’s very difficult not to do so, just because I am so excited about the prospect of finally having my own place - even if it is rented. Of course, I have been very happy here and will be sad to go, but equally I think it is something I have to do. There was always the chance of staying on here and taking over the rental of the full house, but even in the light of a generous offer to do just that, made at lunchtime today, I am confident I have done the right thing. In six months time I may be eating my words, but at least this feels right. Today I went with my gut feeling - not something I have always done in the past and that resulted in having to face the consequences. Let’s hope that this time, I have got it right.

Twenty years have passed since The Innocents was released by Erasure, and this seems like a fitting time to dust off my copy and give it a fresh listen.

Comprising some thirteen tracks (the vinyl album only had eleven, with “When I needed you” and “River Deep, Mountain High” being ommitted from that format), this was pop duo Erasure’s third album and it topped the charts in the UK. Erasure really were riding high, building on the success of 1987’s “The Circus” and “The Innocents” almost provided us with three top ten hits - “Chains of Love” peaking at Number 11 in the singles chart, while “Ship of Fools” fared better, reaching Number 6 with the best-selling track off the album being “A Little Respect” which made it to Number 4.

While album and singles really tapped into the popular market at the time, how does this work sound now, twenty years later and in a different century? The simple answer is - very, very well. Vince Clarke and Andy Bell worked their magic with this album and it really encapsulates “classic” Erasure. The sound is clean and pure, as are the vocals, if not the lyrics, which present a collection of tales of the progression of life, from the lost innocence of a “Phantom Bride” through to the yearning for the “Chains of Love” to be broken, reaching the desperation and frustrations of the little wise man who carries the “Weight of the World” on his shoulders:

You keep it wrapped up inside
It’s like a leathal potion
Gonna find it soul destroying

This album is anything but soul destroying - it’s tone and content are uplifting. While the subjects of the songs have to manage and cope with a range of challenges, ultimately the message is that risking the pain (or chains) of love is indeed worth it, and even in your darkest hour there will be someone there, to pour your heart out to.

First class. Enjoy it now.

Erasure - The Innocents (p) and (c) 1988 Mute Records Limited. All titles by Clarke/Bell. Published by Sonet-Musical Moments/Sonet.