VolaciousNet

Sorry for the delay in updating, but we finally got a place! Best of all, it’s literally only 300 metres down the road. And has a huge backyard for the monster Shelton. What’s quite amusing is that I don’t remember much about the inspection… we did 6 inspections that day, and at one point we had to inspect this one and then race off to Ermington 15 minutes later to inspect another. So we whizzed around the house, I went “yep yep it’ll do” and we left. I do seem to remember it had a tacky kitchen, but a huge shower with double heads. (*evil grins* think of the shower sex… *giggle*). And a big garage with separate workshop, but that’s it. It’ll be an interesting surprise when we get the keys LOL.

So that means now we’re packing. And chucking. I went through the garage today and threw out at least a trailer-full of stuff that we’ve been hoarding over the years. And, I got to dispose of all my uni notes! I must have had about 2 crates worth. I put them all in the brazier, dowsed it in kerosene and citronella oil (didn’t have any diesel), then applied a lighter and aerosol cooking oil (just for good measure). I don’t do things by halves. If I had a cigar handy, I would have lit one off the flames, but alas all I had was a cigarette, so that had to do. It tasted gooooood… watching 7 years of university go up in flames hehe

Naturally, going through all the memories when you’re sorting and packing, you find things that you tried desperately to forget… one of those was a photo of me when I was in year 5. I was the dorkiest looking kid imaginable. Jet black hair and huge glasses that took up most of my face. It’s really no wonder I got teased! Well, either that or being the school chess captain. That tends to do it too….*cringes*

Thankfully there were other memories that made up for it. Corny anniversary cards given to Adam. Even cornier ones given back. A brochure of Toronga Zoo, from our first date. Ahhh… romantic love! I miss it y’know

I really don’t like house hunting. It’s stressful, takes a lot of time, and depressing when you consider just how f**ed the rental market is at the moment. 2 years ago we had no trouble looking for rentals, properties were plentiful, and prices were more or less reasonable.

We went to 5 properties on the weekend, some were really quite disgusting. Some hadn’t been vacated yet, and the squalor that some people live in absolutely astounded me. If this is the quality of tenant that they are willing to take, then why are we having such trouble?

We found two places worth applying for, 1 in Ryde, not 500 metres from where we live, and one in Ermington. The one in Ryde was ok, nice big backyard for the monster, but the kitchen was a bit feral (although really our current one isn’t much better). The second one in Ermington was a lot nicer, huge amounts of space, but the backyard was a bit small. And Ermington is even FURTHER out in the suburbs… we’ll probably see our friends even less.

The other thing we’ve had to consider is whether we should ditch the idea of a house altogether, give Shelton to a friend or Adam’s parents, and get an apartment. We would at least be able to save up enough money for buying a house. The thought of having to part with our big slobbery boy I think would be terrible… let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

I have to say it really is a depressing state of affairs in Australia at the moment. Housing prices are over-inflated, and rental vacancies are lower than ever. Even rental prices are going up 5-10% a quarter. I’d like to just say “stuff Sydney, I’m going to Melbourne”, but I hear it’s no better there.

Oh well, we find out tomorrow or Tuesday where we might end up next… wish us luck!

My QANTAS Frenquent Flyer miles are loving me. I’ve been travelling somewhere at least every week for the past month, Canberra, Melbourne, back to Canberra, now in Wellington, and next week it will be Auckland.

I have to say I don’t mind NZ… it’s a quaint little place Wellington is a very fun little cosmopolitan town that doesn’t pretend to be a big city like Auckland tries to. I haven’t gotten to see much of it so far, I was onsite at 11pm last night working through until about 6am this morning, back to the hotel for a quick power nap, then off to the airport where I’m now sitting with a nice glass of Chivas Regal, waiting for my flight.

I think a sleep on the plane is definitely in order. Let’s hope that I get that nice cute blonde Kiwi flight attendant looking after me again

Yes, I know, I’m a slut, but you wouldn’t have me any other way would you? **grins**

We have to move.

Again.

We got a call last Thursday that the owners planned to move into our house, meaning we have until the end of next month to find a place and move out. We’re renting, and unfortunately that’s the kind of shit you get when you rent.
It’s just a pain because:
a) moving is hideously expensive, and requires a couple of grand in cash lying around just to pay bond, reconnections, truck hire, etc etc.
b) The rental market is horrible, less than 1.2% vacancy rate, and rents going up almost 8-10% per quarter in many areas of Sydney. We are faced with either raising our budget substantially, moving further out, or accepting a less-than-perfect place.
c) The Monsterâ„¢ (a.k.a Shelton) is not going to make moving any easier… we now need a freestanding house with a large enclosed backyard. That accepts dogs. Big dogs.

This is the 2nd time we’ve had to move in 2 years… yes I’d like to stop renting and finally own my own place, but how can one do that when you’re faced with escalating rents, and constant moving? How on earth is one expected to have savings at the same time?

Oh well. I will try and put it out of my mind for the next few days, I’m at the QANTAS Club atm waiting for my flight to NZ. Just a quickie out-and-return… 2am work onsite is going to require a lot of coffee though!