Tick tick tick...

That is the sound of the cogs in my head churning since 3am, not the bomb I wish to put under the car of the vendor, her POS lackey and anyone else who gets my gander in the next 24 hours.


I've decided to let the solicitor handle the outstanding issues of the settlement - how did it take me two hours to come to that decision?


And me?  Well, I'm getting on with the fun stuff: 

• ripping out the pee-y vinyl in the bathroom 
• exploring the vagaries of polished concrete for my bedroom floor and the bathroom and toilet
• buying and installing an undersink bin for the kitchen
• and generally rethinking our now significantly longer list of priorities

The painters rang yesterday evening and told us they are delaying commencement of work until Monday (they were due to start at 8am today) which is not necessarily a bad thing EXCEPT if it means they are unreliable and are going to delay further as the job moves forward.  Time will tell.


Also happily, to wash away the angst and negative ions of yesterday, a significant rain blew threw.  It was wonderful seeing the splishy splashy on the pool.  Not so wonderful realising the gutters are in a very sorry state.  But of course they are.  


Ah, the fun and the games.

Sunshine, lollipops and ...

Caution, this entry was written by the overtired 

and contains some expletives

The best thing about today was obviously getting our new house.  Driving over there in convoy with the removalist's van, spanking new key in my bag, thinking about arriving in the driveway at the same time as Dad and Milo and while the chaps laboured joyfully in the sunshine, emptying the truck, the three new happy homeowners (sans the fourth, Mum, who was on her way after a final vac at the unit) ran through the vast empty spaces, playing hide and seek and other merry pursuits.

Bad Parenting 101 : Fun with plastic.

Except that that's not quite reflective of reality.  There was the convoy, and the key, and Mum vac-ing, yes.  But when I drove up there was a piece of shit of a man in the driveway, loading [insert collective noun for rubbish] from the garage into the back of his piece of shit van and piece of shit trailer.  I didn't know, at the time of course, that he was a piece of shit.  But it became quickly apparent.


I walked up, amiably I thought, and said "Hello.  We're here to move in."  
POS: What do you want me to do about it?
Me:  Well, I just want you to know my guys are on the clock. 
POS:  Do you think that's going to make me move faster?  


Now, I wasn't loving this exchange, obviously so I wandered off and let him go about his business, slowly, while we all waited and I rang the agent to ask if I could enter the premises.  (Of course, it's your house.)


So I stepped past POS (who was getting into his POS ready to drive off) and saw that the vendor had left behind a revolting filthy old fridge and a whole half a double garage full of cardboard boxes, buckets and other refuse.  My blood began to boil.


POS to mover:  Whinge whinge whine...I just don't like to be rushed.
Me:  Who are you working for?  
POS:  I'm not working for anyone. 
Me:  So what the eff are you doing trespassing in my effing house then?
POS:  I'm not in your house.
Me:  Well you were.  And you need to take that fridge.
POS:  That's not my problem.  I'm just doing what I do...


And like sands through the hourglass, so I wasted my breath.  


He could've just moved his van so the guys could start offloading.  (Oh, except that the garage was still full of crap.)

The movers and I hauled the refuse out of the garage
and onto the driveway.

So I ended up on the phone to the agent with a litany of complaints, and he made me ring the vendor herself, who would've been very nice...

Except that she really couldn't give a flying rats about the fact that she didn't leave us with a set of keys, every room also contained rubbish and old furniture and level of filth was just ... well, you wouldn't believe it if I told you.  

But after two trucks and some argy-bargy with the removalists, and seven hours of trying to stay calm, Mum and Milo and I finally sat down in the lounge at my old granny's wrought iron table and had a sushi dinner with bottles of water to wash it all down.

Then Milo and I came home, and he is asleep and I am here.  And that was the day that was.

I didn't mention the bit where Mum went ballistic at the movers for being slow and not packing the truck very efficiently.  Or the bit where we had to get a second van because there was too much stuff.

I left out the part where lovely lovely Beth came and brought sandwiches and strawberries for lunch AND kept me company in the car while I went off on a side adventure to pick up the movers' invoice book which they'd left at the storage facility where they collected our first 14 cubic metres.

I'm staying well away from the WC floor, which I hope is concrete under the adhesive tiles, 'cause tomorrow they will be gone.

And I forgot to include the bit where, when I mentioned to the agent that it's about time they took down the SOLD board, he told me he thought we wouldn't mind letting them keep it there for a bit longer for some exposure.  Are you kidding me?  It's been up for over 90 days.  FFS.

I think I said this morning I was on the verge of being delirious.  Well now I am.

Thank heaven for good family.  For friends.  And for Imigran.

And thank goodness the day is over.  Amen.

Calm before the storm.

So the plan for me today is:

• meet movers at the storage in Abbotford and load up with midcentury furniture my mum inherited from her recently departed parents
• follow movers to mum's unit in Surrey Hills and collect her life from there
• pick up keys from agent in Doncaster some time after the settlement at 2pm
• meet movers and mum at the House at Porter Street so they can deposit Mum's life in the garage.

The painters start tomorrow and in the time between tonight and the 22nd when we move in, Mum's going to be camping in the house.


In the meantime today, Papou is taking Milo for his four year old kindergarten interview.


So it's all about to be happening.  But while waiting, I love these lights for the kitchen.  

Cubetto from Studio Italia
(distributor Mondo Luce)

But then, what about the treasures at aboutspace.net.au

We will need two lights to replace the Copper Art style shiny brass 1980s carriage lights currently in situ.  

They need to go on either side of the ceiling fan.  Wondering if that's going to create issues with swinging...

The day is night upon us...

Now I am officially super excited.  
Jittery.  
Smiley.  
Over-tired.  
Slightly hysterical.  


8 hours to go...




Update at 0628  
Malapropism alert.  Obviously too nervous to proof read.

0748:  Happy home owner to be.  

Countdown @ 372 minutes

Alvar Aalto Appreciation #1

I know that replica products aren't de rigueur, but sometimes one stumbles upon one which takes one's breath away.  This imitation comes in the shape of bumwear.

From Matt Blatt for $245.00

Given it is designed by Alvar Aalto, it is bound to be a monument to both form and function and is really and truly horribly desirable.


And then there are these:

Eric Buch bar stools

The real thing will set you back a lazy $795.  The replicas, $299.


So until I start playing the lottery, and then have a big win, I think we are going to fall back on some flatpack fantastic on which to prop at the kitchen counter.  I initially thought Sebastian ($49) 

and now I'm leaning towards the more sturdy Ingemar ($69)

But comfort will be the decider...


Oh, and settlement is set for 2pm, so the final countdown can commence.  We are now at 15 hours and 20 minutes to go...


Wheeeee!

One more sleep.

I finally dragged my migraine head out of the house and made it all the way into Bunnings, for one last anticipatory dabble in a DIY environment before I become a home owner tomorrow. (Tomorrow.)


Mum had a coffee and a sit down while I went to the paint sample colour wall and chose the much mulled over door hues.  The red was a tricky.  As was the green.  But after discussion and a bit of apple cake we finally settled on the following Dulux Aquanamel High Gloss array:

There was talk too about what's to be done with the kitchen.  I'm yet to convince Mum about the sink I want but I think we've come to agree that two different colours of cupboard doors in the kitchen might be the thing - that is, darker at the bottom and bright white at the top.  This sort of effect.

I just found this pic too, of Sophie Dahl's kitchen.  I'll never convince Mum to agree to a timber bench top, but I love love love this. It's a bit more cottage than I'd want for myself, but i could easily incorporate the tiles, THE SINK, the lights and a hint of the timber into our ensemble.

Sophie Dahl's kitchen from rawsugarhigh.wordpress.com

The last time I ever pay rent...

...is a cause for great celebration, really.  Did you hear the happy hoot emanating from the Riverside this morning?  The transaction was done at 6.53am.  


Now, finally, in the book about housing, the renting chapter is over / finished / kaput / complete.  It has been brought to a close.


Woo hoo.


But herein lies the ethical dilemma.


Back in December we were notified that our rent was being increased by $19.62 a week, commencing 12 February 2011.  This is 12 days into the beginning of the rental period and 13 days before the end date.  When I asked the agent (a man of kindly disposition but few braincells) about the final adjusted rent payment, he gave me a figure which I quickly realised did not take into consideration the increase that applied for 13 days.  That is the figure he provided is $36.43 less than it should've been.


And I didn't say anything.  And I don't even care.  


I rationalise my thievery in the knowledge I forked out $40 for a stupid alarm battery to stop the stupid alarm beeping (it has a penchant for deciding it needs to be reset in the middle of the night) and that was a waste of money since the stupid thing still beeps.  And I'm paying $450 to have the house cleaned and steamed after we leave.  


So bugger it on this happy day.


Woo hoo.


Also, the painting quote came in.  We were a little alarmed.  It was in the vicinity of a third what we had been expecting (and included the cost of the paint - except for the coloured doors' paint which I hope to pick up today). 


Rather than doubt this company's skill and ability, we've chosen to believe instead that we had no clue when we plucked our estimated figure from our...um...hats.


Painting starts on Friday.


Woo hoo.


Two days to settlement.