I moved in to the new place last weekend, so I've been pretty busy with the moving, unpacking etc. Still working on getting the phone line activated (thanks Telstra), which means no internet yet, so I'm currently connecting through my iPhone - it's actually not as slow as I was expecting. Everything else is going pretty well... I'm enjoying having decent heating, and a decent kitchen, and a garage (the car and the bike both fit, just).
I'm kind of lacking direction a bit at the moment. That's not necessarily something new, but it's becoming more apparent. The first half of this year has been a bit crazy, and not always in the happy-to-be-busy sense (or any happy sense). Suddenly my 30th birthday is just around the corner. That doesn't really bother me in and of itself, but I guess it prompts me to take a look at what I have done and what I am doing with my life. What have a accomplished in the last ten years? What do I want to do in the next ten? I feel like if I died now and was asked what I had done with my life I wouldn't have very much to show.
Between the horses of love and lust
We are trampled underfoot
U2 - So Cruel
Gotta love a Melbourne winter. This morning was cold and wet. On my ride in to work I was wearing a short-sleeved Bonds t-shirt, a long-sleeved Bonds t-shirt, another t-shirt, a polar fleece, jeans, a polar Buff, and two pairs of gloves, along with my usual protective jacket and pants. It was still cold. It hailed.
I think of it as home
When there ain't enough of me to go around
I'd rather be left alone
Guns n Roses - Breakdown
Today I signed a contract for a two bedroom unit in Box Hill North:
It's a great little place, well maintained and presented. It's a much nicer place than where I'm currently renting, and I'm looking forward to living there. I've been going backwards and forwards with the agent over the last week or two, and he ended up getting me to increase my offer a little, so I'm doing a little bit of second-guessing whether I paid too much. I've found it hard to know where the market is at at the moment, but I guess something is always worth what people are willing to pay for it. It wasn't cheap, at least for a two bedroom place, but was within my range (and even within the advertised range!). Of all the places I've looked at over the last four months this was certainly one of my favourites, and one of the few that I've really thought that I'd be happy with. As far as I'm concerned that's worth paying for.
I am glad that this part of the process is over. I know I'll be pretty busy over the next couple of months (I move in on the 26th of June), but I'm sure it'll go pretty quick.
Another reason not to sign up to Facebook.
Real estate agents frustrate me. I had been to an inspection of a unit I'd seen advertised, and it was a pretty nice place. But the agent was saying that they already had a number of bidders and were expecting to have it sold in the next 2-3 days, so I didn't think much further about it. I wasn't about to put in an offer on a place I'd just seen for the first time, no matter how nice it looked. The agent called me a few days later asking if I had any interest. When I asked about the other bidders, he said they'd all fallen through or decided not to make an offer, so it was back on the market. I asked him to send through the documentation, and I'd have a think about it. He said he'd let me know if there was any action from any other bidders. The next day I decided I may as well try and move things forward, so I rang the agent to organise another time to inspect the property. By this stage I'm seriously thinking about making an offer. He didn't answer, so I left a message. He didn't get back to me. I left another message the next day. Still no reply. By about the fourth or fifth time I called, I finally got through to him. "Oh, I'm sorry, someone else has made an offer on that property in the last 24 hours." It's almost like he wasn't interested in selling.
And on the same topic, advertised house prices. If there's a plus on the end of a price, that means add 10% to get the real price. What's the point of advertising a property at "$420,000+" when the real price is $460,000? Or auction prices. A house that's up for auction, estimated price range $380,000 - $440,000. The agent may start the bidding at 380k, but the reserve price is 415k. Why advertise at a price that isn't going to be accepted by the seller? It's intentionally misleading, plainly dishonest, doesn't help potential buyers, which in turn doesn't do any favours to the seller.
</rant>
Some funny pictures for your amusement:
From ABC News:
Lobster knife-fight:
Lionel Richtea:
Sure... but what does it taste like?
Some upcoming gigs:
CFA Fundraiser at Kangaroo Ground Football Oval
Sunday 22th March
Entertainment all day long, we're playing around 2pm. More information here.
Bunny Ball at St Kilda Town Hall
Saturday 28th March
A black tie dinner raising money for the Royal Children's Hospital. More information here.
Good Friday Appeal at Etihad Stadium (Telstra Dome, Docklands, Colonial Stadium, etc)
Friday 10th April
Family fun day with entertainment all day long. More information here.
Over the last couple of months I've been looking around at houses/units/flats to buy. The housing market at the moment is supposedly good for buyers, interest rates are low and may go even lower, and the government grant for first home buyers is the highest it's ever been. I started looking at a whole range of places, and have narrowed it down to 2-3 bedroom places (usually units) in the Box Hill area and surrounds. So basically places like where I'm currently renting. I've started looking at home loans as well, which is a bit scary. I've never really been in debt before (I don't even have a credit card), so borrowing hundreds of thousands of dollars seems pretty crazy. I hope I'll find a place I'm happy with, that I can afford, and that doesn't have any hidden problems. I'm terrible at making decisions even when they're relatively inconsequential - I don't know how I'll be able to make a big decision like which place to buy. This and other things are stressing me out a bit at the moment, which is not so much fun.
Today I caught up with the guys from uni for lunch at Adrian and Jhoanna's place. I think it's been about six months since I caught up with most of them and it was great to see everyone and hang out. Simon brought some games from his extensive collection, and we played Uno Stacko, Bohnanza, and Banangrams. All very much fun and highly recommended.
The titles of this and the previous three posts were lines from a poem on a t-shirt Sandra gave me for Christmas:
Sober wall of fright stains my apathy
Light is gone I look upon
This is the end my darkest friend
For no fear will tread upon my peace