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28th of June, 2008

09:04 pm - Updateryness Internet! Finally! Nothing like arsing about with Helstra and then waiting for an ISP transfer. But I'm back anyway. All the stuff is moved into the new house and most of it is at least in the room it will be unpacked in. I've also decided there will be a cull. Some stuff like the record player has already gone, as have a few other bits and pieces. The records themselves are now part of a pile that will be disposed of in one way or another. Got an old leather jacket that would suit motorcycle usage that's been added to the pile. Even the costume wardrobe will be getting a slimming down. I like the feel of the new place. Once things are on shelves I think it will be rather good. There's a lingering odour of mouse that still haunts the kitchen (I won't repeat the words my mother used when we cleaned under the stove) but the last mouse appears to have been the one snapped earlier this week and I have seen any more little twitchy faces. There's a few things that need addressing by the Agent, like a missing drip tray in the grill, but for the most part the house is OK. As cold_echo pointed out, I've lived in worse places (though Ringwood East is still the worst I think) :-) Hard rubbish this coming week should help me get rid of some of the shit left in the back yard, and the Landlord has been very approachable so far. If my proposed veggie patch (go on, laugh) bestows a bounteous harvest he's even offered to swap veggies for chickens. He's also been amenable to putting down a concrete slab under the back shed. So it might actually be able to be used for storage of something like gardening stuff! There's a significant amount of lawn to mow, with being a corner house and a rather wide nature strip but I think it will be manageable. Wait till summer and ask me again. Sadly it also proved to be an expensive week. Ember had to have his rear diff replaced. Not cheap. But it's nice to drive with no whirring noise any more :-) Current Mood: thoughtful Tags: car, computer, moving, non-virtual life

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20th of June, 2008

06:30 pm - The first of the housemoving trials begins It's started. I arranged for the phoneline to be disconnected and connected at the new place today. This afternoon at about 3:30 I tested the new number only to receive the "not connected" message. So I rang Telstra. Apparently the previous tenant (who has been out of the house for over a month) did not disconnect her phone line (and from what I've heard is possibly filing for a hardship claim on it or something). So to connect my phone I need to fax a copy of my new lease agreement through to Telstra. But I don't actually get the paperwork until Monday. From there it may take a day or two to get it connected. But it gets better. Because I didn't have an active phone line at the new property my ADSL connection at the new place has been rejected as well. So I'm currently debating whether to keep the internode thing or go back to a cable plan. Had a chat with an Optus person this evening and they've given me a comparable option that will also do away with the home phone. My brother has been suggesting a Skype phone may be the way to go. We'll see what turns up. Current Mood: frustrated Tags: moving, non-virtual life

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12th of March, 2008

11:43 am - "On the road again..." *Sighs* Last week I got a lovely little letter from my Real Estate agent informing me my Landlord was giving me notice. I have until the end of June to find a new place. Since Uni will be my main focus for the next few years I'm going to try and find something back over towards where I was living. Ironic no? It's a pity my cousin Ding is no longer alive. Not only would she have had room in her Research home, she was a former university lecturer on the History and Philosophy of Science. But I digress. The thought of packing *again* has filled me with some apprehension, but has also made me look at some of the crap I have been carting around: like the large quantity of records. Most are classical, with a fair selection of Soundtrack albums, and there's even an album from The Super Flying Fun Show which those of you old enough to remember it even existed will have probably forgotten about. So why is this an issue? Well apart from probably being unable to find a place this big that I could afford, for the entire time I've lived here the stereo has not been plugged in. So not having used it recent years, much less even assembled it in the last 12 months, it's obviously not something I need. So the stereo, the records, possibly some books, maybe even a cleanout of the costume wardrobe will become part of the move. Gods I hate moving. Current Mood: blah Tags: books, moving, uni

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3rd of January, 2007

11:57 pm - The unpacking progresses It's been a slow time in the unpacking department but it's moving along. I've made a start in organising the sewing room (the one room that had remained untouched). I had to take three centimetres off the steel rods of the clothes rack so it could fit in between the wall and the built in robe. I then discovered I'd forgotten to take into account the skirting board and need to take another two centimetres off. I've made the measurements for the two replacement shelves and the good news is I don't have to pay for the timber until February. Yay! I have a new dressing table thanks to raven_ with my old one going round to my brother. I had originally suggested it for my niece but I think my Sister-in-Law has commandeered it for the main bedroom instead. Books are starting to go on shelves though it looks a bit higglety pigglety at the moment with parts of shelves unpacked but not other parts. Was thinking about where I'm going to make home for the air cooler today and ended up thinking it would be far better put to use at the moment :-) I'm so used to not having airconditioning I forgot to turn it on. Housewarming will probably be the Australia Day weekend though I'll send out a proper email this week. And I finally found the Batman DVD :-) Current Mood: busy Tags: moving

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31st of December, 2006

12:19 am - Bedside musings I was just contemplating this evening the side of the bed I sleep on. I've slept in a double bed for nearly 20 years now (and don't I wish that I could sleep for some more!). Sometimes I've had company other times it's been just me. What I found curious this evening is trying to remember which side of the bed occurred while I was single and which occurred while I was in a relationship. In some places I didn't have a option to pick a side as once the furniture went into the room there was only one way the bed could go. Other times I have a large room and the option of choosing the side to sleep on. I seem to always sleep on the side that is closest to the door but again, that's not always the rule. What made me think was that this time I consciously chose to sleep on the other side of the bed from the side I slept on in the last house. Oddly I'm still closest to the door but that wasn't something I thought of at the time. No there's no point to the post, it was just something I thought was intriguing. Current Mood: introspective Tags: moving, weird shit

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29th of December, 2006

05:34 pm - Post-Chirstmas update The unpacking continues. The lounge room is now pretty much done, though the bookshelves are empty and the pictures have not been hung. I've still got a box for the bedroom and the kitchen while the computer room is a bit of patchwork. The sewing room hasn't been touched. Christmas with the family was good. It was nice not to have to drive for an hour to get to Mum's. Due to the non-arrival of a couple of people there was plenty of food left over so Christmas leftovers for Tuesday :-) Oh and my brother and I convinced Mum that we did indeed want brandy butter with the Christmas Pud. Mmmmmmm. My old wardrobe has gone to the Salvos. The three built in robes here make it pretty redundant. When I arrived down there a guy who was buying wardrobes asked if I was dropping it off. It was sold before I even got it off the trailer! Maybe I should have eBayed it. I also have a new corner loungesuit that means there's room for guests to sit (assuming I can entice people out here). It needs a steam clean but that shall happen soon. I've organised with Chris to get timber to replace the two large chipboard bookshelves I have. The wood is seriously bowed. Going to cost me about $130 for the timber which is pretty damn good. Shouldn't take too long to put together. I've taking to thinking of the Commodore as Ember: it's red, it's an ex-fire brigade car, and the two seat covers are red dragons. He's gone for a visit to raven_'s so they can pick up a digger machine. I may even be bringing back a spiffy dressing table into the bargain. Dûrfin seems to have settled in quite well, having been out unsupervised on a number of occasions. She's still coming in to use the cat litter before heading out again which I'm finding rather annoying. Other than that things seem to be going well. Just need to find myself a job and all will be spiffy. And a couple of links to keep you busy: 100 things we didn't know last year. Most Outrageous Right Wing Comments of 2006 in which Ann Coulter shows how "special" she can be. Current Mood: complacent Tags: christmas, kitty, moving

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19th of December, 2006

08:10 pm - Moved in All of the crap has been moved from the old house and is now in the new place. I'm not sure where some of it IS but it's all there. Only found the VCR today but I still don't know where any of the remotes are. The computer is up and running and waiting for the ADSL connection to get the okay. Currently I'm round at my brother's using his speed limited connection (because he's already used his download limit for the month). Special thanks to mortonhall, Trevor, dcrisp, the other David, Mum, Chris and my brother for their help in moving all the stuff. Durfin is adjusting to the new place. She seems to have settled in quite well. She got out yesterday by pushing the flyscreen off the window I had inadvertently left open. Thankfully she came back after being called and has taken up residence on top of one of the cabinets that has a blanket sitting on it. I'm slowly working out where to put things. I seem to have less wall space than the previous place (which is odd given that it's bigger). Though all the rooms have built in wardrobes which may meen hiding some of the junk easier. Anyhoo, hope the Grinch brings you what you want for Giftmas. See you once I'm back online. Current Mood: busy Tags: computer, moving

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16th of December, 2006

09:50 pm - Packing and moving It doesn't matter how much you pack, there's always more stuff than your originally thought. The big move is tomorrow. Not sure how long I'll be off line for but it will be a few days at least. Have a Merry Thingy, those of you who celebrate thingies. And Happy unthingy to those of you who don't. Housewarming will probably be sometime mid-January. Details once I've worked them out. C'ya Current Location: Bomb site of packed boxes Current Mood: Knackered Tags: moving

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14th of December, 2006

11:03 pm - Update with moving and such. As a follow up to my post about the job finishing up it seems I spoke too soon. Tuesday morning the Boss comes past and says there is work to be done after all and would I be able to keep coming in. He also said I do good work. Okaaaaayy. Obviously the "we've caught up" thing wasn't true (which I had sort of guessed) but I'm not really sure what's going on here. If I've rubbed somebody the wrong way with my rather social interaction with people, then by all means take me aside and spell it out. I know the place frowns on talking while your supposed to be working but it not like I'm talking all the time or even a great deal about non-work related stuff anyway. But when you put your three casuals together, me, an American backpacker, and a Russian schoolgirl together working on a rather mind numbing paste 'n' paper job, I am occasionally going to talk to them about random stuff. So yes working. And the lack of sleep is really starting to wear. Late nights packing and early starts are not my friends at the moment. I suppose I can at least sleep in over Christmas. Internet is in the process but can't be connected until after I move. So I may be offline for a week or maybe not. I'm hoping the new connection is completed by Christmas but Internode are not giving any guarantees. The Optus Customer Service chap was very sympathetic at the reasons I gave him for leaving. Yes the phone network that the new place is connected to might be owned by Telstra but I'm not prepared to pay a minimum of $35 a month for a home telephone I rarely use. And of course once the home phone goes then the Optus ADSL package loses it's offpeak download and goes up $10 a month over the Internode deal. Once the exchange is capable of ADSL2 they could offer me the $19 phone line and the whole package again. Of course when the exchange is going to be upgraded is anyone's guess so thanks anyway guys. Though on the plus side they did put me on the "transfer hold" which means my optus email will remain active for 90 days even though I'm no longer an active account holder. It's normally a thing so you can access webmail while a transfer is taking place but he added me in as a bonus thing which was nice. Packing is not meeting expectations. Thankfully I have a full day Saturday to pack rather than just an evening. Current Mood: tired Tags: computer, job hunt, moving

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12th of December, 2006

05:33 pm - House moving whinge I've decidied it's not the having to pack all of my belongings into boxes and lug them all the way to a new house that's the most annoying thing about moving, it's the fees. Final reading fee, new connection fee, billing fee, redirection fee, forwarding fee or the admin fee. Then there's the hiring a truck to do the actual move itself (which has it's own Vehicle Registration Recovery Fee!) I think I know where all that Ebay money is going :-/ Current Mood: annoyed Tags: moving

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8th of December, 2006

08:49 pm - Updateryness Slowly getting the address changes organised for the new place. Contacted my insurance today and the good news is that my Contents premium will drop about $15 a month from what it is now. Obviously no-one can be bothered to travel all the way out there to burgle a house. The job is continuing. Working for a bookbinder is rather like a glorified Craft Class: put PVA glue on this piece of paper/card/board, stick it to another piece of paper/card/board in this specific way, repeat, repeat, and again. The first few days I came home aching from being on my feet nearly all day. After two weeks my legs can now cope but my back still twinges towards the end of the day. Car is going along all good now that the gearbox has been replaced. I've done nearly 450 kms since I picked it up! Still need a name for it. Packing going slowly. Procrastination is a way of life not just a passing fad. Looking at buying a new phone. Sick of not having a cordless, especially when it's not in the same room as the computer and I need to make a support call. I've decided I'm going to get one with a built in answering machine rather than pay for voicemail each month. And to celebrate my initial success on Ebay (and as a birthday present to myself) I've ordered one of these :-) I also need to write a review for God On My Side. Current Mood: busy Tags: car, ebay, firefly, job hunt, moving

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16th of November, 2006

04:13 pm - Disposal dilemmas pt 2 Next up is a rubber dragon mask. Except that it's no longer a mask. I bought this over 10 years ago with the inspired idea to make it into a "trophy head" of the sort you see in very old gentlemen's clubs. It was mounted on a backing and filled with industrial foam and hasn't progressed since. I suppose I could try and pull the mask off and sell it as a mask (and just dump the foam in the bin) though I'm not sure if it would come off. Any other ideas? Current Mood: thoughtful Tags: moving

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04:02 pm - Disposal dilemmas pt 1 In the process of sorting stuff for moving I've been doing some hard thinking about the things I have lugged around all these years. And I'm making a decision to dump some of them. So I am asking for suggestions as to what to do with them. First off a set of Encyclopaedia Britannica from 1980. Being over 25 years old I doubt people would want them: so many things have changed. No more two Germanies, no more USSR, no more most of the countries of Eastern Europe. Also they had the annoying Micropaedia/Macropaedia thing. I doubt schools would want them. I certainly haven't used them as a reference in over 5 years. Ideas? Current Mood: thoughtful Tags: moving

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10th of November, 2006

12:09 pm - Moving considerations My head's still spinning a bit but I've got to think about it fairly soon. Mum has found place in Pakenham that's suitable for me to rent. I'm not sure whether it's a hindrance or a help to have a cousin who is a manager for the rental company :-) So: Good It's a three bedroom house (complete with backyard) and bigger than my current abode. It's $5 a week less than what I'm paying now. Carport Happy to have cats The agent said my current employment status (or lack there of) wouldn't be an issue. Closer to my family. Bad Closer to my family :-) It's in Pakenham! No gas. No cable!!!! Higher travel costs in fuel/train. OMG Teh Hideous Carpet! I've been living in Inner Melbourne for about 15 years now and have grown quite fond of it. Moving to the burbs would be quite a culture shock. Even though I grew up in the area it was still very much a rural place rather than "suburbia". Still, I haven't looked at any other places yet so I might have to do a quick comparison for a few others. Current Mood: fatigued Tags: moving, non-virtual life

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4th of February, 2002

07:00 pm - All moved in Well K and I have a house together . We've moved all of K's stuff in and will be doing the bulk of mine on the weekend. It's a nice 3-bedroom house with rather large rooms. The toilet and the laundry were a bit of a worry (I was scared that we might not be able to fit the washing machine through the laundry door) but it looks like it will be all okay. The cats seem to be coping well, though there was a few hours when we thought Dûfin had got out. Turns out she had climbed inside the bathroom basin pedestal! Dûfin seems to be merely curious about K's two cats. Caesar is okay with her but Spackle is still having hissy fits every time she comes near. Oh well. I missed out on attending Doppelganger, as I was sick on the Sunday night. I've heard it was really great but I'll have to wait until the next one. I also want to see Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back before it vanishes from the big screen. That and see Fellowship of the Ring again. Tags: clubbing, movies, moving, non-virtual life

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