And So, It Begins

We’ve managed to get the keys to our new place a whole day early. 7 station wagon loads later the amount of cardboard in this place has significantly decreased, only thing is as we look around it seems as though we haven’t packed a thing. I have no idea how that works.

It’s time to pack up the PC so bye for now. We’ll see you at the new place.

And as it’s the first game of season 2006 for both our teams tonight (yes, of course we’re going) GO TIGERS!!

She Must Have Been A Newbie

Rob’s post reminded me of an odd call I had last night.

8:48 PM, the phone rings.

“Hello” I say.

“Is this Mr Bartlett?” Oh great, telemarketing. I’m bored with packing so don’t hang up straight away and say “Yeeeeeees”.

“I’m sorry to interrupt you at this hour…”

“No you’re not, otherwise you wouldn’t have called.” say I.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” and she hangs up.

Nothing But

There really isn’t much to write about this week except cardboard. There is no way we had this many boxes when we moved last time, I guess our stuff has grown to fill the larger house we are in. Even though we can barely move through the valleys of boxes we still need more so it’s off to work to pick up some more this morning. Bella isn’t coping that well, she’s only seen the boxes once before, and decided to stay out on the town to all hours last night. Tom, of course, is taking it all in his stride. As long as he as Phoebe’s bed to sleep on that cat ain’t goin’ anywhere.

Also, a huge thanks to Rob, brother in law extraordinaire, who has managed to ensure my lifeline (ie cable internet access) is connected the day we move in. That’s Brother In Law Of The Year award material. Thanks Rob.

In The Key Of Low

What’s wrong Melbourne? You’d hardly know that the footy season kicks off tomorrow night and if it wasn’t for Nathan Brown’s leg and his amazing revovery (Tiger tough that boy is) there’d hardly be a thing in the paper about it this morning. It’s the most low key start to the footy season that I can remember.

I, of course, blame the games.

PS Don’t forget to sign up for the footy tipping competition that could win you The World’s Ugliest Trophy. Head over to footytips.com.au and join the competition called Tony’s Tipping. It’s free, there’s a good a barbie at the end of the season and you have your chance to earn urn immortality.

That Didn’t Last Long

Driving towards Bendigo today when Rae makes the following observation :

Before I met you I was thinking of moving to Bendigo, I think that would have worked out much better.

Three weeks for a marriage. Longer than Britney, shorter than Brad and Jen. Not too bad.

She claims she meant it would have worked out better for had I not turned up and worked out nicely. Yeah, sure hon… hmmm, I’m tempted to turn comments off on this post in case somebody agrees with her.

Cardboard Poisoning

If there was such a thing Rae would be suffering from cardboard poisoning. It is she who has done most of the packing and we’re now surrounded by walls of packed books, dvds, cds, crockery, computer parts, shoes – you name it, we’ve packed it. We think we’re about half way done with putting stuff in boxes and hope to have the rest done over the next couple of days. Our new agent told us we could get the keys on Friday evening to get a head start on moving if we wished, which was a great idea until we realised it was the opening game of the footy season here in Melbourne and both our teams are playing, even more reason to get this packing done as quickly as we can.

I think Rae’s already said so but if you want to earn your share of a slab or two along with some pizza and love to move cardboard boxes from one place to the other feel free to drop on over next Saturday.

Miserable Floors

The cleaning check list for moving out of here arrived in the mail today along with all the details of what has to be to done r.e keys and the like.

Apparently the floors have to be ‘moped thoroughly’ so if you’re feeling a little down on April 1st feel free to come on over and share your pain with our floor. Hmm, or perhaps they actually want us to drive mini motorbikes all through the house too.

So, depressed or stylish – we can use your help either way.

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What’s Going On

For those confused about the ‘Luck Of The Irish‘ post be confused no longer, here’s what’s going on.

First a little history. After our annual inspection last year we received a phone call from our agent asking if we’d be interested in buying the house ‘should the owners think of selling’. Of course he said there was nothing to worry about and it was just a question for later reference but it made us a little uneasy. Last week an appraiser came to look over the house, ‘probably for insurance’, which is a laugh when you consider a block and half with a humpy on it just up the street sold for half a million dollars. With alarm bells ringing we thought we’d test the waters and ask for another 12 month lease under the pretence of wanting to change Rae’s surname. No response.

We’d already been investigating options to buy or build our own house but our deposit at the moment (or more to the point, lack of it) would have meant we would be stretched to the limit financially and any rise in interest rates would have had us in trouble. It could be done, but better not to so we’ve had no choice but to head back in the rental shark pool one more time.

We went to an open house last Wednesday at a place that was livable and suited us. There were so many people looking through we only gave it a quick glance thinking our odds were slim at best but we took an application from the lovely Stephanie and faxed it in that night and left it at that. Friday the kids and I went to visit Rae at work for lunch. We were standing there when her phone rang. Rae scribbled something on some paper and handed it to me. “We got the house”.

So gentle readers, on April 1 we are on the move. The new house isn’t as attractive as this one but it has its pluses. There’s a double lock up garage and a car port, an undercover area outside where we can have our bbq permanently set up, a cubby for the kids, storage space, a great kitchen (with dishwasher!), it’s cable internet ready, has evaporative air conditioning, the kids will have a room each, the land lord is great (he wanted to meet the successful applicants before signing off) and we’ll finally be able to have our surround sound set up properly – and all for over a $100 less per month than we are paying now, which will go straight to the house deposit. Of course we have to go through the horror of packing this house up and all the hassles associated with moving but that will soon pass.

Perhaps the best thing though is this new house is, literally, at the other end of our street. Yes, we’re moving two house blocks up the road. Just far enough so we can’t lug the couch between the two, but not far enough to have to worry about movers. We’ll also be closer to our favourite cafe so we may have to put aside a little of the savings for more coffees. It’s a small price to pay for peace of mind and a quicker path to our own house.

Seven Songs

Jen tagged me, and Daniel sent out a general invite so I thought I’d better do the seven songs meme. Here’s seven songs I’m listening to at the moment and a lyric from them that I like.

Us – Regine Spektor
Heard this on 6 Music (a BBC radio station seemingly built especially for me) and absolutely loved it – Tori Amos meets Ani DiFranco with a smile. Great music to cheesy lyrics on this track.

They made a statue of us
Our noses have begun to rust

Life On Mars – David Bowie
I’d never heard this song until we watched Life On Mars – please, oh please, download that show and watch it if you haven’t already and then you’ll know why this song hasn’t left my head in months.

Take a look at the law man
Beating up the wrong guy
Oh man!

There She Goes, My Beautiful World – Nick Cave
Nick Cave kicks arse. This and Nature Boy, both from the same album, are two of his best tracks. It amazes me how he just keeps on getting better when most performers drop off the longer their career lasts.

I look at you and you look at me and deep in our hearts know it
That you weren’t much of a muse, but then I weren’t much of a poet

The Boxer – Simon and Garfunkel
I heard a documentary series on 6 Music about Simon and Garfunkel. They told the story of how they recorded the percussion on this track in a lift well of an abonded building to get the great effect. At one stage a police man came to investigate the banging, he opened the door to the well, saw a drummer sitting there thumping his kit and slowly backed away never to be seen again.

In the clearing stands a boxer, and a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down or cut him

Such Great Heights – The Postal Service
Another band I heard on 6 Music and fell in love with.

I tried my best to leave this all on your
Machine but the persistent beat it sounded
Thin upon listening
And that frankly will not fly. You will hear
The shrillest highs and lowest lows with
The windows down when this is guiding you home

Sit Down – James
An incredibly catchy song from a fantastic band. Try and track down the 9 minute version recorded live at Glastonbury – it’s a ripper. The lyrics I’ve chosen are some of my all time favourite lyrics.

If I hadn’t seen such riches
I could live with being poor

Just Like The Rain – Richard Hawley
6 Music strikes again. I liked the song so much I downloaded the album.

But you’re still in my mind
You’re still in my mind
And here’s where the sound
Of my tears hits the ground
Just like the rain