Category: Diary

And they weren’t too bad.

It was a movie day today – I saw two film units in different parts of town. One was in Malvern and given the age of the houses around there it could have been shooting The Pacific. The other was in Spotswood in the church on the corner of Hudson and Williamstown Rd. There was another couple of vans a couple of blocks away, probably 2nd unit on the same production.

Keeping an eye on proceedings were a couple of police on motorbikes. Then again they may have been keeping an eye out for the two prisoners who managed to kick their way out of a prison transport van just up the road. Will be triple checking the locks tonight.

We got the bill from the solicitor for conveyancing today. Thankfully it was finalised as part of the settlement figure (although Rae let me stress a few minutes before telling me that, evil wife that she is). Seriously people – $52 for photocopying! They must use powdered gold for toner.

I’ve had two days off work and spent it with Rae and the little ones. We even managed to wangle a coffee together this afternoon at The Coat, a rare treat at the moment. Rae’s gone out to dinner with some friends, the kids are all in bed, the cats are asleep on the couch, there’s (silent) cricket on the telly, I’ve ironed my three shirts for this week and a bonus for next Wednesday, the dishes are done and I’m exercising my inner Bolshie listening to Billy Bragg.

Who could ask for more?

My little sister, who lives about 200kms away, has had a rough week so we thought we’d do something to let her know we were thinking of her. Rae thought of sending her some chocolates, but being Friday and knowing what a pain Friday dinners can be I suggested we buy her pizza for dinner and have it delivered.

We tried a couple of the local pizza places but none would accept credit card payment over the phone so we ended up ordering online with Pizza Hut. I know, I know, but it was the only way Helly was going to get the promised pizza (and garlic bread) from us. We placed the order online for delivery in Shepp and that was done.

Apparently the following conversation ensued when it was delivered.

PizzaHutGuy : “I need someone to sign for the credit card.”

Helen : “Oh, it’s my brothers, he is shouting us dinner.”

PizzaHutGuy : “Is he in there?”

Helen : “No. He’s In Melbourne.”

PizzaHutGuy – puzzled look.

Helen : “He ordered it for us on the internet.”

PizzaHutGuy : “But how can he order something on the internet for here from Melbourne?”

Helen : “How about I just sign for it?”

PizzaHut Guy : “Ah, okay.”

St Michael’s Grammar School, I can not thank you enough. You have saved Melbourne’s last single screen cinema, the wonderful Astor Theatre. Hopefully my kids will still be able to struggle to find a park, try to figure out which of the doors are open, walk up the stair case, grab one of the last over stuffed chairs, have a chat with friends before the screening, enjoy a couple of wonderful films in the most uncomfortable seats you could wish for and then try to beat the traffic lights as they run up Chapel St in search of something to eat while they talk about the movies they have just watched.

The Astor is an amazing place, a tiny piece of Melbourne’s soul,  and is hopefully now safe for many years to come. From me, and every cinema loving Melbournian, thank you St Michael’s, we  (and Marzipan) will be forever in your debt.

Today is my last mortgage free day, from tomorrow it’s all about paying off that debt so today, while I can, I went and spent all my savings on lots of toys .

What? Huh? What do you mean that’s not how it works?

Anyone living in Melbourne couldn’t have escaped the mountain of stories on the rental crisis. From what I’ve read it’s similar in Sydney too – massive rental demand, no rental properties and sky rocketing costs. Of course no one can afford to buy or build which makes the situation even more stressful. Even though our rent went up six months ago we’ve been okay but that certainly changed today.

We received a letter from our landlord telling us our rent is going up 9.5%. Crap, that’s a lot. We’d thought another rise was on the way but had a figure closer t0 5% in mind. He listed every reason under the sun as to why he’s putting the price up but it all boils down to ‘because I can’. Which is fair enough for him, it’s his house and investment, but it sucks for us. The one good thing is he is resisting his wife’s overtures to sell and sell quickly; to find a place now would be a nightmare so we are just going to have to grin and bear it.

We’re incredibly pleased we’ve progressed as far as we have to securing our own place – it’s good to know this should be the last time we have to take a hit like this for someone else’s benefit. If we hadn’t have already taken the steps we have we’d probably be rushing out the door right now to start looking and even though we’ll be paying more with this rise we’re taking steps to ensure we spend a lot less – we want our own place and we want it quick.

Way back in November 2003 (that’s three houses and three children ago) I decided to keep a bit of fuzz I grew on my face. It stayed there for four years until one day I was standing in a computer shop and noticed that every other mail customer seemed to be in their mid 30s and every one of them had exactly the same goatee.

That weekend it came off and my chin(s) looked like this.

I only lasted without my security stubble for two weeks and now it’s back (it seemed to grow a lot quicker this time). I was really happy with it until I saw this Dilbert cartoon last week.

When Dilbert tells you enough is enough you have to listen, especially when you’re a geek.

1) Our taxi driver.

A mate from work and I had a meeting in the city today so we caught a cab in. On the way back we had a chatty driver, which was cool, until her proved he was a really chatty driver. As we were cruising along Dandenong Rd the taxi was filled with music.

“Bugger” he said and then picked up his mobile phone and started talking on it. While driving. A professional driver. On the phone. Driving…

But not just once. Ten seconds after he hung up (can you hang up a mobile?) his wife called back and he picked it up and started talking again.

2) Us

We just watched a full episode of Home and Away.

It must be 18 years since I watched an episode of Home and Away but we sat and watched every second. One question – what happened to Alf?