Home Hunting
Last weekend was another one of fruitless house hunting. After a hurried house
cleaning on Saturday morning, we left home just a little after 10am and headed
for an auction in Blackburn North. It was a well renovated home on a street
with a nearby park so apart from the slightly further location it was a very
nice house – near perfect. I was hoping to bid in the auction but no sooner
had the auctioneer started to invite bids when it just took off and within minutes,
it had shot off the charts.
I was prepared to go a little higher than the advertised price but the bidding
frenzy had us shot. The closing price was in excess of 30% over
the advertised price. The auctioneer seemed very happy and I suspect
the vendor was pretty rapt but I saw many heads shaking that morning.
It was a bit of a downhill ride after that.
We saw many more properties that day, ranging from old dark, grimy
and grotty houses which looked like the Addams Family lived there,
to houses with bright tacky decors. I called one of these the
Brady Bunch house and Kiddo and I coined one a groovy house.
Nice maybe, but no thanks.
All together, we must have seen something like 15 houses
in 1.5 days. Some were too small, some were too old and a
couple had pigs as tenants. These were so filthy I wondered
why tenants lived like pigs just because the house did not
belong to them. Maybe it is a function of youth but surely that is
being unfair on some young people. I’m sure there are young
people who think it is important to be neat clean and tidy. One of
these houses had what looked like doctors as tenants
(medical books, stethoscopes) but that didn’t seem to make
any difference. The carpets in that house looked like they were
caking up with dust and grime. How could doctors live like that?
They had nice, chic and imaginative decors but they were all
hidden by the fact that the place was dirty. Maybe it was
deliberate to deter potential buyers thus prolonging the lease.
So the 10 or so that we saw on Saturday were all dead alleys.
Like I said it was a fruitless weekend. But then again maybe
that wasn’t so. Serendipity tends to work in these exercises,
maybe. After all the wrong turns and dead ends, maybe we will
be directed along the way of the right property for us. Yeah I know,
I’m a Christian and I’m not supposed to depend on luck.
But who knows? Maybe God uses serendipity to steer us in
the right way? Maybe a series of wrong turns and dead ends is
precisely what He thinks we need to experience before landing the
“right” one. Another view of course, is that it doesn’t matter to Him
where we lived and what sort of house we lived in. That’s because
those decisions don’t affect His plans for His kingdom. Then again,
maybe they can. I guess if they do, then God will make a way.
In any case, we have now decided that we would no longer attend any
auctions as the frenzy has made the pricing irrational. I think the law
should be amended so that auction purchase should also be covered by
cooling-off period protection. Under current circumstances, auction
transaction probably requires more protection than private sale ones!
Work Wait
My current role has 6 weeks to go. I was planning to seek an indication
on my future position, by the end of this month. That would have given me
a one-month lead for me to think about searching for a new role.
However, last week there was an interesting development in my boss’
situation so I am now uncertain if I can press for an answer. On the one
hand I don’t think it is an unreasonable request on my part if I did ask for
a response. On the other hand, my boss has been terrific and I have enjoyed
this role a lot so I want to accommodate everyone as much as I can.
For me to press for a response at a time when my boss needs room to
manoeuvre, would seem out of place and not very nice. I cannot
presently write about this in any more detailed fashion except to
say I am in a little bit of a dilemma.
Right now, I am inclined to be nice instead of safeguarding my
own situation. It goes against my instinct but I guess it would be
the Christian thing to do. For now.
Footy Foothold
Man Utd were champions last season. Three games into
the new season and we are 2 spots above relegation.
What a contrast huh? Misery abounds, and I’m thankful
there is so little talk of soccer. The rage is still with footy and
who’s going to make the finals. We still haven’t found a team to
barrack for, though I have taken to watching games, and have
enjoyed doing so. I watched parts of the Geelong v Kangaroos game
yesterday and really liked the way Geelong played. The quick
passing game and the industry was exciting to watch. The
problem was both sides were equally hard working and fought
just as hard. The Brisbane Lions too won a thrilling game,
with competition leading goal kicker Jonathan Brown coming
up with a last second screamer to win the game. But Geelong
and Brisbane are foreigners. I want a local team. The closest would
be St Kilda or Hawthorn and while the Hawks have done really
well this season, I still haven’t watched a game involving either of them
so I’m none the wiser. I’ve been told that for sheer tradition and richness
of club history I must go for the “pies” (Magpies) – Collingwood. Like
Man Utd in the English Premier League, Collingwood divide footy fans
into ABC (Any one But Collingwood) and Pies fans. They have however,
striped colours – black and white at that – just like the Geordies. Bar-codes
– how does one barrack for that? Go by colours? That would be superficial.
Essendon (red, black) St Kilda (red, black and white) would suit. Or if
nickname is a yardstick, maybe Melbourne Demons would do. All three
are now playing lousy footy however so … In any case maybe the
hunt for a club should take on more serious proportions now. I guess
that would be a club which fights hard, plays exciting footy, goes through
agony (like now, for United) before experiencing ecstasy. It would be a
club which rises up against what may seem like insurmountable
odds, to reach the pinnacles of success. I don’t know enough
about footy clubs to find out which club has the best fit. I’ll have
to look some more. Then maybe I would have found a home in Melbourne.
Ante 