I think this is probably the latest I’ve ever started writing this blog – it’s been a pretty hectic day, actually. It all started a couple of days ago when that totally evil SoftMaker Office look-alike program swatted Thunderbird and all my email into the Twilight Zone! We managed to get my email back, thanks to the wonders of nightly backups, but it took time in which I couldn’t get at my computer. Then there was the house hunting. That took even more time when I wasn’t able to access my computer, and then when I could access it, I had to do fiddly little mundane things, like finding and setting up a blog template that actually showed comments... and minding my (ruddy!) Minions, and dealing with all the goodies that they dropped oh-so-humbly at my feet. Then today, after we’d been out all morning looking at two houses, coming home, and then going out again later to have another look at our The “C” House – which we couldn’t have a look at after all, because Julian got the time wrong – the “Open For Inspection” time was 2 o’clock, not 3 o’clock… Julian set up The Bat for me, as an alternative to Thunderbird. And imported all my mail for me – and yes, it’s all there (I think!) But it all had to be sorted, and checked against the mail on Thunderbird, and new filters created and run on each individual email in my Inbox. But it’s ironic, you know… I first started using The Bat years and years ago, but I moved away from it to something “prettier“, like Incredimail, and Outlook Express, and then giving up on them and migrating to several lesser known mailers, and then finally, to Thunderbird – Julian decided that The Bat was pretty good, and he’s been using it ever since. So now I’ve come full circle, and of course, it’s changed over the years, and it’s all foreign to me now, so I’m having to learn how to use this “new and improved” version of The Bat all over again! It’s been a long afternoon… 
Julian will be catching the red-eye to Adelaide next Wednesday for Jamie’s memorial service (we think it’s a memorial service – to say that informative details are scarce would be the understatement of the century!) and to catch up briefly with his mother, who is too frail to be able to go to the service. It’s not going to be a fun time for anyone (not that funerals and/or memorial services are supposed to be “fun”!) Jamie and his parents had been estranged for a long time, and apparently there’s quite a lot of bad blood and bitter feelings between them, and Jamie’s fiancée, so the air is bound to be thick enough with family politics to peel back with the blunt side of a knife… I’m sort-a glad I’m not going…
Now, the houses we saw today. The first one was in Vermont South, and would suit us right down to the ground! At the moment, I can’t make up my mind which one I really like better – the “C” House, or the Water Feature House (in Vermont South – it has a lovely big water feature outside – just to the right of the front door. It looks very “cool!” 😉 ) It has 4 bedrooms, to The “C” House’s 3, two of which would make an excellent Den and Office, a really nice kitchen with a good-sized family room, floor plan-wise it’s very well laid out, the bathroom and en-suite are not pokey or cramped (though the main bathroom has a very “stolid” looking bath in it – still, the shower is big enough to put a seat in it) It has a lovely covered deck onto a nice small garden area, a decent shed, and a big double garage with access directly to the house. The laundry is a good size, and there’s heaps of storage space – the one thing that The “C” House lacks
The second house was in Caulfield South and was very nice too – again, 4 bedrooms, to The “C” House’s 3, but much smaller, and – I dunno, slightly “claustrophobic”? The corridors seemed fairly narrow (or maybe it’s just that I’m still too fat? Probably…) and the three single bedrooms were pretty small – one didn’t have any sort of wardrobe or closet in it – and both the bathroom and the en-suite would have had to be re-built. It too had a nice little garden, with a lemon tree in it! but like The “C” House, it didn’t have a lot of storage space. And it was too small. I think I’d feel very cramped living there…
We have at least another one, if not two houses to see tomorrow – both in Caulfield South, but the more I think about it, the edgier I get about moving to that area – it’s so far away from what I realise I’ve come to think of as “my turf” – Doncaster Shoppingtown, The Pines, the fire escape stairs where I do my Stair Walks… (Winter sings, slightly off-key: ” mmm… mmmm..mm….mmmm, in all the old familiar places, that this heart of mine embraces“) *sigh* Oh well… I do want to move, but maybe not that far away…
Of course, going out again tomorrow to look at more houses will mean we don’t get our traditional Sunday Monster Bashing in, but it’s a long weekend, so we could call Monday “Sunday”, and bash our monsters then… My favourite eldest daughter has informed me that she’s started playing Rift again, and she’s based in Laethys and Hailol – so welcome to Grumpy Old Farts, Lee! 🙂 I’m sure Jademoss will be very happy to make you a couple of Lanzan Bags! 😉 It’ll be fun – while she’s on holiday, we can all team up to bash the baddies! 🙂
Weigh-in this morning. Well, I was expecting it. I went up one point, from 88.2kg to 88.3kg. The big spike should come tomorrow… However, “I’m expecting it” does not mean that I have to like it, or not grizzle and grumble and weep and wail about it! 😦
And that’s about it from me for tonight – call back tomorrow night, and I’ll fill you all in on whether we went out looking at houses, or stayed home and pummeled monsters in The Plane of Water, and whether or not my weight spiked alarmingly, compelling me to wring my hands in despair, gnash my teeth, scatter ashes in my hair and rend my clothing (no, I’d better not do that – I have few enough clothes that aren’t too big for me as it is!) So, right – no rending of clothing, then… (Winter peers over her glasses at her checklist: wringing hands… check! gnashing of teeth… check! ashes in the hair… check! Right, it all seems to be in order…) And of course, you can expect to get a detailed description of any and all houses that we go to inspect. It’s a real shame that we missed out on seeing The “C” House again this afternoon – after seeing the Water Feature House in Vermont South this morning, I was hoping we’d be able to compare them while they were both still fresh in our minds… But we will, we will… So until tomorrow night, bee good, remember to respect yourself if you would have others respect you, and also remember to stay warm and dry, and to drive carefully… but above all… stay safe! 🙂 ciao, all! 🙂
My Word! 