Moving house

It's been 2 weeks now since I've moved to my new place here in Eastwood. Official date of the move was 8 August 2009.

I did not anticipate the amount of planning and physical work that I have done the past weeks, my personal trainer did a good job in building up those biceps!!

The weeks leading up to the move was busy, as I was trying to organise the sale of my old house as well. So, in between "open houses", applying for a new mortgage and completing the purchase of this new place, comes finding the right removalists.

There are so many removalists to choose from... where does one even begin? Some charge by the hour, one came by to see what needs to be done and quoted $1,500, some provide boxes for free while others charges a fee. Some charge the same regardless of whether it's the weekday or the weekend while in most cases, there is a surcharge if you engage them during the weekends and this is usually 10% on top of the price quoted. Arrghh... too hard... thankfully, a friend recommended this removalist that he had used before and found them to be quite good. They are a Korean removalist, charges by the hour and supplies you with boxes which you have to pay a refundable deposit on. They will deliver the boxes and then pick it up a week after you have moved. The move amounted to $500 instead of $1,500!

On the day of the move, 2 Korean guys came, one small built while the other was a tall and good looking guy. The small one was quite strong and seemed to be the more experienced of the two. The good looking guy was a bit clumsy as he was tall and caused two dents in my wall...sigh!
Anyway, one lesson learnt is not to underestimate the amount of stuff you have in your house. I thought it will be a breeze to move my things as I did not have "much"... to my chagrin, the "medium sized" truck was not big enough to fit all my things in including my mum's beloved plants... and pebbles, which she had lovingly and tirelessly picked out!! Oh no... so, for the next few nights, mum and I made trips back to Baulkham Hills to pick up the rest of the things... the final box of pebbles were cleared out last Saturday, hooray! Thanks Charmaine, for helping with an extra load! Thanks to friends who either brought meals or had us over for dinner, it was a real help as the last thing one has the energy to do is to cook after a busy day packing and unpacking.

Next is to get all the change of addresses effected for insurances, be careful that you could end up with either a higher or a lower premium. Initiate a redirect of all mails.. inform friends... and the list goes on.

However, I can now start to enjoy the house... find out where all the switches are... how the locks work...read up on new appliances manual and how they work... the alarm systems...finding more room for my clothes and books...planting new plants to provide more colour...install a new antenna... check out on handyman... consider automating the car porch gate...write to my neighbour about his constantly yapping dog and meeting my new neighbours. And, oh, getting used to the many satellite dishes adorning the landscape!! Why does it have to be so BIG???

Well, a new journey begins... still praying for good neighbours. Praise God, so far, so good...

"I don't know how you can live without TV!!"

That was what Cindy said to me when she visited me the other night. Yes, it has been more than 2 weeks that I have gone without TV! I did wonder... will I survive?

Somehow once I got over the withdrawal symptoms of no "Amazing Race", no "Sunrise" in the mornings or weekends, things seemed fine. I had time to catch up on my reading, writing my blog, and focusing on the tasks at hand, rather than multi-tasking. One of my friends does not have a TV at home and has not had a TV for a few years now...I guess that's how she manages to get through her studies!

Having said that, I'm looking forward to my TV... finally! I believe that some background noise is good for the soul, keeping up with the news or the fashion or gossip, or some type of drama series is a good way of relaxation.

So, tomorrow will be when my antenna is fixed... hmm... should I consider installing a satellite dish next like so many of my neighbours??? Hundreds and hundreds of channels and movies galore!! Alas, I think not...maybe when I've retired and have nothing to do but be a couch potato every day and that's when I'll get my money's worth!

Mis-adventures with Sydney taxi drivers!!

Hrrummpphh... they are at it again! After another long night at the office, I was hoping to have a quick dash home from the city. Hailed a cab and after telling him where to go, the driver then started asking me about where I was from, what languages do I speak etc etc... I then decided to dodge more questions by putting a phone call to a friend to enquire about his health. After chatting away for a few minutes, I realised that the taxi driver was going to take me to Chatswood train station instead of Eastwood station!! The driver was then unsure where to go to head to Eastwood from Pacific Highway. He later explained that he asked if it was Chatswood but since I was on the phone... I did not hear him nor given him an answer. But, I think he just conveniently made the assumption that as I was from Malaysia, Chatswood is my natural place of abode as there are a lot of Malaysians living in Chatswood...?????

There was also this other time where I was heading to Darling Point from the city. Went to a cab and told the driver the address. The driver repeatedly asked... "are you sure this is the address?" Why would I lie to him??? He then asked if I knew how to get there as he does not know. After a few kilometers, I decided that it was best for me to get off rather than being taken for a ride.

Not only do taxi drivers not know the roads, some of them refuse to turn the air conditioning on when the temperature is soaring ... all to save some diesel but leaving us sweating like a .... ?? Or, some will leave you hanging on to your seatbelt as they weave in and out of traffic. You feel as tense as they are when you see them sitting straight and upright and gripping the steering wheel tightly... help, someone!

What is happening to our taxi drivers? Whilst some are polite, there are others who are rude, heck, we are paying them!!

Why do we as consumers, need to put up with this nonsense? WHY should we made to feel inadequate when you do not get in equipped with the map and the directions? How are they able to take our visitors around when they themselves do not know the directions around Sydney?

The ironic thing is that 9 out of 10 of these taxi drivers have TOM TOMs .... wonder why don't they use them instead of letting it sit and look pretty on their dashboard?

Politics

We had the opportunity to host Senator Helen Coonan and a few Liberal supporters at a small boardroom dinner. This is a forum to facilitate discussions about issues surrounding the Liberal party and ways to improve.

It was interesting sitting there listening to Helen point out the "cracks" that are starting to appear under the Rudd government. Notwithstanding, Helen conceded that there was a lot of things that the Liberals are not doing at the moment to position themselves ready to get back to parliament. Firstly, leadership turmoil does not help, the "utegate" fake email saga has also clouded some of the issues which they have started to focus on such as the ever growing deficit. Helen was dogmatic that there would not be another change of leader in such a short term but a question was posed to her to see when would be a good time to change leader i.e. would they wait until the poll indicates a popularity rating of 2%??

While the electorate are still happy with the Rudd government, they will close an eye to some of the election promises which have yet to be actioned but are now being created into policy reviews which are resulting in policy backlogs. It was also interesting to note that the Rudd government is seeing quite a high staff turnover due to the PM's micro management of the staff. Unless the issues reach a "tipping" point, the electorate will continue to be happy with current government and cloud some other more pressing topics such as health care.

A highly interactive and interesting night from all fronts and pertinent concerns were highlighted - topics which could be used by the opposition to bring them back to power. However, my take is that the Liberals have a lot of work ahead of them. They need to regain the electorate's confidence and support in their ability to lead the country. The injection of new and fresh blood to the party especially at the state level does not provide the necessary track record to prove their ability to effect change. Someone commented that some grey hairs would help. The crux of the matter is that there is a lack of strategic and strong leadership moves which will therefore hinder the Liberal parties' resumption to power.

However....

A reporter questioned the reaction anticipated from the introduction of the GST, Prime Minister Howard said in reply '... you must remember that the Australian voter has a short memory span... less than 14 days in most cases!'
Prime Minister, John Howard (1999)

Ahh... the beauty of politics....

Volunteering

It has been a while since I last penned a few lines in this blog... gosh! We are already in August, how quickly this year has gone by! Life had been busy and full.

I was up early this morning as this was the first time I am rostered on to volunteer under our workplace program with the Red Cross through their Good Start Breakfast Club. Our organisation send at least 2 of us each fortnight to help existing staff at the Glebe Public School to serve breakfast to the children at the school. All the children can participate in this program. The idea behind this initiative is based on the premise that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Having the first meal of the day assists the children with their physical, mental and emotional development. Children who miss breakfast are less able to concentrate, more prone to fidgeting and will find it difficult to concentrate by mid-morning. Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that children who miss out on a healthy breakfast are more likely to suffer from obesity later in life.

This program is usually held through schools which are considered to be socially or economically disadvantaged. Glebe Public Schools is attended by children from Aboriginal backgrounds and kids living in the housing commissions.

On this chilly morning, the children start arriving from 8 am with the "peak" period starting from 8.15am when the bus drops them off. They are served cereals or toast and the volunteers and staff keep an eye on the quantity taken eg if a child has consumed more than 4 pieces of toast, he / she will be asked to stop and given an alternative such as some cereals instead. I put too much vegemite for one girl and it was too much for her that she had to ask for just buttered toast!

One of the boys came in and told us that he had recently moved in with his sister who constantly "bashed" him and his brothers... very sad!

Some of the kids are also served dinner before they head home as this was likely to be their last meal of the day before they come to school again the following morning for breakfast. Mind you... dinner is served at 4.30pm!!

It was a good and humbling experience. Good to take stock of the blessings that we have money to put food on the table and are not lacking.