Virtually Paul

The House Hunt Begins

Can you believe that it’s nearly the end of November already?
That means I need to find somewhere to live next year!

If you have any leads on places where I could board, rent or share in the eastern suburbs in 2008… I’d be very grateful if you’d leave me a comment.

Allow me to explain…

As well as being the day of the Australian Federal Election and the AFL draft, today we also observe that there are exactly 6 weeks to go until Bec and Geoff’s wedding. Whilst the impending nuptials are most definitely cause for celebration (particularly because I get to be a groomsman), it will also bring to a close their reasonably short era as my housemate-and-a-half. Geoff and I have been sharing a nice little two bedroom townhousey place since August, with a view to my disappearing and Bec moving in after the wedding (quite obviously to move her single bed in to the room that I am vacating, so that she has somewhere to sleep).

As such, I have promised to disappear from the premises before they return from their honeymoon, even if that involves some significant commuting in the short term because I end up returning to my parents’ place on the other side of town. I really, really, really don’t want to do that if it can be at all avoided.  Mum’s cooking is fantastic, so it’s a backup plan that is not without its benefits, but the commuting back and forward to work gets to be a bit much for me.

So, as I said, I’m looking for a place in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne to board, rent or share, commencing in mid-January 2008 (or earlier if necessary). I’d much prefer to move into somewhere that is already set up, rather than trying to establish a share house from scratch - but I may not end up having the choice. I think I’m a good housemate and I come with good references from previous landlords and cohabitants.

Nice ways to kill time

This long anticipated Melbourne Cup weekend came as a much needed rest break from the responsibilities of life.  I knocked over another accounting conversion course exam last week and, in an incredible display of foresight, had booked some leave to allow myself 5 glorious days of R&R.

So, Thursday night I toddled off to dinner at Mum and Dad’s, crashed there for the night before meandering my way into the city on Friday to have lunch with old mate Matt.  Friday night saw me playing mini-golf with the youth group from my housemate’s church.  I had a blob day at home on Saturday before going to a friend’s birthday barbecue, after which I joined a bunch of people heading down to a house (straight out of the 70s) in Rosebud for the weekend.

Through a number of plot twists that I won’t go into, Sunday morning saw me attending the main church-ish meeting at the God’s Squad annual national meet-up.  I don’t think it’s a typical thing for non-members to be doing, so I was quite honoured by the privilege.

Sunday evening saw the gang piling (almost literally, due to space constraints) into the back of a car to take in a couple of movies at the Dromana drive-in.  We saw The Brave One (Jodie Foster) and December Boys (Daniel Radcliffe), both of which were OK.  We capped the night off with a stroll on the pier.

Monday, after a late start and a hearty home-cooked breakfast, we grabbed a quick fish and chip lunch on the beach at Sorrento, before heading off to Point Nepean National Park for the afternoon.  I’d been there earlier this year with my Dad and some mates from church but we hadn’t managed to cover the whole park, so I got to see the rest of it, which was cool - especially Fort Nepean itself, the old military gun emplacement that used to guard the heads to Port Phillip Bay.  One of the gun emplacements there fired the first Australian shot of both World Wars… and the views are pretty impressive as well.

On the way back, we made a detour via the ocean beach in Sorrento and spent some time walking along the rocks and having a sticky beak in the rock pools.  That was a nice part of a the trip.  Easy and uncomplicated.  No priorities or problems, no purposes or pressures, just time to kill.

I arrived back home last night and spent this morning listening to lots of music, just because I could, before driving up to Mount Dandenong for a stroll, whilst I listened to some podcasts that I’ve been meaning to get to for a while.

Relaxing is nice.