Category: Home & Family TO BE FIXED

I have the weekend to myself this weekend, as Lisa headed off to Melbourne in the wee small hours of this morning and won’t be back until Monday … I thought I’d have a lazy start to the day by laying in bed and catching up on a couple of blogs, when I heard the doorbell go and the screen door open … not expecting anyone I threw my dressing gown on and padded out to the front door to see a strange lady standing there with bags in her hands (I say strange because she is an unknown lady, and not because she’s weird at all! haha).  Thinking she’s trying to sell something I am a bit tentative in my greeting … but she announces “hi, I’m Robyn!”.  The penny then dropped as to who this lady was – I was driving her to our stitching day down south … but the only problem is the stitching day is tomorrow, not today!

I felt so sorry for the poor love, but I quickly threw on some clothes and made us a cup of coffee and we shared nibblies over a coffee and talked.  Robyn had the ‘honour’ of being shown all my stitching works in progress and finished items, which always breaks the ice when meeting new people.  We ended up chatting the morning away and Robyn didn’t leave until lunchtime – it was wonderful!  It is always so nice to meet fellow stitchers, and discuss stitching loves in the way of fabrics and designers and just stitching chat in general.  What an unexpected and pleasant way to spend the morning!  And the best thing is we get to do it all over again tomorrow! 🙂

I think I’ll spend the next hour going for a walk up the beach, before having my shower and getting ready to head into the city.  I was hoping to spend the morning finally setting up a CA Wells project for stitching, but having an unexpected stitching visit was way more fun! 😀

I can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve picked up a needle … I haven’t touched my stitching since finishing the stitching on Karen’s Shepherd’s Roll needleroll, which is soooooo unlike me!  I haven’t had the urge to stitch whatsoever, perhaps because there is still so much clutter to be unpacked and sorted in my bedroom … and I think that’s cluttering my brain.  I also haven’t really felt like blogging, or even reading blogs.  Once I feel more settled and under control with the unpacking I might be ready to tackle some more stitching projects and get back into a routine once again.  The problem is the CA Wells class is in about 8 weeks time and I haven’t even started yikes!  Oh well, no point stressing about it … I might stitch some calico onto the edges of Sailor’s Valentine and take it with me to the stitching day tomorrow, as that could be relatively easy to stitch – either that or take a freebie along … perhaps that should be a priority for me right now instead of sitting at the laptop hmmm …

Rightio, time to pull finger out and get into my stitching stash and kit something up for tomorrow … the walk will have to wait!!  I’m now on a stitching mission … kind of …

Then I’m heading into the city to have dinner with friends Brenda and Kerrie before we see the Sound of Music stage show – it should be a fun night!

I’ve been speaking to ‘my’ mechanic today and I’m off to pick up my car tomorrow … and it seems it’s going to be a relatively painless bill, much to my total amazement and joy (for me relatively painless is under $1,000!)!  Hence the feeling I could cry tears of joy!!! 

Out of all the problems with the car, he’s managed to find that they’re quite ‘minor’ things – the airconditioning flooding the car only turned out to be a blocked drainage tube; the ‘broken’ windows just turned out to be that the idiot who ripped out my alarm system last year hit the ‘child lock’, so the windows were fixed at the push of a button (that gave me a bit of a giggle) … the ‘big’ costs are a reconditioned alternator and a new battery … and he’s replacing my car aerial that got killed in the hail storms before Christmas, plus the dashboard light and hopefully the door remote.  I’ve got my fingers crossed it won’t be too much over say $600, but time will tell tomorrow morning!

I must say it’s a real pleasure having a mechanic that’s not out to stiff you and is truly reliable and trustworthy – even if he is on the other side of town, I’ll definitely be taking my car to him on a regular basis now!

In other news I’ve requested from Dodgey Brothers R Us a copy of the receipt for the extra rental truck expenses, and he’s refused to give it to me … which I now have in writing from him in an email … bless you Mr Dodgey, that’ll come in very handy for when we take it further to claim back those costs!! 😀

And if that all isn’t enough, I’ve also managed to ‘unpublish’ all those future WordPress posts as well, by just clicking on edit timestamp and saving again … so over the next few weeks it’s going to feel like Groundhog Dog with everything you’ve already seen haha.

Still no gift photos to share with you yet, as I need to buy some DVD’s to get rid of some files on my laptop … but I promise you the wait is worth it! 🙂

I’ll try to remember and pick up some DVD’s tomorrow while I’m out picking up my car!  For now, it’s time to head off and unpack another couple of things before bedtime.  Hopefully in another week I’ll have more time to get back into my stitching again.  We’re having a friend come to visit from Melbourne next Tuesday, so we’ve got to get cracking and get the place tidied up … it’s going to be so good having a social event next week and entertaining at home!  That cocktail bar will finally get a hammering … and I will have a Chardonnay drinking buddy here (no-one else I know drinks Chardy … everybody else in Oz seems to be Sauvignon Blanc fans).  I must say that today “life feels good” 😀

Rightio, time for bed so we can get up early tomorrow … hope to be back tomorrow with a fun-filled post of stitching goodies! 🙂

The last few posts have been quite negative (perhaps understandably so), so it’s time to get back to seeing the positives.  Last night this is the view I had when I came into my new bedroom …

Yes, I actually found the screws etc quite quickly, and managed to put my bed frame etc together ready for bed-time.  It was an incredible feeling getting into a newy made bed (not just the bed frame, but the new sheets and duvet set I bought in the sales late last year – it’s unusual for me to have a light-coloured ‘girly’ duvet, as I’m usually into the brighter blue colours, but it’s a nice change) … I actually lay there in the bed just appreciating the feeling of being back in my own “things” again. It’s not intended that the ducks will stay there, but I don’t have anywhere else to put them just yet (there’s no room in that bathroom).

Another positive thing, is that I found out we can see the ocean from our balcony!  OK, fair enough, you have to squint hard to see it in the distance, but you really CAN see it! haha. See, we really ARE just a block away from the beach! 😀

And yet one more positive thing – I can’t get over being able to see proper TV channels again!!  We have a proper built-in aerial, unlike the other apartment in Elwood where I had to use bunnies ears and each channel had various degrees of ‘snow’ … every single channel I’ve managed to pick up so far in the lounge is crystal clear … I’m so impressed!! 🙂

Of course, things are still a pig-sty here while I’m unpacking … unfortunately it seems in every box there is something else broken.  I started taking photos the other day to share (mainly to show Mum), but now it’s getting to the stage where there are too many photos banking up … and still a few more boxes yet to be opened.  Thankfully to date there aren’t too many things that are of sentimental value or well-loved items that have been lost.  About 6 pieces of furniture have been broken in various stages … but some are fixable, and some items are cheap and nasty anyway so they need replacing – some of the crockery in the boxes have been the biggest affected … one Pyrex dish smashed into smithereens (it’s like little mosaic pieces wrapped into paper), and one cappuccino cup and saucer from NZ smashed … unfortunately not of the same set – my last remaining blue pottery cup that was a gift from a friend, plus the saucer of my very favourite cup set.  At least with the cappuccino cup I can go out and find another saucer that will fit it, as it has quite bright colours in stripes, so that shouldn’t be too difficult 🙂  The Pyrex dish was a chicken roasting dish that didn’t really get used, so I guess that just makes more space in the kitchen cabinets 😉

Work managed to give me the days off this week, which means I’ve had time to get over the emotional aspects of this move – my fighting spirit is also starting to return, and we’ve made the decision to definitely take our issue further.  I’ll be contacting the Fair Trading Assn again, plus checking to see of the Australian Consumers group have an area to report them to … but we’ve also found a website that gives product reviews of Australian companies, and we’re going to each write an individual report (including the other girl from work who had grief the week before us from the same company), which will give them an even worse rating.  I don’t feel angry or upset anymore, but I do feel that we need to let people know … if any of our feedback helps to cut back on the income derived by Dodgey Brothers R Us, then justice will be served.  Mum gave me a giggle yesterday when she said I should have known better by using a company with such a disreputable name … obviously that was a nickname I gave them myself – in due course I will fully disclose the company details!

The one thing I’m now having to reconsider is my birthday plans this year – originally I was looking at spending a day out in the Blue Mountains, doing the ‘touristy thing’, then finishing off with dinner somewhere … funds are now pretty thin, as I’m $400 extra out of pocket thanks to Dodgey Brothers, plus my mobile bill will be astronomical, so that’s probably an extra $300 coming … plus my car needs fixing … yikes!  Guess it’s back on the breadline again … anyway, if anyone has any suggestions for nice “cheap” things to do around Sydney, I’d really appreciate the ideas! I still want to have some sort of celebration making the most of what Sydney has to offer, just in case I don’t end up staying (although the thought of having to move again right now puts chills up my spine haha) 😀

Anyway, ending on a happy note … even though I haven’t lifted a needle at all since all the troubles began, I have managed to finalise my Needleroll Tutorial for the Focus on Finishing blog – and I’ve decided to release it ahead of time, as my time online is up and down (I’m only popping on when I need a quick break from unpacking) … so feel free to pop over and take a look – and don’t hesitate to let me know if something doesn’t make sense! I’ll be uploading it just as soon as I’ve published this post 😀

Hopefully by the end of next week there’ll some more stitching to share (in fact, hopefully by the end of this weekend!).

Thanks again for all the supportive comments – it’s truly helped me get through the last couple of days with sanity intact! {{hugs}}

Thanks guys for all your support – I didn’t document everything that happened yesterday in detail, but I can honestly and truthfully say it was one of the most stressful and awful days I’ve ever encountered, and I’ve encountered some in the last 1-2 years! 😦

The removalists finally left here at 7.30pm, after arriving after noon.  I tried contacting the Australian Furniture Removalists Assn, after being referred there from a lady at the Fair Trading Assn the 2nd time I called – but it did no good, as they aren’t members … which surprised me very little!  It did get really nasty yesterday during the phone calls to the trucking company … and I need to document everything in full before Lisa and I decide which way to tackle this.  We did discuss the option of working out any way possible to widel and publicly advertise their appalling behaviour without being up for slander, and we’ll still probably go down that track (good idea about the website Susan).  Lisa was so angry she was tempted to take legal action … but I’m out of pocket as it is, and I can’t afford to do that – plus, in some ways I just want to forget the whole thing – but then the other side of me wants justice … which means the stress will continue … it’s a catch-22 😦

Today I feel totally drained … but I must say it was incredible to sleep on my very own mattress, even though it was on the floor!  I’ve managed to pack my bed screws etc somewhere very safe, never to be found again … well, probably until I unpack everything else, which might take a couple of weeks to go through every single box – ho-hum, but at least I got a good night’s sleep last night, well 6 hours anyway, which is good enough – my mattress is a wonderful back care big thick scrumptious mattress, and it was exquisite having it back in my possession again, on the floor or not! 😉

The guys who delivered the goods were really nice and very sympathetic … at the end of the night I was told the company would send me a receipt later and they didn’t have any paperwork documentation to give me, which I said wasn’t good enough after being literally held to ransom myself and being demanded to email them a screen dump of the bank transfer … another phone call to the “boss” at the end of the night and I ended up losing my cool – I burst into tears and Dion (the main removalist here) spoke to him.  I felt like such an idiot, but it was just the last straw in a truly dreadful 24 hours.  I’m just so very very glad it’s over for now … I just feel like crawling into a corner and sleeping for a month 😦

Anyway, that’s enough of my misery for one day – I know I still haven’t put all the finer details into words here … I just don’t want to sit and rehash it all just yet … but it will happen, and it has to happen, especially if we do decide to take it further via the Fair Trading Commission or some other avenue … for now I just want to forget that b*stard was born, and try to get out of this funk I’m now in.  I’ve called up work an left a message requesting the last two days of this week off, and got all teary again leaving a message … I don’t think I’ll get the time off, but I really need it for my sanity and emotional sake if nothing else.  But at the end of today I may have shaken the malaise off and be okay again … my stitching chair is in place with my Ott-lite and floor stand, so a spot of stitching later tonight may help to ease the tension 🙂

Thanks again for all your words of encouragement – I really really appreciate it!  I think the thing I hate the most about all of this is that I was in such a wonderful frame of mind, really positive and excited about everything, and this whole affair has knocked the wind out of me and taken that away … I know that feeling will return once we get settled in here, and once Lisa arrives next week I’ll have some company face-to-face, which will help – anyway, this isn’t getting my stuff unpacked, so I’m off to have my morning coffee and have something to eat (I only managed to eat breakfast yesterday during all the stress and drama, so I know I need something in me to keep the energy levels up) … then I’ll start facing the day properly.

Updated to add something that is WAY too much information – but I learnt something new today … apparently there is such a thing as stress-induced diarrhoea!  Go figure!!  The griping tummy pains I started getting 30 minutes ago has nothing to do with food intake, ‘cos there hasn’t been any yet … so it looks like Dodgey Brothers R Us really HAS given me the ………!!!  Sorry, but I couldn’t resist it … maybe that was a good thing to happen, as it’s given me a spark of my sense on humour back 😉

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But wait, there’s more … I’ve just gone out to start the car to drive in to work and pick Lisa up to sign the lease and bring her suitcases into the flat, and my car won’t start – I’ve tried everything possible to get it started, and it’s died a horrible death.  I knew it needed to get looked at, but now I can’t even drive the bl**dy heap of scrap metal to the mechanic.  It’s like Groundhog Day Year!!!  Mutter mutter mutter …  So now I don’t even know how I’ll get into work myself if I have to work Thu/Fri … I’m sooooooo over this day, like you wouldn’t believe!!!  Sorry for whining on here, but it helps to get it off my chest 😦

The heading shows who I’ll be raising a dispute through very very shortly – I’ve just had my goods help up for ransom by the thieving bastards who were delivering – they’ve been sitting outside for the last 2-3 hours while I’ve been spending up large on my mobile phone calling Fair Trading, the thieving bastards company, the ANZ, and Lisa … I’ve had absolutely no choice but to pay up front for extra costs $400+ or my goods were being removed and put into storage, and I was going to be charged for storage. 

Anyway, the fight isn’t over … my goods are finally being delivered, but they have broken their contract in a couple of different ways – even after the fact I’ll be taking this further – I don’t know how, but we’re not going to go quietly!  Quite frankly I’ve had the day from hell … I’ll put all the details on here when they’ve gone … I just needed to type this up quickly to vent a bit and get it off my chest 😦

Well, I wish I could say that today was better than yesterday, but it’s had its moments!  I set off relatively early from Brenda & Nigel’s place, so I could go shopping for a shower curtain etc, do the property inspection, and try to pop into the airport to see Auntie Enid and Don – my first stop was to a shopping centre I hadn’t been to before, but it had a Big W, where I thought I’d get a nice cheap shower curtain and rubbish bin for the kitchen … which I did … but …

When I got back out to my car it was dead … not a screggin of life left in the stupid pile of metal! 😦

After calling the storage unit to make sure Dodgey Brothers R Us actually turned up (the good news is that they had taken a couple of loads already in the smaller truck, so at least I know it’s on its way at some stage today!), I called the NRMA which was going to take about 1 1/2 hours to come to see me – the great thing was that I had absolutely no idea where I was, other than I ‘thought’ it was Winston something shopping centre.  Anyway, after just about bursting into tears, I called Nigel up just to vent my frustrations … then eventually I decided to start looking for the intersection the mechanic was going to meet me near.  I opened up the car door, to get some ventilation in and the inside light came on very very dismally.  I don’t know why but I decided to switch the light to the “off” position just to preserve any last legs of the battery, and as soon as I did that the car started beeping!

I thought that was a strange thing for it to do, as the car only makes that sound when I’ve opened the door with the car key in the ignition (which had just happened), but only when the battery is working.  Sure enough, I turned the key and the heap of s*** kicked into life – and I tried the inside light and it burned as brightly as ever.  Go figure!!

Anyway, I’ve made a call to Brenda and Nigel’s mechanic, and I’m going to have to take it in to check out all the wiring … yet more expense that I can’t afford right now, but I can’t take the risk of putting it off any longer.  Oh well, c’est la vie – I’ll wait to see when the furniture arrives, and see if I still have time to drive it over this week some time for an estimate.

The good news is that I’m here in the flat … the power is going nicely so I’ve made myself a lovely big mug of coffee … and the greater news is that my internet modem works perfectly out here, so I’m all set for the night.  I’m very disappointed I didn’t get to the airport in time to see my relatives before they flew back to Vancouver, but I’m very grateful I’m here now and can settle in and be a vegetable for the rest of the day (after wiping the surface spray off the benches and disposing of the dead cockroach bodies, and doing the site inspection.  Fingers crossed the furniture will arrive tomorrow … and fingers doubly crossed that we can get the garage door open tomorrow!!!

Rightio, I’m heading off to put some music on (bless my laptop, you were worth every cent!!!) … Mum I still don’t have a phone line connected yet, but I’ll give you a call as soon as I have a landline number for you to call! 😀 xxx

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Ooh, before I forget, though … one awesomely fantastic thing did happen today to put a smile on my face! 🙂  I called into the PO Box on the way home, and inside was a lovely envelope full of threads (well, actually two – but one was an order I’d made with Dragonfly Dreams) … KarenV was extremely generous and sent me some threads off my wishlist – thank you so much Karen, you truly made my day – it was a nice bright spot is a seriously grey one 🙂  Now it means I can kit a few more projects up woohoo!!! 😀 

After spending the day at the flat unpacking my latest car-ful of belongings, washing all my new 12-setting cutlery set etc, and killing cockroaches in the kitchen and bathroom (only one in each, so not like an infestation!), I start driving home in the pouring rain only to be told via mobile phone that Dodgey Brothers Removals can’t get their stupid bl**dy truck up the driveway and can’t get to the storage unit … so it’s our responsibility to go hire a smaller truck from Hertz or Thrifty or somewhere and bring the stuff to the truck … bless Lisa, she told him to ‘get nicked’, and he’s looking at hiring a truck himself (which we are now having to pay for apparently) – not happy Jan!  They haven’t managed to fix it by closing time tonight, so the delivery may now be another day late … (I think I’ve spent more time on my mobile phone in the last two hours than I have in the last two months haha)

As for me, my blood pressure was soaring just a tad (not helped by taking a full 3 hours to drive home again ‘cos people don’t know how to drive in the rain ho-hum) … so I called into the supermarket on the way home and sat and ate an entire 100g chocolate block in the car … choccie is without a doubt the BEST comfort food EVER!!!  Now I’ve just had a nice warm shower, and I’m about to sit down with the largest and strongest Jim Beam & lemonade in history … {{heavy sigh}}.

Anyway, regardless, it’s my official moving day for me personally in the morning … only time will tell when the furniture will be moving in!!! 😦