Sometimes I let my beard grow out, I suspect it is to remind myself that I am indeed in my mid-40s and too old for pretty much all of it. My hair has always been unruly, I'm considering going really short back and sides
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Just me
And my GF and my Daughter, celebrating my 45th Birthday last year.
Sometimes I let my beard grow out, I suspect it is to remind myself that I am indeed in my mid-40s and too old for pretty much all of it. My hair has always been unruly, I'm considering going really short back and sides
Sometimes I let my beard grow out, I suspect it is to remind myself that I am indeed in my mid-40s and too old for pretty much all of it. My hair has always been unruly, I'm considering going really short back and sides
So our landlord & agent are a cliche
The Real Estate Agent turns up and tries to intimidate us every time we complain about major stuff. Smoke alarms not working (there are 6) the owner of the agency turns up and complains that because we complained in writing they had to get an electrician out. The electrician popped the one in the living room, dead. I pointed out they had stickers saying they should be replaced after 10 years and were marked 199[]. He went and got replacements but the agent insisted on replacing only one. Same went for replacing washers, they waffled until one failed completely, by the look of the withered rubber corpse it hadn't been replaced in 10 years.
The hot water system backflows into the cold line, so intermittently the cold taps flow hot until they clear. Because it doesn't do it every time and he hasn't witnessed it, he insists that we have an "alleged" problem. We've already had to have them replace the toilet. When we moved in there was a 1970s pan, with a modern low flush cistern that took an hour to fill and two flushes to scour. That went to 3 hours to fill after a flow limiter was fitted.
The water hammer is also frightening, like whacking the front door with a sledge hammer at 2:00am when someone elsewhere in the complex flushes. One evening after a particularly violent rendition of pipework percussion's greatest hits, the hot water system was making a weird buzz louder than the TV, I "fixed" it by running the purge/fill valve for an hour.
The shower is dangerous, water flow often stops when someone in another flat uses the water. Which wouldn't be too bad, except that it sometimes comes back full hot, and there is no tempering valve. Which means I need to help my GF shower because she can't dodge the flow due to her physical disability. They can't just turn down the hot water system, because it is a tiny storage unit (although not on off peak, so at least it heats up in about an hour).
To give an idea of how far down the slumlord path they are, we can't use the kitchen cupboards for non-canned food because they smell of rot. In the case of the draws and 1/4 of the cupboard space we can't use them at all. Have a nice pic of the active mould in the cupboards we can't use.
The hot water system backflows into the cold line, so intermittently the cold taps flow hot until they clear. Because it doesn't do it every time and he hasn't witnessed it, he insists that we have an "alleged" problem. We've already had to have them replace the toilet. When we moved in there was a 1970s pan, with a modern low flush cistern that took an hour to fill and two flushes to scour. That went to 3 hours to fill after a flow limiter was fitted.
The water hammer is also frightening, like whacking the front door with a sledge hammer at 2:00am when someone elsewhere in the complex flushes. One evening after a particularly violent rendition of pipework percussion's greatest hits, the hot water system was making a weird buzz louder than the TV, I "fixed" it by running the purge/fill valve for an hour.
The shower is dangerous, water flow often stops when someone in another flat uses the water. Which wouldn't be too bad, except that it sometimes comes back full hot, and there is no tempering valve. Which means I need to help my GF shower because she can't dodge the flow due to her physical disability. They can't just turn down the hot water system, because it is a tiny storage unit (although not on off peak, so at least it heats up in about an hour).
To give an idea of how far down the slumlord path they are, we can't use the kitchen cupboards for non-canned food because they smell of rot. In the case of the draws and 1/4 of the cupboard space we can't use them at all. Have a nice pic of the active mould in the cupboards we can't use.
That's what it looked like when we moved in, we filed a complaint to get it fixed, they said the owner was looking into it, hasn't got back to us several months later. Don't know what it looks like now, I stuck a humidity sucker in there and closed the door.
Want the punch line, they say because his costs have gone up our rent rises from $200/week to $210 a week.
(We're looking into lodging an appeal against the rise.)
Monday, 28 March 2011
I can has follower...
I have my first follower.
Just about 2 billion to go to total world domination.
Just about 2 billion to go to total world domination.
Bullying is a hot topic...
Goddess grant me the Courage to confront
the Arseholes who bully me,
the Calm to deal with them as they Deserve,
the Wit to leave no Evidence,
and the Luck for the bodies to never be found...
the Arseholes who bully me,
the Calm to deal with them as they Deserve,
the Wit to leave no Evidence,
and the Luck for the bodies to never be found...
Goth
Goth: start with the basic black and the anti-anti-intellectualism, add lace, music with a social conscience on both a large and small scale and a feeling of alienation, season well with non-conformity and creativity. Bake in a hotbed of interpersonal conflict and petty jealousies. Present in a darkened room with a side of cynicism and a glass of absinth. Serves no-one but looks good in the corner near the cheese platter.
Sunday, 27 March 2011
10% of Australians living in poverty.
"The number of Australians living in poverty, estimated at 2.2 million, will continue to creep up as families buckle under cost of living pressures [...]
More Aussies in need - ACOSS
There are a number of factors, but I blame the Howard Years erosion of basic Pension and Dole rates for a large part of it. Add to that the way Tax breaks for investment (rental) homes have pushed up house prices and thus rents, and the meagre dogs breakfast of "Rent Assistance" and you have a lot of people teetering on the edge of homelessness.
Toss in skyrocketing electricity prices and Centrelink punishing welfare recipients for failing to read their mail by cutting off their payments, and it is no wonder there is a serious problem.
More Aussies in need - ACOSS
There are a number of factors, but I blame the Howard Years erosion of basic Pension and Dole rates for a large part of it. Add to that the way Tax breaks for investment (rental) homes have pushed up house prices and thus rents, and the meagre dogs breakfast of "Rent Assistance" and you have a lot of people teetering on the edge of homelessness.
Toss in skyrocketing electricity prices and Centrelink punishing welfare recipients for failing to read their mail by cutting off their payments, and it is no wonder there is a serious problem.
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