Enter The Seagoon

Hello again. Time to put the fractured posts into perspective, I think.

I last reported to you (coherently) last Wednesday. True to my word, I went to Chadstone (home of the largest shopping centre in the known universe, I’m told) to shop for supplies. I also began trawling the net for properties, and soon had a collection of properties to look at. I soon found, however, that most properties showed at 11 in the morning, and the rest showed at 3 in the afternoon. I begged assistance, and people were good enough to offer to help.

Thursday and Friday were mostly spent continuing to pester agencies. I went for a wander through A Certain Suburb in an attempt to charm agents directly, but discovered that they were as capable of being rude in person as via phone/internet. This was kinda disheartening, but I pressed on.

Saturday was a special day (and not in the Hallmark way). Ms Kate and Ms Kat were good enough to drive me places that I couldn’t reach on my own, and I am very grateful. With their help, I saw four properties in Bentleigh and one in Malvern. One agent didn’t show up, one property was far too small, one was (in my opinion) dishonestly advertised (apparently if the garden shed has windows, it’s a bungalow? Who would have thought?) and one hadn’t had its plumbing or wiring updated in the past century. I determined to apply for the final property, and gave up the rest of the day as a loss (after rewarding Ms Kat with peppermint tea and hugs, which was entirely worthwhile).

Also, the Lord and Lady of the manor set off on their anniversary trip at sparrow’s fart, and I found myself alone (apart from Mistress Leela, the four-pawed lady of the house). This turned out to be a bad thing for my mental state.

Sunday, the blues set in and lasted most of the next day. On Monday morning, I made a trip in on a morning train to my future workplace, which was a useful excursion, but I didn’t get much else of use done. Madam took care of me as best she could long distance, and made sure I kept sending those emails.

Tuesday was Melbourne Cup Day, and an unusual day. I headed out to meet some Lovely People for a picnic in the park, which turned out to be an interesting adventure on public transport. After an afternoon of lolling about with far too much food, I let the lovely Ms Gaby take me home, where I met her mother and got to see her Evil Twin and collect some much-needed hugs. We then headed in to choir, where some equally necessary therapy was had by me.

Wednesday was another hard day. Due to the public holiday the day before, none of my emails had been answered, so I got busy kicking heads making polite enquiries. It was then I discovered that many of the properties I’d been chasing had already been leased, including the no-show from Saturday. This was when the penny dropped and I began to despair. Much telephone and internet therapy got me through the day, but only just. I saw another property, didn’t particularly like it, but decided to apply anyway. I’d pretty much given up at this point.

Thursday morning, I took stock of my inspections for the weekend. Three properties in three different suburbs. All showing at 11am on Saturday. I gritted my teeth and tried to prioritise. Then came the call from Nice Agent – I’d contacted her office about two properties, and she offered me inspection times. 11am and 11:15am on Saturday. I took a deep breath and asked her nicely if there was any way I could see them earlier, mentioning I had nothing on that day. She asked if I could come around “right now”. When it became apparent I was using public transport, she invited me to meet her at her office and she’d drive me to both.

At this point I became light-headed. An agent that actually wanted to work to make a lease? Unheard of in this city, I tells ya. Needless to say, I took her up on her offer.

Big House was old, well maintained but odd. Nice Agent could tell I wasn’t terribly interested and didn’t press the point. Then, I saw the unit.

(note – I haven’t given the new place a catchy name. It’ll come to me, just give me time. I’ve been watching too much Doctor Who / Torchwood to use the word “unit“, trust me.)

Location – The complex is on a main road, about 1100m from the railway station. It’s a relaxed fifteen minute walk to the station, or about three on the bus. There’s a little shopping precinct a short walk down the street, a bigger one at the station or the local bus goes direct to Chadstone. It’ll be a twenty to twenty five minute train ride to work.

The Unit – Two bedrooms, one common wall with next door, single carport. Courtyard, zero maintenance garden. New paint, new floorboards, new kitchen, security system. A little small, but we’ll cope. Not the sort of place one can have dinner parties in, but meh. I’ll settle for communal snuggles in front of the TV.

So, I liked it and I applied. In the afternoon, my referees started getting called (Nice Agent asked Madam if I was “clean”). At 4:30, I got a message from Nice Agent saying my application had been passed to the landlords for approval. At 6pm, I got another call saying I’d been approved and did I still want the property?

Holy crap. Hence the tone of my last post (which I made after calling everyone I could think of who might care). After my many days of angst, I had the whole process done in less than eight hours.

Friday, funnily enough, was much better than the last few days had been. I went to Nice Agent’s office with a bond cheque and signed all the necessary paperwork. Although I don’t take over the property til Thursday, she offered me some keys so I could take a few photos and show Madam. I did this, and also took the time to check out some of the nearby eateries. Nice Agent then met me at the property and dropped me off at the station (did I mention this lady was nice? Geez). I then headed home to bury the bodies clean up a little before the Lord and Lady got home. They soon arrived back, much refreshed from their holiday and happy to be home.

Friday night, I was actually sociable. Man With Hat was celebrating his birthday at a cocktail bar, and we three came along to celebrate. I had my good news to pass on, and there was much rejoicing. I had a very large and entertaining drink (it arrived in a bowl with flaming passionfruit shells on top, I kid you not) and ate some very tasty nibbles while watching people drink many entertaining things. The Lord and Lady headed off to dance the night away, while I headed off with people to eat pizza and critique X Men 3 (which was on the TV in the pizza place). At long last, we saw various lovely people off, then Evil Woman and I caught a train home. I was still buzzing enough that I walked home from the station, feeling loved and generally happy.

Today involved a couple of intelligence-gathering trips to Ikea, some shopping and generally lying about. All very pleasant.

The near future will be interesting.

On Tuesday afternoon, I get to collect the keys for my new unit. Does anyone want to come on an adventure with me? It’ll be fun, and you’ll get to be a sticky beak.

Wednesday is my first day at work. Well, I’ll be at my induction rather than real work, but it’ll be interesting getting back into the swing of things (two weeks is long enough to completely disorient me).

Next weekend, I ought to be able to move in. Any volunteers would be most welcome to help either at the storage place or at the house itself – please contact me if you’re available / interested.

I have started to feel a little at home in Melbourne. I still miss Madam terribly, but I feel like I have my sense of mission back. Let’s see how the next little while goes.

Disclaimer – You’ll note I haven’t named Nice Agent or her agency. I won’t hesitate to recommend her, but contact me if you want details. We’ll have none of that commercial rubbish on this blog, thankee squire.