Welcome to 2011 a very very busy year for me, changing workplaces and lifestyle trying to make the most of everyday, spending more time with friends and not making lists because its depressing not completing them.

Anyway something good that came from the list was that I became a member of the new melbourne soccer team Melbourne Heart. This was great not only did i love the team, but also loved having something to do with friends almost everyweekend, I would train it and catch up with mates and watch the game! it was great, On the second last game i decided to invite my ex-house along as well.

So my mate Ryan, and former housemate Dan came around and we were having a bit of a chat before heading off. I don’t remember alot but i do remember this haunting conversation of how Most of the East coast of Australia had gone to shit with the floods and cyclones and such But that shit never happens in Melbourne!. We headed off making it only about 100m down the road before it started to rain and HEAVY, so heavy we decided to return home and drive. We went up stairs and quickly got changed into dry clothes.

Dan pointed out that the cat had gone stupid “What wrong with the cat?”

Its then i noticed the water seeping in from behind the window but before i could say anything. This happened.

Needless to say. “FUCK!”

I’ve seen what happens next, I watched the damm 24hour Sunrise Coverage of the QLD Floods, I watched koshie watch things wash down the river.

So I jumped to action, Hitting the main power switch and grabbing towels, Ryan packed the windows with towels and Dan Knocked on neighbours doors looking for buckets, I Grabbed the storage containers from the wardrobe dumping the contents on the floor and throwing the containers under everywhere leak. trying to contain to the water.

Within 20 minutes the water now seeping in around the windows, the light fittings, switch the corners of the ceilings and joins in the ceiling, in the lounge, office and bedroom. with 120L Containers fillings in minutes we started trying to get electronics out of the water. Using Blankets, Beanbags, airbeds and pillows, I Covered The tv, computers, Cds, DVDs, Photos, Books, But it was no use. The Roof was like being in the shower, We continued to Dunk tubs of water off the balcony. It was clear we weren’t going to make it to the soccer. 

After about an hour of this! the rain started to die down, but the water was still pouring in from the roof, The light fittings were full of water still and therefore the ceiling must be full of water still. So to drain the roof out more I ripped the light from the ceiling creating a drainage hole.

It had been some hours now and it was getting dark and with water in the lights, the main power was still off. So got the candles out for light as we emptied the buckets in preparation of more rain. the roof was still draining and it was still raining but nowhere near as heavy as before. I pointed out (with my hardware experience) that the ceiling was made of plaster and will go soft with the water so we cleared the furniture to the side of the room and covered the floor.

I was right.

It was about 10pm (3 hours later) I was packing blankets into the bedroom window when i heard a CRASH, BANG, SPLASH! I knew it was the roof. But it didn’t fall where I thought would, rather it fell where we had moved all the stuff too, thinking it was safe because it wasn’t leaking much there. not only that but it fell on Ryan’s head.

I ran into the Room, Ryan looked like the roof had fell on him (because it had), Dan like it was the apocalypse (grab your shit and run). Nadine cried.

We were beaten, there was no power, no light, Too much water to handle and everything wet and broken. It was at this point we surrendered – Tired, Wet and Sore.At this point we had all the neighbors in the block with us trying to help but it was too late and no more could be done. we filled the car with computers and photos and things we cared most about (ps3).

We called our friend who worked with animals and she took the cat. we went to Ryan’s for the night 11.30pm. We got to Ryan’s and the soccer was only at half time, turns out it was delayed hours with rain.

It was eventful.

I was sure the aussie spirit would see us though. The agent was useless and actually gave us notice to vacate us come Monday. No help just Get out in 2 days!  Take your stuff and leave, I don’t care where just leave. so we started looking for houses only to be met with “were too busy helping people with flooded houses” my response “yes I know all about that but instead of help we got kicked out” We were lucky, the trainee of this real estate company showed us a house, it was better the others we managed to see that day and so we applied and he rushed the application for us and we moved in 2 days later. We put the screws on the agent, (we were no longer friends) and got our full bond and rest of that months rent back, The government gave us some money to help us out and my new work (been there for a week) were very understanding – all in all the only people not helping were the realetsate agent…. and the owner who was more worried about their blinds getting wet then us being homeless BITCH!

All in all. It was shit and hard. To see your home destroyed things like photos and computers being destroyed and nothing you can do about it and then been told your out on the street. Imagine what would you do if all of the sudden water poured in from all angles, in all rooms for hours!

But we were lucky.

We were home, -We should have been on a tram on the way to the soccer when it happened but we turned back, Everything would have been destroyed and apartments around ours would be too if we weren’t home.

We have Friends – With Ryan and Dan there we could move furniture empty buckets and block windows and try and slow the water from getting in and with friends willing to rescure our cat in the middle of the night and then look after him for a week. Not to mention Friends like Ryan who even after our house falls on him, lets us live at his house for a week.

Family – They came down as soon as they could, Loaned us money to find a house (how are we expected to find a place with no money in two days! you suck AGENT!) they packed and unpacked and helped us cope with it all and then left without being a burden.

In the end we lost about $3000 worth of bookshelves, beanbags, electronics etc. but we got our full bond back and are happy were we live now.

We didn’t think it would ever happen to us but in 24 hours we shown otherwise and our lives changed forever because of it.

(Just to show you how bad the rain was, below are others videos from camberwell junction (1km away – downhill))

2010 is over…

The year finished partying with my closest friends dancing the night away and getting drunk, Something I haven’t done since we first moved to Melbourne! Christmas was a miss for me as I was extremely Sick for pretty much the month of December but I survived so not so bad,

The moment you’ve been waiting for. THE LIST

So how did I do, EY? Well check it out.

1.Go Paint balling.
2. Have fish and chips at the beach.
3. Go to the cricket.
4. Go to a Soccer Match.
5. Drink in a bar I’ve never been to before.
6. Go Go-karting.
7. Go to the tennis.
8. see a comedian i haven’t seen before.
9. See a theater show.
10. Go camping.
11. Go fishing.
12. Go on a boat.
13. Fly somewhere.
14. Go canoeing or kayaking.
15. Visit a town I’ve never been to before.
16. Go on road trip.
17. Play Laser Tag.
18. Wear the Aussie flag as cape! to an event.
19. See a band play for the first time.
20. Go to the aquarium.
21. Get up and go for run before work like you said you would so many times.
22. Go to an expo CARS / GAMES & stuff.
23. Get the dints in the car fixed.
24. Get contact lenses.
25. Make a new friend
26. Get passport you have been saying you’d do that for years.
27. Go to the zoo!
28. Go to Phillip island
29. Go to the open range zoo.
30. see the snow.

To be Fair kayaking was booked in for December but I was too sick to even think about it so I didn’t make it… anyway. So 21 out of 30? Thats not bad and I don’t think I need to kick the bucket although it felt like I was going to in December.

But wait. There’s more.

No Really, wait.

So I’ve come the sad realization, with all the crap this year has brought (sick people, sick pets, sudden moving, broken everything, general crap)I’ve been spending around 150% of my pay each week putting me in debt and rather broke.  I’ll admit 20% of that doesn’t need to be spent but if I didn’t life would suck, cant have that “no point living if you don’t feel alive”.

Anyway, so to add to the list of crap my ps3 went ka-boom! the day before the game I’ve been waiting for all year (pre-ordered and all) rocked up on my door, the box is pretty but that’s about all I can tell you (that’s not true, I’ve clocked up like 5 hours of watching game play on you tube – sad right?)

But always looking on the bright side of life, Matt my brother from another mother came to Melbourne for a weekend, wanting to experience as much as possible and we did! I showed him The giant parma at the Portland hotel  before having some drinks in a bar down a dark alley, and then heading in to crown to gamble (he really wanted to gamble) and shock horror! on a Saturday night we got a roulette table to our selves! shocked right?!

I put the last of my 20% on the table (fully prepared to have no money for a week as long as i had fun) but winner winner chicken dinner! turned a 200% profit for the night! as a result we went in search of a Appletini! in true scrubs style before turning in as we planned to tackle some list the next day.

The plan: Get in the car and drive – do what you feel like when you feel like it and see what happens.

(this was made easier with the profit from the casino the night before)

and here is the result.

A full trip around the bay in around about 10 hours with plenty of stops at random places along the way and even managed to tick off a few things on the list! it was a great day for all involved! i know it seems like a long drive but it really didn’t feel like it because there was so much to see and Matt to keep us entertained all the way.

Moral of the story – When things get shit be thankful for your friends because on that day i forgot about everything, the road was my home and it was awesome!

1. Go Paint balling.
2. Have fish and chips at the beach.
3. Go to the cricket.
4. Go to a Soccer Match.
5. Drink in a bar I’ve never been to before.
6. Go Go-karting.
7. Go to the tennis.
8. see a comedian i haven’t seen before.
9. See a theater show.
10. Go camping.
11. Go fishing.
12. Go on a boat.
13. Fly somewhere.
14. Go canoeing or kayaking.
15. Visit a town I’ve never been to before.
16. Go on road trip.
17. Play Laser Tag.
18. Wear the Aussie flag as cape! to an event.
19. See a band play for the first time.
20. Go to the aquarium.
21. Get up and go for ran before work like you said you would so many times.
22. Go to an expo CARS / GAMES & stuff.
23. Get the dints in the car fixed.
24. Get contact lenses.
25. Make a new friend
26. Get passport you have been saying you’d do that for years.
27. Go to the zoo!
28. Go to Phillip island
29. Go to the open range zoo.
30. see the snow.

Anyone who knows me, knows there are some pretty big life choices on the horizon, that could spell change as big as leaving Melbourne, could be good, could be bad or just plain ugly. What every happens we deal & move on.

People who know me will also know I’m short film maker with a dream to be a big film maker but the world of short film making has changed since l last really gave it a go. first up its youtube that changed everything but that’s not what bugs me. What bugs me is Technology, I brought a computer and a camera and went out ready to film & edit and it feels like a week later technology changed and I’m now out of date. which is ‘great’ when it took me years to get enough cash to buy the stuff in the first place.

Now I’m so far behind my computer enters depression and tries to kill itself every time I try to edit anything! its so bad now even youtube is more advanced. I rip a movie from youtube and my computer wont run it! my mobile phone is more powerful and will run it no problems!

so how do you do it? how do you get into an industry to make money if it takes shitloads of money to gain the equipment to get the experience and tools to get into the industry to make the money to get the equipment…. so on and so on.

And they wonder why i work in retail.

Just a quick note. my hairdresser growing up was a 35 year old Tafe student working in a place called the country salon. My hair dresser today is a 40 year old south African gay black man who tells me stories of drug infused nights on the town full of gay sex with footballers. oh how times have changed.

he is a fantastic hair dresser though.

So just a quick message to say I’m still working on my list. it hard because I’m poor and I’m not sure if I even feel it to be important to continue the list.

anyway.

4. Completed - I’m now a Melbourne Heart member and tonight was almost our first win but was robbed when Perth glory scored a penalty goal with seconds to the end of the match. it was a draw but feels like a loss.

5. Completed - Went to a 21 at a bar in south yarra it was pretty cool, been a while since I’ve been out drinking, had a good night!

22. Completed – Went to the careers expo and talked film with universities  but it seems nothing will come of it due to something very unexpected. more on that another day. also went to the titanic exhibit!

25. Completed – Due to a merger at work, complications and new hiring I have gain new friends, some I can see being friends for years to come.

I suppose my question is do i push it and try to complete the list or give up and return to reality?

1. Go Paint balling.
2. Have fish and chips at the beach.
3. Go to the cricket.
4. Go to a Soccer Match.
5. Drink in a bar I’ve never been to before.
6. Go Go-karting.
7. Go to the tennis.
8. see a comedian i haven’t seen before.
9. See a theater show.
10. Go camping.
11. Go fishing.
12. Go on a boat.
13. Fly somewhere.
14. Go canoeing or kayaking.
15. Visit a town I’ve never been to before.
16. Go on road trip.
17. Play Laser Tag.
18. Wear the Aussie flag as cape! to an event.
19. See a band play for the first time.
20. Go to the aquarium.
21. Get up and go for ran before work like you said you would so many times.
22. Go to an expo CARS / GAMES & stuff.
23. Get the dints in the car fixed.
24. Get contact lenses.
25. Make a new friend
26. Get passport you have been saying you’d do that for years.
27. Go to the zoo!
28. Go to Phillip island
29. Go to the open range zoo.
30. see the snow.

So it’s pretty safe to say we have our shit sorted now. The Well (our last house) is a done deal. Sorted everyone out and everything paid or being paid for. Having said that a few things I’ve learnt – Always have a nest egg and always have a plan B. You see we were on easy street living with 5 people then it was MOVE OUT as if overnight! And with no chance to get our bond back any time soon it was hard. And the expenses just grew from there. For those budget conscious you may want to look away.

So lets just take a quick look due the short notice (we sorta figured the shit storm was coming about 2 weeks beforehand) we had around $2000 dollars set a side.

So we got a place YAY!

Within 24 hours pay first months rent! $1717
bond (6 weeks rent) $2575
plus pet bond (2 weeks rent $860
Removalist (I can’t move house up to the 3rd floor by my self) $300
Rubbish removal (housemates left a mess and we had a broken couch) $250
Cleaners to get bond back (because everyone left no-one was left to clean) $550

Because we no longer live we 5 people, we can no longer use their stuff so

Need new couch (w/fold out bed for drunks) $1150
Need new dining chair (broke all ours) $450
Picture hooks, Mats, power boards, cooking stuff etc.
(cheap thanks to my work) $400

That’s just off the top of my head. Total: $8,252.00 in one month.

Needless to say we are feeling a little poor at the moment. But it should be okay. With our bond from the old place coming soon, and tax returned and the extra moneys I’ll earn on my eBay sell-a-thon. We will cut into that debt no problems.

Having said that. We are kinda avoiding going out too much (not that hard seeing it so bloody cold) to save money so instead of going out and spending money we will just invite people round. I may even cook. Lol.

Despite being poor. On a side note. We to see the titanic exhibit at Melbourne museum it was amazing to see things from the ship and to learn in great detail about the people on the ship and their fate.

Despite everything… We are slowly getting our shit sorted!

It all started when I hadn’t seen my sister/house mate for a few days, I figured she was just busy but thinking back I should have realized as she was unemployed and poor so she shouldn’t really be leaving the house. Then Tim (the boyfriend) announced she had left. Gone to Mildura and may not be coming back… in other words she moved out and failed to tell everyone.

So the deal was she would continue to pay rent till we figure out if shes moved out or staying depending on where she can get work. Fair enough right?

Next Tim finds out his work is going bust, in-fact the whole company is going bust and it was hinted he should look for a new job, at the same time kayla finds work in Mildura – I guess this means she not coming back.

To make things worse. Our lease was up. We were out of contract.

So Tim says his not going back to Mildura he’ll continue to work at the failing company till he gets a better offer and both him and my sister will pay rent for a good 6 months understanding that we couldn’t live in the house with 5 people paying rent in total. The next day Tim takes off to Mildura.

So feeling rather betrayed not been informed that now both have left, its now clear that regardless of what was said their not staying and their not paying rent and certainly not for 6 months so it was time to make a choice.

Option 1: stay and find new housemates, Dan is still here (although um-employed by choice) so we need to either find a couple or two people (one happy to have a room without wardrobe). Only problem is Tim and kayla own almost everything in the kitchen, The big Fridge, Freezer, couches, tv, dining setting, bbq, washing machine, microwave and router/modem. To sum up we need housemates with a lot of shit or were going to end up buying things to cater for extra people.

Option 2: Nadine and I move out. We get our own place and we start again. Downside… well… moving… I hate moving… also that will leave Dan with nothing and no job.

We didn’t choose number 1 and not because of the reason above, but because if we managed to find someone that fits the description we would have to apply again for the house as we are out of the lease and break the bond and submit the bond again. So its option 2 without the heavy lifting But even if we did all this what stops these strangers from moving out in 6 months.

So we tell Kayla and Tim that “regardless we are moving out”. And and all four of us tell Dan. He replies “OK” and disappears to his room. I haven’t seen him since that Friday over a week ago, yes his avoiding me and yes his ignoring me but not only that, his ignoring his problem. I understand its uni time to hand everything in and he may be busy but that week ended Friday so he went out partying all night while everyone else packed the house into boxes.

Meantime Nadine and I did the house hunting thing and applied and found a place to move into.

So now in less then a weeks time. We will be out in our own house and Dan will be home with no tvs, no internet, nothing in the kitchen, no cups, no cutlery, no couches, no chairs, nothing. And yet nothing no panic no nothing.

With everything that has happened, I no longer care. I’m moving out and set up a life with my girl where I can invited people over whenever I want and no have my housemate move out on me without telling me. Dan may not like it but at least we gave him a few weeks notice. If he chooses not to do anything with that time then I’m sorry but his nearly 28 and should be able to look after himself and I wont care when I cut the power, water and gas on the agreed apon date with the landlord regardless of who is inside.

Like I said fun times.

“tomorrow is a new day, just like yesterday was to the day before that”

looks like were moving again even after i said only 12 months ago i am never moving again. not let down by land lords, agents or friends but family this time. great times ahead.