Thieves, Sharks and Hookers

Monday afternoon after Di returned from the Poly, we wandered over to Blake Park, and let the kids loose on the monster skateboard ramp. The girls were a bit wimpy about even sliding down on their bums, but eventually managed it. Only Freya was brave enough to attempt it sat on her skateboard, but she did it twice - the $5 bribe I offered proving to be irresistible. Di went to an interview with a local estate agent, in fact the one who we bought our house off. She returned later pleased that she'd been offered a job. Another agent rang while she was out and wanted to arrange an interview. She seems suddenly to be in demand. The UK website I am redesigning was well received, and some more ideas were put forward. It looks like it could become a very tidy little site and a good reference.

I spent Tuesday working on another site, redoing a quick and dirty one I'd put together for next to nothing not long before I left the UK. Most of the effort was put into a "creative" banner for the top of the page which forced me to rapidly acquire some new Photoshop skills. Wayne popped in to borrow one of out spare mattress for some guests that had arrived from the UK. He was full of irritation about the proposed mining of the Coromandel Peninsula - a part of NZ we never got to see on our holiday two years ago and was determined that we should write a protest song. I wasn't so sure, but as he showed me some of the lyrics, I agreed to have a go. I had an email from HiFX wanting our new address and proof of it. Alas the only utility bill I had with both our names actually has Di's initial down incorrectly and they went off on one when I sent it in. They will have to wait until Trustpower send the latest bill with the correct name on it. Most annoyingly, we discovered that the stop loss order placed on Friday had been triggered, and thus we had bought at$2:12. The really annoying thing is that it was a momentary dip before it headed back up again. Needless to say this is a pain in the but and has probably cost us $3,000.

Wednesday I chased up Halo Financial to make sure that they'd received the money I'd sent. They confirmed that they had, which was a major relief since the thought of that amount of cash going astray did not bear thinking about. We just have to wait for the dollars to hit our Westpac account now.

Thursday Di and I went out for a curry. We decided to visit Bombay Brasserie in the mount. It was OK, but nothing exceptional. The same crummy size poppadoms and the inability to order madras without being asked how hot it should be. Our bank account is now bulging following the deposit of half a house in it. Phew.

Friday Di had her assessment at the poly, and she passed. She has to place two advertisements in the paper and assuming nobody objects she can apply for her real estate licence. She had an interview with another agent who also offered her a job. I must admit to being a little miffed about all this unbridled success. I've been looking for a job for seven months and not even the sniff of an interview and yet the Mrs. gets two job offers in a week. But then both of these job offers are commission only with no basic salary so it's not quite the same thing as a proper job. Di also went back to the dentist for a check up following her extraction. Another $110 left our bank account but there were at least a few more tests. A comprehensive ultrasound examination revealed lots of micro fractures which meant that any remedial work was likely to cause a much larger fracture eventually. This explains the repeated visits Di had to endure back in the UK. The extremely hard amalgam used to fill the teeth doesn't give when you bite down on it and causes the tooth to fracture. The work done in the UK was apparently mediocre rather than incompetent and the technique used to crown, i.e. a post and cap is not the best method although standard practice in the UK. The preferred NZ method is apparently a sealed cap adhered to the root filling which stops any rot getting under the crown. It also stops the post insertion fracturing the tooth.

Saturday we ended up over at V&W's for a couple of hours. Di told Vicky all the gory details of estate agency while Wayne and I contented ourselves with watching the F1 qualifying on Sky while blowing the froth off a few cold ones. We got involved with a Facebook chat with a mate in the UK and persuaded him to install Skype and had a face to face. Kudos to Chas for not only getting Skype installed, but also getting the webcam working. Well done, mate.

On Sunday we ended up at Fashion Island in Papamoa, in search of a pair of school shoes for Imogen. On the way back, suitably shoed up we stopped in to see Caroline who was eager for news of Di's impending new career. As a licensed agent herself it was a conversation that I wasn't really into, but the flaws and benefits of various firms in this neck of the woods were discussed at length. Some are more scrupulous than others and when you look at the deals they offer their sales people, it seems that the only party to benefit is the firm. Not the seller, not the buyer and certainly not the salesperson. Little wonder then that the names of these various firms were subtly altered in order to produce a semi-amusing blog title. Hookers, however, were left untouched - something of an oxymoron if ever there was one.