Last week we have been busy (amongst other things) to assemble the cupboards we bought at Ikea. It took a day and a half in total, but we like them a lot. We have ordered two more ;-). Unfortunately there was one set of doors that was NOT the right colour (birch in stead of white), so the idea that Ikea was a bit better organised here (concerning orderpicking and delivery) than in Holland wasn't the right one.
Since last week there seems to be someone who is making comments on our posts (one comment on each post!) with a stupid sentence like 'I found information here' with the word 'here' hiding a link. We had to decide to try and stop that kind of rubbish, so we are going to turn on the option that you have to sign in at blogger to be able to make a comment. We hope it is not too uncomfortable for you. To give you some time to react we will change that setting in a week from now. Please let us know if you would have a problem with that.
Then a special message to Frank R.: Frank, we know you are about to start your sabbatical trip (biking to Turkey) soon. We hope you have a nice trip!! If possible let us know how the trip goes.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Ikea and Telstra
Last Saturday we had some friends over (Dutch immigrants and some partners). It was very nice, and we made some plans for starting up a 'walking'group'. A date for the first walk is set.
Last Monday we have been to Ikea (again ;-) and ordered some more cupboards, so we can start organising the last two 'to be organised' rooms, the office and the hobby-room. They just called that they would be here in half an hour to deliver them. We are also planning to have a look at Caversham Wildlife park in Whiteman Park. The idea is to organise the (1st) walk there, so we want to have a look first, and make some nice pictures.
Peter has joined a Bowling league (10-pin bowling). Last Thursday evening he played for the first time (in years ;-).
Yesterday we contacted Telstra (since they had not contacted us). There was no news concerning the sent package. First they agreed to just send a new package, but a few minutes later told us we could also go to any Telstra shop and simply buy the DIY package. The money for that will then be refunded on the invoices. So, that is one of the main items on the shoppinglist for today!
Last Monday we have been to Ikea (again ;-) and ordered some more cupboards, so we can start organising the last two 'to be organised' rooms, the office and the hobby-room. They just called that they would be here in half an hour to deliver them. We are also planning to have a look at Caversham Wildlife park in Whiteman Park. The idea is to organise the (1st) walk there, so we want to have a look first, and make some nice pictures.
Peter has joined a Bowling league (10-pin bowling). Last Thursday evening he played for the first time (in years ;-).
Yesterday we contacted Telstra (since they had not contacted us). There was no news concerning the sent package. First they agreed to just send a new package, but a few minutes later told us we could also go to any Telstra shop and simply buy the DIY package. The money for that will then be refunded on the invoices. So, that is one of the main items on the shoppinglist for today!
Friday, July 14, 2006
End of the week
On the job front only one new thing to mention, Ellen has made a very good impression at her interview and they are now looking into possibilities to put her in a more fitting job somewhere in the next few weeks. Exciting!
Peter did not hear anything yet about a result of his interview, so hopefully that will come next week (but as mentioned in previous post, time does tend to go faster then expected, for everyone ;-).
Today we called Telstra (the phonecompany) because we expected the DIY (do it yourself) kit for the adsl connection somewhere at the beginning of this week. Telstra has called Australia Post (that they hire to deliver these packages) and they have not been able to tell where that package is at the moment. It has been delivered by Telstra to Australia Post at the 5th of July, so should have been here. In 48 hours (that is working hours, so next Tuesday) they should have more news ... :-( We'll wait and see!
Peter did not hear anything yet about a result of his interview, so hopefully that will come next week (but as mentioned in previous post, time does tend to go faster then expected, for everyone ;-).
Today we called Telstra (the phonecompany) because we expected the DIY (do it yourself) kit for the adsl connection somewhere at the beginning of this week. Telstra has called Australia Post (that they hire to deliver these packages) and they have not been able to tell where that package is at the moment. It has been delivered by Telstra to Australia Post at the 5th of July, so should have been here. In 48 hours (that is working hours, so next Tuesday) they should have more news ... :-( We'll wait and see!
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Time flies when ...
Unbelievable….another two weeks passed without us publishing anything on the blog. Sorry for that! On one hand we just are very busy, and then when we do have some time left we are very much enjoying being able to see our dvd-movies again. We have been missing them for almost 3 months, so we are trying to catch up with the missed fun ;-)
Anyway…we are now living in our house for 2 weeks, and we really, really, really love it! All the boxes have been upacked by now, the bedroom, kitchen and dining room are in order (all the stuff is in the right place). The other bedrooms are not too bad: Most of our stuff is now in the right room. We just have to arrange it all within the rooms. This Friday a cabinet will be delivered that we can use in the office-room (bedroom 4) to put all the files away. We are also looking round (for example at Ikea, which, although a very big one, is present in Perth) for cupboards for the study and the hobby room (bedroom 3).
As most of you will know, when moving in a house the first 80% of the work gets done in about 20% of the time, but the last 20% always seems to be taking far more time (usually small stuff but a lot of it). Ellen has done a magnificent job by washing every clothing that we have (since most of it has been in the container for 2 months). It took her about a full week to get through it. And we are very fortunate that the washer we have here is a top loader. Although being a bit less water-efficient as the one we had in Holland, it is a lot faster. A full wash cycle takes only 30 or 40 minutes.
In the last weeks we have also met some other Dutch emigrants that we got to know through the xpdite website. This Saturday we have invited some Dutchies to meet at our home and exchange some experiences.
About the work: Last Friday Ellen has had an interview for a 6-month contract job as project manager. She should hear something by the end of this week. Peter has had an interview last Monday for a (permanent) position as change & release manager (this was the job mentioned in the ‘blue to the bone’ post on our weblog). That company has also said to inform by the end of this week if he is the preferred candidate or not. Now we both already found a couple of times that saying ´by the end of this week´ can easily mean in a week or two… So we are also looking for other opportunities at the same time. By the way, we are very happy that we did not have to work the last couple of weeks, because that would hardly be compatible with moving in a new house!
Talking about the new house, we are also waiting for a package by Telstra with the material to install (wireless) adsl at home. Once we have that we will finally be able to upload more photos than we used to do the last 3 months. We will be making some photos of our new house (inside and outside) in the next few days, and upload these anyway.
Last week we were changing a lamp on the ceiling (replacing one of them with one of our halogen lamps). We found that the ceiling is (if we name it correctly) completely made of plasterboard (´gips´ in Dutch). That means that you have to use a bit different methods to attach a lamp to the ceiling. For this one Ellen went up the ceiling which meant she had to climb above the ceiling (through an access panel in the hallway) and there walk from one wooden rafter (or beam) to the next. Because it is not wise to step on the (plasterboard!) ceiling which is attached to the bottom of these rafters (;-), and there are also conduits laying on the ceiling for the ducted air conditioning, this was an adventure in itself!
Fortunately in the mean time we have found other material that can be used to attach stuff to plasterboard ceilings, so any other things we want to attach to the ceiling will be pretty easy to get done.
And as a last remark: winter is slowly starting to creep in. Night temperatures of about 4 degrees, day temperatures around 15 or 16 degrees. Compared to where we are coming from not too bad for winter, but a warm sweater is needed. Only the normal winter rain(s) have not really started yet, but should be getting here.
Anyway…we are now living in our house for 2 weeks, and we really, really, really love it! All the boxes have been upacked by now, the bedroom, kitchen and dining room are in order (all the stuff is in the right place). The other bedrooms are not too bad: Most of our stuff is now in the right room. We just have to arrange it all within the rooms. This Friday a cabinet will be delivered that we can use in the office-room (bedroom 4) to put all the files away. We are also looking round (for example at Ikea, which, although a very big one, is present in Perth) for cupboards for the study and the hobby room (bedroom 3).
As most of you will know, when moving in a house the first 80% of the work gets done in about 20% of the time, but the last 20% always seems to be taking far more time (usually small stuff but a lot of it). Ellen has done a magnificent job by washing every clothing that we have (since most of it has been in the container for 2 months). It took her about a full week to get through it. And we are very fortunate that the washer we have here is a top loader. Although being a bit less water-efficient as the one we had in Holland, it is a lot faster. A full wash cycle takes only 30 or 40 minutes.
In the last weeks we have also met some other Dutch emigrants that we got to know through the xpdite website. This Saturday we have invited some Dutchies to meet at our home and exchange some experiences.
About the work: Last Friday Ellen has had an interview for a 6-month contract job as project manager. She should hear something by the end of this week. Peter has had an interview last Monday for a (permanent) position as change & release manager (this was the job mentioned in the ‘blue to the bone’ post on our weblog). That company has also said to inform by the end of this week if he is the preferred candidate or not. Now we both already found a couple of times that saying ´by the end of this week´ can easily mean in a week or two… So we are also looking for other opportunities at the same time. By the way, we are very happy that we did not have to work the last couple of weeks, because that would hardly be compatible with moving in a new house!
Talking about the new house, we are also waiting for a package by Telstra with the material to install (wireless) adsl at home. Once we have that we will finally be able to upload more photos than we used to do the last 3 months. We will be making some photos of our new house (inside and outside) in the next few days, and upload these anyway.
Last week we were changing a lamp on the ceiling (replacing one of them with one of our halogen lamps). We found that the ceiling is (if we name it correctly) completely made of plasterboard (´gips´ in Dutch). That means that you have to use a bit different methods to attach a lamp to the ceiling. For this one Ellen went up the ceiling which meant she had to climb above the ceiling (through an access panel in the hallway) and there walk from one wooden rafter (or beam) to the next. Because it is not wise to step on the (plasterboard!) ceiling which is attached to the bottom of these rafters (;-), and there are also conduits laying on the ceiling for the ducted air conditioning, this was an adventure in itself!
Fortunately in the mean time we have found other material that can be used to attach stuff to plasterboard ceilings, so any other things we want to attach to the ceiling will be pretty easy to get done.
And as a last remark: winter is slowly starting to creep in. Night temperatures of about 4 degrees, day temperatures around 15 or 16 degrees. Compared to where we are coming from not too bad for winter, but a warm sweater is needed. Only the normal winter rain(s) have not really started yet, but should be getting here.
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