Free Hugs

This won most inspirational video at the You Tube awards. I thought it might be Danny Wallace at first - certainly the kind of thing that he would do:

30+ hacks and extensions for Gmail

I've been a Gmail user for 15 months now so these hacks and extensions could be quite useful.

Oz weather

Great article comparing the weather between the major cities. Rach is set on that we're moving to Brisbane but I'm still open to the possibility of trying out other areas. I guess I better make my mind up soon, if all goes well we've only got 3 months to go!

TK Maxx security breach comes as no suprise

The security breach at TJX, owners of TK Maxx, which has led to the disclosure of 45 million customer's credit and debit card information comes as no surprise to us in the IT Security community.

Unlike banks, insurance companies and they're like who are regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the UK, there are very little legislative and regulatory pressures on the retail industry to operate best practice security, which given that they have infrastructure in place to take payment card details is something we should all be worried about, to say the least.

The only reason we know about this security breach is 1) because the breach is too large to hide, and 2) the parent company has obligations under certain State law in the US to divulge security breaches. There's no such obligations for UK companies. Unless of course you count the 2006 Fraud Act which gives banks (not retail companies) the obligation for reporting losses due to fraud involving payment cards (however many banks know that they can easily get around this).

There's the Data Protection Act of course, but the Information Commissioner is pretty toothless. You don't hear of companies being fined £1 million by the Information Commissioner, like Nationwide was last month by the FSA.

From my experience, companies only implement good security controls if they've either been impacted by a security incident which has cost them a lot of money, or they've been audited by a regulatory board or client and have been forced to improve security. It's shocking to see the lack of protection around customer information in retail companies. Many retail companies don't even have any standard security monitoring devices on their network or servers, so for all we know, our information could be being disclosed every day and the companies aren't even aware of it, never mind us, their customers.

Security features in the new £20

It may have the feel of monopoly money but apparently the security features built into the new £20 note are quite good. Here's a handy guide for checking for forgeries:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6444003.stm#graphic

Most of us are in the wrong job

According to research conducted by BUPA (well actually it was the results from thousands of personality tests), up to 75% of us toil away in unsuitable jobs or have taken completely the wrong career path for our character. I went on the BUPA website to take the personality test and it turns out I'm a deep blue squiggle! What a load of old shit!

Visit from his Tonyness

The Prime Minister popped in to see us at work today.

It was all very hush hush, no one new anything about it until about 2 hours before the event. The first I new anything was happening was when I saw an ITV film crew turn up this morning - parked in our car park right across from where I sit. No one really new why it was there. Well I'm sure some people did, but no one in my office did put it that way. Then after about an hour there was a new news item on the corporate Intranet to say that Granada Report was broadcasting live from our building for their usual 6pm slot on ITV.

Then about mid-day, lots of police with sniffer dogs turned up outside the building, and lots of other official looking people were milling about outside and in the lobby.

It wasn't until about 3pm that word got round that TB was visiting. There was then another news item confirming it on the Intranet, saying that the Granada Report broadcast would be a live Q&A with Tony Blair, focusing on the work-life balance, which the company I'm working for is supposedly a leading advocate of.

It was all very exciting! Well, not really. I didn't even get to see him in the end. I was on my phone standing in the lobby when one of the security guards asked me to clear the area. Just as I was walking back into my office I heard the police sirens as the motorcade turned up. A massive entourage then quickly walked past my office, which I presume TB was in the middle of, but I never saw him.

Anyway it turns out my office wasn't just on Granada Report, it was also on the main ITV News as they did an interview with him prior to the Granada Report broadcast.

As I left the office I walked straight past the motorcade and thought about taking some pictures, but bottled it because of all the police and what looked like Close Protection Team. Which on retrospect was quite stupid of me, I'm sure they're used to get photographed by Japanese tourists all the time!

Pre-emigration To-Do List version 1.0

Finally started the to-do list, no doubt this will get updated many times over the coming weeks as we remember other requirements. This is the pre-emigration list, I still need to do the list of all the things we need to do when we get to Oz, e.g. find a job!

So here goes...

Should be doing now

Dig out and organise all personal paperwork

Decide exactly what’s going to be shipped / sold

Investigate options and decide what to do about pensions

Complete car sale, cancel insurance (car No 2) - ask for a copy of No Claims Bonus

Start inventory of all items to be shipped

Get mortgage settlement figure


Should do once exchanged contracts and before we have to move out to parents, prior to emigration

Book flights – decide whether or not to have a stopover, if yes, book accommodation

Sell any unwanted items of furniture and clear out cupboards

Arrange car boot sale of items we don’t want to ship

Arrange shipping to Oz (no need to pack – shippers will do it)

If we decide to take garden furniture, thoroughly clean them ready for shipping (items with soil on will be denied entry at customs)

Arrange for mail to be forwarded and register address changes

Bring council tax and utilities up to date and cancel accounts for TV, Sky, Internet ISP, BT, etc (determine exactly what’s required)

Sort out personal paperwork – Destroy (shred/burn) / Scan / Box

Ask Doctor/Dentist/Optician to prepare hand-over files

Cancel house related direct debits and standing orders

Dig out Oz PAYG sim card

Complete inventory of all items to be shipped and tape relevant inventory lists to boxes

Back up all data to portable hard drive and decide what to do about PC


Should do between exchanging contracts and emigrating

Update CV to make it suitable for the Oz market place

Start job hunting

Get Lauren’s school to prepare hand-over files

Collect all hand-over files from doctor, dentist, optician, schools etc

Register Lauren in new School

Request credit references

Return car to leasing company - cancel car insurance

Open an Oz bank account (Commonwealth, ANZ, Westpac all have an office in London that we can contact online and set the account up)

Set up trading account (investigate best option – HIFX?) and move money out to Oz bank account. Watch exchange rate closely and move money at right time

Sign over company shares to business partner - get P45

Speak to Inland Revenue about paying taxes that will be due

Arrange leaving party

Organise all birthday cards and presents for the next 3 months

Investigate cost/need for private health cover when we get to Oz

Pay off outstanding debts

Close surplus bank accounts and destroy unwanted cards (keep at least one credit card and one UK bank account open – cannot get credit card in Oz without employment)

Arrange for Oz bank cards, etc to be sent to Cath’s in Brisbane.

Arrange travel insurance

Start investigating rental properties in Oz


1 week to go

Buy some currency for Oz, as well as stopover destination (if we decide to stop over)

Prepare Travel File:
Passports
Tickets
Accommodation booking details (if required)
Oz PAYG sim card
Currency
etc

Make sure transport to the airport is organised and will arrive in plenty of time for the flight

Check status of shipped goods

Establish who will be coming to the airport to say goodbye.

Pack activity set to amuse Lauren during flight

Make sure address changes and address forwarding is complete

Historic day for Northern Ireland

Interesting commentary about today's events in The Independent. I never have liked Ian Paisley. I'm sure devolution in Northern Ireland could have been a lot more advanced by now if it wasn't for the pig-headedness of Ian Paisley.

It can't be a good thing to have a Reverend as First Minister when Religion is the cause of the troubles in Northern Ireland. If the objective is unification through changing attitudes and culture, surely the best step that could be taken is to remove religion from politics altogether. Especially when, according to a survey conducted by Dr Peter Shirlow of the University of Ulster, segregation has become more of a problem - growing since 1994.

So the ultra-Protestant Ian Paisley will have an ex terrorist Catholic for a Deputy, and a cabinet brimming with Catholic ministers. Should be interesting!

Random act of cynicism

Last Thursday, while walking down to Tiger Tiger, I was approached by a scruffy looking bloke who asked me if I could spare him 11p. My default reaction was to say 'sorry, I don't have any change'.

Now the reason I bring this up is because I've got to the section within the book 'Join Me' where the reader eventually learns the point of Join Me, which is to make the world a better place by carrying out random acts of kindness (incidentally, the author has only just decided on the point of Join Me a third way in to the book, even though he has already recruited hundreds of members to the 'Collective', and spent lots of money getting leaflets and stickers printed to market Join Me).

Anyway, on retrospect I should have given the scruffy looking bloke 11 pence and not even have thought twice about it. It was 11 pence for god's sake, it wouldn't break the bank. But why was saying No my default reaction?

Well, I didn't actually say No. Instead, I told him I had no change. In fact, I went even further, and told him that I had no money on me whatsoever and was looking for a cash machine. Why I felt the need to elaborate in this way I don't know. Especially when I did have change on me, and wasn't in need of an ATM. The nice chap then proceeded to point me in the direction of a cash machine around the corner. So off I went, around the corner towards a cash machine I didn't need, in the complete opposite direction to where I wanted to travel, just so he wouldn't see through my blatant lies. I even had to wait around the corner for a minute hoping he'd move on before I could turn around and go back in my original direction. How sad!

If I analyse my actions, I guess I could use the excuse that my reaction was automatic 'learned behaviour' after years of living and working in large towns and cities where the police advise everyone not to give money to beggers because they will use it to fund their drug and alcohol addiction.

Now I'm no drug and alcohol expert (although I could be the latter if expertise is based on consumption (in my Navy days, I'm sensible now)) but I'm sure you cannot get much heroin, or even Special Brew for that matter (or is it Buckfast these days?), for 11p.

Looking back, he obviously wasn't even a tramp. He was just some scruffy bloke who was 11 pence short of his bus ride home. He probably wasn't even that scruffy, he just happened to have a beard, looked a bit rough, and was asking for money. So I put two and two together and came up with five.

It's fair to say I feel ashamed of myself, especially after I vowed to say YES more after my epiphany reading 'Yes Man'. I wasn't the only one saying no that day. While I was walking away I heard him ask at least a dozen more people if they could spare 11p, all of whom gave him the brush off. That in no way excuses my actions though.

I'm not halfway through Join Me yet but it seems to me a bit like the film 'Pay it Forward'. The interesting thing about Pay it Forward of course being that the end ultimately brings you back to the point of cynicism because his (Haley Joel Osment's character) final act of kindness - sticking up for his friend - leads to him getting stabbed to death.

I love stupid pointless things

After loving 'Yes Man' by Danny Wallace, I've bought his earlier book 'Join Me' the story of how he started a cult, which I'm finding to be equally as funny and entertaining. I think the reason I like his books so much is because like him, I enjoy stupid pointless things, and believe things which may at first seem to most people like stupid pointless things, can actually turn into life changing, or at least life affirming experiences, as his books show.

When we drove up to the Sunshine Coast while in Oz, we passed an attraction called The Big Pineapple. We never actually stopped to see what this is, but now I know (it's part of the story in 'Yes Man') that The Big Pineapple is one of many 'Big Things' dotted around Australia. Now some people might think how pointless, but I think it's great, and I vow to visit all the Big Things when we move to Australia. Rach is not aware yet of this wonderful adventure I have planned for us but I'm sure she'll have as much enthusiasm for it as me.

There's even a website for the Big Things - http://www.bigthings.com.au/

I was going to post a photo here of The Big Pineapple, one from the many available on the Internet. But then I thought, copyright law aside, I was stupid enough not to stop and take in the wonder of the Big Pineapple when I had chance. So I've no right to do this. The Big Things pictures will commence when the journey begins.

How our weekends will change

Here's some video I took of the waves at Mooloolaba beach on the Sunshine Coast in Australia when we went out there to validate our visa over the new year.




Soon this could be a regular weekend activity for us!

Not being used to waves like that, it was daunting at first. I soon got into the swing of things though and quickly became addicted to jumping the waves. Rach never really got used to it because she's not a very strong swimmer, but I'm sure that will all change when we live there.

The real Budget story unravels

It takes a few days for the 'analysts' to work it out, but it's clear now that Gordon Brown tried to pull a fast one on Wednesday. Here's some of the facts that are starting to emerge:

Gordon Brown claimed that 4 out of 5 households would be better off because of his budget, yet leading accountants say this is impossible to prove because of missing information which includes:

• The level of income at which basic-rate tax will become payable from 2008-2010
• The level of salary above which National Insurance is payable for that time
  
• Increases in personal allowances for people under the age of 65 from 2008-2010
• When higher-rate tax becomes payable in 2008-2009
• Details on who is able to claim working tax credits or child tax credits and how much
• Levels of inflation the Treasury has assumed for its figures
• No commitment to provide this information in next week's Finance Bill, which will only cover tax changes in 2008-2008

It's clear that the people who lose out most from this budget is single people with no kids on less than 18k, which, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, equates to 2 million people. The loss is due to the abolition of the 10p starting tax rate, and the fact that they can't claim child tax credit to claw back the difference.

The other losers in the budget is people like myself - small business owners, because the Corporation Tax rate is rising from 20 to 22p for small companies, yet coming down for large companies.

All in all it's a very strange Budget for a Labour government. So much for looking after the poorest in society and encouraging entrepreneurship.

And so much for the green measures - is £400 road tax really going to deter those who can afford a £50k Range Rover?

The Sun made itself look stupid, while other papers were taking a cautious reaction to the Budget, the Sun rejoiced with this headline:

Surely, The Sun's core readership must be those low earners who will actually be worse off?

Touch wood, none of this will affect me, as we'll be long gone by the time the changes start next April. The state of politics in this country is one of many reasons why we're fleeing down under.

Is this the most boring task ever?

All in all, the project I'm working on at the moment is quite interesting. However, the task I've been working on for the last couple of days nearly made me lose the will to live.

I'm providing IT security consultancy for a project that's rolling out over 6000 new PC's across the company, with an upgraded operating system and standardised build comprising approved operating system settings and 'rationalised' applications. One part of the project is to implement a standard 'Group Policy' structure which completely locks down each PC to reduce risk.

The task I somehow ended up with this week was, as part of the comms plan, to give a detailed explanation of every group policy setting and the rationale behind why we're implementing it. The problem is, there's hundreds of them!

Of course, the answer to the blog post title is no, it's not the most boring task in the world. I appreciate some people have much more boring jobs, and don't get the remuneration for it like I do. Even so, it does make me wonder about my career choice!

UK sailors captured at Gunpoint

I can't believe that Iranian forces have captured Royal Navy sailors again.

I sailed through Iranian waters a few times myself during my years as a matelot, and tension always rose because of the number of Iranian FPB's (Fast Patrol Boats) that came close to us. We always had to close to a high state of readiness whenever we went through the Straits of Hormuz on our way round to the Arabian Gulf.

This time it sounds even worse because if the reports are correct, the boarding team were in Iraqi territorial waters at the time, not Iranian. I can't believe we let them get away with it. I know it may be out of proportion to potentially start a major international incident that could lead to war on the back of this, but what is the 4.5 inch gun on HMS Cornwall for!

I papped myself!

I'm sitting here at the train station waiting for my 17:18 (of course I missed the 16:18 again), with the adreneline still pumping slightly from the scare I had about an hour ago.

I was sitting at my desk (on the ground floor of a very tall building) when suddenly there was a really loud explosion which shook the windows. A few yelps when out from people around me and everyone jumped up, like me, fearing the worst. Turned out it was a tyre exploding on a Lorry outside.

Tiger Tiger

Had an interesting afternoon today. We had a 'Launch Event' for the main project I'm working on. The project team had booked out a room at Tiger Tiger with food laid on and a free bar! I love those words - FREE BAR! It wasn't all play though. We had to do some 'activities' before we could get stuck into the bar. You know, the usual stuff: forming circles so you get to meet everyone else who is working on the project; brainstorming inputs into the processes; identifying disconnects. Actually it was quite a laugh and it turned out to be useful. We managed to identify and sort out some fundamental bottlenecks in the project using those 'activities', which otherwise might have taken 10 meetings to sort out.

A few years ago I would have been like a bull to a red flag with the free bar, but I'm much more sensible these days. Just the 4 bottles of Becks and then I slipped out quietly before I got too much of a taste for it and then wanted to stay all night.

My head is hurting now though. I've never been very good at drinking during the day and then stopping. I need to carry on drinking through to bedtime otherwise I feel like shit.

I liked the fact that the party was held during work time though, that would never have happened at the last place I worked.

Madness!

I was walking through the Arndale Shopping Centre at about 5:30pm today and noticed a large line of people queueing to get into Virgin Megastores. Turns out they were waiting for the release of the Playstation 3 at midnight tonight:


I don't know how long the people at the beginning of the queue had been there but even so, from the time I took this picture they had another 6 and a half hours to wait.

I went in and had a look at a demo of the PS3 and fair enough, it does look good. But is it really worth standing in line for hours on end just so you can be one of the first to get your hands on it? It's not as if they're going to be in shortly supply - Sony aren't predicting any shortages.

In fact, it's the Nintendo Wii that's in short supply apparently. I bought Rach a Wii for xmas. I was really lucky, I just walked into a Game shop and managed to pick up one of the last ones in stock. She loves it, she's addicted to playing Wii Smooth Moves at the moment. Personally I love Wii Sports - it makes me feel like I'm playing competitive sports even though I'm not leaving the living room. At least the Wii gets you up of your arse and actually involves moving body parts other than your thumbs! I get a sweat on getting beat up playing boxing with my 5 year old daughter - she is rather good, and I hate losing! I know I should let her win, but it's not in me. That's what makes it even worse when she beats me. How embarrassing getting beat by a 5 year old girl!

I wouldn't buy a PS3 on principle. £425 - that's taking the piss. Why do we always get ripped off? It's much cheaper in America and Japan. Not only that, the European version for some reason is not fully backwards compatible. Sony say they cannot be certain that all the old games will play on the new platform. Note this is only a problem with the European version. Why do consumers put up with it? Oh and of course the PS3 has been available in the rest of the world for months now.

I'm not fond of Sony because of this and other reasons. I don't like the way they make everything proprietary so you have to stick to their standards and products. Like you have to use a Sony memory card - you can't use a SD card.

Saying that, I wish I was more principled. I've got a Sony Ericsson phone and a Sony PSP. I feel dirty!

Our Photo's

We upload our photo's to Flickr.

To protect our privacy, we've restricted a lot of the photo's to friends and family only. If you're friends and family of ours and would like to see all our photo's, please contact us and we'll send you an invite through Flickr.

As of today, there's over 3000 of our photo's that can be viewed by family and friends. Over 600 of these are unrestricted so can be viewed by the general public. This will continue to grow, particularly when we get to Australia and want to share our experiences.

Click here to see our photo's

The view from my hotel room

Brrrrrr!

It was absolutely freezing walking into work this morning. It would have been cold anyway, but with strong winds the wind chill factor made it feel like minus 10. Just as I thought I was about to go into the first stages of hypothermia, a warm glow suddenly came over me when when I remembered I'll soon be basking in the warmth of the Brisbane sun. My experience of Winter from now on will be a bone shuddering 25 degrees centigrade!

Success - settlement offer from Barclays!

Like many, I've downloaded the templates off Martin Lewis' site moneysavingexpert.com to try and reclaim unlawful punitive bank charges over the last 6 years. I worked it out, and after having a bad year 4 years ago when I kept hovering around my overdraft limit, I racked up approx £1100 worth of unauthorised overdraft charges.

After sending them a letter demanding it back, with interest, I came home this weekend to find I've received a settlement offer from them which states:

May I say how sorry I am to learn that you feel the bank charges you have incurred are unfair. In you correspondence you have referred to elements which you feel support your claim. Barclays is aware of the information you have drawn to our attention. I must inform you, however, that we disagree with your view.

When an account is opened with us, our customer is provided with a copy of the Terms and Conditions relating to the use of their account; including details of our charges. This information clearly explains our obligations to our customer, as well as their obligations to us. If we make any changes to the Terms and Conditions, we provide details of these changes to our customers in line with the Banking Code. Details of our Terms and Conditions, along with our charging tariff, can be obtained at any of our branches, or via our internet site, www/woolwich.co.uk/barclays.co.uk.

Despite my comments above in relation to your views, on this occasion, and without any admissions of liability, I am willing to offer the sum of £860.00 towards the total amount you are seeking. This is with the cost and inconvenience inherent in a further dispute in mind and is intended as a gesture of goodwill, in full and final settlement of your complaint. If you would like to accept my offer please sign and return the enclosed form in the pre-paid enveloped provided. I will arrange for the payment to be credited to your account within seven working days of receipt of your acceptance at this office.

So, shall I accept or stick to my guns and hold out for the full amount?

I've had a look through the advice posted in the forums as well as the main articles on moneysavingexpert.com, and my conclusion is this:

Most of the success stories on moneysavingexpert.com state that they were either offered the full amount in the first instance, or they rejected the first offer, started small claims court proceedings, and then the banks quickly paid the full amount. However, there is an Office of Fair Trading (OFT) ruling expected within the next couple of weeks that could change the situation.

The OFT are due to make a ruling on unfair bank charges within the first few days of April, and are likely to say the banks should be charging no more than £12, even though in actual fact independent experts agree that it costs the banks no more than £4.50. My charges were initially £20 and then rose to £25. I've worked out the mean average and it's roughly £22. Which means, after the OFT ruling, the banks will likely only agree to pay the difference, in my case this would be £10 per charge. So based on my 54 charges that would work out at £540 - so at this point the £860 offer looks a good one.

Now of course the OFT ruling doesn't bind the courts. I could still take Barclays to court and it would be up to them to demonstrate to the courts that it costs them more than £4.50 per penalty charge.

Martin's summary conclusion is that after the OFT ruling you are MORE likely to get some money back without a fight, but LESS likely to get all your money back without a fight.

Taking all of that into account, and the fact that we're hoping to emigrate within weeks, and have much more pressing issues to deal with, my own conclusion is that I'm going to accept their offer. I could probably get more back if I pushed it, but I've neither the time nor the inclination given our present circumstances.

This doesn't mean I'm grateful to Barclays. They had absolutely no right charging £25 for an unauthorised overdraft fee when the law clearly states that punitive charges must be no more than the actual cost incurred by the bank. What's more, even though hundreds of thousands of us are reclaiming our bank charges it's obviously having little affect on their bottom line given the amount of profit the banks have announced this year.

Fight the bastards. Consumer power - I love it!!

High on life!

I had a night out last night with my mates for the first time since, well actually I think it's the first time this year (how sad is that!). Rach also went out with her mates (the 'school mums') and we met up at the end of the night and came home together. It's funny that in 7 years we've never actually done that before - usually it's me staying in babysitting or vica-versa (less so - Rach has got more mates than me). It made a refreshing change. For the first time in a long time I felt high on life last night. It must be because everything's finally coming together.

There's also another reason. It may sound silly but I've been reading a book in the last week which has had a profound effect on me. The book is Yes Man by Danny Wallace. You know, Danny Wallace - the bloke who's currently presenting Castaway on BBC1 and did that series on BBC2 last year where he started his own country. Well in this one he basically decides to say yes to everything for a year, saying yes to every favour, request, suggestion and invitation. There's a bit of background to how it starts and why he does it, but the results are quite spectacular and should be a lesson to us all. It has certainly changed my outlook on life. I know it's only a book and some of the events may be exaggerated or made up for dramatic effect, but there's a clear message that begins to appear about halfway through the book - which is by being positive and open to new experiences, in general, good things will happen and you'll be a much happier and content person.

If you think about it, I bet all the best things that have happened in your life came about because you said yes to something. Like for me, I met Rach and we now have our beautiful daughter because one day 7 years ago I said yes to going out on her work leaving do even though I didn't really know her at the time. And now, we're about to start a whole new adventure because we're opening ourselves up to new experiences and opportunities. It's a bit extreme, I know, emigrating to the other side of the world, but if you don't say yes to things, your life will never change. It makes me laugh the number of people who have asked us why we're moving to Australia. My retort is: why should we not move to Australia?

I'd encourage everyone to take a risk every now and again and try something new, perhaps even something life-changing like we're doing. After all, is this really the best life is going to get? Don't you want something more? Don't you want to experience new places and new cultures?

I appreciate we're lucky and not everyone has the opportunities we do to make this move. No matter what your circumstances however, I strongly believe life will improve if you take a few risks and say YES. It's the same with money and business. Most of the multi-millionaire entrepreneurs got where they are today because they took risks and gave it a go. I've recently read Duncan Bannatyne's autobiography: Anyone Can Do It. He built his business group up on the back of spending a few quid on an ice cream van, and then took huge risks quickly expanding his business, nearly bankrupting himself in the process. Anyway, my main point is not about taking risks so much as about saying yes, but I guess the two can go hand in hand. Let's face it, we say no to things most of the time because we're either worried about the consequences, or we're worried about the unknown and the lack of control that saying yes might bring. Sometimes we also say no simply because we can't be bothered and it's too easy to say no. For instance, normally, I would have probably turned down the offer of a night out last night. My default position would be I've hard a hard week, my train doesn't get in to late and I just want to chill out in front of the TV. However, I decided to say yes and I ended up having a really good time. I don't think I've laughed so much in years.

Say Yes to reading this book, it will change your outlook on life:


Oh by the way, yesterday I still didn't make the 16:18 from Manchester Piccadilly!

Is the end of our house about to fall off?

A surveyor came today to look at the house on behalf of the buyers. It seems to have worked out ok but we were worried for a while. You see for some time now a crack has been developing in the plaster running floor to ceiling in our bathroom, just at the point where we have a full house extension. The crack seems to be confined to the plaster and not the outer wall, but it does seem too much of a coincidence that it's where it is, and who says it won't develop to the outer wall?

Anyway, it's not very ethical I know but we did a patch it and paint it job and the surveyor never seemed to notice it. I just hope to God the buyer isn't sat in the bath one day in the future and then suddenly find themselves bathing in the garden surrounded by rubble!

Destined to never make the 16:18 from Piccadilly

Every Friday I try and make the 16:18 from Manchester Piccadilly to go home for the weekend, and every week I fail and have to wait another hour for the 17:18. I've come close on a couple of occasions - actually getting as far as watching the train move away just as I get to the platform. But normally I'm about 2 or 3 minutes out.

You see the client I'm working for now has got this stupid rule that I have to work my allotted hours never starting earlier than 8am or any later than 10am and never leaving any earlier than 4pm or any later than 6pm. If only I could get out 3 minutes early I would be ok, but no, I'm destined to never make the 16:18!

I've been trying to work out the schedule of the Manchester metro system which I use to get between my place of work and the station, but I've realised this is a futile exercise. The trams are quite regular but they conspire against me to ensure I never quite reach my destination in time. I've tried a few different options. First I waited for the tram that takes my all the way, then I tried getting on the first available tram which doesn't go to my destination but will get me halfway, and after getting off I speed-walked, suitcase trailing behind me giving everyone in front of me the dead-eye to make sure they got out my way. But no - still didn't make it.

Last week I thought I had it. Every week I've been buying tickets to use the metro before I get on, just as you're supposed to, but I started to notice that hardly anyone else was bothering. I also realised that in all the time I've been in Manchester I've never actually been asked to produce a ticket. So last week, I got to the tram stop and low and behold a tram turned up straight away. So instead of risking trying to get a ticket on the platform before the tram pulls away again, I just jumped straight on without purchasing the ticket. The tram wasn't going to my destination so I got off at the half-way point and low and behold again, another tram turned up on the adjacent platform just as I was getting off which would take me to the station. So I jumped straight on board, confident that I would finally make the 16:18. However, the next thing I heard was "tickets please". Shit! You see what I mean about destined never to make it in time. Anyway, I jumped straight off again to avoid what I guessed would be a heavy fine.

Now you could say that if I'd have bought a ticket last week in advance I would have made it, so maybe if the trams are in synch again this week and I've got a ticket, I will in fact finally make it. No chance. The stars will align, the wind will be blowing in the wrong direction, the cows will all be lying down, the birds will be flying backwards, and all the other universal factors will come into play to ensure that I never, ever, make the 16:18 from Piccadilly.

And so it begins..

It seems funny that it's a year since my last post where I rejoiced the fact that we had finally received our visa, and yet it's only now that we're in a position where we're confident it's actually going to happen.

The reason it's been a year is simply because that's how long it has taken us to sell our house. In fact, it's been longer than that because we originally put the house on the market when we first started the visa process, then took it off again because it wasn't selling, and then finally put it on again when we got the visa. What a nightmare! But finally it is sold (subject to contract):


The buyers aren't in a chain so it looks like we could be emigrating in weeks, rather than years which it was beginning to look like. I suppose it hasn't really sunk in yet. I guess I ought to start planning - we're not just moving house, we're moving life!

Now things are actually happening and I don't feel in suspended animation anymore I guess I'll finally have something to write about. Actually I'm kidding myself, quite a lot has happened in the last year. For a start, we went back to Oz a second time at the end of last year. Mainly out of necessity than the desire for a holiday. When you receive your PR (permanent residency) visa you have a year to validate the visa or it expires. What that basically means is that we each had to get a stamp on our visa in Australia, and because the visa didn't get granted until we we're in Singapore on our way out to Oz the first time, it was too late to get the visa included in our passports for when we entered Oz - bummer! Of course, we completely expected to have sold the house within a short time after returning from our recce trip so didn't think the validation deadline would be a big issue. How wrong were we! It's not even as if they take the date as being a year from when the visa is granted - it's actually a year from when they received the medical and police checks prior to granting the visa, which for us was the beginning of Feb - 6 weeks before getting the visa.

We could have done without the expense of having to take another trip to Oz within a year. Don't get me wrong, we had a fantastic time again, but it was £££ that we could have used for settling into our new lives. The whole reason why we couldn't emigrate before selling the house, i.e. not rent it out instead or leave it on sale while we start our new life in Oz, is because we need the equity in the house to pay off our debts and cover the risk of going to Oz without a job lined up prior to landing.

Besides taking a second trip to Oz, I've also finally left my cushy permanent job and started IT contracting under my own limited company - something I've been wanting to do for ages but until now have never had the balls to do. I'm now halfway through my first and what looks likely to be my last contract, at least in the UK anyway. It's been a good experience, and there's definitely some upsides to contracting - some downsides too, which I roughly summarise as:

Upsides

• Financially lucrative: the rates are excellent and it will definitely give us that extra bit of money to cover us for a few months in Oz, just in case it takes me time to find a new job
• New learning experience: I'm consulting for a large company so I'm learning a lot about how large companies work and I'll be able to to take that with me for future jobs
• Different work relationship: because I'm not a permanent employee of the company there's no expectation to stay late or do overtime as there is with permanent positions, they're basically paying me for a given number of hours and if they want any extra I have to agree to it, at my rate

Downsides
The major downside is I couldn't find a contract near where I live so I'm having to work away during the week in Manchester. I suppose you could look at the positives of this because I'm beginning to realise that Manchester is a cool city, however, I did my stint of working away from home when I was in the Navy for 7 1/2 years - I'm a home bird now. Plus, I've now got a 5 year old daughter as well who I'm only getting to see at the weekends, as well as Rach of course. I'm actually writing this now from the loneliness of my hotel room, sob sob.

There's been other stuff of course which has happened in the last year but really it's the future that matters - so I guess I ought to start writing my Emigration Action Plan!