Sunday, September 19, 2010

Do we exist?


We are still adjusting to the differences between renting a house and owning a house.  For instance, there is a room in our house to which we do not have a key.  In the global rental agreement used in Brisbane, it states that tenants should have at least one key to every lock on the premises, unless there is some sort of special reason why they shouldn't.  The reason that we don't have a key to the special room in our house is that "all the electricity is in there".  The owner, who does not live in Australia, beleives that tenants may get up to all kinds of shenanigans if they can access the electricity.
The owner (or builder) also seems to have skipped a few vital steps in finishing the property: we cannot get a phone hook-up, internet or cable because of some illegal wiring, and we can't get garbage pick-up because our address does not exist, according to the City of Brisbane.  This duplex appears to be a slightly shady bit of subdividing that is not recognized by the City.  It is all getting sorted out, but everytime we phone a city service for some kind of information and tell they where we live, they say "That address does not seem to exist.  Are you sure you live there?"  We are very lucky to have a relocation specialist who has made it her personal mission to get everything sorted out within the next three days.  She has 6 kids and is used to getting the impossible done.  We are very confident in her!
On our walk into the CBD in the mornings we sometimes see critters like the one in the photo.  He seems pretty happy and no one questions his existance.  He is one lucky dude.

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