"I love it when a plan comes together"
wow, 3 months since my last entry, and so much has changed
I'm loving Christchurch. This city is gorgeous, seriously. The blossoms and daffodils are almost gone now but a few weeks ago, practically overnight, the dead looking trees of winter exploded into a spectacular display of whites and pinks lining the streets and scattered through the parks. The spurt of growth in the grass marking the beginning of a new season suddenly became a carpet of daffodils and bluebells, and the ducks all had little balls of fluff following them around everywhere.... and the best part... zero hayfever!
This past weekend daylight savings started or finished - whichever one gives you an extra hour of daylight - loving it lots! I feel like I finish work so early and have so much daytime left when I get home. Feeling the need to start barbecuing soon.
One of the most amazing things I've found here has been how much family I have. I've met cousins I hadn't seen in 20 yrs or so. We've only ever known each other as kids, so its pretty cool to meet again as adults and see how much we have in common - a lot in some cases.
Last week I spent a few days out with commercial real estate agents. Slimy pack of bastards, always working in their own interest rather than yours, but in the end I found a place that suits me. I was looking for a workroom for my business, and for the longest time it seemed I had a choice between a poky little office which wouldn't fit my 6x9' cutting table let alone industrial sewing machines as well - for about $8000 plus tax per year.... or small retail type units, clean and slightly larger, but at around $12000 plus tax per year too expensive for my little business to commit to. It was getting depressing
...Until an agent showed me a space that I loved from the start. It is huge! A main room the size of a large lounge, a single bedroom sized room off the workroom which I can use as a small showroom, a good sized storage room, a kitchen with table and chairs, shower room, laundry, bathroom and toilet. at about 4 times (or more) the size of the other places I looked at, and at $9000 a year plus tax, I jumped at the chance to take it. It took a little begging, a little negotiation, a lot of stress and a whole lot of waiting around, but I beat out the other applicants and moved this past weekend.
So now not only do I have a place to more successfully run the business from, but I have MY SPACE which I do miss at home. Much as I love my family, living with them again after so long on my own is tough to say the least, so having a place I can spend time without them is just what I needed.
As far as business goes, I picked up another contract which will hopefully keep me reasonably busy along with the one I still have from Palmerston North. It is for a company who does all the drapes and blinds for a large spec housing company, so for me this could be a very good thing. Also, My sister is renovating one of their rental houses here and wants me to deal with all the drapes, curtains and blinds in the house. Big house, lotta drapes n blinds! So for all the money I had to borrow from the bank to get into this workroom, it looks like I'm heading in the right direction to being on track to paying it all back when it is due.
Haven't had as much time as I would like lately to sit at the computer. I currently have the wireless connection from hell, and am constantly disconnected. Makes playing game difficult because I have to re-start every time I disconnect, takes a while and I lose patience rapidly. Also, for the past week with all the real estate wheeling and dealing, then the moving, I have been just plain exhausted and sleeping early. Now that all the heavy stuff is already up the stairs though, I should be able to spend more time where I really want to be - online and off.
Last night for example, I was out at a local irish pub with my cousin Alannah, getting extremely drunk. Sure helped the aching muscles ;) Great band too: they play every tuesday night, so I think I'll make it a regular weekly relaxing session - bourbon-fuelled or not!
So tonight I'm not moving, sorting or sleeping for a change. I plan to watch a movie on tv with my brother (already started, oops) then head in-game for a while. Can't wait.
I'm loving Christchurch. This city is gorgeous, seriously. The blossoms and daffodils are almost gone now but a few weeks ago, practically overnight, the dead looking trees of winter exploded into a spectacular display of whites and pinks lining the streets and scattered through the parks. The spurt of growth in the grass marking the beginning of a new season suddenly became a carpet of daffodils and bluebells, and the ducks all had little balls of fluff following them around everywhere.... and the best part... zero hayfever!
This past weekend daylight savings started or finished - whichever one gives you an extra hour of daylight - loving it lots! I feel like I finish work so early and have so much daytime left when I get home. Feeling the need to start barbecuing soon.
One of the most amazing things I've found here has been how much family I have. I've met cousins I hadn't seen in 20 yrs or so. We've only ever known each other as kids, so its pretty cool to meet again as adults and see how much we have in common - a lot in some cases.
Last week I spent a few days out with commercial real estate agents. Slimy pack of bastards, always working in their own interest rather than yours, but in the end I found a place that suits me. I was looking for a workroom for my business, and for the longest time it seemed I had a choice between a poky little office which wouldn't fit my 6x9' cutting table let alone industrial sewing machines as well - for about $8000 plus tax per year.... or small retail type units, clean and slightly larger, but at around $12000 plus tax per year too expensive for my little business to commit to. It was getting depressing
...Until an agent showed me a space that I loved from the start. It is huge! A main room the size of a large lounge, a single bedroom sized room off the workroom which I can use as a small showroom, a good sized storage room, a kitchen with table and chairs, shower room, laundry, bathroom and toilet. at about 4 times (or more) the size of the other places I looked at, and at $9000 a year plus tax, I jumped at the chance to take it. It took a little begging, a little negotiation, a lot of stress and a whole lot of waiting around, but I beat out the other applicants and moved this past weekend.
So now not only do I have a place to more successfully run the business from, but I have MY SPACE which I do miss at home. Much as I love my family, living with them again after so long on my own is tough to say the least, so having a place I can spend time without them is just what I needed.
As far as business goes, I picked up another contract which will hopefully keep me reasonably busy along with the one I still have from Palmerston North. It is for a company who does all the drapes and blinds for a large spec housing company, so for me this could be a very good thing. Also, My sister is renovating one of their rental houses here and wants me to deal with all the drapes, curtains and blinds in the house. Big house, lotta drapes n blinds! So for all the money I had to borrow from the bank to get into this workroom, it looks like I'm heading in the right direction to being on track to paying it all back when it is due.
Haven't had as much time as I would like lately to sit at the computer. I currently have the wireless connection from hell, and am constantly disconnected. Makes playing game difficult because I have to re-start every time I disconnect, takes a while and I lose patience rapidly. Also, for the past week with all the real estate wheeling and dealing, then the moving, I have been just plain exhausted and sleeping early. Now that all the heavy stuff is already up the stairs though, I should be able to spend more time where I really want to be - online and off.
Last night for example, I was out at a local irish pub with my cousin Alannah, getting extremely drunk. Sure helped the aching muscles ;) Great band too: they play every tuesday night, so I think I'll make it a regular weekly relaxing session - bourbon-fuelled or not!
So tonight I'm not moving, sorting or sleeping for a change. I plan to watch a movie on tv with my brother (already started, oops) then head in-game for a while. Can't wait.
posted by Jen at 8:01 PM
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