0707060800 Two weeks to go.

Two weeks to go.

The house has changed in character. Although the house is not empty, there is less furniture, and things are in the wrong place waiting to be picked up by their new owners. We have all noticed that there is now an echo. The kids are sleeping on mattresses with their clothes sorted into neat piles of "give to friends", "lifeline" and "pack". My only daughter has three piles of clothes that are all seven times bigger than her suitcase.

Last night we had dinner at a good friends house - a traditional Australian barbecue. (I will have to get a barbecue when we get to Hong Kong.) It was a "we-will-have-to-have-you-over-before-you-go" dinners. It was good to have a long talk about previous jobs and how, generally speaking, all that we can expect, is the unexpected. He used to work for a major American bank as an IT guru where he had decision making authority and a budget. He has had a roller-coaster ride through various jobs since. At one time he was working for a small company that makes patio enclosures. He now has a good job working on the IT systems used by the emergency services. The point is - of all the jobs that I have ever had, I have left for the same reason - I didn't want to do it anymore. It sounds like I am lazy but it has to do with challenge. I started the job two years ago when it was a major career change. The crazy company has had two "restructures" in two years, i.e. when a manager can't do his job properly so he changes everyone else.

We had another building inspection yesterday - this guy understands Australian Standard 3660.1 regarding termite protection. We can only wait and see if the current owner does not get scared witless by the fictional horror stories conjured up by these "inspectors".

The bank called and presented me with their problem - seeing as we are selling the family home, what will we be using as security on our investment property? Banks will only loan 80% of the value of the property - so I made up a valuation figure that I thought would be about right. "I'll just check that", said the friendly and helpful staff as she sweetly tried to dash my hopes of keeping an investment property, and looked up the average market value of recent sales. In a few seconds that seemed like hours, the happy voice says that that figure is a bit conservative and we will be able to break even with a small additional payment. The happy voice then said a number that I usually associate with sports cars.