So, we have an apartment. But what we don’t have is a key to get into the building. An owner/tenant cock-up for sure.
Oh; and the building has a name (as well as a number), as many do here. I never noticed it when we first viewed the property. But when we turned up to collect (half) the keys I spotted it. Immediately!
Savile – One “L” or two?
To anyone from the UK the name ‘Savile’ has two instant meanings. One is the famous London street Savile Row, where the rich and famous go for their tailor-made suits and handmade shoes. Well known but hardly visited by the majority of the population. On the other hand, to most people in the UK, the name Savile conjures up images of one seedy, horrible, now thankfully deceased and sick individual: Jimmy Savile.
The odd thing is that the building name is spelt with double “L”; but look at it. One of the letters has fallen off. How spooky is that? An omen? I am sure a lot of people will see a funny side to this, however. So called ‘gallows humour’ being what it is in the UK. I admit that I am among the many who share the dark humoured social media jokes about Jimmy Savile.
Good bunch of Guys…
After picking up half the house keys we picked up a hire car. Now we needed one. It was off to a shopping centre where they had those ‘white goods’ stores. We need the essentials. A fridge, washing machine and (curiously) a dryer. We managed to get a reasonable deal getting all three from the same store for just over $1000. Sounds a lot eh, but really not that bad. The store name is great too. ‘The Good Guys’. A household name in this part of the world.
Now that would have been enough for me. But as there were plenty of other things we needed it was off to find the nearest Ikea store. Having a car now, I could hardly make excuses, could I? As it turns out the nearest Ikea is right next to the airport. A worthwhile trip as the airport is a place I will need to know how to get to and from as and when we have visitors coming over.
The Joys of Ikea?
Ikea is like Marmite. Or should I say, Vegamite. You either love it or hate it. I fall into the ‘hate it’ side of the debate. Ikea that is. I happen to love Marmite. And Vegamite too – which I only tried since coming here. Basically, they are the same thing. Same taste anyway…
I really can’t explain why I don’t like Ikea but after a certain amount of time in there I can’t wait to get out. I sort of understand why some people love it though. It’s cheap (and nasty) – they have simple furniture like the ‘LACK’ (of class) side tables for only a few dollars. It has more or less everything under one roof; but at least 50% of the products you would never want nor need if they weren’t so bloody cheap.
Some items catch your eye because they seem to be well made and not cheap looking. The reason for that of course is that those items are not cheap. In fact, most of the decent products in Ikea are no cheaper than many other furniture stores.
Two hours later (!?) and seven hundred dollars lighter we made it back ‘home’ – to the hotel. At least I had the experience of driving around Sydney. Something I have to get used to of course. Easy for me, not so for Dani’s mum who has never driven on the right side of the road; ‘right’ as in ‘correct’. Meaning the left hand side.
The white goods were indeed delivered today (now Monday). But not without the usual cock-up and me hanging around for hours. Despite them texting me a 12.30 – 2.30 p.m. time-slot last night. Same as the UK then…
Cut to The Keys….
A day after picking up the keys we had the owners get us a copy of the building main entrance key. Then I had to get a new spare cut so as to hand back the spare. What a caper! Not quite a ‘nightmare’ – despite that spooky building name. Is it just me or does anyone else think that name is a bad omen?
Ah…Being able to settle into a routine in our own place is still a way off it seems. Such is life. Sometimes…