OMG! I won something!

I never win anything! I am still in shock.

I went to an event last night where you wear a pair of fabulous heels, and you get judged, and there are prizes. And I won! In these killer Louboutins:
Yes, they're very bright, and no, they're not the "classic" sort of thing I usually buy, but look at them! I thought they were stunning as soon as I saw them, so even if I do only get one season out of them, that's fine with me. Plus, they'll be back in fashion in about 10 years anyway, when the 80s come around again.

Anyway, I won! I was so happy! Finally, having a fabulous collection of shoes is paying off! This event is held every month, so I think I'm going to become a regular. Last night's first prize was a $250 voucher at a reputable hair salon. The funny thing about that is, I have recently been saying that I might like to get a hair style. I know that sounds weird from a girl, that I "might like" to get a hairstyle. But I have a morbid fear of hairdressers. I used to have a really cool hairstyle, and a great colour, but then my hairstylist left the salon I was going to, and no one would tell me where he went. So I saw someone else and they completely ruined my hair. That was when I was 21. The next 7 years haven't been any more successful. Every time I visit a hairdresser, I walk away vowing never to go back again. They don't listen to me. I want something low maintenance, and long enough that I can put it up without using any pins/clips. There is nothing more irritating to me than putting my hair up and still having bits fall in my face. But hairdressers don't listen. They assume they know what's best. So it has now come to the point where I just grow my hair really long and then go in once a year to get it cut to my shoulders, and start again. And even then, they somehow manage to screw it up. They always think layers are a good option, even when I tell them I just want it blunt cut across the bottom, and nothing else. I hate hairdressers.

So yes. I am somewhat excited about getting a free hairstyle, but also petrified they're going to ruin my hair like every other hairdresser in the last 7 years. And I don't even know what sort of hairstyle I'd like! My problem is it has to be very low maintenance, because I already have to get up at 6am, and I'm not getting up any earlier just to do my hair. The shortest bits also have to be long enough to go up without assistance of pins/clips. So it doesn't leave me many options.

Oh well. At least I don't have to pay for it! Wahoo! I am totally going next month and winning again. I think I will wear these Alexander McQueens:

Dilemma

No luck on the house front yet. I swear to fsm, if one more investor from NSW/VIC outbids me on a house, I'm going to go fucking postal on those states. Stop buying all our affordable housing, you greedy bastards!!

My assistant, who I happen to think is fantastic (and yes, that is a rarity for me - I hold very few people in high regard), has a very annoying habit. And I don't know how to approach her about it. Perseus, if you're reading, this post has a TMI warning - look away now!

She goes to the bathroom every morning, and doesn't utilise the toilet brush, if you get my meaning. How on earth do I approach her about it? I mean, we're sort of friends, but I don't think I could even approach a friend about that sort of thing without a lot of embarrassment, let alone someone I have to work with!

Ideas?

In other news, I am entirely not surprised this happened. Bus travel was how I went up the west coast from Santiago to Mexico, and I frequently had a seat up the top at the front (double decker buses). The amount of times I thought we were going to crash with an oncoming truck was at least a dozen. The problem is that the Panamerican is single lane in a lot of places, and when a bus on a schedule gets caught behind a slow moving vehicle, it thinks it's a good idea to overtake. Even on blind corners. The scenery going past was spectacular, but I remember wondering at the time what the crash rate was. Since leaving South America, there has been a volcanic eruption, floods and mudslides, and various vehicular tragedies - all in places I visited. All I can say is, I'm glad I wasn't there at the time.

Real estate agents must sell their soul to the devil

They are so fucking evil and annoying.

We had a list of 6 houses to view on the weekend, 5 of which had been raised. I tried to contact each of the agents before the weekend to ask them if the downstairs was legal height, and none of them would tell me. They just told me I was welcome to come and measure. Here's a thought, numbnuts - perhaps I don't want to waste my time driving all the way there, only to walk through the door, measure the ceiling height and walk out again! I fail to see why it's so fucking difficult to find out what the ceiling height is and get back to me. Grr.

So that's exactly what happened with those 5 houses. None of them were legal height downstairs, so we wasted half a day and lots of fuel driving around to all of them. And one agent even had the nerve to argue with me about it! One of the houses was a very old house which had been built in underneath, and the living areas had been moved downstairs so just bedrooms were upstairs. The bedrooms were fine - they had 10' ceilings. The downstairs was another matter. It was only 2100mm in there. The problem being legal height for a habitable room is 2400mm. So the kitchen was legal, but nothing else was. He asked us what we thought of the property, and we told him we'd probably like it if it was legal height. He then said it was legal height when it was built in, which I know for a fact is a lie. I told him heights had never been that low, and in fact up to the 50s were 8'6", then became 8', and are now 7'10.5" (or 2400mm). He just looked at me, and then tried to save face by saying the owners could only work with what they had! Here's a thought - if it's not legal height, don't build it in!! Morons. There's no way anyone other than a complete idiot is going to buy it when it's not even legal height. If there's a fire or something else, no insurance company is going to pay out once they show up and realise you've been living in a non-habitable space. Idiots.

We did have a small win, though. Because we were induced into signing the last contract because we were told it was legal height underneath, we requested the real estate agent pay us the money we expended on building & pest and legal fees/disbursements. They refused, so we got our solicitors to send them a letter claiming misrepresentation of the property (we had a print out of the advertisement which said it was legal height, etc), and threatening to advise the Office of Fair Trading, as well as take them to court. They must have gotten legal advice and told they were screwed, because they paid us back all of our costs. Wahoo!

I still hate real estates. I don't even understand why anyone uses them in this day and age. Take some nice photos of your property, get a valuation, then put an ad on realestate.com.au. Done and done. Why bother with an agent who's going to take 5% of the sale value? I don't get it. And they don't do anything anyway. They never know anything about the property, and are just generally very unhelpful to potential buyers. William and I have already said when we sell, we'll just sell it ourselves and save ourselves the hassle.