BurbleChaz

I take it all back. CitiPower are wonderful. TruEnergy are, at least, capable. We have power at the new flat. Now, we can move in. Five days late.

The day started with a howling gale and horizontal rain. We went to work on the 27th floor, and could barely see the ground. It was just like England in September. We had planned all sorts of productive things at lunch. Going to the flat, buying essentials, eating lunch and so on. We ended up going to the bank.

My bank account had stopped issuing beer tokens from the ATM. This is, obviously, a crisis. The charming lady at the bank (I think it was her first week) couldn't work out why. She had to phone people. After some financial forensics, the root cause was discovered. The excellent Thai restaurant we went to last week has charged us twice for the meal we had. Not Happy. Expecting grovelling apology. We also raised the small issue of bank errors. In fifteen years of banking in the UK, I have had no bank errors. None. Zero. Here, we've had three in two weeks. This does not inspire confidence. Bank statements will be perused carefully.

We went to the flat after work. I flipped the breakers to the on position, the clouds parted, the sun shone and all was right with the world. Well, actually, a light bulb came on. Proof that we had, at last, been connected to the grid. The flat looks wonderful with the lights on. The environment management system started working. The temperature came up from freezing to pleasantly warm in five minutes. The balcony lighting is delightful. We like the place more and more.

When I unpacked the microwave, I realized that we had a problem. I couldn't find anywhere to put it. We bought a table-like thing from Ikea to put it on. It is the one piece of Ikea stuff with missing bits. Today, the Spatially Aware One had a look at one of the cupboards. 'Try putting the microwave in here'. 'Not a hope. It'll never fit'. 'So why is there a power point in here then?'. I swear the spacetime fairies have remodelled the whole place. The microwave fits neatly and has a power supply. So, we're up one partially-built table. Hey, ho.

I also found the source of The Smell. The flat has had a slightly noisome odour in some places. The downpipe provided for grey water from the washing machine has no trap. Whiffy is the word. I'm going to see what can be done with duct tape. Failing that, I'll get the landlord to put in a proper trap. Exactly how is something I would cheerfully leave for an Advanced Plumber.

I suspect that there will be heavy lifting tomorrow. It's worth it. The flat is wonderful, and we're nearly done. Once we're in I'm going to write a definitive guide - 'Moving to Melbourne - how not to do it'. I consider myself the expert in this field.