Everything is going up

Today on the news there was something about the price of bread, pork and lamb prices are on the rise! *sigh* We arent big lamb eaters and hardly ever eat pork, but bread?! Isnt bread at $3-$5 high enough lol! Sure everyone seems to be jumping up and down over interest rates, oil prices. Last time i looked Wheat was selling really well, which is great for farmers. I understand that to make and deliver bread they use farm equipment & big trucks which can be bought via a bank loan and uses oil.
*rant 1 over*

And rent, yes guess who got a call followed by a registered post letter about a rent increase of this crappy box thats 40years old?! With no renovations done (oh i forgot about the newly laid 2nd hand carpet they put in b4 we moved in) No backyard, No laundry, No room for anything to do laundry, the smallest hot water system i ever did see (fits in the kitchen cupboard!), the place were we had to deal with the prostitute next door, the weed dealers further up, constant bombardment of real estate letters 'sell now', 'such and such just listed', 'such and such just sold need more sellers', 'auction coming soon need more sellers', 'such and such saw such a place and wasnt what they wanted looking for more sellers' (i can live with that bit lol).
Rent has always been paid in advance, never been behind. So a rent increase, is great coz we have been trying on and off to get out of here for ages now! I know next door has been sold, new paint, new wooden floor in the living/dining area its going for $165 a week, just listed last week.
Ours will go from $130-$150 a week in 60days time.

"taking into account, factors such as increases in the landlords costs over the year, the current demand for rental accomodation in the area and the length of time you have lived in the property, we believe the increased rent to be in line with the current rental market value and fair to both parties"

Fair to both parties? I'm lost how any of those things make it fair to me? Are being penalized for being good tennants, not breaking the lease and staying for almost a year? (the only fixed thing i got them to do was the toilet as it was constantly running and we dont pay the water bill!)
Ive often thought of a bureaucratic red tape affair of the government valuing houses that they have to have certain standards like a good renovation or being less than 20yrs old stuff like that to moderate house prices, to throw a huge spanner into the market.. of course its not going to happen.. but seriously the crappy places that are listed at such prices is pretty insane. I guess there are alot of people waiting for the housing bubble to burst.. just how much longer can it go? How long will home-occupied owners be pushed out of the market coz of investors spending their equity paying off their mortages by pushing up rents that are 'fair to both parties'.
Is it fair to push up the prices because its harder to get a new place?

I seriously can't wait to get out of here and see how long it takes for someone to see this place and say 'yeah this crap box is worth $150a wk'..

I'm getting my saving boots on and we are going to save extra cash up so we can get the next good place i see with a laundry, a backyard, a fence and actually close to a school! ^^ We save up the extra to sweeten the deal with the agent by being able to pay more weeks in advance when we apply.

"please contact us if you would like to sign another tenancy agreement for the above property"

NO WAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY in HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Veer Zaara

Sunday on sbs at 9.30 they have bought back bollywood movies! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Last sunday was Veer Zaara. Oh boy, it was a awesome story.. so very sad but of course with a somewhat surprising happy ending which now you are bawling with happiness. I dont think ive ever cried in any movie more than i did with this one.
In true bollywood style, there was beautiful colour and lots of it, beautiful cast and as usual the evil people look damn UGLY! u heard me ugly! the songs not sung by the actors (in true bollywood style) It did have a few songs and punjabi dance but not as much as some, perhaps i was expecting more.. it didnt matter the storyline and the other points the movie was getting across; women in the workplace, girls & their rights for schools, lawyers fighting for truth vs lawyers fighting to win, hate between pakistan & india vs those who accept and love both countries and people, arranged marriage relationships vs true undying love relationships.
Sad song bit of the movie.

Happy yet is still sad if u know the movie, this is the part of ending ;) proof you can have a amazing story without it turning into a complete snogfest or bedroom scenes! lol. the movie goes for 3hrs.. 0.o But its constantly interesting, especially if you like romance movies..

CJ7 movie

cj7 movie trailer, i doubt its release in australia outside cinemas that cater for languages other than english. But gosh it looks cute.

Happy Australia day

At least for the last 10 minutes left of today that is!
I hope everyone had a good aussie day! Didnt do much but shop a bit, got some birthday presents for tia (to put away til may) Cooked a steak sandwich for dinner. yum. It was a warm one today with rain and storm around 4pm, then it heated up again til 6pm when it cooled for the night.
Had a nice relaxing bath, followed by a nap in the afternoon. My feet are still itching like freaking crazy!
On the walk to the shops this morning we walked down 2 streets that someone had put a card and a little flag in each mailbox! I might be able to get a picture tomorrow.
Watched the Heath ledger tribute, 'Knights tale' and 'the patriot' (which is still on)
ah well i got distracted trying to find a good youtube vid of the knights tale, but didnt find any good ones. ;) And now its sunday!

15 weeks now

Pregnancy is going well. Morning sickness is 99% gone. YAY! The past 2 days ive had zero energy all thru the day, i wonder if having so little caffeine has something to do with that. My dreams have been so colourful and vivid i wonder if that is exhausting me also.
Ive had a thing for corn dogs this week and given in twice. So im happy to be over that and trying to eat better again.

My feet are much better. yesterday tia and i walked to the park and then walked to the shops. I found some socks that weren't to tight and stopped above the ankle, i also had to loosen my shoe laces quite alot to accomodate my still swollen feet. I came home and took my socks off, there was weird bubbles of skin on my feet. And later that night when i could stand the constant itch of such a large area on my feet i had a go and peeled the skin off. eeew huh! Its been so long since ive peeled such big areas. Im hoping that i wont tan, lol.. as its not all of my feet and looks a bit strange.. white legs and tanned feet! lol!

Hope everyones having a good week! Not long now till the australia day weekend! wwoooohooo!

#$@&!!!

Heath Ledger has been found dead in his apartment at the age of 28. His last role was playing the joker in the batman movie due for release this year. He leaves behind his 2 year old daughter. The death is not being treated as suspicious. How sad, how shocking! WTF! Not something you would expect!!!!!!!
My heart goes out to his family, his daughter and his friends.

Lets get real about laptops & kids!

Okay so the goverment are offering tax incentives? for each child in a school a laptop or access to one via the school resources. There was something even on the table beginging with a audit on schools seeing where a resource rich and a resource poor private schools could equally fund a music room and then share it.. (but thats getting off track)
That aside from what can, may or will happen. Lets talk kids or teens with laptops.
I saw the sunrise, chanel 10 gadget guy segment today and it was all about this. Laptops and kids.
What he recommended was incredible! (but when hasnt that segment been for rich and dumb people? seriously) Link to gadgets
First off, the gadget guy just like today tonight or a current affair is obviously shameless paid advertising. E.g pete (the gadget guy) says "brand is very important" camera zooms in on HP logo. *rolls eyes*
He recommended a HP or a compaq laptop. With any laptop, if its something other than dell be ready for any warranty or malfunction problem to be a lengthy problem with hardly any support. I think the only reason he picked these laptops were because of the weight. lets think about this, kids already carry books, books arent going to be replaced because less face it spelling and writing is a must to learn! Goodness knows how many boys have messy writing! lol!
where was i? hmm..

OK lets think about laptops and kids again, 1 spill of any sugar added liquid on the keyboard and its non-repairable! Did you hear? Yes johhny just spilled his fruit juice on the keyboard and now a few of the keys are a bit sticky, $1699 down the drain!
we have 2 laptops in the house with sticky keys, one which i do not recall ever spilling juice on!

Kids dont need a light laptop if they are using a wheeled laptop case/bag. They dont need 100gb space! They do NOT EVER NEED 2gb ram! They do not need a dual core or fast processor!!!!
Im sorry do you have a dual processor and 2GB ram on your home computer?
I know i have 3gb ram, but then we use 3d graphic software and special effects video editing software (well we would if i spent hours reading the manual) You dont need 2GB ram to run photoshop, paint, word, open office.. You dont need 2GB ram to write a essay or a project, send email or view the web! Sure laptops run slower than a normal pc. Consider the space of your home computer box to the size of a 3-5kg laptop.. concessions have to be made!

As for backing up it was suggested to buy a 300gb portable hardrive. Given that we just bought a 250gb one for $130 they are a good investment. But unless your a photographer (the ones that take so many photos in like 20seconds) you dont need a portable hardrive. Portable hardrives do come with warranty (but its not much good, if its died the contents have probably gone as well or the factory will do a reset anyway if your not given a replacement!) writeable cd's are the way to go, as long as they are looked after and stored right they should last. However its worth checking them every so often (they can actually loose data or like do this weird leaky corrupt thing on the surface) or making a backup every week anyways. A writeable cd does not last as long as a factory done cd of e.g sims.

A cheap back up idea, that doesnt need another power point or create more carbon and green house gases is a $15 usb 1gb stick found at post office, office works, k-mart. I have one on my keychain! A 1GB stick can store alot of essays, powerpoint presentations, graphics.. just leave the mp3 files on a laptop, a cd (since most cd players these days can read/play mp3) or the ipod. Its easier to loose, but if a parent keeps it at home and does the back up, no issues!

Another thing overlooked by pretty much everybody is.... DRUMROLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No one has considered battery power or how long it lasts. No one has considered fitting classrooms (other than a already used computer room) with extra power points. (unless tables are along walls or powerpoints up on the ceiling, otherwise all those cables are a OH&S issue)
yes when your buying you can see the specs and usually it will say how long the battery power will last. But do you know how long battery power lasts on average? about a hour or less. I'm sorry how long do they go to school for? lol. AND the thing with battery power is the more heavy programs or more programs used at one time on a laptop the bigger the drain on battery power.

Of course theres always going to be a kid with the best laptop ever.. and the kids without or a slow school one.. its another chance in schools to split the haves and the have nots. :(