Don't move, it's January

An important lesson has been learnt early in 2020 and that is 'Don't move house in January.'

Seriously, just don't. For the sake of your wallet and mental health, just don't.

Not that we really had a choice...but still. DON'T.

SO WHY ARE WE MOVING HOUSE ANYWAY?

Due to a rent increase of an extra $80 a month. Uh huh, no thank you. The view is nice but my increase in rent isn't updating that. We've also had two air conditioner people come through in 2019 to quote the landlord on some upstairs air conditioning to battle the Gold Coast summer but nothing happened.

(And when I cited that as one of the reasons for departing, I got a response of 'But you guys never complained!' Well what was the point of sending in two different people to quote the place then? Apparently we could argue against the rent increase being good tenants and all but by that time we had found and signed the line on another place. Slightly smaller, cheaper and cooling and coincidentally five mins closer to work. Now just to get all our stuff there..)

NOTHING HAPPENS IN JANUARY

Everyone is still on holidays. All major services are on leave (which I understand completely, I would be relaxing after a stupidly busy year too if I didn't have to move house.) We're still waiting on a reply back from the removalists we used last time (on a break til the next couple of days) and connecting services to the new place is taking a bit longer due to public holidays.

My home internet died a storm related death on Christmas Eve but we couldn't get a technician out to read my router it's last rites until New Years Eve (turns out the line didn't blow up as first suspected, it was my gear) and then when we bought a replacement there was a problem with the ISP side of things but I couldn't get that looked at until Jan 2nd.

Although a special shout out to my provider Mate Internet who have been nothing short of amazing with any problem or technical difficulty I've had since I signed up with them three years ago. My comments aren't a paid spot, they've just been a lot better than other (major telco) companies I've used in the past.

NO ONE WANTS TO BUY YOUR JUNK IN JANUARY

I'm writing this after spending five hours sitting in my own dark garage hoping people would see the plethora or online ads and sketched signs around the neighborhood.
People did, no one showed. Oh and there were a few questions via Facebook but then to no great surprise, no follow up.

Nobody wants your bargains.

My creative write ups amused my son...and he was the only one who stopped to read them.

Is everyone including us broke in January?

Here's some of the notes I jotted into my phone as the morning dragged on.

40 mins into the Garage Sale - Facebook message: Where is the the address? I kindly point out it's there right on the top. The first thing you'll read if you read past the title that says 'Garage Sale', on the hunch there's more to it than a title and some snazzy pictures.Then I edit the post so it's there for all to see at least three times. No one asked where it was after that.

1 hour in - wife points out we need to bring the table down. The same table with the glass top that weighs three tonnes. I managed to lose one of the table castors in the wrestle and it disappears never to be seen again. Please someone buy this bastard of a thing, I don't want to have to move it anywhere again.

2 hours 18 min in - first buyers arrive! 'Not many garage sales today eh?' but doesn't contribute to this one either. Going as well as expected.

2 hours 23 min in - Facebook message: how much have you got on your dining table and fish tank? We're not actually selling a fish tank..

3 hours in - Wifey makes some signs for me to tape the light posts around the neighbourhood with the world's cheapest packing tape. If they are still stuck on in the next 20 mins I will be surprised. While I'm out she sells the princess castle through Facebook. Sold at the garage or not, we still chalk it up as out first sale! (Sadly that $10 is the only thing we make for the morning)

3 hours 24 mins in: 2nd customer arrives, peruses and buys nothing, as much as I send powerful psychic waves that the desks are a steal. 

4 hours 15 mins in: Neighbor rolls in for a chat about not liking glass tables. We have truly amazing neighbors, one of things (and there aren't many) that I'm going to miss about this place. Couldn't get her to change her mind on the table though.

5 hours and some other minutes: We've had 5 separate messages about the bastard glass table including asking for measurements but nothing happens. It's the Gumtree experience on Facebook it seems. While organizing lunch my wife manages to find the missing table coaster in one of my son's school shoes. Truly did not think of looking in there.

6 hours roughly: Eat lunch, then close garage. Nothing to see here, move along. Wifey takes a tonne of pictures for Facebook because apparently nobody likes to venture out to Garage Sales on a Sunday morning anymore like I do so hopefully we'll sell some odds and ends (like a big glass table) through there. Or try again next weekend. On a Saturday preferably. Or when it's tax time. Or when millionaires roll through the area. God only knows.

Well points for trying I guess.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

A lot of local classifieds activity really. We need it gone already. My humble Nissan Stagea has been a phenomenal workhorse in moving everything that doesn't weight three tonnes in the house but I'm loathe to drag the surplus gear over to the new place where it'll sit in the corner of the shed for another twelve months doing not much.
Still got to organise a truck, hook up internet and get someone in to pet treatment the place as per our current land lords wishes. Oh and get my bond back. Glorious.

Gah, is it February yet?

Now, can I interest you in a big bastard of a glass table?

EDIT: Wifey managed to sell the table 2.5 hours after we shut up shop to a family from Melbourne visiting their holiday home here on the Gold Coast. He was more interested in the X supports to create a base for a marble table top he had but he bought the lot and I helped lug it into his Amarok. So that's one table down and a whole heap of other gear left to go.

Anyone interested in a couple of desks?