Spreading the cheer

There is nothing like something positive happening to one of the children, to spread the cheer to the rest of the family. That’s how it was yesterday. Renee moved into her new townhouse and posted a picture of herself on her bed set up in her new bedroom, with the view to the sunset and the hills in the distance. She was happy, and that ripple happiness reverberated around the rest of us, thanks to a family Facebook page.  

Renee and her brother, in desperation, bought a ground-level apartment a couple of years ago, which Renee was to live in. The desperation was that house prices were rising rapidly and anything on the market was snavelled up quickly, with often a long list of buyers, should the sale fall through, making getting an apartment extremely difficult. Renee was never happy there as it attracted very little sun and was too small. On days off she hated being in that building and would spend as much time away from it as possible. The only positive thing about it was its location, just a short stroll to the Burleigh Heads shopping centre and beach.

She found this new place and everything fell into place for her to buy it; the bank approved the loan, her apartment fetched the money at auction she would need going forward, and although initially the builder’s report didn’t seem so good, a later engineer’s report allayed any concerns she might have had.

Renee has always liked to have a view. Without one, she feels stifled, and her favourite sun, is the evening one, if she is not to get it from all directions. This house is so much bigger than her apartment and any other she has lived in. So, all in all, a great move for her. She is actually currently only renting as there is something still needed from Council to take place before the sale is finalized. But she is expecting full ownership in a few weeks.

Moving didn’t go so well for her though. She was quoted a price of $70 per hour over the phone and a huge truck turned up when she had asked for a medium-sized one and three people turned up rather than two. She was given papers to sign, now saying it was almost $300 per hour. She asked to speak to the boss and from the way he acted, Renee suspected it was something that happened frequently, perhaps targeting single women who perhaps might not stand up to the discrepancies. It ended in a shouting match with Renee telling them to go home. She found another company, fortunately, who were able to turn up an hour later, with their quote only a hundred and something per hour.

So though slow, she got the job done. Whew. It is sad to know there are companies, such as this first one, out there, taking advantage of single women like this. Most would have most likely just accepted the new price through fear of not finding anyone else. I think even I would have done that. What this company didn’t bank on, was that Renee grew up with four older brothers. She learnt to be tough; she had to be. Yesterday, that worked to her advantage.

I haven’t talked to Renee this morning yet, but Jason, who helped her move her furniture through the house, says she was ‘happy as’.

I hope she has a wonderful time in this new dwelling. She certainly brought some cheer to the rest of us. Thanks Renee.