More changes

Due to the shifting numbers in the live intern ballot and logistics involved in attempting a renovation while only one of us is working, we have decided to put off the move until next year and I will be applying for the hospital that I have been at for a while, which is only about 20 minutes from my house (in traffic).

We looked at moving to a place in between our works, and there are some lovely neighbourhoods that would be closer to his work (via the motorway, cutting out the big suburbs drive that he now has), still close to where my hospital would be (as well as other hospitals I might switch to) and that would allow us to upgrade our area, if not the house as much.

My husband has only been working for his current employers for a little over a year, and most employers in his industry are in the city centre, so planning a big move based on his job may be a little premature when he may change jobs in the next year or so and go back to the city centre. His industry can be a little volatile with work contracts.

I don't really mind not upgrading the house much, if it comes to that. Our current house is quite comfortable, and could be a lot nicer if we did some renovations.

I am just not a huge fan of our neighbourhood. It is quite a safe one, but there are lots of "bogans", lots of fast food places and no decent restaurants nearby. I don't have much against bogans, but when your neighbour thinks it is okay to work on his motorbike/car at 10:30pm on a weeknight right outside your bedroom window, it can do bad things to your quality of life.

This way, we will get to take our time doing the place up, do a better job of it, and live in it for quite a few months to enjoy what we have done. It will be nice to not do one of those crappy renovation-on-a-shoestring-budget that you see for sale around the place.

If you live around my area of the world, you will know what I am talking about. Some people try to make a faster sale and profit by slapping on a quick coat of paint and polishing the floorboards over the whole house.

Frankly, polished floorboards in the bedrooms in a highset home is a BAD idea. There is no sound buffering, there is no insulation and it seems quite cold and uncomfortable. We have lived in places like that in rental properties, and I would never do it if I were renovating.

To be honest, I kind of prefer carpets, or tiles if you don't like carpet. Even floating floorboards are a better option than having nothing between you and downstairs than one thin layer of wood that may have holes through it big enough for venomous spiders to use as an entrance. (Yes, this has also happened to me.)

I have to wait for Mr TGWTBS to get back from working thousands of kilometers away, and then we will start to make plans to actually kick things off. It is still exciting, and not having such a set timeline is much more pleasant!