Day 375: "Dude, Where's My Phone?"

(source:  www.wreckamovie.com )

For the past four weeks at least, Metricon have been trying to sort out all the issues that have been listed in our PCI log, as well as our independent QA inspector's report.  To Metricon's credit, they've been pretty good at complying with what's on those reports and (slowly) replacing scratched glasses, and fixing up minor defects.  I guess, what's frustrating is just the slowness or the turnaround time of fixing stuff.  What makes matters worse is when the replacement also needs to be replaced as it falls below Metricon's standards.  To date, there are still a few things that needs to be replaced and my SM has told me (I don't want to say "promised me") that  the glass replacements will be done tomorrow and paint/stain touchups will be done a day later.

Handover will be done Friday, so they said.  Maybe with some minor outstanding items that Metricon says they will fix post-handover.  Right.  We'll see first what's on that list.

So before we move in or, at least before handover date, I thought I may just get our current telephone number transfered to the new house; and, while I'm there, get that new 200Gb Ultimate Cable Internet bundle from Telstra.  Nice!  We currently have ADSL+, thought we might go for something quicker like cable internet for our new home.  And so I did.

Telstra moved our telephone number to our new address last Friday (with the vision we'll have settlement by the end of July, this year); Thought of calling up our "moved" number, just to test ... and I got this ... "your call cannot be connected, please check the number and then try again" ... hmmmm, I thought it would at least just ring out, shouldn't it?  Called up Telstra Customer Service.  The beautiful voice on the other line said the move has been completed, I presume, successfuly.  Checked the Telstra website, too, given my order number ... Completed.  Maybe I just need to hook up a telephone handset on the other end of the line.  It should still ring out even without a telephone handset connected to any of the phone jacks, right?

Cable Internet guy called me up to say he's coming over to the new house to connect our cable internet.  Woo hoooo!!!  Better call my SM straight away to open up the property.  I'll bring a spare telephone handset to test the phone lines while I'm there.

You can imagine how excited I am at this stage.

Met the Cable Internet guy at the new property.  And while waiting for my SM to arrive to open up the property, the cable guy thought he'll check the underground pit and show me what he's doing.

CiG: Mate, here's where you're underground pit is (opened up the pit with his pit cover removal tool)
Me:  Wow (what should I say?)
CiG: (pointing to a cable) and here's the phone cable that leads-in to your house where your phone box is ...
Me:  Yes, I got my builder to take care of the trenching into the house
CiG: (sifting through the water logged underground pit) er, there's no cable or even a lead-in pipe that comes from the aerial post from the other side of the street (pointing across the road) where the actual phone lines are ...
Me:  Dude, where's my phone (line coming from)?
CiG: Nowhere.

Now everything makes sense ... "your call cannot be connected, please check the number and try again ... B..U..W...Q... your call cannot be connected ..."

At this point my SM arrived, told of the gravity of the situation, and he had assumed that everything should have been in order and all Telstra needs to do is just activate the line.

He assumed wrong.  He's on the phone straightaway to someone trying to salvage the situation.

Handover Friday?  With no required underground telephone cabling into the property, yet?

365 Days!!!

And so it goes that after three hundred sixty five days we thought, and hoped, and prayed, and begged, and wondered, and imagined, and expected ... that we would have moved in to our new home by now.

Not to be.

Not yet.  But we're getting there.

"The world is changing, I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth, I smell it in the air ..." - Gladriel (LOTR)

Day 355: How are we looking today?

Just a very quick and short picture update of how we are looking today (as requested by Anonymous) ...

Driveway by Craig, building by M3tr!c0n, car by Hyundai

Bricks are SELKIRK MACEDON

Day 354: Bird's Eye View

Thanks to Cam and Kirsten and Jess and Ryan for leading us to a web site that provides a different perspective (view) of our building project.  This view is from above, literally speaking, and it provides you some sort of a timeline or historical view of your address from above.  We were waiting, though, for this excellent website to put up the latest aerial photo of our build, but we've grown tired of waiting for an update (just as we're getting exhausted in waiting for the handover date to come through).

So, without further ado, here's a bird's eye view and a historical representation of our build from pre-construction stage to near-completion stage ...

Our old house (6th April 2011).
It's the one in the middle with grey roof tiles.

Our land, post-demolition and site scrape (28th June 2011).
Unfortunately, the spy plane didn't fly during demolition time.  Would have been nice to see it as we've missed taking photos during demolition.

Slab's poured and the frames were starting to be put up (20th August 2011).

After 2 months (18th October 2011), (first floor) roof's up.
Gas hot water heating system's solar panel installed.
Dining room and Outdoor room roof still pending.
Scaffolding still in place.

A month later (17th November 2011), scaffolding's down.
Still no roof tiles on  the ground floor area (Dining and Outdoor rooms).
No roof trusses for the garage just as yet.

Much progress after a fortnight (5th December 2011).
Roof completed for the Dining and Outdoor rooms at this stage.
Double garage with workshop starting to take shape.

Day after Valentine's Day.
Double garage has been completed.
Looks like the Balcony's done, too.
Portico flat roof, yet to be done.

12th March 2012.
Some work happening ... must be inside.

Latest aerial photo.  12th April 2012.
It's all happening inside the house now.
Driveway has been finished, too.
(Not in the photo, but another construction work just commencing behind us).

Will add some more aerial photos here as soon as NearMap have updated the photos on their site.  Other areas, though, like Bentleigh and Brighton, for example, have more recent and more frequent aerial photos.

This is much, much better than Google Maps, seriously.  Our property, in Google Maps, was still as of April 2009.  And no historical views.

Day 349: OK

My daughter and I were having dinner this evening.  My 4yo finished all her food on the plate and was about to leave the table ...

4yo:  "Dad, can I be excused from the dining table, I'll go sit in the couch to watch TV"
Me:  "Ok"
4yo:  "Dad! Don't say 'Ok', you either say 'Yes' or 'No'"
         "'Ok' is kinda half 'Yes' and half 'No' ..."
Me:  "Uh, Ok, I mean ... Yes ... sure ..."


So, if you're going to ask me how did our PCI go?


OK.


There were only a few things that we were not happy about.  I mean, it was generally all good.  M3tr1c0n (and their subcontractors) did a quality job, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't perfect.  Just little, tiny things, like ...

• Stains on the front door glass panels
• Scuff marks on the wall
• Chip on the window reveal
• Loose door lock fittings
• Loose TV plug
• Stacker door quite difficult to slide/close
• Chipped paint in aluminium window frame
• Cracked header brick
• Dirty toilets (yep, skid marks, eeek!)

Yes, just tiny, little, minor things, really.


Overall, once all those minor defects have been fixed, it will be perfect!  Can't wait to move in now.


But wait until I tell you about our independent QA inspection report.


Later.