Saturday 21 March 2009

Season Ender - Will the House Builder


Remember that feeling when you finished the final exam for university or high school? 
 
That feeling of relief and satisfaction knowing that you've just completed the climatic finish to a life-chapter that's been years in the making?
 
Well I'm feeling that at the moment. 
 
I'm closing this chapter in my life called 'Will the House Builder'.
 
It started back in 2004, midway into chapter "Will the Bachelor". 

I realised I should be investing more on my future rather than splurging on a car, electronics or drinking my money away.  And to cut a very-long and procrastinated story about life, philosophy and properties, I came to a decision and bought an empty block of land.
 
 The empty block.   Comes with grass.

A couple of years later, I made the conscious decision to build a house.

The not so empty block.  No more grass.

Back then, I don't think I fully understood the work and stress and chaos required of such a project.
 
The questions I faced - Which one? when? colour? what type? size? 
Thousands and hundreds of questions I had to sort out.  And whilst some might be trivial, things get progressively more  stressful when the big dollars start hitting.
 
Perhaps its easier when done with someone.  At least there's someone to consult about the colour of doors and tiles.  

Then after the house construction there is still SOOOOO much work to be done!

My mentor for constructing, my dad.

But if I look back through the rectrospectroscope, I don't think I would want it done any other way. 

I've learnt so much from this.

The importance of planning and making decisions. 

Things to do and not do when painting. 

The dangers of tradespeople. The snake-ness of real estate agents. 

 Turtle Car wax on floor tiles. 

How great parents are. 

The wonders of poly-fila.  

Bunnings the best place on earth.

Importance of good communication.

Why o why did they paint my house orange?! I said beige!
 
And I consider myself blessed and lucky to have had this chance.  I'm so grateful to my family and girlfriend.  

How they laboured with me for days and days and hours on end. 
 
They gave me their short weekends to help me on my little project.  

They worked on stinking hot afternoons, in dust covered rooms, getting high on methylated spirits and blistering their hands on cheap paint rollers.
 
All in exchange for a KFC & Rice dinner and serves of frozen coke.
 
My sister was holidaying from Sydney, and she helped me paint! Aww...  so nice...

From this, I gather they really love me or they SIMPLY JUST LOVE KFC & Rice and frozen coke.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Like the new blog layout. Building a new house is a HUGE undertaking and congrats on getting to where you are. :) Kudos!

Unknown said...

thanks SK! its taken a long time and still feels weird that its actually finished :)

Anonymous said...

Congrats to you! :) orange instead of beige? lol. Doesn't look that bad though ;)

Anonymous said...

BTW How long has this project taken? Hehe . . your "helpers" must be sick of just being paid KFC.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the brand new house! Have you settled in yet? I hope it's everything you dreamed of... apart from the orange paint on the outside.

Anonymous said...

Didn't get paid in $KFC but got Subway instead. No harm done since we're now trying to stay clear of that deep fried chook.

Unknown said...

Hi raymond, thanks for visiting. Yeah, the orange walls were too bright for my liking. Reminded me of Nandos.. and im a KFC man. hhehehe.

Unknown said...

SK, the project took a while. the construction took over a year. But after construction a lot of manual work needed to be done.

Yeah, I know. KFC and frozen coke are the only gifts i can accommodate for the mean time.

Perhaps when i've saved up a bit.. i can treat them to something nicer.

Like the Boneless KFC or something.

Unknown said...

Hi Angie, im about as settled as the dust :P always being brushed away. I think it will be a while before i get settled. Nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel though.