Author: iandick

Golf & Retail Therapy

Took the day off work today and enjoyed a cracking day at Roodlea again – pics of the previous visit can be seen in the gallery. The weather was great and the break away from the norm, though clich’d, was just what I needed after busy work and the non-starter with the house purchase.

I’m sorely tempted to actually get lessons and take up golf more – really enjoy it every time I play it.

Sunday was spent shopping in town and for once a visit from Shakeel didn’t lead to a gadget purchase. Its not his fault but we do egg each other on into making some suspect purchases. This time it was clothes and cd’s so no money was wasted – well, less than normal.

So tomorrow is back to work and also the start of the house search again. There was another house we had seen but its already sold. Another lesson learnt – move quickly as someone else undoubtedly will!

House Shocker

Well, we didn’t get the house we were after. I wasn’t that surprised but what really got to me was just how much it finally went for. The house had appeared in the GSPC as offers over £110k. This was way below the selling price in the area which is around 180k to 190k but we were warned that it needed re-wiring, a new kitchen and a new boiler/central heating. It valued at 165k but if done up properly, 185k.

I estimated around 20k was needed to carry out the work so put in an offer of 175k. It was sold for 215k. Unreal. Madness. Disappointing. Not only that but we were 6th out of 12 bidders so there were 5 ahead of our bid!

If someone wants to pay that much for a house in that state they are welcome to it, but I can’t help but feel the lawyers selling the house were deliberately stoking the buyers – they put the house on the market at an infeasibly low price and even a couple of days before closing they were stating to my solicitor they expected well over 180k again making bidders push up their bids. I considered going to 185k which wouldn’t have made a difference in the end, but I couldn’t afford to as it would have left me short for the work required on the house.

So its back to the drawing board and the house hunting – this time a little wiser and a lot more cynical.

Edge Magazine

Edge magazine is 10 years old this issue. If you’ve never tried the magazine and are into games then you really have missed out. The website is awful, one of the worst I’ve seen but the magazine is pure class. Written for adults, never one to shirk from being controversial and ultimately a damn good read. Most disturbing is the fact that I’ve got every issue from 1 to this months 128. Must revisit some over the weekend.

House Update

We’ve put an offer in for a house! Closing date is this Friday at noon but to be honest I don’t think we’ll get it. The house needs a lot of work (re-wiring, new kitchen, new boiler, decor throughout) but it has great potential, its a really good location and its a fantastic size.

The downside is there is a lot of interest in it – 6 surveys including ours have been conducted and others are showing interest. Also its valued at �165k but it was advertised at offers over �110k to try and generate maximum interest and turn it into a bidding war.

If we get it – great. If we don’t then it wasn’t meant to be. But the next day and a half will drag until we know whats happening.

Xbox Live

Well the new Xbox Live site is now online and available for use. But it seems pretty rushed at the moment as its not easy to login too and all the features aren’t available.

For anyone having trouble creating a login the problem is in the telephone area code. The form only accepts three digits so if like me your area code is 4 digits, enter the first 3 in the area code box then begin you telephone number with the last digit of your area code. Crap.

The friends list doesn’t seem to be available at the moment and theres only score boards for Moto GP2. But its a start and the new XSN titles look good.