SICK OF BLOODY QUAKECHURCH!!!

Crumble Froo

AAAAHHHH!!!!!

Sorry, disappearing forever only to come back and whinge, but I just need a wee rant about living in post-quake Christchurch - don't get me wrong, there's enough pro's to outweigh the cons, I'm not about to leave anytime soon... but I'm just so SICK of the instability. Ever since the 4th of September 2010, I've just not had a place to call home. House fell over again in February, we lived in the garden for a month before taking over the lease of friends who were leaving for Aussie after the quakes. This caused all sorts of dramas when we got assigned a new property manager who didn't like the state the place was in (it's not OUR fault it hasn't had a good spring clean for over 10 years, we turn it a brighter shade of beige every inspection), we finally start passing inspections minus dramas and threats, and the owner decides s/he's gonna renovate the place and has just given us a month's notice to find a new place.

A MONTH!!!! We've got a dog, literally, of the 74 properties with enough bedrooms, within our budget, we whittled it down to 8 that weren't already taken, or that were pet OK/negotiable. There's 10-60 people showing up at the viewings we're going to, and some ****ing land agent prick attempted to charge us each $15 to do a credit check today! I've never had to pay for that privilege before, and I've had a number done just in the last week, as I've got to have about $2000 worth of bond etc to throw at anyone who wants to give us a house.

Just sick of the roadworks, the sad, stressed out, neglected people, all the bull**** with EQC and CERA, Hekia bloody Parata and her ****in school shuffle, and all the new venues opening up being completely intolerant of the genres of music that used to make Christchurch just so special for me.

Sorry for the rant, if you look at my past posts in A+NZ forum, I'm usually pretty positive, but damn, I'm just so tired of all these factors outside of my control ****ing with my life!

I know of 3 other people in the last week who've been given similar ultimatums as us regarding housing... how's everyone else doing?

Mrs OBumble

I hear ya, and have heard the same from a few friends too.

If it's any consolation the research shows that this sort of shyte and reaction is totally normal in a city that's rebuilding after a major disaster.

Cookie_Monster

I don't want to sound condescending or anything but why not just move somewhere else in NZ?

Plenty of other places in NZ on the grow with jobs, what do you do? If a trade for example New Plymouth's going through a building boom and house builders are almost to busy to keep up currently, engineering's the same, everywhere is good for healthcare, Akl for finance & business etc etc

Also 6 weeks is the minimum notice period isn't it?

pclancy

Hang in there Froo I'm impressed with your resilience dealing with all that crap in a place thats had so many thousands of quakes with more every day. Must be making people go crazy.

JustRoss23

Come back to ireland;) pclancy did you use to own run an electronic shop in portlaoise?;) if so i always wondered where you disappeared too;)

pclancy

A computer shop for a while on main street if that's what you mean?

JustRoss23

yea was it Creation Computer Systems????:O if so i was in there many times how random lol so your in nz now hope its working out for ya:D

pclancy

Cheers yeah all is going great. Thanks for your custom

Back to Christchurch discussion now...:)

Crumble Froo

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

I don't want to sound condescending or anything but why not just move somewhere else in NZ?

Plenty of other places in NZ on the grow with jobs, what do you do? If a trade for example New Plymouth's going through a building boom and house builders are almost to busy to keep up currently, engineering's the same, everywhere is good for healthcare, Akl for finance & business etc etc

Also 6 weeks is the minimum notice period isn't it?

Christchurch has been my home for literally all of my adult life, just about! I'll have been here 6 years this Paddy's day. I've got a motley sort of 'family' here, I've long since started putting down roots, and I really do love this city. I've done a decent bit of travelling the country and I don't think I could be bothered with living up north, to be honest, if I moved anywhere, it'd be Dunedin, but I want to complete my degree first (which is Wellington, Auckland or Christchurch).

Not to mention that I have two flatmates who are like family to me who are looking for a place to. I'm not about to leave them now, nevermind the fact that I've got a bit of an emotional investment in one (but let's not even think about that now...).

If we were being kicked out, we'd have to be given more notice, but the landlord just decided not to renew the lease, out of the blue. BAM! 4 weeks!


@Mrs O Bumble, I know, it's almost less consolation knowing that everyone else here is going through the same, cos then ya end up feeling guilty for feeling bad, sometimes! It's all a normal part of dealing with it, and ra ra ra, I know it is, I've already dealt with the 'normal' thing of literally losing my mind, being locked up in the looney bin, spilling silent tears every time I hear certain triggers, see empty sites, remember the dead and grieving, all the people who've lost every material thing they've worked for. I know I'm going to get through this, and in a couple year's time I'll barely remember all the pain and tears I've shed through this month. Hell, I barely remember anything from Sept 2010-June2011, just crazy blurry montages.

*sigh*

Sorry, I think I've clearly been needing this little rant - all my real life friends here have their own dramas going on - we all do - I just needed to have a wee cry without upsetting anyone else and now that I've done that, I guess it's back to househunting... *sigh*

Crumble Froo

Oh, and what a breath of fresh air! It's amazing how life on the other side of the city can just seem that little bit less stressful. Visited a mate after this yesterday, had literally just been crying all morning, everytime I was left to my own thoughts for more than a couple of minutes, had a great time talking and playing with her kids (attacking my placid little lovebug dog), got sent home with a care package full of fresh cherry (and giant) tomatoes, pears, apples, corn, courgettes and teabags, brought the dogs for a walk in the quarry, then headed out to Sumner and let them have a good run on the beach.

****, Christchurch is a cool, beautiful place, it is, it really is. Doing my daily rental inspections with a little more energy and positivity today.

tom_ass19

Keep hanging in there, sounds like you're going through a lot. I wish you the best and hope it all works out for you

FearDark

Been looking for a place to stay for three weeks solid. Living with the ex for a while now and I obviously need to get out. Been offered a garage in a house until one of the rooms becomes available!

Crumble Froo

Whew! We made it! We were moving on Saturday whether we had a place to go or not, and on Thursday got offered a place, Friday finished the paperwork and keys and moved in on Saturday!

In Aranui now, deeper in the 'hood than before (having lived by Shirley/Emmett St, Linhood or central city up to now), but closer to the beach, the house is absolutely lovely - with a HRV system - can't wait for winter!

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys, and best of luck to everyone dealing with similar situations, it's ****ing stressful!

(so I went out to a derby game on Saturday, had a massive blowout after being so stressed out , and managed to lose my glasses, phone, wallet and hoody. I do it to myself, sometimes.... )

tom_ass19

Glad to hear you're back on track!

Pity about your belongings but they can be replaced