Rick Bolt's Blog

Well Well Well…. Its been yet another long time since I have last posted my blog. And as always I have a lot to say but don’t really know how to say it, so…. I just don’t say it at all. Until now.

I’m sitting in my lounge on a Sunday afternoon; Cate is watching the last episode of LOST …..Again…. I’m having a quick flick through the first newspaper I have purchased in a very long time.. I don’t buy newspapers normally; I prefer to read my news on the net from various sources.

On the front page of today’s paper yet another story of a special life lost while fighting for Australia. Yep, another Aussie solder lost in battle fighting yet another war that in reality nobody will win.. Up front I’ll make this very clear;

 I supported the sending of our troops to war when the war in Afghanistan started. I have supported the need for Australian solders to remain there and I support each and every member of the Australian Defence Forces here and overseas defending and/or fighting for Australia. Although I supported them, it wasn’t until a couple of weeks before ANZAC day that I fully understood what it is that our defence force personnel go through to serve our country. And it was a TV show, “Border Patrol” that made me aware of what ADF face and what they are giving for their country. At the time I shed tears and I made comment on Twitter about what I had watched and what the effect on me was. And it was quite a deal, I generally don’t give a shit about too much!

From that point I have paid far greater attention to what our defence forces were actually engaged in and what our government was telling us needs to happen.

But there comes a time with pretty much everything that if what you have planned is not working the way you want it or need it too, that you reassess the situation. You make significant changes or you cut your losses and you remove yourself from the situation altogether. And by reassess I do not mean throw more resources at the problem. That just increases the liability of greater losses.

Given that the objective that was to be achieved by having this war has not been achieved in the stipulated timeframe and the number of lives lost not only in recent weeks but in the entire time Australia has been involved and the number of injured I feel it is time for our government to completely reassess the situation in Afghanistan. We need to bring our defence force personnel home and bring them home alive and uninjured. No, this is not a kneejerk reaction on my part, I’ve thought long and hard about this. There must be another way to achieve the desired outcome without placing so many Australians in such significant danger.

Why am I saying this now?

With a Federal election to be called at any day, why is this not an issue being discussed in the media or even the social media? Why are boat people (Important issue in itself) and a mining tax more important then our own defence forces? Why isn’t there more noise being made about this? Even if the final outcome is not that Australia withdraws all of its troops at least the people of Australia will have had an opportunity to let which ever government wins power know what we expect should happen. That is, if we start to discuss this and allow for all views to be made.. No doubt there will be many that disagree fully or partially with what I have said. That’s fine.. That’s the exact reason our people went to fight in the first place wasn’t it??

What are you views? Do you agree or disagree? Or is this a political hot potato that nobody wants to hold??

Thanks for taking the time to read my rant.. Maybe my next one wont take to long to publish!!

Rick

I would like to share with you a situation that presented it self late last week and the danger that came with it.

Early last week our car started to make some serious noises that were not good. I was unable to clearly identify the noise but with the limited tools that I have, tried to locate and at least see if it was something I could fix. But I could not nail it down. After several days of limited car use where the car drive ok but was very noisy, difficulties of transporting children the vast distance to schools, we needed to use the car. Public transport was not a viable option given that it goes to a totally different town then where the schools are and the fact we had actually run out of money and were eating only from the non perishables in our cupboard just made it all the more difficult.

We now needed to use the car. Cate needed to be at the airport and we needed to get the kids to school. We were left with no option but to try and nurse the car to where we had to go. The noises got louder and louder as we travelled. After making it to the first school and dropping off the older boys, it happened. A very large bang, erratic steering and limited brakes as we moved out onto a major road. We were only travelling slowly and nobody was in danger. I pulled the car up in an emergency stopping bay and checked the damage. Smoke coming from the front wheel. We were not going anywhere in this car.

We quickly unloaded the children out of the car and away from the road as far as possible to ensure their safety. A few quick but unanswered phone calls and a few tweet messages asking for any assistance and we decided the safest option was to move the children off the motorway altogether. So we loaded up with all the bags, four children and headed for the nearest off ramp to safety. The most surprising thing was that at that point no one single car slowed down while passing us. Cars travelling at 100 km/h whizzing past us without any regards for the safety of the children they were passing. We kept as far off the roadside as possible but with the overgrown roadside we were not able to be too far off the road. And still nobody slowed down.

We had walked close to a kilometre when we approached the nearest off ramp and were able to move behind the barrier to some level of safety, but still with only the small barrier between us and the cars on the off ramp, cars did not slow down and continued to “fly” past us with just two meters clearance at full speed. What is it that we can not look a head and see danger anymore and alter our speed to ensure we pass that spot with some level of safety. Are we all so self absorbed in our own little cocoons that we don’t give a damn what’s outside our bubble anymore? I just don’t understand! There were small children on the edge of the road, we were visible but nobody cared.

I will follow up the post with the remainder of our “adventure” as there are a few people I need to mention that went out of their way to ensure our safety and that we also got back home.

What is it with us now? Why don’t we see the danger ahead and slow down? Do you look ahead when driving anymore? Do you slow down when you see/sense something out of the ordinary? What would you expect if you were in the same position?

Thanks for reading

Rick

Like always, I have so much I want to communicate but really struggle to put it into words for a blog.  So lets see how this post pans out.

Last night was the all important “Earth Hour”, where electricity consumers lower their consumption for one hour to highlight ummmm… Well to be honest I’m not entirely sure what its meant to high light any more.

Please don’t get me wrong, our family focus is heavily on the environment (Project 18, The You Crew etc). I have previously worked in the renewable energy industry for many years and the electricity industry prior to that for a lot of years. We use only where possible organic (and I mean real organic) products. We do not have any chemicals in the house. We aim to have a lower then expected carbon footprint then most expect from a large family. But to me Earth Hour is not hitting the mark anymore.

The first year Earth Hour made an impact it raised awareness of our use of fossil fuels and that we need to lower our electricity consumption.. The second year although a lot more participated I questioned whether the impact of what needed to be achieved was actually being lost in the hype of Earth Hour. This for me has continued ever since. Last night as I watched the different time zones move into the Earth Hour via twitter there was quite a deal of discussion about who was going to do what and so on. Then as each time zone entered that time period the tweeting from their died down considerably. Then as expected, as that time zone completed its hour the tweeting increased.

But, it was what was being communicated that leads me to believe the message is not actually getting through. A large number of those tweeting indicated that as soon as the time was up, they returned to their normal habits. Lights on, TV’s on. Computers on etc. Now given earth hour is to show the world we want to change what we do and change where we are heading, why participate and then go straight back to the way things were before the “token” Earth Hour. What does that actually achieve?  We talk, We act (for just 1 hour) then we go back to our cosy lives feeling all warm and fuzzy that we did our bit for the environment.

Well you know what? That 1 hour of lower then normal usage was a complete waste of time for so many. If what Earth Hour represents is not followed through and regularly acted upon then it’s a total waste of time. Hence the reason I call it “token”.

And what many people don’t realise is that it did NOTHING at all to lower power consumption or the use of fossil fuels..

As a majority of Australia’s electricity is generated via large scale slow to react fossil fuel burning power stations, a one hour “dip” in the load can not actually be acted upon. These Power generators can not just stop producing, they take time to wind up and wind down and given the immediate nature of the load dump (lights off) and the load increase (Lights on) all within an hour, these stations still had to produce electricity or be in a state that they could feed the grid immediately. The smaller and quicker reacting Gas (and other) type of generator stations may have gone off line and come back on as needed but the larger generators just kept on pumping. If the generators had in fact lowered their output during Earth Hour, when the hour was up and the immediate increase in load occurred they would not have been able to react quickly enough and load shedding would have had to occur. So the bottom line is that while everybody was thinking they were doing their bit, it was actually a total waste of time in regards to the burning of fossil fuels….. That is unless you continue to follow the principles of Earth Hour EVERY day of your life.

And there lies the answer! Following the principle of Earth Hour not for just one hour a year, but everyday of your life. You should only have that warm fuzzy feeling when you are really reducing your consumption long term.  In reality it’s not a hard thing to do. Turn off and leave off those lights you don’t actually need on, turn off at the wall all equipment and appliances your not using. So many things consume power even when “turned off” or on stand by. Unplug battery and mobile phone charges when not in use, turn your PC or lap top off when not actually using it! All very simple things to achieve and that have long term benefits in lowering electricity consumption.

 What action/s can you add to the list to save electricity on a long term basis?

 Thanks for reading my rant

 Rick..

I am almost certain that Cate will have written or posted something about what this blog post pertains to as I know just how much this impacts on her. I have not had any opportunity to check what Cate may have written prior to post this…………………………

I’m a father to what is now days considered a rather large family. A lot of the time I take having children around as granted because they are always there. Although I am told by Cate to think about the safety of the children a lot more then I do. But being the pig headed male that I am, I tend to hear but not listen.

The past few months have really culminated this morning. Far too many times over the past few months the news bulletins I’m listening to or watching are carrying stories of children missing or being hurt or now all to often being killed. This morning while driving the children to school I was listening to news as I always do, waiting in hope for the story to come up of the 3 year old little boy that went missing from his home in Melbourne’s northern suburbs yesterday afternoon. The story came up and  against all hope the little boy was found deceased by the side of a road 20 or 30 km from where he disappeared.  Tears started to roll down my face from under my sun glasses. I was able to hide this from the kids as they chatted and played.  “This just can’t be!”, not another one. Then another story followed of a 6 yo child that was found drowned in a dam at 12:30 this morning in NSW.  Two more families destroyed, two more little lives gone, for what reason? I don’t know either family but I cried at their loss, what parent wouldn’t?

What is going on in this world?  Little people dying by drowning in dams, at the hands of other children and even at the hands of adults… WHY? What has changed in the world that now sees so many children facing such untimely death? Have I had my head in the sand for so long that nothing has actually changed but now suddenly I’m noticing? OR Is it that we are losing more children in this manner more often they we use too and if so, why? And I say “we” as a parent, a parent concerned now for the safety of not only my children but all children.

I can not in any way imagine how the parents of all of these children continue to function with the loss of their children no matter how it occurs. The fear I felt when Charlie went “walkabout” with Jasmine last year was horrific, but he was safe, although given where we lived at the time, the outcome could have been significantly worse. While writing the post I keep having the thought, what has happened where the community helped raise the local children? I know that now days we don’t tend to stay in the same house for long periods, but when a family moves into a community, why isn’t it like when I was growing up? The “new” neighbours would quickly make themselves known and eye would always be watching out for the neighbourhood kids. When this occurred when I was a kid, I’m sure there were nowhere near as many child fatalities?

I am positive that there is nobody other then Cate and Myself watching out for our children…

If you have children, does the neighbourhood help you watch or look out for your children?

Rick

Just a quick update on my Cenerlink office visit post. Thank you for the comments. I have not posted those comments as a number contained words that I didn’t think appropriate on my blog but totally understand the context in which they were made. I would like to make it clear that my post was aimed at the behaviours of the centerlink staff NOT my attempts to look for work. In fact I did state that “Maybe  that can be another post!”. So for those of you enjoying having a go at me for not finding a job, hold those thoughts until I get to that blog post. The one thing I do request is that you have the intestinal fortitude to use your real name and submit a real email address and or web site address. Hiding behind false information and details really defeats the purpose of your comments ( does it not??)

Lets face it, I’m not happy person and I haven’t been for a long time but sometimes I think I have a genuine reason to state that I feel I’m not being treated fairly!

Today was the day I hate the most each fortnight, some of you will have already guessed it. Yep, It’s form lodging day. That’s right, because I can’t find any work (and I don’t need any comments about “ well I’ve never been out of work”) because I am and have been looking for work but obviously failing miserably. Maybe that can be another post!

What I hate the most about this day is the actual visit to the centrelink office. Other then my last visit a fortnight ago which was a bit different to all others, today is the worst day. I hate the standing in line like a sheep with cap in hand feeling like I should be asking “may I have more sir”. This to me is so demoralising. Then to have a person who in all reality is no better then me, in fact who knows I may actually have had more life experience then they have, look down their nose at me, at the way I’m dressed (no I don’t have nice clothes that’s the way life is) that I’m wearing broken prescription glasses that I’m there begging for a hand out while they have the power to look at a screen with all my details that I cant see at the same time and drag out the awkward silence really is plain rubbish.

Wether they mean to do it or not, I feel like I’m being treated like I’m second class? Why do I have to sit there and hold my breath while they made a decision as to wether I’ve filled the form in honestly or not? If you don’t believe me, ring the phone numbers listed or email the address’s I’ve provided. Don’t make me sit there wondering wether I’m going to get my fortnightly hand out or not.

How hard is it to engage me in some conversation? Am I not worthy of your words because I’m on the other side of the screen? If that’s not the case, what could it be? Do they not like their job that much that they just go through the motions begrudgingly? If so, why not leave and let someone who wants to work do the job?

But on the other hand let me point out that my last visit a fortnight ago was very different, on that occasion the gentleman did engage me in conversation, he spun the screen around and let me see what he was doing, showed me what he and I need to complete. We discussed my efforts to find work and even found out that we both worked for the same employer many moons ago and even knew the same people back in Victoria. As bad as I feel having to go and hand in a form for a government hand out, that visit was made bearable and I felt like I was being treated as a person and not a sheep or a number.

So that shows me that they are allowed to communicate in a friendly manner! Why do you think it feels like this? Is this just me or have/do you have the same feeling when dealing with Government agencies?
Thanks again for taking a few moments to have a read.
Rick

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Back again with another post so quickly, well quick for me anyway.

I still have so much to say but at the same time have difficulty trying to express that in writing, so these next few posts will no doubt be a little disjointed as I talk about the past few months and then also talk about what’s happening now.

 Looking back over the past few months there have been three main things that I have not been able to accept or “get over”. Unlike Cate who has an ability to learn and move on I have struggled to accept these things and at this stage just can not move on. I know it sounds stupid and immature but they are chewing at me and I just cant get over them. I can see these are holding me back from getting on with life but I just can not stop it!

The first of the issues is FRIENDS.

I’ve always lived by the thought that if you let people into your life, you will get hurt. To save getting hurt, I simply just do not let people into my life. Therefore as such I don’t actually have anybody that I refer to as “my friend”. There are even parts to me that even Cate has not cracked her way in. But nether the less we as a family have/had people close enough to us that family members called them friends. These friends were present in one way or another all way up to the point that we were evicted from the house. Now wether us being evicted was of our own doing or through the doing of others is irrelevant, one would expect that our friends would provide some level of support, even if it was only a phone call or email to say “hey were here if you need us”…. But no… we were now homeless and publicly so and that apparently means that nobody wants anything to do with you anymore. The so called friends went into hiding. Ran for the hills even!!

Personally I found this a discussing act and very hurtful. As uncomfortable as it might be to communicate with a “homeless family”, friendship should be stronger than that. And to use excuses like “I didn’t know what to say” or “I thought I’d just make it harder for you” just does not cut it, it’s a cop out. If it wasn’t bad enough living in a tent and van, moving every three or so days and feeling like EVERY person you went past was looking at you because they just knew you were homeless, not having anybody familiar to communicate with just made things feel so much worse.

Just to go back for a second, after a few weeks I had to ask Cate about the feeling I had that no matter where I was, it really felt that people were staring at me because I had “homeless” written on my forehead. Cate felt exactly the same thing, it was a horrible and humiliating feeling. But I digress!

Strangely enough during our travels we met a few people that for various reasons were in similar situations dealing with their issues and to my surprise these people stopped and took the time to talk to us, to communicate with the kids and allowed them to feel human. How sad is it that a complete stranger with their own demons to deal with could offer support when the so called friends left us for dead. And that is why I just can not move forward on this issue.

Maybe I could throw in a positive post next time?? Lets wait and see, but before I go I would like to know, what would you do in this situation? Put yourself in the position of the “friend” be honest with me and let me know, what would you do, how would you feel? I’d appreciate the comments to help me find a way past this issue. But of course, play nice… If you want to be nasty, I’ll just close the comments altogether.

Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings.

 Rick

I guess that unless you have lived under a rock or on the moon you will know that the past two months have not been the most enjoyable. If, by some chance you have no idea what I’m talking about, please read Cates blog at www.catherinebolt.com

I have so much to say that it might be best if I break it down into sizeable chunks and post individually. I will however point out that I am not Cate, I have different views, ideas and outlook then Cate. I can not write as well and I can not clearly articulate my thoughts like Cate. I do not speak like Cate and I do not form friendships like Cate and no doubt you will see over the coming posts that what I have learnt and what I am still struggling with is different to Cate. BUT that’s what helped get us through so far the issues we faced to this point, we are different, we look from different angles and we can work together…. To survive.

Strangely enough just like Cate the past couple of months have taught me many things, Things that I thought I already knew about! Homelessness, friendship, crisis management even just trying to keep a family together, So if nothing else good comes of the issues and experiances we have faced, I have gained some very valuable experience in a side of life I actually knew nothing about. All sounds confusing?

Prior to Cates very public description of our families’ homelessness, how many of you had even given a second thought about the homeless situation in Australia? How many of you had/have the same pathetic ideas as I did that only drunks, druggies and those with mental issues were homeless? Well I learnt first hand that is not the case. AND it hurt, it still hurts now. The reasons I’m still hurting I will save for other posts. I never knew how big an issue homelessness is in Australia. I never knew just how little federal and state governments know or care about homelessness. I never knew just how kind some people can be and how destabilising and down right hurtful others including Government departments can be… Again more detail to follow in further posts.

To finish this post may I please request something of you? To help me help a couple of charities? During the period of our homelessness there were two charities that stood tall and forced me to swallow my pride and accept help. No matter how humiliated and humbled I felt, these charities stood by us and helped us survive.

The first is St Vincent De Paul (most importantly the Coolum branch), without the help of a very special group of people we would have faced some even bigger issues. And even as late as today SVDP and there helping me deal with the issues that still affect my family and I. Therefore if it is possible in any way, can you please spare a few dollars and donate it to St Vincent De Paul’s? If you get the chance, say thank you for me.

Second and by no means last is 4Walls. Without the intervention of this unbelievably wonderful group of people I’m not sure we would have survived as a family group. From nowhere they were able to place us in temporary accommodation, furnish the house and make us feel wanted and Human. And through their actions (and a couple of other special people) the Bendigo Bank has opened an appeal to raise funds to help 4Walls with their work with the homeless. The appeal is called “Cates Cause”. Please if you could spare any money at all for this appeal it will go towards helping those who really do need help.

Please support “Cates Cause” a national appeal against homelessness. You can donate online or any Bendigo Bank  http://tinyurl.com/catescause

This has gone a bit longer then I planned and I have so much more to say. Please continue to follow my blog and invite others to share my experiences?

Rick

Yet again its been a while since I’ve posted on the blog.

I guess by what you can see in the previous post, we have had some issues to deal with and are still dealing with them. As yet we still do not have another house to move into. No doubt the real estate agent has now filed with the small claims tribunal to have us removed from this house. But until we have somewhere else to go, what are we meant to do? Live on the side of the road? Is this what our world has come too? That if you run into financial problems the first thing is to sink the boots in and then keep kicking until you don’t move anymore? Because that’s what it feels like.

The hurt and humiliation of going through what we are experiencing right now and from what I can see will be facing for some time to come is nothing like I have ever experienced before. I grew up in a rather poor family and thought I had it tough, but I never saw or experienced the issues that I’m now sure my father went through while I was growing up. So in that and with all the failings I saw in my father he did a good job in trying to spare me from the hurt I now feel. That’s probably something I don’t ever remember saying to him “Thank you Dad”.  

Cate has and still is working extremely hard to try and fund us a new home, keep Project 18 moving forward, push for project 18’s registration as a charity and the creation of planet you.  And it has taken a huge toll…  Not to mention my inability to deal with all of this in a mature manner this of course causes even greater pain for Cate and the children. And for that I am truly sorry to my family. If, by the way, anybody on the Sunshine Coast actually reads this post, if you happen to know of any 4 bedroom (or more) houses available ANYWHERE on the Sunny Coast can you please let me know??? We really are desperate now.

On the up side this whole experience has highlighted to me where I had made wrong decisions in the past and has taught me should I ever come across similar situations what I should look for and how to make more acceptable decisions. I know that given that wonderful gift of hindsight, I will not make the same mistakes that I have previously made and therefore give a better chance to never place my family in this type of situation ever again.

I’m generally not a sociable or to be matter of fact about it, a nice person. I keep everybody at arms length and don’t let anybody into my world.. Even Cate can’t get in!! So to have people that don’t know me very well or only know me through social media offer their kind support through this time is so foreign to me. And as wrong as it is, I question why. I don’t have anything left for you to take, so why are you ringing or messaging to talk to me and offer support and some teachers and parents at my children’s school continually checking with me and being so excited when something positive happened earlier this week? Could it be that there really are genuinely nice people in this world? Have I been wrong all my life? Do I now let people in and drop my guard and set myself up for a fall or accept nice people exist?  

I’ve rambled enough now:

If you get nothing else out of reading my blog, PLEASE appreciate what you have in your family and friends.

Rick

THE FOLLOWING IS TAKEN FROM CATE’S BLOG WHICH CRASHED DUE TO THE SUPPORT OF OUR AWESOME FOLLOWERS AND FRIENDS.

Ok, so this isn’t directly charity related but this blog is about what happens when you make a decision to change your life for the “better” and follow your heart to try to leave the world a better place.

I’m emotionally drained, so most of this post is going to be copies & pasted from an email I sent last night to a friend. Forgive me, it’s not lazy… it’s just an emotional incapability to write it all again.

Here’s the deal. We live in this fantastic house, it’s really amazing and we took it on when we were both making good money and the rent $675/week was no issue. Then when Ricks business got hit by the GFC and all the big contracts he was supposed to be working on got put on hold until the economy picked up again. So initially my business was supporting his payroll until I just couldn’t afford to do it anymore and we had to put everyone off.

So a few months later when I decided I really wasn’t happy with my business anymore and needed to do something worthwhile, we were in a comfortable position. We did all the numbers and what we had coming in was enough to cover the necessities. There wasn’t heaps left over, but we’re simple people we don’t want for much. We don’t drink or smoke, we don’t eat out, we don’t as a general rule go anywhere that costs anything. The sum total of our “entertainment” spending is our Austar subscription – and given that we don’t get free to air TV here, I don’t think that’s a luxury when you’ve got kids.

We made the very difficult decision to take our children out of their private school that they love next year, and send them to a public school. This will save us about $12,000/yr and, had we not had some horrific problems with the school in the last term, I’m not sure I could have bought myself to do that.

We have managed to keep paying the rent for the most part this year but have missed about 4-5 weeks over the last year. For the last couple of months we’ve been paying $700/week to try to pay off some of what we owe in arrears, and we haven’t missed a rent payment in ages. The real estate agency seems to turn over staff faster than KFC (no offence KFC, thanks for not using Palm Oil anymore) - the previous property manager had made an agreement with us that if $700 was what we could afford, then that was fine. When he also left, 3 months ago we heard no more from the agent until about a week ago when they were to come for a routine inspection.

The inspection date rolls around and we are waiting all day for them to show up. We made 4 or 5 calls to their office but the phones weren’t answered (it was, after all, Melbourne Cup day). That evening we received a phone call from our neighbour who lives in a completely separate house at the bottom of the 14 hectare property. He asked if we were to have an inspection that day, because someone had come to his house and left a note saying that he was supposed to be there for an inspection, but as he wasn’t they had entered his property to carry out the inspection without him. That’s right… they went to the WRONG house – a house which is not even rented through their office and carried out an inspection on the home. People who live in the country will understand that we’re pretty relaxed about locking doors out in the sticks.

So the giggling property manager rings up two days later- apparently illegally entering someone’s house is funny, and she reschedules her appointment for today. I had no desire to speak to her so passed her on to Rick. At the time of this phone call she told Rick  words to the effect of: she can see that our rent is being paid regularly but it is still behind, and that we need to put a payment plan forward to catch up the arrears and if we do that, everything is OK. That was on the 5th of November. “Set up a payment plan and everything will be fine”

On Monday the 9th we spoke to the property manager again to try to determine exactly how much we would need to pay to keep out of trouble. The property manager wouldn’t give us an answer and instead told us “you work it out and I’ll go back to the owner”

So we sit down and crunch the numbers, we’re already leaving ourselves short for food, but Rick spent the day at the Salvo’s getting some food etc. Which I feel crap about cause he’s a pretty proud guy, he’s never been unemployed, he’s never had to ask for food. But he did it and he came home happy because we had food. I should say also that he’s been applying for every single job that is advertised within a reasonable commute including some pretty crappy jobs which with his depth of knowledge & experience are insulting, but he’s applying. I’m just making the point that we aren’t sitting here trying to be elitist, we’re doing everything we can.

So then soon after he got home, less than 24 hours after speaking to the agent about the rental arrears, the real estate agent rings up again and says they’re hand delivering a notice to vacate and we have SEVEN days to get out of the house.

The whole time with the cars and all the other crap, I kept saying “I’m ok as long as I have a roof over my head and we don’t lose the house” – so now… yeah … now I have no idea what we’re going to do. We couldn’t afford to move even if we did have somewhere to go, and the landlord won’t let us stay even if we managed to find the $3,000-odd we owe them. My family have even asked me “what about your rent, are you ok with that?” and I’ve said “yeah, we’re fine!” because we had an agreement, that yes we were a few weeks behind but we were paying regularly AND paying extra, albeit only a little extra.

Just as I thought we would be able to cope with Christmas,  Remax Mooloolaba expect a family, in financial hardship, with 9 children a dog, a cat & 9 chickens to not only find alternate housing but be moved out and property cleaned, keys returned within SEVEN days. And when we ask how we are supposed to find another house (especially as evictees) we are told “We will do what we can, but it probably won’t be through us”

We are not delinquent tenants. We don’t have parties and annoy the neighbours. We haven’t trashed the property, in fact we keep an impeccable house and grounds. We have three special needs children who have really only just settled in to their surroundings. The thought of spending Christmas homeless is really not something I planned when I decided to give up my previous life to try to make the world a better place.

The point of this blog at the start was to prove that anyone could make a difference if they decided to. I guess at this point I’m not making a very good case. If you’re wondering if this means the end of Project 18, then the answer is an unequivocal NO. I won’t give up on what I believe in. We’ve made a commitment to the betterment of the planet. Remax Mooloolaba won’t put an end to that.

We have had several discussions with Remax over the past 24 hours begging them to be reasonable – they refuse to negotiate. I would like to ask all my supporters, followers and friends to help me spread the word. And please take a minute to contact Remax Mooloolaba and ask them WHY in this day & age, are they so incapable of making reasonable compassionate decisions?

You can Tweet Remax Mooloolaba @RentalAdvice email: mooloolaba@remaxproperty.com.au or phone their office 07 5452 4555

It’s been a little while since I have posted to the blog part of my site.  Things are a little tough here at the moment with the lack of rain. We are now critically low on drinking water, so low in fact you may liken it to “level 10″ water restrictions. With the prospect of rain still 2 or more weeks away, things are not looking good for the immediate future. On the positive side, the weather is sooooooo good it’s unbelievable!

School holidays are with us again and we have survived the first week without too much disruption. Let’s hope week two goes well also. I’m also guessing that with Cates parents visiting for the week, this may have helped with the relative good behaviors.

If you have been following the project 18 site or my Project 18 page you would now know that we have received approval for incorporation of the association. A huge step forward. We now have a bank account open although it took almost two weeks (The bank will remain nameless!). I am currently preparing our application for approval to collect donations as a charity in QLD. We are as always looking for new members and there is a membership application form that is downloadable here: Click Here Any assistance with encouraging new members would be greatly appreciated.

If, by any chance anybody has any contacts with businesses needing the services of a qualified and registered project manager I really would be interested in making contact with you and them.

That’s it for now… I’ll put more effort into regular posts!!! Really I will.

Rick