Blog – Page 5 – The Apple Bar

I run a real estate agency and I’m finding we’re not getting enough traction on our website or any of our listings. I don’t know what stigma there is surrounding real estate agents, but there seems to be this whole thing that makes people think real estate agents are shifty and are only out to get money. My agency is not like that. I’ve spent the last fifteen years putting this agency together so we could serve people with transparency and help them get the living arrangement they want and need. Unfortunately, as time has gone on, I have noticed such a negative attitude towards real estate agents. I want to contact a Melbourne-based video production company so they can help me shoot some videos of the team so we can raise brand awareness and debunk common real estate agent myths.

I put my idea to the team, but they all expressed that they were nervous speaking on camera. It amused me that this was a concern they had. It’s as if they forgot that on a daily basis they’re speaking to people and trying to close deals. To me, that’s a lot more intimidating than speaking on camera! After some long chats, I managed to convince them all to take part. You should have seen everyone on photoshoot day. Suddenly everyone had a new suit or frock that they were wearing, and they had their best pieces of dialogue prepared for the camera.

I have decided to hire professional editors for post-production services. I toyed with the idea of editing the videos myself, as I have done a bit of video editing for the property display videos on the website, but I’ve decided to keep it all professional. Experienced editors will do a much better job of keeping the videos sleek and interesting.

I’m looking forward to being able to share these videos on the website once they are completed. A lot of market research I have done in the last year has suggested that video can be a very successful marketing tool.

December 6, 2022

Mother’s Drain Knowledge

What do you know guys? I was right about my daughter’s drains. We had a plumber come over and within a few minutes he successfully identified that the cause of all her drain and sewerage problems was the dog hairs collecting down the bath, and the leaves in her driveway blowing into the sewer. You know, I really did try to warn her. It seems like she resents me when I try to give her any advice. My advice never comes with bad intentions. It comes from a place of wanting to make her life easier. For example, telling her to get a plumber closer to her home.

It was hard enough as it is to get my daughter to believe she had blocked drains. Fairfield is full of a great nightlife for young people and she was more interested in going out than sorting out the plumbing. Over and over again she would keep telling me everything is fine. Of course, everything was not fine and she ended up having to fork out a heap of money for a plumbing problem that could have been avoided.

She’s at that age where she wants to navigate life herself. I’m totally supportive of that but at the same time, she’d be wise to listen to advice from her mum. I’ve been young before and I totally understand how it is. I will say, I don’t have these issues with my other two daughters. My other two daughters and a lot more level-headed and responsible. Whenever one of them has had a plumbing issue, they’ve been right on it. One of them recently had to book a boundary trap replacement. Melbourne has plenty of plumbers she could’ve chosen from, but she did the research to find the best plumber near her. It’s small things like this that make me see my eldest and youngest daughters will be fine on their own. My middle daughter is still figuring things out, and that’s totally ok. I wish she’d see that it’s ok to ask for second opinions when making decisions.

December 6, 2022

Tattoo Rush

I’ve never been someone who goes chasing adrenaline. In fact, there are very few things that have successfully given me the rush that many people chase. I’ve driven on race tracks, been sky-diving, escaped an armed robbery, and travelled all over the world. None of those events have ever successfully made my heart feel like it’s about to beat out of my chest. That’s until I got my first tattoo. I never thought the tattooing process would be something appealing to me. Personally, I never understood people who would become addicted to tattoos. The idea of sitting in a chair for hours on end while someone pricks you with a needle never appealed to me.

I’d always be dismissive of anyone who’d try to get too poetic about getting tattooed, but now I get it. Getting my first tattoo from the best realism tattoo artist in Brisbane, opened me up to a whole new world. As soon as that first needle touched my skin, I felt a wave of adrenaline wash throughout my body. This was like nothing I’d ever experienced in my life. My heart was racing, and I felt tickled but I also felt pain. I felt rewarded but also nervous. Never in my life had I had such a wave of conflicting emotions. There were also times when the tattooing felt totally comfortable, and other times when it borderlined on unbearable. I didn’t know what level of pain to expect, that’s what was amazing. Then I’d continue to watch the artist put this permanent ink on my skin. Every stroke they made was going to be there for the rest of my life.

I knew I had picked the correct tattoo shop. Near Brisbane is a popular place to get tattooed as there are many options. When I walked out of that eight-hour tattooing session, I felt a convoluted mix of rejuvenated and exhausted. I was walking out a new me with a new experience, but at the same time, the sitting for so long and pain had knocked the life out of me. That is adrenaline.

December 6, 2022

Penguin Canopy Escape

“Alright, now that we are all here, we can finally go over the plan.”

Charlie stood at the corner of the room, watching the other members of the Animal Rescue Fellowship closely. Was everybody committed to this plan? They couldn’t have any weak links. Everybody was under suspicion, especially Lain, who had entered the room last, loudly slurping at a bowl of two minute noodles.

“Dennis, how did the search for 4×4 aluminium canopies go?” asked Tammy, the group’s leader. “Did you find one that will be comfortable enough for our furry little friends?”

Nodding, Dennis said, “With a little bit of work, we were able to get it ready. Don’t worry, they’ll be plenty comfortable while we transport them back home.”

Fortunately, back home wasn’t very far. The Animal Rescue Fellowship had recently gotten word that the fairy penguins of Phillip Island were being coerced into appearing on a specific beach every night, rather than their natural habitat a few kilometres away. It was their job to liberate the penguins and stop this terrible injustice.

“So,” Tammy continued, “Dennis and Ryan will drive the ute onto the beach while the rest of us create the distraction. They’ll load the little fellas onto the ute and hightail it out of there, then we will rendezvous at the meetup. Sound good?”

It did sound like a solid plan, especially with the distraction they were going to cause. There was no chance people would be watching the fairy penguins at the beach with a bunch of ice cream trucks driving around the island. Charlie just hoped that these supposed high-quality Melbourne ute canopies turned out to be as good as everybody claimed. The last thing they needed was the penguins breaking out of their liberation cage.

Other than that, the only real concern she had was that someone here was going to rat them out. She’d suspected they had a double agent in their midst for some time, but had never been able to figure out who it was. For now, she simply had to trust that everything would go according to plan.

December 6, 2022

Road Trip Prep

I can’t believe how fast my big road trip is coming up. It’s exciting but also terrifying at the same time. My girlfriend and I have never done a road trip together before, so it’s going to be an interesting experience, seeing if we start getting annoyed at each other after being locked in a car with no other company for so long.

We’ll be driving up to Queensland to visit my family for Christmas. I’m told that the trip from Victoria to Queensland can be brutal, which is why we are doing it over three days. Anyway, we weren’t convinced that our car would make the journey, which is why we decided it was time to buy a new one. Well, it’s not new, but it is new to us. We are now the proud owners of a 2012 Mars 3! Even though it came with a roadworthy certificate, we wanted to be absolutely sure that it was ready for this big drive. Thankfully, I know of a fantastic car service shop near Bentleigh with a trustworthy mechanic who was willing to give it a look over.

It’s a good thing we did decide to go there! The auto electrical expert located close to Bentleigh discovered that the air conditioner, while functional, wasn’t performing as well as it could be! It turned out that one of the cables had become twisted, stopping the air con from reaching its highest setting. Given that we’re going to a state where it’s over 30 degrees every day, I’m really glad that we took this extra precaution. Now we just have to get the windows tinted, and we will be all prepared for whatever wild weather Queensland can throw at us!

Alright, maybe not whatever wild weather it can throw at us, because now that I’m really thinking it through, I’m not sure what we’d do in a flood or a hurricane, so I’ll just cross my fingers and hope it doesn’t come to that. Hopefully it all goes well!

– Janet

November 28, 2022

First Time Gardener

My daughter’s lifestyle is really starting to get out of hand. She simply won’t leave the house and it’s concerning me. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful she’s not someone who is partying every weekend and doing irresponsible things, but I still want her to live her life. It can’t be healthy for a girl in her twenties to be locked inside day to day. She will avoid every opportunity to leave the house and I have no idea how she’d survive without me. I’m her only social life and while I’m flattered and love her, she needs to be out there meeting people her own age.

Something I said must have hit home with her recently. She’s now looking into gardening and I couldn’t be more supportive. Gardening will be a great way to start getting her comfortable with being outside her home, without actually leaving her home. I’m hoping that over time she will eventually become comfortable with being outside in her garden, that she’ll slowly expand her radius of places to visit.

I know she was thinking of purchasing some climbing roses but I’m not sure if that’s what she will choose to be her first plant. I think she’s currently in the researching phase. I’m hoping she doesn’t choose a plant that is too complex for a first time gardener. I do know that there are some plants out there that require very specific levels of maintenance and care. I’d hate for her to choose a plant that is too difficult and suddenly become overwhelmed and frustrated with the whole process. This will only spiral her back into her bedroom, and at the point I’ll have no idea how to pry her out.

I’ve seen different types of miniature roses for sale online. Australia is having such beautiful weather at the moment, I think these roses would be great additions to the garden. I’m not going to pressure her into buying a specific type of plant. I just want her to be happy, independent, and enjoy the sun rays while soaking up vitamin D.

November 28, 2022

Missing Old Home

My wife and I just bought our absolute dream home. It’s this little cottage place that also has a very modern interior. I love it, but I can tell the love my wife has for it is next level. Her eyes absolutely lit up when we saw the listing. While this is a super exciting time for us, there are a few things that are slightly less exciting. Yes, there’s the whole hassle of having to pack your things and move, but for me this isn’t a big deal. For me, I’m struggling to come to terms with the fact we’ll be leaving our Carlton home. Our Carlton home is this lovely property that was built in the early 1900s. My wife felt it was best for us to move to a property that has a bigger yard for our kids and that was closer to schools.

I will miss this home. It was the first home my wife and I bought together and it’s very unique. We had the best conveyancing lawyers when we bought this property and they agreed that this is among one of the nicest homes they have ever seen. Our new home is lovely too. It’s in a more quiet area and has plenty of land for our kids to enjoy themselves. I think it’s just hard saying goodbye to a place we’re so used to.

We’re buying this new home privately, directly through the seller. I’ve found the process quite stressful but my wife is doing a great job keeping me calm and at ease. She’s taking care of all the things that need to be done such as liaising with the seller and finding someone who is an expert in conveyancing. Prahran has a solicitor that she was talking to, in fact, I think the sellers of the property we are buying have a solicitor from Prahran. I’m not sure if we will be using the Prahran solicitor or one from Carlton, either way, I still plan on shedding some tears when I sign this beautiful home over to someone else.

November 28, 2022

Mechanic or Suspension

‘Well,’ I mused, as the car began to bounce and shake underneath us. ‘That doesn’t sound great.’

‘It’s never done this before,’ Micha frowned from the driver’s seat, his fingers clenched around the steering wheel.’

‘Do you need to pull over?’ I asked nervously, clinging to the handle above my door.

‘What if it doesn’t start up again?’ he asked, eyes flicking back and forth from the shuddering steering wheel and the pitch-black dirt road.

‘What if a wheel falls off and we go careening into a ditch?!’

‘Don’t be so dramatic,’ Micha rolled his eyes, then wrenched the wheel back with a startled yelp.

‘We almost drove into a ditch then, didn’t we?’

‘I don’t have to answer that,’ he said, refusing to make eye contact. ‘Look, we just have to make it to Underwood, then I promise you we’ll pull over.’

‘Do you know any good mechanics near Underwood?’ I frowned. ‘Do you know anybody near Underwood?’

‘An uncle,’ he insisted. ‘Once. He moved. Before I was born.’

‘Micha!’

‘What choice do we have?’

‘Not dying?’

‘Again, with the being so dramatic,’ he said – although I noticed that his fingers were firmly wrapped around the wheel this time.

‘How expensive is suspension repair?’ I asked, trying a different tact.

‘What?’

‘Well, all this damage you’re doing to your suspension,’ I said, nonchalantly. ‘It won’t be cheap to fix. You know that, right? I was just curious if you had an exact number in mind already.’

‘This is what the suspension is built for,’ he said, sounding very unsure of himself. ‘Isn’t it?’

‘Not really,’ I grunted, as we hit a particularly big bump. ‘Just, pull over, we’ll call your roadside assistance and get a mechanic out here to tell us what to do.’

‘Uh…’ Micha grimaced. ‘Alternatively…’

‘You don’t have roadside assistance?’

‘I never saw the need,’ he whined.

‘Can you see it now?!’

‘Obviously, I can see it now!’

And, right on cue – the engine cut out.

November 27, 2022

Window Tinting Winner

I strode confidently into the lobby of my office building, gazing up at the brightly-lit bank of elevators with an optimistic grin plastered on my face.

Today was the day.

I pressed through the throng of almost-late workers, weaving through them with unexpected ease. It was amazing what a good mood could do, I thought.

I half-ran for a closing elevator, managed to squeeze myself in and punched my floor number. With a polite ding, they shut in front of a red-faced, sprinting man, suit jacket slung over his arm. I shot him an awkward, apologetic look until the doors were closed, then promptly forgot about him.

Today was my day.

After a short amount of time – and only a couple of stops – the elevator landed at my floor and I got out gratefully, adjusting my tie as I went. I walked past a few new hires oohing and aahing at the frosted window tinting. For an office, it wasn’t half-bad, I thought to myself, seeing it through their fresh eyes for just a moment.

Zeroing in on my cubicle, I quickly deposited my briefcase on the ground next to my chair, checking the clock on the wall across from me: five minutes early.

Perfect.

‘Stephens!’ a voice boomed across the still-filling office floor, and I snapped to attention. My boss (my boss’s boss, actually) was hanging out of the door to his corner office, scanning the room for me. I shot a hand up to acknowledge his summons and quickly followed him into the sunlit room.

‘Shut the door,’ he said gruffly, and I obliged. Squinting against the sun, he pressed a button and lowered the blinds across the view he’d worked so hard to acquire.

‘You don’t happen to know where to get office tinting, around Melbourne, do you?’ he asked with a sigh.

‘No, sir,’ I shook my head, almost unable to suppress the smile on my face. ‘Sir, was there something you wanted to say to me. Maybe offer me…’

‘What?’ he frowned. ‘Oh. Right. You’re fired.’

The blood slowly drained out of my face.

Turns out – today was not my day.

November 27, 2022November 27, 2022

Dog Gone Glass

‘Rover!’ I called out, as the soaped-up terrier slipped through my fingers and went careening down the hallway away from me. ‘Get back here!’

He did not, in fact, get back to me. Instead, he flew past my husband and our two kids on the couch, leaving a trail of water and soap suds in his wake.

‘Dog get loose?’ my husband asked as I stumbled into the living room.

‘Obviously,’ I said, narrowing my eyes at him. ‘Can I get a hand here?’

‘I’m protecting the little ones,’ he said, nodding at our twins. They were fast asleep. ‘They might slip in the water.’

‘If anyone’s gonna have an accident around here…’ I grumbled. He grinned at me.

A sharp bark! rang out behind us, and I spun to see Rover standing in the doorway, legs splayed like he was ready to take off again.

No, not take off, I noticed with a frown. It was more like he’d planted them, so he could…

‘No!’ I shouted in realisation. ‘Bad dog!’

He shook himself violently, sending water flying around the room, dripping off the walls and coating the back of the couch. With an excited yip! he was off running again.

‘Do we still have that residential glazing quote? Melbourne… something?’ I asked my husband with a sigh.

‘Yeah, it’s in the drawer,’ he frowned. ‘Why?’

‘Because there’s a non-zero chance that dog is going through a window,’ I huffed, trudging in the direction of the soap suds.

‘Make good choices!’ he called after me.

I rounded the corner, but the trail ran cold at the bottom of the glass stair balustrade.

‘Rover!’ I called into the house, stopping beside our heavy oaken bookshelf. ‘Rover, come here so I can dry you off… you little brat,’ I whispered to myself.

Another yip! to my left, and I quickly spun to look. My gaze gently drifted upwards.

Rover was looking down at me excitedly, wagging his tail like we were playing fetch.

‘No, Rover,’ I whispered, even though I knew it was too late. ‘Bad dog.’

The bookshelf began to tilt towards the glass staircase.