What is a committee?
Myth:
A committee is a group of like minded people that get together once a month (or more) to discuss and support their local and cherished cause.
Fact:
A committee is a group of pushovers within a community that don't really want to see the town lose a cherished cause, but know that no one else will step up to the plate and help keep it going, so they turn up to a meeting once a month under sufferance.
What is a President?
Myth:
A president it the leader of the above mentioned committee. He or she has the best interests of their entire committee at heart. They are so passionate about their cause that they will stop at nothing to make sure that things are running smoothly and getting done every month. They use up a great deal of their own precious time making sure that the entire committee is not being overwhelmed by things that need to be done.
Fact:
A president gets to sit in the middle of the couch at the monthly meeting and look important, speaking about things the rest of the committee have busted their asses doing all month and then signing their name to it all on the minutes.
What is a Secretary?
Myth:
A secretary supports his/her president by making phone calls and writing any necessary letters for the sake of the committee. At the instruction of the president, the secretary also types up the Agenda each month and also the minutes.
Fact:
A secretary works their ass off for their president, writing letters and making phone calls. He/she requests, collates and distributes all the monthly reports, agendas and minutes. The secretary rarely signs his/her name to anything that is sent out, leaving that priveledge for the president, so then they can of course gain the credit. A secretary will run around screaming because his/her printer has eaten yet another piece of perfectly good paper and will cry because minutes before the meeting things aren't printed for his/her majesty the president.
What is a Treasurer?
Myth:
A treasurer is a person that is responsible for the financial side of the committee. They do the banking, balance bank statements, pay bills and make sure that all finances are in place.
Fact:
The treasurer spends the money how the president tells them to. They do also balance bank statements and do banking!
What is a General Committee Member?
Myth:
A general committee member is someone that, although they don't want to take on an official role, will still attend monthly meetings and support their governing body with anything that needs doing. They are quick to put up their hands to take on extra tasks that will benefit the running of their entire committee. Without General committee members, a committee would struggle to exist.
Fact:
A general committee member is someone that just wants to sit in the background, but still be able to tell their friends that are on 'xyz' committee. They are the ones that suddenly have a coughing fit when the tasks for the month are being handed out, or they suddenly remember they have had 4 coffees that afternoon and need to visit the bathroom. They are the first ones to grab a piece of cake as it is handed around at the end of the meeting. They are always last to arrive and first to leave.
So, now that you have all that information on board, which committee are you going to volunteer for, and what role are you going to take on!?
L
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
If only...
Back in about August last year, we decided to put our house on the market. We weren't living in it. We did have a really good run of good tenants, but the financial strain was becoming a bit of a stress for The Man and I. As well as that, the property manager that was looking after it for us was a bit of a pratt and was making some silly decisions and so,we decided to cut our losses (literally) and move on.
The first agent we listed it with must have thought he was Donald Trump, because the guy had serious dollar signs in his eyes. Or not. He wanted to sell top of the market houses only. And let's face it, our little shoe box was never going to make him a millionaire on commission, so basically he listed it and left it. No open homes, barely any pushing of the house on the market, nothing. Nudder, Nil. Zip! So, after our first painful three months with him was over, we pulled the pin. I am not sure Mr Trump wannabe was very happy about that, because he took his pretty yellow For Sale signs off our house and we honestly never heard from the man again. That is what we get for listening to the property manager pratt who recommended the Donald wannabe in the first place.
So, we moved to another agent in another company. This one also came recommended, so to say we were just a teensy bit cautious was an understatement. However, this woman was at the complete opposite end of the scale. She was a machine! Weekly emails, phone calls AND texts. As well as multiple open homes. To be honest, I think The Man thought she was a bit of a pain to start with. But... she did what she was hired to do, she sold the house, for pretty much what we wanted for it. Awesome!
Settlement seemed to take forever to arrive, and somewhere in there, the wonderful but obviously a few brain cells short, selling agent, gave the new owner our home phone number. Well to quote Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman... 'big mistake lady, huge!' The new owner proved to be a bigger pain in the ass than the agent did in the early days. He was calling every.single.night one week, until The Man got quite cranky and pretty much told him to naff off (ok, so he didn't, but we did have some help from the lawyer to get the new owner of our backs!) and the calls stopped. Thank goodness.
Settlement day finally arrived. Yesterday. Woot! The lawyer rang The Man in the afternoon and said that it had all gone through, and that she had transferred $28,000 into our cheque account. What the heck!?!? We were only meant to come out with $12,000 and that was before commission was taken out. So, we figured she had read it wrong and meant $2,800. That was more what we were expecting. (Yes, we know, we know, we were never going to get rich from the sale of our house, that is for sure!)
Well, because I may have been a little excited about finally selling, last night went online and I thought I would check the bank account to see if the money had cleared. Bugger me, I looked at the screen, my jaw hit the floor with a resounding thud, my heart raced so fast that I could barely get the 'holy crap!' to The Man out.
There it was.... TWENTY EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS sitting in our cheque account. Uh oh. This is not good. This is NOT our money. I was very temped to just sign up for my 4x4 there and then and let the lawyer worry about the money, but does this face lie... hell no, not to that extent anyway! So this morning, The Man is eagerly awaiting the lawyers to open, so we can get the whole transaction reversed. I did take a screen print of the balance because I can't think of a time ever in my life where I have had, or will have again, a bank balance of $28,000, but it is quite stressful having that much of someone elses money in your account!
If only it was true, and we could keep it, oh the things I could do with that money!
The first agent we listed it with must have thought he was Donald Trump, because the guy had serious dollar signs in his eyes. Or not. He wanted to sell top of the market houses only. And let's face it, our little shoe box was never going to make him a millionaire on commission, so basically he listed it and left it. No open homes, barely any pushing of the house on the market, nothing. Nudder, Nil. Zip! So, after our first painful three months with him was over, we pulled the pin. I am not sure Mr Trump wannabe was very happy about that, because he took his pretty yellow For Sale signs off our house and we honestly never heard from the man again. That is what we get for listening to the property manager pratt who recommended the Donald wannabe in the first place.
So, we moved to another agent in another company. This one also came recommended, so to say we were just a teensy bit cautious was an understatement. However, this woman was at the complete opposite end of the scale. She was a machine! Weekly emails, phone calls AND texts. As well as multiple open homes. To be honest, I think The Man thought she was a bit of a pain to start with. But... she did what she was hired to do, she sold the house, for pretty much what we wanted for it. Awesome!
Settlement seemed to take forever to arrive, and somewhere in there, the wonderful but obviously a few brain cells short, selling agent, gave the new owner our home phone number. Well to quote Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman... 'big mistake lady, huge!' The new owner proved to be a bigger pain in the ass than the agent did in the early days. He was calling every.single.night one week, until The Man got quite cranky and pretty much told him to naff off (ok, so he didn't, but we did have some help from the lawyer to get the new owner of our backs!) and the calls stopped. Thank goodness.
Settlement day finally arrived. Yesterday. Woot! The lawyer rang The Man in the afternoon and said that it had all gone through, and that she had transferred $28,000 into our cheque account. What the heck!?!? We were only meant to come out with $12,000 and that was before commission was taken out. So, we figured she had read it wrong and meant $2,800. That was more what we were expecting. (Yes, we know, we know, we were never going to get rich from the sale of our house, that is for sure!)
Well, because I may have been a little excited about finally selling, last night went online and I thought I would check the bank account to see if the money had cleared. Bugger me, I looked at the screen, my jaw hit the floor with a resounding thud, my heart raced so fast that I could barely get the 'holy crap!' to The Man out.
There it was.... TWENTY EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS sitting in our cheque account. Uh oh. This is not good. This is NOT our money. I was very temped to just sign up for my 4x4 there and then and let the lawyer worry about the money, but does this face lie... hell no, not to that extent anyway! So this morning, The Man is eagerly awaiting the lawyers to open, so we can get the whole transaction reversed. I did take a screen print of the balance because I can't think of a time ever in my life where I have had, or will have again, a bank balance of $28,000, but it is quite stressful having that much of someone elses money in your account!
If only it was true, and we could keep it, oh the things I could do with that money!
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Another passing phase
So I read the man my first blog post, not because I want him to follow my blog - that would be silly - as I am sure there will be times he will feature, but because I wondered if I was alone in my plastic thinking. His response to my post was that it was sad. I didn't think it was sad, I thought it was true. He said it's sad because it is true!
It's a beautiful sunny Monday morning - public holiday to celebrate the birth of the Queen. Whatever! Her birthday is actually in April, but if it means an extra day with the family home, so be it. Thanks Queen Lizzie, I owe you one. We are all sitting around, doing home things, getting ready to go shopping, and the man is rummaging around in a cupboard looking for a notebook. The mind boggles as to what he wants a notebook for. I ask him and to start with he looks elusive. However he soon spills that he is going to document memories of his life. From his past, and make a time line from when he was born until now.
This, it seems, is going to be the man's latest 'thing'. My man goes from 'thing' to 'thing' quite often. Oh the things he was going to build, the trips he was going to take me on, the businesses he was going to start, I could write my own book.
But seriously, I guess in a way it will be therapeutic for him. For me, I can see a barrage of 'guess what I just remembered's.
It's a beautiful sunny Monday morning - public holiday to celebrate the birth of the Queen. Whatever! Her birthday is actually in April, but if it means an extra day with the family home, so be it. Thanks Queen Lizzie, I owe you one. We are all sitting around, doing home things, getting ready to go shopping, and the man is rummaging around in a cupboard looking for a notebook. The mind boggles as to what he wants a notebook for. I ask him and to start with he looks elusive. However he soon spills that he is going to document memories of his life. From his past, and make a time line from when he was born until now.
This, it seems, is going to be the man's latest 'thing'. My man goes from 'thing' to 'thing' quite often. Oh the things he was going to build, the trips he was going to take me on, the businesses he was going to start, I could write my own book.
But seriously, I guess in a way it will be therapeutic for him. For me, I can see a barrage of 'guess what I just remembered's.
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