All praise the (nearly) almight Google.

The main reason I'm writing this post is simply because I can write it using Google's new Writely word processor (all hail the mighty Google!).

Writely (www.writely.com) is a online word processor that allows direct posting to a number of blogs (blogger being on of them) and considering my usual posting habit was to write everything up in MS Word first and then cut and paste into the blogger text field to post, this is much more fun.. if it works.

I already use Gmail (mail.google.com) as my primary mail client, and since it has become available I have been using Google Spreadsheets (spreadsheet.google.com) to store all of my house budget stuff (progress payments, item costs, quotes etc), and its bloody brilliant. I can find out some info while at work, oad up my spread sheet via my web browser, edit it just like I would if I was using MS Excel, save it and then that afternoon when I get home I can load it up again via the web browser on my home computer. Anywhere that I have net access I can access my housing budget spreadsheet and update it at will (it supports complex formulas and multiple sheets per spreadsheet, just like Excel). Bloody. Brilliant.

And Google also has a online calendar app which I use to store and co-ordinate all of the housing stuff, its simple, clean and quick. What more could you need?

And all of this is access thru a web browser, no need to install any software, just log on and its there. wheeeee

Anyways, more on the house. Considering that after the house has gone into the lock-up stage (which mine has) access is meant to be restricted only to those people who need access to complete their work (ie not the house owner), it seems pretty stupid that they leave the front window unlocked doesn't it. So, using this conveniently placed entrance we (as in my wife and myself) took the opportunity to go through the house with a fine tooth comb and produce a list of things that we want looked at. We did this in anticipation of the next on-site meeting we are going to be having with Jeff (our NEW supervisor - I think we scared the other one off - which twit thought that changing supervisors 2 months before the end of the project was a good idea?!).

The list is depressingly substantial :( and it includes (and is not limited too) things such as:
· The laundry trough that has been delivered is 100% genuine plastic, pity really cause we asked for the steel one (as stated in our contract).
· Brick work in the garage has been damaged by a (possibly) blind bobcat driver.
· A Low Wall Vent that was cut into the lounge room wall at an angle of about 25 degrees from the horizontal.
· A retaining wall that has been built about 30cm (1 foot) off the boundary, as apposed to building it on the boundary as shown on plans
· and many more.

Still, on the bight side we have chosen our carpets and tiling, and have narrowed down our paint colours to only a few now, and most importantly the pile of bricks on our block is starting to feel like a home, and its even starting to look like one.

Onthe not so bright side we also had a look at lighting the other day. Ouch. These puppies are expensive, especially when some require electricians to install them. Still we found the most perfect light for our bedroom, its so perfect would appear to have been made with only our bedroom in mind, so the wife is most happy :-)


EDIT: Grrrrr. Ok, after waiting a day and a half for Writely to automatically publish my post (something it reports as having done successfully) and Blogger to display my new post (something ti has no knowledge of it seems), I have had to do the good old cut and paste technique I was trying to avoid... Bugger.... I need to work on this a bit more and figure out why it didn’t post as planned.

Damn you Google, here is me praising your virtues and you go and hand me an omelette to place over my face... and you were doing so well too up to this moment of failure!!
(Still Writely is only in beta at the moment, so it might improve).