Canberra House for sale

Ever wanted to live in the best cutest little house in Cook in Canberra? Why, here's your chance!

Me and the family has taken a decision to live down the coast (in amazing Kiama) near the beach, basking in the sun, frolicking in the sub-tropical rain forest, sipping good coffee in the many cafes around here, and generally live in paradise for a while, if you know what I mean. So. In order to buy that house near the beach with a swimming-pool (no kidding), we need to sell our beloved house back in Canberra. It is with great sadness I hereby introduce ;

Viewed: Fond memories and hours of work

Have a look, it's a gorgeous little house in a fantastic area. When I worked for the National Library of Australia, which is beautifully situated down by the lake, I had a 7 minute commute in the car, or, 35 minutes of a couple of buses. Jamison shopping center, a mostly charming and smaller group of shops, is just around the corner. There's good stuff all around, with magical Mt. Painter just over the hill, great for walks, and especially if you've got a pet or three. Our backyard is quite large, and perfect if you've got a dog or two, with beautiful trees both front and back. And the cubby-house is a gorgeous little thing I built in Norwegian style with my father-in-law. Wish I could take it with us.

I love this house, and I'm sad to see it go. But the beach beckons me!

What friggin' IT people shortage?!

Hot in the news today is how Canberra are looking for outside help in getting skilled workers to the city:

The ACT Government has begun linking Canberra employers with job seekers in the United Kingdom and Ireland to ease the city's skills shortage. The move is part of the Live in Canberra campaign.

What friggin' skills shortage? I've been urgently looking for a job for over a month, and I've got absolutely nothing in this city so far. Zilch. Nada. And no, it's not that I haven't got skills (in fact, I've got two job offers from overseas [one of them finalised; we're currently working out figures to see if we can afford it], and a couple of prospects in Sydney), it's that I'm not one of those who's sold their soul to J2EE, best-practices, and PRINCE2 which plague the government sector, nor am I an Australian citizen which seems to be a prequisite there, although I'm pressed to understand how workers imported from UK and Ireland would go better in that regard.

Notice that this is part of the "Live in Canberra" campaign which I'm pretty sure doesn't include information about them closing 39 schools this and next year, so if you've got kids, living in Canberra is a bit of a challenge these days, to put it mildly. The ACT local government is really poorly run, nobody here likes them. heck, people are even looking to liberal government, because, if Labour can only measure things in dollars and cents, we might as well go with those who's got a good track record in that departement to do it. (In the past, Labour actually had values, but Jon Stanhopeless' government is prioritizing a 8 million dollar dragway and a 6 million dollar arboretum in a friggin' drought area over keeping local schools and communities. Go figure.)

Can you tell I'm upset?