Things that piss you off...

Honestly I'd suggest finding an agent you like and get them to show you through houses instead, when we bought in 2014 we didn't have to attend a single open home, we met an agent and they took us through every house we wanted to see (With a single exception where her company didn't have a listing and we went with someone she suggested).

Had done the open home thing on a previous look at housing and hated it, this seemed much better process to me. :)

As you know Jeff the market is absolutely mental at the moment - particularly in the Hutt. We've pretty much given up on it for the time being.

I know a few agents at different co's so if you want someone to chat to give me a shout (and no, I'm not one lol).

No way would I want to spend any time with an agent, bunch of superficial lying cods.

10% for showing you around a house that you could walk around with the owner. It is not like they do the legal checks and all that stuff.

Jeff, i feel your annoyance. In the end we gave up and went down the renting road instead....until this Wednesday night with a bit of luck.

Good luck.

Yeah they don't do the legal checks, and in fact if you ask the selling agent about something dodgy they often do the equivalent of putting their fingers in their ears and going "lalalala" if they know something they have to disclose it so they go out of their way to not know anything.

We're on our third house now and it was bought  just under a year ago from the owner directly rather than an agent. It was by far the best buying experience. 

My advice would be to give your details to all the agencies and let them know what you're looking for. Often they will have open homes before they go onto the market and send out a weekly emailed newsletter (a good idea would be to use a burner email account so that when you do buy a house you no longer get spammed). Also set up alerts on trademe and don't bother waiting for an open home, get in touch with the seller straight away. 

Open homes are a marketing tool as much as they're a selling tool.

Waiting for my Personal Tax Summary to be ready for completion! I want my Tax Return already!!!

Grrrr

Money on your mind??

those tax refund companies annoy me. It's just as easy to do it online via IRD website - in fact it's probably easier. 

If you have been in one job all year it is 500 times easier. Especially as you can actually use their calculator to check if you are due before you click the PTS as well...(Saving yourself from possibly owing them money)

The companies doing Tax Refunds are just a scam.

Recruitment agents who, as well as being very ordinary at their own job, have zero knowledge of the role they're recruiting for... those of us that are considering applying are busy too, and we don't want to waste our time either. Fudgehead.

Today I have two things that piss me off.

The first are companies that don't make payroll and then fold owing a months wages and a years holiday pay.

The second are companies that drag out the interview process - you send in your CV and then after four or five weeks when the window closes you get a note saying that they will take a few weeks to assess things. You then get an interview (or often an online pre-screen and then an interview). That goes well and they say they will schedule another interview. A week later you get scheduled for that interview, that goes well. Then they say they'll schedule an interview with members of the team. A week later you get that interview, that goes well. And a couple of weeks later you get the job offer. The whole shebang takes a couple of months - and in a competitive employment market how they can expect good talent to just hang around for that period of time is beyond me.

I had to turn down a job which I thought was fantastic, because I'd already accepted another job while waiting around for them. 

On a related note, I'm working for an offshore employer - anyone know a good and reasonably priced accountant around Wellington? Anyone have experience in this situation?

plugs that are too big to fit beside each other in a multi box

I bought a multi box with extra wide plugs from PB Tech. It's stupid having a regular one when you can only use half of the points and worth paying a little more for the extra wide variety.

Get one of these http://www.yankodesign.com/2010/12/23/lets-play-le...

Good Idea Yakall, until you realise you need a NZ adapter for each plug and those things are constantly fiddly for me.

FYI this is what I bought - it has two extra wide plugs and four regular ones:

http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?z=p&p=SURJAC1023...

It works - that's about all you can say for a powerboard I guess.

terrible things. 

Cause more than their share of fires.

Years ago PCs used to have power in and power out for monitors. Kind of would be good to go back to those days and have all electronics be able to chain directly between themselves.

A multi box is probably fine for PC type stuff.  Problem is someone goes and plugs in a heater or toastet

If you don't think they are an issue google fires caused by multiboxes.

If you still think they are not a potential problem so be it.

Shouldn't Surge have the final say on this? 

Nope, they are Surge protected

It's better to be safe than BBQ'd.

the Surge Meister has spoken

What I would say is you should spend a good amount of money on one, those ones that you can get for $5 from the warehouse and who's wiring at the join between the cable and the box becomes exposed, shouldn't be used.

America - I know not all of them are stupid as individuals, but as a society, they are just awful. Protests, riots and death is what happens when oppression reaches a tipping point - always has, always will. 

australia post absolutely useless.

Scenery wise this is a place I want to see, but they are rapidly turning into a bunch of paranoids. Rednecks, Racists from all sides not just the whites, gun totting, shoot first ask questions later. The real wild west has returned.

Ok,so this is a big generalisation but ISIS don't need to touch America, they killing themselves and are going so paranoid, I can see McCarthyism coming back into vogue. If indeed it ever left. The price for freedom? A shame as I am sure there are many nice Americans but......

Did anyone see the Jim Jefferies stand-up/speech on how Trump is playing into the hands of ISIS?

I have a dose of Athlete's Foot/Tinea

God must be a fan of irony!

Well if Trump ends up elected we know the majority are.

Bit like this country Jeff. Most of the politicians including the well established, are a bunch of tossers regardless of their party. Yet people try and choose the lesser idiots from the real idiots - not always successful though. The Minister of flip/flop, Self Preservation & Fence sitting is still there after how many years? 30?? Yes, Peter Dunne, this is you.

There are a significant amount (i.e. enough to swing the election) who would vote Sanders over Trump but Trump over Clinton. 

Clinton is seen as "more of the same" and many American's want major change one way or another. Despite the positive vibes around Obama, while moving forward in many areas it's not perceived as enough to stop the US slipping back into old ways. 

Hard to change things when you have republican control of congress who block everything just because it has your name on it or near it.