I am at home right now and will be going back to Johannesburg in about 10 days. The big difference is that I am going on a six months contract to live in Johannesburg and work in the office. I have rented myself a house and I am planning to work seriously on having a decent life style when I am in Johannesburg. I have long ago figured the way to be happy by always traveling and now I am going to try a little bit of "how to be happy with a nine-to-five" life...of course "nine-to-five" in this case is more a "six-to-six" but I am trying to improve this and cut the hours down to eleven hours per day. It might be wishful thinking on my part but after all I am one of the few, if not the only one, working such long hours. It comes from my rig background. When I work I find it normal to work until I have to stop to eat / sleep or do anything basic life things.
I had found an absolutely wonderful house to rent but the day after I visited it it was sold. I was very disappointed. It was such a wonderful house. I found another house to rent (though the first 10 days I will be in a bed and breakfast) for the same rent it is not half as nice but it is OK. Had I not seen the other house I may have found this house quite nice. Either way, the deal is made, the lease is signed, the deposit has been deposited and it is happening. I'll post photos once I move in.
It has 2 bedrooms each with its en-suite bathroom so if people want to visit here is your chance...I am not holding my breath I know that money is not flowing the way it used to and South Africa is a long way away and a fairly expensive ticket...anyway, the invitation is out.
Here are the photos from the real estate agent:
This is the master bedroom with a gas fireplace which I imagine that I will have to use in winter. the entire wall on the garden side is just glass...and yep, there is a tiny swimming pool! If you had ever asked me if I would ever have a house with a swimming pool I would have answered no without a second of hesitation.
This is the kitchen as seen from the entrance. This window looks onto the street side but you cannot see the street and nobody can see inside from the street. Houses in Johannesburg are often build like little bunkers. Inside it is all airy and open but there is a wall all around the house. There is also an alarm with all kind of motion detectors etc... This is Johannesburg after all.
This is the living room, also with a gas fireplace, as seen from the glass door to the garden. You can see the kitchen far at the end....and the light feature over the dining room will have to go!! What is it with me getting houses with hideous light features?
Living room from the kitchen...you can use the light feature from the 70s as point of reference...
The bathroom. There are three bathrooms I can't remember which one it is. The photo doesn't show its best feature. The tree is in a pot in a tiny little "atrium" a walled in small space opened to the outside and most of all day light. So you get day light and you never need curtains. It is a very South African thing to do. I visited another house, which was just too big for me, with several of those. One of the "atrium" was between the kitchen and the living room. They are great you can open the window and get fresh air...and relatively cool air since the sun does not hit the walls, and get extra windows with day light. In areas where it snows this is probably not a great idea, but what a great feature otherwise.
So, is anybody going to come and visit?This house in a area of Jo'burg called Parkhurst. Very trendy area with art galleries, lots of restaurants and a secondhand bookstore. Which brings to mind: in the area where my Canadian house is (Kensington) there used to be 4 secondhand bookstores and they are now all gone!!! Crap!!!! Now I have to go quite a ways to get to a secondhand bookstore!
