I’m writing this from Seattle, where I’m in town for Gnomedex later this week, then a couple of days in San Francisco coming back.

Flew out at of Melbourne Monday morning on the A380. The flight was due to leave at 10:10, and left instead at about 11:45…it’s the Qantas curse, either every single one of their planes have mechanical issues before they take off, or just every Qantas plane I step on to.

I upgraded for the trip to Premium Economy using points. I don’t normally upgrade for the trip across, because it’s the trip back that is more worthwhile; I always pull up worse coming back however I can’t upgrade this trip coming back because of the class of the ticket apparently.

I’d never stepped foot in an A380 before, let alone Premium Economy (I have upgraded previously to Business on a 747), so I was a virgin to the experience.

The biggest difference between Premium Economy and Economy is leg room.. as in there is a pile of it. I could stretch out and not hit the front underneath part of the seat in front. At full recline, the seat in front never gets in the way. I could cross my legs, and not hit the seat in front, nor the guy next to me. I’m not by any stretch tall (6 foot, 184cm), but in Economy the seat in front is often on top of you, here it’s not. If you’re taller again, it might be worth the extra cost or the points upgrade.

I haven’t been able to compare it to economy on the A380 (unfortunately that’s next week) but other positives: kick ass entertainment out of the arm rest, touch screen. Power etc in each seat, although that’s standard in economy. Configuration is 2x3x2; they failed an put me on the window (my preference is always isle) but on the bright side it wasn’t hard to get over the guy next to me.

Food was also excellent…as in possibly the best food I’ve had on a plane (and that includes the last time in business class.) Lunch Chicken dish was nearly (maybe) restaurant quality, and the serving size was remarkably big for a plane. About 9 hours in I ordered a roast beef role (you can order hot food on demand, although the choice is limited), it came out hot, crispy, and very edible. Breakfast was the only let down: standard Qantas fare of Egg something and some sad sausages.

The negatives: the biggest is that premium economy is on the top level at the back of the plane. I’m not sure why scientifically, but in my experience the tail of the plane shakes more in turbulence than the front, least comparing the two on many trips that’s the difference. The shaking was nearly non-stop, to the point that I had maybe 1 hour sleep. My bet is I would have a smoother ride closer to the front in economy. The so-called “self service” food bar was a joke; the first time I tried to use it, it was full of empty drinks, the staff were using it as a rubbish bin. One attendant said he would fill it, and got me a drink while I waited, but when I walked past next, nothing had changed. It’s a marketing gimmick that borders on an outright lie. The inflight entertainment games crashed the outlet when I tried to use them, least it froze and I had to ask for a reset. Notably though, unlike the 747’s which run Windows 3.1, the A380’s run Redhat Linux, and I know that because I watched the reboot on the screen.

Overall would I do it again? Maybe, just for the leg room, but the tail of the plane part I’m not fond of. Ultimately you can’t beat Business Class for comfort, but the Premium Economy does define itself for legroom and food, so I’m reasonably happy to recommend it.

Either way though: it’s still a freaking long way (14 hours in the air). The leg room didn’t make the trip go faster unfortunately. Qantas should invest in and order whatever the next generation super-sonic jet is, and I’d happily pay a lot more to fly in it.

The hail was so persistent for so long it woke me up at about 4:30am. These pictures taken after first light at 7:30am so it had started to melt; at 5am though everything was covered in a thick blanket

So finally we’ve signed a contract to buy a house, or to be more precise a Town House in Mont Albert, some 15 months after we moved to Melbourne. We would have liked to live a bit closer in, but you take what you can get (well, what you can afford), and we’re close to transport and still in Zone 1 (just, Mont Albert is the last station). The pool is pictured above….no, it’s not our pool alone, but any pool is a good pool as far as I’m concerned 🙂 The double bonus is that the mortgage is going to be around $800-$1000 a month less than our current rent. Guess I might be taking a holiday this year then 🙂

We started seriously looking for houses about 5-6 weeks ago. I’d watched prices in Melbourne tumble from their highs last year, and when I say tumble I mean at the height of the boom, a little 2 bedroom apartment in an old complex just down the road from us in Burke Road Camberwell sold for $840k in May or June last year (I was at the auction.) I’d think that would be worth maybe $600k today, give or take.

With the economy going into recession, I thought this was the right time to buy, but I didn’t count on one thing: Kevin Rudd. In particular, the “first home buyers grant” of $21k.

The program was due to end June 30, and prior to the budget first home buyers were flooding into the market to beat the cut off. It was subsequently extended until the end of September, then offered at 50% until December 31. The problem though is that the extension didn’t stop the flood. Auction clearance rates in Melbourne 6 weeks ago were around 60% and heading south. For the last two weekends they’ve been 81 and 82%, which is as high as the top of the last boom. Our credit union manager also confirmed with me that they’d been inundated with first home buyers looking to borrow money.

Clearance rates don’t mean much though, because it’s the price that counts. I don’t have hard figures, and we’ve only really been looking in a 5-10km arc around Hawthorn (sons school), but here’s my guess: prices have gone up in the last month in the vicinity of $50-$100k in the inner Eastern, and Eastern suburbs of Melbourne, particularly at the lower end of the market (say $400-$800k)

Example: we looked at a place in Abbotsford, 3×1, near the river (no views), massive complex, and it didn’t appeal. List price was around $440k. It sold for $515k. We went through a very cool, indeed too trendy 3×2 apartment in Richmond, just off Swan Street, amazing views to the City. Listed at $540-$580k. Sold for $680k. That’s only two examples, but I’ve seen more again. Yes: real estate agents to tend to under price properties to get people in, however the gap between expected price range and actual sale price at auction has grown significantly in the last month.

Which begs the question: where’s the sanity in offering a $21k Government grant when the demand the grant causes pushes prices up by $50-$100k?

But wait, there’s more. Victoria has possibly the worst (and by that I mean highest) stamp duty in the country. The purchase of a $600,000 property attracts stamp duty of $31,070. So your $21k first home buyers grant really is just wealth transfer from the Federal Government to the State Government.

Now first home buyers could head out to the outer suburbs where the prices are less, but then you have the social aspect: do you want more people on the roads? Can public transport handle it (if and when available?). Even then, you’re still looking at $300-$400k for a house, although it would be an actual house.

Enough of my rant now. We beat Ruddonomics with a liberal dose of money. I’ll be sure to post pictures from the pool if and when we move in early July.

A big shout out to Michael Hill Jewellers.

She who must be obeyed’s rather expensive 1ct diamond ring I gave to her for her 30th birthday (back when I could still afford to buy something like this) lost a diamond last week. They’re replacing the diamond under warranty, and were highly apologetic.

It is insured, but it’s nice to see a company happy to help, even with something so expensive for them to fix.

Michael Hill Jeweller FTW.

I’m not quite sure when it happened. Maybe it was when I imported a Chumby so my alarm clock became internet enabled. Maybe it was when we purchased the Macbook for my son + wife (she occasionally brings home a work Windows laptop) so we have 3 laptops in the house (the netbook EeePC is in a draw, too hard to type on, and a pain for WiFi at times) and every night at 9 or 10pm both of us are in bed online. But maybe it was when I hacked the Apple TV (again, the last time it got wiped with an update after 2 days) so our Apple TV now offers more than iTunes + YouTube, and now offers Boxee (which is beautiful) but better still XBMC, which has a pile of plugins for popular streaming sites.

I believe we may have reached online ubiquity.

Louis Gray yesterday wrote that every night he sleeps next to his iPhone. Every night I sleep next to a Macbook Pro, my iPhone and an internet enabled alarm clock, and that’s just my side of the bed. She who must be obeyed has a Blackberry, an iPhone, and a MacBook. My son’s room has an internet enabled DVD player and Wii. The lounge room has an Apple TV. Sadly the Bluray isn’t internet enabled. My office has a variety of things, including a wireless printer, network drive and Mac Pro. Sadly the kitchen doesn’t have a permanent internet enabled device, but I haven’t started looking for Christmas presents yet.

We’ve all but stopped watching broadcast TV. As I type this, my son, home from school is watching YouTube videos on the Apple TV. When my wife gets home if we watch something tonight, the toss up will be bed on a laptop or Apple TV in the lounge room, and the odds of us watching broadcast tv are about twice a week, if that now Australian Idol is finished for the year.

Online ubiquity