We had planned to drive all the way to Ulladulla today, but when we heard that bushfires were raging an hour away at Sanctuary Point, we thought we had better stick around.
So instead of a long drive, we had a long lunch of bangers'n'mash at the Soldiers' Club which we followed up with a visit to our favourite op-shop for its Grand Re-opening today in its new premises in the Main Street.
The place was packed with people and for a good reason: gone was the musty smell and the down-at-heel look, with everything looking new, including the goods on sale. The book section was a little smaller than I had expected and what was on sale had many more shades of grey than what British author E. L. James could ever have dreamt up, but I did find two non-fiction titles that looked like they could be interesting reading on a rainy day: "The Knowledge Gene - The inredible story of the supergene that gives us human creativity" by Lynne Kelly and "Live Free or Die - America (and the World) on the Brink" by Sean Hannity.
We go to this op-shop for the fun of it as we never know what we may find, but there are people who have little choice, as everything is going up in price. I reflected on this as I collected my mail from the post office and opened the letters. They were all bills, including two from my insurers, one for the car insurance, the other for the house-and-contents insurance. Last year's premium had been $1,230.80; this year it's $1,419.62 -and that does NOT include flood insurance which I dropped many years ago when they wanted another five thousand dollars for that little extra. As it is, we are now paying well over TEN thousand dollars on insurance, council rates, and power bills to live in our own home with the lights on. No wonder people shop at Vinnies!
Speaking of the flood cover which I have now done without for well over a decade (which saved me more than $50,000), I have just read on the insurance policy's fact sheet that "you are not eligible to remove flood cover if your insured property is not in NSW, ACT or TAS". In short, if you live anywhere else and want house-and-contents insurance at all, you must pay for the expensive flood cover as well. I never knew that!
And here's the kicker (a new phrase that seemed to have entered the language recently): "Actions of the sea, being sea waves and normal movement or changes in the sea levels (including high tides or king tides) are not covered". Since a convergence of heavy rain and king tide are the most likely, if not indeed only, cause of flooding along the Clyde River, had such an event occurred while I still had flood cover, a whole chamber of barristers would've been busy well beyond my expiry date to determine whether the damage had been caused by one or the other.
As I typed this, the phone rang and a very authoritative-sounding voice told me that "Your Mastercard/VISA card linked to your savings account has just been debited with $995.35 ..." I didn't even bother to hear him out since I have no Mastercard/VISA card that is linked to a savings account - in fact, I don't even have a savings account! - but even if I did, that $995.35 scam would hardly have bothered me at a time when BHP shares fell by another 3.72%, or $1.58 each. If these falls continue, I may well have to join those people who are forced to shop at Vinnies.
