According to GOOGLE, George William Rusden was a well-known historian and educator In Melbourne. Why would I want to know? Because Padma's sister's son's (please double-check those apostrophes for me) actuarial studies are about to start at Monash Univer-sity and I had to find suitable accommodation for him.
It's been a few decades since I last rented (in fact, all my rentals were handled by my employers) and I wasn't prepared for the nth degree those rental agents put you through. Yes, you can find all the rental properties on the net, but to have your rental application considered, you must've inspected the property in person. And even if you did take the trouble of travelling all the way to Melbourne to do an inspection, there would be no guarantee that your application would be successful.
I had almost conceded defeat when a reply came back to an earlier inquiry with "Rusden House", a large complex of student accommodation on the very edge of campus. I hadn't really considered them too much as Padma's sister's son (all those apostrophes again!) is coming with his mother who'll help him settle in for the first few weeks, and "Rusden House" didn't seem like the sort of place that would even let a grown-up come through its front doors - but they do! Yes, they said, mum can stay too until the apple of her eye has ripened into a fully-blown student.
So I picked a nice one-bedroom unit with a northerly aspect looking out over a leafy park from its second floor, and attended to all the paper-work which was still voluminous, and we had to sign up and pay rent immediately even though Padma's sister and her son won't be arriving from Indonesia until early February. A flat in the hand is worth a few weeks' wasted rent.
The location is very convenient: a short walk across the road from campus, a slightly longer walk to Brandon Park Shopping Centre (even though the campus is a miniature city itself with lots of shops and every other amenity), and Melbourne's CBD just a short train ride away.
Mind you, he's got his studies cut out and I hope he won't even bother about the city until he's safely passed his first semester. Welcome to "Rusden House", Timmy!
