Once upon a time, when I was much much younger, Dad and I went out to buy a litre of milk and came back having bought a $2,000 stereo system.

A couple of years ago I decided I wanted one of those DVD player thingies. So I went into the store and came out with one ten minutes later.

Basically, Dad and I decide we want something, go into the store, tell them what we want and how much we want to spend and we come out of the piece of (generally) electrical equipment under our arm. No mess, no fuss, no hours and weeks of comparison shopping and mulling it all over and making spread sheets of the pros and cons of each particular item.

This weekend was a somewhat perfect example of that for both of us.

Dad needed a new TV because their second one was about to die and they�re having digital cable hooked up tomorrow. He went into the store and came home half an hour later with a giant wide plasma screen under his metaphoric arm.

I, on the other hand, went out to look at to look at a few new areas and a couple of apartments. It was my first weekend of really looking. You can see where this is going, right?

Yes, I bought an apartment. After half a day of looking.

No, not that apartment.

But one I like, in a good spot not too far from where I am now. Fully refurbished, with cupboard space, lots of light, a car space (for my total lack of car) and a little courtyard area downstairs. And, in my price range.

I went and looked at a couple of places on Saturday morning. Both crummy apartments but in good locations. While at one of them I picked up a brochure from one of the agents and saw this place. The inspection was at convenient time, so I hopped on the tram and went out there. I was very impressed with the apartment so I put down a verbal offer on the spot, and went in yesterday morning to put in a written offer and a holding deposit, which the agent called this morning to confirm had been accepted.

No point umm-ing and ahh-ing about these things.

Of course, it�s not all good news. The settlement date does fall smack-bang in the middle of Betty's forth-coming overseas trip. Which is a real shit because Betty not only has to find somewhere else to live, but also purchase a few small things like white goods. I�ve already promised I won�t move out during the trip.

Besides, having some flexibility on my current lease is a probably a good thing. Although the place has new carpets, blinds and paint, it�ll still give me the opportunity to put up towel rails and change locks and add extra power points and all of that kind of crap. Also, I won�t have that queasy sensation that comes with having the moving truck circling the block waiting for the settlement to go through.

Anyway, I�m a little buzzed and not to nervous about the whole experience.

Next up: trying to convince the bank to co-own the apartment with me. Okay, own most of the apartment and give me just a little bit.

PS: Also, I don't actually have the signed contract in my hand yet, so I could just have jinxed the whole thing!