David Whitburn

What a great yet busy week it has been! There have been some fantastic results achieved for Fuzo with Ammon weaving some magic with council to get some tricky consent planning issues through council, I am settling on a new home on Friday, researching an investment property with a twist, had an “interesting” APIA Board Meeting, and of course watched our mighty All Blacks triumph over South Africa.

Don’t Stop Never Give Up

Apart from being an S Club 7 song title (my nieces loved their music) it also a memorable phrase to me. Whether unfortunate or not it is human nature to take the path of least resistance. We get so conditioned to doing things that are easy that when something gets tough we turn off, or think it is too hard and accept a poor effort (justifying it as good because it was hard work) or do nothing.

I admit that I am not perfect at this, but think I am better than most at totally committing myself to something I want to achieve. I have this from a very young age – my parents and long time friends will tell you how much I hate losing. In tennis at school and interclub I would dive on the court, drawing blood just to return the ball. My heroes Stefan Edberg, Michael Chang and Andre Agassi did just the same thing. Studying for school and University exams in subject I liked I would spend massive hours on, totally commitment myself to not just a pass, but an excellent result.

I have seen this week an architect gave up as it was “too hard” and “can’t be done”. Our client thought their building project could not go ahead. But luckily they called Fuzo and after a consultation with us, we took the issue to council and through sheer desire and raw ability we overturned the outcome the architect had, by some lateral thinking and sublime negotiation skills. Our clients was absolutely stoked by the service we could give him (but so impressed with that architect).

So don’t stop never give up. When you have a desired result in mind – commit absolutely to it. For example if you are finding a renovation or development project – take a moment to brainstorm what you can do, remember that sometimes you just are not best placed to do it yourself, so it is ok to seek professional help to get the same desired outcome.

The All Blacks dug deep despite being down with 15 minutes to go in their rugby test overnight versus South Africa. However they did not stop, and showed superior fitness to have tries to Richie McCaw and the magic Josevata Rokocoko in the last 15 minutes to win the game 26 – 21 in Durban, South Africa.

I am sure Team New Zealand will dig deep to win the Americas Cup. A loss to begin with, but their steely resolve will surely help them. All the best wishes to them.

Sun and views

Bridget and my family trust has purchased our own home in central auckland with views of Rangitoto Island and our marvellous CBD. It is a Massive 2 storey, 5 bedroom 2 and a half bathroom brick and tile home featuring a spa pool, billiard table and Massive garage. It is a big do up to bring it to our high standards. Fortunately it is what we do, so Bridget will project manage the renovation to getting this done within 4 weeks. I will post up some pictures in future blogs.

The renovation work in our house done this weekend includes stripping all wallpaper in the house, lifting all carpets and trim, taking out all fitted furniture, removing a pergola, handrails and planning the renovation. Knowing my wife it will be perfect and done to within our budget.

So here it is from the street:

Here’s the carpets on Friday looking rather threadbare in our study:

This do-up project is a special one as it is our own home, so can carry top end finishing, and this time we get to enjoy it.  We have had some trials from lifting carpets to hearing squeaky floors, finding gaps between the windows and bricks – but these are mere obstacles. By having the eye on the end finish, visualising the perfectly finished walls, plush wool carpets, comfortable bathrooms. elegant kitchen and smart light fittings the journey becomes far more pleasurable and the hard work required becomes worth it. This week sees the electricians do a prewire and rewire, some gibbing and plastering beginning. I can’t wait to share some more photos with you – this will be a very impressive do-up, that I will truly reap the benefits of.

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