Although I knew it at the time, the cracks in the bedroom walls that I so labouriously toiled ONLY LAST YEAR to patch and paint, are now suffering the effects of the recent rain and are opening up again. There are 2 foot long meandering splits on most walls; some you might even describe as severe. Then I think about the floor in the only-ten-year-old back room and recall how even my wee dogs can cause the TV and stereo to rock back and forth when they run past. The blanket excuse generally thrown about is that it’s all to do with the basalt clay soils of the northern and western suburbs. One of those, well-,-if-you-choose-to-buy-in-those-areas-,-you’re-asking-for-it answers from smug bayside sandcastle builder types. My theory is that the whole concept of houses on stumps or stilts is flawed and that a concrete slab is the only sensible choice. Even my renewable energy buddies would agree. It aint going to happen whilst I own this loveable but imperfect 1930’s period home. 
This is not my house. I don’t hear others complaining of the same thing as we chat in hallways at work. Do they all live in the affluent east and south, or is the deep sadness and helplessness of our own domestic situations beyond hallway chatter?