newjez

I miss my family in Australia.

I also miss the smell. There's nothing quite like the smell when you come out of Perth airport.

22 minutes ago, ramot said:

I only drink decaf coffee, yes I know it’s not real coffee!, but i drink it for health reasons and it was undrinkable in England. 

I like decaff. I find after three of four cups of super in the morning I'm buzzing and I need a non caffeine drink.

It does worry me how much of this vaccine paranoia is being stoked by the big vaccine companies? Becoming a standard covid vaccine would be very profitable for these companies. I wonder whether they are deliberately trying to derail the opposition.

1 hour ago, Parley said:

Must admit I'm wavering. I've always been waiting until they open Pfizer up to everyone, which I'm sure they will do in the next month or two to entice the recalcitrant over 50s like me.

But if they don't I will have to take the risk and go with AZ

My parents have just had their jab. No issues.

You could buy a lottery ticket on the way to the jab and be comforted by the fact as you have about the same chance to win the lottery as you do to have complications.

Especially if you have the virus down there. It takes a few weeks for the Vax to become effective.

19 hours ago, Jon the Hat said:

That isn't how it works, one case would only infect people they spend time right next to, maybe 4-8 people.  This has been prove in test events in the UK in the past couple of weeks - 10k people in a stadium, 2k in a club, etc with very few cases.

It does seem that the virus needs a certain amount of concentration to infect. Outside it is much less likely to catch it.

9 hours ago, HappyHeart said:

Kind of different for our situation. We bought a piece of land 2 years ago at a very good price which has increased in value quite significantly. Now building a small.modest home on that land to be our eventual permanent abode. Meantime we keep our first property for next few years till we are ready to move. At that point hoping to have significant equity enabling large chunk of 'new' mortgage to be paid off. Thus resulting in much smaller mortgage and ability to go part time/kick back a little in our 50s. That's the plan anyway! Will see what happens. 

Are you having troubles getting building materials? My nephew is building and has had a few problems.

4 hours ago, Tulip1 said:

There has been a rise but these are mainly in areas of low vaccination uptake.  An average of 8 deaths a day over the last 7 days.  As the professor on the Downing Street update said today, almost all those that have died were elderly, unvaccinated people.  There are 49 in Bolton hospital with Covid, only 5 of them have been vaccinated.  It shows that whilst not 100%, the vaccine is so necessary and a game changer.  Any death is bad a thing but those that chose not to get the vaccine chose to take the risk.  We are very lucky to live in a country that have offered free vaccination to help save our lives.  People continue to catch it and die unnecessary.  I find their decision to risk their lives mind boggling.  

It's almost like they don't know how to talk to ethnic groups.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/articles/coronaviruscovid19roundup/2020-03-26&ved=2ahUKEwjs7bu6quvwAhUKMewKHYL5BJkQFjAAegQIBRAC&usg=AOvVaw3ALL55HrQ1hS0xq05_sZBO&cshid=1622170831776

1 hour ago, MacGyver said:

Cases seem to be increasing in the UK, while hospitalisation and deaths are dropping - which is exactly what should happen with an increasingly vaccinated country that hasn’t yet achieved herd immunity.

The difficulty having a travel bubble with the Uk in the near future is that Covid is still spreading over there and we would be exposing our unvaccinated Australian population to high levels of risk. More urgency with the Australian vaccination program is the only road out of this, eventually.

Hospital and deaths rising for the past two days.

Cases up to 3500 today.

6 hours ago, Blue Flu said:

Prices declined from memory the most in capital cities within Australia. It was the ALP McGowan intervention that turned the market . Later resource price rises added further stimulation to an already overstimulated market. Prices will only maintain present trend while prevailing conditions allow. The price of iron and probably other resources will decline from present highs rather substantially. Interest rates may well be forced upwards before many anticipate. With falling prices in the resource sector, immigration will probably not be the levels wanted by the industry to inflate figures to mouth watering levels (thankfully) One thing for certain. Care should be taken around placing too much emphasis on the housing market. Those in doubt should recall recent losses, that could have been far worse. Without work, Perth will hardly be a desired place to move to. 

 

This is an unprecedented time. So much money has been injected into the world's economy. I've seen many projections. Not many of them have pleasant endings. The chances of sailing through this with any form of stability are remote.

If I was going to buy a house I would buy it now. If I couldn't afford it for a year, I would bide my time. 

4 hours ago, Blue Flu said:

Yes I am aware of that. But will always pay a price for such instability. Far too reliant on minerals, especially iron ore, that when the down turn in ore demand from China comes, it will be painful.  

I would be expecting a sharp upturn for a year, and then a sharp downturn. As long as you don't buy at the top you should be right.

4 hours ago, HappyHeart said:

For us and our future plans, it is very relevant. 

I would take advantage of it while it lasts. China is slowing down its credit as they are trying to roll back inflation. This will affect mining in Australia, and eventually lead to a slow down in Australian property prices. But these things take time, so prices may rise for another year or two before falling back.

2 hours ago, HappyHeart said:

For us and our future plans, it is very relevant. 

An old friend once told me that rising house prices just means our kids can't afford to live where we do.

1 hour ago, Blue Flu said:

But the previous 'boom' was excessive. The market purely corrected plus a bit more. (still not overly excessive) The fall in ore prices and loss of employment, witnessing more leaving state than entering in intrastate migration were responsible. Ore prices again at very high levels. This won't last then back to future with falling house prices the likelihood with declining market conditions due to several factors. 

Perth has always been boom bust. With employment and house prices.

1 hour ago, HappyHeart said:

Ours dipped to purchase price last year (bought 11 yrs ago) Recent valuation is 10% up. Bank manger says 20% likely in 2 years. Good news for us. Back to values seen 5 or 6  years ago 

House prices are irrelevant to most people, unless you own more than one house, or you don't own a house, you are up sizing or down sizing or it is affecting the greater economy, which is rare.

48 minutes ago, Wanderer Returns said:

You were contradicting my previous statement that the OP's son would get a better education in the UK, so 'better' was implied even though you wrote 'different'.

With all due respect, and I know it is your field, but the claim you made wasn't a good one. I was educated in a fantastic school in Perth. One of the best state schools in the city. My children have been educated in a fantastic state school in the UK. These two schools are far better than the average. There is so much variation between schools in each country, to make a claim that a child will be better educated in one country over another is ridiculous.

20 hours ago, Blue Flu said:

Shame for Perth? You don't seem aware prices are rising. I think I'm correct in saying most the losses have now been reversed. The WA government intervened in the market to address the rapid decline. long before The Fed's followed with own policy. I would say housing is the single biggest issue in Australia in affordability and lack of rentals. Present policy has aggravated the situation which will create problems further down the road. 

Perth prices are rising quite fast.

But it is the first time Perth prices have risen in about ten years.

13 hours ago, Parley said:

I do have a carving set for a roast like you hidden away in the drawer.

I'm really referring to people who feel they need these big knife sets sitting in a block on the kitchen bench.

Some of the knives are huge.

They just scare me. Like having a gun on the bench.

 

I don't see why knifes need points. You very rarely use the pointy bit.

30 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

I wasn't suggesting she would.  I'm just pointing out that the general statement, "people don't lose their accent if they migrate to Australia as an adult" isn't true. Some don't, but some do.

My kids say I sound Australian in Australia and English in England. 

3 hours ago, Wanderer Returns said:

I've taught in state schools in NSW and VIC as well as QLD, and I didn't see much difference in the standard of education - but I'll be happy to bow to your expert opinion if you can prove the ACT is a cut above the rest.

To be fair, he said different, not necessarily better.

1 hour ago, emanyalpsid said:

On a side note does everyone always find the jet lag worse going to Aus as opposed back to UK

I think it depends on arrival times.

6 hours ago, Parley said:

Its not all about you though is it ? Your wife might not be happy having your holidays in Bournemouth every year.

She hates flying. She gets sea sick. She would be more than happy with Bournemouth. But the UK weather is so unreliable.

6 hours ago, Marisawright said:

Sounds like you'll be planning a solitary retirement then....

Not really. My wife doesn't like holidays either. But she does like telling people about the holidays we've been on, although the way she describes them I don't recognize them.

I wouldn't mind the odd city break just to get away. Or a quick trip over to France on the tunnel. But most holidays I've been on you come back more stressed than when you left. I would go skiing. But my wife doesn't ski. 

4 hours ago, ali said:

We go to a matinee performance and my husband and son and daughters partner usually come into the city and meet us at a bar for drinks.  This weekend we introduced my friend and son's girlfriend to the ballet - they'd not been before.

Personally I think they should shut it down on humanitarian.grounds. Have you seen what it does to their feet?

They should ban opera too. Mainly because it's bloody awful.

6 hours ago, Paul1Perth said:

Why? They diagnosed broken ribs and dislocated ribs from my sternum. Said I should have gone to hospital straight away.

They gave me free painkillers and anti inflammatories which worked wonders.

I think he was suggesting you should have gone to A&E sooner?

18 minutes ago, Tulip1 said:

You paste a study that’s over nine years old about a possible risk with one certain antibiotic which can affect people,  mainly with heart problems.  It even states there’s no problem with children as they rarely have heart conditions.  That’s your basis of stating antibiotics can kill you
 

The other thing you pasted is from Canada, it’s not as up to date as other reports although they should have the same information.  A better site to look at is the NHS UK public health one.  Here’s a really good chart from their site.  It doesn’t give stats on the second dose clot risk which is far lower than the first one but the site acknowledges it exists. 
 

You do what makes you happy.

I don't think I'm helping your situation. So we'll leave it there.