Slean Wolfhead

Make sure you have a safety net, then just go for it. You know best if you're the type of person to just get on and achieve things, take a few knocks and get back up again.

That's why i thought NZ would have got rid of it, but I've seen quite a few comments from NZer's that they want to keep the Union Jack because it's now part of their own heritage, not because it reminds them of Great Britain. Can't quite understand that but it's a different theory anyway. I loved the fern, instantly says New Zealand. The biggest complaint seemed to be they don't like it being mistaken for Australias. Maybe Australia will change theirs first and make it easy for them.

Pay tax on top of what you pay to the ATO maybe, that's why a record number of Yanks are giving up their US passports because of the IRS problem. That and the US insisting on access to all of their citizens overseas bank accounts, forcing foreign banks to close accounts of American citizens because it's not worth their hassle or expense to deal with it. It's not a bad idea to cut down on people going overseas and laundering money or evading taxes...but if the US are prepared to say to their own people "choose which side of the fence you want to be on", it's a sea change if those Americans have built working lives abroad and feel they are being forced to give up their nationality because of it. Where the USA goes, the UK usually follows about 10 years later....

It's not the people who are changing, it's the world. Dual citizenship is a privilege to some nationals, but it's also a resolution to dodgy politics that some nations have created. Look at the mess that Hong Kong caused. Ignoring the fact that Vancouver has ended up with the best Cantonese food outside Canton, the UK had a real problem trying to sort out that mess with the various levels of passports and rights that had been conferred, and had to be respected. China doesn't allow dual citizenship. I have a nephew who is Chinese. He has to be Chinese if he wants free schooling and to have the same rights as anybody else over there, but in effect he is half-English, looks half-English, behaves in a very English manner. If he wants to realise his half-English heritage by descent, he has to give up his Chinese citizenship. He might, or he might not, when he gets older, depending on his circumstance. Some people are lucky to be given the privilege of dual citizenship, and one day they may have to make a choice. Just the way it is. Citizenship will be just a way of recording a number one day, it might even get abandoned altogether. It's already becoming less important in a world economy where rights are given to the individual based on their merits, such as qualifications or skills.

You're right, it could change. If the UK brought in citizenship-based taxation like the USA, there might be a rush, or the banking industry might make it so difficult you'd be forced into choosing.

It may have been an EU one, I can't remember now. My brother in Germany put me onto it but it was valid in 2014. Also, if you check the small print at the bottom....a lot of the policies, even the Oz ones, are actually sold on by UK insurance companies. Might be worth contacting or googling them directly.

It depends on the travellers, it's still a very new experience for a lot of Chinese, especially now they've discovered charter flights and package holidays from China to other Asian destinations. In Thailand once a barman was telling me how they classified other Asian travellers by their actions...and it's basically linked to how long the people have been given freedom. Japan was at the top for affluence and politeness, Korea was bottom by a mile. The barman laughingly punched his fist into his palm when describing them. There were no Chinese holidaymakers then, they were not allowed out to travel anywhere so didn't exist. Korea had just become affluent and the population had started travelling en-masse, similar to what the Chinese are now doing. An airport coach pulled up at our hotel one night when everyone was lounging around after dinner, just enjoying the peace, the crickets and the Thai ambience.. These Koreans bolted off this coach like they'd been shot from a cannon, running and screaming; mums, dads, grandparents, kids altogether. Whisky and cigarettes everywhere. They ignored check-in and their bags.......ran straight through the hotel and jumped in the swimming pool with their clothes on, about 50 of them. The sunbeds had been lined up for the next day; all the cushions and mattresses went in the water, they thought they were pool toys...in about 3 minutes the place was in total uproar. The Thai's were running round trying to scold them but the Korean's didn't understand a word of Thai or English....they were happily smiling at everybody, shaking hands and offering you cigarettes or a swig of whisky from the bottle. Lovely people, but completely naive and bonkers. Me and the missus couldn't stop laughing, it was like discovering a new specie.

They've developed muscle where we westerners haven't...:-) They sit in hard seats, and they sleep in very hard beds. When my mum and dad go to GZ to stay at my brothers, he has to set them up an airbed because they're in agony sleeping on basically a plywood board with a thin mattress roll over it. On the other hand, my brother's wife and son can happily go to sleep on a wooden board or bench. They don't have many back problems over there, it's very good for your alignment if you're used to it. Big brand hotels advertise "euro mattresses" for overseas travellers. Local hotels can be quite different if they don't specify "soft bed". The plane seats got me in the coxic, right at the base of the spine which was taking all the pressure...it's numbing after about 5 hours. Couple of nurofen sorts you out...

One thing i like about the Chinese airlines is that they're well-behaved passengers, there's none of this bedlam you get with the UK outbound Emirates flights and the passengers travelling to the sub-continent via Dubai. We gave up Emirates because of this, not because of the Dubai to Oz leg which are generally fantastic flights on the newest, biggest planes. GZ is not a "bad" airport these days, they've spent a lot of money on it. The plane seats are a bit hard though, to suit the Chinese bottom.

You can buy standalone policies to cover the rental hire excess insurance, I use a British one if i'm going to Europe. In Oz, i've used https://tripcover.com.au/. if you're going overseas it's worth checking whether you're covered high enough, especially in the USA if the exchange rate is not in your favour. It's far far cheaper than going with the rental company, nearly all their profit comes from selling insurance and they make hardly anything off the car rentals themselves. Also, if you do go standalone and then need to claim, you must still pay the rental company with your credit card and then claim it back yourself from your own insurer, so it's not seamless and will take time. So you need the available credit for a few weeks.

There was a discussion on ABC about the same thing, blokes just not turning up because they have so much work they don't feel the need to be punctual or even finish a job. An old lady rang in from Sydney, saying that a tradie didn't keep his appointment when she'd made arrangements, then turned up unannounced 1 week later expecting to start work immediately. The radio presenter said "What did you say?" Old lady: "I told him to F*% Off !"

Maybe look at Facilities Management type jobs and getting some all-round qualifications, including ICT building management systems...energy usage, lighting control, access control systems..there's going to be lots of outsourcing of buildings maintenance contracts in Oz over the coming years and people with a good working knowledge of the big picture are going to be in demand.

This post resonates with me. There are lot of whingy posts by people who just haven't got what it takes and complaints about neglible, minor issues that couldn't be sorted out by a bit of steel in their backbones and a bit more rubber in the soles of their shoes. You however, seem to have really toughed it out and proved your resilience. I hope things work out for you.

I know, i've yet to see one at night to see how bright these LED's are. They say it grows on you...but it's a great price for a new car, same as the others, based on the Ute. Only 5 seats though, but a massive boot.

Take a look at these.....new Pajero Sport. Seems to describe just what you want if you're looking at Klugers and Territorys. http://www.themotorreport.com.au/62710/2016-mitsubishi-pajero-sport-review-gls-and-exceed-rugged-but-refined-mitsubishi-gets-it-right

Have you booked directly this time? That's often an issue with booking through an agent...you suddenly don't have a valid code to log and request changes, or check-in online. Also happens if you book through Virgin Australia but fly Singapore on the code share, saves a few dollars but everything is manual and laborious and Singapore just direct you back to Virgin.

Years ago, I was on holiday in Turkey and strolling through a village with some friends. My mate walked past this dog which was lying outside somebody's house and said "Here boy" and patted his knees. The dog jumped up and trotted over for a pat. My mates wife just stood there gobsmacked. She said "That's incredible, the dog understands English!".

It's nice to see he's not bitter though, poor sod.:wink:

It wasn't just that we cast them adrift, certainly not Australia or NZ. In WWII, it became apparent that Britain was too weak to defend the East and after Malay and Singapore fell, Australia realised that Britain would never be as strong again, so being that closely politically aligned would expose them to threat and leave them cut off. Britain realised that it was in no position to dictate defence policy to Australia if it couldn't back up words with actions, so they were forced to retreat and let Australia go it's own way. A sort of amicable divorce, but Australia turned more towards the USA, who are the major defenders of the region today.

Agreed, it's heart rending. It's extremely sad that somebody is so lost they have to define happiness based on where they're standing, rather than by what's inside them.

Yeah, they're lightly padded but you keep your fingers free. Aldo lasted 13 seconds, first punch. At least with boxing gloves he may have got a count and time to recover his wits. Tickets were between $400 and $1000.

UFC Gloves?

I don't like it. The issue with boxing was always mismatches and fans not getting value for money. These things can last, as you say, 38 seconds. Rhonda Rousey lasted just over 1 round and we had 2 months of build-up. I like Mcgregor because he's different, but they're all just trying to stuff their bank accounts because they know that anybody can get knocked out with one punch in those gloves. If you can get past the hype, there's not much of a product behind it.

Many of these dishes did not exist in India before the British Raj, chefs were exported back to London and created customised dishes with a British slant, introduced the concept of courses and cutlery along British lines (as opposed to eating with fingers out of leaf or bark plates), then imported them back to India, then back out and across the world through migration. Obviously, dishes have diversified over the last 200 years but some of the great Indian dishes like Madras and Kedgeree, did not exist previously, and neither did a history of meat eating. Also, foods like potatoes, tomatoes and chillies were all introduced to India by Britain and Portugal, so as a staple of today's Indian food I always wonder what they ate before that...spiced vegetables and rice?

But you need some sort of credit history or you have no existence on any systems. Even if it's just setting up utility accounts and getting onto the payment system. Also it's worth both partners having at least one account setup in their own names so they both have a credit history, if you want two people on a mortgage and to get the higher borrowing allowed. We made the mistake of me taking the first few months to deal with houses, cars, utilities in my name while my wife worked immediately upon arrival and brought in the money. She couldn't get a mobile phone contract in her own name, whereas I (unemployed) was able to get anything i wanted because i was on the credit rating system and using her payslips as proof of income :-)