paisleylass

Had to be at the airport for 4.30am, not a very sociable time ;o)

This year we're spending Christmas in the northern hemisphere, in Hawaii :oD should be nice and balmy weather, a break from Brissie heat. I'm sure it'll be most festive in a Polynesian way! I don't miss snow/ice/mucky slush no siree not one bit!

Yeah, and I wouldn't mind so much but ALL of corporate office being classed bureaucrats (a Courier Mail classic) is pretty off - many are in health protection which is frontline in all but name, and my unit (info/statistics) constantly answers requests for info from clinicians to assess frontline services and save resources/ inform planning. That's before you even hit research. Very busy unit about to get a whole lot busier, bleh.

I work at Queensland Health on a contract basis. Today was indescribably awful. Several lovely people I've grown to know since May have had their jobs removed. My boss has to compete with another at the same grade for one position and doesn't feel hopeful. I work in the central corporate office and get so sick of the dumb comments on the likes of the Courier Mail website about lazy public servants having extended smokos and doing nothing, it's not true in the case of my unit! They already went through 2 restructures in the last couple of years and they work so hard, and today was the worst. Newman just wants to restore the QLD gov't AAA credit rating, never mind the impact on the economy. After all, Centrelink is federally funded. Meh.

TV?! With work, swimming, reading and going out it's barely on, usually just watch The Big Bang Theory or one of the current affairs shows (I like The Project!), that's about it. Got shelves full of DVDs with no time to watch them! I used to love some BBC shows but our lives have changed so much the downloads are now piling up unwatched!

PS we plan to visit Melbourne in the spring so will give you a shout if it coincides with you arriving!

Hey Robbie, nonsense you are not too old! We moved 2 months ahead of my 40th and the change has been rejuvenating to say the least! We live in QLD but have some lovely Aussie friends in Melb. What sort of things do you like doing - going out, music etc? Whether you prefer mixing with poms, aussies etc I'm sure you'll find some like-minded folk :oD

Easy - interest earned will never better interest paid. Pay off the mortgage and then get the rental income paid into an ISA, just shop around for a good rate!

Banned food is generally perishable stuff and seeds/grains I think. You can take wine with you up to customs allowance - I don't know what that is for wine but you can take 3 bottles if spirits each. Don't go the shipping route with booze as allowances don't apply when unaccompanied, and avoid paying duty at all costs as it's extortionate, way beyond the value of the drink! Take what you can carry and/or party it up with the rest! The amount of grog we had to give away, it was eyewatering!!

Wow, didn't know that! Good info, thanks for bringing it up or we'd have been stuffed, must have missed some important info with everything happening at once!

The Viz character Spoilt B*stard springs to mind. Some bogans evidently have too much cash!

Just arrived in LA this morning, well around half-midnight Brisso time! Got some downtime while hubby rests so will report while fresh in my head :0) Firstly, check-in does not open until 3 hours before the flight leaves so don't bother turning up 4 hours ahead like we did! The queue will have started forming before check-in opens but we could have had 45 mins more kip! Second point is seating. If it's just 2 of you flying it's worth considering pre-booking one of the few pairs of seats as the configuration is 3x3x3. I wish we'd done that. I hate HATE being hemmed in so at check-in requested 2 adjacent aisle seats, which we got. However once through security we got paged and were given new boarding cards with window and middle seat. Too late to change as flight was totally full, and I felt pretty uncomfortable for the 13 hours and the guy in the aisle seemed to get increasingly peed off with me asking to get out. However, the service in general is fab - own seatback screen with tons of telly and films (I watched a few episodes of New Girl, plus The Rum Diary), and food is great. Dinner was mustard-seedy potato salad, beef goulash with mash and green beans, passion fruit cheesecake and cheese n biccies. Yum! There were 3 to choose from, also a chicken or veggie meal. Brekkie was choice of hotcakes (like thick american pancakes) with berries or scrambled egg, hash browns and snag. There was a self-serve snack bar with pepsi, juice, crisps and biccies, PLUS an in-seat midflight snack though I was cross with the flight attendant who was shouting "Sir! Sir! Would you like a snack?" to my hubby, with his bloody headphones in, across me as I tried to sleep grrrr. But you will not go hungry! What else? Best using loos at the back as they are less busy, you get a USB socket by the wee screen for charging stuff, err that's all I can think of right now! Just did a quick shop for bits and snacks and OMG the supermarkets seem a bargain after Coles'n'Woolies! And it's hot, with weather warnings for heat and humidity, feels like a Brisbane summer *sweat* :oD

Of course! Tax payable is a proportion only of the income/expenses!

Bottom line: tax is cheaper than interest!

Hey Bob, I posted that waffle after a gallon of wine and this morning realise the bit about the plane is pants, I mixed V up with Hawaiian in my head, they will be using a 767 on the new Bris route, wheres Sydney gets a shiny new A330. I edited my post to 777 but it makes no sense now! So please ignore! I stand by the rest of it though!

IMO, you are better off paying tax than interest! I would keep offsetting for sure. We have an offset mortgage but permission to let ends in Nov with no possibility of extension so we are forced to switch, at which stage we'll just whack most of the savings right into the mortgage account.

Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia are different airlines - the experience from UK to USA will probably be different to Aus to international destinations. For what it's worth, I took a short hop from Brisbane to Sydney with VAus and it was pretty *meh*, a bit Easyjet. The return flight with Qantas was comparatively luxurious. But I expect the international package to be a step up. Also, their planes from Melbourne to LA might be fab but might not be from Bris, I understand this route employs an old B777, a tiny plane for the distance! Try airlinequality for reviews :0)

Hello! We are flying to LA from Brisso next Friday, happy to report back tho I may need you to nudge me for it as may be a bit frazzled heehee )

I've seen Reggae Reggae sauce in Coles or Woolies but think it was the table sauce, will report back if I see different! I do miss some of the Discovery sauces, especially Cajun, but there are loads of different ones to try here ) I know it's more effort but definitely try making your own sauces, after making curries with fresh veg, curry paste and tinned tommies I can't face the jar sauces any more!

Aww man, I wouldn't want to move back to the UK, but occasionally I do miss Morrisons bargains! And some of the own brand stuff the sell like bbq rice cakes, diet pretend Red Bull and vegetable crackers, sigh. Oh and the chilli beef pizzas for £1.50, loved those with a few beers! Over here in Coles you can get 3x24 cans of Pepsi (Max or full fat) for $30, or $27 if it's a my5 on flybuys (we have that, yay) - not too shabby!

I thought xmas in july was an aussie thing, not particularly for poms?