Incata

We were with BUPA in the UK and then transferred to BUPA in Australia. BUPA Australia has the extras policy which you don't get in the UK so it helps if you want to see a physio or an osteopath etc etc. However, in the UK, once you have paid your excess (same as in Australia - you choose how much excess you pay), all your hospital costs are covered, as well as all your consultant fees (outpatient as well as inpatient) and all the anaethetist fees. I like the fact that I get the referral, I can generally see a consultant privately within a week and the cost is fully covered by my private healthcare. I also liked that if I needed an MRI, complex blood tests or scans I did not have to worry about a "GAP" as it was all covered by my policy. Personally I thought the UK policy was better as I knew that once I had paid the first 100 GBP (excess applies per year, not per claim), everything else was covered. In Australia for various surgeries for myself and the children, we have had to pay GAPS on anaethetist fees, costs of X-rays/Scans and excesses for the hospital (only $25 per stay but still, you would expect it to be included). I also found the private hospitals I had surgery in in the UK a lot more luxurious than the hospital the kids and I were operated on in Australia. The private hospital we were in in Perth was at best, basic, yet the staff thought we would be impressed by them having automatic beds - as though it was a relatively new concept over here. The cost overally is about the same for a family of 4 for the level of cover we have. We have been assured by BUPA that if we move back to the UK, all our pre-existing conditions will be covered straight away, as they were when we came out here.

I'd be interested but don't have a kayak yet. Planning to get one in the next 6 months.

Bacon sandwiches for breakfast!

You are very lucky. The first GP we used tried that and it was not allowed so we (my son and I as we are both anaphylactics) had to be referred to specialists for the original prescription. Once we had that our GP was/is allowed to prescribe epipens if ours have either expired or been used.

What surprised me was that the marksmen missed at such close range. Bunbury61 is incorrect in that they did not have to shoot them to injure them - that is Hollywood. At that range the men should have been dead and SOP is shoot to kill if the suspects are armed. The real question is whether the marksmen were unable to shoot straight, or whether they were given specific instructions not to shoot to kill (normal practice) in order to avoid the men becoming martyrs. Alternatively you could say that they were extremely good (eg shooting off one of the men's thumbs), so were they actually special forces dressed as Police Officers? It is probable that they needed to be kept alive in order for the security services to find out if they were part of a larger group planning more assaults on the Armed Forces, as dead men tell no tales and therefore, unusually the shoot to kill order was not given. However, I would be curious to know whether or not the marksmen were genuinely in the Police or not.

I used to work for Gateways (in the UK) as a student. If you were on the 8.30 - 6pm shift, the doors shut at 6, but if a customer came in at 5.55pm to do their weekly shopping, you had to stay until they left (which could often be 6.30pm). We were only paid until 6pm. I did not think it was fair at the time, still don't think it is fair and was very happy to switch to a shift from 8am - 5.30pm when it became available because at least that way I would finish at 5.30pm. It is shocking that the practice still continues. I would have expected that if the shop shuts at 5.30pm, the staff would be paid until 6pm to allow them to cash up etc.

I just noticed that the judge is waiting until after the outcome on the appeal to "whole of life sentences" before sentencing the men. Would it not just be simpler for him to give them sentences of 100+ years each, thus meaning it is unlikely that they will ever come out of jail? It is a pity they were not tried for treason as well - apparently that still carries the death sentence. However, being that they were trying to get themselves killed, perhaps a long, long time behind bars would be preferable. It also occurs to me that now would be a good time for the prison service to consider outsourcing some of their prisons - to somewhere like Saudi Arabi, Bangkok or closer to home somewhere like Romania or Bulgaria, thus giving the worst prisoners a truly memorable prison experience.

The Russian solution to muslim aggressors in the 1980s/1990s was to execute the muslims in question, and them cremate them in the carcass of a pig, thus stopping them going to Paradise and getting their 7 virgins. Funnily enough, it stopped the problem in Russia. It's a pity the Human Rights brigade are so strong in the UK.

It's strange but I really don't know. Until last month I could not envisage being 40, and then suddenly I was. I can't envisage being old or where I want to live and suspect I won't be able to until it happens. I think I will want to be in the same country as my children, so I can see them easily, but being children of wandering souls, I cannot even guess where my kids will end up. I quite like the idea of buying a campervan and travelling here and there, wherever the wind takes me. I might try for going round the world in a campervan, that would be fun! Then I would be everywhere and nowhere!

My previous employer did. I nearly ended up in A&E when my jaw hit the floor! It should be up to the candidate, not the employer, to decide how far is "too far" to commute. It was not the most enlightened company I have ever worked for...

I can't find one in Perth. Does anyone know if there is one? I love Burritos!

Try Padbury or Craigie. Both quite nice and reasonably close to railway stations. Both also have very good primary schools and Padbury is in the catchment area for Duncraig High School which has a very good reputation.

Stamp duty depends on the price of the house you buy, not whether or not you are a first time buyer. We were first time buyers in Australia but still had to pay stamp duty.

I was having an interesting conversation with my husband about this a couple of nights ago. We were talking about the information that was published recently about the sharks and their migration routes - particularly the ones involving South Africa. My husband then asked why anyone was surprised that the Great Whites are attacking people here, when in South Africa (on their migratory route), one of the big scuba diving activities, is to get in a cage and feed the great whites to get them as close to the cages (and people) as possible. Ergo, the sharks associate people with food and getting fed. Then they swim over to WA and see more people in the water. Why would anybody be surprised when they go for the people? On the other side of the water people mean food, why would it not do here? It was interesting as I had never thought of that before, and yet clearly remember seeing lots of adverts for diving with sharks, going for a dip in a shark cage in South Africa. To attract the sharks, they throw lots of bait in the water for them to eat. Has this occurred to anyone else?

Yes, you can get Shark Soup in most Chinese restaurants. Seared shark is also a beautiful fish (served with either a garlic or lemon sauce).

We paid approx $1700 in legal fees, plus stamp duty. There were also all the fees associated with the mortgage (which your bank will be able to advise you). The stamp duty is the killer but the amount depends on how much you are paying for the house and whether or not you are entitled to the First Homebuyers Grant or not. Conveyancers do tend to be negotiable as to their fees.

I can't tell you who is good but we were unimpressed with Beaumaris Primary School and Ocean Reef High School has a poor reputation, so I would avoid them if you can. I don't know about Belridge as we weren't in their catchment area when we lived in Ocean Reef. You can phone schools that are outside your area and if they have vacancies (not filled by people within the catchment area) they can offer your child a place, so you might want to consider that. Duncraig (not far away), has an excellent high school with a very good reputation, so they might be worth considering. I also understand that Mullalloo High School is well thought of and has regularly taken children from outside their catchment area.

Is your wife able to apply for PR as the principal applicant?

I did think when I first heard about this, that he was taken by a shark, but that was not the case. Very sad for his family.

Buy Liquid Phenergan for the allergy. It is available over the counter and is the equivalent of liquid piriton. My son is an anaphylactic and it is the first thing we give him when he has a reaction. We have asked UK friends and relatives who are coming over to bring a bottle of liquid piriton with them as we find it does not make him sleepy after we give it to him, which makes it easier to assess the development (or otherwise) of the reaction. We give him anywhere between 50 - 100% of the maximum recommended daily dose for his age and weight, depending on how bad the reaction is. We only use the epipen if his airway starts to be compromised. This is what we were told to do by our UK specialist. However, Australia is very backward when it comes to dealing with allergies. They do not (in WA at least), have specialist paediatric allergists. They just have normal allergists who have little, if any, understanding of the difference between adult and child allergy. In terms of treatment, they go straight for the epi-pen, which due to its effect on the heart, is much more high risk than starting with an anti-histamine and waiting to see if that reverses the reaction. The Australian medical profession even think it is strange to use an anti-histamine (even though it is histamine that is causing the problem). I have had to explain this to both an Australian trained doctor and an Australian allergist, who both conceded that actually it made a lot of sense, but is not the way they are trained. The way the referral will happen is this: You will be referred to a specialist who will tell you that he does not believe your child has an allergy unless he has seen the reaction himself, even if you have all the paperwork evidencing it from the UK. He would therefore like to retest your child, at huge expense to you, and huge profit to himself. The money is only partially refunded by medicare, leaving you severely out of pocket. When this happened to us, I looked the specialist in the eye and told him very quietly that I had paperwork from the top paediatric allergist in the UK, confirming that my son had the allergy I stated he had, and that the UK specialist himself had conducted a food challenge test and witnessed the reaction my son had. I then told the specialist that if he wanted to retest my son, then I expected it to happen in a fully equipped hospital department, with resus equipment on hand (and not just in his office, which he seemed to think was appropriate). I then told him that he had better have a damn good lawyer as I would be suing him for negligence the minute my son reacted. I pointed out that as my UK specialist was more highly qualified than he is, that he would not have a leg to stand on and it would cost him an awful lot of money. The doctor looked stunned as apparently over here it is not the done thing to stand up to doctors and give them what for. I then asked him if he had any questions. He did not and then meekly stated that he did not think that after all, it was necessary to re-test my son, that he would do the prescription for an epipen and sign the appropriate anaphylaxsis action plan. We still got dinged $175 for the consultation, but at least it was not the $400 - $500 they originally wanted to do the skin prick tests (which my son does not react to - he only reacts if he actually eats the product). In addition, you need to be aware, that to get epi-pens on medicare (where you get to pay approx $33 (can't remember the exact amount), rather than the $100 they normally cost (over the counter), you have to have the original prescription written by an allergy/immunology specialist (and they don't consider UK specialists count). We now have UK trained doctors treating me and my family as we have found their standards and knowledge to be higher than their Australian equivalents. We have also found that UK doctors treat us and equals and will discuss options with us and don't expect to be treated as Gods. We have an absolutely excellent GP now who I cannot speak highly enough of. I have nothing but the highest respect for the UK doctors and specialists we have used, but little other than contempt for the Australian ones we have experienced. I would point out that we have only seen UK and Australian doctors, so I have no experience of doctors of other nationalities.

What was/is the "Oregon Experiment"?

I disagree. We got into difficulty with this boarding a flight to London from Dubai. However, the universal get out (which they let you through with), is that the bottle contains sterile water for the children (only works if the kids are under 5). We have done this several times in the Middle East and been allowed on with full water bottles. This was both to and from Australia.

You've not been following the recent sagas in Ireland then?

Maybe you are all doing it too early and it gets boring? My mum used to put all the decorations up at the beginning of December and the excitement just faded. We now put ours up the week before Christmas and it is very exciting and fun to look forward to.

HR can also stand for Human Resources. I ended up on the wrong thread for a while when I first came here!