Quoll

I’m very surprised that our local trust did so poorly. I’ve been in and out of the local hospital with my elderly parents and aunt and uncle for the past 6 years now and have been super impressed. A case in point - we contacted dad’s GP about something we were concerned about on 5/12, he was seen for a scan at the hospital on 14/12, had his pre-op on 20/12 and a high level pre-op on 3/1 and I take him in for his procedure today. I do see folk in A&E though who should have gone to their GP (I would have thought) and I have never had a problem getting into our GP on the day either. Our trust has recently put a hold on non essential operations though because of the flu and subsequent bed supply - I thought dad’s might be postponed but apparently not.

Is he not your AoS? Usually the child is.

So you won’t have kids in Australia any more? I’d say that was going to be a bit tricky.

We didn’t have a problem, just rocked up and registered. Explained why we were there and it was very straightforward. Hope your mum has her citizenship before she leaves though, you never know where life will lead you

School year goes end Jan to mid December. Doesnt matter when you arrive, kids move and start school anytime.

We had a weird morning a couple of days ago - right before the storm attired

Ok, start with the job application, that’s going to be the fundamental first step. Where you live then sort of flows from that. Wait until you have a job and know where you will be living before you enrol the kids. All depends on the job as to what the application format might be. You might approach an agency. Your children can enrol in government schools - no fees other than those every Aussie pays. Schools usually follow from your abode with schools having priority enrolment areas where they must provide a place for a child living within the area. They usually ask to see contracts of lease but aren’t keen to enrol kids with a holiday accommodation address. Unfurnished rentals are more common than furnished but if you want really short term eg 2 months then you can get holiday lets which are generally furnished. The usual advice for anyone arriving without a job is to plan to spend 6 months looking so if you consider that the average salary is around $70k then budget for $35k just to get by (just in case) plus establishment costs such as bonds, insurances, vehicles, school costs, basic stocks, etc Things start closing down around the end October through until Feb when they crank up again employment wise.

Whose Christmas holidays? Public Service ones? 2 Jan, School ones varies according to state but usually after Australia Day. But remember that individuals within the APS usually take their rec leave when they like and it’s usually over the school holidays.

It was 10.5C when I left for shopping this morning but otoh the other morning when I went to the gym at the same time it was -2.5C. No consistency that’s the problem. I reckon it’s warm today because I stocked up on de-icer yesterday

The forecast is for wet snow tomorrow down here but I will believe it when I see it. Yesterday was lovely, grand day for a walk, as was today but with much chillier winds. I walk in a local nature area regularly and rarely see anyone but today it was like Piccadilly Circus - I encountered half a dozen families on the road to the Down and then whenever I scanned the Down I could see between 35 and 50 people at any one time, they were like ants (I was there for a while as it's the only hill within cooee and I was trying to get my floor target on my Fitbit!). Everyone was happy, chatty and saying hello. Fab day and now with nearly 9 miles done and 72 floors I am allowing myself a mince pie!

If you want less humidity, Canberra could be an option. Not sure about the pressure drops though. Can’t think of any of my Canberra acquaintances with RA but that’s not to say that there aren’t lots of folk there with it. Disadvantage of Canberra I guess is winter, and it can be very chilly although it usually gets above 10C during the day even if the nights are -7C

Another selfish independent old chook here too and one who encouraged independence in my boys as they were growing up (nothing like giving them hints on their birthdays like a Jamie Oliver cookbook, a frying pan, a set of good kitchen knives etc). They’ve both done their thing, same as I did mine. I’m afraid I went overseas without a thought for my parents and, they, in their turn, sort of expected it of me. They shaped their lives to meet their needs and that was cool with me. That we chose to come and care for them in their last years irritated my demented mother considerably but my more rational dad was essentially grateful that he was able to keep mum at home as long as we did and now he spends his life dozing in his chair and looking out on his garden, waiting for his end of days. I wouldn’t expect my kids to do what we have done and, to be fair, my parents didn’t expect it of us either, it was our choice (not necessarily one I would recommend to the faint hearted). One of our boys now lives in our house - which suits us as it’s not rentable, having only been half renovated but he will be out on his ear when we return. Bottom line you only have one life and you do with it what you choose - I wouldn’t be shaping my life to accommodate my kids once they’ve done with school. If we had wanted to go, we’d have gone (we didn’t at that time) and they would have had the choice to stay or come with us. Interesting that the only guilting we got about our current pathway was from the (now ex) daughter in law who thought we were ignoring the needs of the granddaughters! As we now have grandkids on both sides of the world, there would be no solution to that. I do like the saying from The Exotic Marigold Hotel - it’ll all be alright in the end and if it is not alright then it is not the end. (Sunday morning waffle over!)

I think the point is that so many days have beautiful clear blue skies that you don’t have to go and hunt for them, so many pics just happen to have the beautiful blue skies. It seems that the Pom psyche is that if you have a fabulous week but on one afternoon the clouds roll in then that is automatically labelled a “crap week” . I’m looking at Canberra at the moment - there have been some ripped storms there this past few weeks by the look of the radar app. And when it rains in Canberra it’s not the gentle Pommy mizzle, everything gets sodden. Good for the dams though, they must nearly be topping out now.

Was it Piers Corbyn. Generally those meteorological prognosticators get it right maybe once every couple of decades. Like the broken clock it’ll be right twice a day

This was yesterday at Bury’s Christmas Markets (before crowds) - been some lovely days recently and there’s onl6 a few fluffy clouds about now.

Covered elsewhere quite often. Bottom line, after 32 years I still didn’t “belong” and I did everything that they tell you to do - work, join groups, volunteer, get more education etc etc. There was nothing magical about it for our family. The kids did much the same as my friends’ kids have done in UK. My family will be forever split as one son cannot leave Australia (but he dislikes the summer heat and bugs and would leave if he didn’t have family responsibilities) the other son came to UK for a holiday over 15 years ago and never returned. He’s got a great career, lots of travel, home of his own, wife and child. My grandkids will never live in the same country. We came on holiday 6 years ago and my previously highly resisting Aussie husband said “we can’t possibly leave your parents” so we never went back. Mum died earlier this year but dad is still hanging on at 93. I’ve been back for a couple of holidays and now I no longer vomit at the prospect but I have promised to return when dad dies but I feel life is very two dimensional when I am there but here it is full to the brim (just back from day out at a Christmas Market but it was a toss up whether I did a craft show instead). My soul is alive here, there I just mark time. I miss real green, the countryside changing, the variety of just about everything, pleasant seasons etc. It’ll be interesting to see how long I last when I get back I guess but sanity hits will be built in. My kids know that I will not be trekking around after them and they are free to go wherever they want. Skype grandparenting sucks but if you aren’t enmeshed it’s ok.

So how is she going to get into Australia? Is she going to lie to DIBP and say she’s going to be a tourist? Why not get the offshore CPV?

She might be able to get a career break from a public service job and there is a 2 year visa for young people going to UK if she is under 30 or if she has a UK born grandparent then the Ancestry visa is a doddle

Could your partner not come and live with you in UK to get the cohabitation requirements out of the way then apply for a de facto? Might be quicker in the long run and you don’t run the risk of being turned back at the border. Lying to DIBP about your intentions is never a smart move.

Things that are not deemed necessary according to the schedule - things like joint replacements, gall bladder removals and someone on another board reported that a biopsy for potential cancer wasn’t included. It’s pretty much what falls into the elective surgery basket. You never know and what you might think necessary often isn’t what the schedule thinks is necessary.

Not so much the health issues passing the medical but the health issues which wouldn’t be covered by Medicare. Talk to an agent definitely. There is always a risk when arriving on a tourist visa and lying about your intentions to be a tourist.

I walked into town today and had to take my light cardigan off, it was too hot - and my track pants, lightly fleecy were too hot I would have ripped them off if I’d have had some shorts to replace them with!

Nah! Not at all true. Last week was the first time in 6 years my husband actually cancelled an appointment because it was raining. He cycles everywhere and though he has got a bit wet once or twice riding home from the gym that’s about it. I’ve deferred my walk maybe half a dozen times in those 6 years because of the weather but a few of those times have been “threat” of the weather rather than actual weather. I’ve been caught in the rain a few times but nothing outstanding. We’ve had a nice summer, I haven’t needed a cardigan at all and even now I haven’t got my fleece out. The weather is great for walking, you can leave the house at 10am and not be baked by 10:15 so I am enjoying not having to have left the house by 6am for a 2 hour walk. We’ve had a few nights where it’s been too hot to sleep comfortably but nothing like a regular Aussie summer thank heavens - I haven’t needed to have a cold shower and sleep on the damp towel in the middle of the night yet. I think the Poms just don’t have anything else to whinge about so they moan about the weather all the time.

You can’t.

My first thought, too, was that what you are experiencing is someone with dementia. All the signs are there unfortunately. Can you move? I think that might be the safest solution to your problems. If he does have dementia then no intervention or rationalisation is going to work because he likely lacks the capacity to comprehend what he is doing is inappropriate and he won’t remember that he has been asked/told to do things differently. If he doesn’t have dementia then his behaviour is sociopathic with loss of inhibitors which is equally concerning.