The totally off-topic thread

[Denali]

Congrats on baby, John! And I hope your wife is doing better and all will soon be home.

 

[beefarmer]

Except at the Battle of Vienna it was indeed the Poles who launched the deciding attack and it is the Anniversary of that battle we are talking about.

PS-I declare an interest as an honorary Polish Citizen with a neice who has just obtained her Polish passport.

Jaksze masz wobus? Dzien dobry.

 

[andye]

Congrats John K. Hope all well for you and family.

 

[TheEmu]

And today also marks the 333 year anniversary of the Battle of Vienna.

Last time I checked the Croats did the heavy lifting against the Mongols and Turks.

But hey if the White Croats want to grab all the glory...

Except at the Battle of Vienna it was indeed the Poles who launched the deciding attack and it is the Anniversary of that battle we are talking about.

PS-I declare an interest as an honorary Polish Citizen with a neice who has just obtained her Polish passport.

Very much a Christian Coalition victory led by the Polish King with a dominant number of Polish soldiers from all that I've read on it.

 

[Pushka]

Anyone with Telstra shares in their super fund going to participate in the buy back?

 

[RAM]

Congrats JohnK, may she always put a smile on your face.

Especially as your wallet lightens its load while she smiles and asks...

 

[RAM]

Anyone with Telstra shares in their super fund going to participate in the buy back?

Buy backs like this I approach in the tried and tested financial way (with thanks to the Dirty Harry screen writer): "Do I feel lucky?"

The questions I have asked myself were:

• Does the NBN severely limit Telstra's competitive advantage in the future (loss of ownership of customer network)?
• Does the Fed Govt have the power to do whatever it takes to ensure the NBN makes money (at Telcos' expense)?
• Does the enforced retail/wholesale regime bite even more once it has lost the 'customer' ownership?
• Does Telstra have a good or bad record in expanding into 'new opportunities' where there is existing competition?
• Can technological advances take the pricing power away from Telcos (and Telstra in particular)?
• Can I make good use of the cash somewhere else?
• Do I spin the roulette wheel one more time on Telstra?

Answer those questions, while sitting sown with a pen and paper writing down your answers, when you can have a think uninterrupted.

Whatever the outcome - keep/file the page and refer back to it in the future and ask yourself; "What's changed?"

Before you think about those questions have a VERY close look at the maths behind the buyback and your likely tax rate to see exactly how it stacks up.

Nobody makes the best decision every time - but writing down your reasoning and reviewing it for ongoing financial decisions at least gives you the chance of not (necessarily) recreating history. People's memory of bad decisions seem to fade rapidly while 'good' decisions stay front of mind.

Something about human nature....

 

[Pushka]

Buy backs like this I approach in the tried and tested financial way (with thanks to the Dirty Harry screen writer): "Do I feel lucky?"

The questions I have asked myself were:

• Does the NBN severely limit Telstra's competitive advantage in the future (loss of ownership of customer network)?
• Does the Fed Govt have the power to do whatever it takes to ensure the NBN makes money (at Telcos' expense)?
• Does the enforced retail/wholesale regime bite even more once it has lost the 'customer' ownership?
• Does Telstra have a good or bad record in expanding into 'new opportunities' where there is existing competition?
• Can technological advances take the pricing power away from Telcos (and Telstra in particular)?
• Can I make good use of the cash somewhere else?
• Do I spin the roulette wheel one more time on Telstra?

Answer those questions, while sitting sown with a pen and paper writing down your answers, when you can have a think uninterrupted.

Whatever the outcome - keep/file the page and refer back to it in the future and ask yourself; "What's changed?"

Before you think about those questions have a VERY close look at the maths behind the buyback and your likely tax rate to see exactly how it stacks up.

Nobody makes the best decision every time - but writing down your reasoning and reviewing it for ongoing financial decisions at least gives you the chance of not (necessarily) recreating history. People's memory of bad decisions seem to fade rapidly while 'good' decisions stay front of mind.

Something about human nature....

We are in a zero tax regime as our Super Fund is in pension mode. So it seems to be upside for us.

 

[coco50]

Walking down Bourbon St in a jazz parade last year, we went past a woman with a typewrite offering to write cough for you then and there.

You don't need to write cough on Bourbon Street - you can participate in it or actually be cough. I would prefer to be in Pat O'Brien's sipping a "Hurricane"

 

[Denali]

Ill be honest, I dont get this whole NBN thing.

My mum is in her 80s and was basically forced to have it installed into her house, her electricity bill went up because of it and she doesnt have internet, email, wifi or foxtel.

Oh and the kicker. When he installed the box, he didnt install it near a power point so she had this power cord running through the room and then paid for an electrician to come back and install a closer power point.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

One of my contacts in KF call ctr in SIN thinks she might like a change of scenery and try her luck at working in Australia - maybe looking for something in admin / customer service / paralegal (her words) - I seriously have no clue in which direction to head her first - anybody on board with any suggestions pls?

 

[coco50]

Ill be honest, I dont get this whole NBN thing.

My mum is in her 80s and was basically forced to have it installed into her house, her electricity bill went up because of it and she doesnt have internet, email, wifi or foxtel.

Oh and the kicker. When he installed the box, he didnt install it near a power point so she had this power cord running through the room and then paid for an electrician to come back and install a closer power point.

This sounds to me like eskimos buying ice. Another monumental stuff-up initiated by the member for Wentworth.

 

[andye]

I think it's becoming clearer that the member for Wentworth hasn't any control over the policies he promotes

 

[Flying mermaid]

Anyone with Telstra shares in their super fund going to participate in the buy back?

Nope - I did last time and I think I ended up worse off than just selling on market. Bit over the buybacks thing - just happy to hang on to what I have. Trying not to look at the market today .

 

[Pushka]

Nope - I did last time and I think I ended up worse off than just selling on market. Bit over the buybacks thing - just happy to hang on to what I have. Trying not to look at the market today .

It is grim.
My accountant said the imputation credit would be beneficial for a super fund.

 

[QF WP]

That's the beauty of him making good of a bad situation. It gets easier and he has a driving passion to stop others going through what his wife went through.

I had a client also from ADL who died at 39 from Stage 4 Colorectal cancer. She was pregnant with their 2nd child when it was discovered - by the sonographer at the 18 week scan. Jodi's situation reminds me of my client. I keep the last series of texts from her on my phone as a reminder...

Met Nick Lee today, re: Home - Jodi Lee Foundation

I wonder how someone can talk about your spouse passing every day, looking at their videos every day. I cant imagine it.

I wonder how a person moves on at some point.

 

[rogerkambah]

It is grim.

Second bit of bad news for the day.

 

[love_the_life]

Second bit of bad news for the day.

That's not your health that's the bit of bad news is it?

 

[QF WP]

Good to finally catch up on 5 or 6 days of reading the TOTT thread.

Congratulations JohnK (and most importantly Mrs JohnK) on the safe arrival of MissJohnK . Trust the the post-birth issues are getting sorted. Not unusual for them to choose their time of arrival, sometimes it's out of our control.

I had a daughter first - ah, your life will never be the same

 

[Pushka]

Second bit of bad news for the day.

Health? Best wishes.