The totally off-topic thread

[Bindibuys]

I would love to be able to walk/ride to work, but distance - 23km is just a bit too far for these old legs. Plus I have a torn meniscus according to last weeks MRI, so surgery needed on my knee. Plenty of acarage for parking.

 

[Denali]

It's taken me two years to be on par with the pay from my previous, part time job, purely because that job had awesome salary packaging and this one requires sacrifice into my super. Overall this job wins hands down but its a long slog.

I know it doesnt help but the long slog will pay out eventually.

I remember we use to prop up our bed with a besser brick because we (I) was saving for the bed we wanted. Now we look back and wonder why we put up with it for so long but back when we were starting out, $3.5K was a lot of money. Now hes going to build me a new house, Im sure he misses the $3K purchase days

 

[Denali]

Just got this, nice to see a new hotel in Christchurch

 

[Katie]

May be a bit on topic, but I only have one more hotel booking to make, and our April holiday (2018) will be all organised. Yay! The Accor website kept crashing on me last night as I tried to book a room at the Bangkok airport Novotel for our daytime 10.5hr layover.

 

[RooFlyer]

One more booking for my April trip too! Also Accor

 

[Denali]

All I got to book is car hire.

Although apparently Hilton has a 20% disc sale Tues onwards so was going to compare pricing V current bookings.

 

[Flying mermaid]

And my September holiday was completely booked months ago. Yes I know - too much time on my hands and do things way too early.

 

[Pushka]

I’d dedicated today to complete all our train bookings and vaporetto for May. It’s our 40th wedding anniversary present to be in Paris on the day. Yesterday MrP was looking at celebrations for a 40th and thought we’d trumped them all with Paris. And have booked a private Champagne tour in Reims on the day.

 

[Pushka]

By memory, nurses get to sal sac for their health fund premiums? There was a small cache for health industry workers, cant remember exactly what as its not my industry.

If nurses can salary sacrifice then everyone can in that organisation. So not a nurse benefit as such. They need much more assistance than that.

 

[Cossie]

By memory, nurses get to sal sac for their health fund premiums? There was a small cache for health industry workers, cant remember exactly what as its not my industry.

I guess that would depend where and how they are employed and under which award. Here in Canberra at TCH, hospital employees, not just nurses have access to their own carparks with boom gates to open and close and it is free.
There still can be issues with parking there, it can be a cold walk at 630am in a cold Canberra winter to the main complex.

It used to be all open, but people that worked/visited nearby Woden town centre and offices were parking there and walking 10 to 15 minutes to avoid paying after paid parking was introduced at the town centre.

There are always some that will spoil it for others.

 

[JohnK]

Ah JohnK. They obviously were affected by and were missing your positive thoughts!

Nah. The paper over the cracks of our fickle batting shone through again. We have a great bowling attack but poor batting line-up that relies heavily on one batsman.

By the way my thoughts are not negative. They are reality.

Shame the series has now been ruined with Rabada out for next 2 tests. Is Steyn back?

 

[Cossie]

May be a bit on topic, but I only have one more hotel booking to make, and our April holiday (2018) will be all organised. Yay! The Accor website kept crashing on me last night as I tried to book a room at the Bangkok airport Novotel for our daytime 10.5hr layover.

Last time we stayed there (August last year) they had done a way with the day rate and you had 24 hours room access from when you booked in, guess they make more money this way. Anyway you may already know this.

P.S., the Accor, Mercure, Sofitel website is cough, imo.

 

[Flying mermaid]

I guess that would depend where and how they are employed and under which award..

there are some perks which are not award based, but are a function of working for a charity or a benenvolent organisation like a hospital. Ms FM’s husband works as a gardener/landscaper for a charity and Dr FM works ina hospital. They both get a level of benefits that come out of pretaxed income and are FBT free. E..g both can claim rent/mortgage payments and Dr FM can claim entertainment. Not sure of all the details, but they effectively get a certain amount pretax and can then use it up and provide receipts. Ms FM’s husband gets the pretax amount paid onto a card which can then be used to buy things e.g. groceries and he just needs to make sure it is all spent by 31 March.

 

[drron]

I have to pay for parking as well.An insignificant amount but I have both scots and jewish ancestors so I walk to work.
All right I do it because I need the exercise.

 

[blackcat20]

The problem where I work is the uni buys the parking from the hospital then onsells it to us at double the price

 

[JohnK]

I’d dedicated today to complete all our train bookings and vaporetto for May.

So many things to book so little time. Need a full time travel administrator.

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

So my new rain gauge is in situ and it is still raining - 5mm yesterday and 10mm today

 

[RooFlyer]

I’d dedicated today to complete all our train bookings and vaporetto for May. It’s our 40th wedding anniversary present to be in Paris on the day. Yesterday MrP was looking at celebrations for a 40th and thought we’d trumped them all with Paris. And have booked a private Champagne tour in Reims on the day.

Fabulous! Not expecting any sharing of those days - just concentrate on the matters at hand - which type of Champagne, shall we have another? <rhetorical>, how many grapes shall we get peeled?, which chokkies (if you are into that) etc

 

[Quickstatus]

If nurses can salary sacrifice then everyone can in that organisation. So not a nurse benefit as such. They need much more assistance than that.

salary sacrifice is available for non profits/ public agencies only I think

But its like giving food stamps to the lowly paid to help them make ends meet.

Why not just make it free for employees. In health care there are many who struggle to make ends meet and have to travel far to work.

 

[RooFlyer]

Shame the series has now been ruined with Rabada out for next 2 tests. Is Steyn back?

Notwithstanding he displayed the most ugly behaviour of the series? So the absence of a sledger and some-one who actually contacts some-one from the other side "ruins the series", but some-one like Warner, who lost his cool (but that's all) when some-one vilely insulted his wife, should be rubbed out?

Very, very strange priorities there.