The totally off-topic thread

[Will]

Correct. When not dealing with toadies from the moribund state government work is good. Reasonable working conditions, good conference leave and allowances (hence my love of travel and all things AFF ).Not sure what will happen when the dreaded "4hour rule" comes in !

Hmmm - I had to fight for conference leave in Victoria; in Queensland it seems to be handed out without a second thought! But I still don't want to work for Queensland Health full-time, all things considered.

I'm having a year off for travel, and have found a good conference to assist in tax deduction ( USC Essentials of Emergency Medicine ).

I'm working with some friends who have escaped the NHS, and they tell me that the 4-hour rule has disadvantaged the inpatient units to the point that they need sub-ED level assessment units to work out what's going on with their patients! So if anything, it might make life easier for ED staff (but not more satisfying, if you care about providing comprehensive initial care)

 

[Flashback]

Yeah, the size is unbelievable. Think the Royal Easter Show + Royal Melbourne Show + Ekka then add a whole lot of beer halls. Then triple it. :shock::shock:

Super awesome fun though!!

Yeh, we walked the length of it... took a while!

 

[drron]

Hmmm - I had to fight for conference leave in Victoria; in Queensland it seems to be handed out without a second thought! But I still don't want to work for Queensland Health full-time, all things considered.

I'm having a year off for travel, and have found a good conference to assist in tax deduction ( USC Essentials of Emergency Medicine ).

I'm working with some friends who have escaped the NHS, and they tell me that the 4-hour rule has disadvantaged the inpatient units to the point that they need sub-ED level assessment units to work out what's going on with their patients! So if anything, it might make life easier for ED staff (but not more satisfying, if you care about providing comprehensive initial care)

Having worked in QLD,NSW,SA and TAS my feeling is QLD isn't too bad which is really worrying.Best to do a few locums and see what its really like first-easily available for FACEMs.Even for us physicians.

 

[samh004]

Waiting in ZQN for DJ110 to land. The airport staff have no info on it, yet BNE airport site says it's "completed". Anyone have some info on it?

It's not made it here which is worrying.

If you have info can you PM me please. It'll come straight to my inbox

FYI I'm interested as I was due to leave on DJ113 half an hour ago.

 

[oz_mark]

Waiting in ZQN for DJ110 to land. The airport staff have no info on it, yet BNE airport site says it's "completed". Anyone have some info on it?

It's not made it here which is worrying.

If you have info can you PM me please. It'll come straight to my inbox

FYI I'm interested as I was due to leave on DJ113 half an hour ago.

Due into Queenstown at 17:15

 

[samh004]

Due into Queenstown at 17:15

The airport website previously said it was due at 4:15 too. Not due if I'd trust it. And if it left on time, why is it so late. :-|

I think I may be experiencing DJ hospitality tonight as it's getting dark and there's no runway lights here.

 

[QF WP]

samh004, you're offline, so I presume that you did get away before the big light went out

 

[anat0l]

samh004, you're offline, so I presume that you did get away before the big light went out

All available data from websites are very unconvincing or inconclusive, except for BNE Airport Dep/Arr information, which gives DJ113 as "Cancelled". I guess DJ weren't willing to test the CAA's patience again w.r.t. escaping ZQN.

Looks like DJ are putting him up for the night*, hopefully better conditions tomorrow.

FWIW ZQN schedules were pretty messed up today. Very surprised that a delayed NZ ZQN-CHC flight was able to get out; the flight left very late, even if it was a mere turboprop.

* Assumed; I'm guessing the airline won't cast every pax out into the cold.

 

[samh004]

Thank you oz_mark and anat0l for the PM's. Also, to answer Lindsay, I'm still in ZQN. DJ110 diverted to Dunedin, where it still is as the airport was closed due to severe crosswinds is the official line.

As the a/c couldn't leave, those pax I believe are being bused here, but we aren't being bused there.

As much as DJ wants business travellers and to be full service, we were offered 2 hotels: Sherwood Manor is out of town near the airport and Aspen is the other way. Both would be a 20 min walk to town. Meals are nit provided as it's a weather delay, nor is transport to said accom. Slack!

We went back to our unit as no one is moving in for a bit. Not particularly impressed. I think I should make a complaint, especially as a Gold.

Staff were polite and very helpful though!!

 

[samh004]

OK, so I called Pacific Blue’s 0800 number and was on hold for 5 minutes. Hung up and called Pacific Blue again but selected a more "premium" option and a lovely lady from Australia I would presume helped me through the whole thing, she has us on a bus to CHC leaving ZQN at 0700, then arriving in CHC at 1400, DJ83 will then take us to Brisbane at 1550 and arrive at 1745.

The lady was very helpful and sorted everything out for my mum and me and it seems we’re all set, even though we’re going to be passing through an earthquake zone tomorrow, and on a bus for 7 hours.

Lovely customer service though, and the staff at the airport were also very helpful, I can’t fault them on that.

The only thing I can fault is the company’s handling of the situation, as they didn’t really offer much, and I think they really should have offered more. Meals would have been nice, and transport, especially when the airport to the city taxi ride costs ~$40 one way. They did say that’s something you can go to travel insurance with, but if you’re flying budget, what makes them think you have extra to spend on taxi rides back to town when the a/c hasn’t made it. Rhetorical.

 

[JohnK]

We went back to our unit as no one is moving in for a bit. Not particularly impressed. I think I should make a complaint, especially as a Gold.

DJ Gold? I didn't notice that one before? Now how did you get it? I am thinking it can't be a status match unless you lied through your teeth.

Does it make your DJ experience much better and are you likely to keep it past expiry date?

 

[samh004]

Does it make your DJ experience much better?

Well the fares were significantly cheaper than QF on the same route, and I have been given premium seats at the front of the plane as well as a priority line that on both occasions hasn’t had more than 1 group in front of me, which is useful in itself compared to the huge line of people next to the priority queue.

Customer service on the phone in this instance was excellent, the lady did all she could to make sure I got back home ASAP. Maybe QF would do the same, and I have nothing to compare it to at the moment, but I can’t fault them there.

As for the reason the a/c never made it, I had a similar situation leaving ZQN last time. Really the only airline here that can fly in no matter what is ANZ, all the others fail. So it wouldn’t have made a difference had I been on QF today, as I’m sure they’d have flown somewhere else too.

So yeah, to answer your question, it’s been far better so far, even with delays, though they do have a few things they need to tweak.

I have to go to bed now as Flight DJ 8003 from ZQN to CHC leaves at 0700 from the bus station outside the airport

 

[jsd]

So I am mighty tempted to squeeze in a international J lounge* run next June when I head off to CNS.

I have a $50 JQ voucher to use and I see fares for $45 next june on the MELSYD intl. Flight (JQ3? Can't recall the flight number)

It seems to fit with the other flights so why not, what are the international J lounges like???


Josh

 

[Flashback]

So I am mighty tempted to squeeze in a international J lounge* run next June when I head off to CNS.

I have a $50 JQ voucher to use and I see fares for $45 next june on the MELSYD intl. Flight (JQ3? Can't recall the flight number)

It seems to fit with the other flights so why not, what are the international J lounges like???


Josh

Slightly better than domestic, so worth doing especially out of MEL.

 

[jsd]

Slightly better than domestic, so worth doing especially out of MEL.

Sorry, I'm even confusing myself here, I was heavily sleep deprived when I typed that last night so thats my excuse

I'd be doing SYDMEL not MELSYD, whats the difference if I go from SYD instead of MEL?



Josh

 

[Bundy Bear]

Sorry, I'm even confusing myself here, I was heavily sleep deprived when I typed that last night so thats my excuse

I'd be doing SYDMEL not MELSYD, whats the difference if I go from SYD instead of MEL?



Josh

slightly better food;

JQ35 runs on Tuesdays; I guess you are looking at 6, 13 or 20 June.

International J lounge is slightly better than the regular domestic lounges, First lounge is a lot better but getting away from work during the week can be a problem, that is why the Saturday JQ35 flight is a favourite of mine.

 

[anat0l]

I was heavily sleep deprived when I typed that last night so thats my excuse

Aren't you a wee bit too young to experience sleep deprivation?

Or shall we launch into another anecdote beginning with, "You know, when I was your age......."

 

[JohnK]

Well the fares were significantly cheaper than QF on the same route, and I have been given premium seats at the front of the plane as well as a priority line that on both occasions hasn’t had more than 1 group in front of me, which is useful in itself compared to the huge line of people next to the priority queue.

Fair enough. No comment to the other questions?

 

[notzac]

Does it make your DJ experience much better and are you likely to keep it past expiry date?

Answering this one myself - having access to premium check in, decent seats and lounges makes DJ much much more comparable to QF for myself. Looking very seriously at keeping DJ Gold. Have been reasonably impressed thus far with domestic and short haul international (especially if you compare the experience for my most recent flight vs. my first few .. they are "walking the walk" in terms of service improvements).

 

[samh004]

Had the old greeting today: "welcome on board ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! I thought they were past that...?