Nice people thread part 7 - a thread in its prime

lostinrates

Generali,

Now that you have set the future in oz and my hopes of you opening a restaurant in the south of France are dashed, os that still a dream? Could that take the oz slant?

chewmylegoff

Generali wrote: »

I miss Waitrose.

The fresh food in Aussie supermarkets is generally quite a bit better than the food in British ones, albeit at a price. Most veg will grow year round in one part of Australia or another with the assistance of poly tunnels to extend the season and keep the pests off.

The selection of pre-cooked/pre-prepared stuff is terrible though: super expensive and the quality is terrible too.

Australian sausages (at least the ones you can get in coles / woolies) have to be the worst in the world as well. For a country that prides itself on BBQ culture they really need to sort that out. Beef sausages....!!!!!!?

Generali

lostinrates wrote: »

Generali,

Now that you have set the future in oz and my hopes of you opening a restaurant in the south of France are dashed, os that still a dream? Could that take the oz slant?

France could be on the cards when the Generlissimos finish school. I'd quite like to start a farm over here though, I think that might well be where the big money in Aus is going to be in the future. Aussie farming already competes with no subsidies, excluding the implicit subsidy on water. I think we'll be the breadbasket of Asia before too long, especially as China and India seem determined to poison their own water supplies.

chewmylegoff wrote: »

Australian sausages (at least the ones you can get in coles / woolies) have to be the worst in the world as well. For a country that prides itself on BBQ culture they really need to sort that out. Beef sausages....!!!!!!?

You can get decent-ish snags here from the butcher, proper pork ones. To my English palate they taste weird without the rusk in them even if that is just added as cheap filler!

Nikkster

_party_ Happy Belated Birthday GBD!:beer:

GDB2222

Thank you to everyone wishing me happy birthday.

LydiaJ

michaels wrote: »

Brilliant, Herts would be a great place for such a nice guy...

Congrats to James. Lovely to hear such promising news.

PasturesNew wrote: »

Being accessible to a hospital is high on my "house once I am over 60 and move" list.

I agree about that. Also, when I am retired I want to live somewhere where, if necessary, I can do all the bits of my everyday life without driving. I know one couple in their 70s/80s who live in the country, with poor public transport, and nowhere suitable for "main groceries shopping" nearer than 10 miles away. It's OK for now, because he drives, although she doesn't. But what if something happens to him and he becomes unable to drive? :eek:

I'd also be looking for a place that would be easy to manage even if mobility becomes a little more difficult. I know when my mum was ill and my dad was caring, it was harder for them both because their house is split level. They weren't really thinking about the difficulties they'd experience in their 80s when they bought the house, though - she was only 29 when they bought it, and he had just turned 33. But of course by the time one of you is ill or has impaired mobility, moving feels like a huge hurdle that you don't want to have to deal with.

GDB2222 wrote: »

Thank you to everyone wishing me happy birthday.

Can I squeeze in a happy birthday wish that's even more belated than everyone else's, please?

zagubov

SingleSue wrote: »

James now has an offer from his 2nd choice uni. ..Herts. He also received a call from Bucks about his EDS.

That's great news, Sue. :beer:
I hope he gets good offers from places he'd enjoy studying at.

PasturesNew

If I keep living .... then I know the next house I buy will only be home until I am MAX 65. I know that by then I will want to move into a manageable house, surrounded by access to services, people, shops. All on one level probably .... if problems occur then you've not time to make the changes necessary. Need to be prepared, in the right type of housing, to settle down and become part of the local street scene before it's too late and you're trapped in the wrong house, unable to even reach the loo unaided.

Spirit_2

PasturesNew wrote: »

If I keep living .... then I know the next house I buy will only be home until I am MAX 65. I know that by then I will want to move into a manageable house, surrounded by access to services, people, shops. All on one level probably .... if problems occur then you've not time to make the changes necessary. Need to be prepared, in the right type of housing, to settle down and become part of the local street scene before it's too late and you're trapped in the wrong house, unable to even reach the loo unaided.

As the transaction costs of house buying & selling are so high would it make sense to buy your 'forever home' as your next property rather than waiting until you are 65?

You will have longer to build up a network and settle in to the community.

Generali

I went to a conference/training thing today put on by a broker.

It was very interesting, lunch was excellent if let down a bit by some terrible wine and I found out lots of useful stuff about derivatives.

Possibly the least useful thing I discovered was that the Indian stock market index (their version of the DJIA or the FTSE 100) is the NIFTY 50. It's one of the great financial acronyms, up there with POO (price of oil).