Nice People Thread Number 10 -the official residence of Nice People

LydiaJ

Generali wrote: »

I don't know what I'd do if I had no money in this system. I think if you're on the dole or an OAP who is claiming means tested pensions then I would pay a lot less or perhaps nothing. Maybe I'd have had to rely on charity or just get treated as I saved the money up. No idea how that works TBH. I think everyone has to pay something for pretty much all treatment except for in the GP's office.

Generali wrote: »

I think in Australia we have a healthcare model that works very well. It creates good health outcomes, it's cheap and it's nice to use as a patient.

Well, it works for people who are at least reasonably well off and/or reasonably healthy. I wouldn't want to say "this system works well" without knowing what happens to those who aren't.

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Being a barrister in a Chambers is a great middle-ground. I'm responsible for all my own work, and decisions, and I like that. But there's also the clerking system and office facilities, and colleagues to talk to.

It took me a while, only ever having been a PhD student and a teacher, to realise that the level of autonomy I'd experienced in those roles wasn't universal, and that people in many other kinds of jobs get much more actively managed than I've ever had to put up with. I'm told who, when and where my classes are for the year, what the scheme of work is, and when the reports & parents' evenings will be, and then I'm left to get on with it. Probably I get observed teaching once or twice a year. Otherwise nobody checks up on what I'm doing, as long as my kids are doing reasonably well and not complaining about me.

But, a bit like in NDG's chambers, I have a desk in a big office with the other teachers of physics and chemistry, so there are people to talk to.

Nikkster

vivatifosi wrote: »

Re north facing gardens. My old house had a teeny tiny north facing garden that was:

a) bordered immediately to the west by my porch wall
b) bordered only slightly less immediately to the east by my neighbour's porch wall
c) bordered to the south and only separated by a 3ft wide path by a huge wooden fence.

It got about 1/2 an hour of direct sunlight a day, but still stuff grew there. Not just traditional shade lovers like foxgloves and bleeding heart either, but I'd chuck in other supposedly sun loving plants such as petunias and they would do fine too.

Great stuff

I'd quite like to get a bleeding heart. I think I'm going to end up getting a fair few plants that my mum had in the house where I grew up.

Edit: according to the EA my garden is 75 ft long :eek:

Generali

I too am hated by the Daily Mail.

I have signed the Generalissimos up to this:

http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/home.cfm

it sends you an email telling you when the Space Station is visible. Basically it has to be in the sun but it needs to be dark where you are.

Generali

Nikkster wrote: »

Great stuff

I'd quite like to get a bleeding heart. I think I'm going to end up getting a fair few plants that my mum had in the house where I grew up.

Edit: according to the EA my garden is 75 ft long :eek:

My experience is stuff that love sun will often grow in the shade. What really matters is when you plant stuff. Plant at the optimum time and you maximise your chances of something growing.

I subscribe to this:

http://www.gardenate.com/?zone=9

so they send me an email a couple of times a month telling me what I can plant. If I have the time and inclination I can go to the garden centre and pick up some seeds or plants at the right time.

LydiaJ

lostinrates wrote: »

Very few people stack muck or make middens now, but it makes a lot of difference, you coulde make a small midden in your carden and add your kitchen waste. Much better than compost I think.

In what way would the midden full of kitchen waste that you suggest Nikkster should make differ from a compost heap?

Nikkster wrote: »

I tried it with my best Daily Mail-friendly answers. It took me to different questions (one was are you Michael Gove?), and eventually said you are 'Ignored' by the Daily Mail. I guess that is as positive as it gets!

I thought it meant "Do you like, agree with and approve of Michael Gove?" That was the one I found it hardest to lie about when trying to see what you had to click in order not to be hated. :rotfl:

vivatifosi wrote: »

Hopefully my mum won't hate me too. She has turned into a very avid reader in recent years. I have to devote at least an hour a week to explaining why it is wrong.

My dad has never been a DM reader. He takes the Times for a while, until either the paper or the parent organisation does something that annoys him, and then he switches to the Telegraph, until either the paper or the parent organisation does something that annoys him, and then he switches to the Times, until either the paper or the parent organisation does something that annoys him, and then he switches to the Telegraph...

Nikkster

LydiaJ wrote: »

I thought it meant "Do you like, agree with and approve of Michael Gove?" That was the one I found it hardest to lie about when trying to see what you had to click in order not to be hated. :rotfl:

In fairness, my answers to 'are you Michael Gove' and ' do you agree with and approve of Michael Gove' are identical so I probably didn't dissect the question as much as I might have done.

Generali

LydiaJ wrote: »

Well, it works for people who are at least reasonably well off and/or reasonably healthy. I wouldn't want to say "this system works well" without knowing what happens to those who aren't.


.

You get to a point where you stop paying if you are sick and having continued treatment.

If you don't have much money then you seek cheaper treatment.

If you have no money at all then you need to start claiming the benefits to which you are entitled or make better choices.

If you have a system where people have to pay then people will have to pay. Australia is a rich country and there really is no reason why you shouldn't be able to come up with a few 10s of dollars now and again.

vivatifosi

Nikkster wrote: »

Great stuff

I'd quite like to get a bleeding heart. I think I'm going to end up getting a fair few plants that my mum had in the house where I grew up.

Edit: according to the EA my garden is 75 ft long :eek:

I love old fashioned garden flowers like bleeding heart. As long as they are not orange or bright yellow. Or dahlias. Or hyacinths.

I don't like dahlias because they contain earwigs. I don't like hyacinths because they look like old ladies' hats. Not that I'm opinionated you understand

Generali

Dahlias contain earwigs?

vivatifosi

Generali wrote: »

Dahlias contain earwigs?

Mine always had them in, so I stopped growing them. I'm not insect phobic, but the closest I come to being phobic is earwigs. Shaking them out if dahlias makes me gag (sorry if tmi).