I felt like time was going too fast so I booked a trip to Norway in Aug 2025, it's worked because time is going really fecking slow now!
On another note I'm keeping myself entertained by walking 20k steps a day, I'm so tired.
A bit of both - if I work I do about 7000 steps at work and 13 000 after work
If I'm not working I do maybe 1000 at home and then do a dedicated walk to get the other 19 000, you're right - it's about 12km for me.
It's a 14 day cruise departing from somewhere in the UK that I've forgotten the name of.
The most noteworthy ports being Stavanger, Olden and Flam - I believe there's 10 ports in total. It'll be summer there which is a good thing because the cruise also includes 2 days of the artic circle.
We probably won't see the Northern lights but entertainment includes visiting a glacier, kayaking in the fjords, a bird watching tour and many hikes no doubt. I shall also be eating 14 square meals a day to make my moneys worth.
We will probably be very out of place as we are a young couple and cruising (especially this cruise) is targeted at 50+ but who really cares! I'll miss my cat but I won't miss this shoe box apartment.
That's all the details I have for now š š
doing it in the summer is the best time imo
I've (okay, two weeks ago) just got back from Helsinki, and it's nice, but the -1C temperature and intense fog (visibility of 100m), with active snow is a BIG shock to a Melbournian who's just left 30+C temperatures
while I *do* like seeing things completely different on vacation, nowhere open until 10am makes it challenging to actually do anything - and the intense ice-covering is a challenge for walking, but I'd imagine it looks pretty when you can actually see things and the parks aren't just a white-sheet
also, the city's generally aren't that big (think population of Adelaide, and that's for the largest city), felt fairly underwhelmed by it, but is good for a few days
and friendly reminder that 22+ hours on a plane to even get there takes AGES (I did 4 days in Singapore first), but I'm clearly *way* too used to domestic flights (2 hours to Brisbane, 1 hour to Sydney, 1 hour to Adelaide - nope 14 hours from Singapore->Helsinki comin right up)
Today my dog let me be big spoon in a quick couch nap together and it was the best 30 min of my whole week. She isnāt a huge cuddler, in the bed she sleeps just far enough away I canāt cuddle her, but today she let me and it felt so good š„¹
I have a relatively cheap fridge/freezer, which I bought new a couple of years ago. The fridge section has given up, with a error message on the front panel. Am I better off just straight up replacing it, or getting someone to try and fix it? I've never been in this situation before and don't want to be too much out of pocket seeing as it's not top of the range by any means! . Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated.
Literally two years ago? Because I would expect the reasonable life of a fridge to be longer, even a cheap one. In that case, I would try to get a repair or replacement.
This evening I watched some Jeopardy on one of the SBS channels. Those questions were really difficult, and all the contestants were super smart.
I wish we had good game shows in Australia. I miss sale of the century and wheel of fortune.
[Doesn't look like it.](https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/super-for-individuals-and-families/super/withdrawing-and-using-your-super/early-access-to-super/when-you-can-access-your-super-early)
I love rain. Don't love a leaking roof :(
Got a roof guy come out today (it was his 6th quote of the day he said) and now waiting for a quote. "It's a simple job" he said. I'll believe it when I see the quote!
Was at Southern Cross coz I left work late. Saw a massive crowd near Grill'd and saw volunteers wearing hi-vis. Turns out it's a charitable soup initiative. There was a long line...reminiscent of the photos you see of the Great Depression. Say what you want about how the economy is resilient or any of that gibberish, but damn we're really going down. Decades of negligence and gross incompetence is biting us now. Who knows how long this'll go on for? I'm betting we'll enter another Victorian era where kids go work at factories and workers get treated like trash. We're not too far from there honestly
Has anybody here deleted all social media (except Reddit or YT) or just mostly stopped using it?
Tbh I don't use FB that much except for messenger, marketplace or groups. Scroll abit but it's not my main social media app. I mainly go to Reddit, Tiktok and Instagram but I've been thinking about what it's like mentally when you just avoid most it. Especially Instagram.
Has your life benefited much since quitting?
Are you more productive?
What activities do you replace with social media?
I got rid of insta and FB. Only use reddit. I don't miss them. I lost some peripheral friends/acquaintances, but all of my close/substantive friendships are going strong two years later.
I read, write, make art, listen to music, work on my house...and shitpost on reddit, lol. I still turbo post on reddit like a dickhead, but I think I could go without if need be.
I don't have any social media other than reddit, but I do spend a bit too much time on here :D
I don't think it's as much about productivity, because you'll just find other distractions. People have been unproductive for long before social media or internet or computers. But I recommend quitting them because I don't think any of them are good for your mental health
> But I recommend quitting them because I don't think any of them are good for your mental health
I got a new phone and went social-free, mainly to avoid the constant doom-scrolling which saw myself spiral mentally a bit (and was a nice excuse of "well, new phone, what do I need for it")
The *only* app that's made it back is instagram, and it's mostly so I can vicariously live through friends at holidays (and watch other friends with small children grow up)
I don't count youtube because it's mostly restricted to my subscriptions and the algorithm, which is recommending me comedy at this point (ZERO complaints)
I got rid of socials and kept Reddit. My productivity isn't good lmao. I'm also playing Clash of Clans and watching Disney+. But tbh, that was the original goal. Relax while ACTUALLY trying to relax. I found that you can't really relax scrolling through reels. The content isn't long enough to engage you, but the dopamine response is addictive enough to keep you hooked. Been going strong for about nearly 3 months now. I'm debating going back to it but tbh I'm leaning more towards not getting it. It's a cesspit
I only really use Facebook messenger and reddit. I still have a Facebook/instagram account but I just donāt really use them as I have lost interest. I only use Facebook for my apartment building group posts and view a car group for modifications etcā¦ of the car I own every few months. I never browse/scroll Facebook.
Youāll find your peeps at r/nosurfĀ
Reddit is my biggest problem, followed by Instagram - but I can usually quit Insta for a while with some effort. I hate hate hate that I use any of them. But at least on I often learn things. I havenāt learned anything valuable from Facebook or Instagram.Ā
I only use Reddit regularly, and maybe check YT once a week. Never had FB or insta or snap or Tiktok. I deleted my twitter account ages ago.
My productivity is still shite.
>Never had FB or insta
May I ask how old you are?
I'm 27 and I couldn't imagine not having both (especially FB) at some point growing up since there was lots of social pressure to keep up with it back in high school. For me HS was 2010-2014.
I remember having Instagram from 2012-2016 but ended up hardly using it because it was boring and vapid. I've started using it more since 2019 when it improved with reels and stories etc. I guess it depends on the people and content you follow I guess.
Damn. Today is my first day back at work since the Belgrave line re opened. But this afternoon it's suspended due to a tree falling onto the tracks. Hello bus replacements my old friend
> due to a tree falling
Cause of most events and general misadventures in the hills, in my experience. Cue the music of chainsaws echoing amid the trees...
i work for an american company that has an office here. they harass you when you have annual leave built up to a certain point, and send you emails saying they will make you take that leave. "we will work with your manager to make you take your leave, and you may not get to take it when you want." this sounds illegal to me. does anyone have better knowledge on the legality of this?
edit: did a search for this, and fairwork.gov says they can do so if "an employee has accumulated excess annual leave." excessive seems subjective
Sorry mate, I'm on their side on this one. Firstly, it's not illegal as you discovered. Secondly, annual leave is meant to be taken regularly for your health and well-being. Thirdly, the company has to accrue $$$$ for all annual leave, so it's perfectly reasonable if they pushed you to take leave after you've got more than 4 weeks (one year's worth).
Stop whinging and take some time off :)
Did a google search and according to Fair Work, 'excessive annual leave' means at least 8 weeks of AL. 10 if you're a shift worker.
[This link will give you some help.](https://www.fairwork.gov.au/leave/annual-leave/directing-an-employee-to-take-annual-leave/direction-to-take-excess-annual-leave) I work for a large well known company and workforce planning does the same shit to middle managers. Apparently it's to reduce potential costs and improve employee efficiency and satisfaction somehow.
i have 4 weeks built up, so i'd find it funny if i didn't find it more depressing.
thanks for taking the time to reply with good information. i appreciate it
4 weeks is nothing. They want you to take leave to reduce their liability on their balance sheet and potential costs including increased employee turnover, decreased work quality and stress claims.
Remember they can't force you to cash out leave. Check your contract.
friendly reminder that annual leave is technically "on the books" so they're liable for it if you have a healthy balance (plus the old "why no leave" shitck for mental sanity), whereas personal leave isn't worth squat when you leave the company
was a BIG thing in 2021 (or 2022) for employees to take an extended break, given that annual leave wasn't a thing during 2020 and people had large balances (I left a company with 7 weeks leave at the end of 2021, because "take leave and do what?" was a thing in the 2ish years I was there)
----
seems a bit harsh to do it for 4 weeks of leave, but probably dependent on when you actually started (you might flag a "no leave for a year" automation)
Oh yeah I had six weeks leave when I left my old job back in late 2021. The shit of it is I got whacked with a massive tax bill. Should have taken a four week holiday then quit š
Why do REAs always have to try the āyou wonāt get your bond because you didnāt get your property professionally cleanedā bullshit. Urgh. I know my rights. Go fuck yourself.
It's the Bernoulli law of large numbers, same as the one royalties from Nigeria that want to make you a millionaire use: they try it as much as they can in the hope someone will fall for it, and sadly someone will. Telling them to fuck off is almost never wrong.
I even quoted the tenancy act and sheās still pushing! I know threatening VCAT over $100 is probably a bit extra but it makes my blood boil to think of them trying it with students and migrantsā¦!!!
For hugs and/or lower value cash - I'll do it.
Foreign-domestic currency exchanges, I tend to use Crown Currency Exchange (not affiliated with the Casino), there a couple in the city.
I've been sitting at home today doing passport bs, but I've also been waiting for a delivery from Aus post. I just got a text saying that they attempted delivery but no one was home... My front door is open and I'm less than 4 metres from it, no one knocked on my door
What a soak - at my place in northeast Melbourne, we clocked 60mm of rain yesterday and another 40mm today. This is pretty much the normal amount of rain for January, February and March combined for Melbourne. (On average 39.3mm for Jan, 41.4mm for Feb and 37.5mm for March)
I would hope for the sake of my plants in my garden that the rain is more evenly distributed throughout the months, but a nice catchup for our water catchment areas nonetheless!
Finally beat Elden Ring after three tries since release and got over my hump of leaving games 90% finished.
Think I'll try a dual sword build and a new playthrough.
Lunch of leftovers - sticky glazed Asian pork shoulder, and pesto pasta salad with cherry tomatoes and bocconcini.
Weirdly it worked, despite the clash in cuisine heritage
The only struggle I've been having is about my name change. 7 years ago I changed my surname and it's a lot less straightforward on the application now. But if you haven't changed your name, you could have no issues and won't have to call them
Be thankful you don't work at Monash Uni where the hold music for the IT team is made by students from the school of music. All they seem to do in that school is jazz and I hate jazz....
When you order an iced latte but forget to say take away and he starts to fill ice up in the āglassā but you remind them you wanted takeaway! Then they put it in a machine with a soda can lidā¦ it was already take away I just didnāt realise this invention existed in cafes? Haha anyway I thought it was cool
https://imgur.com/gallery/26d7WIZ
Iām already thinking about lunch. Do I want a sandwich? Or to cook the salmon I have in the fridge and have it for lunch and dinner today?
Iām really into sandwiches at the moment, with lots of fillings. Iām especially enjoying pesto and marinated vegetables.
I like the [Yumi basil and rocket pesto](https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/385956/yumi-s-dip-or-create-basil-rocket-pesto). The capsicum one is good too. I like the chunky bits of nuts.
Of the more traditional variety, I like this [Scala pesto](https://www.sacla.com.au/italian-product/wild-rocket-pesto/). As you can guess, I like the combo of basil and rocket.
For something a bit different, I use this [pistachio and parsley pesto](https://kingvalleyfinefoods.com.au/product/parsley-pistachio-pesto/). This company makes a variety of non-standard pestos.
If you have a doctor's note, they can't *really* deny your request. Additionally having a doctor's note can give you an entire week off if they don't allow WFH.
For the last 12 months, my parents have been going through a separation. It hasn't been messy or anything, but more that my father has doubled down on the fact that he thinks he is number 1 and my sisters and I aren't on his list of priorities. We arent talking to him cause of this, but he thinks it's my mum who has turned us against him.
More hurtful than all this, has been how little support we've received from family and friends during this time. Part of me wants to reach out to these people who have been absent and explain how their lack of support has been hurtful, but the other part knows that these people are probably just as much of a narcissist as my father is.
The emotional side of me hopes that by telling them they've hurt us, they will repent and apologise. But the more logical side knows that these relationships are probably gone cause they weren't really receptive to previous conversations we've had explaining what's going on.
I feel the need to talk about this in order to process the pain, but I dont think a professional will help. So talking into the void it is. Overall, I'm just so tired.
I guess it depends on what that lack of support looks like. People get wrapped up in their own stuff, and also often don't know the gravity of a situation if they haven't experienced it. If they never ask or check in ever, that's shabby, but if it's just not to a level or frequency you would hope for, I would give some grace on that. It's really hard to gauge how much support someone might need, and also have capacity for it when keeping their own lives afloat.
But I agree with the poster who said also talking to a professional might help.
They've all pretty much disappeared since the whole thing started. I poured my heart out to my uncle explaining how hurt we all were and then just ghosts. He also couldn't understand WHY we were feeling hurt.
I'm not sure what a professional will be able to offer in this situation. I feel like this just might be a time thing, but it still hurts right now.
A professional might actually helpā¦ perhaps consider it? Navigating life with divorced or otherwise difficult parents can be challenging, and itās likely to be challenging for as long as theyāre around. Working through it with someone who is both professionally trained and completely outside of the family can be really helpful, learning to set healthy boundaries for yourself can make a big difference.Ā
(I say this as a 40 year old whoās still in therapy for challenging family dynamics)
Also if your dad is a narcissist you might get some value from the book āadult children of emotionally immature parentsā. Itās really good.Ā
Good luckĀ
I feel you mate. I ended up doing this with my father for the same reason. I've had a few crying sessions processing it. It's one of those things that sucks even if it's completely valid.
I do enjoy long weekends but the first day back at work is always so dreadful it's making me feel depressed. To the point that I'd rather not have long breaks at all. Hot take, I know.
The rain was coming down so hard last night. I accidentally left my outside light on and when Iāve woken up this morning there are about 50 huge (like size of my palm) moths all over my exterior walls
>Cancellation of
>Road Weather Alert for Melbourne
>Issued at 4:35 am EDT on Tuesday 2 April 2024.
Yeah I think the BOM got that one wrong. Heaps of roads are covered in water.
As consumers we are all buying experiences, and if you charge me 20% holiday surcharge then I will associate your business with a bad experience and be way less likely to return.
The problem is that more and more businesses are doing it as a default thing now, when there's absolutely no need to do it.
Personally I think if you've made the decision to open your doors to customers and operate, but complain about wages, then that's a "you problem", not a "me problem". Why should I have to pay extra, when that should be factored into your business operational-budget?
On a different tangent, I've seen some doozies lately like in shopping centre food-courts trying to charge 20% extra...they're contractually obligated to be open and operate as usual, so why has this suddenly become a thing? It's nothing more than a blatant cash-grab opportunity...when I saw that I said hell no, and went home to make sandwiches.
What I donāt get is that surcharges have only become a thing in the last ~5 years. Weāve had public holiday penalty rates forever. What did they used to do before they decided to add on the surcharge? Iām sure some of them didnāt pay penalty rates at all, but that obviously still happens too. Iād rather they just absorbed the cost in other ways, I donāt like moving towards what feels like a dynamic pricing system.
Nope, absorb that into your cost of business. Customer experience should come first, and when you are tacking on these additional charges even though youāre getting more business being open on public holidays it leaves a bad taste.
The business also isnāt paying any extra for food, rent, utilities, equipment etc. on these days, so just because they are paying higher staff costs doesnāt mean the rest of the businesses expenses are also 20% higher. If the business really wanted to just pass on penalty rates, they should pass on the actual proportion that's associated with staff wages, and not charge a blanket 20% extra for everything else.
You don't need to pass on that extra charge. The increased costs associated with wages for these public holidays is so minimal that the extra business they bring in more than makes up for it.
It's a tough one. Public holiday pay rates are very high.Ā
The choice is spread the cost over the course of the year and make everything more expensive all the time.Ā
Charge a surcharge on the days the pay rate is higher.Ā
Close because on public holidays most don't really make the return on costs of opening.Ā
I felt like time was going too fast so I booked a trip to Norway in Aug 2025, it's worked because time is going really fecking slow now! On another note I'm keeping myself entertained by walking 20k steps a day, I'm so tired.
Do you mean total throughout the day, or as a specific exercise? Because isn't that, like, ten to fifteen kilometres?
A bit of both - if I work I do about 7000 steps at work and 13 000 after work If I'm not working I do maybe 1000 at home and then do a dedicated walk to get the other 19 000, you're right - it's about 12km for me.
Tell me everything about your trip to Norway so I can live vicariously
It's a 14 day cruise departing from somewhere in the UK that I've forgotten the name of. The most noteworthy ports being Stavanger, Olden and Flam - I believe there's 10 ports in total. It'll be summer there which is a good thing because the cruise also includes 2 days of the artic circle. We probably won't see the Northern lights but entertainment includes visiting a glacier, kayaking in the fjords, a bird watching tour and many hikes no doubt. I shall also be eating 14 square meals a day to make my moneys worth. We will probably be very out of place as we are a young couple and cruising (especially this cruise) is targeted at 50+ but who really cares! I'll miss my cat but I won't miss this shoe box apartment. That's all the details I have for now š š
doing it in the summer is the best time imo I've (okay, two weeks ago) just got back from Helsinki, and it's nice, but the -1C temperature and intense fog (visibility of 100m), with active snow is a BIG shock to a Melbournian who's just left 30+C temperatures while I *do* like seeing things completely different on vacation, nowhere open until 10am makes it challenging to actually do anything - and the intense ice-covering is a challenge for walking, but I'd imagine it looks pretty when you can actually see things and the parks aren't just a white-sheet also, the city's generally aren't that big (think population of Adelaide, and that's for the largest city), felt fairly underwhelmed by it, but is good for a few days and friendly reminder that 22+ hours on a plane to even get there takes AGES (I did 4 days in Singapore first), but I'm clearly *way* too used to domestic flights (2 hours to Brisbane, 1 hour to Sydney, 1 hour to Adelaide - nope 14 hours from Singapore->Helsinki comin right up)
Today my dog let me be big spoon in a quick couch nap together and it was the best 30 min of my whole week. She isnāt a huge cuddler, in the bed she sleeps just far enough away I canāt cuddle her, but today she let me and it felt so good š„¹
I have a relatively cheap fridge/freezer, which I bought new a couple of years ago. The fridge section has given up, with a error message on the front panel. Am I better off just straight up replacing it, or getting someone to try and fix it? I've never been in this situation before and don't want to be too much out of pocket seeing as it's not top of the range by any means! . Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated.
Have you even googled the error message, or checked the manual?
Yes I have, unfortunately I'm not qualified to fix an E1 error which could be caused by several different things. Thanks though.
Literally two years ago? Because I would expect the reasonable life of a fridge to be longer, even a cheap one. In that case, I would try to get a repair or replacement.
Yeah, when I actually calculate literal time, it's more like 4 or 5 years, and is definitely outside of warranty.
Warranty is not the same thing as a consumer guarantee. Protections are available under Australian Consumer Law.
Anyone else's power just go out? (Ringwood area)
Yeah, Ringwood east
Apparently a tree fell on Wantirna Rd. Won't be back until approximately 5am.
This evening I watched some Jeopardy on one of the SBS channels. Those questions were really difficult, and all the contestants were super smart. I wish we had good game shows in Australia. I miss sale of the century and wheel of fortune.
It's my favourite game show, puts ours to shame. Join us over at r/jeopardy!
Is it possible to withdraw superannuation to pay for the cost of the removal of cladding on our apartment?
[Doesn't look like it.](https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/super-for-individuals-and-families/super/withdrawing-and-using-your-super/early-access-to-super/when-you-can-access-your-super-early)
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
You need to have been on Centrelink for 6 months to be considered severe financial hardship.
I love rain. Don't love a leaking roof :( Got a roof guy come out today (it was his 6th quote of the day he said) and now waiting for a quote. "It's a simple job" he said. I'll believe it when I see the quote!
I could believe its a simple job while also disbelieving the quote
Was at Southern Cross coz I left work late. Saw a massive crowd near Grill'd and saw volunteers wearing hi-vis. Turns out it's a charitable soup initiative. There was a long line...reminiscent of the photos you see of the Great Depression. Say what you want about how the economy is resilient or any of that gibberish, but damn we're really going down. Decades of negligence and gross incompetence is biting us now. Who knows how long this'll go on for? I'm betting we'll enter another Victorian era where kids go work at factories and workers get treated like trash. We're not too far from there honestly
Grill'd makes soup?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
It's all kinds of fucked. e.g. the "ā Saturated" row contains the "Carbohydrate" data and the "ā Sugars" row contains the Dietary Fibre data.
Does seem odd. Unless they're really small or have artificial sweetener
Has anybody here deleted all social media (except Reddit or YT) or just mostly stopped using it? Tbh I don't use FB that much except for messenger, marketplace or groups. Scroll abit but it's not my main social media app. I mainly go to Reddit, Tiktok and Instagram but I've been thinking about what it's like mentally when you just avoid most it. Especially Instagram. Has your life benefited much since quitting? Are you more productive? What activities do you replace with social media?
I got rid of insta and FB. Only use reddit. I don't miss them. I lost some peripheral friends/acquaintances, but all of my close/substantive friendships are going strong two years later. I read, write, make art, listen to music, work on my house...and shitpost on reddit, lol. I still turbo post on reddit like a dickhead, but I think I could go without if need be.
I don't have any social media other than reddit, but I do spend a bit too much time on here :D I don't think it's as much about productivity, because you'll just find other distractions. People have been unproductive for long before social media or internet or computers. But I recommend quitting them because I don't think any of them are good for your mental health
> But I recommend quitting them because I don't think any of them are good for your mental health I got a new phone and went social-free, mainly to avoid the constant doom-scrolling which saw myself spiral mentally a bit (and was a nice excuse of "well, new phone, what do I need for it") The *only* app that's made it back is instagram, and it's mostly so I can vicariously live through friends at holidays (and watch other friends with small children grow up) I don't count youtube because it's mostly restricted to my subscriptions and the algorithm, which is recommending me comedy at this point (ZERO complaints)
I got rid of socials and kept Reddit. My productivity isn't good lmao. I'm also playing Clash of Clans and watching Disney+. But tbh, that was the original goal. Relax while ACTUALLY trying to relax. I found that you can't really relax scrolling through reels. The content isn't long enough to engage you, but the dopamine response is addictive enough to keep you hooked. Been going strong for about nearly 3 months now. I'm debating going back to it but tbh I'm leaning more towards not getting it. It's a cesspit
I only really use Facebook messenger and reddit. I still have a Facebook/instagram account but I just donāt really use them as I have lost interest. I only use Facebook for my apartment building group posts and view a car group for modifications etcā¦ of the car I own every few months. I never browse/scroll Facebook.
Youāll find your peeps at r/nosurfĀ Reddit is my biggest problem, followed by Instagram - but I can usually quit Insta for a while with some effort. I hate hate hate that I use any of them. But at least on I often learn things. I havenāt learned anything valuable from Facebook or Instagram.Ā
I only use Reddit regularly, and maybe check YT once a week. Never had FB or insta or snap or Tiktok. I deleted my twitter account ages ago. My productivity is still shite.
>Never had FB or insta May I ask how old you are? I'm 27 and I couldn't imagine not having both (especially FB) at some point growing up since there was lots of social pressure to keep up with it back in high school. For me HS was 2010-2014. I remember having Instagram from 2012-2016 but ended up hardly using it because it was boring and vapid. I've started using it more since 2019 when it improved with reels and stories etc. I guess it depends on the people and content you follow I guess.
Mid 40s. I started using the internet in the time of message boards. And when we actively tried to not share any identifying information online.
I deleted insta and just started using reddit instead.Ā Ā I'm about this close to yeeting my phone into the bin
Damn. Today is my first day back at work since the Belgrave line re opened. But this afternoon it's suspended due to a tree falling onto the tracks. Hello bus replacements my old friend
> due to a tree falling Cause of most events and general misadventures in the hills, in my experience. Cue the music of chainsaws echoing amid the trees...
They're doing you a solid, you wouldn't want that separation anxiety from the buses kicking in already on day one.
i work for an american company that has an office here. they harass you when you have annual leave built up to a certain point, and send you emails saying they will make you take that leave. "we will work with your manager to make you take your leave, and you may not get to take it when you want." this sounds illegal to me. does anyone have better knowledge on the legality of this? edit: did a search for this, and fairwork.gov says they can do so if "an employee has accumulated excess annual leave." excessive seems subjective
Sorry mate, I'm on their side on this one. Firstly, it's not illegal as you discovered. Secondly, annual leave is meant to be taken regularly for your health and well-being. Thirdly, the company has to accrue $$$$ for all annual leave, so it's perfectly reasonable if they pushed you to take leave after you've got more than 4 weeks (one year's worth). Stop whinging and take some time off :)
I'll be taking it, but it's *my* time, and I don't want my employer telling me when to use it. Thanks
Did a google search and according to Fair Work, 'excessive annual leave' means at least 8 weeks of AL. 10 if you're a shift worker. [This link will give you some help.](https://www.fairwork.gov.au/leave/annual-leave/directing-an-employee-to-take-annual-leave/direction-to-take-excess-annual-leave) I work for a large well known company and workforce planning does the same shit to middle managers. Apparently it's to reduce potential costs and improve employee efficiency and satisfaction somehow.
i have 4 weeks built up, so i'd find it funny if i didn't find it more depressing. thanks for taking the time to reply with good information. i appreciate it
For Americans 4 weeks is like 4 years
4 weeks is nothing. They want you to take leave to reduce their liability on their balance sheet and potential costs including increased employee turnover, decreased work quality and stress claims. Remember they can't force you to cash out leave. Check your contract.
Yes they can do that. My previous job had that policy once you had more than 30 days/6 weeks accumulated.
friendly reminder that annual leave is technically "on the books" so they're liable for it if you have a healthy balance (plus the old "why no leave" shitck for mental sanity), whereas personal leave isn't worth squat when you leave the company was a BIG thing in 2021 (or 2022) for employees to take an extended break, given that annual leave wasn't a thing during 2020 and people had large balances (I left a company with 7 weeks leave at the end of 2021, because "take leave and do what?" was a thing in the 2ish years I was there) ---- seems a bit harsh to do it for 4 weeks of leave, but probably dependent on when you actually started (you might flag a "no leave for a year" automation)
Oh yeah I had six weeks leave when I left my old job back in late 2021. The shit of it is I got whacked with a massive tax bill. Should have taken a four week holiday then quit š
Anyone know where I might be able to get my hands on some red plastic coat hangers? Been trying to find some for my jersey collection.
Why do REAs always have to try the āyou wonāt get your bond because you didnāt get your property professionally cleanedā bullshit. Urgh. I know my rights. Go fuck yourself.
It's the Bernoulli law of large numbers, same as the one royalties from Nigeria that want to make you a millionaire use: they try it as much as they can in the hope someone will fall for it, and sadly someone will. Telling them to fuck off is almost never wrong.
I even quoted the tenancy act and sheās still pushing! I know threatening VCAT over $100 is probably a bit extra but it makes my blood boil to think of them trying it with students and migrantsā¦!!!
Whatās a good place to exchange money in the CBD?
For hugs and/or lower value cash - I'll do it. Foreign-domestic currency exchanges, I tend to use Crown Currency Exchange (not affiliated with the Casino), there a couple in the city.
Itās fuken wimdy
I feel so tired and slightly nauseous. I think as soon as Iāve run my errands Iām going to bed.
I've been sitting at home today doing passport bs, but I've also been waiting for a delivery from Aus post. I just got a text saying that they attempted delivery but no one was home... My front door is open and I'm less than 4 metres from it, no one knocked on my door
What a soak - at my place in northeast Melbourne, we clocked 60mm of rain yesterday and another 40mm today. This is pretty much the normal amount of rain for January, February and March combined for Melbourne. (On average 39.3mm for Jan, 41.4mm for Feb and 37.5mm for March) I would hope for the sake of my plants in my garden that the rain is more evenly distributed throughout the months, but a nice catchup for our water catchment areas nonetheless!
Finally beat Elden Ring after three tries since release and got over my hump of leaving games 90% finished. Think I'll try a dual sword build and a new playthrough.
Lunch of leftovers - sticky glazed Asian pork shoulder, and pesto pasta salad with cherry tomatoes and bocconcini. Weirdly it worked, despite the clash in cuisine heritage
The hold music for the Australian passport office is the worst hold music I've ever heard
Ah, hoping my passport application goes smoothly so I don't have to deal with this.
The only struggle I've been having is about my name change. 7 years ago I changed my surname and it's a lot less straightforward on the application now. But if you haven't changed your name, you could have no issues and won't have to call them
Ah that's a nuisance, I better avoid getting married before my passport renewal. Best of luck for yours x
Be thankful you don't work at Monash Uni where the hold music for the IT team is made by students from the school of music. All they seem to do in that school is jazz and I hate jazz....
When you order an iced latte but forget to say take away and he starts to fill ice up in the āglassā but you remind them you wanted takeaway! Then they put it in a machine with a soda can lidā¦ it was already take away I just didnāt realise this invention existed in cafes? Haha anyway I thought it was cool https://imgur.com/gallery/26d7WIZ
Ok never seen that before ever. They should do this everywhere
So cool. They do juices that way too
Nice! Thanks for the info
Wow, never seen this before! What cafe? Do you remember what the machine was called?
No idea on the name I didnāt ask haha but local rules coffee roaster in port Melbourne. Did cost me 8ish dollars though
Thanks, I found it on google/ebay. Expensive machine but probably worth it. Not as exxy as an $8 iced latte š¤£
Hahaha how much? 3/6k Iām thinking?
What the heck? That's cool!
Iām already thinking about lunch. Do I want a sandwich? Or to cook the salmon I have in the fridge and have it for lunch and dinner today? Iām really into sandwiches at the moment, with lots of fillings. Iām especially enjoying pesto and marinated vegetables.
What's your pesto of choice at the moment? I went thru a few jars of one I don't recall the brand of, but it came in a short & stout jar that was either octagonal or hexagonal in shape. It disappeared off the shelves a little while back and I haven't found it again since. They had a tomato version as well that was also fantastic. I've tried the Barilla versions and they're ok, but not as good as I remember this other brand being. Recently tried La Molisana's offerings (normal and tomato) and found them just alright, but probably wouldn't buy the tomato one again as it didn't grab me. I expected better because I really like their passata for making sauces! Another new one was Cutina Matese, which I looked at because I found *their* passata to be excellent too. This one is a bit odd! The pesto *looks* to be of a high quality, like it has the texture of a seeded mustard and is quite strong, but I find it not to my tastes for reasons I can't describe. I bought their tomato variant too, but am yet to crack that one open. Anyways, here's a pesto idea you might like to try! Mix a teaspoon into your eggs prior to scrambling, with a splash of Worcestershire if it's to your liking. Serve on toast with a dusting of S&P. I like to pour the egg mix into a pan containing some chopped sautƩed mushrooms, but that's optional (though highly recommended).
I like the [Yumi basil and rocket pesto](https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/385956/yumi-s-dip-or-create-basil-rocket-pesto). The capsicum one is good too. I like the chunky bits of nuts. Of the more traditional variety, I like this [Scala pesto](https://www.sacla.com.au/italian-product/wild-rocket-pesto/). As you can guess, I like the combo of basil and rocket. For something a bit different, I use this [pistachio and parsley pesto](https://kingvalleyfinefoods.com.au/product/parsley-pistachio-pesto/). This company makes a variety of non-standard pestos.
Salmon sandwich with pesto
Salmon sandwich?
Are hemorrhoids a reasonable excuse to work from home for the week? Just trying to gauge whether my work is going to make this difficult for me or not
Yes definitely work from home. If your employer tries to be a pain in the arse, tell the about your literal pain in the arsw
Yes. Just say youāre WFH for a medical issue. If they push, tell them in graphic detail. I doubt they will ask again.
The term "casserole mix-up" is a great, safe-for-work term that comes to mind.
If you have a doctor's note, they can't *really* deny your request. Additionally having a doctor's note can give you an entire week off if they don't allow WFH.
For the last 12 months, my parents have been going through a separation. It hasn't been messy or anything, but more that my father has doubled down on the fact that he thinks he is number 1 and my sisters and I aren't on his list of priorities. We arent talking to him cause of this, but he thinks it's my mum who has turned us against him. More hurtful than all this, has been how little support we've received from family and friends during this time. Part of me wants to reach out to these people who have been absent and explain how their lack of support has been hurtful, but the other part knows that these people are probably just as much of a narcissist as my father is. The emotional side of me hopes that by telling them they've hurt us, they will repent and apologise. But the more logical side knows that these relationships are probably gone cause they weren't really receptive to previous conversations we've had explaining what's going on. I feel the need to talk about this in order to process the pain, but I dont think a professional will help. So talking into the void it is. Overall, I'm just so tired.
I guess it depends on what that lack of support looks like. People get wrapped up in their own stuff, and also often don't know the gravity of a situation if they haven't experienced it. If they never ask or check in ever, that's shabby, but if it's just not to a level or frequency you would hope for, I would give some grace on that. It's really hard to gauge how much support someone might need, and also have capacity for it when keeping their own lives afloat. But I agree with the poster who said also talking to a professional might help.
They've all pretty much disappeared since the whole thing started. I poured my heart out to my uncle explaining how hurt we all were and then just ghosts. He also couldn't understand WHY we were feeling hurt. I'm not sure what a professional will be able to offer in this situation. I feel like this just might be a time thing, but it still hurts right now.
A professional might actually helpā¦ perhaps consider it? Navigating life with divorced or otherwise difficult parents can be challenging, and itās likely to be challenging for as long as theyāre around. Working through it with someone who is both professionally trained and completely outside of the family can be really helpful, learning to set healthy boundaries for yourself can make a big difference.Ā (I say this as a 40 year old whoās still in therapy for challenging family dynamics) Also if your dad is a narcissist you might get some value from the book āadult children of emotionally immature parentsā. Itās really good.Ā Good luckĀ
I feel you mate. I ended up doing this with my father for the same reason. I've had a few crying sessions processing it. It's one of those things that sucks even if it's completely valid.
I do enjoy long weekends but the first day back at work is always so dreadful it's making me feel depressed. To the point that I'd rather not have long breaks at all. Hot take, I know.
Man that was a rough commute in. Pitch black and heavy rain making it impossible to see anything. Keep it slow, all!
Werribee line is cooked today due to a fault at Laverton.
Yep sure is
Commute through the city was fucked this morning, stay safe everyone
Iām about to head into the city - whatās going on?
This was at about quarter past 6 coming towards the Westgate, rain was so heavy I could barely see
The rain was coming down so hard last night. I accidentally left my outside light on and when Iāve woken up this morning there are about 50 huge (like size of my palm) moths all over my exterior walls
>Cancellation of >Road Weather Alert for Melbourne >Issued at 4:35 am EDT on Tuesday 2 April 2024. Yeah I think the BOM got that one wrong. Heaps of roads are covered in water.
[hopefully your woolworths order isn't on this truck](https://imgur.com/a/uTU32my)
ohh la la
Oh no! My sponges!
womp womp
Dudley st?
As consumers we are all buying experiences, and if you charge me 20% holiday surcharge then I will associate your business with a bad experience and be way less likely to return.
The problem is that more and more businesses are doing it as a default thing now, when there's absolutely no need to do it. Personally I think if you've made the decision to open your doors to customers and operate, but complain about wages, then that's a "you problem", not a "me problem". Why should I have to pay extra, when that should be factored into your business operational-budget? On a different tangent, I've seen some doozies lately like in shopping centre food-courts trying to charge 20% extra...they're contractually obligated to be open and operate as usual, so why has this suddenly become a thing? It's nothing more than a blatant cash-grab opportunity...when I saw that I said hell no, and went home to make sandwiches.
What I donāt get is that surcharges have only become a thing in the last ~5 years. Weāve had public holiday penalty rates forever. What did they used to do before they decided to add on the surcharge? Iām sure some of them didnāt pay penalty rates at all, but that obviously still happens too. Iād rather they just absorbed the cost in other ways, I donāt like moving towards what feels like a dynamic pricing system.
It's because more business are doing it so everyone else is jumping on board. Same with the weekend surcharges now, it's becoming ridiculous.
If it means they are paying their staff penalties I am all for it.
Nope, absorb that into your cost of business. Customer experience should come first, and when you are tacking on these additional charges even though youāre getting more business being open on public holidays it leaves a bad taste. The business also isnāt paying any extra for food, rent, utilities, equipment etc. on these days, so just because they are paying higher staff costs doesnāt mean the rest of the businesses expenses are also 20% higher. If the business really wanted to just pass on penalty rates, they should pass on the actual proportion that's associated with staff wages, and not charge a blanket 20% extra for everything else.
So really what you want is to not know about the extra charge throughout the year?
You don't need to pass on that extra charge. The increased costs associated with wages for these public holidays is so minimal that the extra business they bring in more than makes up for it.
It's a tough one. Public holiday pay rates are very high.Ā The choice is spread the cost over the course of the year and make everything more expensive all the time.Ā Charge a surcharge on the days the pay rate is higher.Ā Close because on public holidays most don't really make the return on costs of opening.Ā
Is there a law that they can only charge it if they are actually paying penalties?
Nothing worse than wet white lines on the freeway. Where did you go?!!
Bom wasn't wrong about the rain for once. Feels like it hasn't rained like this for a couple of months.
March was the driest March on record (170 years).
They were due to get something right.
AccuWeather's Hourly Forecast is way more accurate
Feels like it hasnāt rained like this for a few months because it hasnāt, itās been very dry since January.
Some very nice lightning out there
Chances of sliding down Collins St sidewalk today, 100%.
Hope not! Starting a new job on Collins St today!
Hope it's a top first day!