(Guy) They'll be fiiiine.... right?

The year 11s do their Preliminary HSC exam tomorrow. I'm going to be pleasantly surprised, right? Right?

Kit needs to read the fine print

I went to see Bill Bailey yesterday. Except that I thought it was at the Sydney Theatre (like last time), and not the State Theatre. I only found out after having dinner at the Lord Nelson, and with 20 minutes to go to the show. Oops!

Becstarr : Packing

On Thursday the plan for me to move into Joel's place got a bump forward by about a month as another flatmate heads out much earlier than exected. Started packing on Sunday and am realising once again just how much Stuff I have. Luckily Karinne is in "ruthless" mode as well and is spurring me on to chuck! recycle! and generally clear the decks.

I'll move my clothes and stuff next Sunday, and the "real" move will be in a few more weeks. Meantime the hall is going to be Box Central again!

Big brother taxman

Have started doing my tax for this year, and one thing you can do now is get the etax software to pull all your bank account interests and pay details off the net. Efficient ... yet also a bit spooky.

Anna : Panic!

It's been a long week, one thing after another is going wrong and apparently all the problems have a website. The good news is that all I have to say is "Make a tag cloud!" and Eugene will do it!

YL - discovers rock climbing

I can now say I have conquered the vertical walls. (But not the upside down ones.) It so rocks! Can't wait to go again.

My arms also say owie.

Kit discovers iron, emus ... & a little science

On the weekend I bought a new iron & discovered that there is a place called "Emu Heights" at the base of the Blue Mountains. Why do the newspeople say: "at the weekend"?

In other news, the particle accelerator has been turned on, and the world has not ended.

Guy - Huh, serendipity...

I just took action against "Shine" today, and here I get home and read this.

Ben - Been a while

Hmmm, I hadn't realised how long it's been since I posted last. Well, in the last two months, I've been at Uni, I've made and consumed beer, sauerkraut and mozzarella (not at the same time) , I've pulled up noxious weeds in the bush and I won the coveted Poo Lit Surprise! award on Uncyclopedia.

Jen - Happy Father's Day

to Surly - your first one!
to Dan - your seventh!

Jen - On the mend

I believe that we may be on the mend, at long last. Fever has abated a little, but the cough persists.

So sorry we missed drinkies at Enmore Rd last night.

dan - it's official, they'll let anyone on the road

So I've been sick all week, and yesterday arvo I remembered that I'd booked my DQT for this morning, and so had to quickly read the handbook and hope that a single quick read through would enable me to pass. I had three kids jumping on me while read it. And then last night I couldn't get to sleep until 3:30am due to coughing and my general malaise. But I passed anyway, despite nearly sideswiping a virtual motorcyclist in the test.

Yay, no more P-plates for me!

Dan - another day at home

We're still all ill - fevers rampaging though the house, coughing from all and sundry, and general miserableness and crankiness. Seem to be on the mend, though. I'm almost over the fever, as is Dante. Jen and Atty are still burning up, though Elora seems mostly unaffected.

falsedan - land of milkbars and hotels

There are milkbars everywhere and every pub is actually a hotel

Dan - At Home With Boy

As Jen mentioned, Dante is down with the Dreaded Lurgy, and so I'm at home looking after a suffering boy. Suffering seems to consist of a mild fever, occasional cough, playing with his Galactic Heroes, and watching Futurama. He seems keen to get back to school tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to fix this Damned Printer.

Jen - Weekend of Blargh

Dante came down with something on Saturday afternoon - and of course I didn't believe him at first, until he threw up and had croup in the middle of the night. (The former probably brought on by the coughing combined with the chips, lollies, red cordial, jumping castle and 40 minute car ride for his cousin's birthday party.)

I was actually happy to be coming to work today. Had a pleasant morning getting ready with a quiet house (everyone else still in bed) and an enjoyable train ride. Heh!

Dan - still busy

Got interviews today, and half my candidates have dropped out. Gotten to that level of business where I'm not actually that busy because I've got so much on my plate that I don't know where to start. Hopefully things should ease off a bit next week. Now I'm off to shift furniture so I've got a table to interview people at.

Becstarr : Paid parental leave for Australians... lobbying in Canberra #1

Back from Canberra and two days of lobbying federal pollies with Unions NSW about the need to bring in a paid parental leave scheme when the Productivity Commission brings down its report around September. The model that we're proposing is pretty good, I think, and met with a pretty good response all round with those we met with in this round of lobbying. There's more to come, of course!

A brief overview of the model for those who are interested:
* 26 weeks / 6 months of leave, in line with WHO guidelines on the minimum time a baby should be breastfed.
* Jointly funded by the government and employers:
- Govt to pay up to the federal minimum wage, and
- Top-up to the woman's normal salary (capped at about 100K) from the employer fund
* Employer fund to come from a per-employee levy of 0.9% - 1.4%.
* The employer fund works like the long-service leave fund in the building industry, which provides portable benefits for all workers in the industry, no matter which employer they're currently with.
* Small businesses who are exempt from payroll tax (around 12-15 employees as a rule of thumb) to be exempt from the levy, but their employees will still have access to the fund.
* The benefit will replace and enhance the Baby Bonus, and contributes to taxable income.
* Benefit available to all mothers / primary carers, whether they are currently in paid employment or not.
* Benefit can be claimed by either parent / partner, as long as they are designated the primary carer.

Please excuse the long post.... I could be a little overexcited! :)

Kit is disconcerted

Work people keep coming up to me and congratulating me on getting my new job. Same work, a little more money, potential for more responsibility. It's disconcerting.

YL - meaningful quote.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

- Nelson Mandela quoting Marianne Williamson.