Daily Discussion Thread: 🦋 Thu 22 Feb 2024

Ah, you’ve been here then

yeah I wouldn't get up there in this wind. Fuck that

well this is a letter I have never read on Miss Manners

I suppose it'd be too much to assume it was an act of god or a natural disaster?

I wonder what illegal shit they were selling. Or do you think it was a dissatisfied customer?

Tempered glass computer case?

That sounds really fragile?

I don't see what an inquiry is going to accomplish, just confirm what we all knew all along and make them do nothing to help?

Unlikely the inquiry will change much. Best thing to do is vote with your wallet if you can. (I know not everyone has access depending on where you live). Shop at Aldi, green grocer, butcher, markets, Costco.

I’m not going out today, so they will have to wait till Friday or Monday.

OR: Counter proposal: How about they go suck a dick?

I dont think legally you can withhold pay over equipment. or so my HR tell me so I just watch laptops basically walk out the door everytime we hire someone and they quit inside a month.

If they don't keep track of who has what, just reply that you don't have anything?

They sent out a rote letter, but yeah, they really are fuckin' bad. I got the same when my old workplace rolled up, could be I heard of possibly a someone else who realised they had no fucking idea of inventory and got themselves a lenovo out of it...

in the lounge room

Oh no! :(

I found that too! I live near both a Coles and a Woolies and checked them both out. Nothing.

Summer is only 3 months of the year. Having said that, my investment property has an aircon and ducted heating.

I’ve got to look into that - there’s so much info it’s a bit overwhelming

same! my total reusable energy percentage takes a hit at night though. I was ~90% but dropped to ~80%. Cant wait to get my first bill and see what it looks like.

I feel sorry for the soap people.

Losing the genetic lottery is just unfair.

-starts fire-

mum can i stay home today

?? What happened?

Avoid the pros and just mist up a shit ton of pennyroyal?

That reminds me Brunswick Original Kippers on sale for $2 a tin at woolworths for the next week.

If you can spray water on the outside walls, the paths near the house and the garden. The evaporative cooling of the area will help a bit.

I love In Bruges!

I'm actually reading something that now I have to try to finish before the series comes out... Shogun

Clark and Beef are both on Netflix and are excellent. Mr Inbetween is probably somewhere (Disney+?) and was awesome.

Far from new, I'm watching Blakes 7.

Pancakes with bacon and maple syrup, and hot coffee please. Gotta carb load before it gets too hot to eat, or my brain will cease functioning. If it hasn't already.

Whatever they serve in those ice castle bars thanks

Today I will deign to consume a cucumber for hydration purposes

And other such primarily water-based foods

Fried rice with prawns please - but actually add some flavour to it, unlike this place I went for lunch yesterday 😞

I love my beanbags and will often nap in them (mostly accidentally, the cat will come up and then we're both napping lol). But as an over-30 it does a number to my back haha.

Good for gaming in if you have a console too, or reading, chilling. Our beanbags were our couch for over a year before we could buy an actual couch haha

Step 1 - sort the money - talk to bank about borrowing limits, knowing that these can change in a blink of the eye. If you can get a guaranteed borrowing amount GET THAT IN WRITING and the expiry date. Step 2 - look at houses available. Set up list of criteria in 4 sections - 1) Must have 2) Nice 3) Nice but can do without 4) Dealbreakers. Get agreement from spouse and kids on these. Step 3 - identify possible purchase. Then get council reports, engineering reports, architectural reports - and any other reports you think apply like flood prone land, possible future freeways, asbestos and other soil contamination etc. They are cheaper than remedial works - trust me on this. Step 4 - start negotiations. If the house needs essential work, an estimate of price of the work (not from the REA) should form part of your calculations. If they want the $$ fast, expect to get a substantial discount for settlement in less than 60 days. Don't allow REA to panic you into a fast decision. You might want to employ a purchasing agent - they charge a fee but do Steps 2, 3 & 4 for you once they have your criteria. As these are the difficult bits, this might be time/hassle effective.
Step 5 - pay up. Step 6 - move in.
Step 7 - discover all the stuff that you should have done in steps 2, 3 and 4 above. Scream and regret not having a father/brother/sister/cousin with electrical/gas fitting and other general trade qualifications. Step 8 - install petunias

Source: purchased just before the pandemic. Yes I did employ a purchasing agent cos I was ignorant/out of date of all that stuff. Seamless experience which I recommend. They even went to the auction and bid for me (within the limits I'd set) so I didn't have to panic about that either.

Talk to your parents and sibs.

See how much assets the family owns.

Discuss if you want share buying a house, if anyone is up for being a guarantor, if they will help with deposit.

See how much you can repay every month.

Organise first home buyer benefits.

Look at houses that are way less than you can afford. This way you won't be too stressed.

Try to buy something built in 60s or 70s, even if it's in a crappy suburb. Be close to PT, hospitals, schools and parks.

Aim to live in the house your whole life if possible. Buying and selling , stamp duty, is a terrible waste of money.

Make sure you have money for maintenance.

1. have money
2. Engage a mortgage broker. This will use some of your money but it is well worth it. They will be able to help you go over your finances and see what kind of loan you can get, they will do all the legwork finding out best rates and such, and you can even state preferred banks. They will also do all the negotiating with the bank for you, so you just need to look over what they present you, nod assent or shake thy head and then provide some ID and signatures.
3. When you have your loan, you have your budget. Begin looking at places within this budget, preferably below it so you have some wriggle room for reno or repairs. When you find a place you like enough to attempt to purchase it, engage the services of a building inspector (this will cost you money, but is worth it). The REA flogging the place will not bat an eye at this and will allow them access to do all their bits and bobs.
4. look over the building inspection report and see if there are any deal breakers. If not, then place an offer usually "pending finance" (see below). This will bandy back and forth between the REA and owners a bit.
5. If all goes well and everyone agrees, there is usually a deposit to be paid and then the bank will shove its beak into the property, looking here and there and making sure that it's worth what they're lending you. This is the pending part. They will also request you get insurance on the property (this will cost you money but is worth it). If all goes well, they say yes, you may purchase it with your loan and you start the torturous crawl towards the settlement date.

Once settlement date arrives the bank transfers the money to the seller, the debt to you, and the keys are placed in your hand.