octave

I bank with Bank Australia which grew out of a coalition between CSIRO credit union and other credit unions. Just by having an account you are like a shareholder and you get to vote in the AGM. I have it organized so I never pay fees. The bank does not lend money to things I tend to disagree with. There are not so many branches however I have never needed face-to-face banking. I don't need cash but if I did I could go to any post office. Interest rates seem comparable to the mainstream banks

I think that systems are complicated. Sometimes we don't get what we want immediately. Mostly I find things go OK. Recently I had some frustrations with Centrelink regarding my mother's situation as I administer her affairs. I had a situation where I could not get the correct information to get to where it should be. Let me stress the counter staff were fantastic however if the computer system will not accept the information it is hardly their fault. It would be paranoid and a little dickish to think that these people spend their lives trying to make life difficult. The other side of the coin is the outrage when someone gets something they are not entitled to. Everyone then says stupid Centrelink staff allowing people to rip off the system. I must admit I have little patience for whinging. When I was a kid my dad would listen to my problems but would have little patience for me constantly restating the problem. he would say "Yes you have told me the problem, now you have to either work out how to live with it, solve it, or get around it. As an example, people constantly go on about bank's super profits and I certainly understand this. I don't however contribute to these massive profits. I bank with one of the many banks where the only shareholders are the customers. As a shareholder, I get to vote on the bank's direction.

How many times did this happen before you took control of the situation and switched to a bank that better suited your needs?

Yep sounds like classic FUD to me Fear, uncertainty, and doubt I often find it amusing how EV owners are characterized. My son owns a Tesla but he also owns the little yellow convertible posted earlier and a motorsport race car. Is he rich, well richer than me probably upper middle class I would say. Is he a Tesla fanboy, nope in fact although he likes the car there are things he is very critical of. My son'sTesla is now 4 years old and despite numerous goes on the motorsport track still has a battery in great shape. Lately, there has been an invigorated campaign against EVs especially in poor-quality rags like the Daily Mail. If EVs are so bad we would expect this to show up in Norway Norway: Plug-In Car Market Share Hits Record 93% In September 2023 With this many cars you would expect the predictions of the doomsayers to cause people to riot in the street.

I don't really see this car as a chick magnet in fact these small convertibles are often seen as being a bit "girly" by some. I would be more suspicious about the bloke in the V8 muscle car.

I think we need to distinguish between the teller at the coal face and the people who determine the rules and regulations. My wife many years ago was a bank teller and was once abused and called a "f****** Bi***" because she refused to cash a cheque. On another occasion, she bent the rules to help someone and she paid a price. The cheque did not have everything it was supposed to have. As a lowly teller, she simply did not have the power to override bank policy. Today I traveled to the city on the train and there was an announcement asking people not to abuse the staff. Over Christmas travelling by air, there was the same announcement. It seems more and more we are abusing the people at the coalface. Please don't brand bank staff as bastards because it almost certainly is not true.

Hey I resemble that remark!

A bank teller is not in charge of the bank. My wife used to be a bank teller and she has never heard of a teller doing such a thing. If this happened to me I would certainly close all my accounts at that bank.

I find it hard to believe that a bank teller for some mysterious reason would deny you a withdrawal. I also find it hard to believe that you did not stand up for yourself. Why would you just accept a teller denying you your withdrawal?

My experience is that joint accounts are set up as "either to sign" or "both to sign" My wife and I have a joint account where either of us can sign. If you were refused a withdrawal on your account it undoubtedly was because when you opened it you opted for "both to sign"

Adelaide to home (Melbs) Just a 1 hour flight but there is a backlog due to earlier storms in Melbourne. Apparently we have to circle for 30 minutes. Fine by me but can I have another miniature bottle of Shiraz????

Sitting in an aluminium tube in a relatively comfortable seat drinking Shiraz and travelling at 859km an hour at 36000 feet and connected to the net. Life is pretty f****"" good ehh?

I just read that Aus post delivers around 2.5 billion items a year. The majority of these are delivered reasonably efficiently. I can only recall 1 item not turning up and 1 item that took way too long (during covid). Perhaps I am just lucky or perhaps I just don't dwell on the few occasions when things don't go perfectly.

I only recently got the Auspost app. Before that I would receive a text. At the moment I am interstate. The app allows me to see if anything is coming and to say whether it should be left on the doorstep or left at the post office.

You can just log in on your PC and create an account. I have the app which means although I am away from home at the moment I can know if anything is scheduled for delivery. This is quite convenient and efficient.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/theaviationgeekclub.com/heres-why-australia-buried-23-f-111s-after-the-aircrafts-retirement/

I can't help posting a picture of my son aged 8 maybe. We used to take him to a gokart track regularly. The owner took a shine to my son. He used to get out a blackboard and teach him about the best line to take.

I think there are still motorsports events happening. My son 34 participate in his first event at the age of 15 at Sutton near Canberra in our old family Magna.Then many track days at Wakefield Park near Goulburn in an MX5. In Victoria he took part in events at Lake Mountain. Now he lives in NZ where amateur motorsport is quite popular. His motorsport club does several events a year where they have permission to close sections of public road. Motorsport is a great outlet in a relatively safe setting.

A start would be allowing people to go peacefully and at the time of their choosing, whether they have a terminal illness or not.

As I get older the fact I have less future life to look forward is compensated by the years of life I have already enjoyed. I have achievements and good times to look back on. Obviously I am not done yet but the future although still with potential to achieve things has less time and possibilities, I am fine with that.

The original post mentions cars and safety systems. My point is that modern safety systems are there to reduce deaths by accident but they are also there to reduce pain and suffering. You could argue for things like random breath testing solely from a standpoint of reducing injuries and suffering, the side effects may also be reducing mortality. The value of modern safety standards in not merely postponing death. The value of life is not just about life and death but the quality of living.

But pain and suffering are often averted or diminished.

That is a personal point of view. I don't think I was happier when I was 20, probably the opposite. Of course, when I was 20 I had much more of a future ahead of me and my back never ached and I did not need to take any medication but this does not mean I was happier. Modern concern for life is not just this binary dead or alive proposition. My grandfather died of asbestoses. Now we don't use asbestos. If asbestos had been restricted earlier he probably would have lived longer but the more important thing is he would have had to endure an awful death. Modern safety is not just about avoiding or delaying death but also quality of life and avoidance of unnecessary suffering. I like others here probably take one or more medications per day to keep me going. This comes at a cost to society. Judgments are made about what medicines society will subsidize and what treatments society will offer. For whatever reason society subsidizes the drugs I take that extend life but more importantly, allow me to live an enjoyable active life. Thanks, society, I am about to travel interstate to visit my 90 yo mother who is in aged care. Her care is subsidized by society and it would be much cheaper not to bother. The important thing to me is not how long she lives but whether she suffers. In traveling interstate, I know I can be pretty certain I will arrive safely at my destination because modern airline travel has become so safe. I might be unusual but I think in most aspects modern life is better. When my son was born the odds of him or my wife dying were quite small unlike in the past. In the past, we wouldn't even have been having this conversation with people we have not met in all corners of the country. Whether things are better or not now can be measured in many ways but whether an individual is happier now than in the past is a personal thing. I guess maybe I am lucky that I am pretty happy. Anyway got to catch a plane for a very safe and probably not too unpleasant flight.

It is probably worth noting that many phones with a "non replaceable" battery in fact can have a new battery installed either by a repair shop or you can do it yourself. I almost did it myself but scored a pretty good hand-me-down. Third-party batteries are available for most phones. The downside is that the replacement process involves a heat gun to melt the glue and a little bit of scalpel surgery. I am not sure if I could be bothered. The point of the new EU law is that the battery will have to be replaceable without special tools or expertise.