One of the better sides of globalisation is the huge range of literature of all types is available anywhere in the western world. Amazon and their ilk have meant I can (for example) order that obscure Beowulf graphic novel my sister craves for her birthday — even if the result is that Amazon now believes ... [More]
I’ve lived in my suburb just over a year now, long enough that I’m getting to know the local Bentleigh shops a bit more now, and a few of the shopkeepers know me. For instance, the drycleaner lady recognises me, though like a TV news captioner, she misspells my name, and I can’t be bothered ... [More]
About once a month I go into the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) at 21 Swanston Street, fill in one of those quick deposit envelopes, and shove it with a cheque through the slot, in order to push money into one of my only remaining CBA accounts. That branch has been there for decades. It’s where I ... [More]
So, after almost a year of having a mortgage, how’s it all going? I expected an impact on my spending. Nothing terrible, and I wouldn’t have taken it on if I thought I couldn’t sustain it. But the monthly repayment is about double what I had been paying in rent, and I’m no millionaire, so ... [More]
Sections that get read, then recycled (in no particular order): News Insight A2 Good Weekend Travel Yesterday’s EG, which I haven’t got around to reading yet Sections that just get recycled: Drive Domain (I’m no longer house-shopping) Business (usually; unless some big issue catches my attention) Sport (except for checking last night’s footy score… damn ... [More]
I am not an economist, but I did study it in year 11. So forgive me if this is uninformed brainless speculation, but I was thinking about yesterday’s interest rate rise. I understand the principle of the Reserve Bank of Australia fiddling with interest rates when inflation is high, to scale back demand, though I ... [More]
In year 11+12, I studied accounting. It wasn’t the most interesting of subjects to me, but I did very well in it. The teacher was Mr Read, who was a brilliant accounting teacher. He breathed life into what could have been a very dull topic to study. There were always plenty of anecdotes to amuse ... [More]
I’ve been planning some activity for my many frequent flyer points, many tens of thousands of which were earnt over several years of paying for childcare on a credit card several years ago. It adds up, I can tell you. Firstly I’ll be jaunting down to Hobart for a few days in October with Marita. ... [More]
What’s with all the lime green being used in corporate colours nowadays? Did Boost Juice start that trend? Is it the power colour for 2006? Other sightings: The CD case for iPod Shuffle; Australian Tax Pack 2006.
The bigwigs in retailing have talked about this for ages. Last week I tried out the funky new self-checkout computermachines at Big W at QV. Why queue to have someone serve you, when you can serve yourself? It’s a bit like a combination of using one of those price checker scanner things, and an ATM. ... [More]
The good We had a low-key but enjoyable celebration of Marita’s birthday on Saturday. In doing so I discovered that both our suburbs are host to dog-related cafes — the Dancing Dog in Footscray, and the Spotted Dog in Bentleigh. And both do a very fine meal. The bulk of the rest of the weekend ... [More]
You might think you’re the customer at the supermarket, but actually supermarkets make most of their money by selling shelf space to manufacturers. They are the real customers. You might think you’re the customer when you buy a newspaper or watch the TV, but the media make their money by delivering viewers/readers to the advertisers. ... [More]
Hands up who has private health insurance and understands how their fund works? I have it (to avoid the extra government slug if I don’t) and I hate it. I have no idea how it all works. I’ve just pared back the coverage because I was getting little benefit from the hefty (and ever-increasing) premiums ... [More]
I rarely read the paper in great detail, except perhaps on Saturdays when I have the time. I value the content, and I value the fact that my subscription money is helping support a competing newspaper to the top-selling Herald Sun, but I probably get more value by reading The Age’s web site than the ... [More]
Yesterday I followed a time-honoured tradition, something done by countless millions on the Easter Monday holiday, right across the western world. I returned stuff to Ikea. As many did, I had gone along on Saturday, full of good intentions and a cashed-up wallet, ready to splurge on something new and exciting to spend time building ... [More]
My kids love tomato sauce, so we often have it on the table during meals. There’s several brands available, the main ones being Masterfoods and Heinz (Big Red). They both taste the same to me. But the Masterfoods one comes in a bottle with recycle code 4, which is not recyclable in my area. Heinz ... [More]