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bobby12

SnowJapan Member
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Posts posted by bobby12

  1. Imagine if you paid the 5,000 quid needed to buy a share in this fan-buyout of Liverpool and you just end up losing most of your money as it basically goes into paying off the existing debts.

     

    I think this idea could turn out to be a real disaster, however it seems to have worked for Barcelona and similar teams.

     

    I'm not interested in the idea, dont mix business with pleasure etc.

    Same with buying shares in the company you work for - I think its a stupid idea and I cant understand why it is offered as a 'benefit'. If your company goes bust you lose your job AND your savings.

  2. I dont have the mp3 player yet but its a creative one with just drag and drop in windows explorer, no drivers or software (I despise companies like Sony that force you to install all kinds of crap to do simple file transfer)

     

    I downloaded Juice last night from sourceforge and that works great for getting the latest podcasts as mp3 or mp4. I guess now I just drag drop them to the mp3 player.

     

    I found tons of good podcasts on BBC website. Will check The Guardian too tonight...

  3. I just ordered an mp3 player and I am looking forward to listening to some 'podcasts' while in the gym.

     

    I searched a bit on google and there are some podcasting sites however the content seems to be quite old and a bit lame. Can anyone point me to some decent podcasting sites?

     

    I didnt get an ipod so I cant access itunes. I guess I can download it for my PC though - is it worth accessing or can I get the same stuff elsewhere.

  4. I got a 10 month old and a 2 year old. Basically its not expensive cos all the clothes and toys you get given second hand or new as gifts. You only really have to pay for nappies (they add up over a month).

     

    BUT, once you start looking at childcare its expensive, like 5man a month per child until they get into normal school around age 5. Also if you fly you have to pay nearly full price for a 2 year old. So now its quite tough for us to go back to UK/on holiday etc as its costing about 60% more than it did before we had kids.

  5.  Quote:
    Mantas:
    Coming from the UK or Japan where you have 200+ people/square kilometer to Oz (6 people/square km) there is going to be some obvious differences in the facilities and infrastructure available. Culturally we are pretty isolated. We don't have 20 different countries and languages on our door step like the UK. We also dont have 2000+ years of architectural spender to marvel at. These things will become more and more apparent to some newcomers as the novelty of beaches and sunshine, and wide open spaces slowly wears off.

    This is a good point. I felt that when I went to Sydney/Brisbane for 3 weeks a few years ago. I kept thinking - this place should be heaven for me, and yet somehow I found it kind of depressing/isolated. I'll definitely pay a visit back again before I decide to apply for a visa or anything.
  6. House prices are relative though, and thats why they have kept high in the UK despite everyone saying a crash is coming.

     

    For example, my aunt bought her council house in a london suburb for about 80,000 GBP 15 years ago. Now it is worth about 250,000 GBP. Does that make her rich? Not really, if she sells she has to buy another similar house which will also cost 250,000. So she only wins if she leaves and buys a place in Sri Lanka.

     

    (start rant)

    In the UK, the problem is buy-to-let, I think this is a truly evil scheme. Property investors own all the houses inflating prices. Additionally they butcher houses into crappy little flats. This forces first time buyers to pay over the odds for a house or just become tenants and line their pockets instead. One of the main reasons Im not going back to London is the crazy prices for houses there. I grew up there, have a master degree and good work experience, and yet I cant afford anything there unless I get a tiny flat in a craphole area in the outskirts. The market is so saturated its hard to see prices getting higher there. What is the purpose of a house? A place for someone to live or a way for someone to grab cash? I really think something is wrong with that, but hey thats capitalism.

     

    I notice in Oz its the same, all the real estate sites are full of 'perfect for buy-to-let' etc in their ad descriptions. Maybe it will all bust one day and the investors will get burnt, and it'll settle back down to a situation where first time buyers can join the party. I guess that is the inevitable conclusion, though who knows how long that will take.

    {/end rant)

  7. Yeh on the weekend I am definately into doing outdoorsey stuff - going for a walk, park, skiing/scuba diving if it's available. But normally I live in places where there is not much to do apart from socialise or go shopping. So I am into the idea of living rurally, however we also like 'cafe society' and are attracted to the city because its easier to find like minded people (e.g. people who've lived in Japan etc). I also play squash and go the gym though I guess most rural areas have that.

     

    Ideal solution for us I think is a small city like Adelaide or Matsumoto was (matsumoto is much smaller than adelaide but it was big enough for me at the time), that has easy access to nature and with a reasonably cosmopolitan atmosphere for its size.

  8. Try telling that to the Oz government, they practically carrying people over on their shoulders! I was reading one story about one UK plumber who was 48, too old to pass visa test, but Adelaide City saw his visa application and cos they needed plumbers they sponsored him and put him up in a flat for a few months for free to get him settled!

     

    I will look into Tasmania, I just assumed it was too small without really checking it out.

  9. I guess teabags are a classic example of how marketing/brand image is everything, cos they all taste basically the same.

     

    Personally I liked PG Tips cos of the pyramid shaped bags, but as a student I was happy with supermarket own brands.

     

    Now is it 100% Cappuccino - tea is for losers.

  10. 9950yen/month. Brand new, big pool with 'aqua free' water (no chlorine taste), big studio, 20+ running machines, rotenburo, 2 jacuzzis, aromatherapy room.

     

    Would prefer a simpler arrangement at half the price though: I basically just use the running machine, 4 of the weights machines and then have a sento. If I have some problem with the joints etc I may swim instead though which is a nice option.

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