mike carey

In a breathtaking departure from my normal practice I have just made flight and hotel reservations months out from the event (flights considerably cheaper, Inndulge not so much). I'll be flying in and out of LAX and plan to rent a car to go to Palm Springs, and I've booked Inndulge from Thursday to Tuesday. It's a bit early to be excited but I'm looking forward to another great weekend of friend- and, err, fellowship, and to making new friends. Bring it on!

Regrettably no (not that having done so would be any way a 'win') but even so my mana is intact.

KIa ora Danny.

Been to the other side of the strait (which, since I was there, is now 24 hours ahead on the clock and drives on the left) but not to American Samoa. Apia is pretty nice! I've clocked up a few, but still have several Polynesian countries on my bucket list.

I assume that they migrated the entire data base of ads, active or not, to the new platform.

Indonesia and Portugal shared a land border until 1975, on the island of Timor.

David Warner, opening batsman in the Australian men's test cricket team, and also the national men's 50 over and 20 over teams. And yes, Cricket Australia always now refers to them as the Australian Men's team, not the Australian team.

Kaneohe.

Yes, @BSR, those of us who haven't played, much less at that level, have only a passing idea of the stresses and strains they face. In the far less collision-based AFL there are players who retire in their twenties with ankle, knee and shoulder injuries from which they have been unable to recover sufficiently. In recent years recurring concussion injuries are taking their toll. Rugby and rugby league players face greater pressure from the higher number of collisions, and the NFL I can only image more so. Anyone who continues to play into their thirties is doing well.

Did you read the whole post? Doesn't seem so. An advisory vote is more attention than anyone outside the shareholders pays in most cases. 25% no votes are not common here but they are no longer a surprise, and no company wants a second strike and being forced to spill the board. And big pension funds are known to vote down remuneration reports.

Agree on the role of executive remuneration. Neither workers nor customers much care about it as long as management is broadly looking after them. Indeed in recent history in this country, where a company AGM recording a 25% vote against the remuneration report two years running invokes a statutorily mandated spill of the board, it as been shareholders who have paid more attention to executive remuneration than anyone else. Compare that to the last few weeks in Qantas, where both customers and staff think management has stiffed them, talk has been about little else other than executive pay and bonuses (mainly of their omnipresent CEO). It has not stopped with his planned resignation being ignominiously rushed forward by two months with calls for his bonuses to be clawed back, and for the Chairman the board to follow him out the door for enabling him.

I'm sure the unstaffed register was made in America!

Confirming the adage that they know the price of everything but the value of nothing!

That was an actual LOL!

I hope one of them isn't named Daniel. Is it too soon?

It does. In his case, apart from a two or three line review in French, they are all one or two words, or at most a [positive] single line of text. The catch is, as has been discussed previously in the Forum, you need to be outside the US physically, or to use a VPN to appear to the RM site to be abroad, to read those written reviews.

@Gar1eth You should bide a while, GMan!

I've had it several times on my mobile (at one stage twice within five minutes!) but not on my laptop. I've sometimes had difficulty in convincing the robot posing the question that I am human.

Queensland, beautiful one day, perfect the next! (Or so they say, they just don't mention the cyclones.)

I've never seen it done, and if I were being completely rational I probably wouldn't care. I'm not sure I could be completely rational in my response to it, though. Even in a social or domestic context. Still, I can see that someone might feel they can toss a salad better with their hands. In a commercial context the calculation would be different and I think bare hands would be a no-no. I've noticed in recent years a lot of food preparation where using implement was mandated, disposable gloves are now used and I can see the advantage of using gloved hands to work more quickly than using tongs. Perhaps tossing a salad with gloved hands in certain types of eateries could be part of the [I hesitate to use the word] 'artisanal' image they seek to project.

I shop every time I need milk, bread or fresh fruit and vegetables and generally only buy what I am comfortable carrying in one carry-bag. I have a list that I keep by my computer where I note things I am interested in that are on special or are earning bonus points each week at the two major supermarket chains (one a five minute walk away and the other a five minute drive or bus trip). I'll buy those items if I need them imminently or if I want to add them to my pantry or freezer. I then write a specific list for each trip to the shops. The bonus points covert to cash, or that cash value can go to airline points at 1c/point, so they can be worthwhile although some items will earn say $1 in points and then be on special for $2 off a week or so later, so the points may be poor value. The supermarkets also periodically offer 'spend x over say three days or a week for y bonus points'. If they are worth it and I have things I can justify buying, then I'll time my shopping trips to earn the points. I have a separate list on my fridge of things I need to stock up on or make a bulk purchase of, and I use that if I don't have enough immediate needs for the x dollars I need to spend for the points.

I've had the same thing happen at times, but infrequently, and not just with this site. Almost invariably it has resolved itself and appeared to be related to slow internet speeds or to my browser running slowly. As Rob mentioned, clearing the cache, or restarting my browser (if the issue doesn't resolve itself) correlates with the issue resolving.

We all need some help at times!

And as one of the few, I don't even recall having seen his ad before it was raised here (and as I went to uni at the ANU I think I would have noticed).

Where, ware, wear ... Don't we just love a homonym. Or is it a homophone. (Or are these three both?) Must be something about the name.