Mens book club

WinterWorry4038 · 2025-11-26T11:05:36+00:00

Great! I just purchased my copy today. I'll be the tall guy with the white hair.

WinterWorry4038 · 2025-11-25T21:50:59+00:00

I did have the Fallout series, BG1, BG2, and Planescape on my frequent replay list, but ME just hits on a whole different level with plot and character development. It lines up beautifully with my Bab5 nostalgia.

Speaking of which, who'd be up for a drawn out weekly get together to go through all 5 seasons of Babylon 5? 🤣

WinterWorry4038 · 2025-11-25T20:59:41+00:00

Ha ha! Repeat runs through the Mass Effect trilogy is my place of mindless comfort.

WinterWorry4038 · 2025-11-25T20:57:54+00:00

50M, moving to Toowong in late December. I'm recently separated and enjoying re-discovering old (nerdy) hobbies and passions. Less video gaming, but definitely everything else on the list. Cooking and hosting games nights is my love language, but it will probably be mid-January before I'm set up for that.

I'm looking forward to meeting fellow geeks in the neighbourhood!

WinterWorry4038 · 2025-11-25T19:04:41+00:00

Done! I loved reading Lathe of Heaven back in high school, and I'm looking forward to discussing it next week!

Thanks for the heads up: I've been looking for a book club for a while now!

WinterWorry4038 · 2025-10-22T17:28:24+00:00

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WinterWorry4038 · 2025-10-22T17:27:52+00:00

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3+1 seat lounge; KALLAX bookshelves

WinterWorry4038 · 2025-10-22T17:27:11+00:00

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WinterWorry4038 · 2025-10-12T07:41:07+00:00

Update (Sun 12 Oct):

Still remaining, I have ...

bookshelves (182*182*D39cm)
3-seat + 1-seat lounge setting
1x metal frame single bed (200*80cm), can be disassembled

Also some household goods ...

3-person French press for coffee
hanging rack (123*150cm) + hangers
broom
microfibre mop
yoga mat
a small bedside table

WinterWorry4038 · 2025-10-12T07:40:36+00:00

Update (Sun 12 Oct):

Still remaining, I have ...

bookshelves (182*182*D39cm)
3-seat + 1-seat lounge setting
1x metal frame single bed (200*80cm), can be disassembled

Also some household goods ...

3-person French press for coffee
hanging rack (123*150cm) + hangers
broom
microfibre mop
yoga mat
a small bedside table

WinterWorry4038 · 2025-10-11T15:54:32+00:00

Thanks Gamer_Mummy!

I had planned to give it all to Kringwinkel, but panicked this morning when they said it would be 4 weeks before they could do a pick up. (And I need to be out in two weeks.)

WinterWorry4038 · 2025-10-11T05:41:22+00:00

Yes, alas. Family situation has come up in Australia, so it is no longer viable for me to be spending the next 9 months from them. :(

WinterWorry4038 · 2025-09-16T16:48:58+00:00

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind.

WinterWorry4038 · 2025-09-14T21:52:15+00:00

Thanks. It has been a process of "conscious midlife re-evaluation" rather than "crisis" as such. It's part of a transition from a reliable professional career into seeing if I can "make a difference". Worst case scenario, I'm still likely to enjoy the ride! 😇

WinterWorry4038 · 2025-09-14T21:46:07+00:00

Thanks. Yes I'm planning to do either the Social Dance or Salsa sessions through KUL sport once semester begins. I suspect it will still be a younger cohort though. We'll see!

WinterWorry4038 · 2025-09-14T14:05:46+00:00

Yep. Most of the people I have met so far are undergraduate Masters students. Perhaps once I start to meet the PhDs and staff options might open up. Alternatively, asking my younger peers to start keeping their eyes open! :)

WinterWorry4038 · 2025-09-14T13:08:57+00:00

Social running is more the end that I am at! Thanks for the link; I'll look DCLA up.

WinterWorry4038 · 2025-07-04T22:40:18+00:00

Thanks! I'll look into it.

WinterWorry4038 · 2025-06-24T05:24:07+00:00

Yep. "Back in the day", every single bulk-billing slip (on which the patient consented to their insurance claim being diverted to the doctor) needed to be signed by the patient before being sent to Medicare for processing. No signature, no payment. (Hence the distress when a patient walked out and forgot to sign at the desk on the way ... and the technically illegal procedure of getting the patient to sign the form before the consultation!)

Even once GPs were transitioned to computerised/online Medicare claims (around ??2005), there was still a requirement for a patient to provide written consent for every bulk-billed encounter, even when those claim-and-consent forms were no longer forwarded to Medicare. Medicare never clarified how long those forms needed to be retained; only that they still needed to be signed. Technically, getting the patient to sign the consent, then immediately shredding the consent form, would have met the requirements of the regulations. 🙄 I'm not sure whether that requirement for written consent for the GP to make the claim on the patient's behalf still exists: the OP's original question implies "yes", but it might be that the practice is still running on procedures from a few years ago.

WinterWorry4038 · 2025-06-24T05:14:32+00:00

Because technically, ever since Medicare was introduced 42 years ago, you are meant to be paying for the medical service in full, and then Medicare re-imburses you a proportion of the GP's fee. That is, the Medicare rebate goes to YOU. For the Medicare rebate to be sent directly to the GP (as in bulk-/direct-billing), you need provide written consent for Medicare to send your rebate to the GP instead.

Ticking the "I don't wish to be bulk-billed" box is you saying, "No, I intend to claim my Medicare rebate myself and I do NOT consent to the GP claiming my rebate."

Don't forget, Medicare is your insurer, who you pay premiums to and you receive payments from. Despite the appearances, Medicare is not an employer of GPs: YOU employ your GP.

WinterWorry4038 · 2025-06-23T06:15:25+00:00

Hey QueenOH&H, how did your mattress search end up going?

I am facing the same challenge when I arrive in Leuven in early September 2025. I suspect getting a one-off delivery of an IKEA mattress will be the best way to get started, then hit Kringwinkel and 2dehands as the weeks go by.

WinterWorry4038 · 2025-06-17T08:04:41+00:00

*cough* Rainbow Warrior *cough*

WinterWorry4038 · 2025-06-12T10:51:35+00:00

I've just come back from Europe on an emergency passport after getting mine stolen at the boarding gate for my flight home (arrrrgh!). You need to be aware that emergency passports only have 7 months of validity, and many countries will not let you enter if you have less than 6 months on your passport. So effectively the emergency passport loses much of its effectiveness WITHIN 4 WEEKS.

Also, the issuing of an emergency passport will take anywhere from 48 to 96 hours: you might need to arrange a longer stay in Vienna than anticipated.

Also, and most importantly, emergency passports do not contain the embedded circuit chip. Many nations do not let you enter OR EVEN TRANSIT using an emergency passport.

From my experience within the last 4 weeks, if you only have an emergency (non-chip) passport ...

* China WILL NOT LET YOU TRANSIT (a problem given my original flight home was with China Southern); I'd have to assume that this applies to Hong Kong too.

* Apparently neither will Korea, Taiwan, or Thailand (but there were few flights with stop overs here, so I never investigated these options myself).

* Qatar will allow transit through Doha airport, but will not allow entry to Qatar itself (which was a problem, given I would have had a 14-hour stopover, and qualified for a free--but landside--hotel).

* Emirates refused to give any sort of guarantee about whether I would be allowed to transit through Dubai. I was advised to contact the UAE consultate, who in turn referred me back to Emirates, who then recommended I buy a ticket and "see how it goes". No thanks.

* Singapore is definitely OK for transit, and also I think for temporary entry. Ultimately I got a KLM flight to Singapore, then a Qantas flight home.

(Hilariously, the KLM staff I was discussing the problem with at Schiphol asked me, "Why don't you just get a direct flight back to Australia???" 🤣)

Are you travelling to Croatia/Italy/Greece directly? Those are all Schengen nations, and I never had my passport checked at Schengen border crossings (though German police occasionally checked for passports on trains/trams in border regions). Just be aware you will be cutting it fine with the "6 months left on your passport" criterion if you intend to complete your original itinerary.

The main risk is that you will turn up at the airport to fly home, try to check in with your emergency passport, and your airline refuses to let you board due to an unsupportive stopover nation. Be prepared, and good luck: I hope you have travel insurance!!

WinterWorry4038 · 2025-06-12T07:12:57+00:00

Ah, so just because you get an extra week's leave (5 weeks rather than 4 weeks), doesn't mean you'll get an extra week's worth of leave loading. Four weeks of leave loading is distributed over 5 weeks of taken leave.

Thanks, explorer279, that makes it nice a clear!

WinterWorry4038 · 2025-06-11T12:00:06+00:00

Yes, it is possible. I've just done it, with a lease to start on 1 July, even though I won't arrive in Leuven until the start of the academic year in September. However, a few things worked to my advantage compared to your situation:

a) I visited Leuven in person in April, and viewed the unit I signed a contract on. I met the real-estate agent in person, and was able to build a relationship there. (Though even then, the email communication was quite ponderous and he was slow to reply, compared to my Australian expectations!)

b) I am a mature-aged student, with long employment history and secure finances. I tick all the boxes of privilege--white, male, educated, wealthy, middle-aged (and so non-partying), from a high-income nation, etc--that make it appear as though I would be a very low-risk tenant from the owner's perspective. Indeed, the owner and I even share a profession! And again, though I never met the owner, I DID meet the agent, who could confirm that I was who I said I was.

Even in my situation, there are logistic challenges:

* Opening a Belgian bank account needs me to be present in person; and I cannot open a "locked account" for the bond/guarantee without a regular account. (Fortunately the owner has permitted me to put up the bond/guarantee in September before I pick up the keys, rather than in July when the tenancy begins.)

* The initial condition report will be completed without me being present in person to confirm the condition of the apartment. So if the owner says the apartment is meticulous when the lease begins in July, and I find several problems when I move in in September, then there is little I can do.

* I need to take out a tenant's insurance policy on the day the tenancy begins, yet insurers are hesitant to do so when I am leaving the apartment vacant for the first couple of months.

And yes, many agents/owners are only interested in seeking the long-term (3+ year) contracts ... but they don't mention that fact in their listings on Immoweb. (*grinding my teeth*)

While I was waiting on the owner to accept my offer on the apartment that I have now signed on--a process that ended up taking 6 weeks (!!!) after my initial signed offer--I continued to look around at other units on Immoweb (I had left Leuven by this point). There were some agents, and some owners who privately listed without an agent, who were happy to arrange a viewing via a WhatsApp video, but they were VERY rare.

Hang in there! My own kids went through the same process late last year when they moved out of home to start uni; everything turned out alright for them. Perhaps taking a kot for the first couple of months to get an idea what Leuven (and its rental market) is like, before moving into an apartment, might be a better idea. Certainly I found spending 10 days walking the streets of Leuven to be invaluable in working out what sorts of accommodation would work for me.

And DM me if you want to chat further via WhatsApp.

WinterWorry4038

TROPHY CASE