.Stripes.

Afternoon gents. Working from home today...super productive...

To a point, I agree. Having an understanding of the job is crucial to being a good manager - but if you're managing at a higher level it's less important to know the ins and outs - that's why you have supervisors and tech staff, so you don't NEED to know everything. Good people managers are a different breed - one of my mates is a natural people manager. He's not the most technically gifted in his field, but he understands enough to be able to manage those who are and to get the most out of them.

Actually not fact. They CAN do the most damage, but they're also responsible for ensuring everyone else that they're responsible for pulls their weight - this in itself is no easy task. Just because they don't do the same work as you (which is apparently the only thing you consider to be "actual" work) doesn't mean they're not actually working. They get paid more because they have greater responsibility and greater accountability. Obviously I can't speak for everyone, but in my experience they're generally the people who work longer hours and do a hell of a lot more than you give them credit for. Unless you've actually done their role for some time, how would you even know what they actually do on a day-to-day basis, and what their job is like? How are you qualified to make that kind of assessment when you're only viewing it from your own personal experience of a role you haven't done?

Some people fail to comprehend that people management is a very different set of skills and think that because they're no longer "on the tools" that they don't do anything...which is ridiculous, they just do a completely different role for which those who complain about "manglement" generally aren't suited/skilled for.

But you'd have to run proper calculations on how much you're spending on the home automation gear (blinds motors aren't cheap! I know, I bought 3 of them for my living room) to work out the savings you'd get on your power bills. Also, 10kWh battery wouldn't last me all night - in summer my ducted AC will chew through 3-4kW and hour...so that running alone when I get home from work would wipe out the battery within 3 hours. Add to that lights, tv, hifi etc...a single 10kWh battery isn't enough.

Price hasn't really changed in 2 years for batteries then - that'd still cost about the same now. Payback on that is like 10 years...which is when their warranty expires and their capacity significantly reduced. Also, stop showing off, Mr. "I get 40c per kWh"...

Truth. I do miss having a nice car, I must admit. Although I do appreciate having a nice house more at the moment.

Yeah...says she loves me, but I'm beginning to question whether she IN love with me anymore. I just feel tired and disconnected from her. I appreciate everyone's different, but she can easily go 12+hrs without replying to a text and expect me not to get frustrated by it, yet if I do the same she thinks something's wrong and gets frustrated. And I'm by no means overbearing with my texting.

Nah, I mean the friend being there hasn't helped...but our communication styles/habits and love languages are so incredibly different I just don't really feel like I'm in a romantic relationship...and there's like zero passion now. Makes me feel quite lonely, which isn't a great feeling to have in a relationship.

Congrats mate! Morning all. Speaking of relationships, been finding I'm questioning mine more and more lately...so that's a thing...

I'm quite intrigued to see my next bill. Rough calcs indicate it should be less than $50, even factoring supply charges. Considering this time last year my bills were $350-450 for 2months, I can live with that. Agree about batteries, though. Not even remotely financially viable yet due to the payback period coinciding with their expiry. I love the idea of being able to be somewhat off-grid, but from a pure cost/benefit stand point it's not worth it.

That's what they initially said about mine...so I used it as a bargaining chip for the sale

Yeah, it was an extra module I had to buy (was like an extra $200) but I figured the monitoring was pretty useless without it. It's super handy to see how and when you use stuff and can tailor your usage accordingly.

Not too bad, considering.

Stomach seems to have been ok today, so that's been nice

Cute...

Probably just not fully quite right again after Bali I reckon. Either that or it was the Portuguese tart I bought from a cafe yesterday. Haven't eaten since about 2pm and the last episode was a couple of hours ago now...so here's to hoping it's calming down. Took a probiotic and drinking some hydralite stuff to rehydrate.

Pissing out my arse again after spending the weekend down in Margaret River. Drove about 8hrs all up this weekend, cycled 20km, drank some wine, ate some food...and started pissing out my arse just as it was time to drive home. Supposed to be running a training course tomorrow morning at work, so here's to hoping it's settled by morning

Yeah, I have a Honda whipper snipper and I'm not overly stoked with it. The bump feed never works and you have to have the fuel tank nearly full if you're turning it sideways to do edging. Wish I'd spent extra and got a straight shaft with auto feed...

Yeah, mine was installed about a week before my install happened...but I had my whole install rushed within a couple of weeks from signing up, as I wanted it done before I started my new job so I could be home during the day while they did it. The solar install can still be done without it installed, but just means they can't turn your system on until it's installed. Technically there's no reason you couldn't push to have it done beforehand if you want, though?

Time for a new job?

Calm down, it's all off-road through the vineyards

Yeah, I paid my fees on HECS...but I want to be able to claim them on my tax return (since it's directly related to my job)...so it's much simpler if I pay it before EOFY - plus I then don't have to pay indexing (CPI) on the HECS loan.

Actually going to Margaret River this weekend to show her friend around. Doing a 'Sip & Cycle' wine tour on Saturday - riding a pushbike to each wine tasting, so that should be fun. Other than that, not sure. Doing Tassy next Christmas I think? But I'm honestly not going to have the money to do any big trips anytime soon. Leaving my old job left me having to pay them back for a semester of uni, plus find the money for the remaining two semesters of the course before the end of this financial year...that combined with Christmas and I do still have a few grand to pay back from the original renovations I did to my house when I bought it that I balance transferred So the money I spent on solar could have really helped out otherwise currently, come to think of it...

Fair enough - nice to have the options! Solar is pretty great. You'd think it'd make you feel less guilty about having the aircon on, but now that I can monitor my usage I find I'm more inclined to open up windows and doors in the evening to cool the house down if there's a breeze, as I can see just how much power it's using with the aircon on. I'll run it like a champ during the day, though! In other news, so glad both Bali trips are over - already expressed my desire to visit other places in future (without directly saying I think Bali is a sh!thole). Now just need to get through Christimas, then the friend who's been staying with the missus for 3 months goes home and hopefully life should settle down a little bit.