CANZUK - What are your thoughts?

[Jerry_Atrick]

On 16/12/2020 at 12:19 AM, facthunter said:

We are run pretty badly but the UK has been far worse run. We tried a 10 pound Pom as a PM. He's over your way and you can keep him.  That's an order. I'll have another 10 quid sent.

  There's nothing here. Go away. It's all snakes and spiders and crocs and cold beer, floods bushfires heat and funny slang, but WE will work it out once we stop all these holes being dug and get some unpolluted water and topsoil..

  The only difference between England and the rest of the warring tribes of Europe is UK has  a  water barrier that doesn't work any more and  all it's old colonies  want to live there.. There's no "U" in UK either. Nev

I was listening to Tony Abbot yesterday on LBC radio and have to admit, I was happy not to be living in Aus when he was PM.. He just spouts a lot of carp with nothing to back it up. I think even the somewhat conservative laning commentator was a little bemused with him.

 

Do you know, as a young-an, I used to camp in state forest in the Otway ranges a lot, but also many other state forests up and doen the Eastern seaboard, where you could pitch a tent in any clearning you could find. I have never seen a snake in the wild, yet.. well, that is not exacly true - I saw a half eaten tiger snake on the edge of long grass at Melton airport, then technically a part of Melbourne, but a lot of fields between Deer Park and Melton. I remember taking my partner to the Grampians in the middle of summer and we walked off the beaten track, yet still... no snakes. Mind you, I did think of pedalling her services to the Aussie governments - wherever she went, it rained.

 

Re one country being run better than the other.. I would beg to differ. Remember the news you are likely to get is the bad news - there is no question Boris' team are incompetent, but the stuff we hear over here in the UK news about Aus is also not too flattering (you never hear about how good the COVID management has been in Aus..). I think it is fair to say, for example, the UK' management of climate change factors is better; It's public transport is miles better (in fact, does Conex still operatte Melbourne's trains and trams - we booted them out years ago for incompetence);

 

 

On 16/12/2020 at 12:31 AM, nomadpete said:

And it's about time they stopped calling it the uK.

Not only has 'United' become a misnomer, but It's been a long time since there was a king involved.

It's ironic, the most revered monarchs in the UK are queens (Lizzy I, Lizzy II, and Victoria to a lesser extent); and the most notorious are kings (Henry VIII comes to mind, as well as one of the Charles).. The UK was never really united - it is a bit like Europe - half baked and not properly implemented. Each of the original countries still thinks it is its own country - I particulalry enjoy the Scots that they are no longer their own country.. Gets the best reactions; followed by the English.. The other two don't seem to really care (in fact there is more murmuring from Cornwall than either NI or Wales to break away). But also, "Scotland" is not that united.. The Shetland Islands, which apparently have the rights to what is remaining of North Sea royalties does not align itself with Scotland whatsoever and has made it abunstandly clear it wil seek to stay in the UK regardless of what Scotland so. Whether they can do it or not is a different thing.

 

On 16/12/2020 at 1:20 AM, Yenn said:

What do they call it. As a ten pound pom I was brought up as English. Now England is never mentioned, I suppose because they are ashamed of it.

Then it can be The UK or Britain or Great Britain. God knows why it was ever "Great" Britain as it ceased to be great before the end of WW2.

If the Asian food in Singapore is poorer than in Australi, then Singapore has sunk to terrible depths. I worked their and considered it to be the best place in the world for food, both Asian and non Asian.

If memory serves be correctly, Great Britain was formed in the 1700s, I think from the Act/Treaty of Union between England/Wales and Scotland. I think it is fair to sat that the tiny Island did pretty well after that, although, even before WWII, it was starting to falter.. All great states to eventually falter, I guess. It became the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" in the early 1800s when NI joined (was forced? Not sure) Great Britain.

 

I was last in Singapore for more than a stopover whas about 7 years ago for 2 weeks with work. Although the locals were taking me to their favourite establishements for food, including some of the amazing Hawkers Bazaars, the food lacked some of the vibrancy of flavour and aromas of Asian food in Melbourne, at least. It was still great, don't get me wrong.. but I recall a Hong Kong associate many years ago who visited Melbourne's China town because he thought the restaurants there (particularly the ones that seemed to have areas with different foods for non-whities) were better than HK...

 

On 16/12/2020 at 7:12 AM, spacesailor said:

But you can,t get a Cup of Tea in Singapore.

spacesailor

You can indeed... Although the standard type teas are probably less popular as opposed to Green Tea and other oriental varieties, they are readily available. I don't drink tea - nor coffee -dilutes the alcohol!

[Jerry_Atrick]

9 hours ago, willedoo said:

Jerry, there's one thing I've been meaning to ask you. I'm a regular watcher of Escape to the Country, so what's this Pommie fascination with kitchen sinks that look like laundry tubs? The house buyers seem overjoyed when they see one. I thought maybe they have really big plates.

I have to admit, I found them wierd in the pictures, but an acquaintance originally from Sydney has a double layout of those sinks (something strange about pommies, they usually only have one sink - never worked out how they rinsed the dishes - not that too many people don't have dishawashers these days). As it was sunken and surrounded by chunky solid wood benchtops with a fantasic mixer tap overhanging it, it really looked great.. Almost wanted one myself. At out last place, we re-did the kitchen.. The salesman had to ask twice when I wanted a double (stainless steel) sink; My partner rolled her eyes and said something like, "bear with him; he's Australian".

 

I am sure many older northerners can't work out why southerners spend so much money on hardwood floors.. When they were young, they were famed for not being able to afford carpets...

 

8 hours ago, Marty_d said:

And colours / busy decorations!!  You get some godawful room decorated in eye-watering yellow or rose-printed wallpaper and the punters ooh and ahh over it!

 

Although I do like big kitchens with a wooden table in the middle and a big Aga along the wall.  Maybe it's a throwback to my childhood, we had the wood-burning oven and a table in the kitchen, although I think it was 1960's Laminex instead of natural wood.

Yes - we like our big kitchens - we wre very lucky to have picked up a bigger house in London for a knockdown price. The fad is using kitchen islands, but this Sydney acquaitance of mine has a fantastic solid wood table (table tob is probably 40mm) and they look fantastic. The decorations tend to be more afeminite than you get in Australia... Remember, English and eccentricity are almost synonymous.

 

6 hours ago, old man emu said:

I laugh when I hear these escapees saying that they don't like ground floor bedrooms and want the bathroom and bedrooms upstairs. It's true that in a lot of these houses, the view from the upstairs rooms is better than downstairs, but most of these people are retirees. They never consider what will happen when their knees and hips start to give out. And what is the desire for a bathtub? Who wants to sit in a tub of dirty water, then have to use something to hose it off.  And as your hips and knees give up the ghost, how do you get in and out of a bathtub? Their shower recesses are claustrophobic. 

Baths are big here, and not used for washing much anymore - but for relaxing (i.e. you will have a shower to clean, and then a bath). Of course, many still bathe in the bath. Some places have turned their bathrooms into sanctuaries (partner wants to do that here.. I prefer reading my Pilot mag on the dunny than in the bath). Though I have warned to using a bath - especially after being in the garden on a freezing winters day. Many country pads have walk in/walk out showers these days - usually 700- 1000mm wide... Otherwise, I really hadn't noticed much of a difference in shower space than the showers I have had in Melbourne.

 

5 hours ago, Old Koreelah said:

Who needs a view from the bedroom? We spend most of our daylight ours in the kitchen and living rooms; they should be upstairs with a view. Our bedrooms downstairs where it’s cooler, quieter and darker.

 

In winter, you do not want to wake up where it is quieter, darker, and colder. Can be bloomin freezing. Don't forget, in winter here, sunsets around 4pm (or usuable light ends there).. In London, I spent winter in perennial darkness durign the week.

 

24 minutes ago, Yenn said:

That reminds me of the bloke who called at a friends house. He was told that his friend was up but not down yet. Meaning he was out of bed, but still upstairs.

Concerning the stairs, those old people who live in houses with stairs will probably be fitter later than those who live on the ground floor, so they can attack the stairs.

Too right, Yenn. Those stairs to mean you are forced to do some exercise.. sometimes, though, it is a pain. However, stairlifts are quite the thing for older people here.

[Old Koreelah]

1 hour ago, Yenn said:

...Concerning the stairs, those old people who live in houses with stairs will probably be fitter later than those who live on the ground floor, so they can attack the stairs.

When visitors have commented on my stairs, asking what we’ll do when we get old,

my practiced reply was to say we built stairs so we don’t get old.

I’m sure are limits to that logic, but let’s stick with it for the moment....

[pmccarthy]

My brother just installed an electric lift. Not too expensive. And you can also use it as a dumb waiter to send food and drinks upstairs.

[Marty_d]

17 minutes ago, pmccarthy said:

...And you can also use it as a dumb waiter to send food and drinks upstairs.

I thought there was already something with that description... my wife calls it "Marty".

[facthunter]

How can my wife think she's always right, when she Married ME?   When I ask do you know where my Glasses are she says, "I wouldn't have a clue". So I say" I KNOW, But I just want to know where my glasses are." Nev

[Marty_d]

11 minutes ago, facthunter said:

How can my wife think she's always right, when she Married ME?   When I ask do you know where my Glasses are she says, "I wouldn't have a clue". So I say" I KNOW, But I just want to know where my glasses are." Nev

And you're still alive??

[facthunter]

I hate a boring life., obviously.  Women have formed the way they are, genetically over the ages, so their offspring will have the most opportunity to do well.  That's fair enough if you consider it from their  VERY responsible point of view.     True Love (the kind in American films) dies when SHE finally realises you aren't ever going to be wealthy and  SHE has made a mistake in thinking/hoping otherwise and they (female persons of the opposite sex), HATE making mistakes.. or  wearing the SAME outfit as her rival, who DID marry the "creepy" dude with the speedboat. Nev

[willedoo]

Fawlty thought Manuel was a dumb waiter.