[Alan]

It seems that the universal answer to any economic problem faced by people is to subsidise expenditure by the taxpayer and relieve people of the responsibiulity for making decisonsabout their priorities. There are some areas, such as Medicare, where this makes sense as there are benefits to the community of having access to public health at a reasonable cost.

However the overall impact of including this and that under some unbrella does lead to higher costs for all but the subsidised group as there is no such thing as a free meal.

[Alan]

My children, all now in their 40’s have recdeived significant financial help when needed. There have been paperless loans from the bank of Mum and Dad and these were repaid as they were able. (I receieved a similar loan from my maternal grandfather prior to marriage so never pqaid rent in Australia from day 1 of our marriage).

We help them as required nd enjoy an excellent relationship with them.

We remain very comfortably off in our retirement and money is not a concern.

[Alan]

Last month I flew QANTAS from Canberra via Sydney to Jakarta in Business Class using frequent flyer points.

All aspects of the flight were satisfactory but the service on board was not as good as I expected and below a number of Asia Airlines that I have recently flown (also in Business Class).

In that context it does not surprise that their ranking has dropped.

[Alan]

At the start of COVID19 I was in India about half way through my program. When I arrived in Jaisalmer I was greeted with the news that the Province was closing that evening and so I quickly made arrangements to fly to Delhi that afternoon and from Delhi to Bangkok the next evening. This meant that I had to cancel two flights – the airline gave me a choice of a voucher valid for 12 months or a cash refund of about 50% of the price of the ticket. Given how the Pandemic turned out I am glad I chose the refund.

Where a flight is cancelled by the Airline they should be refunding the cost of the ticket or allow the Passenger to choose their replacement flight under the same rules as the flight was booked. A flight booked at low season rates must be taken in a low season window. If the price of the new ticket is higher then the airline should wear the cost. The only exceptions being where the flight is rebooked within the next week or so of the intended departure.

In a few weeks time I will be flying from Canberra to Sydney and then overseas. I have allowed extra time than needed for the transfer in Sydney and I would expect that if the Canberra flight is cancelled that the airline would give me priority of a later flight that will still have me in Sydney in time for my departure overseas. The flight was booked as a single ticket, so the airline has responsibilities.

[Alan]

It is past time that younger people were taught that there is nothing inherently shameful about the human body. All females have the same body parts and all males have the same body parts as each other.

Being without clothes when you are showering and changing into other clothes should be considered normal. I have lost track of the number of males I have seen without clothes and I could not identify any of them after the event. For me it is a total non issue.

[Author]

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