u/Kindly-Exam-8451

I’ve a great little sushi joint in the CBD and I often eat in. The place often has a long queue, and has a large variety of rolls. Over time, I’ve heard some really strange combinations/orders (today, some psychopath ordered 4 California rolls, as an example), and it got me wondering what the most popular combinations are.

What’s your go to order (number of rolls, type)?

Me: 3 rolls - spicy egg (white rice), cooked tuna/avocado (brown rice), crispy chicken (brown rice).

Self explanatory really; need cheese.

Bonus points if it’s at a winery.

Hi all. I’m in a unique position where I am converting from an employee in my workplace to a partner in the business. As a consequence, I will be paid out all of my current long service leave entitlements - around $75K. We bought an ICE SUV a couple of years ago which is serving us well and have no reason to upgrade. We also have a late 2000 VW wagon that is coming to the end of its life, that my wife hates (was a base model at the time, so doesn’t have any mod cons like Carplay, reversing camera etc).

I’m considering using some of the cash to fund a new car purchase. My use case is most likely driving into the office 3-4 days a week (45 minute commute). I used to love cars - grew up around them a lot, in particular, vintage cars - but interest has wained recent years. Thing is, I have a hankering to buy something vintage. Am I crazy? We have an 18 month old daughter, so can’t get away with a 2 door (the Healey Bug Eye will need to wait. We had a couple of Jag MK2s growing up, that would tick the practicality box, but there was just something about them that I never really fell in love with. A BMW 2002 would be nice, but a 2 door with a young family is out of the question.

Any tips, suggestions or comments? The alternative is probably an EV (Zeekr 7GT probably) but I’d love something a bit more unique that reconnects me to my childhood, and stands out a bit in the car park too!

For the love of god, broadcasters, can we please start showing the pressers in full? It’s an absolute joke at this point. Guaranteed that people watching 45 - 60 minutes after the final siren are fans of the clubs who played and want to hear from the coach - we don’t want your shitty banter and lame segments. Channel 7 - Cox answers 3 questions, cut to the num nuts. Fox shows the rest of his presser 10 minutes later. How about the winning team? Zero fucking airtime. Think we can get some decent audio in these rooms - nah. For a billion dollar sport the disdain that we have for this element of our sport is crazy.

A recent post about distrust in lawyers got me thinking. I get why the profession has a bad reputation, but after 20 years in a well-regarded mid-tier firm, I think a lot of the frustration comes from simple miscommunications or misalignments of expectations.

So, for anyone in corporate Australia who has to deal with lawyers, internal or external, here are some simple ways to make the process clearer, smoother and more cost-effective.

TL/DR: Before engaging a lawyer, ask who will do the work, what the key issues are, what steps they plan to take, what could increase costs, and what information they need from you. Prepare your documents properly, understand the fee scope, be realistic about deadlines, and be decent to deal with.
 
Questions to ask before engaging a lawyer

1. What do you think the key issues are? This gives you a sense of whether the lawyer understands the matter and can talk confidently about the issues. If they struggle to identify the basics, they may not have much experience in that area.
2. Will you be doing the work, or will someone else? This matters for both quality and cost. If you speak to a senior lawyer but most of the work will be done by a junior, the fee should reflect that.
3. What steps would you take if we engaged you? A good lawyer should be able to explain the likely pathway. They may not know every detail upfront, but they should be able to outline the main stages.
4. What could cause the costs to exceed the estimate?Ask what assumptions sit behind the quote. For example, a lawyer might estimate $3,000 for a straightforward land transaction, but that may assume no negotiations, no unexpected issues and a smooth settlement.
5. Who in your business needs to provide input? A lot of delays happen because the person instructing the lawyer does not have all the background information. If someone else knows the facts, speak to them before briefing the lawyer.

A few practical tips

1. Prepare the brief properly. Lawyers are not mind-readers, and you will pay for the time they spend piecing things together. If you are sending documents, include a short chronology and arrange the documents in date order if you can.
2. Read the cost estimate carefully. Make sure you understand what is included and what is outside scope. A low estimate is not always a good estimate if it excludes the work you actually need.
3. Be clear about timing. Tell the lawyer about any real deadlines upfront, but try not to label everything as urgent. If everything is urgent, nothing is.
4. Be decent to deal with. Most lawyers are trying to help you. A clear, respectful relationship usually leads to better work, fewer surprises and a smoother process. You’d be surprised how often clients are rude to us for no reason other than “you’re a lawyer”.
5. It’s also helpful to remember for AusCorpers that unless you are a former lawyer yourself, it can be hard to deal with lawyers. We’re often engaged to help you on complex matters that might be out of your wheelhouse. But sometimes, we can’t just “sort things out because you’re the lawyer” - a lot of the frustration often arises because the business has decisions to make, or information it needs to give, to enable the lawyer to do the work.

None of this guarantees that every lawyer will be good, or that every matter will be cheap. But asking the right questions early, and giving clear instructions, can save a lot of frustration on both sides.

Let me preface this by saying that I completely sympathise with childcare staff and support early detection and prevention of viruses etc. I would never send my child to daycare with a virus.

But, this is the fourth week in a row now that our Centre has called us telling us our child has hand foot and mouth. Our child might have one small spot on her face - nothing on her hands, feet or bottom, nothing in her mouth. We then drop everything, take her out and go to the doctors who give her clearance. Spots disappear overnight.

Our 16 month old is teething so has had some red rashes and bumps on her cheeks as a result, and she has quite sensitive skin, but I feel as though our Centre is far too quick to identify what they consider to be HFM and hit the panic button. I can deal with the odd mid-diagnosis on the odd occasion but taking time off work, arranging doctors visits and then convincing the staff that she doesn’t have HFM is now becoming a weekly chore for us, under the guise that “it’s going around”. Not once have we had full blown HFM (never been anything more than one or two little red spots that don’t present like HFM), and I feel like our child can’t have a red spot on her without it being blown out of proportion.

My questions - is this pattern normal? This is our first child in daycare and we expected all the illnesses to hit, but when you have weeks on end of taking leave from work and the expense of going to doctors for them to clear them from something that was never there in the first place, it seems like a bit much.

When the score is 7 7 49.