Some days are just exhausting, and then a student says something funny, remembers something you taught them, or does something completely unexpected that makes you laugh. It’s usually a really small moment, but after a rough day, those little things can mean a lot. Teaching can be a lot, but moments like that remind you why you keep showing up.
I don't mean just getting your ticket and being able to do the job. More like the point where you stopped second guessing yourself and could handle a job without needing someone over your shoulder.
I reckon everyone gets there at a different pace, especially depending on the boss, the jobs you're exposed to and how much responsibility you're given early on.
We’ve all had at least one moment where we’ve done something so stupid that it’s funny looking back. Could be a rookie mistake, forgetting something obvious, or making a decision that seemed fine at the time. No judgement here, just keen to hear the stories people can laugh about now.
I’m considering going into paramedicine a bit later than most people do, so the idea of starting over in a completely different career is a bit daunting. I’d be interested in hearing from people who took the same path and what the transition was actually like. The good parts, the hard parts, and whether it felt like the right move once they were properly into the job.
Just doing a quick sanity check on rates. I run a small one-man maintenance van doing residential plumbing and gasfitting.
Currently charging $135 + GST for the first hour (includes service/callout) and $105/hr after that, plus materials. With vehicle insurance, public liability, tool replacements, and fuel going through the roof, I feel like I'm barely keeping up with overheads
Every time you’re knee-deep in a trench under a house on a 35-degree day, or trying to clear a blocked sewer line that smells like absolute death, you ask yourself why you didn’t just sit in an air-conditioned room playing with wires.
On the flip side, every sparky I know complains about crawling through insulation or getting chewed out by project managers because a conduit was out by five millimetres.
To all the seasoned plumbers out there: if you could rewind the clock back to day one of your first-year apprenticeship, are you sticking with the pipes and staying a turd-herder, or are you jumping ship to the electrical side?
Every time I scroll online I see credit cards offering six-figure Qantas or Velocity bonuses if you spend a few grand within the first few months. I’m disciplined about paying the balance in full, so I’m not paying interest.
But with annual fees often running into the hundreds, I wonder how much value is actually left after the fee. Is 100k+ points enough to make these cards worthwhile for a couple of domestic flights, or are we kidding ourselves by valuing the points too highly?
Who actually wins here - us or the banks?
Every time you’re knee-deep in a trench under a house on a 35-degree day, or trying to clear a blocked sewer line that smells like absolute death, you ask yourself why you didn’t just sit in an air-conditioned room playing with wires.
On the flip side, every sparky I know complains about crawling through insulation or getting chewed out by project managers because a conduit was out by five millimetres.
To all the seasoned plumbers out there: if you could rewind the clock back to day one of your first-year apprenticeship, are you sticking with the pipes and staying a turd-herder, or are you jumping ship to the electrical side?
Some days, the thing that gets you through is just having a couple of people in the staffroom to have a laugh with. Being able to vent for five minutes, share a ridiculous classroom moment, or just sit with people who get it makes a big difference. I reckon the people you work with can really change how you feel about the job.
Not talking about the massive jobs, just those ordinary shifts where everything seems to go wrong. Back-to-back jobs, no proper break, long waits at hospital, getting sent to the next job just as you’re about to clear, or finishing the shift absolutely wrecked. Those shifts where nothing major even happened but you still go home completely cooked.
I mean a role you probably would have scrolled past if you saw it yourself, but your provider suggested it and it actually turned out to be a decent fit. Could be because of the industry, location, pay or just the type of work. Keen to hear if anyone’s had that happen.
Some jobs look like a quick couple of hours on the schedule and somehow turn into an all-day nightmare. Tight access, mystery wiring, someone else’s dodgy work, impossible customers, every trade has one. What’s yours, and what usually makes it such a pain?
I used to pay more attention to cars and traffic, but after riding for a while, things like loose gravel, potholes, wet leaves, road paint and uneven surfaces get your attention pretty quickly. Some of them look harmless until you hit them at the wrong angle or in a corner. Would be good to hear what other riders have learned to watch for.
I've always found quoting straightforward when the problem is obvious, but hidden pipework can make things difficult. Do you normally quote a worst-case scenario, give an estimated range, or charge time and materials once you've opened things up?
I laid down fifty dollars cash in-store to slowly pay off a big collector edition pre-order over the last few months. When I log into my EB World account on the website, the order history still shows the original deposit amount owing.
The staff in-store confirmed on their terminal that my balance is paid off, but it drives me crazy that the website system does not sync in-store payment progress
I’m pretty open with my mates when it comes to salaries so we all know if we’re getting underpaid at work, but I almost never talk about my exact savings or net worth. Disclosing what’s sitting in my bank account just feels like a recipe for weird comparisons and unnecessary awkwardness. How transparent are you guys with your inner circle, or do you keep the hard numbers completely off-limits?
Given how unpredictable site soil conditions, slab drops, and structural timber engineered joists are getting, does square meter pricing ever work out in favor of the plumber, or do you stick strictly to fixture counts and linear meter drainage rates?
Feels like every time you manage to squirrel away a bit of cash into savings, house prices jump another ten grand and rent goes up again. It is getting to the point where the goalposts move faster than you can run
Spent a literal hour this morning sitting on the ring road at walking speed to get to an 8 am service call, only for the customer to stand outside tapping their watch. Do you guys factor massive travel delays into your morning scheduling now?