u/swhill1

Hey everyone, work at a small warehouse just outside NSW. Last Wednesday one of the lads (mid 40s, dad of 2) got crushed by a forklift on a wet ramp. Gone instantly. Place is still reeling, management’s doing the usual “safety reviews” that feel too late. Family’s devastated and wife keeps calling HR but they’re super vague about compensation and timelines. Anyone dealt with a fatal workplace claim in Australia? What’s the typical process and rough payout numbers like? Any red flags with employers dragging feet?

Feels shit posting but i just want to help if i can. Thanks.

my ears have always been super sensitive. almost anything i put in would start itching or turning red within a day or two. butterfly backs were the worst — they poked when i slept on my side and got caught in my hair. i tried cheap gold plated ones, stainless steel, even some from piercing studios but nothing lasted more than a week without irritation. i basically stopped wearing earrings for almost a year because it was too frustrating.

a few months ago i switched to solid 14k gold flat backs and it has been completely different. they sit flush so nothing pokes at night and my ears have stayed calm even when i leave them in for weeks. i honestly forget they are there most of the time. has anyone else dealt with long term sensitivity like this? what finally worked for you?

Been in hygiene for a few years now and the scope of what gets piled on varies wildly depending on the office. Started noticing it more recently when I was asked to help with front desk coverage during lunch because the receptionist called out. I get it, team player and all that, but it got me thinking about how common this actually is.

Some offices have hygienists doing sterilization, prepping trays, taking payments, chasing down insurance stuff, even answering phones between patients. Others keep things pretty clean and you just focus on your patients.

I don't have a huge problem helping out occasionally, but there's a real difference between pitching in and being taken advantage of because the office is understaffed and management won't hire enough people.

Curious what other hygienists are dealing with out there. What tasks get thrown at you that feel way outside what you signed up for? Do you push back or just absorb it to keep the peace? Also wondering if this is more of a private practice thing or if people in corporate offices deal with it differently. Would love to hear how others handle the conversation when it comes up because I'm still figuring out where my line is.

im so torn about getting a clear frameless glass shower panel or just sticking to a regular curtain layout. my husband thinks the clear glass is going to look bad in two seconds because the hard water out here in Albuquerque leaves white crust on everything almost instantly, ngl he might be right but the spa look is so pretty.

i keep going back and forth on it. a family friend had theirs done by trussell's transformations during a full master bath update and their glass panels still look super clear, but i forgot to ask if they had some kind of special coating or if they just clean every time with a squeegee :(( . if you have clear glass here in a zone with hard water, do you actually regret it or is the maintenance kinda overblown if you stay on top of it? for a fact i know that i'm going to clean it but not so sure about my husband and kids and as far as i know if you let it go then there are little magic substances that can help with that

My girlfriend and I bought our first house together. Small place and just two bedrooms and one bathroom. No kids yet, so we figured it’s a good start

But the shower is falling apart. Leaking. The whole cabin is basically done. We’ve called a couple of plumbers, and they all say it’s going to cost the same either way. So we’re going for it

We’ve been studying bathroom trends, trying to figure out how to renovate on a budget. We measured everything carefully. Found a vanity with way more storage that actually looks stylish and not the cheap stuff, but not insanely expensive either. And we already found a shower cabin that fits perfectly in the same spot

Now the only thing keeping me up at night is the timeline

My girlfriend is worried about not being able to shower for days. I keep telling her it’ll be fine, but honestly? I have no idea. How long does a small bathroom renovation actually take? When they install the new shower cabin, can we use it the same day? Or do we have to wait for things to set?

I don’t want to start this project if we’re going to be without a shower for a week. But I also can’t keep using a shower that’s literally falling apart

Has anyone done a small bathroom swap like this? How long were you without a working shower? I need to know what we’re signing up for and because right now, I’m losing sleep over it

bought an apartment last year. the strata report was 70 pages of jargon. spent hours trying to figure out if the building was actually healthy or just hiding problems. almost bought a place with a critically low sinking fund.

so i started building a web app that extracts key numbers from strata financial statements. it pulls out fund levels, admin balances, special levies, and flags expenses like "professional fees" that seem high.

the extraction is messy because every report uses different formatting. but i got it working on maybe 10 reports from nsw. about 60% accuracy right now.

not sure if this is worth turning into a real product though. who would pay. home buyers doing due diligence maybe. committees tracking their buildings.

anyone here built something in the property space. whats the biggest pain point youve seen. is this even a real problem or am i just building for myself

I'm the operations manager at a mid sized company, and honestly? I'm exhausted

We used to keep customers waiting on hold for 15 to 20 minutes. The complaints were endless. Bad reviews. Lost sales. I could hear the frustration in people's voices every time I picked up a call myself

That's why we recruited 5 more employees. It seemed that this would resolve all the issues. But my strategy did not produce any desired results

There was no improvement in terms of quality; people were still being transferred from one person to another endlessly. There were some calls that simply got missed. And the expenses? They just skyrocketed. Salaries, training, equipment, and it took all the money we had

I've been looking those fancy and that seem effective AI solutions, but I was always afraid they'd be clunky and stupid. The kind of bots that ask you to repeat yourself five times and then transfer you to a human anyway. What's the point?

Then found someting like CloudTalk which claimed to have AI powered assistants which can take care of preliminary queries on their own and make smart call routing decisions. It seemed like precisely what we were looking for to take care of trivial matters so our live agents could focus on solving problems

But I'm still nervous. Is it really that easy to set up? Will customers hate talking to a bot? I can't afford to make things worse than they already are

I guess I'm just looking for reassurance. Has anyone here tried something like this? Did it actually help reduce the workload, or did it create more headaches?

I just got back from my first dental checkup in almost two years, and my wallet is currently crying. I went in assuming it would be a quick, cheap scrape-and-polish. Nope. Turns out I managed to develop some early-stage periodontal issues, which instantly bloated my bill to over twice what I expected... plus I have to drag myself back there next month for an expensive follow-up.

How did I get here? Total penny-pinching blindness. About 18 months ago, I got caught up in a wave of corporate downsizing. When I was auditing my monthly expenses, I decided to pass on the pricey dental insurance continuation plan because I was positive I’d land a new gig within a month or two. When the regular 6-month cleaning reminder popped up later on? I just shrugged it off. I didn't have a steady income yet, I was stressed, and honestly, I just used those financial worries as a convenient excuse to avoid the chair.

Some dumb math I did in my head at the time- keeping that insurance active would've cost me around $550 for the year. Paying out-of-pocket for two basic cleanings is usually like $150 a pop, so I figured I was taking a highly strategic, calculated risk to keep cash in my pockets. Total clown move. What I failed to realize is that having a monthly premium hanging over my head actually forces me to go, because nobody wants to waste money they're already paying for. Without that mental push, it's way too easy to just ignore your health.

This might sound like basic common sense to most of you budget gurus, but if this post stops even one person from ghosting their provider to save a quick buck, it's worth the public embarrassment.

Curious what everyone else's daytoday actually looks like beyond the chair. My job description when I got hired was pretty standard hygiene duties, but over time I've slowly picked up a bunch of random responsibilities that were never discussed upfront.

Things like taking Xrays for the assistants when they're slammed, helping at the front desk when someone calls out, doing patient recall calls, even restocking supplies. Some of it I genuinely don't mind because it keeps the day moving, but other tasks feel like they're just being handed off because I'm available and will say yes.

I've been trying to figure out what's normal versus what's crossing into unpaid labor or outside my scope. It's tricky because you want to be a team player, but you also don't want to set a precedent that becomes the new expectation.

Do you all have a clear boundary of what you will and won't take on? Did you ever have a conversation with your office manager or dentist about it, and how did that go? Would love to hear how different offices handle this because it seems like it varies a lot.

I was talking to a friend recently and realized how different divorce costs seem to be from one person to the next. One couple sorted things out pretty quickly and spent far less than expected, while another ended up paying a huge amount because every little detail became an argument.

It got me thinking because people always talk about the emotional side, but not as much about the actual bill at the end. I was reading through some information the other day and it reminded me how many factors can affect the final cost.

For those who have been through it, what did your divorce lawyer end up costing? Was it close to what you expected?

a viral post recently blew up about someone who found out at 28 they'd been brushing wrong—hard, side to side—and gave themselves irreversible gum recession. Diligent, just misinformed

technique beats pressure. Soft bristles. 45-degree angle. Spit, don't rinse—let the fluoride sit.

what changed everything for you?

I've noticed more and more women practicing pilates lately. Now that I'm pregnant, I think it will be the best way for me to stay active with its controlled, low-impact style.

I'm thinking about buying equipment so I can do it at home. I looked into the megaformer vs reformer and saw that the reformer focuses on alignment and flexibility with slower, controlled moves while the megaformer is more about full-body strength and cardio.

What is your opinion on pilates during pregnancy? Has anyone bought equipment for home use and can share what worked?

our daughter happened on cycle two. no tracking no temping. just kinda happened. i thought thats just how it worked for us.

fast forward 18 months of trying for a second and absolutely nothing not even a scare.

my obgyn finally asked if my husband had done any testing. i said no because honestly it never crossed my mind. with our first being so easy i just assumed he was fine.

so he finally went and did a clinic test. motility came back at 28% and morphology at 2%. doctors said its on the lower side but didnt really explain much. just said keep trying or consider iui.

i dont want to jump straight to iui if we dont have to. but i also feel like we wasted months assuming everything was fine on his end.

is it possible for sperm quality to drop that much in 3 years?

the bathroom in my apartment (im in bellevue) is only forty square feet with a cramped shower no storage and weak water pressure that makes mornings a pain. i have put up with it since moving in six months ago and now it is time for a full remodel to make it feel bigger and work better.

diy is hard for me at this step. i spoke with local builders. their plan includes a walk in shower with floating shelves and better lighting to open everything up. we think to start next month once summer slows down.

what cheap hacks can i try now for more storage and brighter light. any features that add value without lease problems? or some diy tips to save some money...

I've been thinking a lot lately about how dental hygiene is one of those areas where small consistent habits can make a surprisingly big difference over time. For me, switching to flossing at night instead of the morning completely changed how my cleanings go. My hygienist noticed and commented on it unprompted, which felt like a real win.
But I'm curious what has worked for other people. Maybe it's something simple like setting a two minute timer when brushing, or switching to a specific type of floss or water flosser. Maybe it's changing the angle you hold your toothbrush, or finally committing to cleaning your tongue regularly.
There's so much information out there about oral care that it can honestly feel overwhelming. Sometimes hearing what real people have actually stuck with and seen results from is more useful than reading another generic article.

When I was younger, I thought fitness was basically: just lift harder, run more, eat more protein, stop being lazy. And that worked for a while. But the older I get, the more I realize the workout itself is only like 30% of the equation.

The rest is boring stuff nobody wants to talk about: sleeping enough, not eating like garbage, warming up properly, managing stress, stretching occasionally, not ignoring joint pain, actually taking rest days, staying consistent instead of going insane for 2 weeks and quitting

I used to roll my eyes at people talking about “overall health” because it sounded vague and annoying. Now I kind of get it. I’ve been paying more attention to nutrition, recovery, and basic supplement research lately. Not saying supplements replace sleep, food, or actual work. They obviously don’t. But I do think I underestimated how much general health affects workout consistency.

Anyone else have this realization after a few years of training?

my aunt died like 9 months ago and left me her house in upstate NY. sounds nice but the place is falling apart. needs a new roof, needs a new furnace, yard looks like a jungle. I live in PA now and I've been paying the mortgage on this place plus my own rent. its killing me financially.

I tried to sell it. had a realtor come look. she said I'd need to put at least 30k into repairs before any normal buyer would touch it. I dont have 30k. I barely have 3k.

I've been looking at other options. one is to just let it go into foreclosure but thats probably dumb. another is to sell to one of those cash buyer places.another option is to take out a personal loan to fix it up but my credit isnt great.

I'm losing like 1000 a month on this house. every month I wait I lose more. but I'm scared of getting scammed or selling for way less than its worth.

what would you do? I'm so tired of thinking about this.

A new area near me was built recently and it already feels depressing. Just rows of identical apartment blocks, huge parking lots, barely any trees, and nowhere comfortable to walk during summer.

Why do so many modern neighborhoods look like this now?

I’m trying to figure out what to do with my old house before I move

It’s in a pretty small town where barely anybody’s looking to buy anymore

Regarding the place, it isn’t falling apart or anything major, but it needs work. There’s some water damage in one room, the porch is leaning a little, and the whole area has been drying up for years

Most people my age have already left for bigger cities, and I’m about to do the same after landing a job a few hours away

The problem is, I don’t have enough money or time to fix the place up before I go. I also need cash to get settled and rent something near my new job

I saw that jdub buys houses for cash, even rough ones. At this point that feels like my only realistic option

Has anyone here sold a house like this before?

Did you go the cash buyer route or try listing it anyway and just hope for the best?