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Apparently it is now!


Eyebrow

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OK

The issue for the day is...This Top loader, Front loader washing powder thing.

The boxes etc look exactly the same, except for the discreet F or T in the right hand corner.

Having read about it on the forum before, I was prepared.

And being the clever sort :P (hey I got a 457 visa for some reason!) I figured out the Top loading washing powder very likely goes into a top loader machine, and the front loader washing powder goes into.. wait for it... a front loader machine :grads: .

So since we got given a top loader machine, it goes without saying that I should put in the top loader washing powder.

The End.

Or not...

I googled the manual, as it came to us without one, and I wanted to know about all its functions.

http://manuals.appliancesonline.com.au/simpson-topload-manual/simpson_topload_manual.pdf

So on the top of page 7 at the "Add the detergent" section it states... Good quality, front load detergent will perform well in this machine. WHAT??? Why front load in a top loader??? All that I know about front,top or even free loaders is now obsolete!

Explain this to me forumites!

If you can... :glare:

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Top loader powder is soapier so makes more bubbles. Good quality front loader powder has less filler in it so is more efficient. So you can use good front loader powder in top loader but not top loader powder in front loader.

Confused!

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Sjoe.

What a journey this is.

Someone gave me a gift today.
Out of the goodness of their hearts. For no other reason.

I certainly didnt deserve it.

And it was worth more money than I could earn in 2 years. Gross.(If one could express it in monetary terms, which one cant)

I was so taken aback.

An Australian woman.

A virtual stranger.

I remember when I came back to RSA from the UK. (My firstborn was born there.) And he came in as a British citizen, and had to get RSA residency.This was 10y ago. Anyway, I stood in a queue at home affairs with all the foreigners for hours. Brushed up on my Nigerian and Shangaan. :thumbdown: When I got inside the building it was after 3. And they suddenly closed up shop. They close an hour before the rest of home affairs.

And I was told to come tomorrow and queue again.

I asked why? I am a South African citizen, yet I am being treated like a foreigner. And one particularly, shall I say chubby, african lady stting behind the counter chewing gum said to me: "Feel what it feels like to stand for hours. To us you ARE a foreigner." I had to be at my new job the next day and I humbly begged her to take my application. (There was nothing else. It literally just had to be taken, stamped and put on a pile for processing.)

Quite a few other staff members were watching this exchange. Me begging and her looking at me as if I was pond scum...

She took it and the money with a sour face and threw it dismissively in a corner pile of stuff.

I left. Unhappy with the exchange, but at least it was handed in.

A few weeks later I enquired about the processing. Anxious because my son was about to breach his tourist visa. (Even though he was only 2 and had nowhere to go!) Only to be told it is nowhere on the system.

So I go back to where I handed it in.

Same lady there.

She looked similarly belligerent.

She looked me in the eyes and said that she didnt know what I was talking about, as they never received my application. But she was smiling when she said that. And I knew she knew, and she knew I knew. But there was nothing I could do.

I was beside myself! My son needed to leave the country in a few days!

She ignored me and said "next", as if I wasnt standing right in front of her. I decided to stand there in front of the counter until I got helped. I wasnt leaving the building. I stood there and she helped people next to me.

Eventually she left to go to the back for tea break. And when she had gone, the only coloured lady working there, looked around and held up her hand showing me to wait, she scratched in a pile of papers on the floor, and produced my application. She quickly entered it in the system, and gave me a receipt and said that was enough not to have to leave the country. I just had to show this paper,

The chubby lady came back into the behind the counter area, upon which the coloured lady said out loud that I should stop wasting my time standing here, when it was clear no one knew where this alledged application was.

I apologised and left.

I couldnt even properly thank this lady for helping me. And I was so grateful. She clearly had gone behind her supervisor's back.

The experience left me in no doubt about how much I was wanted in Africa... Not. :angry:

And thankful for the individual acts of kindness that is the true glue of our society.

Fast forward to Australia.

Where I am not a citizen. Or a permanent resident for that matter.

When I apologised at the school today that my middle son dont have the right clothes because we are living out of suitcases, and that he was cranky because he was awake during the night a few times because he rolls around and keeps falling off the inflatable matress. THey were so understanding, yet shocked at our "living circumstances" and suddenly the social worker got called to arrange furniture for us and she even offered food vouchers (I did try to tell her that we are slumming it on purpose and not really refugees as such :blush: - althought the fact that I have dropped them off and picked them up at school in exactly the same clothes for the past 2 weeks, probably didnt help :ph34r: )

And frankly I think it is good for the kids to live without for a bit. Will teach them to appreciate their toys and beds when it comes!

They offered to take my 3y old for free at the school's play school for one day a week so that we can do things just the 2 of us, without dragging her to one more mall, car dealership or government building. All places where she literally make our lives hell and we get nothing done.

A forum member offered a washing machine that works better than our own machine on the container :blink:

Another forum member transported it for us.

My employer gave us his 3 kids' old beds.

Another work colleague has donated all her kids' old toys.

A facebook friend are lending us lots of bedding and kitchen stuff.

At this rate we will have to put the entire container on hard rubbish when it arrives :o

The guy at the driving licence place gave me a temp driving licence number when I needed it to buy a car - even though that is not how it is done...

The lady at the kindie placement phoned around to get us placements because we are late applying for 2015

The neighbours here have all come to meet us. And it is a waving thing to everyone as you drive out the garage until you get to the main road! I feel like the evening of my wedding. Face in pain from all the smiling for the wedding photos! Here everyone I meet is so friendly. I have to keep smiling. Pretty soon those frown lines will be all gone! :P

Things arent all good. Long travelling times and motion sickness from the trains (my god! why? who couldve predicted that?! Now I am in trouble. How am I getting to work?) fluctuating weather and long days and it is definately a more physical country and I am mindblowingly exhausted everyday. The uncertainty of the 457. The difficullty in starting a new job.living in a city of 4.25 million people I feel crowded, and everywhere you go there is a lot of people, all the time! And I keep seeing new bugs that I dont know!

But it is better than I expected. And in ways that I couldnt have predicted before I actually came.

I am not making sense.

Sorry.

Am tired.

But I am overwhelmed by an amazing gift today. :)

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I am so happy for you. Horrified about the home affairs story (my jaw dropped :o ), but grateful for the opportunity to move to Aus. Your stories help prepare us for this exciting journey.

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Fantastic news!! Except for the motion sickness that is :(

Your new life has been waiting for you, and welcomed you with open arms - enjoy it, you deserve it. This is the true meaning of community!

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The motion sickness could be coming about due to you being run down and stress, my wife gets horridly motion sick but she is fine on the train, give it a bit and you might find it goes away

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I get motion sickness quite badly. Cant even read a txt in the car. No probs on a train. Do not read or glance at your phone at all.

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Sit facing in the direction of movement. I get motion sick in yhe train if I'm traveling backwards. Oh yes, and don't read... :(

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I get motion sickness quite badly. Cant even read a txt in the car. No probs on a train. Do not read or glance at your phone at all.

Hmmmm. I may have "glanced" at my phone the entire journey. :ph34r::thumbdown:

Sit facing in the direction of movement. I get motion sick in yhe train if I'm traveling backwards. Oh yes, and don't read... :(

The backwards thing is distincly weird! I hate it!

The motion sickness could be coming about due to you being run down and stress, my wife gets horridly motion sick but she is fine on the train, give it a bit and you might find it goes away

I get very sick in the car. The only thing that helps is if I drive. Then you anticipate movement and the inner ear seems ok. So I drive and hubby navigates. Because if I look at a map (besides the point that I have to turn it upside down if one travels North to South like a typical female) or glance (there is that word again! :blush-anim-cl: ) at google maps, then I want to chuck up.

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Today I woke up late and had to dress in a hurry.

Some of my clothes may have been lying on the floor... (This cant be confirmed or denied :glare: )

We live out of suitcases and we have no drawers or even shelves! The cupboards dont have any!

Just hanging space. Very frustrating. Miss my nice built in cupboards in RSA! :(

So the suitcases lie on the floor with lid open against the wall and clothes nicely folded (read: thrown back in haphazardly) inside.

So when I picked up my top (yes, ok, from the floor) out jumps the guy in the photo.

I apologise for poor picture quality, but I was across the room zooming in as far as phone camera would allow, before I allowed the executioner to stomp on it.

An entomologist (read: next door's 8y old Australian boy) confirms that it is a white tail spider.

I screamed like a little girl!

Here the things that want to kill you have ,any legs (not just 2 legs, like in South Africa). :ph34r:

post-17558-0-91747900-1413442265_thumb.j

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Tell your landlord you had a white tail crawl out if your shirt ( keep quiet about location...). Ask him what he is going to do about the insects you see around the place (make some up too). Normally they send the exterminator in, no issues. If he is reluctant to send somebody, tell him that your husband will then go to Bunnings, buy a big container of perimeter spray, gloves, goggles, masks, etc and he will have to pay the bill.

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Please know that if it is a white tail spider that they are poisonous! In any dealings with the estate agent, make sure you give it to them in writing, not just verbally.

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I've been bitten by a white tail twice. The bite is nasty but not lethal. The spot where bitten will be really uncomfortable and itch like mad. DON'T SCRATCH! Keep on rubbing an anti itch lotion on it. Mylocort works quite well. I was bitten last Friday night for the second time and today I still have a red mark (2 x 3 cm) on my leg which is now mostly not itchy but feels a bit weird.

I've posted it before but I'll say it again white tails a notorious for crawling under or into clothes and towels left lying on the floor. Shake everything well before using or putting on.

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Yes, easy to bomb (fumigate) the house in the day while you are out. We do that once a year. We (husband) do the perimeter spray twice a year and we seriously see less wildlife than in RSA.

I am a big fan of packing space in the wardrobe. Here and in the UK we found them leaning heavily to the hanging side. Ikea does almost like hanging shelves (made from fabric) that you can hang on the pole in the wardrobe. It will then give you 4or 5 shelves. Otherwise go to Bunnings and buy lots of hangers and hang every freaking t-shirt.

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Actually you get those fabric hanging shelves and hangers cheaper from the Reject Shop.

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I am exhausted.

The kids got ill the weekend with vomiting and diarrhoea. Was only a matter of time, before all the new strains of bugs from the schools hit them, but it was a massive issue!

There were vomiting all over the place.

All bedding had to be washed in the early morning hours of Saturday. And as we really have the bare minimum, there were nothing to sleep under.

Each one had to cover themselves with their bath towel, which were a bit damp from their earlier shower.

And on the next round of vomits, even those were lost to us.... :closedeyes:

There were vomit on the rental carpet. which we had to try and wash off immediately, since they were pristine before! We are soooo not getting our bond back.

At least the matresses were plastic inflatable and could be rinsed off in the shower.

So 3 am I had to put the heating on as high as possible because kids were sleeping virtually naked (except for nappies) and Melbourne is not the warmest city at night!

So we were super grateful about the donated washing machine at this stage... Because this would not have ended well if we had to look for a laundromat at that time of the morning. :glare:

But hanging space for drying was also difficult to find.

The weekend did not get better when I came to the bedroom one night to find the door closed (the kids have not been doing that, so I was immediately suspicious :ph34r: ) and when I went in, what would I find? But deflated matresses! Resigned I set upon the task of re-inflating, only to hear a whoosing noise. Huge hole in each of them! :angry2:

The :censored: kids. Wtih what? Scissors? I dont know...

And the culprit was nowhere to be found...

And just like that, we were back to sleeping on the floor. Again hitting rock bottom (or is it the rock with our bottoms... :huh: )

I flipping give up. :thumbdown:

Actually you get those fabric hanging shelves and hangers cheaper from the Reject Shop.

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Damn, which I could loan you a bed! Small consolation is that the culprit also has to sleep with rocks on its bottom.

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Ah no what a story! It sounds terrible now but one day you will laugh about it with family. I hope it gets better from here.

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Eyebrow I love your candid updates. I hope soon that day to day life will come with less challenges and more fun :)

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Actually you get those fabric hanging shelves and hangers cheaper from the Reject Shop.

I quoted this in the previous post, but forgot to write anything! That is becoming a habit :closedeyes:

I got one of these from the reject shop, and the kids thought it was a rope ladder/climbing frame/monkey bars.

The long and the short is, I had to take it down, before I have to take one of them to the hospital. :stretcher:

And, as I found out by popping into one of their centres, the medical cover "essential visitors cover", covers almost nothing. Including not covering trips to the emergency room. We are only covered if one gets admitted to hospital.

And everything has a 2 month waiting period/exclusion and everything pre-existing has a 12 month waiting period before benefits kick in. And having had a medical aid in South Africa counts nothing towards cutting this waiting period....

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Did you provide proof of SA cover to local inpatriate provider? We had to send that through and all waiting periods were waived, as long as you had comprehensive cover in South Africa.

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post-17558-0-60258100-1414146422_thumb.j

So I just wanted to sat that this trolley cost me $170 at Aldi. The Spice rack was $20 (and a luxury), so food is $150. There is meat at the bottom. Chicken and beef.

I was pleasantly surprised, and everything was great. Some things, like fresh produce, was even better than what we were used to in RSA.

Cant say the same thing about Woolworths or Coles. For $150 I carried out a few bags. Didnt even need a trolley! :o

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I quoted this in the previous post, but forgot to write anything! That is becoming a habit :closedeyes:

I got one of these from the reject shop, and the kids thought it was a rope ladder/climbing frame/monkey bars.

The long and the short is, I had to take it down, before I have to take one of them to the hospital. :stretcher:

And, as I found out by popping into one of their centres, the medical cover "essential visitors cover", covers almost nothing. Including not covering trips to the emergency room. We are only covered if one gets admitted to hospital.

And everything has a 2 month waiting period/exclusion and everything pre-existing has a 12 month waiting period before benefits kick in. And having had a medical aid in South Africa counts nothing towards cutting this waiting period....

Are you on a 457 so no medicare Eyebrow ? If so, I thought there was a special temp visa cover that covered far more than normal private hospital insurance ?

<snip>

So I just wanted to sat that this trolley cost me $170 at Aldi. The Spice rack was $20 (and a luxury), so food is $150. There is meat at the bottom. Chicken and beef.

I was pleasantly surprised, and everything was great. Some things, like fresh produce, was even better than what we were used to in RSA.

Cant say the same thing about Woolworths or Coles. For $150 I carried out a few bags. Didnt even need a trolley! :o

We have found a lot of Costco meat is good quality...and the most fun place to shop :)

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I quoted this in the previous post, but forgot to write anything! That is becoming a habit :closedeyes:

I got one of these from the reject shop, and the kids thought it was a rope ladder/climbing frame/monkey bars.

The long and the short is, I had to take it down, before I have to take one of them to the hospital. :stretcher:

And, as I found out by popping into one of their centres, the medical cover "essential visitors cover", covers almost nothing. Including not covering trips to the emergency room. We are only covered if one gets admitted to hospital.

And everything has a 2 month waiting period/exclusion and everything pre-existing has a 12 month waiting period before benefits kick in. And having had a medical aid in South Africa counts nothing towards cutting this waiting period....

What medical insurance is this?

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