Abbott to sell Medibank

[i-need-a-martini]

There goes the benchmark that keeps our insurance premiums at a decent level.

I don't even understand why this is even necessary given that Medibank makes a profit? It's as if decisions are being made without any thought goig into it other than they promised to do it in 2007 so this is their way of punishing voters for not voting for them in at that time.

What other reason could there be?

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/abbott-moves-towards-medibank-private-selloff-...

[*crikey*mate*]

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@spotweldersfriend wrote:

I wasn't offended by any means:-) Factory work for the most part is monotonous.It's hard to be enthused when you're doing the same boring task,day in,day out. I know.I've done it.It's not just the snakes.I have to work with a knife that you could perform surgery with,so I have to concentrate all day.It makes the time fly.In a factory,time seems to stand still.

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yeah, when I was an apprentice, I spent many an hour peeling potatoes or peeling prawns - boring, monotonous work.

Or when we did really big functions and had to reporoduce hundreds and hundreds of petit fours or amuse bouche that looked identical..

I think it would be a very hard way to make a living, having to work in a factory all day.

[*crikey*mate*]

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@amber-eyed-girl wrote:

You can perform surgery with any knife spot, it's just that the patients find it easier with the sharp ones.

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actually, the sharper the knife, the safer iot is for the user.

if they cut themselves, the cut is less severe because if a knife is dull, you need to use more force to get it through the material than if it is razor sharp

(confessions of a butcher's daughter who was taught to manually sharpen her knives the old traditional way, hand sharpened on a stone)

[amber-eyed-girl]

I was thinking of wearing one of those chainmail gloves though Crikey, do everything with some panache, right?

remember how I nearly sliced my finger off with a Global?

lovely clean cut but right to the bone. So....chainmail thanks.

it is OK now but it took a long time to heal. Barely a scar 'cause I held it stiff for weeks and weeks.

[freakiness]

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@crikey*mate wrote:

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@amber-eyed-girl wrote:

You can perform surgery with any knife spot, it's just that the patients find it easier with the sharp ones.

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actually, the sharper the knife, the safer iot is for the user.

if they cut themselves, the cut is less severe because if a knife is dull, you need to use more force to get it through the material than if it is razor sharp

(confessions of a butcher's daughter who was taught to manually sharpen her knives the old traditional way, hand sharpened on a stone)

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Yep, gotta agree with that. Although I have found this amazing lazy person knife sharpener that you just lightly run the knife through to sharpen these days. 

[*crikey*mate*]

nah, they just hinder your work.

we had to have em in the butcher shops - made great wall decorations,

same with the introduction of those idiotic latex gloves for chefs

yeah right, lets all put a bit of rubber over our hands when we're working over naked flames and with razor sharp knives....

some numpties just have no brains when they iomplement some of these "safety precautions"

they do more harm than good and put the safety of the worker at gretaer risk.

oh, and the classic was when they bought in the sterilizer we were supposed to clean our knives with and wipe down the benches...

hahahaha, the stuff didn't work on metal

doofuses

but every two hours, everyone had to down tools and sterilize their stations....

*rolls eyes*

/rant over

[amber-eyed-girl]

I was thinking of a nice floral one made by Digi though Crikey.

[spotweldersfriend]

Some factories are smart enough to rotate staff to perform different tasks.Not only does it make it more interesting for the factory worker,but it cuts down on the number of injuries.

[*crikey*mate*]

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@freakiness wrote:

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@crikey*mate wrote:

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@amber-eyed-girl wrote:

You can perform surgery with any knife spot, it's just that the patients find it easier with the sharp ones.

---

actually, the sharper the knife, the safer iot is for the user.

if they cut themselves, the cut is less severe because if a knife is dull, you need to use more force to get it through the material than if it is razor sharp

(confessions of a butcher's daughter who was taught to manually sharpen her knives the old traditional way, hand sharpened on a stone)

---

Yep, gotta agree with that. Although I have found this amazing lazy person knife sharpener that you just lightly run the knife through to sharpen these days. 

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old habits I guess freaki

that's how my dad taught me when I was little, and at 90 odd he was still hand sharpening his knives - he'd have had conniptions if I ever let my knives near a machine to sharpen em - says they create a bevelkled edge which weakens the blade, rather than sharpening across the whole shaft of the blade.

He used to go nuts when the butchers would send their knives to the knife sharpener dude who used the machine - so he used to pay them to sharpen their knives by hand at work. - every Monday morning before the beef bodies came in, and again on wednesdays when the pork and lamb came in. an hour per knife per day (butchers only have 2, maybe 3 knives - a slicing knife, and a couple of boning knives)

just used a diamond sharpening steel in between.

[monman12]

INAM: "Monman - I think you will find that Paul Howes has political ambitions and has spent the last few years positioing himself to move into political life. What he says means little."
Oh  INAM, a senior and experienced trade union  leader having political ambitions, how unusual!!.

What he says actually means quite a lot,  judging by the response to his recent Press Club address.
Coincedentally Shorten was Howes' predecessor as AWU national secretary, but with a lot less presence then, and now,  judging by by this incisive quote from Howes:

"The eternal truism of leadership is that you define the environment lest it define you."

   

"It's not actually legal for sheep or goats to vote"

[*crikey*mate*]

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@spotweldersfriend wrote:

Some factories are smart enough to rotate staff to perform different tasks.Not only does it make it more interesting for the factory worker,but it cuts down on the number of injuries.

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I guess cos they would be more attentive.

would still be horrible work though

dunno, I just think of factories as big tin sheds, and the heat of a qld summer baking all the workers

at least a butcher shop is air conditioned and if you get too hot in a kitchen you can duck into the coolroom.

and I guess if you werer working in the fields as you do Spot, that if you got too hot, you could just poor a bottle of water over you and no one would mind?