Anyone up for a chat thread?

RamiC · Jun 30, 2026

Shane R said:
Bananas will turn black in the fridge.

Okay, not that then. Thanks.

Paidiske · Jun 30, 2026

You can peel them and freeze them, depending what you intend to do with them later.

If you just want to eat them fresh, though, I'd recommend buying smaller quantities more often.

Bob Crowley · Jun 30, 2026

You can buy banana storage bags which slow down the blackening of the skin in the fridge, but they still go dark down the track.

We've got one ourselves, but since it is winter the bananas have a longer shelf life anyway.

We usually buy 7 bananas a week. My wife and I both have half a banana with our cereal each morning and that's about it.

In our winter we can leave them in a dish on the bench, but when the weather warms up we need to use the bag in the fridge. Even using the bag, by the time the week is up the last bananas are getting a bit ripe.

For more trivial pursuit, feel free to ask.

RamiC · Jul 1, 2026

Thank you for all the banans responses.

Paidiske · Jul 1, 2026

Hey, it makes a refreshing change from the usual stuff.

Today I had to explain to a parishioner that we are not friends, and won't be hanging out socially. I felt mean, but it needed to be done...

RamiC · Jul 1, 2026

Paidiske said:
Hey, it makes a refreshing change from the usual stuff.

Today I had to explain to a parishioner that we are not friends, and won't be hanging out socially. I felt mean, but it needed to be done...

Oh that sounds hard, but serving your calling is extremely important, and it can only be done with boundaries set right.

You cannot be everything everyone hopes you will be. I wish Jesus finds that person the good company they seek in someone else.

Deegie · Jul 1, 2026

RamiC said:
You cannot be everything everyone hopes you will be. I wish Jesus finds that person the good company they seek in someone else.

I think you should sell t-shirts with that on them!!

Shane R · Jul 1, 2026

One of my congregants is in the hospital. This is an insight into healthcare in the US. He went to his local hospital and they were like, no brother, you need to go up the road to the bigger hospital. So his wife drove him up there and they did an MRI but didn't want to do the surgery to treat his illness. He had to go to a third hospital for that. They cut a big chunk out of his back and he's miserable! Can't lay down comfortably and they want to keep him all week instead of letting him go home. He does a little farming so I know he's getting backed up on chores. Those of you that have socialized medicine don't want to know what an inpatient surgery and a week in a US hospital costs.

Paidiske · Jul 1, 2026

Getting moved from one hospital to another here isn't that unusual. But you're right, I don't want to know what it costs. (I think the American healthcare system is mad).

Bob Crowley · Jul 1, 2026

Those of you that have socialized medicine don't want to know what an inpatient surgery and a week in a US hospital costs.

This was a few years ago, but a couple I knew through our local Church and Vinnies conference went to the US for a holiday. He had cancer and they knew that, although to look at him you wouldn't have known. He was a big bloke and had spent most of his working life in the RAAF (air force).

Anyway they were in Las Vegas when he had a heart attack. He was in intensive care for three days but unfortunately died.

His wife said to me "When I got the bill (for the three days), I nearly died myself!" I think it was about $30,000. Whether she was able to claim some of it back later via insurance I don't know.

Mind you hospital costs and insurance aren't cheap here either. Medical insurance is our second biggest cost after groceries.

We don't have to take private medical insurance, but you can be waiting a long time for elective surgery if you need it on the public system.

I used to drive for a community transport company, and some of the customers had been waiting years for public health to cover knee, back or hip surgery.

My wife had two knee replacements. The first cost around $24,000 (4 days in hospital) and the second $26,000 (6 days in hospital). Fortunately we were able to get nearly all of it back from the insurance.

It's not cheap here either.

Shane R · Jul 1, 2026

I had major surgery last year. The US Veterans Administration covered it. If I had to pay, it was $81,000.

Paidiske · Jul 1, 2026

Bob Crowley said:
Medical insurance is our second biggest cost after groceries.

Ahem. Surely the actual cost of housing is higher than both?

What I can find online says our biggest household costs are housing (and utilities), food and groceries, and then transportation.

Or did you mean for you personally?

Being the hospital chaplain in town here is interesting; I bounce between the state-run hospital and the Catholic-run private one. They are very different experiences for patients.

Bob Crowley · Jul 1, 2026

The costs I mentioned were for us only, not state or nation wide. That would be a different story.

We own our house so we're not paying rent or a mortgage. As a member of Vinnies I'm well aware of the effect rent increases have caused. Before Covid rents were about $350 to $380 a week out our way as we're not in a high income area; now they'd be lucky to pay less than $550 a week and usually a lot more. A single person living on Job Seeker, Age or Disability pension simply could not afford to rent unless they're in state housing. Even some working families are struggling.

Looking over our accounts for the last two years, groceries were the biggest cost followed by insurance (with health insurance being the largest component by far) and then house maintenance. We had significant electrical work done (solar panels replaced, new switchboard, removal of old inverter etc.), and also some patio repairs and extension as a flow on from hail stone damage a few years ago

Louise's ceiling fell apart after cricket ball-sized hail ruined her roof. A year later her home is still unliveable

More than a year after hailstones wreaked havoc on the south-east, hundreds are still awaiting repairs. Some families are still homeless; others are still carrying emotional burdens, as another storm season approaches.

www.abc.net.au

We copped the edge of this hailstorm. While it was six years ago, it took a while to get the damage repaired as I needed to get other work done in addition to the damage repairs, and had the patio extended a few months later.

Paidiske · Jul 1, 2026

Yup; cost of housing has become a major problem here too. But I don't know what the answer is. We can't just magic up extra housing overnight.

Anyone up for a chat thread?

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