As I said; two very clever people.

Good for you Yabby. You're a smart man. Some are smarter; some not so smart, they offer the skills they have. It is much harder for them today. I applaud your capabilities, truly; but easier for you does not equate to easier.

"I have not attempted to “belittle” the posters who have argued that their life is tough or getting tougher...". (Quote:Rhian)

That is accurate isn't it? You didn't 'attempt'; it IS what you DID.

Judgmental self satisfied creep is very much in the eye of the beholder I think. However you are not a creep Rhian.

Yabby is a wise person. Once there was a saying, 'you cut your coat according to your cloth'. Now everyone wants their coats free from Dior of Paris.
Little people should start little and work their way up. It is the only way to security and to serenity.
Put a small deposit on a McMansion and bleed from the heart appears to be the modern way of life.No wonder there is so many crying depression'

It's a pity that Yabby wasn't around during the economic depressions of the 1890's and 1930's to espouse his wisdom. I can imagine all those unemployment queues having vanished overnight.

... and don't anyone pay the slightest attention to those stories of most small businesses failing before their first year. Just follow Yabby's advice and pick up a broom, a bucket and vacuum cleaner ...

I am impressed, Rhian.

You will go a long way, if Australia becomes the kind of society you would have it become.

On the one hand, because of my frankness, you have assumed a license to denigrate me not once, not twice, but three times.

On the other hand, your feigning of outraged indignation at my indiscretion (understandable, I would have thought in the circumstances) of having presumed that your plans in life had gone smoothly, was masterful.

Was it an honest mistake on your part, Rhian, to have misquoted my words in your 'direct quote' as 'personal inadequacies' rather than 'personal adequacies'?

---

Let's recount the exchange, shall we?

Initially, I wrote, "Each serious job application I make these days takes at least weeks out of my life. This is to update my resume, fill out job selection criteria, ... to attend the interview."

Possibly this is not entirely typical, nevertheless, the point remains, that large numbers of people have to spend inordinate amounts of their own time applying for jobs. This is widely acknowledged. Many categories attract large numbers of applicants for each available job. Therefore, the amount of time that must be expended on average even for those who are much faster at writing applications is still ridiculously high and is one of a great many factors which are not taken into account when the likes of John Howard rant on about how we have never had it so good.

You asked, "Two weeks to fill out an application! Heck, what kind of jobs are you chasing?"

I wrote, "Yes Rhian, it can, and has, taken me two weeks or longer to apply for one job."

I then explained at length how the task of matching my credentials and experience with very demanding selection criteria often led to depression and writers block.

None of this seemed to have registered in spite of your professed capacity for empathy. You responded, "Yes, job applications take longer now than they used to. Still, 2 weeks?"

(tobecontinued)

(continuedfromabove)

I wrote, "Is it your intention to discuss the issue at hand or to discuss your own perception of my personal adequacies?"

I continued, "Just try to understand the task that many job seekers face when contemplating a job description..."

I concluded, "If ... two weeks still seems inordinately long to you, ... then LET'S HAVE THAT DISCUSSION ELSEWHERE."

If you were still puzzled after having read all that I had written you could have contacted me personally (and you should be smart enough to work out how to do that) to take the matter further, but instead you chose to post again, misquoting me:

"I'd prefer not to discuss your personal INadequacies, ..."

---

Yabby,

Your participation in this forum is becoming tiresome.

How much longer do you intend to persist trying to convince me, against my own direct experience to the contrary, that the task of visiting a GP has not become far more time-consuming and costly thanks to this government's wanton neglect of bulk billing?

And, if you find yourself unable to address my other points, why attempt to sidetrack this discussion into the issue of to what degree visits to the GP should be paid for by the taxpayer? Why not have that discussion elsewhere?

Sorry, I just don't know of any practices nearby that bulk-bill or have the wonderful time-saving systems in place that you describe. For all I know that may change, but right now, it hasn't and the system that worked very well before Howard came to power has been changed greatly for the worse.

I explained to you before and I will explain again: I don't normally go near the bank. If I try to save up banking my cheque until I go near the bank it could take many months, by which time the cheque will probably have been lost.

---

Moran's 'solution' to housing unaffordability (http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=4811) doesn't impress me. He shows no consideration whatsoever of the social and ecological cost of urban sprawl. When I grew up, environmentalists warned against the loss of agricultural land. ...

(tobecontinued)

James Sinnamon

"Your participation in this forum is becoming tiresome."

Well then don't read my posts. Others sometimes compliment
my posts, so just because I point out the flaws in your
posts and don't agree with you for good reasons, you
clearly don't like the messenger.

The GP story was just one little point to show that perhaps
its not the system at all, but your attitude, which might
just perhaps be the problem.

Thats what I see around me every day, people blaming the
Govt, blaming anything but themselves for their problems.
Sure it makes people feel better, but I also found that when
I started becoming honest with myself and questioned what I could
actually do to change things in my life, little doors opened up
everywhere.

Sometimes, just sometimes, we need to pick ourselves up by
the bootstraps and turn our lives around, it can be done, heaps
are doing it.

I am an issues person, not a political party person. I say
it like I see it, no matter which party they belong to.

But just you ignore my posts, I have no problem with that.
I shall just continue to add my 5c worth of wisdom anyhow :)