DEAR Jasminda, A mutual friend often offers me job opportunities during social gatherings, but doesn’t mention the subject again until the next time we catch up. Should I take these offers seriously and seek further information, or brush them off? Katie L. Dear Katie, Social situations often involve social lubricants. Is your mutual friend half-tanked […]
PENDING the birth of their first child, Peter and Jane were staying with Jane’s mother, Betty. At the time, Betty was involved in a difficult divorce with her husband. They agree that if Peter and Jane help Betty with finance, they can retain the home and in return they would be registered on title. As […]
EVERY night, the stars wink down at us like ancient storytellers, daring us to come closer. They’ve been hanging there for billions of years, teasing us with the possibility that someone – or something – might be staring back. The great cosmic question is simple yet maddening: will we ever actually visit another star? The […]
DEAR News Of The Area, I HAVE been disappointed to see workers like me who may well lose our jobs because of the Great Koala National Park be treated like an afterthought. No questions have been asked to check the government’s claim they have a fair package for workers. No research seems to have been […]
DEAR Jasminda, On my rostered day off last week I went for a day trip to the beach. After getting a bit too much sun, I rolled over and noticed Amy, who is a junior work colleague, swimming in the ocean with her kids. She was on a work from home day (approved by me). […]
MATTHEW is married and runs his own business. He obtains income protection insurance. Unfortunately, Matthew’s marriage breaks down. A few years later he is diagnosed with schizophrenia. Matthew finds it difficult to work consistently and claims income protection payments on his policy. When his mother passes away, after developing dementia, Matthew’s mental state suffers a […]
SHOCKED and grieving, she laid her ruined wedding dress on the muddied, mangled pile of treasured belongings. Emergency volunteers bore witness, absorbing her heartbreak while valiantly hosing stinking mud and river slime from her waterlogged home. Unforgiving torrents of floodwaters, fuelled by ‘atmospheric rivers’, left mountains of precious possessions disintegrating in landfill. Tragically, lives and […]
DID you know the special silicon-based insulation serving as the primary heat shield for the Space Shuttle orbiter sheds heat so rapidly that one side can be held in bare hands while the other side is red hot? Did you know the International Space Station loses about 25 metres of altitude per day? Every three […]
