Permanent Residency in Australia

We got some really good news from immigration this week.  It looks like we can get a permanent residency (PR) visa whenever we are ready.  All we need to do is leave Australia for several days and the PR visa will be issued to us!  Finally!!!

First, let me explain what a PR visa is.  Permanent residency visa allows us to live, work and study in Australia.  Indefinitely!  We will have the same rights as Australians, except the right to vote.  

Second, once we have accumulated 4 years of residency, we can apply for Australian citizenship.  Our time on our student visa counts towards the 4-year citizenship requirement (up to three years).  We should be able to apply for Australian residency in July 2013.

Third, as we had applied for an offshore visa, Immigration cannot issue us a PR visa while we are in Australia.  So, after Carla finishes her last term, sometime in February/March, we plan to go on a short trip to New Zealand (closest foreign destination to Sydney).

Tourism in Australia - needs help

According to the article below, tourism in Australia is really hurting.
http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/tourists-head-for-the-exits-20110915-1kaxp.html

First, not as many tourists are coming to Australia due to poor economic conditions throughout the world.  Second, Australians are not vacationing in Australia but going overseas due to a strong Aussie dollar.  Third, flooding and other natural disasters have scared tourists away from Queensland.

If you are to listen to the Australian Minister for Tourism, Australians "should" be patriotic and not travel overseas.  Instead, they should travel around their own country.

I think this guy needs to:
1. Quit his post of a federal minister as he is too stupid to run anything important as witnessed by his comments,
2. Visit some Australian hospitality establishment, evaluate the quality of the offerings, service and pricing and compare that to equivalent destinations in Asia and Americas to find out the REAL reason why Australians travel overseas,
3. Take an Economics 101 class to figure out how an intelligent person would resolve this type of situation.

I get perturbed EVERY time a 'Buy Australian because it is Australian even though it is more expensive and of poorer quality' excuse is used.  If you keep buying those Australian products that are inferior and more expensive than imported products, you are being inefficient with your money and are supporting an unproductive industry.  With an unemployment of 5%, I think we can afford to stop making certain items in Australia and switch to things that cannot be imported (like education, services, and construction).  It is amazing how expensive manual labourers are here.  Plumbers and electricians are being paid better than engineers and programmers.

There are simple and effective ways to deal with many of the problems that ail several industries in Australia.  Prescribing a 'Buy Australian' approach is just prolonging the inevitable correction in those industries and making that correction even more painful and costly in the future.

Long time no post

It has been a while since my last post.  Partly due to us spending 10 days in Bali, and partly due to us trying to catch up on work and school activities that piled up while we were away.

Bali vacation was very relaxing.  Well, the second half of our vacation was quite a bit more relaxing than the first half.  We did some fun activities during the first half of our vacation (water park, tree top adventure park) which made us even more tired.  I did not take many pictures while in Bali as I was too tired to lift my camera.

I have been posting more and more of our daily events and pictures on Google+ so I would highly encourage you to get a Google+ account (very easy if you already have a Gmail account) and follow me there.

Click on the following link to got online with Google+.  It is really easy to use.  I found it a lot simpler than Facebook.

Canceling Ontario Health Card (OHIP)

As I was going through my old Canadian documents, I came across my OHIP (Ontario health plan) card.  I guess I should have cancelled this while back, but I might as well do it now.  That should be easy, right?

Not!  I was able to find the form to cancel my health card but not the address to send it to.  Wouldn't it be a smart thing to put a mailing address right on the form?!

I spent hours searching the OHIP website for a mailing address.  Then, I spent hours searching the Internet hoping to find someone else's tale of how they've cancelled their card successfully.  No luck there, either.  I even found information on how to change your sex on your OHIP card (like that happens that often!) but not the mailing address.

After getting too frustrated to deal with this issue, I asked Carla to help me.  She had the same experience of wasting hours looking for the address.  The only way we could resolve this issue is to call OHIP and ask them for the mailing address.  You would think that in this age of everything being online, you'd at least put your mailing address online.

For those having the same issue, I'll save you a phone call.  The address is:
Service Ontario
P.O. Box 48
Kingston ON  K7L 5J3
Canada

Two years in Australia

I realized today that it has been two years since we have moved to Australia.  Wow, how time flies! 

To tell you the truth, I feel like I've lived here forever.  Australia really suits me.  I love the active lifestyle, the global outlook, and the most of all - the beautiful scenery.

There are still a few things that I have not gotten used to.  For example, Australians have a big focus on buying Australian-made products.  Personally, I don't give a hoot where it was made, as long as it meets my value-for-money criteria.  Another local phenomenon that I don't think I want to get used to is lack of proper heating and insulation in houses.  Newer houses are not too bad, but they have a lot of old houses and apartments that were designed for a climate from 50 years ago.

Overall, living here is definitely a positive experience and I am glad that we have made the decision to move here.  It was not easy, and is still not as easy as it could be, but I see it getting much easier once we get our permanent residence visa.

Finally, on Google+

I have been trying hard to get one of the early invites to Google+.  I had to resort to sharing a request on Facebook (ironic, since Google+ is supposed to be Facebook's competition).  There, I found that not one but two people in my group were already on Google+.  For over a week!

Anyways,  thanks to a generous donation of an invite, I am able to try out Google's latest foray into social networking.  I like it.  It is a lot more intuitive than Facebook, which at times feels cluttered. 

Google+ makes it really easy to manage your friends in different 'Circles'.  Later, when you are sharing photos or comments, you can easily share your work photos with your work circle and share family photos only with your family circle.  Easy but powerful!

The service is still developing and expanding, but even from this early on it looks like it has potential to become big.  If you are interested to check it out, leave your email in the comments area.  I will delete your email from the comments once I send you an invite.

You know things are different here when...

I had a weird experience and thought that it would be educational to share with others, especially those working in North America.

About a month ago, my boss wanted to have a 'chat' with me.  Never a good thing...  Anyways, it turned out that I was doing something that they were not happy about.  I was working TOO hard!

Only in Australia would you get a talking to because you're working too hard!  To tell you the truth, I have been putting in a lot of hours.  Weekends, evenings, it was all fair game.  Even finishing a project at 3am one Monday morning because it was due for 9am that day.  But still, there is so much work and I did not see anybody else picking up the slack.

So, it appears I have to change my errant ways.  Don't think that will be a problem.  Still, I don't think any of my North American bosses would have felt the need to tell me that I am working too much.  :-)  Gotta love Aussies!

Black belt minus 5

I was promoted to a next level in my ninjutsu school.  Now, I get to wear a green belt with four black stripes.

My goal for this year is to get to a brown belt level.  The goal is achievable, as I need to get only one more promotion and I will be there.

It's good to have goals!

Where are my bananas?!@!$

Early this year Cyclone Yasi struck northern Queensland.  As this is one of the two major banana growing regions in Australia we were warned that prices of bananas would go up for a while.

Now, 6 months later, banana prices sit at $14/kg with no price reduction on the horizon!  It is abominable that in a country with several banana -growing regions prices can be so high.  During a non-shortage period, a typical price for bananas in Australia is between $1.50 and $3.50 per kg.  Now it is 4 to 8 times more. Ouch!

Nearby New Zealand is comfortably importing its bananas from Ecuador.  Banana prices in Kiwiland are around a $2 mark.

Due to protectionist policies in Australia, neither of the two large grocery chains are willing to import inexpensive bananas from Asia or Latin America.  They figure that we'll just suck it up and pay the high prices.

Well, they won't be getting a single penny from me at these prices.  I have not eaten a banana in over 5 months, so please, have one, or two, for me.  You can even send me a picture of yourself eating a banana.  I won't mind it.  :-)

Android goodness

As I mentioned in several previous posts, I have a Google's Nexus S phone.  The phone runs the latest phone version of Android (2.3.4) and is one slick device.  You can ogle the specs in more detail on the web.  In this post, I wanted to share several very useful and convenient apps for Android that I use regularly.

Pulse
This is my favourite news reader.  It is smart enough to preload news so that when I am not using WiFi (or too cheap to use my 3G connection) I can still read the latest news.  Pulse has a large number of preset news sources, and you can also add your own.

IMDB
I usually use IMDB on my computer when deciding whether I should spend an hour and a half watching a specific movie.  It's ratings are a godsend.  The Android app also makes it EXTREMELY easy to watch previews for upcoming movies.  It is so easy that I have watched more previews over the last two weeks than I have in the past two years.

Qik
This app was brought to my attention by my brother, who was using the iPhone version of Qik.  Qik allows you to record a video, then share it extremely easy to your Qik account.  Once the video is posted, you can automagically share it with others.  Other features of Qik are uploading to Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.  Very, very easy, but powerful.  I loved how I could see my nephews enjoying a gym class, only minutes after the video was taken.

Gmail
It is just SO EASY to read your email on your Android through Gmail.  Android and Gmail are tightly coupled, so you better get a Gmail account if you want to use all that Android has to offer.  You can full push-email (Blackberry style) capabilities, some offline reading support, and tight integration with your Gmail Contacts and Calendar.  I LOVE IT!

May update

It has been a really busy May, more so than any May before.

First, I had to file Canadian taxes for the last tax year.  Living in Australia and tying up loose tax ends in Canada can be pretty tricky.  It is doubly tricky when you are doing the tax research and filing yourself.  I looked into having an accountant do this for me, but it would cost thousands of dollars.  No thank you!

Second, I have been living in phone hell.  My super-duper Nexus S phone started making crackling noises all of a sudden, making it practically unusable.  As the phone was purchased in the US, I had to ship it to my brother in the US.  My brother then UPS-ed the phone to Samsung for repairs.  After two weeks of repairs, the phone was sent back to my brother, who then sent it to me to Australia.  $100 in shipping charges and 1.5 months later, Nexus S is in my hands and working splendidly.  I did not realize what a difference in quality of life a good phone can make.

Lastly, we've been making several household purchases through Ebay and local online classifieds.  That involved lots of research, careful negotiations and some expensive decisions.  Thankfully, everything we bought worked great and cost us a lot less than retail price.

I almost forgot, I had to travel for work a couple of times, which always tires me out and sucks up free time.  Work travel is not really enjoyable, as you spend full days with your colleagues (tiring!), eat bad food, and spend a lot of your personal time getting to and from the airport/clients.

How to look like an Ebay veteran

I've stumbled on a quick and easy way to boost your eBay feedback rating.  Buy ten $1 items from Hong Kong or China and you're set.

Let me back up first and explain.  When buying and selling on eBay other buyers and sellers evaluate you based on your feedback rating.  If you don't have any feedback or have some negative feedback from buyers and sellers, it will be more difficult to buy and sell items on eBay.  Some bidders won't even allow you to bid on their items if you don't have "eBay history" in a form of several positive feedback ratings.

I've had my eBay account for over ten years, but have never bought much on it until recently.  Once I started buying items on eBay I realized how important it is to have a high feedback rating.

While I was ordering items for my Kindle and my Android phone I realized that there are a lot of items that could be bought from Hong Kong for US$1!!!  That price even includes shipping.

I would like to propose the following to existing eBay virgins.

1. Create an Ebay account even if you don't think you will ever use it.  I did not use my eBay account for the first SEVEN years, and now I have an eBay profile that looks like I'm an eBay veteran.  The older your account looks, the more credible you will appear when you need to use it.
2. Order about 10 $1 items from Hong Kong from different sellers.  Ideally, order one item each from 10 different sellers.  Each of those sellers will leave a positive reply if you pay promptly so this should be a piece of cake.
3. Open a PayPal account.  PayPal is the easiest and safest way to pay on eBay.  Depending on where you live, in addition to your credit card, you can link your bank account to your PayPal account.  It may take a week or so to get your PayPal account setup due to various steps you need to go through in order to confirm that your bank accounts are truly yours. Start early!  The process is easy, it just has to be done in several steps with several days between the steps in order for the financial confirmation to go through.

You may be thinking "I'm not interested in shopping on eBay, or buying items online."  That may be true for now, but I will GUARANTEE you this.  In the future, you WILL find an interesting item on eBay and think to yourself "I HAVE to buy this NOW!"  But you won't be able to!!!  Why?  Because, your eBay profile will be a newbie with no positive feedback and you will not have a proper PayPal account (which takes about a week to setup).  Trust me!

Funny Name of the Week - Bulli

This week's funny city/town name of the week is:

Bulli

Lock up your WiFi router!

I have been telling people for the past few years to lock up their WiFi networks and here is a perfect example of why: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/innocent-man-busted-for-child-porn-after-neighbour-leached-wifi-20110426-1dugz.html

Every time I warned people about securing their WiFi network, they would respond saying that there was nothing important on their network or their computers.  Well, I guess they were wrong.

There are a multitude of reasons for using someone else's network (hacking, illegal downloading, anonymous posting, sending spam, etc.)  Don't let these people get away with it.  Especially not on your network.  You may be personally liable for the activity that originates on your network.

So, how DO you secure your router and what security is appropriate?  Each router is different in how you setup security so I would advise you to download the manual for your particular router and follow the instructions.

As you go throughout the process of securing your WiFi network, you will be prompted to choose from several different types of security.  Always choose WPA2!  WEP is really a child's game to crack, and WPA has been shown to be reasonably crackable as well.  WPA2 encryption is the toughest encryption that you can get on a consumer-type device.  Remember to use a password that is at least 16 characters long and has upper and lower case letters and numbers.

If you have any devices that do not support WPA2, you have two viable options.  First, see if you can find a firmware upgrade for such device that enables WPA2 capability.  Second, stop using the WiFi capability of that device.

I hope that these tips will help you hacker-proof your WiFi network.

Funny Name of the Week - Wattamolla

This week's funny city/town name of the week is:

Wattamolla

Funny Name of the Week - Koonawarra

This week's funny city/town name of the week is:

Koonawarra

Kindle goodness

Let me first start by explaining what a Kindle is.  Kindle is an ebook reader.  It allows you to purchase digital books through Amazon.com and read them anywhere your Kindle goes.  As a physical device, a Kindle is the size of hard cover book, but is 8.5 mm thick and weighs only 250 grams (1/2 pound).  It is very light and easy to handle.

The screen is powered by e-ink, which means that the screen does not use energy to keep text on the page.  It only uses energy to change the text on the screen.  Due to this fact, battery life of a Kindle is rated at 30 days.  You can read a lot of books before you have to recharge your Kindle.  (I wish my phone would last this long!)

About a month ago, I ordered a Kindle from Amazon.  The whole shopping experience was very easy.  Pick a Kindle, select delivery country as Australia, provide your credit card and that's it.  I received my Kindle in three business days.  Even the shipping charge was reasonable.  Ordering electronic items from the US is not always easy from Australia.  Luckily, Amazon makes the whole process easy.

After a month of use, I can tell you that I love my Kindle.  It is easy to read, the device lasts a long time and it is really easy to move your old ebooks onto it.  I have a lot of old pdfs which I was able to put on the Kindle.  Kindle supports pdf, txt, .mobi, .html and a few other formats.  There is a plethora of free content of classical books which you can download and read for free.  "War and Peace" here I come!  :-)

I am amazed how easy it is to buy ebooks on Amazon.  One click, and the book is downloaded to your Kindle.  Too easy!  You can even buy a subscription to various newspapers and magazines.  The train ride to work has just become more fun!

Funny Name of the Week - Barrengarry

This week's funny city/town name of the week is:

Barrengarry

Funny Name of the Week - Moollattoo

This week's funny city/town name of the week is:

Moollattoo

Bananas are kind of expensive right now

Couple of months ago, you could buy bananas in Sydney for $1.50.  Few floods and cyclones later, banana prices have hit the roof!  Only a week ago, one kilo of bananas cost $7, and I thought that was expensive.  Now, the price is at $10.  Who knows how high and for how long these prices are going to stay with us.

These days, I am buying whatever fruit is cheapest per kilo.  One week pears are the winner.  Another week it is grapes, etc.  You never know what's in store.  Literally!

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