Night Shift

Yes, occasionally we run into words that are no go on the forum. There must be a list that each post is automatically checked against.

Good on you for the diet change and weight loss. I can understand less motivation to exercise in that climate. Do you have cooling in your flat? I do love the exercise bike and recommend it as an easy way to get some movement at home. Makes it more likely to happen for me.

I have one area with air con but it's not working properly at the moment and I try not to use it because of the cost anyway. I believe in being adapted to the climate where you live.

Great attitude to the climate. We hardly use the aircon or heating here but have ceiling fans.

My fans are on constantly! Actually cleaned them recently and they work so much better!

After so long up here I found nights in Brisbane in July freezing. Luckily Mum let me have a heater in my room. I'd love to live closer to family but they all live in places with winters too cold for me. It rarely gets below about 15 here, except for a week or two mid-year where there might be a few nights of 12 or so.

Sounds like nice winters up there. They do get chilly in these parts but very mild compared to where I came from down south. I feel the same about moving back, often felt sick with cold down there. I would find it hard to leave this warmer climate now.

I'd love to live near the kids and my granddaughter but they're in Canberra and even in May I found it extreme. It was at or below zero in the mornings already and it wasn't even proper winter yet. I had to decide I just couldn't do it full-time.

I'd love to live near Mum now. But aside from the climate I can't afford the rents down there any more (that's another big reason I left). Also partner has work here. It's difficult when you are apart from loved ones. Mum and I talk on the phone at least once a week now. I wish I could afford even to see her maybe three or four times a year instead of just the once. We make the most of it though and she has a good support network where she is with extended family, council services and a very good GP and specialists for her health issues.

I can't afford to make the shift either. You can't transfer interstate in public housing. I would have to move, go into private rental and back on the waiting list (years long in any of the areas I'd go to). If I could find an easy way to do it I would probably choose Newcastle. My brother and his partner are there and it would be much cheaper to get to Mum in Brisbane, and particularly to Canberra for weekends or as often as they wanted me there. But it's very hard to consider walking away from the situation I have here and, of course, my best friend and lover is here too. He would never leave here.

It's hard to leave an established life...