Every year for like the last 5 at least I end up owing. I have student debt, but it's all declared and taken out accordingly. I have a single employer and no other income aside from a pittance in interest on bank accounts. It's not massive amounts I owe, usually less than $1k, but it still chaps my grits.

In the past It's been softened by my wife getting a decent return, but this year she owes too.

While I loath admitting I like anything about the US, when I lived there you could set your level of withholding, they had 4 levels, and I'd always max it out and get a decent return, kinda like forced savings. I'd be fine with missing a bit extra off every paycheck just to not end up owing them another $800 on top of the tens of thousands I've already paid.

I'm just pissed and tired of getting worse off every year instead of better.

End rant, I guess.

G’day folks.

A review of the mortar and pestle I ended up with was requested, and we’ve had it for a couple of weeks now so here it is. This is it, btw - https://www.kitchenwarehouse.com.au/product/gourmet-kitchen-granite-mortar-and-pestle-16cm

First impression - I was impressed by the size. This is a substantial unit. Of course the dimensions are on the website but I have a hard time visualising these things, and I’m used to things bought online showing up much smaller than my expectations. I didn’t have a banana but I took this pic with some regular items nearby for scale.

It came with seasoning instructions - grind half a cup of uncooked white rice, then some garlic, cumin, salt and pepper together. I did that bit. Grinding the rice made me glad I didn’t go for the wider, shallower one I was considering. Even with the deeper bowl quite a few grains escaped, but I don’t blame the bowl for that. Grinding up raw rice was a bit more work than I was expecting, but after a while I got into a groove and I discovered that the pestle is heavy enough I didn’t really need to apply much pressure, just swirl it around and it took care of business all on its own. Grinding the other things together was a lot easier and quicker and I had a garlic/cumin/salt/pepper paste in no time.

As for the most important test, the boss absolutely loves it, and her medicinal flower garden is terrified, though I think I might need to buy her a cauldron next! 🤣

Here she is grinding up some eggshells by the fire for the garden.

We’re very happy with the new addition to our kitchen. We have a ton of herbs growing as well as medicinal flowers and some plants like aloe vera and comfrey and the boss is very interested in making salves and what-not, so she loves playing with it.

Side note - I’ve been trying to find one of these in Australia for ages - https://www.etsy.com/au/market/kazan_afghan_pot

If anyone knows where I can get one in Australia (most of them ship from Afghanistan or Europe), especially somewhere with an online store, I’d be super appreciative!

Have a great weekend everyone!

G'day folks, I want to get a mortar and pestle for the boss for mother's day, it's one of those things that's always been on the "one day" list. Lately we've been investing heavily into our garden and she's super into herbs and medicinal plants and making potions so I think it's time.

I've never owned one so don't really know what to look for. But I am a tool guy and have no problems paying for something that's good quality and will last. Though having said that, from what I've seen they're not all that expensive.

I've been looking at kitchen warehouse - https://www.kitchenwarehouse.com.au/kitchenware/grind-and-spice/mortars-and-pestles?srsltid=AfmBOop35hiGud4yuvxXYftu2VD2FXfoR_agNYt0dXjY4RFgtlzT0UHZ

I like the look of the black granite ones, this 20 cm low profile - https://www.kitchenwarehouse.com.au/product/avanti-low-profile-mortar-and-pestle-20cm-black#review-container

But it'd be frustrating to have stuff constantly jumping out the sides, so maybe this deeper bowl 16 cm job - https://www.kitchenwarehouse.com.au/product/gourmet-kitchen-granite-mortar-and-pestle-16cm

I think if I had to make the choice myself I'd probably go with the 16 cm deeper one. But I'd love to hear input from anyone who's spent some time using these and what I should consider when choosing.

Info that may or may not help - she's a former chef, so her chopping game is already top notch, she can mince veggies with a knife. She also likes fiddly little bullshit that would drive me nuts, like crocheting, so she's got nimble fingers. I've got fists like hams and big, sausage shaped fingers, so I'm more interested in something that would work for her than for me.

Thanks a ton!

Edit to add - I'm not committed to kitchen warehouse, it's just where I ended up and I liked the look of what they had. But I am committed to something that's going to ship from Australia, because of all the everything.

Hey all. Getting right to it:

Last November, a majority of my wife's family voted trump. I immediately made known my disgust and that I had no interest in maintaining relationships with any of them. My wife is equally appalled, but family is important to her and she chooses to compartmentalise it for the sake of their relationships. That's her call. Typically, her mother comes to stay at our house for an extended period as we live far away, and this year I tolerated her being here for the sake of my wife.

But now, thinking about the next visit and how bad things have gotten, I can't even stand the thought of having her in my house, let alone being in the same room as her. I really don't want her here at all, but I will again tolerate her for my wife's sake. However I think it's likely that I will make myself pretty scarce during that time.

So the ethics question is - given that I expressed my distaste after the election but still remained cordial, is it ok, ethically speaking, to become more resentful as the consequences of their actions become more apparent? Or, given that what has happened since is pretty much out of everyone's hands, am I locked in to the level of hostility I showed immediately after?

I guess the distilled version is - a person does X, I express disapproval. Is it ethical to express MORE disapproval as additional unforeseen consequences of X become apparent?

Thanks for your thoughts!

Edit to Clarify - My mother in law is not MAGA and I don't think she's enjoying any of it. She thinks we can "just not talk about it" and everything will be fine. However she has become more racist and judgemental (anti-trans etc) in recent years. Hates Joe Biden and Kamal Harris but can't or won't say why. Thanks for the responses so far and I'll try to respond, but I'm about to start work shortly.

We recently discovered these. $1.60 a piece at Woolies and they're really flipping good! My wife typically makes us salads for lunch during the week, and constantly coming up with proteins is a pain. I also spend a reasonable amount of time out on the road for work and typically bring canned tuna for snacking on, but I'll happily smash a can of these and keep moving. Also, if you're feeling really lazy, a couple of cans of these tossed with a small bag of chopped lettuce or salad greens makes a perfectly acceptable side salad. There are more varieties than I've shown. Give them a go! 👍

For father's day breakfast I made everyone english muffins, pork and herb sausages, and fried eggs out on the barbie (I'm definitely in the wrong tribe to get breakfast cooked for me 😆), with a side of air fryer tots (perfectly legit substitute for hash browns). Then I slathered the whole shemozzle in a generous helping of Bush's maple and bacon baked beans sent from the states (if you're ever in the states, do not dismiss their baked beans because your only experience is Australian beans, American baked beans are on a whole other level). This should keep me going till dinner!

Have a kickass Sunday everyone! ☺️

My 13 year old crocheted me a stegosaurus for father's day. I named him Clarence.

I know, I know - not food. But I'm not part of many communities and I figured the folks here would appreciate this. This is how my wife and I spend most of our Friday nights - a fire, a surprisingly drinkable box of red, and each other. It's by far my favourite part of the week.

Incidentally, we often have a meal plan for the night, which is typically scrapped in favour of our 13 year old rustling up a curry, which she's always happy to do!

G'day all. Having an internal debate atm and interested in other's thoughts. I'll try to keep context as brief as possible:

I currently have a 2009 GU patrol and a 2003 xtrail, would like to replace the xtrail in the short term and the GU within 5 years or so. Both vehicles are pretty solid and reliable, but showing their age. The GU is set up for camping in remote areas, which we do a lot of - it's definitely not a mall crawler. Been looking lately at the Pajero Sport as a replacement for the xtrail. Reasoning is it would be far better than the patrol for highway trips, my daughter and her boyfriend could use it to tag along with us on camping trips, and if push came to shove it could be a somewhat reasonable stand-in for the patrol, even if it doesn't go as far (not likely to invest in aux battery, rear drawer setup etc). The pajero sport could never replace the GU though, just in terms of packing space and roof load capacity - we camp in national parks a lot so we have to bring all our firewod in with us and it's not uncommon for me to have 100 kg on the roof. For my budget, I could get a 2020+ with under 100k, and reasonably well equipped if I hold out (which I'm doing). The plan so far has been to do that and then 5 years down the road look at replacements for the GU.

But a particular 200 has just popped up for sale. Appears to be very well maintained, and exceptionally well equipped. It's definitely been around, 270k, but one owner with full service history. Asking price $40k. 2013 model. I've gotta say, I'm seriously tempted. Neither my wife nor myself has much of a commute, so fuel costs of running a landcruiser and patrol are pretty negligible, and the additional costs in servicing both would be manageable until I can pay off the cruiser and trade the GU.

Am I crazy? I know it sounds that way for sure, but this particular cruiser is pretty special in terms of what's been put into it and the fact that it's a 12 year old car with a single owner and full history. At first I thought no way, but I think I'm starting to talk myself into it. Of course I'd pay for an inspection first.

I don't need anyone to make the decision for me, I'm going to do what I'm going to do. But I'm interested in hearing some perspectives. Given the spend is about the same, an exceptional (presumably) 270k 12 year old 200 series, or a 100k 5 yeard old pajero sport?

Cheers.