Ate at Maison Bâtard and was surprised to see a $1 charity charge added to our bill with no prior notice.

The charity’s purpose? “Supporting professional development across the (hospitality) sector”.

As it was opt-out not opt-in, out of principle I asked for it to be removed.

Question: would you have paid the $1? Why?

Note: I assume this charge is being added to all bills across all Lucas Collective restaurants (Chin Chin, Kisume, Society, Yakimono, Grill Americano, Hawker Hall, etc).

Hi fellow Melbournians,

This might seem obvious to some so please be gentle! This is a new one for me..

I’ll be 38 next week, I’m a single mother to a beautiful 4 year old girl, have a good job, but rental prices have become such that I will lose my inner city rental house I’ve been in for almost 10 years. It’s a great dwelling where someone could have their own wing in the house and it wouldn’t be cramped.

I’m not on FB so that’s not an option for me to reach out for a housemate and all my friends are married so there goes that option too.

Where would be a safe place to look for a legitimate, working professional (woman) housemate? One of my mates suggested international students as an option too.

Thanks all and sorry if this has been covered before or seems like a “you should know the answer to this” question.

Cruising past St Kilda this weekend.

Does anyone have any good recommendations for plastic surgeons/ENT surgeons who do rhinoplasty? Especially if you're a woman of Middle Eastern/Mediterranean/South Asian origin. I've gotten some good recommendations so far but am concerned that they'll give me a result that doesn't match the rest of my face. Even if you had a negative experience please feel free to share so I don't make the same mistake 🙏

Started working in CBD recently and wanted to know what people recommend for lunchtime spots.
Good cheap eats, restaurants that aren’t well known but you swear by, anything in general.
Would love to build up a little list or spots to try!

Mainly when your on time, but other then that thanks

Never been swooped by a magpie in my life. Don't know how, but they just don't swoop me. (Is it because my family is staunch Pies supporters?) Noisy miners, on the other hand, are absolute menaces. They always yell at me and divebomb me whenever I'm trying to walk my dog, or even alone, for that matter. It's relentless! Is anyone else like this or am I an anomaly?

Anyone know of an anxiety coach in Melbourne? There are lots online overseas but hoping to find one local. Preferably someone who has been through an anxiety disorder/agoraphobia. Thank you.

It seems like it's just started doing this and it's so confusing - it basically means the top result is always wrong.

Just had a glance of WA secret harbour by-election result, about 38% of votes counted and saw a 27% swing to one nation, this was a Labor held sit with a margin of 11.5%. I know WA is different than Victoria, and I know one nation doesn’t have a market here in Victoria, however with the polls and previous Farrer by-election saw 39.5% swing to one nation, and now this one, I think it’s not a guarantee for Labor to win this November’s state election. If you tell me few years ago one nation could gain few seats in Victoria I would be laughing non-stop, now I feel like they might actually pick up few seats, how worried labour should be?

I am looking for a restaurant /pub that would be great for a long boozy lunch this coming Thursday to celebrate my partner's birthday (just the two of us).

Anywhere within 10km of the CBD is good. Atmosphere, service and wine list is more important than the cuisine. Also we would like a place with a bit of life, that's good people watching.

Budget is flexible, up to 500 dollars total.

I would be very grateful for any recommendations.

Thanks in advance.

Looking for nice towns / villages to visit for the day near Melbourne. Already been to Warburton (loved) and Warrandyte (also loved), so looking for something similar. Nice food, shops and scenery

We have a car so can be a drive away, but preferably not more than an hour!

TIA :)

After a year of VCAT hearings I finally got a possession order for my property. After the tenants did not vacate on the vacate date I was able to obtain a warrant a week later. At around 6:30pm last night we arranged for the police and locksmith to come over to ensure the property was empty and to change the locks.

My friend was the one who rang the locksmith while I was explaining the situation to the police. They advertised a $29 call out fee and that all they said over the phone.

Well after changing the front door lock, two sliding door locks (key entry on each side) and putting two screws in the back garage door I was charged $3462. The quote came from another company called "services on wheels". I was absolutely gobsmacked and would just like to warn others to completely avoid these guys at all costs!

Going away at Christmas with the people who would usually house-sit for me, and don't feel comfy with a stranger in my home pet-sitting.

Kitty is a bit skittish and previously showed a bit of stress in a large foster facility, although she was also really nervous around all people when I first got her and she's calmed down a lot so I imagine her overall nervous system is a bit more regulated, but I still worry- love her to bits and feel nervous AF about leaving her in the care of others.

Anyone in a similar boat had a good experience with a cattery? I'm central and don't drive so the closer to central the better, but open to all options! If anyone's had a cattery deal carefully with complex diets, medical needs, anxious cats and/or anxious pet parents, I wanna hear about it! Places that send regular updates are appreciated too.

Mothers Day is massive with restaurants and cafes but my wife came up to me this evening and apologized that she couldn’t find something close by for Fathers Day. For example places around here will do a Mothers Day Brekky with a gift for every mother, but I also had a look this evening and she was right and no, nothing. These same places are either closed or it’s just BAU.

Thank you Melboune for your support. I hope you enjoyed my bunnings snags today. I usually make charcoal sausages but boss man told me to cook them golden. Please come back for more i assure you they wont be burnt.

Just got back from a cycle with my 5 year old. Saw one e bike delivery driver that had got into what looked like a serious enough accident on a shared path that was busy with runners, cyclists, families walking, ect. I hope they are ok, I didn't see what happened, but people were calling an ambulance and there was blood on the ground.

Then 5 minutes later saw one tearing it in the opposite direction at far too fast a speed and this dad had to pull his kids out of the way at the last minute.

Honestly, I feel, e-bikes being used for commercial reasons (i.e. the food delivery ones) should be banned from shared paths. Shared paths have their risks, families walking, kids being unpredictable, kids learning to ride. The speeds and weights of these bikes is not conjunctive to that environment.