Daily Discussion Thread: Fri 12 Jan 2024

I didn't end up getting the role. The recruiter was representing both myself and the other candidate and she said she honestly believed they made a mistake. I've been running a team of 25 IT staff and doing project work, stakeholder management and client management. Apparently they felt like I would struggle being a one man team....

Ah well, onwards we march.

But to be honest it was a punch in the guts. Hopefully now that people are coming back from annual leave next week, things will speed up a bit.

Better luck next time. hugs
- Thank you ❤️
Bro, being a team of one sucks arse. I just had a pretty massive change and now have proper manager who gives a shit about me and a team who try to help me out and genuinely care. 10/10 has taken my job from “this is fucking bullshit” to “shit I’m actually enjoying this! I hope they don’t make me redundant”. Sounds like you dodge a bullet.
- So you were internal IT? I'm coming from an MSP and I'm worried about getting stuck in my career. I feel like I'm being held back a bit by working exclusively for MSP's. What are your thoughts?
Been there and done that in a similar type of role. Did you get to interview stage?
- Yeah I got to the final stage. It gets tiring honestly. 4 sets of interviews including the initial one with the recruiter. Wears you down.

I have two extra dogs for the next couple of weeks

You're gonna have your hands full!
- Yes indeed
They Jack Russells. I know those ears. Be prepared for doggy parkour. So cute!
- Yep I have closed off a few rooms to stop access but they have the run of the lounge and laundry
omg omg, I am so jelly, Jack Russells are the best 🥰
The ears!
- After much coaxing and treats I finally got one of the three dogs, ours is Lucy in the middle with one ear up and one down, Buddy on the left likes sleeping and exploring and Roxy on the right is a hyper and anxious one.
Two Jack russells... double trouble!

- gotta say, I'm very much enjoying my extended long weekend.

Oh my gosh, where are you? its so pretty!
- Family house on the Bellarine.

Sunscreen leaked in my bag and went inside my work laptop earlier today. Panik. Charger port, USB-C, HDMI port etc.

Came home, unscrewed the whole back. Got cotton, started taking off as much as I could. Unscrewed some more off the mobo, but wasn't able to get into the ports to clear the lotion.

Idea! Got some floss, and the wire thingy you tie cables with. Needed something small but just strong enough to scoop out the lotion from the ports. First go with the wire, scoop out lotion, run into cotton, then followed by the floss to get into the corners. Repeat x937374 times to get as much out as possible. Great success. Calm.

I am so proud of myself 😎😎😎

Also bonus points because my laptop wasn't charging earlier today (before the spill) and while cleaning this off, got the charger to work as well.

Honorary shoutout to a new toothbrush that I sacrificed trying to remove the lotion. You were a champ!

That would've definitely sent me into panik mode, good job on cleaning it out so thoroughly! Bonus that your charger works again too. At least it's your work laptop so if it rusts out in a few years when you'll hopefully be gone, it won't be your problem...
- agree, these things are so expensive

Ok I've been outside and it's horrible

Ted Cat got out and immediately ran for the nearest open gate and open door. He went right in , went into their kitchen and started meowing for dinner. He has now visited 5 neighbours. They all think he's adorable.

Until he bites their bums...
- My neighbour asked if he bites. I said he's vicious but they didn't believe me. Ted Cat looks like the cutest teddy bear/lion no one thinks he could do anything mean.
- got a real opportunity here to become a local bum-biting legend
😂

It's beer o'clock. Keep hydrated folks. Cheers 🍺

Yesterday was a funny day. At the tram stop, ( the 86 of course ) and a woman walked past with a dog which ran up to me. I pulled away as I don't want dog on me as it upsets the cats at home to smell that. Woman told me Don't freak ya bloody mong! ... lol my virgin ears, I have never been called a mong before. 😂😂😂

I don’t want dog on my clothes and I have a dog and cats. Dog nose wipes on clothes is gross, especially if it’s $ work/nice clothes

wolf cafe firebombed this week in Millers Junction Altona.
I remember that cafe was a Covid hot spot, back when contact tracing was a thing.
There’s been heaps more than that. Some kind of turf war between illegal tobacco crooks. If it wasn’t for the risk to public, I really wouldn’t care if they burned each other out of existence.
its trash taking out trash right? So long as no ones getting caught in the crossfire. Which they are smart enough not to do since they know thats gonna trigger a presser from the premier and vicpol announcing a new taskforce.
- Aren't they burning the places that refuse to peddle their dodgy cigarettes though? Which means every one of these fires has hurt a business that wants nothing to do with them.

I hate mopping floors so much even though it feels so much nicer afterwards

- The worst thing is, if you don't keep on top of it regularly it becomes even more shitful to do. Urgh. I'm so exhausted and annoyed now.
I find I like using the steam mop much more than a standard mop. No bucket to handle, no squeezing out water and you can just take the sponge off to wash it.

Everyone's up late

Alright, alright, I'm shuffling off to bed now after reading too many doomsday articles...
I fell victim to the nap attack
- I’m up watching movies as well :/

Have a day of data wrangling ahead of me, so am watching movies while I do it.

I have commenced with Twister, and plan to watch Deep Impact after that.

Other suggestions for hilarious and excellent movies to watch?

🐄
.....🐄
The Core is an absolute classic
- ooh haven't watched that in ages. Good shout
Deep Impact is a masterpiece! What about The Day After Tomorrow?
Edit: if I remember correctly, seeing Deep Impact at the movies was my first ever date with my first ever girlfriend. We held hands, they were cold and sweaty
Edit #2. No it was actually The Day after Tomorrow!
- I'm digging the disaster movie vibe. The perfect level of bullshit to follow with as I keep half an eye/brain on my data....
- Oh my gosh mine was the day after tomorrow too!
San Andreas would fit the theme.
Armageddon and Independence day.
If you want something more recent, Moonfall is truly. something.
- I think with all these suggestions I may have to make Monday a day of data wrangling, too...
Baron Munchausen. Princess Bride.
- if the princess bride is on I'm giving it my whole attention....
Sancta Sangre and Hamon Hamon.
- Never heard of Sancta Sangre but it is going straight on my list to watch with a mate who I know will just love it! thanks

Ended up going back to sleep and sleeping until about 8, which is unheard of these days.
Pakige finally arrived! Only took about ninety days. Feh.
Feeling a bit crap with the antibiotics and the last minute dash to the unit, and the estate agent asked if we could cancel the private inspection as the tenant is WFH and the idea was I was going to go through it with my aunt before I made the offer, but since I've already made the offer, it's quite hot and my aunt has to come from Rezza, we agreed to cancel.
Now getting a few more ducks in a row during the cooling off period. ;)

Due to the warm weather, I have designated today as 'beach day'

There will be boogy boarding, sunbaking (with SPF 50 protection), reading in the sun, fish and chips on the way home and of course, inevitably putting on aloe vera lotion

- is beach week for me
- Where's that at? We ended up at Moggs creek
I was just thinking a beach day would be amazing! Have loads of fun!
- Nice. For me it's necessary housework day
- We did.....there was a near drowning but all good. Got to meet Patrick Dangerfield who was assisting the victims family.
  Dude is a gem

No. I also reckon pizzas have gotten smaller over the last 30 years or so, so you've got to eat more. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
those thin crust pizzas are so easy to eat
Nope. That is the standard amount of pizza for a single sitting.
Probably but what was on the pizza?

I left my tablet at home, so my world has shrunk to the size of my phone screen. With a tiny little on screen keyboard to type on. ☹️

🔍
- Thanks, that worked perfectly - I have now managed to log on to the work computer which is much easier to see and has a keyboard. Unfortunately the breakfast buffet on Windows if very flat and unappetizing.

Beach day accomplished. Bit of excitement happened whilst there. Got home around 8. No sunburns!!! Beers, Whiskey and Jackass now

What excitement? Spill please.
- A young girl was in a bit of trouble...got swept out, her sister/cousin swam over to help and it took a few surfies to bring them in. Beach patrol and paramedics came over eventually (not a patrolled beach). Girls were okay.
  I was helping to keep them warm and stable along with Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong cats captain) who was there with his family.
  The girls mum was so grateful to us (we lent them ouot towels).
  My kids got to chat with Dangerfield and were starstruck.

I get to learn to use the phone at work today

Gotta wait until you've been there a while before they'll let you use the fax though.
- Or the pneumatic cash tube

The unhinged midnight screaming guy is back. Joy

Northcote? I thought he was more 2am.
- Nope, he must have a brother. Lucky us.
  This one likes to shake it up. 12 am is a popular time but 2, 3, 4am are also good choices and until recently he'd also scream obscenities off and on for the next day.

I am finally home and back scrolling on my tablet. The replacement pump for the water fountain arrived today, so the pets have flowing water again. The new pump style comes with an additional mesh filter to help keep the pump clean, so it's even better than the old one.

We had spider related drama. Miniest was making her bed this morning and came running with hysterical screaming she saw a spider on the floor, which she said darted quickly under her bed. Of course it disappeared before I got there to help. Elder grabbed a torch (even though he is also scared of spiders) and we went over the room. No spider. Then an over the door coat hook thing fell on his head and hit his face, so he retired with an ice pack and some unsavoury language. I pulled the wardrobe away from the wall, stripped beds etc., investigated the room thoroughly with a vacuum cleaner on hand for undesirables. Cleaned the room within an inch of existence. The only disturbing thing I found was a hole in the plaster made by Mr P (when he was "cleaning" some time in the past) which he hid by rearranging the furniture and placing the wardrobe in front of it 🤦🏻‍♀️ I temp fixed the hole but have found no spider. Now Miniest is suspicious of the bedroom and elder is sitting on her bed with her and distracting her with YouTube videos. He's a good brother.

Had one of those days where everything that could go wrong, did. Don't think I had a single win all day.

Evening has been better though. Had a nice dinner, then an hour ago I got the energy to do some tidying up as I was getting sick of looking at mess. Wine has now been opened. Mind is at (temporary) peace.

It's Even Stevens here at aussiezone.
Today you had everything go wrong
Yesterday someone had everything go right

Found a dead juvenile (I think, not very long) Tiger snake on the road out the front of work just now. Even dead I am scared of it. shivers

Right up there with you on this! Snakes frighten the SHIT outta me. I thought that was the whole appeal of Tassie? Less snakes. Or am thinking Spiders? Or maybe Im thinking of NZ....
- 3 species of snakes in Tassie.
  All 3 are venomous.
  Took little one to St Helens over easter and she almost stepped on a copperhead. Even now I have these 'what if' thoughts if she stepped on it because we were remote.
- I think you’re thinking of Ireland.

Zooks hopped up wanting snuggles and breakfast at 3:45. At least I needed a wee anyway...
Hoping I can get some more sleep in, as I don't have to be anywhere until the afternoon.

- ?????

Let's talk about something serious. How fucking annoying are the nails to cut on the tiniest little piggies. The others no problems. I just whack my feet on the bath and cut away but the little ones I have to sit on the floor, position my feet at a weird angle and cut because they want to curl around my toe. Evolution has a way to go yet. Not looking forward to getting old.

It’s the hardest one to chew, too.
- I reckon the big ones harder. You need sharpened teeth for those.
Hot tip for anyone with tough toe nails. Chop them straight after showering. Soaking in water makes them a bit softer and they will be easier to cut.
speak for yourself, my little piggies are the easiest.
I just do my pinkies cross legged with my feet upside down
- I've tried that but I find it odd.
what we need is a scratch post
- Made of sandpaper
The Vietnamese ladies I pay don't seem to have any issues cutting them
- Secateurs for bull?

Bleh. Hot weather and got a headache and been nauseous all day.

Yuck.

I hope it’s only the headache giving me the nausea else I’ve unknowingly caught something.

drink water and rest a bit
- Yeah. Need more water for sure. Did fall asleep for a nap before though.

Heh our call system is very fucky today. Love being worked to the bone and pulled in a thousand directions at once when I can't even take or make calls.

My favourite, what a fantastic Friday /s

It is dark as heck out there tonight!

Being hulled up in my room unable to move has had me homesick for the outdoors for the last couple of days, so I've been watching someone hike the Appalacian Trail in the US and its so soothing. Also really wish we had more stuff like that here, I mean we have some long hikes but nothing like some of the ones they have over there.

There’s the Great Ocean Walk and the Cradle mountain big walks.
- Both are on my bucket list! There's also the Larapinta Trail which I think can take about a month. I honestly don't think I could deal with the constant heat of hiking through Central Australia.
Funny you should bring up the Appalacian Trail. I'll be "completing" it sometime this afternoon. The Garmin app lets you do virtual expeditions.
I've been on the Appalacian Trail since May 27. So it has taken 7.5 months to finish the thing!
The Bibulmum Track in WA is 1,000km long. Hike from Albany to the Perth Hills. I don't know of any walks in Australia that are longer than that one.
- I did half the bibbulmun track in one go about 6-7 years ago. Was an amazing experience. The Pacific Crest Trail is on my bucket list
  The bicentennial trail is 5 times longer, and the Heyman trail is very slightly longer too. Edit: Heysen trail
Camping as soon as you are better?
- Probably not straight away, but very much as soon as the long covid risk is gone absolutely!

Onya @Duenan@aussie.zone. I really thought the Thunder had a chance. Anyway

CEO - 10 Duenan - 11

It's a double header so you can pick the first one between Scorchers vs Heat because I'll pick the Renegades over the Stars because I'm an idiot.

Was just typing to you. Hehe.
I actually fell asleep during the Thunders innings and just woke up so I had no idea what happened other than the post interviews were taking place.
I think for the double I’m going to go for the Heat, didn’t they only play against each other the night?
And you got the Renegades because of loyalty.
Good luck!
- Good luck!
  How's your headache btw?

so I've never been great with my diet. Just wanted taught any better growing up, and miraculously my BMI's always been pretty average. But recently I've been trying to eat more fruit and "hide" more veg in my meals. I realized the kids gonna grow up and I'll have to set an example, but I admit its been a slow start. Got some blood test results and turns out I might need to pick up the pace a bit. I'm fine in my 30's, but the numbers wont be so fine as I get older. Blood sugar a tad high (but not alarming) and good cholesterol shit bad cholesterol high (didn't know there WAS a good cholesterol). Anyone been in the same boat and got some tips or hacks that helped you on your journey?

Make a clear distinction between ordinary food and celebration food. Make lists even. Ordinary food should be healthy and full of fruit & veg/nutrition etc. in accordance with the guidelines. Limit 'ordinary' alcohol. Celebration food is once a month at most and is anything you desire in whatever quantities. Sugar and chocolate are high on the list of celebration food only. As is pastry. Then go back to ordinary the next day.
Best advice I can give for sticking to a diet is to do 'delicious' rather than 'healthy'. Lots of regional cuisines have recipies for delicious AND healthy food from cheap ingredients.
PS. kelpies are good at disposing of failed experiments. I speak from personal experience here.
- Good advice. I’m gonna start slow, make sure there’s at least 1 serve of fruit and 1 of veg every day and build from there. Tonight’s salmon, brown rice and salad was a solid start.
Swap full cream milk for light. There's very little difference. Keep butter to minimum (that one hurts me). Deep fried foods are occasion foods. Same as icecream and cream.
- I dont do too much dairy anyway since I cant. When I do its a rare treat for lactose free cheese.
Maybe find fruit and veg you like, or at least like better than others and start by including more of them in your diet. As your palette adjusts then add in other fruit and veg that you may not have liked previously. If our palettes are overloaded with processed foods, salt, sugar, fat it can skew our taste buds. Flavours that are herbal, peppery, sour, earthy, citrusy, nutty, can seem odd or intense. Finding ways to cook veg to make it shine is a skill too. For example Brussel sprouts are delicious roasted, but repulsive when boiled. Eating good food shouldn’t be a chore, it’s one of life’s pleasures!
- That’s just it, I grew up on steamed veg so learning to embrace it was tough. I’d never had lentils till I moved out of home either. Now I kinda love ‘em.

Going through music on YouTube and just realised that Tom Petty died a while back.

One of my favourite artists ever and so understated when it comes to 80s-90s music

Fuck I'm old

Tom Petty is fucking legend. We played him tonight. We play him every Friday. His songs remind me of summer playing his Greatest hits album on repeat especially Mary's Lasts Dance. He was a true tripper.
Just on the old comment: if it makes you feel any better I was laying on the floor playing with Tinyest when I felt something in my back to pop and I’m like “welp, that’s it. I’m floor people now. I’ll never be able to get back up”. So your deffo not alone.

o/

- o/

I need someone to tell me how to feel about this Mean Girls thing. Mean Girls is one of my favorite movies, and I know Tina Fey is behind it, but like... I jsut dont know if we NEEDED it, you know?

I am so tired of remakes and sequels
it's lazy and insulting to audiences
We definitely don't need it. I'm just going to pretend it doesn't exist, because it shouldn't.

Fuck me in the Goat arse i go down to tape up around the boot holes for the ducts and the goddamn things ARE FUCKING SWEATING. Fucking thanks mate, i was just thinking we need more humidity around the joists

I'm sorry...are the first six words of your post a quote from an Adam Sandler album?
Cause I'm pretty sure they are.
- Yes

I'm finally near the end of my interminable day of cleaning ahead of tomorrow's rental inspection. The house is gleaming. I'm exhausted and trying not to get too negative about the indignity of renting in the current market and the inevitable rent increase notice in a month's time and urgh.

I changed my LinkedIn profile yesterday and set up alerts, and already got a hit - but it seems to be more of what depressed me at my old job, just being on the other side of it (in fact worse, because I have to be the bad guy and shoulder all the responsibility).

Could maybe hack it if it was a short term contract to build towards better roles, but full time permanent would kill what's left of my soul. I think I've seen this job advertised a few months ago anyway so there's another red flag if the other guy left so quickly.

Luckily I know someone who worked in a very similar role at the same org recently, so I shall get some inside info. See if I could do a hit and run; I do need the experience in local government and the cash would be good too before I think about moving interstate.

See if you can find a round screw top plastic container at a variety store or Kmart. Then drill some holes in the lid.

Playing 1992 music bingo. Holy fuck is Mr Big creepy. No idea how didn’t know what RATM ere going on about. Too tight pants vs. ratty plaid?

That would be the renegades of funk?

trying to find large plastic shaker bottles (like these) that are not sold by amazon. (Reason: Sick of barkeepers friend clumping)

I have not found them thus far but I have found a place that will sell me a 3kg tin of nacho cheese and one that will sell me a box of replacement plastic grinder tops for pepper mills.

I reuse bi carb containers. This one has cheap bi carb in it for cleaning
After I finish the one in the cupboard I'll use it for bar keepers friend.
Large spice jars like McCormick have lids like this too.
- those go up to about 250ml, but we want a BIGGER one. And I am not gonna finish off my 750g of lawry's seasoning salt any time before 2030 lol
Why not glass? Get yourself a giant jar of olives, eat olives and repurpose said jar. That's what I do with my sourdough starter. And I don't even eat olives, so I give them to my mum!
- wet hands shaking the powder out over pots his lordship is gonna drop and break that shit. believe me, if I could glass, I would. We primarily run glass in this house

Wikipedia seems to be down.

I also just got hit with the Adblocker ban on Youtube, was forced to allow ads rather than pay. Blast away with the aggressive ads, I'm still not buying any of the crap you recommend. Cunts. There's an arms race going between the adblockers and Youtube so I might actually go and learn about it to paste in the latest script or whatever

I had the YouTube adblock popup a few months ago but haven't seen it in a while, rest assured the ublock origin and other active adblock communities are still on top of the cat and mouse game for now...
But from what I'm reading it's looking like a very good idea to switch to Firefox or its privacy-oriented offshoots rather than Chrome, as Google is apparently still heading in the direction of kneecapping Chrome extensions from being able to do what adblockers currently do (they received push back and it's not as bad as originally proposed, but who's to say they won't try again)
e: nvm seems like it was an issue from the last 6 hours and ongoing https://www.reddit.com/r/uBlockOrigin/comments/194a4yt/ublock_origin_not_working_on_youtube/
- get off google in general as you can. We really shoulda taken the hint when they dropped the "don't be evil"
- Yeah I was surprised as I use Firefox on pc and first time I’ve ever had that
I just successfully loaded the page for Rick Rolling?
- Huh. The site said it had been down as was no longer but I still can’t access it

yum, chicken curry pie has been eated

I'm watching The Tourist S2 and it's insane.

Breakfast 🍏🍎🍐🍊🍋🍈🫐🍓🍇🍉🍌🍒🍑🥭🍍🥥🥦🥑🫛🍆🍅🥝🥬🥒🌽🥕🥐🍠🫚🥔🧅🥯🍞🥖🥨🧀🧇🥞🧈🍳🥚🥓🥩🍗🍖🫓🍕🍟🍔🌭🥙🧆🌮🌯🥗🍲🍜🍝🥘🍛🍣🍱🥟🦪🍥🍘🍚🍙🐠🍤🪼🦀🐙 🍗🥮🍢🍡🍧🍰🧁🥧🍦🍨🎂🍮🍭🍬🍫🥜🌰🍪🍿🍯🥛☕️🍵🍺🍶🥤🧋🧃🥂🍷🥃🍸🍹🧉🔋

Your most extravagant toastie please
- 🤑🤖👾👑💍🍄🪺🧀🍅🥩🍶🏅🛸🏔️💎
  🍞
Hard to see the menu properly on my phone screen, I'll have chef's selection please, large size.
- 🦐🧈🍳🍳🍞☕️
Broccolini and some pork sausages please
- 🥦🐽🌭🌭

📷 #WhereTaken🇺🇸 #304 1/6 🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🎉 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ wheretakenusa.teuteuf.fr

Been pretty quiet to be honest. Despite being the weekend thinking about work a bit and how I can 'do better'. Personal life is pretty meh so it's a nice distraction. Also doing a lot of cooking at home (pulled pork, roast chicken, some soups with smoked ham hocks etc) so have a lot in reserve which is awesome.

🔍

🦐🧈🍳🍳🍞☕️