Daily Discussion Thread: 🍬 Mon 4 Mar 2024

I sent the ABC an email a few weeks ago. I was offering my story about overcoming addiction and coming out the other end.

They got back to me!

Colour me surprised. Trying to setup a meeting for this week.

That's great! Congratulations on overcoming addiction, hopefully your story can help others who might be going through something similar.
- Thank you that's very kind of you to say ❤️
  I hope so too. That's pretty much why I want to tell my story. It might help someone who's struggling and trying to find the motivation.
that sounds really good :)

Interview in 15 minutes. I stupidly didn't eat breakfast so I'm a little less calm than I'd like to be. But I got this, I know I do dammit

E: I think that went well! I feel much more positive about this team. The interview was a lot more chillaxed too. I have a good feeling about this job ☺️

Here's a small part of the story I'm writing for the ABC. They want something before they decide to ok it or not.

"Most of the people I've met when I was active in my addiction, and the few I've met since I became sober, were abused as children.

After I bought whatever drug I needed that day, I would find what I call "a single use friend", so that if anything happened someone would be with me. Plus, I was less likely to be jumped by other addicts if I had a buddy.

Once we'd had our fix, I would start to ask them questions. I'd ask them to tell me about themselves. People are a lot more vulnerable once they'd consumed what made them feel normal. The walls are down. We share a kinship that's difficult to describe.

I guess you had to be there.

After some chatter, eventually I would ask the question:

"So, how long have you been using for"?

From this question, you can gently, patiently, start to tease out a story. The story of how they ended up in this alley way with me. "

Looks good, I reckon they'll run it. I've almost sent in several things to the ABC but always ended up backing out because I didn't believe in myself, or that the thing I was writing about "wasn't actually that bad in the grand scheme of things" (whatever TF that's meant to mean)
Give me a tag when you hear back, I'm interested to see what comes of it. Also I'm happy you're in a better place now
...addiction ...were abused as children.
I feel called out 👀😬
Just cigarettes, but damn. This is my last pouch. I hope they do go ahead with your story, I'm sure it will help many out there who will read it!
You ought to feel very proud of yourself for coming out the other end, it's inspiring.
That's a great start, I'll be very interested in reading the rest when you're done. Addictions and abuse sure go hand in hand.
I would definitely read/watch/listen to this story in whatever format. It’s putting a human face to addiction which is often sorely missing from the drug conversation. I bet it takes a lot of strength and self acceptance to tell your story. I really hope they pick it up.
- That's really kind of you to say. Thank you ❤️
It shouldn't be a privilege to not have to recover from your childhood, but it is.

sitting here dreaming of a holiday home. Figured I'd price up buying some land and just chucking a portable home on it. Net results the same vs buying an existing home. I cant afford either haha Tell me where you'd go and what you'd do with it if you had one.

I'd get a campervan then I could go anywhere.
- Dapto, Dapto, Dapto, Wollongong!
- Ditto for a campervan. Or maybe a van & car to tow it, then you could park the van and explore more easily
- Oh absolutely! But that requires a bigger car than my medium SUV haha. But I'm more thinking for something as I get older, somewhere I can have a wood fire place.
I'd get a house and land (rather than an apartment), close-ish to the city. Reno it and become a foster carer for pets 🥰 one can dream
- My dream is to make enough to start an animal sanctuary. One day.
Bonnie Doon
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-49bXNLqer4
- really? Or just for the memes? I camped their once and I gotta say, I didnt "get" it.
I think just ordinarily I'd like to live in Eynesbury or somewhere around there. Holiday home, deffo marble bar (or probably either Mildura or Mallacoota if it had to be vic)
I've always sort of dreamed though, that if I was really rich and could afford a lot of land I'd like to get as much as possible somewhere in Vic and set up a little animal sanctuary and build a miniature railway around it
My family had a house down at Somers on Westernport Bay many moons ago - great place to run wild as a kid as all the roads were dirt and we could ride our ponies or bikes everywhere. I miss that, and have some pity for kids nowadays that can't do that. It's mostly built up now and the roads are slowly getting tarmacked and it's pretty much a dormitory suburb for Frankston workers. Still one of the best and safest swimming beaches near Melbourne. And being next door to the HMAS Cerberus bomb testing range meant that it's never going to be sandwiched between suburbs like so much of the Port Phillip side. I love that part of the world. If it wasn't for the transport and supply difficulties I'd like to live on French Island.
All I can say about this is imagine your current house maintenance. Double it, then add some more :)
Found one.
I'd love a place somewhere like Bright or near Wangaratta. Ideally I'd be fully remote and could spend my weekdays over there and come to the city for weekend activities (to my non existent docklands apartment lol).
Venice.
I'd live there at least 3 months the year. Just relax, read, do arty stuff, go to concerts and plays, day trips to other islands and Ravenna.
The biggest drag is a certificate of occupancy. A manufactured house properly installed for about $80k+land will deliver that. If we're ignoring council rules, these are about $8,000. https://www.pickles.com.au/general/item/-/details/CP--08-2000-PKA-3-Tri-Axle-Refrigerated-Pantech-Trailer/663204 And a few grand more to move. I'd drop one somewhere pretty and build a house in it.

Whinge/Vent: Put on three year surgery waitlist. Came into some money recently. Deciding to pay for surgery because fuck this. See doctor for referral. "Oh they lost the initial application". F U C K.

How can an application be "lost"? Unless someone fucked up it's not lost.
and hugs,
- According to my doctor, Monash medical had an issue over covid, a computer error or storm-flood or something and they lost two years of applications. So if anyone is waiting for surgery, consider going back to your doctor and saying what's up? The real LPT in the comments.

Life is hard and it sucks. Maybe I should buy the chocolate toothpaste and keep it next to my bed.

Edit: Oh. I think I've worked out the random crying from kitty. To be fair this is new behaviour (normally she never meows) and a new request. She was asking me to turn the shower on for a second so she could lick up the water droplets afterward.

She kept crying for refills so there is now a flat baking tray filled with water sitting in my shower

Cats (and dogs) are weirdos. Furry little weirdos.
- I think it’s like raindrops in the wild
Human soup is popular around here too
- I really hope she doesn’t get a taste for human. She sleeps next to me

Yeah I'm gonna need that coffee today. Kid went down around 10pm, and there is just something so draining about the loss of your "Me" time its not even funny.

I know that feeling. The kid goes down late, then you stay up later to have time to yourself, making tomorrow morning worse as well

you've got all of us here cheering you on , you're not alone
so many hugs
and keep doing what you're doing 🤗
- Thanks.
There's sitting yoga poses if that helps.
- Maybe it will. It feels like I'm turning to stone
- Yeah, I’ve got an old shoulder injury that flares too. It’s so hard to be back at square one (or worse)

I found out I can add custom ~~emojis~~ emoticons to my instance today.

that looks pretty cool

Im going on an excursion of sorts to the city tomorrow. I'm genuinely excited! I love being around people and crowds.

Go to Pasta Khan Dolan Uyghur for lunch!

Having a shit day. Smashed 2 iced mochas money be damned. Feeling a bit better now. Some tennis and then off to bed 😇

Today's preserving effort: 6 1/2 jars of raspberry jam and 2 jars of marinaded mushrooms.

Raspberry jam, cream and scones. Mmmmmmm
Oh wow, I've always wanted to try preserving things. Is it dangerous?
- There is a danger of becoming addicted.
  In terms of food safety it depends on the type of food and how well you can follow directions. Things like jams and fruit are quite low risk even if you do the wrong thing, but vegetables and meat have the potential to be deadly if you don't do them right. The same can be said of any type of cooking though, there is always a food poisoning risk.
- No. But you have to be scrupulous about cleanliness and getting the temperatures and proportions of preservatives like salt and sugar right. And eating preserved foods or it's not worth the bother.
  You can make just a few pots of jam etc. in the microwave and this is fun and easy. Google up microwave preserving and enjoy the process and results!
  Fruits and anything rich in sugar, and anything fairly acidic like tomatoes is easy. I recommend starting with apples - and new season apples are not far away time wise. Or kimchi - that's a good starting point too.
  Other vegetables like beans or zucchini preserving has some traps for the unwary so probably don't start with these. Meats are for pros only. Cos botulism and other problems.
- If you leave a pressure cooker unattended? If you wash jars badly enough to invite botulism?

It took so many attempts to get my WWCC photo approved that I ended up looking really really dodgy in it. I had to end up looking down at my phone then editing the background with a passport photo app to make it work.
My current one is awful; I look so grumpy. It’s stressful being photographed at the best of times, let alone in a post office under the fluros
It's the whole "not allowed to smile" thing. I had my photos taken at the local post office newsagency and the woman kept saying, "you're not allowed to smile." I'd be like, "but I'm not smiling!" She said "yes you are, you're not allowed to or they won't accept the photo" and I'd say "but I'm not!" We actually both ended up laughing at me for a solid few minutes there. I didn't think I was, but I was. I just couldn't glare into the camera like an angry serial killer lol.

Ok I googled the joint I applied to and wow they are indeed dodgy. As I guessed, the store itself isn't dodgy, but the boss seems to be one of those "alpha man" types. All the reviews I've found seem to mainly be about him being abusive. Also he looks like that Tate dude everyone keeps going on about

I don't really want to no show for the interview, but I don't think I want anything to do with it anymore and they don't have a way to cancel. The message didn't even come from a phone number, it came from one of those short code things so I can't even reply

Sounds even more sus - no way to cancel? Maybe dob them in to Fair Work? Like, send an enquiry to Fair Work asking if this is industry standard behaviour, attaching screenshots/copies of everything they've sent to you.
- I found an email for bossy Boi and sent a rather blunt "I'm no longer interested in this position" email but there wasn't any response and I still got reminder messages
You can cancel by just not answering 🤷‍♂️
- I ended up doing that. They sent me a message 15 minutes earlier telling me not to be "a cosmic disappointment", so...

Done the best lamb roast in the airfryer yet. Piece of shoulder boned and rolled, and the gravy flavored with allspice and smoked paprika. Was yum. Am now definitely a fan of doing roasts in the airfryer.

Nothing like a diversity survey to make you feel Less understood and over examined.

Please select which of these four very specific pigeon-holes you fit into.
Otherwise, please specify your own specific pigeon-hole for us so we can classify you under 'other'.
- And tell us how to fix everything for everybody, without any money.
I understand how you feel.

I’m too anxious to art so I’m just soaking up information. Somehow I’m still interested in that. Maybe one day when life isn’t such a slog I might even remember some of it.

I've just found out there's a limit on how much you can listen to audiobooks each month on Spotify because I have hit that limit:

While slightly annoying, I'm not smashing through books like others might and this is included in a price I'm already paying for Spotify and doesn't need a separate paid service like Audible so I'm going to say fair enough.

Oh it's specifically audiobooks. I thought you had a 15 hour limit on normal Spotify for a bit. Less than 30 minutes per day.
That's still a bit stingy even for just audiobooks. That's not even one book half the time
Yeah that happened to me. Of course you can always upgrade. No thanks Spotify. I already pay you enough.

sky pretty

I keep a notepad file on my work machine to prevent destruction of spreadsheets with catlike typing. Today it has already proved $hhhhffftyyesbnnmmmm

Took the family into the city for that Unko exhibition yesterday. The whole trip in and out was good, the exhibition just felt like a brand activation for instagram content

What? I looked this up. It's fun marshmallow coloured poo themed.
I can make shit at home. In fact I made a Cornetto the other day. Chocolate of course.
- But can you put it on a stick and sell it?

Dude why

Absolutely hate when you have to call to cancel. Had to do this when I was subscribed to The Age, what a waste of $$ that was. They can't let you go until they offer you the next 6 months at half price.
- I actually almost signed up to the age, but if that's how they act I'll just continue using 12ft
Because it's annoying and hard and it keeps people subscribed for longer. Scumbags

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

Uno doppio espresso para javar por favor
- ☕️

There's been a massive learning curve in setting up my business. Lucky I have this gardening leave time to spend figuring all of this out. I am trialing this neat platform called Xero which is really user friendly and makes day-to-day tasks like generating an invoice or recording an expense pretty easy. But I still don't really understand the processes I need to follow and how to do important things like pay myself.

I have a call with an accountant tomorrow which I think I really need. Just spent some time writing our a list of questions, many of which feel like very stupid questions but whatever. Hoping this will all become second nature to me once I know what the hell is going on.

Hola

Definitely go see it at the IMAX if you can, but even if not, would highly recommend Dune - Part 2. I could not get a decent ticket at IMAX so went local, still great.

I applied for a job last night not expecting much to come of it (I was actually just updating my resumé and saw it advertised), but apparently they liked my application and want to interview me.

It seems a bit odd, I got an automated message saying the ceo wishes to interview me today for 5 minutes between 4-5pm but if I wasn't "lucky" enough to click the link and book in one of the (allegedly in high demand) slots to put my number into a google form and they'll send me a new link tomorrow.

It's better than that fake Woolworths ai robot thing I guess, but I don't even understand what they're planning on asking me in 5 minutes. In fact it won't even be 5 minutes, it'll be 4

Strangely rather than being nervous about the interview, I'm just deeply criticising their entire business setup. I guess I've got the luxury of both time and choice though, so if it doesn't pan out or I cock it up, I'm not too fussed

That sounds fake as fuck and you wouldn’t want it anyway.
- You know shits bad when a literal catfish tells you something is dodgy
It sounds really suss to me.
- I wasn't really getting sus vibes from it, moreso vibes that this might be one of those holier than thou type companies.
  It's a whole 4 minute zoom call though so I'm not sure whether to bail (no way to cancel, so I'd just have to no show) or do it anyways
  It is an actual shop that I know exists because I've walked past it though, but I guess that doesn't necessarily prove they're the ones who posted the job applications

Looks at forecast for this week:

Looks good? Today's freezing af, but it's not too cold the rest of the week.
- Above 30 is death if you live in a rental without aircon. At least when it's cool I can chuck on a jumper or switch the heating on

A not-quite-ever has turned up with a new beard of um dude really. This sentence makes sense to me.

Looking at mixing guides for paint. That's great, except due to buying generic brand with no names or numbers on the tubes it's not clear what colours I have. Feeling a bit overwhelmed at the idea of working that out.

The quality set with all the primary colours has since been found cheaper elsewhere /facepalm (Still much more than I paid for the generic, but affordable)

Watching The New World. Terence Malik and pretty much my favourite music . ( seriously, this is really really one of my fave musics ) It's all so beautiful. Images, story, music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFkyAD9gS6g

Yes, I know I say that about a lot of movies. That's because movies are beautiful. :)

Good morning to everyone except those who don't take their backpacks off a crowded train/tram in peak hour where everyone is squished like marshmallows

You've posted in the wrong thread. It's Tuesday today buddy.
- Oopsie

How long until the Lockheed ads at tram stops get vandalised? Southern cross just feels like a massive Lockheed ad.

You've posted in the wrong thread. It's Tuesday today mate.
- lol, time for some more mondayitis.