Daily discussion thread: 💊🌸🛌📺 Friday, June 7, 2024

I just want to say how amazing this community is. I'm incredibly grateful to everyone for their support during this difficult time ❤️

Also cat:

Ah Gibson, you grace us with your presence, dignified as ever.
You got this bro, you are awesome! You are doing great! 💜
Honestly the woolies bag is the most underrated cat toy on the planet.
I see your cat in bag and offer you cat in pot. And we've got a good bunch here.
- That tail is so goddamn floofy it's ridiculous lol
- Did you interrupt your cat having a shit?
- No, he's just getting comfy!
Ah we are just here for fluffybutt 😛
(No wukkers)

Got the higher gig at work. Feels good.

Now to deal with the knob that didn't get it and will be reporting straight to me.

deal with the knob
not sure an employee of your level should be doing that at work. edit: also congrats!
- My knob work is one of my key skills.
Congrats! Have fun turning the knob!
- Knob work is always fun
The second bit sounds not fun, but conga rats!
- We've clashed heads before. I've been here longer whilst he is a bit older and therefore thinks he should be in charge.
  Problem is, no one likes him including management.
Congrats!!
- Thanks
Yay, congrats!
- Cheers
Congratulations 🎉
- Thanking you
Congrats! That’s fantastic!
Shame about the knob. Working with people can be an occupational hazard at times

Banked RDO equals loooong weekend.

Happy long weekend calhound. 🍗
- Calhound.... How have I never thought of that..? haha

An adjacent manager found out about my new role and rang me earlier with a heartfelt congratulations.

This means one of two things (or both)

My old boss wasn't well liked.

I am very liked.

The amount of support I've received today from all over the organisation made me tear up nearly.

Is this what it feels like to be human?

so many hugs 😽
This is how it's meant to be. It's nice to feel appreciated and supported and liked .
- I am not used to this, but happy it happened.
Dunno about 'human', but this is def how it feels to be the hero. Enjoy it while it lasts, which will not be long. I speak from experience here. Once you start doing things the way they should be done, expect a backlash.
- I'm ready for it. As long as I can drop it after work hours, I'll be fine.
You obviously deserve it for your hard work and how you treat others ❤️
- Thanks mate
- I think it's cause I'm less than a prick compared to others.
  Either way I'll, take it
It shouldn't be a super power to feel supported but unfortunately it is.... The great thing is that you now know how it feels, you can be a spreader of it and watch people bloom.💐
- Also it's a fixed position for a few months. Just enough to make a good impression but not long enough to be negative. Happy to be a placeholder
I am very liked
Invtie them to your bjj gym.
- "Under new management all decisions will be decided by kumite. The Lunch room is now known as The Pit."
- We have a budget for team buildings. I am definitely suggesting it.
  Might get a bit of a kick back from the gym owner too.

G'day mates I'm back and I'm braindead. Happy to say immigration/e-gates were much less of a shit show than late last year even though there were still a couple of kiosks out of action. Seems like all airports are moving primarily towards facial recognition, had so many photos taken

Welcome back! We have arranged a long weekend in your honour!
- Sure feels good to be King 👑
Welcome back Kitten!
Time for you to go home and relax now! Don't forget to rug up, it's been cold here lately.
- Thank you! And in typical Melbourne welcome someone tries to cut in front of the driver merging onto an onramp almost causing an accident. 😆
  I've had no caffeine for quite a while now and slept through the tea service on the plane. Think I'll just coast through the rest of day with a hot chocolate so I catch up on some quality sleep tonight.
Welcome home jk.
We'll be heading to Japan in the near future so I'll be asking you a lot of questions.
- Always happy to help! Bear in mind I'm moderately fluent in he language and have been a few times so there's stuff that's relevant to others that I may not be aware of, but shoot away when you're ready.
You're back! Welcome hooooome.
- I wish to report that I had some super juicy and delectable gyoza for my last meal before heading to the airport.
  Now looking forward to see how my extremely hasty literally last minute first ever chilli ferment is going. Those scotch bonnets almost smelled like carrots when I blitzed them, so fresh. I hope nothing bad has grown and that no receptacles have exploded
Welcome back big kitty!! How was the trip overall?
- I'd say q solid 7/10. Accom really could've been planned better and felt I didn't always get the right momentum or do what I really wanted to, but also some magical moments throughout. My cup is full
Konnichiwa and g'day!
- 'Sgarn? Ah yeah mate, living the dream, can't comploin
Welcome back!

I will not be partaking in alcoholic beverages tonight due to urgent business early tomorrow morning but will be making up for that tomorrow day/evening/ night.

For those who will be have a great night. Cheers 🍺

I was offered the role. Then I asked if my expected pay had been considered, that it was more than my current pay. I was told it hadn't been, but that they'd get back to me shortly. Got back to me: "look I spoke to the big boss, and he says now your current role and the one Ur going for are considered equal (my current role used be considered lesser), your pay is appropriate and would remain the same. I told them I would consider that over the long weekend.

Also just learned that ANOTHER person quit in the role I'm going for, bringing the total to four open positions, and as far as I know, I'm the only internal applicant. The fuckers have the gall to not offer me anything.

So the new tip is to put the new job on your resume and start applying for similar roles with better pay.
Don’t take it. Make the fuckers work for an external.
Unless you want the challenge or you’re going to come out of it with some sort of advantage I don’t see why you would take on a role with more or greater responsibility and challenges with no change in pay.
Sounds like you have a bit of leverage there but also seems a bit worrying that people keep quitting...

We got a royal welcoming committee in Donald. I think the entire town was here to greet us! All the school kids were lined up waving to us, all the industrial business we passed had nobody working - everybody was at the fence waving to us. Every level crossing there were 5-10 people waving

I've been on many heritage trains, but I've never had a reception quite like that

I'm not sure anyone told them we were running 50 minutes late and our 30-40 min stop was going to turn into a 10 min one though, so I think we disappointed them a little :(

They all lined up to wave is goodbye 🥺

Oh my gosh that's so adorable. Donald has a special place in my heart, I love that everyone was excited for this!
I hit my head on a low hanging Donald town sign when I was there. So if you see the sign for Donald, duck.
- Hah, that's a good one!
I've stopped off in Donald a bunch of times coming back from bush doofs. It's a nice town.

Do you guys think @Lodion will be mad at me if I let slip that it's his birthday? 🎂

- Much huger than intended, but I'm leaving it... made me laugh.
- Oh look! His cake day is his birthday! A day before the instance went "live" to the Internet. Neat!
Happy birthday @lodion@aussie.zone 🎉🎂
@lodion@aussie.zone Will he be mad in an entertaining way? 🍰💥
Happy donu- birthday lodion! 🍩🍾

Student Amenities paid for, tuition on a payment plan. Totally fully enrolled! Holy shit!

Feeling better about it now?
- Yeah I am, this is the right thing to do. 💜
That is so awesome. 😀🎆🎇🎉
Yay!

Wow. It seems all the other social sites are in a competition for who can become the worst the fastest. Reddit has jumped on the selling data to AI bandwagon, as has Facebook and Instagram. Tumblr is still banning trans women while leaving up nonconsensual deepfake nudes and is also now crawling with minors. Twitter is uh... Twitter. Sorry, X.

Cursing my shitty body and dodgy area. Never have I wished to touch grass more.

That's why I'm so grateful for this place. It's like an oasis.

I did the pantry shop. Cost a bit more than expected but have quite a few meals now ready to go as backup!

What made the list?
- 10 large cans of chilli tuna 2 each of salada and vita wheats 3 bags pasta 2 cans tomato 2 stir through sauces 1 box gravy powder 1 pack hokkien noodles Various spices 1 thing of powder pancake mix 2 bags of rolled oats. 2 bags frozen veggies 2 bags frozen chips
  Heading back after dinner to grab more stuff. Was honestly shocked at price.
- SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM

A colleague why had Covid last week is back in the office and visibly not recovered. We Can either take sick day, come into office or wfh AND make up an extra office day. Meanwhile I hope my mask is doing its job.. I did have to remove it briefly to drink water though.

Never realised how bad it is not having my own washing machine until now—testing positive a week later. I ran out of towels near the start as I was due for a wash and I just ran out of clean clothes then.

My only symptom now is reduced smell and I feel fine in every other respect, but I'm not gonna be that person who rocks up to the laundromat covid positive—it can wait (hopefully).

I never thought until now how much of a hassle lockdowns would have been to people who didn't have a laundry. How did you even cope with that?
- I think we might have been allowed to do it as one of the reasons to go out, but I remember for at least one of them I had to hand wash my clothes like I'm doing now
Boil your smalls in the kettle and use the salad spinner to dry.
- This not as daft an idea as it might first sound. Does not help which things like sweating all the sheets into gross. Though it might be amusing to see some TikTok idiot try stuff a Queen sheet into a kettle.
For some reason it's only occurred to me now that clothes can be washed by hand and that I know how to do that 🤦‍♀️
Well, I know what I am doing today...
- Related note, apparently America is not a place you find laundry tubs, and lots of HOA ban outside clotheslines. This is utter madness!
- Don't forget to roll the clothes up in towels and stand on them to get as much moisture out as possible after. I handwashed my clothes when the machine broke and they didn't dry quickly enough to avoid getting mouldy
  Edit: If this might drag on or you might get sick again, consider a portable washing machine. It might let you do a small load more easily
- They sure can, and some ought be. Very few people will have a scrub board nowadays, but modern clothes won’t generally be as grotty or sturdy. Don’t know about having the energy to do it while Positive!
I'd just mask up, keep my distance from people and sanitise my hands before I touch anything. No worries.
- No worries.
  I know you mean well, but I think that kind of thinking is what got me with covid in the first place. I don't want to risk continuing to spread it further to other people, not a chance.

I think I have covid - one of my coworkers came in with it, tested positive that evening, and now I'm fluey.

My partner is casual.

What the fuck do we do here? Are we just expected to take the financial hit in a COL crisis?

I think your partner might be able to get the sick pay? Not sure about that. Otherwise, check out Ask Izzy and/or Centrelink for anything that might help you if they cannot work. There are charities that can help with food and bills and whatnot
- Thanks mate - looks like sick pay guarantee stopped being available as of 31 May. Centrelink doesn't offer anything, will check out Ask Izzy though
At my work we get an automatic 5 days off coming out of sick leave upon testing positive. Anything over that needs a doctor's certificate.
You might be covered by something similar, not sure about your partner though.
- Indeed - I'm fine in that regard for that reason. My partner on the other hand...alas, I'm not earning enough to cover us both to the extent I may have to

Soooo our train has stopped at woomelang, but it stopped after the crossing signal on a little temporary platform thing. It's been sitting here for 30 minutes triggering the level crossing and we still have another half hour here.... Nobody's moving it, it's just idling on the platform setting off the crossing alarms.

There's no barriers, but people are really confused about what they're meant to do

We just did the same thing when we stopped at Ouyen lol

For the first time in over 30 years, a Mildura bound train has left from Maryborough! We're running about 40 minutes late because a freight train was also running 40 minutes late

Lungs being fucky and my inhaler is empty. Need to go get a new one but the weather will make my lungs even fuckier on the walk there.

Bah.

potatoes and fish in oven, fresh vegies on stove to steam , dinner in 10. I always cook an extra piece of fish for the cats to share. 🐟🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛

- easiest dinner and still healthy 👍

Transiting in HKG with another hour to kill. Just want to sleeeep

E: I watched Fallen Leaves on the way here and am glad I finally gave it a go after finding previous Kaurismäki films too bleak. This one was just right. On the way to HKG I had watched Marcel the Shell with Shoes on which was incredibly cute and heartwarming but man that Dean was a total dick imo

Using loseit for cico atm and it just popped up in my notifs to tell me weight loss was the most important thing in life. Jesus fucking christ

Or on the optimist side of things: only 14 days until days start getting longer
I moved around a lot growing up, and had some formative years in the UK. I love the winter, I love the cold, I love the early dark - as it reminds me of that time. Having said that, I also love daylight saving...ha

So we're in the middle of a field and our loco stalled...

I have 2 bars of reception and 3 fully charged power banks so I'll be right. Could be worse

We've just started moving again, but that seems like a bad omen...

You can walk to Bendigo from there 😂
- Probably!

Shit. Volunteered at a thing. Now I need to show up. And not be shit.

Shit.
- Running in circles and screaming may be appropriate

I am in so many photos and videos now. So many! I need to start demanding royalties for the 3 whole pixels I take up in most of them

It's International Donut Day today

Thank you, I just ordered donuts on uber eats, lol. It's also my work anniversary, so I was planning on getting a cake anyway, this is way better!
- You're welcome
My work building celebrated this yesterday with free donuts in the foyer but the line was too long and I didn't have time to wait :(
I believe Donut king today is giving away a free cinnamon donut today if you have one near you.
- Free Dognut confirmed

Taco Bills must have heard me talking about them because I've received an email from them saying 1/2 priced main meals this weekend and boy oh boy am I tempted to jump on a tram and go see them.

Sombrero time! Arriba arriba andale andale 🍹
- Whoa there Speedy. Many are still at work. 🍸
Growing up, friends of my parents owned and ran a Taco Bill's franchise. I remember going behind the scenes as a kid and being amazed at the biggest microwaves I'd ever seen...
That said, I'd totally jump on that tram in a heartbeat myself, on my way to consume twice my body weight in nachos...

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

Energy! To get me through my busy day. And coffee please.
- Me too. I tried a fancy coffee pod in the hotel and it was vile. I just want normal coffee kindly please
- 🔋⚡️☕️
Rice & garlic oil please
- 🍚🧄🛢️
Plain old bacon and eggs on toast for me today please good chef.
- 🥓🍳🍳
  🍞☕️
I'll take a zapping too please
- ⚡️🔋

I begin my day with a coffee.

May the long weekend come soon!

I had another good idea. The infection my cat has is from bad gut bacteria and apparently weak to a good bacteria called Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus, so I walked to go get her some plain Greek yogurt specifically containing that. My knees are screaming and I couldn't find a small tub, only a big expensive one, but got hold of a lactose free kind and she's just eaten a spoonful. The antibiotics might nuke everything so I might give her a little yogurt each day of her antibiotics and then hit things with the bought probiotics once she finishes.

Melbcat likes it a lot so if her stomach handles it she might have a snack each day or a dollop with each meal for the long term. It costs and I don't know if I'll be able to eat it as well, but I could freeze it in cubes (if the bacteria will survive well) and it will be cheaper than spending hundreds every time she gets sick. Fingers crossed it helps. I'm really trying to avoid further antibiotic resistance 😬

this is a terrific idea, I hope it works 🤞🐈
- I really hope it does. I'm not sure if there'd be enough of the good bacteria in there to have much of an effect, but perhaps I can find some affordable probiotic capsules.

Anyone here got both a manual and auto in the house? Does it ever get easier? We're about 2-3 months in of having both and I gotta be honest, 2 seems to be 1 more than I can count. I'm fine after a day or 2 in 1, but each time I jump in the other after a little while it is ROUGH.

Mine is auto, wife's is manual.
I'm fine with manual, but need a few minutes to get used to the clutch work.
Auto for life!!!
- Oh man, I thought you were cool haha Manual for life here. Auto I can deal with. CVT is a non starter for me.
- Auto for life here too….unless I’m playing Daytona then it’s manual all the way.
Not currently, but a few years ago yes. I hate autos. Instincts get all screwed up.
- Agreed. Love a manual, but the auto has its uses. Stop start traffic along the monash in a manual isnt a ton of fun. And sadly the wait time on the SUV with a manaul was over 2 years, where as I could get the auto straight away... sadly a no brainer. At least its a REAL auto none of this CVT BS.
My car's a manual. The man's car is auto. I don't drive his but he drives mine all the time. He doesn't have a problem switching between cars but he still changes gears in his out of habit.
- lmao! So its not just me? I go for the clutch in the auto, then forget it when starting the manual when its left in gear. You'd think "Brand new modern SUV" and "Dated 2000's Hatch" would be enough for my brain to register, but no.

Good night and sleep well everyone 😘

Counterpoint to yesterday. What food is never in your house? Some of mine are dislikes, others I just don’t use.

Baked beans & tinned spaghetti

Tinned fish

Bananas

SPAM

Cream cheese

Microwave meals

Canton etc jars

Frozen veg except peas

Tinned asparagus

Carob

Breakfast cereal

Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam; spam bacon sausage and spam; spam egg spam spam bacon and spam; spam sausage spam spam bacon spam tomato and spam
Spam spam spam spam!
- Cheeky. I shall slap you with a herring.
These days it’s lamb due to the price, pork is almost never in my place except for bacon. That’s the exception and fresh vegetables.
- I don’t mind lamb but will go years between buying it. I just doesn’t register as a thing most of the time. Eat loads of piggy though, really annoyed the Colesworth apple sausages seem to have vanished.
onions. Cant eat 'em. Garlic isnt much better.
- That’s rough. Have a friend who can’t touch any allium at all. Hard to adapt, I use them in near everything.
Crunchy peanut butter, garlic and onions, cows milk, tinned tomatoes, mangoes.
(Intolerance and just not liking crunchy)
celery spam and tinned meat in general EXCEPT for tinned mutton ham (only from asian grocers) cos I really like this jar sauces tinned veg carob lolly water breakfast cereal tins of soup EXCEPT for Campbells chicken consomme when I can find any (the best!)
- This mutton ham thing sounds curious. Have heard celery described as ‘hairy water’, but love it myself.
Lol. Most of those are in my kitchen. The only thing I can think of is cans of soup like cream of chicken, cream of mushroom etc.
- I don’t buy those either. Once in a blue moon will get a ‘chunky steak’ sort of thing but it’s always disappointing.
stinky cheese
no tinned vegies other than beans and tomatoes
no premade sauces
very few foods made overseas, I will buy the aussie version
- Corn kernels are acceptable tinned. And beetroot but I mostly do my own for that.

I'm so tired, but unfortunately today is another early day. I only had 4 hours the night before last, so I was hoping to go to sleep early and get a solid 10 hours in. But then dinner went for almost 2.5 hours and they told us we have to go to breakfast at 6 with a bus taking us back to Maryborough at 7. I think I managed to get about 5.5 hours last night, but at this rate I'm going to return from the trip more exhausted than when I left

Rewatching movies. The Razor's Edge, 1946. I watched this first in my 20s, loved this movie and the book. Such grand sweeping ideas, relatable characters, of course I wanted to be larry.

It's been at least 10 years since I've seen it last and I see new things. Mainly the pervasive undercurrent of politics, the upcoming class war, the fascism, antisemitism and decadence of 1920's Europe and the complicity of religion. It's a ticking time bomb.

But what I mainly like now is how human it is. No one seems to do much thinking about life and society, they just accept and drift. All the characters have deep flaws and nearly everyone is so forgiving. Maybe they shouldn't have been so forgiving of the fascism, eh.

4 hobbits

Movie Review. Bad Education. Just a normal well made movie. 2.5 hobbits

A bunch of high school students on the school newspaper investigate their school, exposing the biggest school fraud case in history.

The kids did nothing special, they just checked facts.

But doing things the right way seems to be too difficult for most or they are just too uninterested or lazy so maybe they are special. I have found this true in all aspects of life.

The kids should have gotten a Pulitzer.

Wolves of War. If I was a film student making a first real movie I would be very proud of this movie. It's competent . 1.5 hobbits