Daily discussion. 🎵🎶⚔️ Monday, 29 July, 2024

Hi Everyone! I had a computer disaster on Friday, and had to replace my home computer. And then sign in again to the DT. Aaaaaannd I'd forgotten my password, so I had to re-register and therefore am now the Witch of Thornbury instead of Thornburywitch. Will organise cute ID piccy as soon as I discover one. Suggestions welcome.

Do not talk to me about resetting my network access password - there are some things that are better left unspoken. This includes Optus Customer Service - which falls into the three lies for the price of one category imo. On the good side, the nice people that sold me this device removed all the bloatware - I am deeply grateful.

- Thank you! Was toying with The Witch of The North, but there's a bit of competition and that I cannot be bothered dealing with.
We need to see some identification
- Show us the tapestry!
- Boo! Wait until Halloween - I'll show you identification! The wasabi peas will be quite sufficient.
Oh no TW (or I guess WoT now), that sucks! I won't give you any lectures, but if you'd like some (lecture + judgement free) suggestions on backup or password management software, just let the DT know. Most people (unfortunately including myself) don't set these things up until it's too late, but they're pretty simple to set up, and low maintenance in the long term if you choose the right software
As for ID, I reckon a broomstick will be sufficient. That's how we'll be able to tell if you really are a witch or not. As for whether you live in Thornbury or not, have you ever used a form of transport that isn't a train or tram since your move?
Edit: or a bike/ebike
- Of course! You are NO ONE in Thornbury without your ebike! Also, last Halloween I attached my old racing saddle to the dyson and left it near the door where the little trick or treaters could see it. Also their parents. I did get asked about it, and explained that the nice young man on late night television said that it was sooooo much faster and more efficient than a broom and that I fully agreed with him. Haven't seen them since. Which was sorta kinda the point. 🧹🛑
- Perfect! OK to use it????? I assume it's street art somewhere? This is much better than the smiley face with a hat I was going to go with.

Taking today off 'sick'. About to head out and get a big breakfast and coffee.

That should be just the thing to make you feel better.

Had a team member return to work today after a lengthy holiday. It's been so peaceful without him. Hopefully he has another job lined up and can fudge off into the sunset.

This is how my team probably feel about me not working ahaha
- Does your team actively avoid interacting with you AND only communicates through email and teams messages?
  If not, you're safe.
  I think in the two weeks leading up to his holiday, I was the only person who spoke with him.

Have a great day everyone ❤️

not sure what network you are on but I just switched to OVO who were the cheapest on ausnet. I can send you a referral code if you want that gets us both I THINK 100 bucks credit?
- I just switched to them too. I'll be interested to see how they organise their billing, they are taking out a set amount pre-paid at the start of each month which is a fair bit less than I expect my actual usage to be. It's not clear whether I will have to pay the difference each month or if I will end up carrying the debt for a while. If they take out too much they give you 3% interest on the overpayment but I couldn't find anything about how they deal with underpayment.
- OVO kinda have me side eyeing because I can't see what's different between The One Plan and The Basic Plan apart from wildly different pricing and a tiny contract.

Biscuits!

For some reason one of the trays had quite deep cracks in the biscuits, so I decided to dust those ones with icing sugar and will ice the others. Ths house smells beautifully spicy, it will be a challenge to make sure I don't accidentally eat them all.

They look delicious.
ooh they look great.
You can’t post pics without details and a recipe.. that’s no fair
- You will need to see my previously published comments for those.
What kind of biscuits are they?
- PPfeffurnusse biscuits, a German spice biscuit.

I took Force's unwanted great day today and it was rather meh so I can understand why it was rejected.

Had a mix of running around to do laundry for stuff I couldn't do at home, and working from multiple places. The office was completely empty, which was weird and off-putting, but I was glad someone turned up at the end. Had my first in person conversation in quite a while. My body needed it but that has also now exhausted me, so I think it'll be an early night for me.

Tomorrow is the early start day. I dowanna... I also really don't feel ready to handle the drive again, after today's brief but awful time on the road, but I'll have to. At least I have my nice android auto unit to make it more bearable!

I think the next few days are still going to be slow. I am definitely not 100%. Stupid blasted night time cough be gone already.

I envy people who have high energy. They can achieve so much.

I was just wondering how can I be doing so much housework yet seem to achieve so little
High energy and strong motivation, you got both then you are unstoppable. I have neither.
- https://youtu.be/3kKB6wYqP7Y?si=YiG44LlIQEYaLROy

I figured out how to export a list of the music people I listen to from Spotify and into a spreadsheet and I am having wayyyyyy too much fun with this.

I listen to 1,147 different people (on average that means each of them appear around 1.3 times in my liked songs playlist). Of those, 70 start with "The " (3 more start with "The" as part of their names, ie Thelma Houston)

I don't even know who like 70% of these people are, they just happen to appear on one random song I liked on May 7th, 2021, and now forever reside on my playlist.

But there's a JoJo, JoJi, Ruji, Bazanji, benee, war Paramore, Christian Wannerwall, 2 different doctors, 10 different dudes named John, and 3 little people (plus 6 lil people). One person is registered (®), one is incorporated, and there's 2 people with $ in their names. And don't forget Dan Andrews

I don't know why I'm doing this instead of sleeping, but I currently don't regret my actions

Spotify makes 'fake' bands that they then push on users so they don't have to pay for the content, or licensing etc. They really are an incredibly awful bunch of scum lords.
https://www.rollingstone.com/pro/features/fake-artists-have-billions-of-streams-on-spotify-is-sony-now-playing-the-service-at-its-own-game-834746/
You now need to work out how to put as much information as possible into graphs.
Last.fm ! Last.fm !
- https://www.last.fm/user/iamabakuama

Can anyone fetch me a coffee? I'm pinned under a purring cat.

edit: it's more snoring cat than purring TBH

Edit 2: it's OK now, I accidentally hit play with sound on a video of a steam train pulling into the station, Miss Meow decided it was prudent to move out of the way of the train. I'm now back with both my coffee and a cat on my lap, currently purring (may soon morph back into snoring)/

I need a coffee, sadly I don't have a purring cat.

thinking about moving to another dimension in a year or so but i will still offer food truck service

Any particular dimension?
- Ness’

Dear duolingo:

"The lessons start today at four" and "the lessons start at four today" are the exact same sentence communicatively. Don't start getting fucking uppity and direct translation-y with a fucking romance language.

Which language are you learning?
- English, going by those two examples. It's the most romantic language I know!
- redoing my italian. Actually did it all through high school, but in the intervening decades it hath mostly gone pooooof

Mrs and i went and drive around a new estate yesterday. There are hundreds of homes! I knew they were building stuff, but all you can see from the highway is half a dozen new places. All look at LOT nicer than our mid 2000's build, but they have no supermarket, no doctors, no daycare, nothing. Our block might be a bit smaller, and all the houses might look the same, but I think I almost prefer our "jack of all trades master of none" home than something really awesome 15 minutes drive away from everything.

EDIT: Super impressed to see how a house would jack off!

Interesting turn of phrase you have there
- which part?
  EDIT: FUCKING LOL
If it makes you feel any better, they're probably all still missing insulation, have single glazed windows, and have zero noise proofing
- Sorry, whats that? I cant hear you over the roar of the freeway :-D

My 2 ingredient dessert

What are the underpinnings? Mince pies?
- Strawberry tartlets
Thaty looks damn good! I'm going to give it a try this week.

So I got the full story about the client today. A lot of history and some bad blood between the 2 organisations. Should be interesting once I meet them this week.

Also:

Cheese cat (excuse all the boxes, they're hers lol)

Canoe slalom is very entertaining, but what a bonkers sport. I wonder how many drinks were involved in coming up with it.

Yeah that's some serious white water rafting there. Glad our Jess Fox got in!
- our On some level I HATE this. "our" Chloe Covell sounds creepy as shit! But I do love how we embrace them. No matter the sport, you are a national hero whilst you compete.

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

Stuck in meeting. Need a really good coffee
- 🥛☕️🌶️🍎☕️
Coq au vin, au vin, et plus zizi
- 😳
- 🐓🍄‍🟫🧄🍷🍆
A bowl of escargot and a glass of your 2nd cheapest wine please.
- 🐌🥣🍷
Snails n shit
- 🐌💩

False alarm on the last comment, apparently it's some tradie dude measuring our fence to install a security gate. Would've been nice if somebody warned me so I don't prepare the battle stations and charge out as if somebody's casing the joint, but I guess not

blarg, monday....

No rain here. Think I will go out for a walk and do some shopping.

later 😘

Ugh… the house is a mess and it’s hard to move.

Took the kids to Monsalvat in Eltham yesterday. The weather wasn't ideal but it was still a great trip, it feels like you've gone back in time to somewhere in Europe.

And I do like the idea of a self sufficient artist's commune

Gratitude thread :)

Grateful for warm showers

I'm grateful for the resident magpie currently on the lawn. Just struts around eating things. I haven't bribed this one yet so if it swoops come spring that'll be for the anti grat thread.
I’m grateful I can breathe again and my oximeter thingy isn’t reading just above ‘go to the ER’
Grateful for leftovers for lunch. And fun volunteer projects.
So grateful for flexible working hours and a flexible workplace! Got some laundry done at the laundromat and didn't need to be available all day. Really helps when I'm not feeling all there
I'm grateful for the fact I start work early and finish relatively earlier than most regular working people.
Grateful for fluffybutt and pink lady apples

Nail in tyre in the non repairable zone. 😪

At least the TPMS is reporting normal pressure values in the past 4 hours. It should survive before a trip to Bob Jane tomorrow morning.

Anti-gratitude thread.

The anxiety I feel in my chest. My life feels like it's in the shambles. Behind with uni stuff and done no meal prep. Also just woke up because last night I took my mum into emergency because she was having heart attack symptoms. She seems to be fine and is going to the GP.

I have run out of leftover roast potatoes
- Just microwave a couple new ones
- Noooooo!
Upon further and overnight reflection I think I look like a doofus in my own video recordings.
I had to go into a bank today, to do something thst should've been simple, and it was just as painful as I expected.
Hope your mum's ok, ER trips are scary.

It started raining once I left the front door and stopped when I got home.

Hasn't bloody stopped all day here. It's light but persistent. It's been three days, it'd be nice to see the sun.
- I'm taking it as a signI should not be doing exercise today and should instead be distilling my wash
Samsies. Took the dog out, briefly cos of the rain, came home, dried the dog, rain stopped.

Good Morning. 😊

The birds are singing.

Looks like the first pack I’ll get will be the Rock Mix for Beat Saber.

For reference if and you’d like to add an opinion. https://aussie.zone/comment/10764343

🪨🥣🎶⚔️
- Right on!

watching the Vocalyst do reacts to John Farnham and honestly this woman is just lost in the sauce as soon as he opens his mouth. I don't know whether to laugh or be humbled by how much we just take farnsey for granted

Morning all. Hope you had a great weekend.

I was in the mood for a horror movie set at camp and found a couple. I watched one made in 83 called Camp Sleepaway. It actually wasn't too bad, has some out of date thinking around some issues (won't say because it's a spoiler) but the special effects are surprisingly really good, especially for the 80s.

And how good was 80s fashion??

Also I've noticed in the older movies, kids sound whiny as. Think how Luke Skywalker sounds at the start of a New Hope. That high pitched whine when he can't go to Toshi Station.

But the real star of the show was this guy. The total package and screen stealer. I laughed for a good five minutes at this part.

No Dan. The fashion was not good in the 80s. I owned a pair of brown corduroy knickerbockers and wore them with knee-high socks and desert boots. You are wrong.
- I owned a pair of brown corduroy knickerbockers and wore them with knee-high socks and desert boots
  Oh, I didn't know you had a role in the movie. 😆
  (I'm pretty sure that look is in the movie)
- I had zebra stripe capris
Tosche Station
- Touche (station) :D
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpUkokRx3-k
That's Mr Seagoon's Christmas present/package sorted. 👍
That high pitched whine when he can't go to Toshi Station.
You mean like this?
https://youtu.be/DhkgohG9lTM?si=tx7LF58E-sH9DvZv

I have pikag coming today, but it's going to come right when I'm at the dentist. I can't ask them to leave it because apparently the sender specifically told them they're not allowed to. They don't usually get parcels to the post office until after they close, and the post office is a PITA to get to by PT, so I probably won't get pigak until Friday :(

They've been promising me for the last week that it will come on either Tuesday or Thursday, and it was just sitting in sunshine west all weekend, but no, apparently at 8:30 they transferred it to Melbourne airport and gave it to a van man at 9:02. The one time I'm unhappy about them being efficient ☹️

1100ml in and just hitting 55% on the alcoholmeter bloody hell, i think ima gonna do a top shelf and a slightly lower shelf burbon outta this

How did you get into making alcohol?
- Poking about.

Managed to pick the parcel up on the way back from the dentist. I also had another parcel coming from Amazon which apparently needed a password to be delivered, but my case manager put her number down on the order, so the delivery man called her and she gave him the code and he left it.

Had to get a filling today, and he anaesthetised my face. I dislike my face being anaesthetised, but it did mean i didn't feel a thing after the initial needle jab. I'm starting to regain feeling now. Apparently I need 1 more filling and then I'll be referred off to somewhere or rather to have my wisdom teeth removed. I'm going to see if I can have it done privately, because it'll be a year or more wait to get it done through the dental hospital. Also, they'll probably put me completely under (which to be honest I'm terrified of), whereas a dental surgery place will probably just use a ton of local anaesthetic (according to the dentist).

Either way it's going to fucking suck.

I also had a thought while I was at the dentist: if we ever discover scary unfriendly aliens, we should just mildly sedate them and make them go to the dentist. The dentist is terrifying, even when it doesn't hurt.

Has anyone used Wix to make a website? I'm thinking of creating an author website but have zero experience in making them so if possible I'd love to use something idiot proof and hear Wix is good for that.

I've been using Wordpress lately and there's been a decent learning curve with that. I've persevered but it's far from idiot proof. Have a look at Squarespace, that was the other option I was considering and is more beginner friendly. I think Wix is seen as cheap/tacky.
@danwritesbooks @Seagoon
I started out with dokuwiki but it unexpectedly stopped working. I caved and used the default wordpress. Wordpress isn't actually popular, it's just the default provided by most ISP.
- I have used Wordpress before and might have to bite the bullet. Wix is a bit too expensive for me.
I had a client engage a web developer who in-turn used Wix to create a basic site. It was a pretty negative experience for us, but it was cheap to host. We had issues splitting off a dev/staging site in particular. It's been about 6 years, my memory is foggy and the product may have improved.
Wix might be ok for a sole trader and a quiet website though. I wouldn't recommend it for any business that wanted to regularly maintain/update their site.

I'm watching The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill And Came Down A Mountain... This is the perfect silly British 90s comedy I needed for tonight. I don't care if they're a bit exaggerated but I loooove singsong Welsh accents 🥰

"Maps, dear Betty, are the undergarments of a country"...

E: that was thoroughly heartwarming and lovely. 100 hobbits (only because it's truly a hobbitty vibe). Now I've got to read up about the crazy true story it was based on!

Looked a bit like the shire did it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LML6SoNE7xE
I love all recommendations and will watch that movie too. :)

I recommend watching this 10-minute highlight reel of this morning's Matilda's game before it is inevitably removed by Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8zzn91jc6k

Such a roller-coaster of a game.

Ok so I need some opinions on these music backs for Beat Saber.

I’ll one day pick them all up but what priorities should I put them in?

I’ve picked these because they appeal to my musical tastes and seem like fun to play around with.

Below are the packs with what songs are in them.

Let me know what you think!

Lady Gaga

Alejandro, Bad romance, Born this way, Just dance, Paparazzi, Poker face, Rain on me, Stupid Love, Telephone, Edge of Glory,

Rock Mix

Born to be wild - Steppenwolf, Eye of the Tiger - Survivor, Freebird - lynyrd Skynyrd, I was made for login’ you - KISS, Seven nation army - The white stripes, Smells like teen spirit - Nirvana, Sweet child O mine - Guns N’ Roses, The Pretender - Foo Fighters,

Queen

Another one bites the dust, Bohemian Rhapsody, Crazy little thing called love, Don’t stop me now, I want it all, Killer Queen, One vision, Somebody to love, Stone cold Crazy, Where are the champions, We will rock you,

Edit : this is frustrating. The formatting on my phone app is all stuffed up.

I've had the Rock Mix for beat saber on the occulus and it was a lot of fun!
Having looked up what that is (kinda Wii let’s dance and various raving rabbits levels)
I’d pick Rock first simply for diversity, but suspect GaGa will prove most fun and athletic
- I’ll try and give an explaination.
  It’s a virtual reality game where you wield light sabers and slash blocks in time to the music depending on difficulty.
  There’s also walls you have to dodge from left to right or squat/duck under.
  It’s super fun and even better if you like the music.
- Me last night being a doofus
  https://youtu.be/jm6jq2facQM?si=iKf6P_3Tebc_rwk3
Holy shit. The one with Freebird. Would love to see someone nail that solo in beat sabre!
Queen and Rock Mix sound like fun.