Daily Discussion Thread: 🐕🧻🐩💖 Wednesday, August 21, 2024

I don't like bragging, but this is shortlived so I'm gonna own it.

I got my other assignment back yesterday.

Again.

I thought I was looking at the previous one. But nope. 2 x 92's in a row. Couldn't believe it.

Just had a slightly tearful goodbye meeting where they brought in some old colleagues too for my goodbye. Have handed in all my gear and am off to the pub while I wait for other peeps to finish and join me! Feeling.

Aw! I hope you have a good night! I'm sure you'll stay friends with them! 💜💜
I bought a tin of sardines in your honour 🥲
so many hugs 🫂🫂🫂
Cheers! 🍻

Update on the diverse lifestyle magpies in my street, as of last night. Old Mrs magpie has moved 3 streets over and found a new (male) mate known to all as the Admiral (a long term resident), but still enjoys rolled oats from my hand. She hasn't built a nest yet. Young Mrs magpie has taken a young male mate (as yet unnamed by us), and has built a nest just over the road in a street tree. It's too far up to see if there are eggs yet, but we can hope. The young male, who is a complete dill and alternates between doing his duty by feeding young Mrs magpie, and begging food from her. He doesn't take food from humans yet, though young Mrs magpie has started doing so for the first time just a week ago. We think he's still learning how to do husbanding properly, but as he's less than 2 years old that's not surprising. Young Mrs magpie is also about 2 years old. Will keep you all updated on this teenage romance.

I'm keen on magpie love story updates.
Interestingly there's pair down the bellarine and only the female will eat from my hand. The male wants absolutely nothing to do with me.
Cuteeee! This could be a TV series
- Id watch this.

Im drunk and I'm going to bed. Most of y'all are pretty cool and i hope the greebles don't get you tonight

Merry Christmas Force 🎄
Miss Meow caught all the greebles earlies tonight, so I should be alright. Sleep well, I've heard greebles don't bother drunk people, so you should be fine too.
I sedated the Grue, you may turn the lights out
No greebles here.
sweet dreams

I should have tidied up my stationery earlier - I found $100!!!

I recall a couple of years ago thinking I must have been overly optimistic in my estimates of how much money I had received from selling some of my stuff, I guess I was right after all. Shoving my cash inside a random notebook until I could put it in the bank seemed like a good idea at the time.

I've had a wonderful start to the week. Since it's book week I got invited to a couple of schools. I did some talking about my books and writing and read a couple of chapters to kids from grades 3/4 and 5/6. I asked the kids if they liked scary stories, and then what scary stories they like and one kid said 'Revenge of the Flightless' which had me all teary-eyed.

Also scored a box of chocolates.

Yesterday I was a 'celebrity' reader for another school so I read a couple of chapters to about 40 kids who mostly seemed enthralled (though I am sure I heard one kid whispering 'this is boring' lol). And after that I did a writing workshop. I thought I'd get like 5 kids interested, but had 30. It was like my own classroom and we started thinking about stories and how we write them and I got them to talk about scary experiences in their lives and how we can use them as ideas for stories, creating characters and all that. It was really fun.

I got the 92 on my assignment.

I was also told that the librarian at my daughters school (who recently bought my books for their library) is reading them and really likes them.

This morning I got a message from the parent of one of the kids in the workshop thanking me for doing it and how her son came home talking about it, and being confident in sharing his work (I mentioned at the end to not be afraid of sharing their work with friends and family and how it took me 35 years to have that courage).

And finally, I volunteered to read in my daughters class this morning (not my books) and I got to see a glimpse of how classrooms look and work before I got to read. It went well which was good and my daughters face was priceless (despite her asking me to do it).

So all in all a damn good week so far.

There was a lovely story yesterday about a Jack Russell who alerted a neighbour that her owner was having a medical emergency and basically saved the owners life.

My husband: Gee some dogs are smart. Some have jobs and do some remarkable stuff. Your dog eats tissues.

One of my dogs would be very sad. He would lay with me untill someone found me. The other would take a leg for the bone the second I went down on the ground.
- 😂
Our JRT protects the child from the vacuum cleaner with such ferocity we have teeth marks in the dyson. But she had a mouse friend living in the cupboard beside her bed and she even shared her food.
- Oh yes. The deadly vacuum. Also the lawn mower, the wipper snipper and any remote control toys the man owns.
Your dog eats tissues
Sounds like doggo needs to meet gibson so they can debate which paper is best.
- He's not interested in the tissue. More the goodies that are hiding in a used one.
You can eat tissues AND save lives! Everyone needs a hobby

Back home now after work.

Don’t forget to get petrol folks. Price is expected to go up in the next few days.

Also to end the day I was greeted by this after it rained.

Thanks for the petrol reminder - just about time as I'm down to maybe 10%, pay day this week, so perfect timing to fill up.
- If you need more time and peace of mind about petrol and don’t mind using the 7-11 app and having an account for it you can fuel price lock in a price of your nearest 7-11s in your area for a week.

I've taken today off to look after the boys. It will be nice to look after them properly instead of trying to watch them whilst tethered to a laptop

Can someone tell me what planet is in retrograde or why I have such random anxiety today? There's no reason but it's been shocking all day. I had a great night's sleep last night too...

I just did a tarot reading for my partner lol this is weird to see this.
I blame the weather tbh, I haven't been able to breathe through my nose since the flowers bloomed and I've been quite shitty since
- Yeah I am loaded up on antihistamines but I've still be generally itchy and off. Maybe it is that. And the full moon!
It’s either anxiety or just an off feeling all day here too.
what planet is in retrograde
Earth
But seriously it could be changing seasons or everything just kind of being stressful

If you have the bench space get a countertop dishwasher. Highly recommend. Life changing.
- Those milk crate sized things?
When I'm at work (food manufacturing) I don't mind because I'm getting paid for it, so when I'm doing it at home it seems an especially thankless task!
I don't mind doing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen. I hate putting the dishes away.
I always splash myself like an idiot
Me too. Its endless. I try to minimise creating them when cooking but they spawn anyway from whichever circle of hell they arise from. Forever. Until death do us part. Or maybe not, if that’s the particular hell I get assigned to in the afterlife.
Worse chore than cleaning the loo. Hate it!

Flaming Lips in Feb - secured. Let's go

That's a nostalgia hit!
I think I know what Friday night's theme will be!
omg omg omg, that's awesome, they are such fun
you will have a great time 👍

My brain is not working today. Totally zonked out. Must.focus.on.work.

Morning all

Good morning, good morning, its ................... cornflake time!
- Great, now for some reason I have Cornflake Girl by Tori Amos stuck in my head :P
  Stupid brain.

The new double edge razor brush for cats has already removed 4 knots from Ted, the annoying one under his chin too. Poor little guy, he didn't ask for all that fur. ( I have to wear gloves or Ted shreds me )

Ted shreds me
Love shreds. Deep down he knows you're only trying to help.
- I know, he doesn't move or run, he even rolls over a bit to get his tummy done.
  There is something triggering him as he hates hands. I suspect he has beaten. 😿

P-p-p-p-paaaydaaay

Oh yeah...
Mine too! too bad it's late in the evening though :(
- Mine's osko'd at 7am thank fuck
- Getting paid today too. Mine generally hits around 2 pm or so.
That's one way to make hump day better!
S-s-s-s-saammmeee!!
I get paid fortnightly and August has worked out to be a 3 pay month. This is the off week though
- ugh I wish, my b'day is early sept. My next triple is october
Mines in and half gone already.

Mickey's vaccination all done and caught up. Poor puss hates the carrier, but hates the vet more haha

How are you feeling from the gastro?
- Tired AF, amongst all the other T H I N G S I've been dealing with.
  Currently just waiting for someone's (trauma) but soon, later today, I will study
Was there yowling on the tram?
- Indeed there was! I actually had a lovely convo with a man about cats haha
I have to drug Gibson before taking her to the vet lol. She's so funny when she's high 🤣
Hope you feel better soon!
- I luckily don't have to do that haha, Mickey is just a wriggly boi!
  But I did have to grab his legs like a hog-tie to stop him spreading them out hahaha couldn't do it the way they teach at school, and I hate grabbing them by the scruff (it's kinda okay when they're very young kittens, but the older the cat the more strain it places on their neck when scruffed, causing damage and an angry, in-pain cat; there are better ways to do it).

Ok bad mood cured by instant pot beef bourguignon. So yum so tender hhhnnnngggg

Aw yeee

Why do I have so much stationery?

Because new stationery is always what will inspire you to change your life and get organised. And then you don't use it, so you buy more, because this time it will work.
Plus it's pretty.
- too pretty to write in. Better buy another one. Ooh look, this one's pretty...
I took (as a souvenir) a whole bunch of stationery when I quit my last job, I have so much.
- I took all the bic 4-pens from the "lost pens box" when I quit a job. About twenty of them. I'm down to my last few.
- I still have a few branded pens kicking around from a job I left in 2012. I grabbed quite a few on the way out.
Because stationery is love.
Because each piece of stationery is for different reasons which you will get around to one day.
- I think most of it is for reasons that no longer apply now that we tend to do everything on computers. Also a bunch of stuff from when I was selling a lot more on eBay. I think the chances of me using three full boxes of address labels in my lifetiime are now fairly slim.
Paper airplane squadron wooo!
- Maybe I can experiment with all the different thicknesses of paper I have to see which flies best.
pretty sure youse guys are beginners. I have two ikea cubes of calligraphy paper, one box of art paper, about ten big scrolls of paper and then a box of normal stationery/note pads. I have a box of inks and paints.
I have a drawer full, most of it random paper I’ve inherited and some cards that ‘might be useful one day.’ Mostly it’s silverfish food these days

I had a great ride with the boys this afternoon. It's great to have nice weather and a bit of afternoon sun again.

We caught some of that light sun shower so we got to see ac rainbow on the way home

After so much bullshit and fighting I got an assignment extension for 3 days! This really takes off the edge and gives me much more breathing space... thank fuck.

Progress is still slow, but solid, and definitely adding up. I'm starting to feel less shitty about my reduced mental capacity and more excited about being back in the world of logic and empirical data, not just lazy opinions. Got to chat to some people that really lifted my spirits/rejuvenated things and made me feel like maybe this is all actually heading somewhere meaningful.

I'm going to feel PARTICULARLY great once I get this thing off my plate though! I can just feel the satisfaction already.

Cool. You can do this. 🙂

She loves an engagement ring.
I love her in Out of Sight with George Clooney (one of my favourite movies)
- I love her in Anaconda!!
sounds like a movie about her, not a movie for ben 🙄
Hehehe she's a train wreck, and I have my popcorn ready for more unhinged nonsense from her.
I was kinda rooting for Ben and JLo, but dayum, maybe he should have stayed with Jennifer Garner hahahhahaha
Oh man I heard about the "documentary" not that they'd broken up. And apparently had to scale back or cancel a tour. Rough time for 00's pop starts at the moment.

The humidity this morning is horrific. Not looking forward to today.

That makes one of us. Today is going to be a GREAT day!!
- Happy last day, Force!! Yay, you got there!
- is it too early for a beer toast 🍻
Oh so that's why I woke up damp
It looks alright outside now but it's meant to rain a bit this afternoon

I googled to find out what the best meal replacement shakes are and canstar strongly recommended Aldi's one. The trouble with Aldi is that you can never be sure you can get what you want there. I just got back from Aldi and sure enough.. nope no sign of them. If I did manage to get some and wanted to use them regularly there'd be a chance they just wouldn't have them the next time I needed some. I'm really really underwhelmed by Aldi in general so this didn't help. I did grab a bag of coffee beans though.

Meanwhile.. I've invited someone over for dinner next week. Any suggestions on what I should cook? As far as I know there aren't any special dietary requirements but I might actually double check on that.

Double check on dietary requirements, then ask us again. Lots of good cooks here, so you'll likely get some good suggestions. Also budget requirements cos cost of living. For example, if you want to spend more than $100 or less than $50 to feed how many people.
- The only requirement is "nothing too spicy", which isn't to say zero spice, just nothing hot.
  Budget isn't an issue. The two things I have are money and time. I don't need to go overboard on cost though just for the sake of being fancy, she is very down to earth. It'll just be the two of us.
Cook what you are confident at cooking, no matter how ordinary you think it is. Something cooked well is better than a bit of a mess.
Their shakes tend to be around with the soap. I found them pretty underwhelming and with a funky after-taste.
- Thanks, that makes me feel better about them not having any. I'll keep researching. Canstar has manshake pretty far down the list which I found surprising because it seems fine. Keen to find out what better ones there are though.
You should cook what you're comfortable with but make it a bit more fancy.
Melton have those shakes in the toothpaste and soap aisle so maybe you were looking in the wrong spot. Aldi can be disappointing at times.
- I scoured every shelf of the Altona North Aldi, no dice there. I'll be in Melton from Monday for a week so maybe I'll check them out while I'm around.
  Hmm more fancy you say... so toasted cheese sandwiches with bows and ribbons on them. Got it.

Today we get tortured by whatever the fuck Departmental Speed Dating is. Meltdown anticipated later.

Scheduled corporate mandatory fun!!!!
The people that enjoy it are the ones to avoid.
- 100%
What the actual fuck?
- It was just as awful as you might imagine. I have run away and acquired a bottle of plonk.
Can you google a set of ideal questions for the activity? eg, https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/the-36-questions-that-lead-to-love/8387736

Pakige on board for delivery today. Not sure if it is the cat food or the dishwasher tablets. Not the most exciting surprise, but better than nothing.

Edit: it was the dishwasher tablets

I fucking hate the new underlining of text on reddit videos.

it forces people to read at a pace set by the video, not their own pace

it also ignores the fact that most people read in blocks of words, not word by word

it really makes the whole site worse

Speaking of hate, I hate the new ABC news website redesign.
It looks really bad and ugly when I’m browsing it on my desktop.
- I maybe look at abc once a month🤷‍♀️

dumb question, is everyone elses bedside draw full of... junk? I've got cables, old watches that still work but I rarely wear, headphones, but nothing I actually use? Theres no better place for some of it, but it ends up being a draw full of rarely used stuff.

We should do an quick inventory and report back with our most interesting items (yes, even the toy)
- The toy? Singular? Bwahaha 😹
- Edit: idk why the lid was in there 😭
- The toys under the bed. Most scandalous thing would just be rubbers.
I don't have bedside draws, but the bottom draw in the kitchen is where I store that stuff, and other bits and pieces (a screwdriver, tape, an N95 mask, the tapes things from the wall hanging hooks from woolies, a figurine of Shaymin (Pokemon) and I think Meowth)
I don’t have bedside drawers. There’s a jewellery box on top of a kinda shoe rack. The “junk” is mostly in the study/guest room, some sorted and classified, some just dumped with later intentions.
Yep I've got a bedside table draw full of tangled random cables and my Kindle lives in there too. Somehow I can pick out the cable I need without too much fuss, but it def could be tidied up. It's on the list to do someday.
Haven't got bedside drawers but my bedside table is actually my daughter's desk, which is too small for her to use effectively as a desk anymore. It sits in between her bed and mine and functions as both our bedside tables. As well as random desky things it displays an odd assortment of children's books and toys, moisturising lotions and lip balms. Inside the single cupboard of the desk are some books I like to keep near me (like the Tao the Ching, which I read, and a family hymn book, which I don't). I also keep a spare phone there. Mostly there is a selection of old exercise books the kids did school work in during the early years in the before times, when nobody had anxiety or school refusal and they were enthusiastic about learning and school in general. They were golden times and I didn't realise it, and sometimes I get some of those books out and read some of their crazy imaginative stories and think about it all.

Roadworks in my street today. Wonder how long it'll last this time. It's only been a couple of years since the last lot, and my street is only 10 houses long!

The sky is falling

Melbcat has another uti - or the previous one still isn’t gone. My poor little pudding. I’ve shelled out for a lab culture and we’re looking at a stronger course of the strong antibiotics (with a risk of blindness).

She’s getting force fed pain meds to ensure she’s covered. I’ll look after her

You're doing great, melbs, melbcat will feel better under your care 💜

I'm thinking about doing burgers for abit, Beef patties, cheese.

I've noticed the price of bacon has gone by so much now that I might have to start skipping it.

Might fall back on just doing basic double patties and double cheese or adding tomato and onions or something.

pickles cut lengthways into 1/4s
- Oh god yes I'm here for the pickles.
  After my wedding day and the birth of my child, I'd say best-day-of-my-life-#3 would be when I went to Katz's Deli in NY and consumed triple my own body weight in pickle-laden sandwich perfection.
I bought some really nice patties and had been doing double beef/cheese burgers with lettuce, tomato and cheese. A classic but delicious.
- I might just end up doing super basic double beef and double cheese and leave it at that.
Ham, sliced in a packet (champagne or smoked, whatever) or a roast ham thing, is a good way to substitute bacon (I just realised that sounded silly, both are pig ha).
Just chop it up into small squares/dice it and throw it in the pan till crispy!
- Not sure if you'll believe it but per unit price of ham is just as expensive as bacon!

Feels like a Friday night.

Good night everyone. 😘

Beep Beep 🚚
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5 no-doze tablets dissolved in a redbull lol
- 💊💊💊💊💊🥤

I've decided I'm gonna make horses doovers for dinner on Friday (perhaps). So far I've got devilled eggs, blinis with smoked salmon, bruschetta and mini sausage rolls.

I'm trying to include all the important 5 food groups, butter, cheese, bread, pastry and cucumber. It's gonna be so classy with beer.

Blinis suck
- Blinis are drop scones made with buckwheat - and delicious with smoked fish. And even more delicious with cream cheese & cranberry jam/sauce. Yep the same stuff that goes on turkey. I say go the blinis!
  Don't judge the homemade ones by the horrible little puddles of crud that caterers serve up under that name.
- What if you put a disgustang sardine on it instead?
- Shut your mouth! Mine are delicious!
Cucumber boats filled with a little of what you fancy?

It’s late and I’m not sleepy.

About that… full of antihistamines. Awake ought not be.