Daily Discussion Thread: 😴 🎶🐈‍⬛ Monday, September 30, 2024

Feeling muted and wibbly and bleah... working up the courage/timing to commit to only one job and say goodbye to the other. Ugh I cannot please everyone.

One bit of extremely good news that I'm looking forward to more than anything else is the return of a familiar guest (after more than a year!) this weekend for about ten days... stay tuned 😺

SOXCAT!
- I can't wait for that silky, wriggly fuzzball to grace my abode again 🧦
some times you gotta jump in. The anxiety of waiting for the car to hit you is often worse than the car actually hitting you.
- You're so right about that. I definitely think my stomach/sleep issues of recent are stemming from that anxiety. It's a really inconvenient time to leave for the org and I don't want to burn bridges, but I'm trying to frame this as reducing the orgs risk by not having someone who's burnt out and likely to start dropping the customer service ball big time.

The nap was a bad idea, but I guess I needed it.

Grounding myself with the cat, though I'm floating away.

Writing here helps, sorry for dumping a lot :/

You’re fine. Pancake breakfast? 🥞🐱
- 🙏🏼💜
Don’t be sorry. I’m not sure the affordability or availability (or quality) of counseling these days, but I hear good things about EMDR?
I’m sorry you’re going through this. Let Mickey be a comforting friend
- Emde is a therapy I would like to try - mostly just finances and the fear of retelling and reliving it that freaks me out.
  I'll be okay, I always am in the end. Thank you Melb, just for being your amazing self 💜

Cooked some chicken nuggets for dinner. Simple stuff tonight.

Almost went for some dim sims. Maybe that’s tomorrow.

eyy coworker please try to throw me under the bus with a mass CC public shaming. I love that shit. Especially when I have documented evidence that this is your fuckup.

Reply all with the documentation asking for clarification on their issue?

Her highness has had her nest refreshed and is unhappy the slave is late with the 2nd round of treats

Sweet Gibson 😍 she's so beautiful 😭

I generally take today off of work as it’s the anniversary of An Event, but this year I didn’t and now all I want is to stand up and walk out.

Do it. Go home early and look after yourself. Powering through is very overrated.

Its in the slowcooker. I compromised on my original vision and took some advice but not all. Its got the veggie soup (but blended so the chunks dont go mushy), beef stock and passata. Will give it a taste towards the end and see if the mushroom soup is still a good idea (gives me a chance to back out if its not working rather than commit early on to something I'm not sure about). Will saute the mushrooms and add towards the end and add then. Its probably gonna have more a curry style gravy consistency but thats actually ideal.

if I want a mushie taste I use a portobello mushroom stock cube. I get them from the Italian supermarket
I detest the texture of mushrooms but will use and discard the dried Chinese sort for broth etc. Stroganoff also. Have quite a few truffle flavoured things from CBM, powder good, sauce overrated
You usually do tomato or cream based. Not both. Hope it works out. Sounds delicious. 👍
- A tomato based sauce with cream and banana mashed through is classic French cuisine

RIP Kris Kristofferson 🍺

Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down

Highwayman

So many Vales recently. :(
- Who else?

All this stew and food talk got me hankering for something spicy.

Going to make a korean stew with beef tonight. Made one last week with pork and it was okay (the pork was the worst part). Gonna try it on noodles instead of rice as well.

Wish me luck

baleeted

If you ever are able to eat properly, I'll treat you to a delicious dinner. I'm sorry you have gastroparesis, that's an awful condition to live with, on top of the mystery ones as well. Please dm me if I can help in anyway, or for a vent. I'm always here to lend an ear.
- baleeted

I’m pissed off… years ago I had inherited a little tv with a built in dvd player. Shortly after Melbcat’s asthma got bad, and I put it and a few other things temporarily out on my veranda to make space to vacuum thoroughly. (Needed the floor clear and didn’t want to knock anything over.)

I involuntarily fell asleep in exhaustion, forgot to take it back in and it was gone.

Now that’s kind of on me for not grabbing it back in asap, maybe they thought that it was being given away - but in this neighbourhood I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t care.

Definitely one of my regrets now that YouTube is getting cracked down on and this external drive is giving me trouble.

I don’t want a large tv. I don’t want the smart tv shit that spies on you and requires internet connection. That little thing was the perfect size and picked up radio too.

I also had a portable dvd player way back when those were current but that was blatantly stolen out of my room by a flatmate. I think the bastard stole my discman too, and my ceramic space heater.

You might be able to get some second hand at cash converters
- I saw one on eBay but it’s pickup only… maybe if I can blag a lift
I've got a 32" Kogan TV with a dvd player that you can have. The remote is dodgy but it all works. HDMI in so you can plug a laptop into it. No stand/legs though. I've got bracket steel or can wire the back up like a picture frame as far as mounting it goes.
- Thanks but I should be ok! I’ve got a lift to grab a little used tv next Monday
  (I can probably afford a proper tv and separate dvd player but haven’t wanted one til now and am trying to keep possessions minimal)

Rhododendron same fam they get along.

It's gonna be a boozy Monday coz the man has finished the project and he has tomorrow off. I got one hours notice to get everything ready. The mic is now on charge. Atleast it will take my mind off this relentless fucking hayfever.

🍻👍

No lunch break and still working. Tomorrow I'm leaving early.

Make sure you get paid for it or get TIL! Don't give the corpos your free time
- I'm just going to leave a few hours early tomorrow.
Do you have set hours or timesheets?
I'm definitely not a fan of having to work extra without a guarantee that I can make up for it later. So easy to end up doing free work with all the overtime adding up. Timesheets are tedious but they're useful if the employer honours time in lieu or you can use flexi time at least
- No timrsheets, but these guys are great with not wanting people to work outside office hours. So we'll see how it plays out.

i cook well

I make edible food
I do 100% of the time too... 50% of the time.
same
i know I'm lucky to have the time to do it
- it’s the first time in a couple of months that i have time to meal prep properly and i am very happy with the result

Friend says there's something in the Melbourne air that makes her sleepy. I wonder what.

It's the pollen causing cerebral hypoxia lol

If one is slowly running out of gin should one now move onto Gentleman Jack & coke or ouzo & raspberry. Choose my adventure. Tomorrow is a write off.

raspberry chuck is awful to clean up
- I can aim very well 👍 but tell me about your experience.
Ouzo because fuck it why not!
That exact combo was my first ever drink.
Gentle jack on the rocks none of this coke nonsense it will interfere with your sleep

I had beef stew for dinner tonight. I made a batch a couple of days ago to bottle, one jar didn't seal (which is the one I ate tonight) and there are 5 more jars for later. Served with mashed potato and cauliflower & broccoli in cheese sauce.

New sheets day today 🛌 🙂

Wake up.

September is ending.

I just did sleeping cat music cos Bill is next to me snoring really loudly 😄
Let him snooze one more day. its not technically over till tomorrow.
I forgot to ask you guys on the 21st if you remembered
I do that every year (except the years I forget, which is most of them)

Fuck I've got the best singing voice in my one woman concert.

Double moon starts soon!

SIX INCHES FORWARD AND FIVE INCHES BACK - IVE GOT AN ANGRY INCH, ANGRY INCH!

Wait let me get my smokes and drink. 🚬 🍺
Continue

Very complex discussion about stew for a monday morning.

I vote for the Perpetual stew

the Ship of Theseus under "See also" is absolutely sending me
I feel like people ain't listening to what Tiny is asking and instead throwing out their own family recipes instead.
- Not really. I would have said pour a pint of Guinness in if that were the case😎

Utter panic attack trying an anti snoring mouth guard thing. Any better ideas?

Was it just a mouth guard or CPAP style mouthpiece? Google is being confusing.
I’m aware a sleep specialist to check for sleep apnoea is probably out of financial reach but maybe it might help to get your adenoids checked to see if they’re enlarged, check if it’s from your nose being congested, and elevate your head and upper body more while sleeping to try and keep your airways clear. Maybe even try side sleeping if you usually sleep on your back.
(Sorry if this is crossing lines. I just possibly deal with sleep apnoea myself. Wake up gasping.)
- A guard, not cpap. Apparently I sound bad enough to need the latter, but doubt I could tolerate it. Anything touching my face is bad.
  No worries about lines. I actively asked
For you or Boyo? If it's for Boyo a sharp elbow to ribs then you play dead fish.
- Me. Though he’s not silent.

the hayfever 🤧🤧🤧🤧🤧

It's vengeful today
I’ve been lucky so far, then the warm windy Saturday past got me going for the season. And it triggers my asthma too, so that’s fun.

I don't know how rude mowing at 7am on a Monday morning (in school holidays) is, but today it's my house doing the mowing.

Don't blame me, they sent some drongo gardener around who apparently has a key to my gates I guess, and he was banging on my door at 7:10 while I was in the shower. Needless to say, he was ignored

NB: they call themselves gardeners, but they really aren't. The department hires lawn mowers for all the properties, including ours. They do an awful job and never take their clippings with them (or even put it in the compost bin, like we'd asked multiple times). They basically just come to mow the lawns poorly and then spray poison on anything that looks green. Not a hyperbole. So far, they've sprayed a capsicum tree, a watermelon seedling, a patch of strawberries, and a zucchini bush. They were all in the garden beds, with only a few weeds in there (nowhere near anything that was growing).

So far, they’ve sprayed a capsicum tree, a watermelon seedling, a patch of strawberries, and a zucchini bush
Ooh I'd be very pissed off about that.
- This was back before I got into the gardening, when it was just the old LT working on it. He was reeeeeaaaaalllllly pissed, and I can't blame him. It was my little patch of strawberries that they poisoned though, but I'm not super mad about that because they were just cuttings from a larger patch that's in a raised planter box. If they poisoned that though, I'd be about ready to throw hands
I’d be furious about that. Had a previous landlord ‘trim’ the hydrangeas to 2 inches with a whippersnipper, then creosote the entire fence….
You should change the lock on your gates and next time they come round just ignore them again
- Ha! I wish. I actually don't even have the key for one of the gates, they keyed 2 of the gates to the same key, then put a different lock on the gate between the front and back yards, and never even gave me a key to it 🙄
If they're spraying poison on food plants, you have a wonderfully large stick to start beating with
Disposing of clippings almost doubles the effort of the job. I mow my lawns without the hopper so the clippings are free to return to nature, and I don't have to stop and empty the hopper 4-5 times.
- Meh, they're getting paid a pretty substantial amount of money to do a poor quality job. The least they can do is leave the place in a respectable state. It's not that difficult.

just saw a cop car with an arrow pointing to the cabin saying UNDERPAID and another pointing to the cage saying "BAILED"

...fuck right off you gurning hemorrhoids. I feel the call of my people to hurl a goddamn brick

I like the ones where they threaten us with a good time and say they might quit

Finally booked in an assessment to get the wisdoms out. I have an initial consultation + targetted x-ray in a couple of weeks, then they'll figure out whether it's going to be a complex removal or fairly straightforward, and since my preference is full general anaesthetic, work out all of that fun stuff.

This clinic is expensive, but their staff seem actually friendly. The dentist I go to for general stuff is low cost, but that comes at the expense of friendliness and general clinic maintenance. The whole building looks dingey, they can't seem to afford to fix their lightbulbs, and everybody that works there seems like they're constantly having the worst day ever and often take it out on whoever dares make an appointment. Considering how expensive dentists are, it's good that they exist, but super depressing that they're in such a state of shambles. That's the state of the healthcare system, I guess

Melbcat is cuddling and I don’t want to get up. I wish I was strong enough to put her in a baby sling so we could keep cuddling while I folded or did dishes (she’s a big lady and I’m a small enby)

first taste is... not great. And thats without the mushroom soup. the tomato and beef stock arnt really complementing each other. will see how it tastes closer to the finish time. Worst case (and I stress, this is the worst case) i can just drain the sauce and serve it with the mushroom soup.

Sounds dumb, but try adding salt and a squirt or two of citric acid (lemon, lime, not another tomato). If it tastes like it's "missing something" it'll generally be because it needs either salt or citric acid. Not a lot of citric though, but yeah, like a half lemon/lime squeezed. Just a thought
Yeah I’ve never done it but someone on the internet used to just heat up cream of mushroom soup and straight up use it as gravy.
- I’ve poured it over chicken thighs and baked it. It’s pretty decent
Soy sauce? Put some of the liquid in a small bowl and add soy sauce. Taste then. If you like it, add to the entire slowcooker :)
Try that with all the other suggestions. You'll find something that works.
add japanese curry
Seems like you're missing a key ingredient.....

Dumb questions, but I got a bunch of gravy beef from aldi. I was thinking about chucking it in the slowcooker with a couple of cans of vegtable stew and a couple of cans of cream of mushroom. then probs some actual mushrooms and water. Reckon this would work taste wise?

Normally when I do gravy beef I cut a bunch of the fat off, is that the right approach? Or do i just leave everything on?

A personal preference, but I don't like putting tins of soup in the slow cooker. I'd put in some beef stock, tinned tomatoes, garlic and veg. Red wine if you have it. Leave the fat on, coat in flour and brown in a pan first. Also fry the onion off too.
- This is the way☝️. I add a tablespoon of vegemite as well.
- unfortunately i've tried this before and wasn't a huge fan. Cant have onion (or at least, cant have a lot of it) so thats probably where it all went wrong.
  Will deffo flour and brown if first though.
As others said, skip the tinned soup. Stock or water is best, with ample seasoning. I generally add a bit of Worcestershire sauce and even MSG to elevate the flavours.
And I'd probably skip the mushrooms too. I don't think they'll hold up well in the slow cooker. Fry them up and add them to the final product.
Generally I'd trim some of the fat, but only after cutting up into smaller pieces and before browning.
- Some, but not all? I've tried before with like a pot roast, just some beef and tomatos but it really wasnt that amazing. Was kind of hoping the soup gives it A) a bit more veg, and B) more of a stew flavor. good call on the mushrooms!
Don't bother putting in any kind of creamed tinned soup or stew. It'll only curdle unless your slow cooker is really really slow. Add the real mushrooms for the last hour of cooking along with extra veg. Except for peas - add for the last 5 mins if using frozen peas. For me, I'd use a couple of tins of crushed/diced tomato for liquid, topping up with water or stock or red wine. Trim the worst of the fat off the beef, then brown it before putting in the slowcooker. Brown any onions if using too. If you like a really really thick gravy, add 1 tablespoon of cornflour blended with 1/2 cup COLD water for the last 15 mins of cooking and stir it in well - this will thicken things up but will blunt the flavour, so feel free to use as much extra flavoring as you want if you plan to do this. Blend the cornflour with the water really well so it doesn't go lumpy.
All you need to ask yourself is: Do I like cream of mushroom soup? And if the answer is yes go ahead and do it.
- It wont clash with the vegtable soup?
Yeah it'll work. Still cut off as much fat as you can. Just make sure the beef is covered with liquid so don't add too much water.

home made chicken burritos have been nommed with lots of green salsa, muy hot but delicious.

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

A very very dark bit of orange chocolate please
- Erhem, over the weekend I indulged in glace orange slices half dipped in dark choc - would recommend.
- 🍫🍫🍊🍌
A classic French stew please
- 🧅🧄🍌🍅🍄🥩🥕

Went bouldering. Great fun, but I apparently wore myself out enough that I can barely move my fingers, which is not good for my ability to type.