Daily Discussion Thread 🌅🌈⛱️ Sunday, 24 November, 2024

Tickets to Singapore and Tokyo have been booked, AWWW YISSSS

Yay! I'm hopeful going to Japan next year and I'm looking forward to Daiso and all their competitors. So much interesting shit to buy.
Enjoy your holiday!!!!
- GIIIIIIIRL you are gonna lose your mind in Donki!! And Hands!! Omg I can't wait to hear what you think. When are you thinking of going? Of course you have your NZ trip before then = when's take off before that?!
eee! eat all the gyoza for us.
- I'll post pics!
Take me in a suitcase, pls.
- Sure, on the way there, but on the way back you gotta find your own way because I am planning on bringing back enough Mofusand stuff to shame myself.
Yeeeee!!!!! When are you going?
- Going to Singapore to 31/12 and then Tokyo a couple of days after that! Much excite!
Shit yeah, you go!

Back to Melbs today.

Have to leave behind the fence jumper Winston who just had a bath by his owners and here he is a few minutes later in my place rolling around in dirt:

Good boy Winston 🐶

a cool sunset tinted fog has descended onto the city

While the humidity is soooo gross, I’ve been loving the gothamesque feels of our city when it’s like this. 🖤
- definitely Gothamesque

Half past and there was no daily thread yet. Hope nobody minds me doing it

Thank you, Baku. I was worried about doubling up!
- Haha, I was too honestly. You should've seen how many times I refreshed the page making sure nobody posted at the exact same time 😅
  By the way, if anybody doubles up, I'll probably point and laugh, but it's all in jest, there's no hard feelings, and doubling up is better than going til 9 in the morning without a DT ;)
Not at all. It's currently being done by whoever's up and alert at this hour.
- Hmm, maybe I should see if I can work out how to setup a knockoff botbot

Well I'm off to bed now. I'm not particularly tired because I accidentally dozed off between 8am-12pm, but with a sufficient amount of melatonin and laying dead still for a few hours I'm sure I'll get there eventually...

4am wakeup 😟 very jam packed day. I'll post unsolicited photos of train stations that stopped being train stations approx 5 decades ago tomorrow Arvo!

- I find it very helpful. It's not a sedative though, it basically just creates tiredness is how I'd describe it. But it doesn't knock you out, so if you get too stuck in your head it's not particularly effective. And if I get too excited or too into planning, I can't sleep until I've finished the thought process. Super useful for resetting sleep schedules though
Do you follow Thebusofdoomfsx on YouTube? I think they'd be right up your alley
- Yep, sure do. I don't watch very much anymore, I've gotten more into the ones with voiceovers (ie TaitSet, Quazzy Transport, Philip Mallis), but during the lockdowns I binged so much bus of doom
Do you follow Thebusofdoomfsx on YouTube? I think they'd be right up your alley
Yay! Looking forward to it!

Reading a thread on the other place, from auscorp and people being fired for accessing data they shouldn't. Man, why? Like, firstly, the Privacy Act is really fucking strict, and is drilled in during training, with excerpts used in the e-learning and whatnot. Secondly, one user states their ex-colleague looked up the CEOs account for the bank they worked at lol, so so so dumb 😭

Reminded me of when I worked at one of the energy companies, and we heard Hugh Jackman had an account with us. We were told, so extremely explicitly, not to access it at all, don't even think of accessing it, he has an account manager so we mere phone monkeys have no reason to check it out and we'll be fired if we do.

Nek minit, my colleague left her brain cells at home and did the dumb. 😂 She was fired so fast time stopped for her 😂

Smdh

Yeah, I remember years back someone phone up a radio station saying that a well known celebrity claimed their cosmetic surgery as medical procedures. It’s like dumbass, someone will recognise your voice.
The level of entitlement to know people’s personal information is mind boggling.
- It's so stupid and audacious 😭 like, the company will have ways to find whether you accessed data in good faith, and will kick you to the curb if you didn't note the account with a good reason as to why it was accessed. People have been seriously injured and died from assholed accessing data to find where they live. It's protection that should never be violated.
  Like, we were even told not to access our own accounts, or accounts of people we know. If we got a call from someone we knew, we had to transfer it to a different consultant.
  Like, what goes through these people's heads that they think they won't be caught and sacked? I don't get it 😭
why would they even mention hugh jackman's name? 🙄
- Ikr stupid on the managers part there 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️
I realise this is a controversial opinion, but tbh I reckon some of the blame for these kind of things needs to rest on the company, too. The principle of least privilege should always be used where possible. If you don't need to access information, you really shouldn't even have the option, at least not without either the client/customer's approval, or a managers authorisation
Humans are curious things, it's bounds to happen. Firing people after it does is a reactionary response, not a preventative one. And prevention is better than cure, especially when it comes to personal information
(My perspective comes mostly from being in care, because pretty much every single piece of information about me, including things often said in confidence, lives in a little grey box with no transparency about what goes on or who has access. And there have been data breaches in the past, where people from certain organisations managed to gain access to the files for clients within completely separate organisations, with multiple instances of support workers using that access to do terrible things. I wasn't involved in that, and have never even worked with that organisation, but it's still something that used to play on my mind a lot and made me quite upset and worried. I realise that my views are probably a little OTT for certain industries that handle less confidential information, but that are still covered under the privacy Act. I still believe all systems handling PII should always use the principle of least privilege and fail safe, though)
- The principle of least privilege should always be used where possible. If you don't need to access information, you really shouldn't even have the option, at least not without either the client/customer's approval, or a managers authorisation
  Nice idea in theory, but imagine you had a bank or energy account and had to call customer service. If the agent has to get approval to access every account, that would be so, so time consuming, the company wouldn't have clients/customers. There isn't enough managers on the floor or available for that to be feasible. So they drill into us phone monkeys that we are not to access that kind of data (celebrities, people we know). The authorisation to access comes from the customer calling in, and asking for an action or info on their account. This is also why, in the back end, everything is logged: the date and time, which agent, whether a note was left, what the interaction was for, etc. We are told, over and over, not to do it, with Privacy Act citations.
  Besides, there are preventions in place. Example: I was trained, at one point, to deal with only residential customers. I could not access Small-to-Medium business accounts, nor Large Business accounts. When I was promoted, that's when further training was provided and my access upgraded. Again, everything is logged, and every phone monkey KNOWS it's illegal to access that info without a customer asking, or without a manager asking. I had to access Large Business accounts without a customer telling me to, because I was doing remittance. I'm talking over $1m in one payment from one company.
  The phone monkeys know it's wrong without authorisation. I promise you they KNOW. It's on them at that point and they should expect at least a firing, if not legal action.
I found one of Hugh's early autographs at work the other week. It's rather timid looking, don't think he was used to it yet.

According to a voicemail I received overnight from a private number, my dad is gay and apparently great in bed. It's a tough conversation and so I understand his choice to send a giggly teen boy as a messenger to let me know. Though given we haven't spoken in years I think the call could have waited a bit longer until a more hospitable hour.

Sorry this gave me a much needed giggle 😂 prank callers really have lost their gravitas haha
- Quite a progressive youngster though. As a teen boy you'd usually have fucked someone's mum, not their dad. The youth are going to be OK.

Done!

Time to learn a couple of new songs.

First on the list is "Orestes - A Perfect Circle (Acoustic demo)"

Done!

edit: alright, music is done, vocal is rough but in time. Solid enough to practice without needing the sheet music.

Next is "Right where it belongs - Nine Inch Nails".

And I figured out how to deal with the subtle racism when looking for a band. I changed my profile photo to me playing at a gig lol

Sorted 2 garbage bags of clothing for donation. Made maple syrup gingerbread people to try a different recipe (also used last of the golden syrup with yesterday's batch). Made different coloured icing and put it into little bags so the Minipeelers could get creative (and messy!). Don't think it's quite as good as the original recipe, but the original recipe is a banger. Took the Minipeelers out for a walk, was very humid and kinda yucky. Found bathing suits and goggles for Miniest for her school based week of swimming lessons. Locksmith is coming tomorrow to fix our door lock (Mr P's key snapped in the lock late last week and we couldn't get it out. Then he tried to fix it himself 🙆🏼‍♀️). Now I'm having McDonald's because I can't be bothered doing anything else.

Sky pretty. Glowing mushroom pink.

Gone now. And fog, goddammit fog! has rolled in. This is seriously weird.

Wow, fog! It's so thick too! Can't see the tops of adjacent skyscrapers in the city at all.

My foot has swelled a bit over the past few days. Probably a mild sprain. I should be more careful, feet seem to take ages to heal.

I sprained my ankle real bad my first night in Barcelona. Couldn't weight bare for 3 weeks. Even after that it was still real sore and hard to walk around. Would not recommend.
bandage, cold , put it up , rest
and hugs 🫂

Watched the Buy Now documentary on Netflix. I don’t like the Netflix documentary style, but the message is still worth watching for. Am disgusted by how much waste we create. Not much we can do on an individual scale, and corporates and governments have no incentive to change anything. Consumption is profit. Economy above all else.

and yet it isn't small purchases that improve our lives but co-operative purchases like government infrastructure and services that do
another thing is that consumerism is subtle. No one who has an out of fashion kitchen remodelled and gets new appliances thinks their purchases count towards environmental degradation. It's just the people with 4 cars.

Lying in bed listening to the rain is lovely

So good. I have a lot to get through today but another hour here listening is too good.
That's exactly what I'm doing too. Relishing it before everyone else wakes up and starts wanting things lol.

Ew it's sticky

Yeah I've underestimated how much it saps one's energy. I forget this every time summer rolls over. Can't bring myself to run the AC a third day in a row tho.

Alright 2 songs down to an acceptable level. I've earned some fucking around time lol

Fuckit, ordered more food for pickup next week, I realise I'm just gonna be flat out doing long days at work. Still so much unpacking to do and life admin to sort out too. If I do cook it can go in the freezer.

Last episode of Fisk was bitter-sweet. Seems like they've set it up for the show to end, it won't be the same if they continued on with the characters' lives where they are.

Austin is good too.

Lol. Goodnight all ❤️

So, are you guys still doing your chores today or nah?

I think I'm going to do a couple and chill a bit. Yesterday I pretty much slept all day so didn't really get to do any music

Edit: alright you guys convinced me not to be lazy. Vacuuming and washing done.

More cleaning then meal prep. It'll feel better when I'm done and I can chill.

Yep. I like everything in order for the following week.
- You make a good point
- 😔
Absolutely no time for chores next week and I want it to be relatively stress free, so it's chores galore today. Future me will thank present me. There's nothing like having a good night's sleep on Sunday knowing you've got nothing to worry about :) whatcha making for meal prep?
- You make valid points. I absolutely love a clean house.
  I'm trying fried rice. It's odd, I've worked in hospitality for years, I can cook really well. But if it's just for me, it's the basics like chicken and veggies or meat and veggies.
  So I'm actually putting in effort in my meals now.
  How about yourself?
I'm vegging on the couch. Saw Cold Chisel last night and they were fantastic but I can't do late nights like I used to.
Yeah...I have some admin stuff for but life and work that is causing me stress. Had a leisurely morning now about to tuck in after a cuppa. Will do some meal prep as well later but decided more cleaning/house stuff can wait.
Tis a very good chill day though
of course, got to get ready for the coming week.
I'm also going to get these dinosaur pics traced onto good paper so I can practice some painting
Cleaning the floors today. I feel like I’m moving slowly though, from the humidity. There’s no joy in doing this today that’s for sure. Afternoon will be more chill.
Apart from dishes and a slight tidy up that’s all I have to do today just trying not to let stress and anxiety take over me today.
- I'm sorry to hear you're having a hard time man. Maybe some video games as a distraction could help?
I did half the dishes or so last night, and packed up my suitcase for tomorrow. Just need to top it off and whack out half the other dishes. I'll wipe down the benches and maybe do a quick vacc, but that's going to be it for me (there's definitely more to do, but it's not getting done until next week 😁)
Yup. Didn’t finish them yesterday and am also doing some batch cooking so I don’t have to do so much during the week

So just wondering, how do you guys keep cool during the hot days (especially when it's in the 40s) without A/C?

It's been so long at this point since I lived in the country without A/C that I've kind of forgotten how to do the do. I don't pay the power bill, so at the moment I have pretty much zero hesitation about turning the air con on the night before hot days to keep the house cool. But once I move, I will start paying for my own utilities, and in any case, the house doesn't have a splitty or anything, just a single gas heater in the living room

The only thing that's coming to mind is a wet towel draped over a pedestal fan or two. I'd prefer not to buy one of those portable ones with the pipe that goes out the window because in my experience they usually just end up heating the space it's in, with the only cooling being the air it blows out (mike used to radiate heat out the sides like mad). And I'm a bit concerned with energy efficiency

I have a very old air con so I only put it on for days like yesterday. I look at the weather ahead of time. Do everything in the cooler days. Exert no sudden moves on the hot days.
- Go full sloth mode, ay?
As someone who’s kind of done it all and lived mostly without aircon… What I have found helpful:
Everything closed up, even doors inside, especially if the sun is on one part of the dwelling, during the day. Keep the doors closed between the hottest rooms if possible.
Car sunscreens on the window have helped reduced the heat a little.
Open up windows at night if possible and cooler outside, although sometimes ambient heat make it challenging.
Portable fan on the body when sleeping. As someone that used to not be able to sleep with the sound of fans, the day I finally could, this was a game changer. It kept me cool enough to sleep.
A comfortable foam mattress to sleep on the floor of another room if the bedroom is too hot. Heat rises, so it will be cooler closer to the floor. (This I can’t recommend enough. A few nights of restlessness in the heat is enough to make anyone batty.)
I’ve had portable units from evaporators to vented aircons. The cool air from a portable aircon is an amazing, but my unit was noisy as all hell and made it hard to sleep.
- Thanks Llab! Super helpful, especially the foam mattress idea. I don't know why I've never thought of that. Lounge rooms in my experience are often the only places air conditioned, so sleeping out there makes sense. And a foam mattress is certainly a lot more comfortable than the couch!
  And I actually can't sleep without the sound of a fan on. I pretty much have a fan running 24/7, although these days I use an air purifier rather than a fan. When I go to hotels, I play white noise if there isn't a fan
I lived without cooling for a long time. You can have icypoles or freeze a little water in the bottom of your water bottle so it stays cold.
Also you can wring out a T-shirt or a bandana in cool water and put it on. The water will pull heat out of you. When it gets warm rewring it with cool water.
Watch your environment too - if there are any windows that face the sun that will heat up that room and probably the rest of the house. Closing the blinds helps but putting cheap blackout curtains over that is another barrier to keep the house cooler. Taping foil over the windows looks bad but that really helps a lot.
Also if it gets cooler overnight let the cool air flow through by opening two opposite windows/doors in whatever way is safest. Then once cool seal up the house before morning and keep the hot sun/outside air out.
- ZOOPER DOOPERS ♥️♥️♥️
  We couldn't afford them when I was young. I'm going to indulge on behalf of past me
  I'm not sure I'll be able to safely leave the windows open, as they're all outwards opening and open from the bottom. You could probably get in relatively easy, as it's all ground level. But while I'm awake it should be right
be active in the early morning and evening, rest during the day
take a tepid shower, dress cool and loose
- Oh yeah, you've just reminded me, when we lived in the country, we used to wet our heads under cold water and sleep with a wet pillowcase or towel on our neck/head. We had a long hair cat for a while, and on the super hot days we used to give it a bath in lukewarm water to stop it from getting too hot
No splitty is gonna suck :( I would do everything you can to reduce humidity. Get a squeegee for the shower, shower early in the morning, do clothes drying and automatic dishwashing the day before if possible. Fill up ice trays for smoothies and iced coffee too.
- I think one of the most underrated things about living by myself is having cold water always available in the fridge, and ice cubes always available, too. At the last place we did have a water jug in the fridge and many ice cubes trays, but nobody gave a shit and would never replenish what they use. It fucking sucked on hot days
If it's not too humid then you can go a long way by shutting down windows/doors/blinds during the day and opening up in the dead of night. I used to have a little portable evap cooler - a fan with a water reservior. Pop some ice water in that and sit in front and it can make everything bearable. No idea what they cost these days (I think we got ours as a hand me down anyway).
If it's hot and humid (less likely down here but lately I have noticed it more and more), normal fan and open windows is key -get that air moving. And embrace the siesta!
- Thanks! I avoid opening the windows here because we don't have fly screens, and I'd rather be a bit stuffy than deal with bugs and creepy crawlies. The new place doesn't either, but I'm definitely going to buy those removable sticky tape ones. Unfortunately outwards opening windows does mean that I can only really put them inside, which'll look funky, but eh

I do not miss little flies. Ugh.

Went for a walk along the beach yesterday morning and URG, everyone constantly doing the Great Australian Wave because of the little fuckers.
Hate fly season. Blowfly flew into house today. Managed to chase it out thankfully.
I was starting to lose my mind until I bought some aeroguard today. Makes a world of difference!
The flies were really bad today. Usually they're not that bad but this was like being in central NSW

80% humidity, vom. I have just remembered the Dry function on my AC so that's getting cranked up while I finally sit down and eat something - had nothing but a coffee and a handful of soy crisps all day, no wonder I feel like death.

Bed has been remantled, along with painstakingly working out which slat goes where; suitcase of Immediate Clothes unpacked, and towels and sheets. Everything given a good vac along with the bag and filters replaced. Printer sold.

Need to unpack the boxes with pots and pans and just shove stuff somewhere for now. Then boil some pasta and I think that's it for today. zzzz

Number your slats. Seriously.
- I misread that the first time around... I normally name them but okay
- Did it this time. Really wished I'd done it the last time. Might end up turfing this bed frame anyway...

Ugh. Crap sleep gang checking in.

Been up twice already. Finally got a clue and set up the fan as the bedroom has copped the heat for the past few days.

Third time’s the charm hopefully. 🤞🏻

🙋‍♂️
Honestly, I just gave up and didn't bother with sleep. I've gotta be up early tomorrow anyways

Yaaay rainsh

I distinctly recall being promised rain.

It’s spitting, sort of… doesn’t really count though, does it?
- Not a drop here. Sounded like it for a bit, but that was just wind.

Nope. 3 or so more hours.

Mood: Take Me Back to Eden - Sleep Token

The coolth is back, hooray! I really really slept in this morning which was great, body needed it. Taking the med break helped.

First task of the day that I will not procrastinate on any further is... bedframe assembly. Let's goooo E: alright, this was more involved than I thought. The slats were screwed in a bit haphazardly but I didn't mark which slat goes where so now I need to match them up so I'm not drilling new holes...

Then doing the dishes (without a dishwasher. sobs miserably)

Then a bit more unpacking and then the ikea/kmart trip.

The plan would have been the miniature train in Eltham if it want raining. I guess we'll stay inside today, but for the opposite reason of yesterday

Good night everyone. Sweet dreams. 😘

Quiz

Know recent history?

19/50. The answer to that would be ‘no’ :-(
E: I do know history in general, just not specific dates. And I suck at sports questions
22/50
A few guesses, a few against my better judgement.
Also, I was like, is this ever going to end? 😂
I got bored 15 questions in.
- same, the transition between the questions was too slow.
- Oh, I don’t watch free-to-air, either.
Me - 23
The man - 22
The kid - 31

Finally got the cinnamon donut toothpaste half price… I don’t like it. It’s far too sickly sweet and doesn’t seem to clean very well. I’d be curious to try the Grants but I need fluoride

Edit: ok a dentist on the other place said that the amount of fluoride in the cinnamon Hi Smile is lower and comparable to the amount in children’s toothpaste.

I had held off because I thought that was the case but something then convinced me it was ok? Nah. I hate waste but guess I’m ditching it for something more effective.

Damn. Even the no frills homebrand paste I’ve been using has the full adult dose of fluoride and an abrasive. (Hi Smile is more like a clear slippery gel.)

Is it the mint you can't do, or were you just looking for cinnamon flavour? The samples of this toothpaste I ended up with have definitely got a cinnamon/mint flavour. Comes in two flavours, not sure about the other one.
- I was a bit over the mint but didn’t want fruit flavour so tried cinnamon.
  Thanks, I’ll see if I can find it

Beep Beep 🚚
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Ooh, eggs benne please chef, with crispy bacon
- 🥚
  🥓
  🥯

We're getting our arses kicked in the cricket.

Oh wow. I missed that last session and just saw the score. 😕 But was a great century and a half from Jaiswal.
- It was good.

Okay. Time to get up. Coffee, bagel, fruit