Daily Discussion Thread: 😴 Tuesday, 7 January, 2025

Phew. Finally some okay news about mum's eye, pressure is way down. If that continues good chance vision won't degrade more. Not really much hope for it getting better but I'll take not getting worse.

Been so tense in the lead up to this appt. (people having a go at each other about unrelated things which wasn't good), but I think there's a communal sigh of relief here. Except for bro and sil because they're cunts.

Sending good wishes to all the Racer fam. 😘

I'm getting a drink with one of you tonight. Does this person know I am meeting up with them? Maybe! But I like the idea of you all checking behind your doors and in your fridge just in case I'm hiding there with a 6 pack waiting to jump out and introduce myself.

This will be the first time I meet a DT-er. If I'm never heard from again I expect a reality tv show game like the Mole to identify my killer. My only clue is: They are among you!

The only fridge here is a bar fridge, if you're in that I'd be impressed and frankly a little horrified.
Bring pizza shapes please.
- you'll get BBQ and you'll like it. Or cheddar. Like like cheddar too.
Pray for Mojo
Who can it be knocking at my door?
Make no sound, tip-toe across the floor
If he hears, he'll knock all day
I'll be trapped and here I'll have to stay
- WHO CAN IT BEEE NOOOW?
If it's me can you bring extra beer plz
Pray for mojito.
We see you.

I call this "The Pretzel"

She's a bad influence on me. I need to get out of bed.

Cats are so soothing and have the ability to keep you happy and calm to be around.
I envy you.
r/shrimpcats

Will spend today driving home. The holiday has been great, but we're about ready to sleep in our own bed.

Facing a 6 hour drive in the morning - better get some sleep!

Drive safe! So jealous of the road trip, long drives are one of my absolute favourite things to do. Gotta wait till April for my next one.
maccas stop 3 hours in?
- We saw a rock instead. Had lunch there.
  Not that we'd go there, but there were no maccas anywhere on the route until Perth. We were going to drop into Yummylicious 30 minutes into the journey, but it turned out they didn't open until 10 and we weren't going to wait around an hour for that.

Chucked that sickie today after it hit 9am and I felt no desire to move. No regrets. Definitely feeling better than yesterday but I think I just need a day of rest entirely to myself to fully recover. I do need to do the laundry but that's about it. Oh, and pack for my trip...

And so the time has come.

The blackmarket vapes are fucking my lungs.

To the chemist to buy some patches and gum.

These next few days won't be much fun.

If you're seeing a doc, you can get a prescription for a legal vape.
Good luck. 🤞
- Thanks for the heads up!
get the nicotinell, they're cheaper and work much better ime.
don't mix with gum, you'll get horrible heartburn

Speaking of nightmares, I saw Nosferatu on the weekend, a remake of the 1922 silent film.

With Robert Eggers directing, you know you are in good hands and this one does not disappoint. The story is the one we all (mostly) know and is straight forward and uncomplicated. So based on this, how can Eggers set it apart from the original, (or even the hundreds of other vampire films) ?

He has a real knack for the period piece. If you watch his other films (The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman) the historic details are so flawlessly portrayed that you become immersed in a way that they almost disappear.

But my absolute favourite thing about this film is the cinematography. The whole thing looks like a Doom metal album cover. It’s Goth. It’s creepy. It’s claustrophobic and beautiful. I’ll share an excerpt from a movie critic:

“The force of the monster’s unknowable malevolence seems to distort the movie itself, making it shudder and break down. It’s made with the most modern filmmaking technology but feels like an artifact from another century,”

That pretty much encapsulates my experience

5/5 plague ridden vermin🐀

Sounds cool. I might go see it at the imax .
I'd love to make time and catch this one. I've only seen The Witch so I'm keen on the rest of his work too

Walked back from the shops in my quest for eggs and I melted under that sun. Doesn't matter if it's 25 degrees, direct midday sun in January bites. And good news, I secured the goods.

Mmmnnnn .... pork & chive dumplings laced with soy & worcestershire sauce. I am a contented woman.

Yum!

In a vast improvement on yesterday I have managed the whole day out of bed. It's mostly been lying on the couch, but still an improvement. Dr Meow applied a purr poltice and I'm thinking I might even have enough energy to make some dinner.

Edit: nope, not enough eneergy. All used up feeding pets.

I'm still a bit feverish, with a bit of a cough and sore throat. I managed the heroic effort of mixing some jelly and am now exhausted. I'm really not enjoying this whole sick thing.

If there was a Lucky Cunt Award I'd be in the fucking running. Washing machine has sprung a leak underneath. Fuck Fuck Fuck.

In my experience, appliances wait until all service personnel are on holiday to break down. Then they magically start working again as soon as the ultra-exxy emergency repair person sets foot in the house.
- 100% correct. My washing machine did a fake death on NYE. Its ancient and owe us nothing, but still not the ideal time to die with a load of washing in it.
oh noes. after a few recent flooding events water truly scares me. turn the mains off. learnt the hard way there.
- Nah it's not a pipe issue because I haven't had it on for days. I get the feeling it's a seal on the pump.

Hey - hugs. That's shithouse. I have had similar nights and it's exhausting and makes it very hard to rest. Especially when you are finally safe and your brain decides "hey are we safe now? Cool, I can start to process some of this old junk!!" Like, no man, give me a break for just a moment.
Sharing only so you don't think you are alone or that this is something forever - it will settle (noting everyone has different traumas and timescales). And so I can share a couple of triage things that have helped me.
Warm shower. Concentrate gently on breathing, your feet on the floor and the sensation of the water. Think of it literally washing away all that shit, those feelings and just stand there until you start to feel regulated.
Breathing exercise - specifically humming breath. You can sit but my favourite is to lie down on the floor with my feet on the bed so my back is flat and have a heavy blanket on my chest. Breathe in and out normally (but try to slow it down and keep it regular). On your out breathe just hum quietly. Just to yourself. You can play with the pitch and try to feel where it's vibrating in your body. Or just hum. This is amazing for calming your nervous system.
I know you did not ask for advice or help, so hope it's ok to share. Hopefully it settles down soon and you can rest.
So many hugs.
This is exactly what having a night terror is. It's an involuntary reliving through dreams of the emotional memory of a traumatic event and we live it as if it is real.
It's just a dream, it isn't real. It's your brain trying to cope with bad events from the past.
Try not to get too tired as over tiredness makes night terrors more likely.
I hope tonight is a better night for you Baku <3
Emotional flashbacks are a real thing and trauma symptoms absolutely ramp up once you’re out of a situation/things become quieter.
I’m sorry dude, if you think seeing someone might help you could probably use the extra support. (But keep in mind not everyone clicks or has a useful approach for trauma so shop around.) Maybe try the Blue Knot Foundation or see if you can get some sessions funded through victims of crime. Berry st cuts off after 17 and waiting periods might mean becoming ineligible but give it a go https://www.berrystreet.org.au/what-we-do/trauma-services/therapeutic-services-for-children-young-people-and-families
Ps. Seeing the blue with closed eyes is due to phosphenes. There’s all this scary stuff on the internet but it doesn’t necessarily mean that anything scary or abnormal is happening. It’s a thing during meditation and might be more common under stress or with sleep disorders. Vertigo and dizziness are common in anxiety. It’s also possible to hear things as you’re falling asleep or waking, ie. hypnagogic hallucinations. This also may be more common under stress or with sleep disorders. Just in case those pieces of info are reassuring.

Going to be warm up hit the next 4 days.

30, 31, 32, 35.

Going to make sure I have cold drinks and stuff to cope with it.

- Oh lawdy. Well it's one of those times I'm heading west and it'll be cooler for once, I guess... Glad someone will be coming to water my plants but I'll have to give them a big drink before I go.

went and got my phone repaired the other day. They are like "We will take it out the back and clean it" i was like "yeah i tried that, but by all means have a crack". Meanwhile they have the new iPhones sitting on the table for you to play with and maaaaaaaan that display is nice! even gives you a "what would it cost if you trade your phone in" turns out yeah still 1600 bucks if I trade mine in. Nice display but we might wait for the new one to come out and buy the old one on the cheap

Also turns out it was just fluff in the charging port. The IT Engineer folks, how the mighty have fallen.

I have to get a fine sewing needle out and occasionally have a careful pick and scrape. It's amazing the pocket fluffy that comes out.
- yeah I use a sim tray ejector. Apple told me off for this though, they said it might damage the pins which is probably fair.
Dude you have no idea how many times I failed to realise it was fluff in the charging port. It keeps happening and I keep forgetting how I fixed it last time 🤣
- Speaker ports on a phone can get blocked too.
  If you’re careful and you use some bluetak you can also keep it clean that way.
I have a 12 mini. I got it when my eyesight was as better and I could read the screen easily. I took mum to get her phone checked out the other day and had a look at the new ones.
Nah, I’ll stick to the mini with the little screen. I love the compact form factor and I reckon that I will get a battery replacement and get another 4 years out of it.
- Yeah if I do it it'll be september when this ones 3 years old. Its fairly scratched and bitten at this point so for 1k I dont feel too bad replacing every 3 years if it lasts that long.

Love that first one.
"No, you see, I've already eaten its hand and suffocating it so when's breakfast".
Rip that 2nd one

Finally remembered to flip the calendar page over. New firefighter & kitten. They all have a slightly odd plastic look. Not sure if dodgy makeup or overzealous photoshopping.

All the toxic chemicals they are exposed to, turns them into plastic.
What gets me is the "one red fireman's pants brace over the shoulder" look. Most of the pics I've seen have this going on, one brace over the shoulder and one-off the shoulder. If it was my bra I'd be going insane 😂
- Yes, more awkward than sexy to me, but taste is a variable thing
It could always be AI. Calendars feel like the perfect contender for AI images

Fun fact - we're in week 2 of 2025

It appears that if you wake up at 1pm, falling asleep at 10:30pm, even with a sleeping pill, is impossible.

Lame.

Back from the shops. If any of youse want anything I'll grab my little time machine and get it for you. 🙂

Just dropped the computer stuff to recycling, but weirdly feel even more guilty. Even though it was old (tower and laptop) they looked kind of brand new compared to the stuff that was being thrown out.

But… I put my adult pants on. Maybe this is one of the reasons I am so bad at throwing stuff out.

laughs nervously in hoarded ewaste
Edit: my problem is stuff that packed it in before I could do a hard reset or wipe the memory in any meaningful way. How much of mine and my kids personal info is still on there. Probably irrational worry.
- I don't think that's necessarily irrational. You can just drill straight through it to kill it. We used to do it an old job i was at.
- pull the hard disk and shove it somewhere. The rest of the computer is just bits and bobs
- Not me thinking that said hoarded estate instead of ewaste.
Doing better than me! Replaced my PC months ago, its just sitting missing a HDD on my floor doing absolutely jack all.
- mine go through a cycle. Main box --> test rig --> file server --> by the time that's outdated, it's either a retro box I can flog or absolute trash.
- LOL, somehow this feels so familiar.
I refuse to throw out any electronics for the minuscule chance I might need them one day.
Boxes and boxes of esoteric cables, pc parts, keyboards and mice.
I salute your ability to throw them out.
- Honestly I don't consider this the hoarding gene.. I'm with you it's good practice.
- I’m actually going to be ruthless with out cables… (A few unused ones, too!)

I gave myself nightmares last night and I know I didn’t sleep all night.

No more horror movies for me.

What did you watch? I was actually going to watch one then i chickened out.
I can read horror, listen to it, but watching is a whole other issue.
- I watched The Substance with Demi Moore.
  It was very disturbing.
- Same!! Read it, listen, maybe look at a picture, but a movie is no go for me.

I got some LPs and cds from the op shop.

First two were some Joe Jackson. I dunno but they just did not sound good on this player.

The cd of Buckwheat Zydeco is cool. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIsSgO-QYzA

I love Buckwheat Zydeco!
This is my favourite song. Always makes me happy when I hear it.
https://youtu.be/XHSQWAb3Esg
- That's my fave song of theirs too. 🙂

We get the worm.

Nobody likes me everybody hates me I think I’ll go eat worms Long ones, short ones, fat ones skinny ones, Ones that squiggle and squirm
Well, I beat you by a second or something like that. But you did say "we", so I'll let it slide
It's like the no Homers club

I was chatting the other night about things that you buy and actually get a lot of use out of. I have these small folding tables that have literally served as dinner tables/laptop tables in front of the idiot box for years. (I’m actually using one right now.)

I try my best not to buy crap, but Kmart does suck me in occasionally. I love how their giant ice cube trays are so cheap (MM I’m looking at you for charging $15 when they’re near identical and $1.75 at the big K.)

That said, I bought these chip clips (from Kmart). Yes, exactly that. Four in a pack. Two shaped like corn chips and the other two shaped like crinkle cut chips and I love them. These silly clips bring me such joy, being able to clip a plastic corn chip to a Doritos pack.

In saying that, does anyone else keep their chips in the fridge after they’ve opened them? I swear by it. When I started doing it years ago it was a complete game changer when it came to chips going stale.

Anyway, LOL, whoever said money can’t buy happiness. For that dose, $1.75. Hahahaha.

Oops, looks like they’re on clearance. I think I better get a few more.

I don't understand this chips in fridge thing. You open chips, eat all the chips, throw away bag. What is there to put a clip on and refrigerate?
- I only buy those huge bags of round corn chips for having with guac. Those packs last me many weeks.
I got some of those chip clips too, but chips in the fridge sounds absolutely wild
- Haha. This is one of those things in like I can back 100%.
  Honestly, once you do it, you’ll never go back.
- I use bag clips but don't do the fridge. The chips seem fresh enough.
I’m a chips in fridge gangster 👋. It’s a world of difference.
- Hey Gang! 👋🏻

Movie and tv review.

The Dead Don't Die. A fun zombie movie. 2.5 hobbits

Picket Fences, episode , Be My Valentine. 1993. 3.5 hobbits

I watched this series when it first aired, so long ago it was on a crt that had a cabinet and legs.

I remembered this particular episode as being one of the few shows that gives me that creepy feeling you get when you see someone or see a situation that is truly psychopathic and dangerous. I wondered what it was about this that made it like that.

Firstly, this series is about life in a mid western town , how eccentrics and life challenges are found every where, not just the cities. The show looks bright , lots of sunshine, indoors are always well lit, wide open outdoor spaces. Unlike city shows that are dark by comparison. This is what makes the scary episode stand out from the other soap opera episodes.

Why is it scary. Really good actors as the scary guys. Really good. The set up was long and the twist unexpected. The scary moment was the reveal that the guys were not "normal yet violent', but were scheming and sadists, laughing and enjoying the fear and pain of their victims. Did I say really good actors? These guys were intense.

How is it tv actors are different to movie actors?

Thank you for reminding me about Picket Fences. Totally forgot about it!
- YW. It's a David Kelley show so you know it's going to be good and it's on Disney+
DDD is what happens when you stop beating film students up in pub carparks. I was really disappointed in that, and I have a high tolerance for jimbo's self indulgence.

I drastically reduced the detergent and then ran a second short cycle of just water for an extra rinse. Still kinda taste the soap. Guess I’ll be rinsing everything myself. :/

(The only Finish easily available is a $16 1L bottle and I didn’t see another gel so I’m not doing liquid unless I find something cheaper.)

Next time I’ll look for something that will take many small things too, rather than a few large/tall things.

Ps. If you have sensitive skin be careful as QV Wash has changed to something much runnier and harsher with shimmer I don’t remember it having. It’s quite stripping and drying now (even on body and I don’t have dry skin). Might want to skip using it on your face because it just desiccated mine

https://www.productreview.com.au/listings/qv-gentle-wash?965ede3a-33d1-461b-9f8c-a8fa6e336dd6=true

You can fold the rack down if you haven't worked that out yet. Maybe try that. It might give you a better rinse.
The finish gel will give you about 6 months worth of washes. 1 litre ÷ 5ml = 200 washes.
- I have folded the rack down.
- I am learning a lot about dishwashing.
be sure to wash the filter , it may have soap and gunk in it
- I can go do that, I just think I bought something that doesn’t fit my needs

Melbcat has another UTI and will be back on the strong stuff 😢😿

oh no. hugs to you both

Too wired. I only slept for five hours and drank a single coffee today.

No more for me. I'm hypothesising that I'm a caffeine lightweight because I'm not eating three square meals a day.

potentially goes on stimulants

The coffee stim and the adhd med feelings are worlds apart honestly.

Do I pay $41.20 plus $11 tram fare return to the airport, at the mercy of timetables especially for the return leg when my flight arrives past 10pm... or $84 plus a bit in petrol to drive and park over 7 days without worrying about times. I think the latter is winning out and would be cheaper than uber too. So it shall be.

I spent nearly all of today in bed drifting in and out of sleep and wandering through various YouTube videos and wiki articles. It was nice enough in some ways to do nothing and rest but I felt kind of gross by the evening and haven't drunk nearly enough water. Feeling rather meh about doing one day of work tomorrow before heading off again but I'll just start early and end early as much as I can and keep it simple...

I'd pay the $84 tbh
So it shall be
It has been written. And so it is.
- I think you mean "this is the way".
the fact that the sky bus is as expensive as it is just blows my mind.
Obligatory:

Shared not to be smug, but to reinforce what is possible if a state government spends money on infrastructure. This line is new, it was completed two years ago. It tunnels a few kilometers under the river and established suburbs.
Melbourne can have this, too. The technology is easy enough. Yes, it is expensive.
Edit: Updated with car directions also, showing the train is the quickest way.
- Oh we spend money on infra. We built a whole new metro tunnel! But putting fences around the lines to stop major disruptions? No can do bro.
  Also the leaser of the the CROWN LAND of the airport wants to screw the taxpayer, and apparently we're just letting that happen like a bunch of suckers.

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

I think I'd like a vegemite lollipop and a fruit burger please.
- 🍯🍭🥭🍔
Meat slop with too many veggies please
- 🥩🍖🥩🍖🍗🥔🥗🥦🥒🥕🌽🍅🥬🧅🍅🫛🫛🥒🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦

Good night everyone. Sweet dreams. 😘

This is very hypnotic. I wish I had some headphones with me.. So far I'm about 25 mins in....

4.5 Billion Years in One Hour