Daily Discussion Thread: 🤹‍♂️ Thursday, 16 January, 2025

Contract signed, deposit paid. Mad Kermit arms flailing!!!!

Yay! DT housewarming party
- Please remove your shoes and don't piss on the neighbour's fence
Woohoo! Congrats! 🥳
Congrats!
Congrats! So happy for you.
Fuck yesssssss!!!!!
Whoa. Congrats 🥂🎉
Sticking local or more hunt for a new coffee shop sitch?
- About 3km difference. All the favourite things are still in range, just accessed a bit differently. What postcodes do to price tags is outrageous.
how long is settlement?
- 30, going in fast Captain.
Aaaaaahhhhh!!! Congrats!!!!!
Yayyyy!!! That's so exciting!!
Woohoo! Yay! All the screaming! 🍾🍾
- Much, much screaming 🐸 🙀
Yay!!!!!
Congratulations!
🎉
Woo hoo!!!
Woohoo! Best feeling ever.
Hey congratulations! 👏🏼🎊
Congrats. 🍾🎆

Anniversary this week. 26 years with useful_modern_godess. Ooof.

EDIT: thank you DT peeps 🥂

Mickey is so tolerant. He was incessantly scratching one of his ears, as if something was in there. So I told him "I'm going to grab my phone for the torch, and I'll have a look puss".

He trotted to the tiles in the kitchen and flopped on his side so his problem ear was facing up. I was able to have a look, and noticed one of his body hairs was stuck in there. He let me gently tweeze it out and he's been so happy since.

He is so fucking smart.

Beware of cats like that. First comes the flopping closely followed by world domination.
- Before you know it, your entire life revolves around them and their fluffy demands.
What a good boy.
That is so damn adorable ❤️

Not sure exactly what I'm doing today but I know it involves a huge batch of mushroom sauce and some pretty big lasagnas. So 🫙🫙🫙🫙🫙🫙🫙🫙🫙🫙🫙🫙🫙🫙🫙🫙🫙🫙🫙🫙🫙 hey there's no emoji for lasagna! Why haven't I realised this before?

Oooh next payday imma gonna get an arseload of mince and get my bolognaise on. Freeze it up for winter and we can food prep sketties, lasagna, quesadillas, etc etc
- Yummy and simple, increasingly my favourite kind of food! I even love it with baked potatoes.
I'm going to try to get some jobs around the house finished, mainly the terrace garden and some cleaning. Dinner for next two nights is already made.
Then I can concentrate on sewing and some paper work. :)

If you live on floor 4 of an apartment building in the city and you're currently cooking up something lemony/spicy/smoky/meaty, please invite me over for dinner. The smell entering the elevator when the doors opened on your floor was ambrosial.

Will you settle for a doggy bag left at your door?
- I absolutely would.
I’ve got a curry happening. Want a plate?
- I was actually bringing home my own big bowl of curry at the time!

Looks like Reservoir is affordable, easy to get to Brunswick and Coburg and to work.

Will go have a look the next couple of days at a few places. Really wanted Brunswick but if I don't get a pay rise that ain't happening.

I think the work stuff is affecting me. I feel really down and out but no real reason. I guess this is what toxic workplaces do.

Edit:

She's using the new cat tree

Beware of Fawkner & Dallas. They look close but the agents are likely putting lipstick on the pig's butt hole.
- I know about Dallas. But is fawkner really that bad? I already sleep with a kitchen knife under my mattress within easy reach.
Rezza's just up the road from Thornbury/Northcote, with all the open mic venues and music. It's a lot nicer than it used to be. May I recommend the butcher on the main drag? Has lovely grass fed beef, properly aged. Some good op shops too - the St Georges Anglican Church one is a hidden gem. Small but very choice stock. I did look into houses in Rezza when I moved out of EBrunswick. The lake side is lovely.
Reservoir is 10km from the city and close to inner north suburbs with the cool music venues! Plus if you're into gardening, lots of nonnas around who grow their own produce hahaha. Inner-ish west could be another place to look?
- Sounds damn good to me!
I stand corrected on Reservoir’s location.

we're at the point today where we've got the doors open but both of us working from home with cats free ranging and mingling under supervision please don't make us regret this please don't make us regret this it's been six weeks I want my house back

Have spoken to more people today. They're bailing. The director has set an all hands meeting for Tuesday, where she will no doubt tell everyone she's leaving.

Morale is non existent at the moment. Regardless of negotiations, im here till I move house. Then I'm out.

Unless the interview i have Monday comes through. Then it's worth living in the middle of nowhere for another 6 months.

Holy crap, that escalated quickly!
- Yeah it's a real nose dive.

I've been sitting down all of 4 minutes and already my resolve for no coffee is being tested.

You've got more guts than me, Tiny. I'm trying to do one coffee only per day, and drink more of the many teas I've collected in my kitchen. I usually have 2 in the morning and occasionally one in the afternoon.
- I've cut down to one a day recently. Don't really feel the difference, but once winter kicks in, it's going to be a struggle.
- a tea or 2 was the plan but it became pretty apparent that wasnt gonna cut it very quickly.
The thought of no coffee has never entered my mind.
All morning all that went through my head is coffee coffee coffee coffee.
Double shot this morning or I wouldn't have coped. Just need to make it through to this weekend for now!
- true only 1 day left after this.
Very brave of you!

Thanks for all the well wishes yesterday with the doggo. He had surgery yesterday, and the vet said it went well. 💛💛

Just paid $200 so I can take a four hour test to say I have the literacy and numeracy skills to be a teacher. They threw in an "online convenience fee" too. First time I've ever seen that one 🙂🥲

Then I need to do some hunting for some placement clothes that actually fit.

Spoke to some more people at work today. They're all interviewing for other places.

Far out.

Maybe this will play in my favour. We'll see.

Maybe this will play in my favour. We’ll see.
Uhhh, being the last man standing but paid out the a hole may not be as fun as it initially sounds.
- True. But it'd be great for about 3 months. Enough to save and get some cash behind me.

I tried tofu for the first time today. Honestly, I'm a pretty big fan. I didn't try it in anything fancy, just a small fried rice. I wasn't sure I was like it, but tbh I don't think I would've noticed anything wrong if they told me it was a chicken fried rice

Yum. Tofu's pretty versatile. My dinner tonight was a tofu stir fry with pre-cut stir fry veg from the supermarket and a bit of Hoisin sauce. Super quick, easy, tasty, and healthy.
- Definitely gonna look at incorporating it into some meals eventually!

Don’t you open that trap door!
You are a fool if you dare!
Stay away from that trap door!
‘Cos there’s something down there!

Buuuuurk!
- FEED ME

Tonight's beach adventure:

that looks wonderful

this headache is just about approaching "bail from work" levels, but I have a psych appointment after work so I cant go home to come back in. And there is a not 0 change the headache is due to stress so its pretty necessary.

My psych allows me to change to a telehealth appointment with 5 minutes notice if needed. If you think you can manage it, perhaps it might be worth checking if that's an option?
I'd Def's be bailing on work though. Maybe an extra couple of hours lie in might help, even a tiny bit
Fingers crossed you feel better soon though tiny!
- cheers yeah some nurofen has helped a bit.

HEY ! HO ! LETS FUCKIN GO !

I wanna be sedated
- Yes please

super tired and have migraine, think I will have a lie down

Hope you feel better soon
- Thank you.
  Headache is better but after some googling and reading of wiki I now have schizophrenia, apparently it's insidious in women

I am done for the day, sadly later than I'd hoped as I did not pick up the pace much in the afternoon. Now I must battle the tennis crowds to get out of here. So hungry. Might have a pizza tomorrow as a treat

E: that's gonna be a will have pizza tomorrow as a treat. Esp if it's another long day like today - but hotter. Even though my pants are definitely tighter

What up

Clouds and planes currently
- Also my blood pressure.

I got bad family news in early November. Another death. It was somebody else that I never got to meet, but was directly and quite closely related to me

I've been thinking about it for a few months, and have even brought it up with my psych, but nothing's really helped. It's weird because I know that I'm meant to feel something, and indeed do feel something, but it's unidentifiable and not overwhelming emotion

Apparently 2 days before he died, he tried to get in contact with me through child protection. Because of bureaucracy, I didn't find out about it until over 2 weeks later. That made it worse. Nobody knows what the message was, but trying to contact me was one of the last things he ever did :/

So sorry to hear that. I’ve also had the experience of finding out direct relatives I’ve never met had died. I never feel anything except maybe a curiosity about who they may have been, would we have got along. But nothing more personal. They were a stranger. I don’t think sharing DNA means anything, really. It’s knowing people and interacting that has meaning. But also, I never had any expectation that we would ever meet, so that probably affects my take on things. Knowing you closely missed out on a meeting would be more difficult. There would a sense of loss if it were me. Hope you can work through it and feel OK.
- Thanks cake, I appreciate it ♥️
  Another layer of complexity is that I honestly don't know if I would've accepted, had I gotten the message earlier. Obviously if I knew I'd soon lose the opportunity, I would, but otherwise, it would've taken a lot of rationalising and deciding, and maybe months before I would have made a decision. And I probably would've chosen not to meet or contact him
  There's some other familial stuff going on to where even now I don't know if his intentions were good, what sort of person he was or life he led, and if it was a genuine request, or intended to cause drama. That adds a bit of guilt for thinking that way
I’m so sorry, Baku. hugs
- Thanks Llab 🫂
I'm so sorry , that's really tough
- Thanks seagoon ♥️

I'm putting this under a NSFW, as it may be triggering for some of us. Concerns a situation that I've become aware of at work. I'm not sure I have all the details either. But there's a moral dilemma here that I would welcome some feedback on.

sued for libel/damages for her accusations?
Yes!
Has she committed a crime here?
Thats for a court to decide
Should she get some sort of penalty for making false accusations?
In my opinion ABSOLUTELY! you can run about destroying peoples lives and get away with it. Illness or not.
Or should she get off scot free because she’s mentally ill and presumably not in full control of her actions?
Fuck no! I'm deeply sorry for her troubles, but those people shouldn't suffer due to false accusations. its not about her suffering, its about the victims being about to point to a court verdict and say "I am not, nor was I EVER a child abuser".
- Fucking aye!!!
- Absolutely this. While that illness can be difficult to manage and I have sympathy for her, the accusations would be life-changing and devastating for the people wrongfully accused
- Agreed 💯
- Seconded
This needs to be pursued. A public record of the falsity will be significant in preventing future damage caused by misconceptions. Probably don't expect monetary recompense, she may be Judgement Proof in that regard, but the ruling is worth much more.
- gmta
I don’t know what avenues are there but as someone who works in education, if I was ever accused of those things my career would be over and I would probably never get a job in the education sector ever again even if it was found everything was false as my reputation would be be in tatters within the community.
That’s just my take on things and what has been reiterated to me if I was ever accused of sexual misconduct with a minor in my work environment whether it was true or not.
If there was any action to take it would be loss of income, defamation issues and all future income from not being employable, I would pursue if there was a righteous case and damages to be won in compensation for not being employable.
- This is why I do not like accusations in the media.
  It sets up a precedence of the public acting on accusation
  rather than belief in innocence before guilty and using the law courts to obtain justice.
  and abuse is serious, very serious, that's why we need to treat accusations and victims seriously and with thought
  but there are still people who think Johnny Depp abused Amber Heard, even after she was found guilty of defamation.
I agree with Catfish regarding public record. It’s a difficult situation, because this is probably one of the few accusations in life that can one can never truly wash off, as awful as it is.
(I guess it’s up to the individual. I would probably want to if it were me, but I’d also want to weigh up the costs. Would it be worth it in the end after all that has already happened? Or would I just want to move on and put it all behind me?)
How far do we split the moral hair, so to speak? Would she have done those things still if she was medicated? What level mental illness excuses harm (which I guess is what the law decides)? Is it possible the medication could have prevented this happening in the first place?
However, the dentist, doctors, and the teachers have all been sacked from their place of employment, and the dentist’s wife has been forcefully requested to resign from her tennis club and other social groups. And none were re-instated when the accusations turned out not to have any evidence supporting them.
The employers should be sued.
fuck the clubs,
should the wife (who is clearly a very damaged person) be sued for libel/damages for her accusations?
Yes. This will create a big paper trail so that any future victims of her slander have a defense. It might also force her to get treatment/committed
- Yes that’s a good take, the employers need to be held accountable for unfair dismissals. Perhaps the affected people could investigate their rights through fair work Australia or one of those law firms that specialise in this kind of stuff.
Morally, I think she should be held accountable.
Practically, I think the biggest consideration is actually how willing they would be to undertake the expense, effort and time involve in the legal process. Does she have much in the way of cash/assets to even pursue? Would a win actually reinstate employment? Those are the kind of questions I'd be asking.
- No assets that I know of. I'm conflicted between doing no further harm to a very vulnerable person, and the rank terminally-stupid injustice done to the innocent accused.
Jeez that is messy.
I'm not sure of the process but I'd try and get the posts removed (if they haven't been already).
Having experience with this, as some of you may know, yes she should be held accountable.
Those accusations hurt my dad to the point he was drinking himself to death. He was able to pull himself out of it successfully. It also ruins the relationship between children and parent.
While she may believe the accusations and truly thinks abuse happened, she needs to be institutionalised, and held accountable for her accusations. They are serious crimes to accuse someone of, and despite no evidence to suggest the accused did anything at al, it will still utterly ruin their lives. With the internet these days, even the innocent will have an extremely difficult time with their future jobs and relationships. They will be seen as untrustworthy at the very least.
However, with all that said, there is a very real chance that none of that will help her. It's still ultimately up to her to recognise her disordered thoughts and understand that she needs serious mental health help. Schizophrenia is insidious, especially in women, and just alters their reality to the point that it is almost impossible for outsiders (be it family or partners) to help, especially if it's paranoid schizophrenia or religious-based (as is the case with my mum).
I have sympathy for the woman, but it just isn't right to go around accusing everyone of doing that heinous shite.
I feel for the children and father in this, and the people who have lost their jobs because of this.
What a mess. I feel sorry for everyone involved in this story. I don’t know enough about the law to know if she has committed any crimes, under what laws? But if there’s a chance for the wrongly accused people to clear their reputations and get some compensation for their lives being disrupted then they should pursue it. The wife may not even understand she had done anything wrong and may not understand any penalties, and it certainly won’t cure her, so legal action probably wouldn’t have any affect on her thoughts or future behaviours. It’s purely for the benefit of the victims.

sky pretty

Indeed it was. Should be a nice day tomozz.
imma go outside and have a look 🙂

Should be a bright naked eye comet in the next few days. Lookin' SW-ish close to the horizon at sunset.

Wow, C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) is going to be surprisingly visible for nearly a week or more starting next Tuesday. Just a short period in the evening and some nights binoculars will definitely assist.

Phrase you might not have heard in real life:

“Walking around money”

I love this phrase. Similar to “pocket money“

Maybe I'm weird, but I would've interpreted that as metaphorically walking, around money. Like passing up on a higher paying job, or not doing something dodgy for a bit of money
E: actually, don't answer. I already know I'm weird - nobody needs to confirm!
On first glance I thought it meant being tactful around those with different amounts of money to you
It’s a cute phrase!

bankaust appears to have shat out o joyyyyy

Joy for the world, the banks are dead
\ Let earth be rid of them
\ The cost of living crisis
\ Home and loans denied us
\ To hell with finance bros
\ To hell with finance bros
- nooo bankaust are a good guy and also they have all my money. I kinda need them

Helllooooo.

Took melatonin last night. Woke up with a headache and drowsiness. Read some papers and it turns out the optimal dosage is 0.3 mcg according to some. I probably ended up taking 1.5mg. Ya live and ya learn.

ta da, tried on an old pair of jeans and they fit again 🙂 now to get into even smaller jeans and pants , maybe even some blouses that are way too tight

5pm rave choon get it like blaaaow

Gonna move a bit more mulch now.. like blaaaow.

Thankfully the soil / mulch sitch is drawing to a close. Starting to resent the shovel.

I bought lamington fingers. I've eaten 2. Now I have to decide how many to freeze and how many to put in the fridge. Fuck life is tough.

I vote to put all of them in your tummy.
- Nah. I'm very good when it comes to sweets.

Struggling with a supplier that’s making me want to climb the walls with frustration. No, the customer isn’t always right, but have the decency to let me finish my sentence before berating me, you hauty bitch.

Yeah, you can tell me I'm wrong or I'm missing information, but do it politely!

Ugh... alarm went at 7:30 and I went back to sleep... dragged myself out late when I had hoped to start early for today's fieldwork. Ah well, I'm on my way in now and getting paid for sitting on a tram atm, can't complain.

argh, the painful transition back to work. Not looking forward to it in a couple of weeks.
Well at least you're being paid to sit on a tram, not a bad way to start the day.
Weather surprisingly is mild and not too hot today. Going to be thankful for that.

I was at the tennis last night, watching a five-set match that went until midnight. Great match but I am so exhausted today. Also I made my TV debut apparently, a friend messaged to tell me they saw me on TV. It's not because I was doing anything noteworthy to be one of the fans they show for a split second between points, but the person next to me was. The camera guy was parked near where I was sitting and couldn't help himself. I do not consent!

I have just deleted at least 25 useless reddit subs , so many cat subs but also including subs like melbs etc. That place is mostly a big time waster.

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

A bathtub of bubbly and a chocolate biscuit please
- 🛁🍪
Bacon and eggs please Chef.
- 🥓🍳🍳☕️☕️

Wake up with a scratchy throat… can’t find the damn covid test I bought. An expired one is negative but that’s not reliable.

I’ve got someone bringing me one so fingers crossed

Just doing some light shopping today, stopped off and picked up some stuff and sitting down in a quiet space with an rather expensive coffee but I think it's a bigger one than normal. ($5.80)

Contemplating if I should buy more morello cherries and mix it in with orange flavoured jelly.

Hope I don't end up being tempted too much at Aldi today.

Damn it's turned into a beyoodiful day to be out - cool but not cold with sunny skies after a bit of cloud in the morning. Walking around watching people going to the tennis, generally relaxed and enjoying themselves, perfect summer day. It was a very slow morning but I hope I can pick up the pace this arvo and that the inspections will be simpler. First I need to get through Olympic Boulevard....

Everything at work is broken

Time for a cuppa then.

I've been android since the beginning but I might cross to the dark side this year.

NOOOOOOOO 😭😭😭😭
- The apple store has all the music apps. Android has barely any :(
  Though I might just get an ipad pro and keep the phone.
  What's the pixel like?
Welcome.
I too, would like to welcome you. I am a dual user though. I can’t stand Android.
made the jump 3 years back. iOS absolutely shits me some times, but the integration is second to none. I have a lot less "unexplainable random bugs" that require a reset than I ever did on samsung too. On a galaxy I was rebooting the device ever week or few days. Iphone its more like weeks or months.
- Yep that's what's happening for me as well. Android seems buggy as fuck sometimes.
  Stuff just stops working. Bluetooth is a fucking nightmare.

Absolutely splattered with bug guts in the way back this evening.

I thought about absolutely nothing on the way home. The realisation was almost euphoric.

Just for balance, is there anyone who's not into sci-fi? What's your preferred genre? I enjoy history, true crime or the occasional fiction.

Mills and boon for me.
- Relaxing reading and also talks about social issues. Under rated. 👍
- You'll love op shops then and they will love you back.
I don't particularly like sci-fi and I'm not much of a fantasy reader either. Or crime. I read a lot of contemporary fiction, literary fiction, some vintage domestic fiction, kids' books, all sorts. Occasionally non-fiction.
- Any recommendations for contemporary fiction?
I go through fads. I will read nearly any genre.
Right now I'm reading a lot of non fiction biographies by explorers, archeology books and art history and art technique books. I'm listening to sci-fi and fantasy and science and history of philosophy books.
I wouldn’t say it’s something I’m ‘in to’ specifically. I do read/watch sci-fi, but it’s not the dominant or only genre for me. I happily enjoy literature, crime, non-fiction, general fiction, biography. Sci-fi is so broad, it’s not just spaceships and laser beams. Just like any other genre, there’s unreadable junk and then also brilliant works that leave you thinking long after you’ve read them. I like the same things about it that I do in other genres, eg human struggles, mysteries to solve, comedy, redemption, action, discovery, drama etc. I mostly read the softer stuff where the sci-fi is not really the point of the story, just happens to allow a ‘what if’ scenario that our current reality doesn’t.

Wow! I thought my 290hrs this year was a high amount but not even close! It listed my top category as Literature and Fiction which only slightly edged out sci fi and myster/thriller categories which had a similar number of hours. It said I earned a ‘genre hopper ribbon’.
Stephen King? Yes, it probably would take that long to plough through one of his thicker books.
- I think The Stand is my heart's favourite even if it may not be his best. I remember getting stuck into the monster of a paperback when I was in my young teens and being absolutely absorbed. I relisten to it often
Far out. 16 hours in one go?
- I think I forgot to turn it off tbh, and probably had volume very low
Genuine question: What is it that you like about Sci-fi and fantasy?
- The fiction i read is mostly sci fi. I love it because most of the time, if written well, they are allegorical stories set in a unique world and setting.
- Can I answer that question?
- Never know what to expect, and from all that imagination emerges the most heart wrenching moments
  Highly recommend Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary
- Hmm. Good question... Might as well ask what I like about fiction, which would yield similar results. I'm not sure how to answer. For context I listen to audiobooks when I go to bed, sometimes for hours depending on my insomnia levels. It's just nice to follow along an exciting and interesting story 🤷‍♂️. I'd say the biggest genre I listened to would be apocalyptic/post apocalyptic fiction, and zombie stuff. I think I like this because it's a bit of escapism, it's fun imagining how you would handle such a world, fighting for survival rather than the mundane day to day I currently have. I could probably go on and I don't know if I could accurately even answer your question so this will have to do

Good night everyone, sweet dreams 😘

Good night:)