Daily Discussion Thread: Tue 31 Oct 2023

Mickey and I, just vibin'

Ooh we get the full spud mug today.😀

Ginger Dead Man 💀 nom

Haha, love this.

Yay, Halloween! 🎃👻💀

trick or treeeeat
Merry Gothmas 🐈‍⬛🦇

As a Brit I was excited to finally be able to donate blood. Was booked in for this morning but when I got there they said I couldn't do it because I have too much iron in my blood (Haemochromatosis) and my GP needs to fill out a particular form so that I'm classed as a 'therapeutic donor' and not just a donor. Bit disappointing, but I was seeing the doc tomorrow anyway so I'll ask him to do it.
It was funny to see the donor centre staff all dressed up for halloween including, of course, a vampire!

I think their costumes are worn every other day of the year and they're actually secret vampires. They just take a little sippy sip per donation to fly under the radar and keep their operation secret.

- evening all

Wow!
- Wot ‘e said!

Deactivated and deleted insta. hoping that helps a bit with my mental health. Will update in a few days 😇

good luck 🤞🏻 and hugs

Damn. I should have taken up the offer of my neighbour picking up soft drinks for me. I felt bad and declined and said I didn’t want him to out of his way.

On a side note I’ve spent the day reading and sending back messages to everyone at work about my recent loss as three only were informed today.

I think that might have been a Mistake as it took up lots of time and I was meant to be resting.

Also I receive this massive vase of flowers as well from work delivered by courier to my home for the recent loss. It was a really nice gesture and lovely bouquet of flowers though I’m not really a plant person and don’t know what to do with it?

sit the beautiful flowers on a table
they will become part of your memory of this time, a nice memory of how people were kind to you and your family
many big hugs

I am (overseas and) officially extremely done with this relentless hot humidity and ready to go back to the vagaries of Melbourne weather (which I will still complain about). The WiFi strength in my air conditioned room is hopeless, otherwise I'd mostly be chilling in here. Kind of done with shopping and crowds. Need to stay energetic and not cranky for 6 more days...

Strangely it hasn’t been too bad here as far as I can tell though you’re talking to someone who needs a hot water bottle to keep warm right now.

Viennetta: a bit boring

Viennetta swimming in chocolate fudge topping: a little more exciting.

Watching everybody's faces when they've already eaten their Viennetta and I produce the chocolate fudge topping: Priceless.

To do: tie gate shut, put out loot box, turn skeleton eyeballs on. Then very silly dinner with colourful drink. I think I have enough brain for this.

Mmmm. Brain. Tasty. 🧠

Dropped my backpack this morning on the way to work and the glass bottle of juice inside it broke. Managed to salvage my power bank and purse but my homemade beetroot juice ruined everything else 🙁

This is fully in keeping with today's date.
sometimes plastic is good
- Unless minimising weight is critical, a stainless steel bottle or thermos would be better still.
  I love me a reused glass container. Passata bottles make a great water bottle.

Heading home to whack up my Halloween decorations after doing some volunteering at my kid's school this morning.

Delicious bahn mi roll for lunch should provide sufficient energy.

Maybe some sewing before school pick up. Or a nap.

Over 200 kids. All treats, even the backups, gone. All decorations are down and in a pile.

And the rest of dinner. I fucked up the frosting 🙀

that looks great
I wouldn't say you fucked any of that up that looks deliciously spooky.
- It’s gritty

👻

trick or treat 🎃

Cheers!

Cheers!

Headless dead body is in oven

Is the head in a pot on the stove?
- no

I ripped apart the skeleton and ate parts of the now cooked dead body with a sauce made from it's blood and juices . It was delicious

🧟‍♀️🐓

More Covid in the office. I really don’t want to go in now, that’s 2 weeks in a row where someone’s ended up positive. My vax is up to date but have health issues and a sole trader husband that id hate to infect (no sick leave when you work for yourself)

Doing Horror Movie Trivia at TGIFridays tonight and I'm all excited for it. Getting dressed up, hanging out with mates, maybe a cocktail or two. Had a lot of fun making our costumes!

Nice weather outside so far. I'm going to try to get a few seeds planted while it is nice. I also want to set up some snail traps to deal with some pesky snails/slugs that think it's ok to eat my cucumber seedlings.

copper tape. Swear by that shit. (it basically reacts to the slug/snail slime to create a mild galvanic reaction. Tiiiiny lil' electric fence)
If you don't have defined borders I've done very well cutting down an old pot to fit around the plant like a retention collar and just taped that.

Has anyone here tried to strap a pedometer to a cat or dog?

Do they need 20k steps?

Brb
Update: When I tried to strap my watch to his collar he licked my hand then laid on top of it
Result: Not impressed
- haha I think that's a contender for best photo of the day :)
- Whats Halloween?
  What's Happy?
  Who are all you weirdos, anyway?
Do they need two pairs of jeans? I think the answer is the same.
I put my fitbit on my dog once, and can confidently say that they lounge around doing nothing for most of the day.
As far as I know we only have an arbitrary non-scientific step goal made up for people at this stage. In terms of exercise requirements this would vary considerably between different breeds.

As a (not quite so recent) migrant to AU, I got my first notice of rent increase earlier today, and hooboy. I really don't want to have to move again, and I'm really starting to warm up to where I am, but I most likely will have to if my landlord doesn't agree to my request to reconsider. Bummer.

It can feel like a double whammy hey, on top of the challenges in feeling secure and at home more broadly in a different country. Can't feel secure in your physical home either. Unfortunately so many people blame migrants for the housing situation and it's hard to get any sympathy... Hope your landlord will be generous about it.
I'm anticipating another notice in February or so and I suspect that'll be my cue from the universe to vamoose after 3 years

First run post COVID. Kept it short, about 3km. A few coughs and it didn't feel like I'm filling my lungs. Will need to take it easy for a little bit I think.

Edit - doggo is looking at me wanting the other half of the run

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

How spooky can breakfast be?
- give me unborn babies on toast. ie, eggs on toast
- ☠️
M̸̧̜̜͎̩͙̝͇͉̦̣̤̠͌̑͊́Ó̸̡̺͓̤̪̲̱̈́̔̀̄̆̇̃̑̐̓̂̓̕̕R̶̼̟̺̫̭̬̺̮̹̀̓̅̀̏̇̎̑͒̇Ȩ̶̤̠͇̟͓͇͇͉̝̼̱̜͎͕̄̓̏͂͊̅̊͐͐͌̈́͊̃̉͜͠͠ͅ ̸̡̛̙̝̺̱͉̩̹̰̙̙̹̤̺̻̪̣̤̘̱̙͍̻̐̀̓͂͆̅̀͐̈́̉̿̃̃̇̿͋̒͗̊̐͝B̵̪͙͈̦̦̥̩̻͆̆̃̇͂̈́̽̿͛̕͜͜͜͝R̵̢͖͎̩̬͙̞̅̅͑̐̔̿̌A̸̢̡̯̜̳̹͙̦̪̲͎̤͔̰̭̰̤͖̞͚̯͍̓̒́͛̾̌̀͛̏̅̆͆͋͑̚͠Į̶̛͉̬̘̫̗͕̜̪̝́̈́̈́̿͌̿͋̋̆͋̎́̆͛̅͛͗͑͋͝N̸̡̘͕̩͔̥̠͍̰̤͌̊Ş̴̛̛̘̱̳̙̖͚̙̯̩͎̮̘͚̦͇̠͇͔͑̂͑̄͋͊̿̃̐̀͂̎̎͆̓̇̽́͘͝͝͠ͅ!̷̧̛̬̭̭̭̻̤̼̪̹̣̼̦͎̣̻̼̺̩̪͑́̀̑̎̂̈́͐̈́̓̏̄͒͆͗͆̊̆͘̚͠͝͝!̶̨̢̧̹͉̥̫̣̘̺̳̱̬̥̣͌̽͌͌͊
- 🧠🧠
A nice cup of tea and some crumpets with butter and pate please.
- ☕️🥯🥯🧈🥩
Trick or treat! Trick or treat! Give me something good to eat!
- 🫐🍓🌽🥔🍳☕️

delivery by auspost from auspost to an auspost parcel collect in an auspost post office.

THEY STILL MANAGED TO FUCK IT UP

That happened to me recently. They took it to the wrong post office! Um, what? How?

mask making continues

:)

These kids rode past my house in costume asking very politely if I had trick or treat goodies. I have a half eaten cookie, some protein bars, a few cake bars. A big bag of lollies not individually wrapped. A packet of pods. Can I give this stuff away? I am not prepared.

ublock origin has been installed , nerdy lotr YTs videos are enabled 🤓🤓🤓🧙🏻‍♂️🐉🧝‍♂️🧔

So Carmella Soprano fuckin sucks. She made what she called "Lincoln Log Sandwiches" in season 6 of the Sopranos which are hot dogs cut longways with cream cheese spread inside them, then on white bread. I thought "hot dogs with cream cheese.. interesting.. Carmella is often called a great cook so maybe I should try this out" and hopped into my car to fetch these things from the supermarket.

And they suck. Now I have a whole thing of cream cheese so I'll have to find other uses for it.

I'm staring at this complaint and starting to wonder about things.
Cheesecake, sundried tomato dip, cream cheese icing?
So you used the one in a jar cream cheese spread?
- Nah this stuff which was what she used in the show, they showed a glimpse of it

Did the Maho Magic Bar pop up this Hallow’s Eve. Fun, but a bit pricey for what it was.

Having a super late dinner. Miss trick o’ treaters, but unfortunately live somewhere where my front door is inaccessible.

I hope everyone has had a fun Halloween! 👻

Diju know in the Dark Ages people ate noisily and with their mouths open. 🤢 Every Celtic/Viking tv show and movie tells me so.

I've never been a smartwatch person but I'm wondering if I should resort to one to give me a kick in the arse when I'm sedentary for too long. Now that I don't have a regular job but will continue to live alone for a while, once I get back to Melbourne this is going to be more important than usual.

Trying to weigh up everything I want is giving me a headache (long battery life - durable enough watch face - somewhat trustworthy with my health and GPS data - lightweight - high quality sensors - sedentary reminders - doesn't lock you into bloated apps - notifications for priority messages and reminders - not stupidly expensive - supports Android)

Maybe a fitness tracker would be better...

Um, big arse calendar on the fridge with hyuge squares to write what you've done today exercise wise? No need for batteries - just replace the biro/pencil when it runs out. Month at a time view would be a good way to keep tabs on fitness goals.
- I would absolutely get zero fitness done - the calendar would become invisible to my brain about 5 days after I put it up. I have very poor discipline/consistency around fitness and do benefit from someone/something actively prodding me regularly, and a smartwatch seems to be cheaper than a fitness coach... especially for those strings of days with shitty weather when you just think "yeah nah".
i'm not a smartwatch guy so i got a hybrid smartwatch - maybe you could check that out? i have this one and my brother gifted me this 3 years back! i pretty much only use it to track steps and heart rate - it doesn't really give you sedentary reminders but maybe the newer models do?
- Oh man I definitely looked into those and they're gorgeous. I confess I was one of those kids who was always slow at reading analog watchfaces hahaha. Unfortunately their latest offerings seem to be poorly reviewed... the one you got looks amazing and seems like it was very well built
There's some pretty cheap smart watches out there with a step counter and HR monitor. Eg mine was $15 from kogan a while ago.

w00000 mobile base for table saw today! Then I can build the one for the mitre

Would it be cruel to give kids licorice allsorts?

I always got extra jelly beans at the Dr because nobody else wanted the black ones. But I don’t think unwrapped stuff is ok to give out most places
- Golly gosh. I'll have to give out my Werther's originals then.
Kids no, me yes!
no, they are delicious
- I think so too.

Anyone bought stuff from TEMU?

If yes, any good and reliable?

You know those Chinese knick-knack stores that sell cheap plastic crap? Temu is the pushy online version of one of those.
Proceed with caution, they'll try to convince you you are getting a bargain - that is their entire business model. Just know that the price they charge is probably always the price. You'll be given vouchers for $x off, assuming you spend $50 or something. This is also business as usual - you'll always be able to get that deal.
The psychology/manipulation of consumer behaviour of Chinese online retailers is worthy of a PHD study if it isn't already. It's honestly fascinating how they work.
Those caveats aside: if you understand what you are buying and how the game works, then Temu is reliable. You will receive your goods fairly quickly.
My housemate has bought a few nick knacks and they've shown up pretty quickly. But he's the kind of twit that buys a $3 dash cam and thinks it's brand name. A few little house stuff that's been helpful, like glasses cleaners and a drain pull thing.
- Cool thanks. I'm only looking at little gadgets and maybe some cheapish clothing (bum around the house stuff).
I have bought a fair bit. Everything I bought has arrived in a reasonable timeframe, and has been pretty much you would expect for the price point. Their returns policy is good - you can return at no cost, including for change of mind. I've returned a couple of things that were broken/not as described/ just didn't like and have had no problem. A couple of things I had to actually send back, others they just let you keep.
Once you sign up they will spam you constantly with offers, especially if you download the app (which I did, as one of their offers was a discount if I ordered on the app!). Their offers are blatant attempts to manipulate you to buy more, but some of them can save you a reasonable amount of money if used right. Most products also have multiple listings at different prices, so try to find the cheapest one before you order.

Do you guys have step goals for the day / week? Do you stick to it?

For me no. Aside from riding / swimming / lifting weights I just try and build exercise into the day like taking the stairs instead of a lift or escalator, walking instead going a few stops on PT etc. I figure it all adds up and means you're not worried about hitting a certain 'target'.
For some people though having a target is important.
Congratulations! You've found my mini obsession! My minimum goal is 12k steps per day, but that is only if I ride 20+ km. If I do not ride, then 15k is my goal.
I hit 500 days in a row for my step goal a couple of weeks ago. Which is essentially 500 days since I recovered from Covid.
- Jeez man that's fuckin awesome!! Love that you've kept the streak going and respect the commitment. On a good week I try to get to 80k steps but averaging around 70k ish at the mo. But then I play tennis almost everyday so it's all g 💁‍♂️
I wear a Garmin that monitors my steps and updates my daily goal based on what I walked the day before... Works pretty well. Sometimes it's a stretch, sometimes I hit it by mid afternoon.
About 10k/day from three dog walks.
Usually yes but I've been sick the past week so it's dramatically slumped. Normally around 7000 a day. More on weekends.
my goal is to do about 10 hours of walks a week, I try very hard to stick to it
Used to. Then I got really ill, and my pedometer had one too many trips through the washing machine.
Yes. Aim for 12k steps with a min of 5km. 5 days a week.
Generally nail it each week. Try & get steps up on weekend but I'm lazy so it's hit & miss.
Not really. Just try to stay active on days I don't go to the gym. Off days I go for walks or a bike ride.
10k, sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. If I'm getting sedentary it's a good kick up the arse. But if I've been active and it whines at me it can go kick rocks.

So what is better to download, ublock or ublock origin?

origin
- cool, thanks

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