Discussion Thread 🐢 Wednesday 11 June 2025

Howdy all.

I have not been here for a long long time. Life has certainly got in the way of everything.

Hope you are all doing well and life has been good.

Haiiiii!! How have you been? What's been happening?
- Mainly just work and uni and placement and writing and just trying to have a non-tech life at times. Too many irons in the fire.
Welcome back! We’ve missed you!
Hope you’re doing well and life is treating you ok.
Ahh you're back!! 💜
Heyyo!!!

Well, the wall heater was leaking carbon monoxide. Lucky I got the plumber to have a look today.

And apparently the valve with the gas meter is fucked so if it needs to be turned off in case of emergency it can't be.

Thankfully my landlord is a decent guy and gets stuff fixed fairly quickly but still. Jesus christ.

Edit: cost $300 bucks to get it capped off. Jesus fucking christ.

Spoke to the energy retailer. The jobs been raised and someone will be out to fix the gas meter asap

Damn dude. That could have been much worse. Was it one of those old style Vulcan heaters?
- Do not live long. Do not prosper.
Holy crap! Glad you got it sorted
Holy shit dude! Thank goodness it's getting fixed before you got to a stage where you thought someone was secretly living in your roof or something.
- Thanks :) I remember that reddit story!
Holy hell that's scary!
omg
Bloody hell glad you got that sorted!
Oh wow. That’s so lucky.
Was the leak inside your place or outside?
- Inside.
Oh wow, so glad you got that sorted quickly
- I'm incredibly paranoid about stuff like this. Last thing I need is to end up dead or laid up in hospital staring at the walls.
Bruh!
Yikes! Be safe.
WTF are you paying this? Hope you're putting in a claim.
- Absolutely. This safety check should have been conducted a year ago.

Second last day w/ hams.

Pushed him pretty hard today (twice) and now he's pulled his monkey from the toy box to hold his hand to pass out.

I've never seen a dog do that.

Next door neighbour has a dog walker who comes around daily. She hypes up the pooch for a walk in baby/dog talk for a few mins before heading off.

Me trying the same thing with hams:

Definitely in his prime.

I just wanna lie down with him, damp ground be damned.
His coat is so beautiful but must be a handful to handle.

What are you lovely people looking forward to at the moment? I'm looking forward to my holiday at the end of next month! Anyone else got a holiday booked or a fun dinner planned or even just a day in general they're looking forward to?

Looking forward to my chicken burger for tea tonight.
- Oh yum! Condiments of choice?
I've got a trip to see some close friends I haven't seen in a decade in a couple of weeks.
Nervous but excited!
- That's very exciting, I am very happy for you! I hope you all have an absolute blast!
Spring
- Ohh heck yeah!
Spring, and Friday 11am (by then I'll have done this oral presentation 😂), then also getting my certificate!
- I am excited with you. 😄 You deserve this so much.
- Bring on Friday 11am!! You know we're all cheering for you!
Workmates and I are going out for dinner on Friday night for the boss's birthday. The last time I went out for dinner was the work Christmas party 🤣It was going to be a secret but it had to be postponed a couple of times, so someone ended up telling him so he wouldn't bail on us after work 😂
- NGL, I was thinking about this dinner this week and hoping that you have a fantastic time!!
I’m rather short term with my outlooks.
Looking forward to getting paid tonight, dinner tonight and school holidays in 3 and a bit weeks.
- All excellent thing!
I'm looking forward to being done with THE DOOM THING and just enjoying a couple of weeks of normality without that bastard thing weighing on my entire soul. Plus a dinner with some awesome people next Friday and maybe birthday treats in the coming weeks!
Beyond that it's a bit murky but things are definitely going to change
I’m so looking forward to this weekend. Just want a quiet couple of days and some me time
- Hope you enjoy every moment of it!

The thing I hate most about being sick is it fucking with my emotions.

Feeling sick I can deal with, but depressed and anxious I can do without

At least I have some company

....the email is neverending.... I am working back until I have inbox nearly zero. There has to be a better way

At some point we have to accept that emails are endemic and we are living with email.
There has to be a better way
people used to have secretaries
- Hell yeah. Am putting together a case at the moment for an admin assistant. There is too much 'enabling work' to be done an sits crippling. And modern apps offload so much executive functioning back on the user.

i've only just recovered from dinner with MIL and BIL the other night

MIL was grumbling about dinner, I asked if it was too hot, she said yes, it hurt her

I said i added no spice at all . she said nothing

then she ate dessert and said it made her feel better from the terrible stomach ache dinner gave her...lol

next week she'll order a hot curry from a restaurant ...lol

BIL kept on licking his knife, even after I glared at him

since he insists on eating like a 1 year old, a 2 year knows better, if there is a next time I will chop his food before hand and give him no knife

the conversation was just as riveting and social

If mushrooms are on the menu next time they visit I wouldn't blame you at all if you know what I mean.
Lemme guess, nothing is good enough for MIL? They sound thrilling to be around.
- She has her own definition of good.
  Good is the opportunity to win over someone.
That sounds very stressful. I vote for you cooking no more meals for these people. If they want to see you, arrange to go out to a restaurant instead
- sounds like an idea
Nothing like repeated backhanded comments.
Must be so infuriating dealing with that.
Hope you get to treat yourself with some self care for awhile.
- she was really annoyed I packed the left overs up and put them in the fridge ...lol
Does your husband stick up for you, or is he at least on your side here?
- Not once. In fact he will often side with others, might join in attacks and might keep attacking when they are gone.
Heheh… next time serve completely bland unseasoned food, not even added salt. (Condiments and salt on the table, she would just have to openly reach for them.)
Then smile sweetly and ask about her tummy.
So sorry. These people sound obnoxious.

Imagine getting meowed at angrily because you're talking on the phone

Gonna be a cold one tonight, my house temp is dropping fast without the heater on. I don’t want to see my next gas bill.

Yeah I thought it was just me but it looks like a cold clear night ahead - and the following nights as well ❄️🥶
This month's electricity bill will be quite nuts but I'll wear it. Next month can be about budgeting and shit...
- Not a fan of these 2 degree evenings coming up.
- Workboot socks are really good bed socks.
  Also if you have an electric blanket with safety cutoff you can leave it on low for Sox while out. I leave Melbcat napping in the bed and when I come home she often hasn’t moved
Oh dear, 4c at 6am, that’s going to be rough.

Melbcat has started patting me to communicate what she wants. Treats? More treats than that? Help her get under the doona? Pat pat.

I’ve thoroughly spoiled her but don’t care. She’s old and very loved and deserves a soft life of being cherished.

You also deserve a soft life of being cherished 💕
- Don’t we all
aw, you are the best cat mom ever
and you deserve some of that spoiling too
- I’m getting it! I’m receiving pats

Neighbour has been trying to start his wife's car for a good hour now. Keeps clicking without turning over.

He had the same issue a few months ago and was convinced it was the battery. Gave it a jump start and charged it up.

Myself and another neighbour suggested it might be alternator, he didn't want to hear it.

Looks like he's up for an alternator for 99 Honda Prelude.

My ol' '02 civic did that a few times. Turns out it was a faulty battery lol.
Let him live in hope.
- I'm pretty sure he's put a new battery in it after the jump start.
  I'll be listening out for more engine noises over the next few days.

The other day, I served a customer who was wearing a dirty looking mask over her mouth, but not her nose. She panicked when she saw the barcode scanner.

"When the infra-red light touches my body, I get pains in my body."

I have a feeling this could have been a delusion, but I asked her if she had seen the doctor. She said yes, and they just told her they don't know. I just hope she gets the help she needs.

Rightio. Got a 2nd plumber out to double check everything because I'm paranoid.

What an expensive fucking day today has been.

In other news:

That lady that was doing less than half the work at my old work place, today they offered her a role in fucking Perth in service desk. She an account manager lol

They really did a number on her.

You can buy smoke alarms that have a CO alarm built in. Bunnings. If you already have smoke alarms, you don’t need to install on roof if all you want it to do is monitor CO. Just put it in the room where you sleep or room with the heater.

I accidentally left my personal phone at home today. Unsurprisingly, I had an extremely productive day at work. Probably did 2-3 days' worth in 1... If I was on full time hours I'm sure I might've dragged it out, but the pressure of that thing is mounting!!!

Sox is being particularly whiny today, maybe because I got home late. Time to play a bit of snack-throwing I guess. I have her until next Saturday which is great for relieving the huge amount of stress coming up!

Is there a deadline for your work looming?
And don’t you forget dinner as well!
- No no, that thing is the thesis that I and everyone around me including this DT is thoroughly sick of hearing about 😂 It's due at the end of the month but really, I wanted to have been done by it by the end of next week! I have a dinner at which I wanted to be able to tell people I was done...
  Maybe it might happen because of the way my brain works, idk. But if I need to take all of next week off to make it happen, I can...

Your YouTube premium family subscription cost has just been increased again because we as company only made $35bn in the first quarter of 2025..... Fuckers....daaaaaaah!

SmartTubeNext for Android TVs and Revanced Manager for Android phones are both very good options...
- Damn straight
- Yeah. Except I pay for other members of the family who do not have the tech knowledge to do this, and I do not want to have to do it for them....stuck
- I need to do this
- This reminds me, I was using revanced for spotify and then it died a couple of days ago. I gave up and just paid for it. At least the student version is discounted (unlike my myki fees 😞)

Holes to dig and washings to do on a full work day yaaay

Hellooo...

Echooooo
- oooooooooo

I've been getting into Westerns recently. I read Blood Meridian a little while ago and it's such a slog of a book. I wasn't into the genre much before but it feels so antithetical to all the regular tropes.

I just finished Be Cool by Elmore Leonard as well. It's not a Western but he's written a lot of them and you can see the style crossover. I thought I was reading the first Chili Palmer book, so I'll need to go back and read Get Shorty, as well as some of his Westerns.

I've also started reading the Vampire Hunter D collection I got as a result as well. It's interesting seeing the prose difference. Vampire Hunter D has such purple prose that's trying to read fancy and doesn't hit the mark at all. Be Cool had simple writing that allows it to flow. And Blood Meridian was almost too simple in that it felt plodding and hard to read because of how flat it was.

I'm also reading True Grit now because I watched the Cohen Brothers movie when it came out. They're very good at the gritty Western so I thought I'd check out the source material.

I feel like a Western is more than its American West aesthetics. There are themes of a frontier, colonialism, expansion, and areas of little to no rule of law. Westerns are very American, but a story can feel like a Western without being set in that specific time and place.

Have you tried Lonesome Dove - books and/or miniseries?
I kinda like that Blood Meridian is a damn slog, it almost highlights the foul acts committed in the books - especially that last part
- It almost makes the bad stuff stand out more that it's delivered as flatly as everything else. And there's no interrogation into why these people were so cruel. It feels like he was more interested in outlining what happened as accurately as possible with no interest in the morals of what happened.
I got into westerns a few years back as well. I even wrote some western short stories set in Tasmania and have a couple more planned.
The 2010 remake of True Grit is fantastic. Hailey Steinfeld was amazing in it. High Noon is a movie you have to add to your list. It's my favourite western (and top 3 overall movie for me. Funnily enough, Out of Sight is top 3 for me too and that's a Elmore Leonard novel - add that to your Leonard novel reading list).
Anything Clint Eastwood western is going to be good. Justified TV show for a neo-western (also based on Elmore Leonard). They adapted Get Shorty into a TV series too which was pretty good.
Jackie Brown is based off Rum Punch.
The Tall T, 3:10 to Yuma are westerns based off a Leonard short stories too.
Honestly, you are spoiled for choice with Elmore Leonard and westerns/adaptions.
You've piqued my interest.
The vampire hunter D films are absolutely incredible if you can find a copy online. Pretty sure they're on YouTube.
- I've watched them and they're quite good. The first movie is the first story from the novels and I think it cuts out a lot of unnecessary stuff to focus on the most interesting parts. I'm going to keep reading because it's easy enough to get through, but I wish the translator took some of Elmore Leonard's writing advice.
i luv westerns very much
imo, they can be set anytime, anyplace, any society, they just have two necessary themes
law is brought to a lawless place
the environment is a character
I think Blood Meridian was meant to be flat, written from the first person view of someone who has no empathy. McCarthy writes psychopaths very well.
And just like The Road was mostly written from the point of view of a someone who was NPD .
- I think having a frontier and colonialist expansion are big parts of a western. That's why they translate to sci-fi so well. Some podcasts I listen to always highlight how capitalism requires a frontier to infinitely expand. and I feel like Westerns are about bit players in that expansion.
  Like in Blood Meridian. They were getting paid for the scalps of natives, so they just scalped everyone. Because by the time they got back to who was paying, you couldn't tell what was a native scalp what was not. And they were getting paid to kill the people who lived there first just because they were a business inconvenience.
  The distance from what happens and the way it's told is a big part of that book as well.

Here's a western themed puzzle i'm doing. It's a painting by Remington. 🙂

Despite the sun being out and it being bright outside, it is not warm!

Are you wearing enough black?
- Probably not, I'm half grey as well.

My algorithm really gave me a boost this morning... You've got to give this at least a minute or so to get the full effect.

80 times Pinky had no idea what The Brain was pondering

omg
I'm pinky
and the brain has the patience of a saint

Hand sewing and crochet could be something screen-free to do before bed.

But bags and dolls are a little boring. Also the weave of the leftover cotton fabric is tight so it’s annoying to stitch. It doesn’t go smoothly and even a thimble might not help. I feel too lazy to finish any of this

There's charities that will take knitted and crochet beanies and distribute them to the homeless. It's a good way to practice different stitches and designs.
- I could definitely try that, I’m not very good at beanies though. Always get off the stitch count somehow or even with a test swatch my gauge is busted 🤨
  It seems I’m only good at socks

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

A double strength caramel iced coffee, please!
- 🍬🍬☕️☕️🥛🧊
A dose of sanity please Chef.
- ☕️
A Long-Tailed Tit BBL, please!
- 🪡🪡🪡🪡🦜
  🇧🇷🦜✈️
Coffee please chef, with a side order of motivation and some energy.
- ☕️🐈🍬
Some super spaghetti-os please
- 💸🍝
A panacea please?
- ☄️

Attempting to listen to all of the 27 KGATLW albums this month and if I hear the word rattlesnake again, it will just sound like a bunch of sounds

Damn, they've released 27 albums this month already? That's part of why I haven't bothered trying to get into them yet
- As a band, they've released 27 albums, excluding the live recordings and bootleg stuff.
  Edit: whoosh
For a band that's been around for what...15 years or so. 27 albums is an effort.
- In 2022, they released five or six albums.