Daily Discussion Thread: Thursday, 30 January, 2025

Early night tonight. Have 2 interviews tomorrow which I'm excited about!

Hopefully this saga ends soon.

Goodnight ❤️

Good luck!
Sending so many good lucks. 🍀🍀🍀
Good luck!
Also good luck to Gibson those shadows aren't going to chase themselves.
I hope one of these comes through for you and we're there for you if you need it

Most secret special potato cake eating spot (not really just the playground opposite the IGA / fish and chip place in pt. lonsdale):

Pretty easy to make friends there:

Your friends look pretty shifty.
Those potato cakes look quite nice.
- The seagulls seem to think so.

Yaaay my street is on fiiiire

What's on fire?
- Massive factory fire up near keys road. 22 vehicles and counting

The rabbits

Im taking a day off day. It's 10am and I'm starting to crack already.

I chucked a sickie today. Tired of crying at my desk!

Well I've been doing the right things with my face, which is good to know. The Dr prescribed me some antibiotics so it doesn't get infected, and I made the nurse laugh with my home made wound pads. I'd bought some from the chemist but they just weren't absorbent enough. So I thought, what if I cut up a nighttime incontinence pad and sealed the edges with wide adherence bandage tape? Works a treat, is comfortable and has a stay-dry cover.

A woman's mastery can not be contained! Many years ago my old dog had bone cancer at the top of her eye socket area. She was very well cared for but occasionally she would develop a weepy wound. A party liner stuck to a cute bandana was the easiest way to manage it. My vet was in hysterics when he first saw it.
- Lol, "panty liner bandana" might just have to go on my Future Usernames list!
hope you feel better soon 😘

Still going through some boxes and shit and found these

Be strong mummy. Be strong. 😭

And these

OMG so cute! I keep a few tiny items in the bottom of my sewing box because otherwise things are packed away and I don't get to see them as often as I'd like. So recently I saw the first tiny socks, singlet and stripey beanie they both wore as newborns 😍🥲
- I love miniatures and when you have a kid everything is miniature. Must keep going though.
Omg those booties!!
- I know. I'm keeping them.
Aww! 🥰

I've got a meeting Monday with an SLT member. If the outcome of this meeting is poor, I'll be retracting my request for a raise and moving on.

The straw has broken the camels back.

I’ll be retracting my request for a raise and moving on.
Nah. Dont make it explicit. just say "You understand the consequences of this. right? you understand what this may cost the business?" Let the threat be unsaid but hang in the air. gives you more maneuverability and them a second change to ponder the risks involved.
- "Understood."
- The workload is untenable man. We had a client offboard who had historic issues with the larger org.
  The owner of the company that got sold rang him today in what I assume was a check to see if I'm worth the raise.
  There was no chance of saving this client. First time I met the guy he straight up said "I'm not renewing"
  The client was unhappy because he felt "ignored". We have weekly meetings. I action everything he asks for.
  There's literally nothing else I could do.
  Not good enough apparently.
  Too much work, not enough time. Stress when not working. Constantly worried about work. No time to just relax.
  If I get a better offer, im out. If I get the raise, I'm waiting till I've moved house then I'm out.
  If I don't get the raise I'm stuck here till I move house first.
🤞

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-30/cheltenham-fire-factory-smoke-lithium-ion-battery-moorabbin/104874994

I was wondering what that giant smoke plume was

You should see it from south road, looks like a fuckin' massive approaching storm front

managed to score a doctors appointment cause the mrs wants me to get a blood test and just check everything doing ok. might set up the spare bed as a fallback option tonight as well. See if I cant convince the mrs to do that thing married couples often do before they fall asleep (assuming Im up to it, which there is serious doubts right now). Hopefully that, some melatonin and a chamomile tea will be enough to get me across the line tonight.

All the best homie.
- cheers! Heres hoping something works.
she cares for you ❤️
- she did NOT appreciate my joke the other week when in hospital. A nurse commented it was good of her to bring me in and i joked "Yeah she just wants to be here to make sure she doesn't miss the opportunity to pull the plug on me".

Feels like a Friday.

Oh why can’t it be Friday already?

Just saw the news on the AA accident in Washington. 😭

(I have a reli that travels frequently using AA (they’re not on that flight). I feel ill. So awful for all involved.)

I just saw the footage for the first time a moment ago on tv after hearing about it on my way home.
It looks horrific.
Same, I always feel a shock when I hear of such accidents.
The US can't catch a break right now. LA fires, Trump, and this all in the same month.

So, yesterday I managed to injure myself in the most ridiculous way possible while playing tennis. We were warming up serves, and the other guy was easing into it with some slow servew. Naturally, I decided to match the energy by being incredibly lazy, barely moving my feet and just waving my racket around like a disinterested Jedi.

Then, out of nowhere, he unleashes this rocket of a serve. For reasons I still can't explain, I just stood there, completely unprepared, and decided my best move was to swing wildly at it. Of course, I was ridiculously late, and instead of gracefully returning the ball, I managed to deflect it into my racket, which immediately ricocheted directly into the bone right below my knee.

Ensues excruciating pain and I had to pull out of the first game (and asked my tm8 to play a singles instead as the format was 2 singles and 1 doubles) while I winced and iced my knee.

Safe to say, I won't be making any highlight reels anytime soon. 😭

On the contrary, this belongs on the highlight reel. In super slow motion.
Tibialis or Patella. Tib shouldn't hurt that much from a tennis ball. Have a read up on Osgood-Schlatter syndrome.
- I don't think I explained correctly. I hit my racket on the tibia. It's quite bruised lmao

I think the plan with this job is to learn the project management software they use, catch Project Manager Brain, and then just get really good at tracking other people doing the work instead of actually doing the work

Congratulations on the Senior Project Manager and Principal Project Manager training course. Getting paid to do it is even better 😋
- I'd love a few half days to sit around learning what's urgent and what's not. This place has an internal agency for a lot of the work I need to do, so the better I get at briefing them and following up on tasks, the better I am at my job. The dream is to get to the point where I get so good at managing things I don't need to do the gruntwork, without actually having any direct reports

This is my life hack: I have now started cooking early (during the summer) because the sun beams in through my windows at around 5 making me hot and sweaty. I don't want to eat when I'm sweating buckets. The man and the kid come home around 3 and 3:30 and they're hungry so this suits everybody. Now I can relax for the rest of the evening.

Cricket!
I’ve got a dual setup happening so I have both of the matches on at the moment.

For my cat fam…

I doubt I could resist colouring those in

Just made a new friend chillin' on the 'puter screen judging my search history.

I’m at that miserable early stage of a cold where I feel cold and fatigued and brain foggy but otherwise my orifices remain closed and dry so I don’t look sick yet

certainly something going around.

Made myself a real coffee today at work.

Everyone's come in early today, argh, it's too early to see everyone today.

Today’s much better all around

I've discovered the true use for Instagram... Alan Partridge clips.

Goodnight everyone ❤️

Slept in after waking half the night. Garden is tidied up a bit more, might do a load of washing, cooking is already done, I'm taking in some nice pants I have because they are too loose now

just a weird day of doing a little of everything 🌞

also looking up how to freeze chillies as I'm getting a glut of them

Chillies- All I do is put them in a ziplock and throw in the freezer. Nothing special at all, and they come out perfect if all you use them for is chop up for dishes as needed. Don’t even need to defrost them, easy to slice. If you have too many for freezing, maybe homemade chilli jam or a sweet chilli sauce might be an idea?
glut of them
Ooh good problem to have :)
So many ways to preserve them. I've still got a bunch from 4 yrs ago in the freezer and they're still good (mushy when thawed but still hawt).
- I love this problem. 🌞🌞🌞

Knockoff time

🍻?

It is for me🙂🍻cheers
One litre special 😀

Just took Elder to a meeting at his school to get ready for the upcoming year. Feeling very excited for him right now 😃 Far less exciting is after I drop him off at home I'm going to one of those urgent care clinics for my face. It's been weeping for a week due to the ti tree oil incident. I've been cleaning and dressing the wound several times a day and wearing a mask over top to hold it all together/conceal it/keep it clean, but I want some advice about whether I should be continuing with a "wet healing" regimen or attempting to dry it out to stop the weeping.

Morning. I don’t know what I want for breakfast

I have been eating the same thing for breakfast for about 5 years.
Maybe its time for a change.
- I remember I started doing Yoghurt and muesli, figuring I'd find something better to eat for breakfast later. That was probably over ten years ago. I do mix it up occasionally though
Hot cross bun, slathered in butter and microwave warmed

It's time for me to pick between piano and guitar. Because I'm more beginner at guitar, I was thinking a piano piece a month just for fun and continue lessons with guitar. But I'm becoming demotivated, because my left hand has been randomly locking up doing practically anything, and I think it could negatively affect my playing. I held a glass pot lid yesterday with my left hand and it locked up. So we shall see.

If I was your mother I'd tell you, "that's not right, you should see someone about that hand."
But anyway: that's not right, you should see someone about that hand.
- Yes, definitely going to get it checked out soon
Ok so here's the deal. First off, please stop practising either instrument.
I would recommend speaking to your teachers asap to give you some guidance with developing strength in your hand.
It would be a bad idea to continue stressing your hand while this is happening.
- Will do, I have a lesson today :) thanks
It's great that you've stuck at both enough to need to make a choice. There might be exercises you can do to help with your hand, but if it continues to be a problem the piano might be the better way to go. Otherwise, I'd recommend sticking at both to an extent if you can. Knowing how to play two instruments usually helps learning both
- Cheers :)

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

A box of tissues please.
- just use a sock like the rest of us. (that was a joke. Im not an animal!)
- 🤧
Apparently today is National Croissant Day.
So could I please have a ham and cheee one w/ a little mustard.
- 🍖🧀🥐🍯

well that was brutal. Got to sleep after 2 hours, slept for 10 minutes got woken up by the kid sorted him out then lay awake for the next 5 hours. Thats my third night of rough sleep. Anyone tried any of those instant script or telehealth script places? thinking might be time for some melatonin cause this cant go on.

I've used insta script and they were great. Ymmv
I've done instant scripts but just for a sick day off.

Argh. Baby girl missed her Solensia. I got a reminder but forgot to write it down :(

Just finished S1 of Severance. Amazing ep, great show so far! Probably watch one more ep before bed 🥱

yeah, it's not bad.

Good night everyone. 😘

Something disheartening about going to the service desk and asking for directions to some swimmers marked as In Stock online, and the worker saying it's likely that I can't find them because every single size of that item (except 3XL) has been shoplifted.

This is Big W QV and they must get slammed by theft. He was already dealing with someone walking behind the counter and pocketing boxes of Pokémon cards and had walked over to me with a handful of discarded packaging from toys that had obviously been lifted as well.

I mean it's not nappies and baby formula getting pinched.

If it was Nappies and Baby Formula, there would have been prosecutions and security guards wrestling single mothers to the ground.
It is anything like my local Big W, since it was Pokémon Cards and Bathers, it was probably employees supplementing their minimum wage of their 7.5 hour shifts.
Pay your employees a living wage!
- no, it's not employees, it's outside thieves , I have even seen thieves go into stores, grab something , then leave
  I've seen guys stuff food down their pants and women hide items under their scarves.
  that is not say employee theft doesn't happen and that wage theft doesn't happen
  regarding unethical employment practices, this is what Liberal voters wanted when they voted for Jeff Kennett and John Howard. It was no secret.
Not a whole lot of sympathy for Big W. I'd like to check how consistently they pay super and penalty rates before I worry about their instore shrinkage.
I worked for Big W a while ago and from personal experience employee theft can be a problem. I remember they had a copy of Mafia 2 for PC in storage out the back. Perfectly good stock that just wasn't available for sale. So I took the CD and the manual with the CD key and added it to my Steam account.
- I feel bad for workers, never the company and shareholders. Big W (and Woolies) have reduced staff and jacked up prices on plenty of items, whilst shafting suppliers. Capitalism comes with side effects.
  In the (paraphrased) words of Ivan Drago 'If they die, they die'
- It fucked me over as a paying customer, which is my main concern. Lol.
My local aldi has daily thieves that steal a basket full of groceries. The staff are told not to interfere. It's pretty disheartening for them.
- Rising cost of food leads people to steal. Wife and I do occasionally 'forget' to scan items at Woolies and Coles, but never Aldi. Somehow I feel wrong for doing it there.
- I was in a handbag chain yesterday, and a man just reached into the store and took a handbag and kept walking. Apparently he does it a couple of times a week. The staff said that he's banned from the shopping centre. I will admit I'm a sheltered being, but it surprised me.
I was at Chemist Warehouse in Brunswick last week looking for natio deodorant. I asked for assistance because there was none and the assistant told me it's because there is so much theft and it's NOT for necessities. It's products like make up and deodorants the thieves then sell on line. Assistant rang a few other stores to see if they had the product I wanted on the shelves and they do not check inventory on line. They actually check the shelves because there is so much theft.
and aldi in Brunnie asked to check my tote bag!!
- I've had the same experience at CW. Very hard to rely on "In stock in store" on their website a lot of the time.

Good news, it turns out Melbcat already had her Solensia at another place.

Bad news -

Plugged away at some desktop work that I'd left to the last minute, didn't delegate it though because I really don't want to do any fieldwork when it's 39C next week... this way if there's not enough desktop work to go around next week, I can just use this week's hours. But also super procrastinating on/avoiding uni fieldwork even though it's not too hot today...

Connoisseur ice cream (tub and sticks) is half price at Coles this week. It's awful for my health and my gut and dairy ain't good for the environment but boy am I tempted with this weather coming up. I used to love Proud & Punch ice lollies but they seem to only have the ones with vegan ice cream in them now and like... no don't mix the two up yuck.

Might indulge in a tub for home and the mini sticks to share at work.

I think I might get some headphones like this for the office. My work laptop only has USB-C ports and this shitty Jabra headset I have is only USB A, it doesn't even have the option to just use the 3.5mm jack.

Dual bluetooth audio, and audio over USB so I can use it plugged in, because the laptop may have a headphone jack, but the hub I connect it t at my desk does not:

https://edifier.com.au/collections/over-ear-on-ear-headphones/products/w800bt-pro-wireless-over-ear-headphones

If you can use it plugged in AND bluetooth...get them. I got a pair of Sony ones that don't the plugged audio. Bit of a shame, as they're comfy as.
- These explicitly state they do audio over USB. I have some older Sony headphones and all they're missing is multi device and audio over USB. USB C headphones are unfortunately such a mess and just because a pair can do it doesn't mean it will work with your devices
I plan to get Soundcore Q45 which go on sale for A$150.
I have been using the A$80 Soundcore A40's, with A$30 Soundcore A20i's as a backup.
- The soundcores look good but I'm looking to spend a little less for office headphones. I'd be open to some quality soundcores when my Sony's die for similar quality at a fraction of the price