Daily Discussion Thread: 🏆 Mon 29 Jan 2024

Someone yesterday kindly informed me that the really good daily thread had moved here so here I am! Hi everyone. In other news for the fourth day in a row, I don't think I will be able to leave my study or house. Way to many PhD things to do right now.

Hey, you made it! Welcome to the friendly thread!
G'day!
I was gonna reply something like this about your blinds based phd but you're here now so here it is:
- Your comment has got me thinking way to much about the history of Venetian blinds and I do feel there is a procrastination research rabbit hole in the near future for me.
Hello!! It's a bit more of an echo chamber here and there's not much activity on the sub itself but lots more of the friendly daily rambling vibe on the old DT. Great to see you here. Good luck with getting through the current research hole! I hope you're all stocked up on food and drinks.
- was too many bad snacks stocked up but hey thinking burns calories right?
How are your comedy adventures with alllll of the cats and Pomeranian going?!
- It is about as disastrous and hilarious as you would imagine. Four is too many animals for one person, especially when they all want love and attention.
I still remember some of your photos from when you were abroad and envy the view you had while you were there looking out from the windows.
Good to see you here!
- hahah yeah I have to say miss that view of the grand canal from my desk, my view here of my carport really cant compare.

Omg today has been an amazing day for my PhD research. I am in the process of organising all my data from the archive trips last year and really analysing it. Long story short, without doxxing my topic, I think, as of today, I have enough data to prove my research question with very little shadow of a doubt!

The really important question is - has your wonderful floofy cat forgiven you for your extended absence? Pix please!
- Yes, he has become very clingy, though. This was yesterday in the study.
That must be so satisfying! Congratulations! ✨
wonderful 😸
Yayyyy, congrats!!

Hire car returned, new car purchased and rego transferred.
I'm beat! Car drives like a dream though.

I drank half a bottle of orange juice and smashed a bunch of dried apricots and pears. Had issues in the toilet of the explosive nature, but I still feel the rumblings within.

Pray for me

This just gave me war flashbacks to the time I ate half a bag of dried apricots in the middle of a work day completely unaware of what they will ruthlessly do to your digestive tract.
That would be the sulfurous preservatives. The bowels of Hell are about to open in your bathroom
(plus the sorbitol in the apricots and pears)
- Ah ha! Now I know which chemicals are to blame for my problèmes de toilettes.
  Damn them, why are they so delicious 😭

GAH! I did it! I wrote the 3 Difficult Emails that I'd been procrastinating on for over two weeks. I hate asking people for potential opportunities out of the blue. I still feel like I have little to offer on balance (often feels like social likeability is valued disproportionately higher than skills even for moderately technical roles). So it's hard to reach out and deal with potential rejection especially when deep down inside it kind of feels like none of this matters anyway.

Maybe 4-5pm wasn't the best timing, but I felt like I could send em off, shut my laptop and ignore it all until tomorrow morning.

Currently making this extremely easy and banging Chinese recipe: Cumin potatoes inspired by Cumin Lamb from Xi'an Chinese Muslim street food. Only made it once before and I did have baby potatoes at the time, keen to see how this works out with big potatoes I had to cut into thick coins and then quarters.

To the downvoter who downvotes this thread every day, you make laugh. 😂

So I'm putting my toys together and the little dog doesn't like electronics so he jumps on the kid, who of course is on her phone, to get away. Then I hear "oh my god dude. You just wiped your dick across my screen". 😂 I couldn't tell her off because I was laughing 😂

lol

I turned down the kitten that was up for adoption through a friend of a friend. As cute as it is, after doing some research, I think I'm better off adopting an adult cat. I was worried about single kitten syndrome and all of the work involved in caring for a high energy kitten. Plus I'm about to make a big career change and want to settle with that before I adopt. UGH responsible decision making.

Anyone got any of those winning lottery tickets? First day back after holidays and I'm already pining to get out of here....

I'll take one too if you find someone with a few... I'm not sure what this 'holiday' thing IS of which you speak, but it sounds interesting...

Mummy got cleaning toys, kids 😎 a stick vacuum and a spot cleaner. It's time to play play play.

stick vacuum
What did you get? We went with a Samsung when we moved house last year because we're now double-story and have to contend with stairs for the first time in decades. Honestly, the stick vac is a game changer, no regrets at all, way better than pushing around the old heavy Dyson.
- Just the Aldi version, nothing fancy. It's just for quick clean ups. I have a proper vacuum for the major clean. That's a miele and when it dies I'll replace it with another miele.

Back from interstate yesterday. Attended a lovely wedding Saturday night and kiddo had an awesome time with his nana and uncle. Flight was amazing too, to my great surprise. But my god flying with a baby even one who is being chill is a whole lot more work than I expected.

My sister and her husband are currently overseas with their 5 month old and omg listening to what they had to prepare for the travel was exhausting to listen too. Never realised before just how much you have to plan when flying with a baby.

I just realised that the other day when I cooked party pies and sausage rolls that I'm pretty sure I accidentally used the grill function of instead of the oven function and they actually turned out really great. I'm going to try again now for lunch, for science.

Science results: SUCCESS! The grill officially heats party pies and sausage rolls better than the oven.

Made pizzas yesterday but only had enough toppings the kids like for one pizza for them. Decided on a whim to put some leftover chicken cacciatore on the other one with a sprinkle of cheese. Can 100% recommend!

Today's lunch toastie really hit the spot. Chicken, cheese, onion, sauerkraut and a mix of tomato relish and mayonnaise. On a dark capeseed loaf.

Sounds delicious!
a toastie sounds delicious
but I can't cook at the moment 😔
Yeah it's toastie time here too, I was going to make it with some really nice free-range leg ham we have in the fridge, but we also have heaps of roast chicken leftover from yesterday's dinner, so better use that up first
Dear god that sounds so good and much better then the packet of Burger Rings I am having.

Pump up the jam, pump it up while your feet are stompin' and the jam is pumpin', look at here the crowd is jumpin'.

I should have stayed a night or two in hospital but I didn’t wanna. 😔

Now I swear doc thought I was faking and wouldn’t give me a script for anything stronger than nurofen.

I have terrible pain but limited loss in joint and muscle mobility and strength

this is what happens when you’re a fitter than most people your age ( which is pathetic considering I’m unfit ) and diligently do sciatica exercises all the time

@Seagoon @CEOofmyhouse56 I am new to the chronic pain merry-go-round, but it seems doctors who don't know you well will pretty much assume this by default. It's exhausting. I even had the rural GP who ordered my MRI which showed clearly there was signal behave like there wasn't really anything more he could do. I think he was a bit grumpy that his diagnosis of "likely tennis elbow" was incorrect.
- thank you so much for the kind words
  hugs to you too :)

Survived my first day back at work today but some good and bad to come out of it.

Someone on "team" resigned so some of those duties are going to fall on my shoulders and I'm not sure if it's possible to get work of that nature accomplished in my work environment which is very open plan.

Second thing that's been asked of me is to work off site twice a week which means making multiple trips during the week to do that and it's only for an hour offsite which irks me more since I can't begin or end the day there which would make it much better to stomach.

Guess I may have no choice in either, point 1 I'll bring up that I can only do what I can do given my workload and concentration needed.

Point 2 I'm not sure how I can negotiate that or come up with some sort of compromise.

I'm absolutely hopeless with negotiations but it certainly sounds like you deserve some compensation for all this extra work.
- It’s still up for discussion at the moment depending on what the time table looks like but I may only have to do 1 day now offsite and I’ll be afforded some extra liberties as well such as taking my time and running some small personal errands if I’m out and don’t have to travel too far.
  Will see how it goes after the first couple of weeks.

These sc(p)am messages are getting real annoying

The worst thing about them is that they use the Commbank contact info. I’ve seen a few mixed in with legit ones on my phone.
- Exactly! The first time I got it I was in the city and close to a CommBank store so I went in and asked what's going on. The lady said yeah we know about it and we're trying to fix this 🤷‍♂️

I’m still fighting with myself about buying some but got turned off from someone doing a review and highlighting some of the not so good ingredients in the one I wanted.

ugh, cluster knocked me on my arse this morning, I slept all day now I'm wired AF. Just what I need heading back after a week off.

Tell me about it, slept in because I wanted to dodge the worst of the pain, but woke up just feeling irritable and restless. Been trying to do some gentle exercise, the worst of the pain is gone but I'm so lethargic, my limbs feel so heavy, but my mind is racing. I want to go for a jog, but I can't move my neck without intense pain through my whole skull, and I'll probably shit myself if I stray too far from a bathroom. Not how I wanted to spend my last day of annual leave.
On the plus side, there's ice cream in the freezer, I think I will did manage to dodge the attack pain, just dealing with the aftermath now but even if I do get a proper attack - I have one dose of my emergency migraine meds left, and work should be pretty chill this week.

YAY: day off - sneaky four day weekend BOO: no sleep from massive headache.

Might potter around and see if I can go get a massage to fix whatever has got caught up in my shoulder/neck.

Still it's a bewdiful day out there ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

You have a headache too, samesies lol
Remember, plenty of water 💜
- They seem to be going around, hugs to you both 💕
- You too! Hugs.

I bought a new keyboard. It's delightfully clicky and styled after the Famicom.

Enthroned, I wear this crown of pain,
\ Nightmares filled my head again.
\ Grind my teeth to mask the fear,
\ All my demons dance and jeer.

Cloaked in stars, I shine so bright,
\ But I cannot see my own light.
\ Close my eyes and breathe in deep,
\ And feel the stars begin to weep.

All my demons dance and jeer,
\ Grind my teeth to mask the fear.
\ Nightmares filled my head again,
\ Enthroned, I wear this crown of pain.

Phone holder set up and Bluetooth dongle now integrated with car stereo.
Yiss.

Has anyone here gone down the cbd oil route as an anxiety/mood stabiliser?

I had a mate who was prescribed it as a trial. It was amazing for a few months but then they got accustomed and the anxiety got worse until they stopped it. Apparently that's a rare side effect ( to end up with worse anxiety). They were great on it while it lasted though
I take Tassie botanics cbd100 to sleep, but I have heard oils can help with anxiety too. At least, it helps my partners anxiety.
As an aside, I have heard not so great things about many clinics so do your research. I have found medicann (not 'medcann') based on perth to be great. Dr David Turton is amazing, such an empathetic and lovely man. You can also check out oil products on cannareviewsau.co, you'll need to make an account but they have never spammed me.
Good luck!
CBD had no effect on by body or mind at all.

I know it's wrong but I like seeing the car crashes on Australian Idol.

How good are they lol
- That young dude who sung I'm too sexy, god bless his little cotton socks.🤭

How is it that in every multipack of something, drinks/icy poles/yoghurt etc., there is always one flavour that sucks arse and nobody in the house wants? Carefully constructed awfulness.

No one would buy the awful flavour otherwise. All part of the great "I know what I want to make and you just have to buy it anyway" conspiracy. God forbid that we should actually buy what WE want. Case in point - bath soap. Every supermarket in Aust stocks one million brands of liquid soap, but only (at most) 3 different kinds of bar soap. I prefer to use bar soap in the shower - and the brand I prefer is only available occasionally. It appears that other folk also prefer this brand as it sells out in approximately 3 nanoseconds when it's in stock. Then there's a wait of months before it's in stock again. So when I see it I buy up several months worth. As do the other buyers. You would think the supermarkets would keep more of it in stock more regularly, but no. They want us to buy the liquid soap instead.
- @Thornburywitch @Catfish liquid soap is waaaay more profitable. And worse for the environment. I guess maybe time to see if you can source your preferred brand direct from the manufacturer?
  https://gogreenhongkong.com/2011/09/20/the-truth-bar-soap-vs-liquid-body-wash/
I note you have chosen not to name the specific offending flavours. Go on, be brave.
- Banana, mango, bubble gum, fairy floss, Blueberry. And strawberry. The real fruit is fine, flavouring is not.

Ohh I forgot to mention, I found out my car seat has this extending function and it's SO COMFORTABLE. I didn't think it'd make a lot of difference but it's actually so good. It just supports your thighs so much compared to the normal seat. If you get a chance to get a car with this, I fully recommend it.

Ordered some period jocks... got sent a pair with the right tag but the wrong style 😤

Guess they get donated to the food pantry (brand new and untouched) along with the nine cans of disliked cat food. There's gotta be someone out there who likes that style and some cat that eats that flavour.

Can’t you ask for a replacement pair?
- That requires effort :(

It is Miss Meow's third Gotcha Day today! 🎂🥳🎉

I've been using Amazon for years, never had an issue, but the delivery that was due last Thursday got delayed until today, but still no sign of it and the 'onboard for delivery' status hasn't changed since Thursday afternoon. Amazon sent a text apologising for the delay and if I don't receive it today I can claim a refund tomorrow.

If I do get a refund but then the delivery miraculously turns up, do I get to keep it for free? Like I say, never had this issue before.

Yes
You probably could as the delivery was beyond their acceptable timeframe ... they're the ones saying you can claim, no backsies.

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

Steak and eggs please !
- 🥩🍳🍳
It”s a croissant sort of day I think
- 🥐
Coffee, and a lightly toasted wholemeal muffin with smoked salmon, poached eggs and a rich fruity chutney.
- ☕️_🔥🧁💨🐟🥚🍓🍓🍯
Pavlova for me, and fish cake for Miss Meow please. Big servings, as Mr Woof would like to eat the leftovers.
- 🍓🫐🍒🧁🐟

Oh no. The VPN is stuffed. What a tragedy.

I watched the whole of BBC War and Peace. Cried the whole way thru.

It made me feel life was both beautiful and pointless.

4.5 hobbits

So Google AdWords accounts have been hacked and scammers are posing as Google AdWords managers sending demanding emails re fake debt. When logging a support case with Google re the scam emails, they admitted they had been compromised and the account name and number had been leaked. Won’t be doing any more business with them..

This must be very recent? Is it something you could reported to the government? https://www.cyber.gov.au/report-and-recover/report

🍓🫐🍒🧁🐟