I made it to Sydney for my birthday today and the weather really put on a show. Short sleeves and sun hat and 500% good mood despite feeling like I nearly died a few times on the fucking roads. Getting thoroughly spoiled for the weekend. Made a few professional contacts this week too which was rewarding
E: thanks everyone for the lovely wishes!! Somehow lemmys notifications weren't working so I saw nothing until now when I'm just about to go to bed and thought I'd check the dt. It's actually great not being on a device all day. I've decided I'm going to go on more long trips and get through the backlog of Conversations with Richard Fidler
Man. Both my parents recently did ancestry kits. My mum’s dad was adopted so it was nice to work out where she really came from and she’s connected with a long lost uncle (I think I’ve mentioned that in the DT before)
But 90% of the stuff that has come out has been both fascinating and a headache. As the family academic historian, the job of wading through the shit has fallen to me. I love it but god damn once skeletons are out of that closet there’s no way to put them back.
Through ancestry we’ve found out that adopted grandfather is likely the result of family sexual violence, which is why the family wiped all record of him and long lost great-uncle never knew he existed; mum’s mum is not related to her parents at all, not anyone else in her family. She’s actually the child of a young girl that lived down the street who was 16 at the time she had nana. The father is the 46 year old father of her friend; it’s likely that the woman who, according to the new family tree, is nana’s niece, is actually also her sibling, which means old mate had a sexual relationship of some kind with his daughter.
I was just helping dad this morning. Populate his family tree and BAM. Ancestry gives us his grandparent’s marriage certificate, but also 4 OTHER marriage certificates in the name of his grandfather, with other women all over the world. And no divorce certificates. 🤦♀️ old mate had 5 wives and god knows how many children.
At this point I’m just like, come at me. Oh, incest? Is that the best you’ve got? Bigamy? Unregistered adoptions? Child’s play.
You wanna know the worst of it all?
Mum was always interested in the family history, but the older generations were VERY cagey about it all. When mum’s nana died, mum went around to the house where the will had just been read out to her grandfather. He told her, “your grandmother wrote you a letter explaining the family history and left it in with the will for me to give to you. But I was too incriminating to too many people, so I burnt it.”
To this day, when me and my cousins get together we get drunk and ask each other
Dear lord. I'm the sort of family tree person in my family and thank goodness no skeletons like that unearthed on my mum's side. Mostly just war survival stories or unfortunate alcos/gamblers. There's one pedophile but that's been known for over a decade.
Dad's side, we already had the bomb dropped on us when I was 18 and found out he had a whole 'nother TWO families in different countries and three children between them, one of which was born after his first grandchild. I'm not interested in finding out any more.
But your mum's parents, christ on a bicycle. I wonder how she's been coping with the revelations too
Tinyest is still not happy. We’re trying a dummy. He hates it, but refuses to let go till he spits it out. I tried to remove it and got smacked. I didn’t know he had that level of hand control!
I just want to eat all the things, so I have assembled an emergency vegetable stick plate with garlic yoghurt dip. Hopefully this will distract me from less healthy alternatives.
My first tip is really more a superstition than a tip. If you spill salt, you have to flick some over your left shoulder and you might as well flick some over your right too for good measure because my Nana said so and she lived until her 80s.
I wonder why this is such a prevalent superstition. Salt as a means of purification is a big thing in Japanese culture and Shintoism as well. That’s why the sumo wrestlers throw salt over their shoulders before they run at each other. A lot of restaurants have little bowls of salt at their front door too and sprinkle on the sidewalk to ward off bad luck.
I know a few grannies who throw salt outside the front door when they’ve had a visitor that they did like/didn’t want to come back
Without looking it up I'm gonna assume it has to do with salt once being a precious commodity so using it to ward of evil spirits would be like giving it all you've got. 🤷♀️
The really surprising thing to me is that none of the 'stans have done likewise. The 'stans are supplying most of Russia's troops that aren't criminals apparently. To the point where more than 80% of the males under 40 are now in Russia's army. Like, most of their tax base and productive citizens. Prigozhin would do well to enlist their support. Interesting program recently on ABC RN about Trans-Nistria (part of Romania next to Ukraine) that was enlightening about the choices available to ex-soviet countries during this conflict. Prigozhin is clearly nearly as big a bastard as Putin, but appears to have the guns on his side for the moment. The abc live blog made the interesting point that Prigozhin took control of the Rostov airport 'so that the planes would be shooting at Ukraine and not us'. Says a lot I think.
Today started off as a bish of a day. But I wasn’t about to let that keep me down. Made a successive purchase at UniQlo . Got a couple of errands done, the others will have to wait until next week. Did a bit of walking. Just need shower, something to eat then chill for the rest of the night I think
I have eyes but I can’t see
I have skin but I can’t feel anything
I can be sweet but I’m not a piece of candy
I can be baked but I’m not a cake
I am best prepared in a microwave
Hmm, there is a suspicious smell in the lounge room. The dog is blaming the cat. The cat is blaming the dog. I think going for a walk until it clears might be the best option at this point.
Would you guys like me to give you household tips everyday? Because I have a lot of books on the subject and I have done many experiments over the years. My mum and dad were cleaners in past lives. We call cobwebs "Christmas decorations".
Tinyest is in near meltdown. He’s tired as shit but won’t sleep, and has slobbered so much he’s soaked 2 sets of clothes tonight. Bit worried we might be teething but he’s still under 3 months.
Wondering how long we let this go on before we give him some baby Panadol.
No. Just lots and lots of slobber. Though he’s finally having a feed and not pulling away and crying every 5 seconds so hopefully we’re getting somewhere.
I'm in that weird state where I feel like I'm hungry but I nothing sounds appetizing. Been smashing big glasses of water which is probably just adding to the confusion.
Anyway, I've been binging the mystery/horror TV show "From" this week. I've been really good to not read anything online about where it's going but I'm only 4 episodes from being caught up. I was a sucker for Lost when it aired, so the mystery part of this has me curious. Hopefully the answers aren't lame.
I'm watching it too! I'm 2 episodes behind. The first series had me enthralled but I've been struggling a little with the second season. I think some of the newer characters have taken some time to grow on me though
Honestly I'm still struggling with the season 1 characters haha they do that classic thing of not communicating, and being suuuuper annoying/making insane decisions. I find myself just internally screaming "JUST EXPLAIN WHAT YOU SAW/HEARD!! IT'S NOT GOING TO SOUND CRAZY, EVERYTHING IS CRAZY!!" oh but then when they DO explain something, their friends/loved ones are like "bitch you crazy".. WHAT?!?
Also, Jade yells too much. That's the end of my ranting.
Had a borderline productive day today, wife went to get takeaway for dinner and some other errands, had a shower, got my cozy clothes on....it's motherfucking nap time!!!!!
I am planning a day in the city, now I just need to wait for a day that I am both not working and that does not look likely to be rainy. It might be a while.
Primarily a visit to the museum (possibly with an Exhibition Building tour) and to the Systems Garden at Melbourne University (which I put a link to on the main page). Depending on time and enthusiasm I might do a breakfast at Birrarung Marr and the self-guided tour of the State Library.
I keep finding lots of interesting things though, so there will probably be more days to come. I haven't really been doing much like that since pre-Covid.
Another day another bunch of hours doing volunteer work for my organisation. Felt so good to be among my tribe all day and help some members of our community live better lives. Between that and some aa meetings I'm going to feel pretty damn good about myself.
Not much else to report other than it was bloody cold and hand warmers are fantastic.
One of my favourite youtube channels has put out a video on the submarine thing, explaining how it was built, what might have gone wrong to lose it and how it was found
Mine is currently making angry biscuits next to me cause her regular blanket is in a different spot . Only one couch seat over but that's enough apparently
I was going to do Useful Things but this weather is just demanding that I curl up with a cuppa, a book, and a blanket. And maybe a wee bit of shortbread. Oh well.
Going through some old paperwork as part of Operation Sort Shit and found my father's birth and death certificates in an old envelope of tax stuff from two decades back.
I was that close to putting it aside for disposal without checking... 😳
This is why I’ve been going through all the boxes of stuff I’ve ‘inherited’, instead of just chucking it. Feels like a never ending task but finding occasional important or sentimental things makes all the stress and effort worthwhile. Good luck with the sorting, I’m with you in spirit!
Exactly! And it was just that one envelope from H&R Block I thought 'eh, old tax stuff from the 90's, can just get rid of that' and something just prompted me to open up and check...
But been finding some amazing stuff including stuff Mum said she couldn't find years back.
Wayne's World. Weird Al. Withnail and I. Welcome to Whoop Whoop. Wilde. The Wackness. Watchmen. Waterworld. Where Eagles Dare ('68 Western). Wyatt Earp.
Some days they hand over the coffee and immediately I can sense it's a bit light and I'm like maybe they just made it extra frothy which is crap but whatever. Then I open the lid and sure enough it's not filled to the rim - like I mean a good 2cm under. My eye starts twitching and I'm like is that too petty for me to get pissed? At what point do you go this is bullshit and ask them to fill it right up (which reminds me of a simpsons episode where Homer was getting a dessert or something and was asking that acne teenager to "fill it up...righttt up")
It’s not petty, you pay for a coffee which is the size of cup that you bought. 2cm under is a lot. Sometimes if theyre making multiple coffees, they may have misjudged the milk needed and you got the short end of the stick.
Yus, but only because I wanted other Reddit DTers to recognise me (although maybe one could argue it was a missed opportunity to start over with a clean slate 😅)
Be careful as well if it ends up being inflamed and causing a blockage. It can cause vertigo or cause you to be severely unbalanced as you move around.
Toasted sangy for lunch. Caught in the rain in the way home. Pea n ham soup in the slow cooker. Finally installing heated grips on the bike. Listening to Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666. VV a bit gaunt these days, but thanks for the love metal anyways. 😂
So excited for toasty hands that I can feel when I’m riding, instead sad frozen hand that make me manoeuvre like a mannequin. 🖤
Drivers need to learn to use indicators more when they are turning. Mother chucker. What is it with so many drivers not using their indicators anymore!
Bugger. Thought I'd cancelled the Spotify subscription but it must not have gone through.
Ah well, time to use the hell out of it (which I don't usually do due to noise sensitivity).
Is it worth adding a profile summary to my linkedin? I haven't really done much there other than add my current job details. My current job is ok but I am also keeping an eye out for other jobs....
Had many errands to run this morning and meant to be at a mates place right now. However the tiler that was meant to come next week turned up this morning. Very tempted to send them away but I just want to get the job done and Gavin to stop dealing with traddies. Some traddies are just a different breed.
Thank God I did the night grocery run yesterday evening even though the little shits don't seem to like chicken thigh. Hmph.
A well-earned puttery day is on the cards.
I feel like I'm cursed when it comes to tech lately... yesterday the LCD backlight on my phone died, last night a gift card (www.ultimategiftcards.com.au - not recommended) my wife bought in 2021 at 15% off at Coles a couple of years back that we finally decided to use for the first time on dinner refused to work, and then this morning I had a hard drive issue on my RAID array in my computer, that exposed a problem with grub not being properly installed and caused a cascade of other problems that I've only just got working again (fingers crossed).
Hopefully the run of tech failures is over and my whole Lemmy server doesn't fail or something when I post this!
End of last year Qantas emailed us that we had been moved to an 2hr earlier flight, giving us about an hour to get to the airport after the email. Had to argue with support that it wasn’t enough notice and we won’t be able to make it to the flight on time.
I've pulled a muscle in my arse. I figure it happened while I was mopping the floor at work yesterday. Worse than a paper cut. It's been a while since I felt something this painful. Stupid muscle! Why is it that the things that you usually have no cause to think about give you such grief when you do/are forced to think about them?
My apologies Goddess for the content of my posts this morning.
I hope you reported it to your OH&S representative.
Not only will you be covered by a WorkCover if you injure your arse again, you will give your HR department something humorous to see them through the week.
I only realised this morning when my bladder woke me up. I work for a very niche gourmet food manufacturing industry hiring >10 people, so there's no HR department, only my boss. If it still hurts Monday then I'll have to tell the boss about my arse. 🤦🏼♀️🙆🏼♀️
Just heard Mrs B growl: “dog 2! Use your brain! TinyBreak keeps saying you’ve got one but your yet to to prove it” and I’m sitting here trying now to howl with laughter. Before you feel sorry for dog 2 know that he has been inside for 2 minutes before he tried to eat the cat food right under Mrs b’s nose. He is smart, in his own very unconventional way.
nah, its just cold. plenty of nights it has been heaving. though I would say there's a tendency - in my experience - for the middle nights of thebweek to be way busier woth all the TWATS than used to be the case.
I lolled at the wife who didn't want him to go. If it were me I'd be the one suggesting the trip. "Sweetheart, do you have a spare month or two so we can go on a hike or somethin'?" ( but may be an easier one than the one in the movie , I'm old!! )
Rando question... anyone got any advice on an outdoor rated smart plug? struggling to find any that get good reviews, but I know nothing about this. not looking to set up a smart home or anything, but the wife just bought outdoor lights for the garden and terrace, and I reckon she'd be stoked if she could just turn them on with an app/"hey google".
Hello all, just wanted y'all's opinion on sales. I'm looking to buy a super nice swanky coat but I'm not in a rush, I'm happy to wait for end of winter sales. However I'm wondering if the EOFY sales deals will be better than the end of season ones (plus I've been seeing so many winter sales already? are they just EOFY sales?)
Going to be doing some planning tomorrow for the US trip but if my calculations are correct.. we will drive from Boulder, Colorado to Las Vegas.. which is the route the characters travel in The Stand! I've been reading the Dark Tower series for the first time so this is pretty exciting.
I've had to draw the last bit of the route because Google Maps said I've got too many destination but this is what I think it'll be, maybe.
I really hope they are not sentient. I have some growing just outside. What if they are looking through the windows at me and planning to take over? I am greatly outnumbered.
Update of the Lemmy version on the instance. There are a few other changes to the layout as well.
The red line is not a popular change, but I am starting to get used to it now. I do find the way the lines for other comments stack make it a bit easier to see which level those repies are.
The first time in 5 years someone was waiting on my apartment building floor for the elevator as I was arriving at my floor and I'd just unleashed hell on it between floors 6 and 10. I'm so sorry, neighbour just trying to take some recycling downstairs.