Daily Discussion Thread: Fri 24 Nov 2023

Ted Cat says Hi.

Still looking thin & hungry - maybe a third breakfast is called for?
- He's very small for his breed. 😔 He was starved when he was growing up.
2 breakfastses. You lucky little thing.
Hi!

Well it happened again.

About 15 yrs ago I was playing with my cat and I fell over and fucked my lower back / hip.. 2 yrs ago I fell off my bike and I could feel it almost unfucked my back (counter intuitive, but it rearranged something). Then.. when swimming in the ocean a few times straight after it felt like something had really changed.

Had a big stretch and there was an almighty 'clunk'.. something popped back in. It was extremely satisfying. Woke up to zero (0!) back pain. I've been dreaming of that 'clunk' ever since even though the back / hip was all good.

Anyway that 'clunk' happened again this morning.

Dreams do come true.

I've had that clunk happen!!

I was also having a "stretch" 😉
this is a satisfying story
chiropractors hate him
- dr. homer's miracle spine-o-cylinder
Might have spondylolithesis?
- Jeez just had a read on that.. It likely wasn't that.. that looks really bad.

Just a little message between the man and I.

Noted with thanks.
- We're very fucking professional here.

It's Friday Fritter Day!

Plate of vegetable fritters served with salad

Corn & zucchini fritters, served with salad and mint yoghurt dressing. I made enough to feed a small army, so the freezer will be filled with many future fritters too.

I love corn fritters! And big batches are necessary, eggs don’t come in halves or quarters.
- I used 3 eggs in this batch! 22 fritters in total.
- I forgot to add to my other comment - powdered eggs are a thing. They are perfect for when you want to make something like fritters or pancakes in amounts smaller than one egg worth.
Oh yum. That salad look pretty delicious too!

It's 2am, I should be sleeping, and all I can think about is how absolutely awesome it would be to drive or work on one of the super long distance trains, like the ones across the nullabor or up north. I mean, probably not that awesome for most normal people, but I love trains, love being in the middle of nowhere, and hate people. Going on a 40 hour train ride through actual nowhere is genuinely a dream

It sounds like being a train driver would be a job choice for you. Not sure if you need to be qualified to drive metro trains before you can get to do the long distance ones (given they also run in towns). But you'd probably enjoy metro trains as well - even though there are a lot of people on the trains you don't interact with them as a driver, the only interaction is putting out the wheelchair ramp as needed. Downside is hitting the occassional person which can be stressful.
- I thought about that and used to really want to (although I was leaning slightly more towards vline than metro). But train driver positions usually draw a lot of applicants, and out of those they accept almost none
I've thought EXACTLY the same.

I've gone down the occasional rabbit hole of watching YouTube videos of this kind of thing, and I think there may have been a TV series a few years back following drivers and crews of different trains around the country, these Nullarbor ones included. Plus the whole Ghan slow-travel thing on SBS too.
- Yeah, I was up watching videos of the really long freight trains last night until 2:30

Man I hate mornings after a big fight with my partner.

Turn Back Time plays whilst they sip their coffee....

Both my references were contact today, one missed the call and will call back Monday. Not celebrating yet, but definitely getting closer to victory!

Th*nksg*v*ng is the clearest reminder that the internet is American and the rest of us are just visiting.

Speaking of America, I hope the new Jamba juice place gives Boost a scare. They've been too comfy for too long.

Yah or nah for the lighting? Please ignore the massive mess.

It's also not as bright in the photo. Like maybe 30% ish of that

Oo i'm a fan. Planning on actually diffuse lighting the bathroom and laundry eventually

(Convincing His Lordship we also need to home automate an intruder alert protocol that cuts all lights to deep red and starts playing the imperial march)
- That will be awesome...but also scary lol!
I’m a nah. I find light like this disorienting. But given the unlikelyhood of that being relevant, carry on
hell yeah!
What kind of light is that? Like an LED strip?
- early bird gets the worm
  what does an early god get?
- It's the Nanoleaf LED strip plus I think a 2m extension
Looks great, and you have a fabulous view btw
- The view is amazing. Check out my comment from yesterday. Gorg sky yesterday 😍

Just used a Container Deposit Scheme machine for the first time, easy and fast to use, quite fun actually. I got $7 back and now there's less to go in our home recycling.

Done with work, I am ded.
Gonna eat dinner,
Then play mobile games in bed.
Work again
At 8 AM
I'd better order my coffin
Before all the sales end.

Take care out there Teddy bear

Just caught the neighbours' cat using butters' kitty litter that is not on my fren.. quite literally casually came in and took a shit.. that's not on my little fren I'm not standing for it and nor would bboi.

Had a chat with the housemate and she's keen on adopting a cat!! Now to ask the REAs permish. Any tips on how to approach it?

I do know you are legally bound by the Australian Constitution as well as state and local laws to submit photographic evidence of your adorable kitty to the Melbourne DT community.

Also consider “Baby Jeebus” as a name for aforementioned kitty.
Ask forgiveness not permission. They cant legally say no. Also Neko cat rescue are amazing! check them out.
- But the problem is that they might not renew our lease then no?
Ask them how much the pet bond is. It is the most efficient way to ask permission for a pet, while also being aware that there are costs associated with it that you won't give them hassle over.
- What? Pet bond isn’t a thing.

Chemist dude always has to touch me in a creepy way. 🫠

moan loudly next time he does that
Wait, what? When or why would chemists ever have a reason to touch you?
- Yea I've never had a chemist touch me.
- I know right? I think he’s sweet on me lol.
A high-pitched Eeeeeeeeee should stop that.
Errk. Used to hate going to the family dentist for just that reason. Horrible.
- It’s even worse because I’m not really a touchy type person at all. Not even to people I love dearly, which is kind of creepy in its own way I guess.

TW Chronic pain, TMI medical issues, suicide.

Yeah, I'm pretty tough and try not to complain but this pain is debilitating. It has been for a very long time. It's been slowly and steadily worsening to the point I'm not really able to eat anymore, am in pain everyday like my guts are eating themselves and have gone from being borderline impacted at most times to constantly having the runs for no reason. Mostly bedbound at this point and the things I can do are severely diminished. This isn't even my main fucking disability. I am medically complex.

I've been seeking help for at least 15 years, closer to 20 now. I've taken the meds that are supposed to dull the pain. Had all the tests. I've done the liquid medical diets. Have admitted myself to emergency department repeatedly in the past, and have had drs/specialists be pretty rude and indifferent about it, telling me it's psychosomatic, or dismissing me as a drug seeker. I've been denied more tests by the gastroenterologists despite the last ones being 6 years ago and an important one being unsuccessful. Seeking a second opinion got me charged out the nose and handballed back. I've also been denied a J tube that would feed me abdominally.

This is unfortunately a common experience for chronically ill/chronic pain patients. But I'm going to have another crack at the hospital merry go round on Monday and hoping that having someone to back me up helps. Unfortunately Melbcat will have to go into temporary foster care which is so hard for me. (I can't explain to her what's happening, tell her not to be scared or reassure her that I'm coming back. And a run of bad luck means we weren't even able to get her to her vet appointment yet. Every single time we line one up something happens and it falls through.)

But this chronic severe pain and inability to eat is debilitating, it has been for a long time, and without being dramatic it is genuinely making me consider ending my life if it can't be controlled. I can't just keep doing this anymore.

I'm not expecting much though. The most likely outcome is waiting hours in the emergency department, experiencing more annoyed dismissive treatment, doing another round of tests just to find nothing, and going right back to trying to cope with and cover up the pain. Probably will have to come back here and tell you guys that nothing has been found or has changed.

I would undergo surgery if it would help but unfortunately it's high risk for poor results.

This is the disability/chronic pain experience I'm afraid, at least as a poor/public hospital patient. You eventually go in the too hard basket and start getting blamed. I don't know where to go to from here. There's a lot I want to live for but it's getting so bad that if it wasn't for Melbcat I would already have done it.

Ps. Please don't offer me suicide helplines. They're actually quite terrible.

I’m so sorry to hear you are having such a horrid situation. Hang in there. You can do it. Hope the hospital visit can give you some answers. But also, whilst it is true that sometimes a diagnosis cannot be found, can they work towards some kind of treatment like pain management, diet, counselling to help you manage the situation. If no diagnosis forthcoming, word up the person supporting you to help you ask about how doctors can help lessen the symptoms to improve your quality of life. Perhaps they can refer you to a pain management specialist? A physician? I very much hope you can find some relief.
- Thanks. I really hope for some answers as the previous efforts have been very cookie cutter with little result.
  
  I’ve been to pain management clinics before for different issues and left because it wasn’t suiting. (I was unable to manage the physical therapy and was afraid of the prescription painkillers - which incidentally did end up killing my cousin) but am willing to go back and try again.
@melbaboutown @bot001 I can't offer anything really except empathy, I've only just experienced extended intense pain from a herniated disc, and even after 2 weeks I was thinking, if this doesn't get better, I don't know how I'm going to keep going, it's absolutely terrifying to consider years like that. I'm fortunate to seem to be one of the 90% that responds to conservative management but I'm on long term pain meds, and I'm really not sure if the injury is healing by itself or the pain is being masked by the meds.

One thing from your story though, I've read that an emerging treatment for a range of gastro issues is gut microbiome transplant, might be worth looking into if you haven't already as it's probably not going to be recommended by many gastroenterologists.
- Thanks, the empathy means a lot. This is being treated like an ed or a mental problem when I do believe there is something that has been missed.
  
  I’ll keep that in mind.
  
  I really hope for some relief for you
Can you get a patient advocate in hospital? I know some states have rules about patients asking for help after being refused.

I’m sorry you’re going through this, I spent years getting diagnosed with gastroparesis after many dismissals from specialists who didn’t even do the basic test. Was also told it’s stress, anxiety, psychological etc.

Anyway peg/j tubes are fairly standard things if one can’t eat /digest properly, what is their pushback reason on those?

Chronic pain is a hard problem to solve, pain specialists are super expensive and just seemed to push infusions or other medications rather than trying to work out the source. I had no success with them tbh. Have you read “explain pain”? (Apologies if you’re already aware of this and it’s not helpful).
- I haven’t read it, thanks for the suggestion.
  
  The specialist tells me that they don’t do it because of risks. My main disability also means poor wound healing that could lead to complications, and I’m being told that it could end up being permanent.
  
  Having read up on it I agree but I am getting desperate.
Hey mate I don't have much to offer but I'm very sorry that you're going through this and I hope you get through this safely. My DMs are always open if you want to have a chat though :)

Share a pic of melbcat?
- Thanks, fingers crossed something gets done.
  
  Here’s one not showing anything identifying or untidy

Oooooo. Last night's spicy korean noodle soup and spicy dumplings hurt me this morning. Oooooo when will I ever learn.

💍🔥
- Yeah.

Friday evenings are the best for the gym, so quiet you could shoot a cannon through the place.

Maybe more so tonight because of Black Friday sales being on.

Cheers 🍻

Covid got me. Luckily even milder than last time, couple of days of a blocked nose and a bit of fatigue but thats it. Just really want to leave the house!!!!

Yeah, it’s really going around atm. Speedy recovery!

It's Black Fryday where you gotta stock up on SPF 30+ for the Sun's incoming months of penetrative rays.

Also clean the A/C filters or have a coil clean done where applicable.

Startrack, I hate you with every fibre of my being! Watched the little delivery person literally reach out their car window and put the "missed delivery" card in my mail box before speeding off when they saw me come out.

I has rain and it is dispersing sheep poo into the soil that I put there yesterday I is smart

Today can get fucked. Stupid mf black Friday settler colonial fkn holiday fkn fk fk

How is it a settler colonial holiday? Genuinely asking because I don't think it's an actual holiday here...
- It makes retail and customer service busy. I'm positively dead, and have to work tomorrow. My post is just me having a very bad work day lol.
  
  It's a capitalist holiday anyway, not to be a tankie or anything lol
- The Pilgrims.
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJE3KDxTbWI

Hey green thumbs you might find this article interesting.

Eliminating pests

I’ve had some success with onion & chilli brew with a drop of dish detergent. It doesn’t keep well though.
- I'm pretty shit at gardening. I've killed bamboo before. Twice. There's no hope for me.
Interesting. Will give a try. They invested my lovely palm and I gave it a brutal cut to save the plant.
This is what White Oil and Neem oil does - but it appears to be significantly cheaper.
- white oil and such last longer, that's why they are more expensive

Rain in closing in on Melbourne. Wsubs have already had some, more to come.

No rain here, just ominous gloom.
I think I might get caught in the rain as I leave work.
Had a few drops down SE but no Margeing as such.
The garden needs a good soak so this will be welcome. The wind is picking up out east - my kinetic sculpture is whirling away quite madly.
Thar she blows!

Finally back home after 104km of driving round town. I forgot how tiring this can get. Missed all the excitement of the m1 bullshit thankfully. But it was nice not being on my phone all day..

Wildlife Update: I’m located under a bat flight path. They are currently travelling North to feed. The bats return home around 0515. My guess is they live around Yarra Bend Park.🦇🦇🦇

Is there anything more terrifying than the sound of a Geigercounter going completely mental?

Possums mating
- Pretty sure possums mating won't melt your insides.
ionising radiation that doesn't set off a geiger counter 🤓

My vacuum cleaner repair held and I have now finished the vacuuming. Miss Meow turned herself into Missing Meow for the duration, and is now demanding extra lap time and pats to make up for the trauma.

Cats have has second breakfast and I'm on my second coffee.

Finally some actual rain! The garden rejoices.

I followed up my fritter fiesta with a big batch of overnight oats - breakfast for the next two days plus 6 serves in the freezer.

I have cleaned the pet's water fountain and done a couple of minor repairs. I am very pleased with today's progress.

Chooken is in the oven, I might relax tonight and do a jigsaw puzzle. I have a cool one of a map of Atlantis. 🤭

Whyyy do cafes insist on serving milk for tea in those useless milk "jugs" that don't have a pouring lip? They spill every time. Because they don't have a pouring lip and aren't designed to pour stuff.

That's a cute little vase.
Lil sip of coffee, lil sip of milk.
The pouring lips take up more space and chip easily in the dishwasher.

MOIST

Butcher bird singing outside my window. They have such a lovely whistle tone. Noisy miners are not happy about it, the brave ones are attempting some screeching and swooping to dislodge the visitor, but from a safe distance so are not having much luck thus far. Suburban bird drama.

I do not miss those bloody myner birds! Such an invasive species.

I'd just like to take this moment to state that out of all the words for various meals taken at certain times of the day, my favourite one is "lunch".

It just sounds so satisfying, easy, relaxing, warm, rewarding and nutritious. Something you could really get your teeth into.

"Dinner", on the other hand, has an unnecessarily fussy sound. It should be replaced with "supper".

Elevenses raises their old fashioned paw
What about Tea?
I call it dindin instead
- Mmm, Fuds

Me: Does this bus have any suspension or is Bell Street Coburg bumpy as? Or is the driver kerb running? My bottom: same guy different haircut

Edit: speaking of bottom, someone put a curved piece of glass on one of the bus seats for someone to sit on. I removed it for safe disposal. Fuck that person.

Bell St Coburg is bumpy as. It's all the traffic going in the same lanes when crossing it - the tarmac gradually develops channels in the direction of traffic. Same thing on Hoddle St if crossing it at right angles. And St Georges Road. Bounce bounce as you go over the bumps. A car with good suspension doesn't notice it, but on a bus or a bike it can be a wild ride. No cure other than complete resurfacing which ain't gonna happen anytime soon. Mind you, there are some Dyson buses with square or triangular wheels I tell you true.
- Ah that's a good explanation. Also some Dyson drivers think they're doing Targa Coburg!

Anyone ever had to fight an employer for unfair/constructive dismissal? Any tips/links/resources gratefully received

(not for me - for family member)

First thing is to document everything.

Then seek advice from a union if in one or fair work.
- yeah, speaking to the union.
  
  it is hard, though, because everything has been "informal".
  
  I will say that, with the exception of direct line manager, my family member is universally praised by both colleagues and clients. I am not just biased - they do an exceptional job.
Yep. Took them to fairwork, self represented and got a payout. My favourite part was being asked if their lawyer was able to stay at the hearing, and of course I said no.

I had a diary of events, well documented. Waited until I was made redundant then lodged the case.
- can I ask what sort of basis you had for your claim, a d what evidence was required? feel free to DM
Get a very good lawyer.

Keep records of everything. Take notes of verbal conversations.

Don't let yourself be intimidated or blinded by bullshit
- yeah, we are thinking about the lawyer, but it's hard as nothing has actually happened yet, in terms of dismissal. it's just been a process of making a hostile workplace, frivolous performance reviews, and about to go into a more formal performance review. It is obvious that the aim is to force a resignation, but it's hard to know exactly how to respond :(

new dishwasher day. Thank god. I didnt realize how much we relied on it. We're washing the big stuff by hand, but given limited drying space (and the fact that the dishwasher died with a full load of dirty dishes) it feels like we're never gonna catch up.

sky pretty

I get lovely views from the kitchen and laundry windows now that the house next door (and its extension) have gone. I'll miss it when the building starts again.

Big stawm in Bendigo, headed our way. Lots of lightning.

Do I get up to go eat,
A toasty, midnight treat
A tasty, savoury treat?

But I'm so comfy;
It's kinda funny
How I'm too lazy
To feed my belly.

May I commission a poem about accidentally too hot noodles?

Awww yiss, babylon squared

Babylon burn
- B5 actually.

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

May I have an item that i don’t really need that is perceived to be heavily discounted?
- 🥭
I'll take a Martini
- 🫨🍸
Leftover turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce please
- 🦃🥪🥫
I'm going to need lots of coffee spread through the day, i's the only thing that's going to sustain me today please sir.
- ☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️

My little back garden has turned into a bit of a nursery, and as a result, there are a few young children screaming about the independence that's being forced upon them. There's also quite a few looking a little wet and upset by the current downpour, so I have propped the table tarp up a little so they may shelter.

Not the best weekend to go camping...so far just a minor leak, but I can't find where it's getting in...

Where are you camping?

Surely it's a good omen where despite unsurprisingly waking up late from sleeping at 2am in the morning, the tram arrives exactly as you're walking to your stop - so I'll only be 10 minutes late to get me carshare. And then! Let the driving begin!

yay, vroom vroom!
- I'm relieved that even though it's been 2 months since I've had my own car to use and 6 weeks since I last touched the wheel, I just got back into it without a problem

Can aussie spiders regrow chopped off legs?

I'm pretty sure huntsmans can. What did you do to the poor spider?
- I’m guessing a cat nom
- Nothing!! I just read about a woman who nursed a spider back to health.
Yep, when they moult. It can sometimes take a few moults.

How are coffee tables so expensive…. Hundreds of dollars. Even at fantastic furniture

IKEA? Or try secondhand on market place? Or stolen milk crates with a Bunnings plank on top? Tell people it’s an installation piece by a famous artist, and you were able to acquire it because you know the gallery owner.
try the opshop

this is a nice tropical dew point

Dear Chef, I am in need of a midnight Kebab @[email protected]

Apologies. Meat after eight is not suitable for human consumption. Please try again in the morning.
- Does that stuff in a kebab actually qualify as meat?

It's stuffy as hell tonight in my apartment. Think I'll have to leave the AC on if I plan to get to sleep!

I still remember Singapore. I used to set the aircon to at night to 24C over there. After experiencing those horrors... I can handle tonight. It's beautiful with a fan on for some circulation and hearing the soft rain outside.

I have just discovered the altitude slider on the windy.com wind display - goes up to 13.5 km. Whoowee! Would not want to be in a plane over NSW right now.

Beats not being in a plane over NSW right now. 🤷‍♂️

Spent most of today dealing with Cennalink one way or another - it seems receiving $ from the sale of something you inherited breaks the system's brain. facepalm.
Anyway I have an appointment in a fortnight and I have to go in with All The Documents.

Would you mind passing on a message to Centrelink for me? It's "Fuck off and shut up and die". Thanks! x

What the hell just happened to the weather? It was like 30 an hour ago and now my phone is giving me a "road weather alert"

Still no rain. I'll try going for a walk and see if that brings it on.

Edit: So far the sky has managed drizzle. Just enough to make the pavement damp.

Name me a better album than Dark Side Of The Moon.

Ok so there's a few albums up there that come to mind. Thriller, The White Album, Back In Black.

Anyone else lose power just now?

No from Foots
- why is it footscray not feetcray

$7.90 for big mac meal and nuggets today

Daily Discussion Thread: Fri 24 Nov 2023

☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️