I'm glad you're feeling better! It's difficult to weather but you're doing great! You will find something that pays better anyway, you got the skills that pays those bills bro. 💜
I get unreasonably irritated by the pop-up chats when online shopping. They obscure the screen in the worst positions to get your attention, and pop up within 5 seconds of landing on the site. No, I do not want to chat to ‘Hailey’. I just got here, put away your chat bot and let me browse please. And then it whines when trying to close the chat window, are you sure you want to close chat? Look mate, if I wanted to be harassed by aggressive sales staff I can do that in person, I don’t need the service extended to online shopping.
Or worse - frequent popups of 'SomeBozo in Buttsville bought such-and-such!'
Cool. Even if the popups don't fully block what I'm looking at the flickering appearances of those messages is still breaking my concentration and causing visual stress
A weird side effect of going through winter carless is the mental health boost from the enforced walk when I have to go into work. Definitely doing better than normal so far. Who would have thought that exercise and a little natural light would do wonders.
Narrator: everyone....literally first or second on every mental health suggestion list...
Even an escooter that you can take on the train. Depends of course on where home and doctor are.
It can be two hours to go a 20 minute drive from suburb to suburb if PT insists on taking you via the city. A 20 minute drive is around the end of a comfortable escooter range.
Random dude probably 20yo rocks up this morning, starts whipper-snippering the front lawn. I go out ask him wtf are you doing, he says sorry I got the wrong address jumps in his car and drives off...
Same thing happened to us once. The dude did both nature strips. Beautiful job he did AND it happened to be my husband's birthday. He came back the following week to do across the road.
Husband thought I'd organised it as a surprise. Nope.
Braved the chilly air and got my partner his anti-sads from the pharmacy. I love using the local pharmacy instead of the chain; they know me now and it's so lovely having a little chat with the pharmacist and the cashiers. A little jaunt around the block and back home with a warm coffee.
Just retested. Still positive. Like TinyBreak, the line showed up before the liquid got to the top of the window.
Not surprised, as I'm still definitely symptomatic and the cats are being very cuddly. I just wish Sammi wouldn't kick litter all over...
Went for a drive at lunch. On the way there I saw this... figure. Face totally covered, just sitting by the side of the road. Still there when I came back. Hadnt moved in 10 minutes so I figured I'd call the police non-emergency who directed me to 000. I'm really hoping it was just someone throwing out a sex doll or something. Now I'm worried it was just someone having a mental breakdown or something and I've made it worse by getting police/ambulance involved.
I love dinner and movie solo. Or even take a book or mobile/laptop to a library and just hang. Often a good quiet warm option. I do that sometimes when I just want to get out
There's a few coppers outside my place and because I cant see because of my fence I opened the gate and asked what's going on. The one copper says "yeah ah just someone tryna get away. Don't worry we got him". I said "no worries" shut the gate.
It was right outside my drive way so I couldn't use my binoculars 😔
Mind you I went out in my cat pjs and what I describe as a native American woollen blanket with sleeves. It's an interesting little number.
Today is payday, I'm starting at an overdraft of $50. Gonna suck, can't get the new shoes I've been needing a while(my current ones have holes, which is fine when it isn't cold.) But I think I'll be fine. Lots of cheap ramen in my future.
Ramen is great, love me noodles. Cheap meat and some broccolini and/or Bok Choy elevate them so much. Add Hoisin sauce and soy sauce and bam - you got yourself a restaurant quality meal right there
Bolognese is great for freezing, and the longer you leave it the better it tastes. Better if you can get the mince for cheap (right before it goes bad, when the shops have discounted it).
Rice is great paired with leftovers. If you have a rice cooker, add some paprika to the rice and water and then let it cook - the paprika will flavour the rice.
I'm not sure where you're located, but Cheaper by Miles is great for cheap groceries and deals. You are beholden to whatever they have in stock at the time, but cheap snacks, meats, veggies, noodles are usually stocked.
Regarding shoes: I feel that. Could try Savers or OP shops, they sometimes have really good quality shoes that have barely been worn, for cheaper than $50.
Didn't really warm up today after a bungled site visit meant an hour in the cold without enough layers on. Total brain fog at work like I could barely remember my name let alone do my job. The sads are definitely hitting. I watched the last episode of Tales From The Loop which is sad enough itself, but somehow the thing that made me most emotional was seeing Cole walking the sunny meadows, flowers and grass waving in the breeze... I wanted to touch the sun...
Thinking back to the last few winters from 2020 on, they were all significant low points of the year - aside from getting my PR a bit over exactly a year ago. That was glorious until shtf in July at work.
Anyway, I know my risk factors, so I've arranged social things for all 3 of the next days, I'll try taking my meds again now that my sleep schedule has reset, and I'll prolly have a coffee at work tomorrow (green tea is not cutting it). I need external motivation to exercise, that's probably the biggest thing missing. If I get a decent tax return in July I think I'll look into a personal trainer for even a month, even though I'm very cagey/picky about such things.
Semi hoarder parent is being forced into Care. I’m to write a list of things I want retrieved. Very difficult since I’ve not been to this particular house and everything I can think of wanting is super susceptible to rats so probably doesn’t exist anymore.
I've dealt with this situation, full on hoarder/slob lazy bastard. If it's personal and can be washed/disinfected then keep, can't be washed then good bye to it.
Photos, heirlooms, objet d'art, personal collections, documents.
I’m doing this remote, so hard to judge. Guess I’ll ask for a video call?
Pretty much everything sentimental I can think of is fabric, paper, or leather. Not optimistic given rats.
I get that. The thing I want most is electronic, so washing isn’t ok. Still have to find out if it actually still exists before deep dive cleaning protocol tool much
Er, an emerging one who hasn’t quite got to the legal limit? Deciding the solution to the rats stealing the dog food is to put out an extra bowl rather than dealing with the rats?
There's definitely scales of hoarding behaviour where it's considered pathological beyond a certain point. The Clutter Image Rating Scale is one such scale used in Australia (PDF link). Most people don't become problem hoarders overnight.
Still stuffy and gross. Worked up a sweat just loading the dishwasher and taking the garbage to the chute! I'm working today though for the first time this week at least.
Anyone got any office chair recommendations? Time for an upgrade with EOFY sales. Not looking to spend crazy money. My current chair is a cheapie from Officeworks which has served me well during the COVID years, but starting to get worn down and uncomfortable.
Nooo. I put my tin of charcoal pencils on my bed to do a quick stick vac and then they fell off. Snapped the leads off two of them. And it was a tin with plastic grooves for them to sit in too, intended to protect them during transport. But they were sharpened shorter so there was room at the top allowing them to fall and break at a vertical angle.
I'll sharpen them again.
If I had the energy I'd get a small shallow wooden box with a closure, cut a piece of foam to wedge inside, and then make slashes in the foam to hold the sharpened charcoals gently in place. Perhaps hollow out the foam around the tips to allow space so it doesn't put any pressure on the most delicate part.
If I wasn't constantly so exhausted and depressed with no proper workspace I could make some cool things.
Edit: Also the art book I'm working through very slowly is like $40-50 on ebay. It feels like all of the really solid tradish art books are going out of print and becoming really expensive if they're even available. I did see a bundle of three similar ones for about the same price 🤔 To be honest it's still cheaper than the art classes I see
Have you tried Anna's Archive? Link I don't have a problem using this for out of print stuff and stuff that Amazon Australia AND Goodreads has blocked for Australia. Also anything that's too bloody expensive and I can't find it secondhand.
Ooh, ty! I don't think this particular book is out of copyright yet though (borrowed a copy from the library) so I hope this site doesn't get in strife...
Oops. It looks to be a torrent site and I don't have a vpn 😳
Edit: As much as I hate to use Amazon I managed to find a used copy in England for $30 with $5 delivery, I jumped on it because I think it's the best I'm gonna get.
There's a non-torrent option for 'slow connections' that I've been using, with few problems so far. Only problem if you could call it that is downloading items that are pdf files - takes a while and is more of a pain to read on desktop kindle. The epubs are easily readable on kindle.
I'm worried about the legal side. I agree with torrenting in theory to archive stuff that would otherwise be lost, and the probability is low, but I can't afford to risk any hassles
It might be a little flexible to protect them from my clumsiness. I have a sketching kit of that stiff non-woven fabric with elastic loops to hold those charcoals but don't trust it. If dropped or squashed even a slight angled impact might be enough to snap them off
Edit: Also the charcoal might rub off on the lining and transfer to my hands, and then get touched onto everything. That stuff is almost as bad as glitter
depending on length? Yeah. Probably cheaper to get a sparky to do a professional job than it would be get an Xbox X or PS5 anyway. My brother in law doesnt even have a monitor, just leaves his rig plugged into the TV full time.
About 10 metres in a straight line. I'm thinking a female to female cable in the wall, then I can run regular HDMI cables in and out. I've got a hectic rig with a 4090 one room over from the TV so it beats anything you could get for the $700-800 space
Only problem is that you might need to upgrade the cable in a few years when new protocols come out (if you update your gaming PC and TV to newer stuff) but yeah getting some proper faceplates and a cable installed is a neat way to go about it. I think installing one and even 1 cable upgrade would be less than any kind of half decent gaming machine. It should be anyway.
I've got a Shield connected to the TV and I tried the Nvidia GeForce app. My PC is WiFi but the shield was Ethernet and there was too much delay for elden ring. So a racing game to entertain the kids won't work either.
Maybe I'll get them to run Ethernet between the two rooms whilst I'm at it as well
Eeek. If possible get it cleaned. An old ducted system that isn't cleaned is a major fire hazard. I believe the recommendation is for the system to be vacuumed out professionally at least once a year. More if it's running a lot. The build up of dust in the pipes is a serious fire hazard. Dust is extremely flammable, so one spark and the whole house goes up in flames and a duct fire is extremely hard to put out. I get mine cleaned once in autumn, so it's OK for the heavy usage season of winter. There are often deals through professional cleaning companies at about that time. This year I think I paid about $60 for my 5 vent system and it took them about 30 mins to do it. They do charge more for a large system of more than 7 vents. Well worth it imo.
Actually, getting the ducts cleaned might solve some of the uneven heating problems too.
Urk. Maybe mention it to your co-ordinator - maybe get it escalated a bit in importance. I know that maintenance is low on the budget totem pole, but this situation could be nasty if the house burns down.
The ducted heating is set at 20 deg. I turn it on when the temp drops to 15 deg. When it reaches 20 I turn it off as the house is good for maybe 3-4 hours before it drops to the 15 deg threshold again. This is sufficient for an evening, and the house is cooler and it's easier to sleep once the temperature drops down. In the morning I turn it on for an hour or so as this heats the bathroom to about 22 deg which is ideal for showering etc. and I always have a nice warm fluffy towel. I turn it off after that, as the sunshine (when there is any) keeps the house warm through the daylight hours. This does me for winter, and the bills aren't too outrageous so far. Also, running the ducted heating on this schedule means that in rainy weather I can put any wet washing on a rack over a vent in the morning and it's dry and ready to put away by the time I come home. Heating is so damn subjective and personal - what suits one person might not suit another.
Ducted heating isn't as efficient or as cost effective as a split system. But I like having a bit of contrast in the temperature. Two hours or so each day is doable cost wise for me. I can't imagine having it on 24/7 though.
116 replies
Thanks for the support yesterday everyone. I had a decent night sleep and am feeling better.
You will find a job at another company, get a raise, and wave that stack of extra cash in their faces
You got this. You are actually in a stronger position now, as the comfortable lies are now off the table. Time to look for a better place.
so many hugs 😘
I'm glad you're feeling better! It's difficult to weather but you're doing great! You will find something that pays better anyway, you got the skills that pays those bills bro. 💜
Mickey says "brrrr?"
Mickey is wearing a fur coat - lucky little thing.
Exactly! A tabby cape on a white cat haha
Ooh Mickey your toes are so warm…
What a handsome little prawn, all snug and warm.
Yes, hooman?
So cuddly!
Boop the snoot. Gently. Please.
Thy will hath been done 💜🙌💜
He’s so fine
I get unreasonably irritated by the pop-up chats when online shopping. They obscure the screen in the worst positions to get your attention, and pop up within 5 seconds of landing on the site. No, I do not want to chat to ‘Hailey’. I just got here, put away your chat bot and let me browse please. And then it whines when trying to close the chat window, are you sure you want to close chat? Look mate, if I wanted to be harassed by aggressive sales staff I can do that in person, I don’t need the service extended to online shopping.
Yes! I online shop to avoid people, especially forced up sell litanies at the register.
Or worse - frequent popups of 'SomeBozo in Buttsville bought such-and-such!'
Cool. Even if the popups don't fully block what I'm looking at the flickering appearances of those messages is still breaking my concentration and causing visual stress
A weird side effect of going through winter carless is the mental health boost from the enforced walk when I have to go into work. Definitely doing better than normal so far. Who would have thought that exercise and a little natural light would do wonders.
Narrator: everyone....literally first or second on every mental health suggestion list...
Lol I feel the same. I say I hate going out, but really I hate the at-home-before-going-out part. Once I'm out, I feel great and so much better
I have a doctor I have to see every 2 weeks. She's an almost 4 hour round trip on public transport.
It fucking sucks, but she's amazing. First paycheck of new job, I'm getting a car.
Bike? Ebike?
Even an escooter that you can take on the train. Depends of course on where home and doctor are.
It can be two hours to go a 20 minute drive from suburb to suburb if PT insists on taking you via the city. A 20 minute drive is around the end of a comfortable escooter range.
Can also take ebike on train AFAIK.
Plus bike is good for you and can ride on the road. Would not do/say the same about scooter.
While I happily ride my bike to work every day, I would not take it that far unless there was a shower and change of clothes at the other end.
Swap of tshirt at work is all you need. You don't get that sweaty riding a bike if you're doing it everyday and just cruising. Much less on an ebike
Racing cars is another thing..
Good idea actually. Will look into it.
I bought a lottery ticket. I would love to win my money back lol
Here's an odd one.
Random dude probably 20yo rocks up this morning, starts whipper-snippering the front lawn. I go out ask him wtf are you doing, he says sorry I got the wrong address jumps in his car and drives off...
I'm still scratching my head.
Same thing happened to us once. The dude did both nature strips. Beautiful job he did AND it happened to be my husband's birthday. He came back the following week to do across the road.
Husband thought I'd organised it as a surprise. Nope.
Could be the scam where they do work then over bill you for it unauthorised?
Braved the chilly air and got my partner his anti-sads from the pharmacy. I love using the local pharmacy instead of the chain; they know me now and it's so lovely having a little chat with the pharmacist and the cashiers. A little jaunt around the block and back home with a warm coffee.
All is well.
went out for a walk yesterday, ached just a little afterward but today I am 100% better
Yay!
I think I've lost a lot of fitness the past 8 months 😞
Awesome!
Just retested. Still positive. Like TinyBreak, the line showed up before the liquid got to the top of the window.
Not surprised, as I'm still definitely symptomatic and the cats are being very cuddly. I just wish Sammi wouldn't kick litter all over...
TinyCat is all about the cuddles too. Its funny, I'm fine one minute then brain dead the next. Food deffo helps!
oh no, take care youse all
Went for a drive at lunch. On the way there I saw this... figure. Face totally covered, just sitting by the side of the road. Still there when I came back. Hadnt moved in 10 minutes so I figured I'd call the police non-emergency who directed me to 000. I'm really hoping it was just someone throwing out a sex doll or something. Now I'm worried it was just someone having a mental breakdown or something and I've made it worse by getting police/ambulance involved.
You may have saved someone's life. Don't over think things. They're in the right hands now.
yeah I hope so. Or at least the cops have a laugh at the sex doll being thrown away. Without seeing a face its impossible to know.
I think that's a great idea. Maybe check out Meetup and see if there's something interesting there?
I love dinner and movie solo. Or even take a book or mobile/laptop to a library and just hang. Often a good quiet warm option. I do that sometimes when I just want to get out
Wanna go for lunch?
There's a few coppers outside my place and because I cant see because of my fence I opened the gate and asked what's going on. The one copper says "yeah ah just someone tryna get away. Don't worry we got him". I said "no worries" shut the gate.
It was right outside my drive way so I couldn't use my binoculars 😔
Mind you I went out in my cat pjs and what I describe as a native American woollen blanket with sleeves. It's an interesting little number.
I wish I could fit on a cat tree in front of the heater and be cute. Maybe in the next life.
She is so beautiful!
It's how she gets away with all the shit she puts me through lol
Beautiful Gibson, how could one not want to be you? 💜🙌💜
Today is payday, I'm starting at an overdraft of $50. Gonna suck, can't get the new shoes I've been needing a while(my current ones have holes, which is fine when it isn't cold.) But I think I'll be fine. Lots of cheap ramen in my future.
Big batch of bolognese frozen might almost be cheaper and healthier. At least it'll make you feel better in the cold.
Oh yeah Lentils work super well in 'em. I'm partial to a big of roasted pumpkin in 'em too but I know thats subjective.
Ramen is great, love me noodles. Cheap meat and some broccolini and/or Bok Choy elevate them so much. Add Hoisin sauce and soy sauce and bam - you got yourself a restaurant quality meal right there
Bolognese is great for freezing, and the longer you leave it the better it tastes. Better if you can get the mince for cheap (right before it goes bad, when the shops have discounted it).
Rice is great paired with leftovers. If you have a rice cooker, add some paprika to the rice and water and then let it cook - the paprika will flavour the rice.
I'm not sure where you're located, but Cheaper by Miles is great for cheap groceries and deals. You are beholden to whatever they have in stock at the time, but cheap snacks, meats, veggies, noodles are usually stocked.
Regarding shoes: I feel that. Could try Savers or OP shops, they sometimes have really good quality shoes that have barely been worn, for cheaper than $50.
well suddenly the feeling sick makes sense, that was the fastest positive line I've ever seen on a rat test. It wasn't even a minute!
Crazy when that happens lol like "yup, definitely covid, no two ways about it"
I hope it isn't too bad for you, and that you feel better soon 💜
Cheers, its not too bad to be honest. None of the brain fog of last time, just a light case of the dumb. More like a bad cold if anything.
Didn't really warm up today after a bungled site visit meant an hour in the cold without enough layers on. Total brain fog at work like I could barely remember my name let alone do my job. The sads are definitely hitting. I watched the last episode of Tales From The Loop which is sad enough itself, but somehow the thing that made me most emotional was seeing Cole walking the sunny meadows, flowers and grass waving in the breeze... I wanted to touch the sun...
Thinking back to the last few winters from 2020 on, they were all significant low points of the year - aside from getting my PR a bit over exactly a year ago. That was glorious until shtf in July at work.
Anyway, I know my risk factors, so I've arranged social things for all 3 of the next days, I'll try taking my meds again now that my sleep schedule has reset, and I'll prolly have a coffee at work tomorrow (green tea is not cutting it). I need external motivation to exercise, that's probably the biggest thing missing. If I get a decent tax return in July I think I'll look into a personal trainer for even a month, even though I'm very cagey/picky about such things.
It sounds like you've got a plan, which is a great step. Exercise, for me, is almost as powerful as the meds I take for depression.
As an aside, tales from the loop is absolutely amazing and the body swap episode brought a tear to my eye.
Good very early morning. It's BRRRR.
Brrrrr mode activate.
Semi hoarder parent is being forced into Care. I’m to write a list of things I want retrieved. Very difficult since I’ve not been to this particular house and everything I can think of wanting is super susceptible to rats so probably doesn’t exist anymore.
I've dealt with this situation, full on hoarder/slob lazy bastard. If it's personal and can be washed/disinfected then keep, can't be washed then good bye to it.
Photos, heirlooms, objet d'art, personal collections, documents.
I’m doing this remote, so hard to judge. Guess I’ll ask for a video call? Pretty much everything sentimental I can think of is fabric, paper, or leather. Not optimistic given rats.
it's not the chewing, it's the rat pee and rat pee can harbour dangerous pathogens . Be very careful.
fabric can be washed/disinfected
https://www.rodentsfamily.com/understanding-the-dangers-of-rat-and-mouse-urine/
I get that. The thing I want most is electronic, so washing isn’t ok. Still have to find out if it actually still exists before deep dive cleaning protocol tool much
Er, an emerging one who hasn’t quite got to the legal limit? Deciding the solution to the rats stealing the dog food is to put out an extra bowl rather than dealing with the rats?
There's definitely scales of hoarding behaviour where it's considered pathological beyond a certain point. The Clutter Image Rating Scale is one such scale used in Australia (PDF link). Most people don't become problem hoarders overnight.
Still stuffy and gross. Worked up a sweat just loading the dishwasher and taking the garbage to the chute! I'm working today though for the first time this week at least.
Breakfast 🍏🍎🍐🍊🍋🍈🫐🍓🍇🍉🍌🍒🍑🥭🍍🥥🥦🥑🫛🍆🍅🥝🥬🥒🌽🥕🥐🍠🫚🥔🧅🥯🍞🥖🥨🧀🧇🥞🧈🍳🥚🥓🥩🍗🍖🫓🍕🍟🍔🌭🥙🧆🌮🌯🥗🍲🍜🍝🥘🍛🍣🍱🥟🦪🍥🍘🍚🍙🐠🍤🪼🦀🐙 🍗🥮🍢🍡🍧🍰🧁🥧🍦🍨🎂🍮🍭🍬🍫🥜🌰🍪🍿🍯🥛☕️🍵🍺🍶🥤🧋🧃🥂🍷🥃🍸🍹🧉🔋
Peanut butter and jam everything!!!
🥜🍓🍇🍒🔨
Tacos and tea please.
🌮🌮☕️
Fried catfish please
🐟 I assume you mean the regular variety and not the after eight one
Yes, just after the regular variety thanks. I am generally in bed too early to take advantage of any after eight services
Coffee, two hashbrowns, and a roasted portobello mushroom please
☕️🥔🥔🔥🍄🟫
Thank you. You are a god among mortals
Butter and brie baguette please. How long until the restaurant transitions to food truck?
🧈🧀🥖
Not for another 3.5 weeks
Baked stuffed potato please
🧈🥓🧀🥔🔥
Almost exactly Whinnie’s recipe. You must be psychic.
It's so cold I don't want to do anything 😔
Supposed to go to the gym but it's freezing outside!
those ones where you dont wanna go BUT you end up going are the BEST though. You feel like a god afterwards!
I ended up going! Feel heaps better.
My house hasn't got insulation so I close pretty much every door and run the gas heater.
Not cheap but beats seeing my breath
Anyone got any office chair recommendations? Time for an upgrade with EOFY sales. Not looking to spend crazy money. My current chair is a cheapie from Officeworks which has served me well during the COVID years, but starting to get worn down and uncomfortable.
the Bathurst from Officeworks is alright. I do seem to have to replace it ever 2 years or so though.
Nooo. I put my tin of charcoal pencils on my bed to do a quick stick vac and then they fell off. Snapped the leads off two of them. And it was a tin with plastic grooves for them to sit in too, intended to protect them during transport. But they were sharpened shorter so there was room at the top allowing them to fall and break at a vertical angle.
I'll sharpen them again.
If I had the energy I'd get a small shallow wooden box with a closure, cut a piece of foam to wedge inside, and then make slashes in the foam to hold the sharpened charcoals gently in place. Perhaps hollow out the foam around the tips to allow space so it doesn't put any pressure on the most delicate part.
If I wasn't constantly so exhausted and depressed with no proper workspace I could make some cool things.
Edit: Also the art book I'm working through very slowly is like $40-50 on ebay. It feels like all of the really solid tradish art books are going out of print and becoming really expensive if they're even available. I did see a bundle of three similar ones for about the same price 🤔 To be honest it's still cheaper than the art classes I see
Have you tried Anna's Archive? Link I don't have a problem using this for out of print stuff and stuff that Amazon Australia AND Goodreads has blocked for Australia. Also anything that's too bloody expensive and I can't find it secondhand.
Ooh, ty! I don't think this particular book is out of copyright yet though (borrowed a copy from the library) so I hope this site doesn't get in strife...
Oops. It looks to be a torrent site and I don't have a vpn 😳
Edit: As much as I hate to use Amazon I managed to find a used copy in England for $30 with $5 delivery, I jumped on it because I think it's the best I'm gonna get.
There's a non-torrent option for 'slow connections' that I've been using, with few problems so far. Only problem if you could call it that is downloading items that are pdf files - takes a while and is more of a pain to read on desktop kindle. The epubs are easily readable on kindle.
I'm worried about the legal side. I agree with torrenting in theory to archive stuff that would otherwise be lost, and the probability is low, but I can't afford to risk any hassles
Fair enough.
A brush roll with ties will hold them safe. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=make+up+brush+roll&iax=images&ia=images&iai=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-2MuQ4uHC4HE%2FUXBizUgK2PI%2FAAAAAAAANsQ%2F0I3KiNSsv0A%2Fs1600%2Fmakeup%2Broll-up.png
It might be a little flexible to protect them from my clumsiness. I have a sketching kit of that stiff non-woven fabric with elastic loops to hold those charcoals but don't trust it. If dropped or squashed even a slight angled impact might be enough to snap them off
Edit: Also the charcoal might rub off on the lining and transfer to my hands, and then get touched onto everything. That stuff is almost as bad as glitter
Comment I’m not posting on that Other Site. Flair request: fed a boiled owl to my cats.
Paaaakiiiidge
In other news, $boss has fallen to the same plague i had a couple weeks back and is rapidly learning empathy
bashtards. I spit upon them
Could I run a HDMI cable through my walls for less than the price of a cheap gaming PC?
It's one of those things that could theoretically be a dig job. But I don't have the tools or experience or the desire to get under the house
depending on length? Yeah. Probably cheaper to get a sparky to do a professional job than it would be get an Xbox X or PS5 anyway. My brother in law doesnt even have a monitor, just leaves his rig plugged into the TV full time.
About 10 metres in a straight line. I'm thinking a female to female cable in the wall, then I can run regular HDMI cables in and out. I've got a hectic rig with a 4090 one room over from the TV so it beats anything you could get for the $700-800 space
Definitely the way to go. It's not a super difficult job if you're comfortable diy. But hiring someone shouldn't cost more than 500 total id think.
Only problem is that you might need to upgrade the cable in a few years when new protocols come out (if you update your gaming PC and TV to newer stuff) but yeah getting some proper faceplates and a cable installed is a neat way to go about it. I think installing one and even 1 cable upgrade would be less than any kind of half decent gaming machine. It should be anyway.
Could also try in home streaming options. You can stream the display from your PC to a TV. If either is on WiFi this can be pretty choppy.
I personally use Moonlight for this. It has an android TV app. Sunlight on the host PC since I have an amd GPU.
I've got a Shield connected to the TV and I tried the Nvidia GeForce app. My PC is WiFi but the shield was Ethernet and there was too much delay for elden ring. So a racing game to entertain the kids won't work either.
Maybe I'll get them to run Ethernet between the two rooms whilst I'm at it as well
Have gas ducted heating, is set at 22. I get cold. I can happily not need ac in summer, but winter without heating is intolerable.
20 during day, 18 for sleeps, 17 if his lordship is out tomcatting (i run hot)
Eeek. If possible get it cleaned. An old ducted system that isn't cleaned is a major fire hazard. I believe the recommendation is for the system to be vacuumed out professionally at least once a year. More if it's running a lot. The build up of dust in the pipes is a serious fire hazard. Dust is extremely flammable, so one spark and the whole house goes up in flames and a duct fire is extremely hard to put out. I get mine cleaned once in autumn, so it's OK for the heavy usage season of winter. There are often deals through professional cleaning companies at about that time. This year I think I paid about $60 for my 5 vent system and it took them about 30 mins to do it. They do charge more for a large system of more than 7 vents. Well worth it imo. Actually, getting the ducts cleaned might solve some of the uneven heating problems too.
Urk. Maybe mention it to your co-ordinator - maybe get it escalated a bit in importance. I know that maintenance is low on the budget totem pole, but this situation could be nasty if the house burns down.
The ducted heating is set at 20 deg. I turn it on when the temp drops to 15 deg. When it reaches 20 I turn it off as the house is good for maybe 3-4 hours before it drops to the 15 deg threshold again. This is sufficient for an evening, and the house is cooler and it's easier to sleep once the temperature drops down. In the morning I turn it on for an hour or so as this heats the bathroom to about 22 deg which is ideal for showering etc. and I always have a nice warm fluffy towel. I turn it off after that, as the sunshine (when there is any) keeps the house warm through the daylight hours. This does me for winter, and the bills aren't too outrageous so far. Also, running the ducted heating on this schedule means that in rainy weather I can put any wet washing on a rack over a vent in the morning and it's dry and ready to put away by the time I come home. Heating is so damn subjective and personal - what suits one person might not suit another.
Ducted heating isn't as efficient or as cost effective as a split system. But I like having a bit of contrast in the temperature. Two hours or so each day is doable cost wise for me. I can't imagine having it on 24/7 though.
About 21-22. Insulation isn’t great here and will drop back slowly to 18, the skylights open vents aren’t helping either.
Trying to save on energy so I’ve gone for the oodie instead of keeping the heating on after seeing my last power bill skyrocket.