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155 replies

In-person interviews are a lot, especially at 9am on a Monday. But I'm now done. Early slots are worth it.

I think it went pretty well. We'll see.

18
tombruzzoreply
aussie.zone

Best of luck. They feel so odd to do now, it's hard to believe they used to be the norm.

6
aussie.zone

Why is it that there’s always something out of balance. If it’s not work life then it’s health or money. When they are all broken then it feels hopeless

12

I'm guilty of this kind of thinking too. Been recently starting to realize the balance isnt how things feel to us, its our ability to "ride the waves" so to speak, and you can find balance wherever you look even if you may not like how it feels.

Not sure I fully believe that myself just yet, but the more I explore it the more it seems like there might be something to it.

7
mysticgregreply
aussie.zone

Oh man I hear you. Good health, finances in order, work bearable. Pick two.

7

I’m perfectly balanced. All three suck equally! 😀

(Kidding, I am grateful for what I do have)

5
aussie.zone

The woman buying my sewing machine just picked it up. She did not accidentally overpay me by thousands of dollars. I guess the dream was not prophetic.

11

Don't feel bad about choosing a nice face. Bedside manner is so important.

Imma relate my experience here and it was quite self revelatory at the time.

I had an injured shoulder, from an assault, and was referred to a surgeon for diagnosis and treatment. He was very kind and friendly and reassuring. Even when we had to demonstrate the actions that caused the injury I felt safe.

Later in the week I had to get some xrays. The technician was very professional and he had a neutral face. I was triggered and had a panic attack.

Attackers have uncaring or neutral faces.

later I was thinking how my doctor put on a kind face on purpose , he knew my history and knew how to make me comfortable. The xray technician either knew and didn't care or didn't know how to handle my case.

I'm better now tho seeing a disinterested face always worries me. That is a face of violence.

8

Such a pain trying to find a psych you click with so you can make the most of therapy ugh. I'm glad you have found someone and booked and appt!! That's awesome!

6
aussie.zone

I’m not sure if you’re already doing this (apologies if you are) but you can get a certain number of counseling sessions and a security camera funded through Victims of Crime. Wish I’d remembered to tell you that earlier

I really hope it provides some help

4

No, they provide it for stalking as well

Do what you’ve gotta do Baku, these idiots have created problems for you

2

oof. Advertised for a junior/entry level position in my team (academic research), got 74 applications, many with PhDs. Rough.

11
Nathreply
aussie.zone

I know someone who had this problem about 15 years ago when she tried to get an entry level job. Her PhD made her a less attractive candidate because she was over qualified and employers didn't trust she'd stick it out. But, she couldn't apply for senior positions because she didn't have enough experience.

It was the worst Catch-22. A very difficult period for her.

5
aussie.zone

this is a difficulty for people who go straight from undergrad to PhD. It can also be a slight warning sign (but absolutely not always) if a phd grad has no experience at all, because usually phd students need to supplement their scholarship/RTP, and supportive supervisors will give good students a boost with some casual work to give them experience/time on the books.

But yes - I often encourage students to get some experience, one way or another, while studying. Often, the type who go straight from one degree to the next are precisely the type who worry that taking a few hours out to do paid work each week will negatively impact their academic performance, etc, and they need to be gently reminded that a well rounded application is stronger than a straight H1 student who has never seen or done anything!

6

I feel like some of this is definitely cultural - where I grew up and went to school, I would've DEARLY loved to hear this advice:

a well rounded application is stronger than a straight H1 student who has never seen or done anything

It was always grades above all else because the system there rewarded that. Was a hard lesson in my own undergrad days and I'm lucky some place gave me a chance in my second year despite hardly any work experience prior. For all the (perhaps partially justified) accusations of mediocrity or lack of rigour in Australian academia, or anti-intellectualism in Australia more generally, I'm very very grateful for the relative sense of groundedness that's encouraged over here.

3
bull⚡reply
aussie.zone

Normal, peanut, crispy, mixed or one of the bullshit limited edition flavours?

(note, there are a couple of good bullshit limited edition flavours but not out at the moment or haven't made it to Australia yet such as dark chocolate raspberry)

6

bullshit

dark chocolate raspberry

I dunno that sounds delicious.

edit: I misread you said good :)

4

That's good stuff. My usual purchase would be peanut x 1 and crispy x 1 and mix them together. Have to be in a specific mood to enjoy normal ones otherwise I'd get mixed.

2

As I was pulling out of my driveway, an evil looking Tom cat was in my backyard judging me, which is a cheek cos I don't shit on other peoples properties.

5
aussie.zone

I’ve had a weirdly positive day… I mean, a little unexpected. Even though I was running late, I made good time. Even though I missed tea break, had a shortened lunch, wasn’t all that hungry and ran out of time (and verbally road raged a little on the way home), I:

  • made it to a Uni appointment
  • had some meaningful conversations in intervention deliveries
  • made it to my extra-curricular session on time
  • had some more meaningful conversations

And just all round one of those days where for a moment you feel as if you’ve woken up, are about 95% yourself and things feel somewhat good… like a distant memory.

I’m even in one my fav burger shops that is always empty and there are about 8 or so other people eating in and it feels… nice.

No guarantees for tomorrow, but I think being grateful for just even the ability to even get out of bed is underrated. ✨

10

I felt the good vibes rubbing off on me from your comment with how wonderful your day was! Savour the feeling, it's totally ok if tomorrow doesn't reach today's heights, because it sounds like you filled your cup plenty with today 😊 (okay I say this because sometimes I feel a bit sad when the next day's been a comedown from a Good Day. But sometimes it's easy enough to just enjoy the Good Day for what it is)

What a bonus that your burger shop was lively tonight as well. The owner must be having a nicer than expected Monday too

5

Called out of my shift, couldn't sleep until 4am and only for two hours.

Gonna make that GP appt today for my eye, it's just hurting so much worse. Ugh!

Happy Monday! Lol

10
aussie.zone

I have a big preso tomorrow. To about 100 attendees. I have to talk for about 10-12 mins and I'm prepared. It's just that I get so nervous my heart starts pounding crazy fast.

My previous presos have also been in front of the same crowd but that was for like 2-3 mins as I had someone share the time but tomorrow am all alone. Which means that I need to take questions as well.

My heart rate is already high thinking of tomorrow 🤕 can someone give me some tips to calm down? Please don't say slow breathing because it just makes it worse for me 😭

I've also been told I give great presos but I gaslight myself into thinking it was bad. I've prepared pretty well but still nervous as shit as this is the biggest one so far.

Am off to the gym now to take mind off things and just relax. I'll go crazy otherwise

10
aussie.zone

My late bloke was an excellent after dinner speaker, but got horribly nervous beforehand. To the point of vomiting with nerves. He eventually figured out how to manage his anxiety by playing cats cradle while he was waiting to be introduced to the audience. The simple repetition of the hand movements helped him through those awful minutes before he started to speak. He was fine once he got going. Zillions of vidjos on youtube on how to do it. He liked doing the apache door more than the eiffel tower or witches broom one as it was more complex and required more attention. And the evidence could be stowed in a pocket quickly when he stepped up to perform. Pre-performance anxiety is very real and can be very debilitating, but tends to evaporate once the performance starts. Hope this helps a bit.

7
aussie.zone

Thank you!! I'll look these techniques up on YouTube 😊Also sorry for your loss

3

A few years by now - sort of over all the hard stuff. I'm pretty sure you'll be fine for the presentation. My personal opinion is that the harder the pre-performance stuff hits, the better the actual performance. Which sounds kinda weird but this is what I've observed. Would also recommend not ignoring the post performance stuff. Like having a mental list of things to do immediately after you've finished - from packing up the equipment to organising notes etc. This really helps conquer the jitters.

4
Seagoon_reply
aussie.zone

You're nervous because you know you are good and don't want to disappoint. And you're nervous because you're doing a good thing that you want to do. So being nervous isn't such a bad thing. The adrenaline helps with performance too.

So many hugs. You can do this. We're so proud of you. 🌞😘🌞😘🌞

7

I like to get there early so I have time for a last stress poo. Acute stress goes to my bowels, sorry. And to check out the venue and stuff.

Also you can overheat a bit when you're in a stressful situation, and that feeling of being too hot makes the stress worse. If you can lose a layer or two it can help.

You'll be awesome.

5
mysticgregreply
aussie.zone
General Failure Error reading Monday
(A)bort  (R)etry  (F)ail?: 
11
Catfishreply
aussie.zone

Who are you and what have you done with Force?

7
aussie.zone

What ever do you mean?! I have always LOVED my job and wouldn't quit for anything! I would do this even if they didn't pay me!!!

4

🔴🔴🔴 General Alert!! Highest Level!!! Something or somebody bad has happened to our Force. 🔴🔴🔴

8

I don’t have enough sugar in my house to vaguely get pumped enough to echo that sentiment

6

Fell asleep for a bit, but have a GP appt tomorrow morning. I'm trying not to get overly anxious about this, because it's probably nothing, but its such a different pain than I am used to.

Like, sharp, and then achey, and sharp if I rub my eyes (which I do without thinking). I have no idea what I could have done to it, like it's a weird spot. Just under my right eye, where the orbital hole ends, on my cheekbone. I know I keep posting, but I'm anxious ugh!!!!

10

You're seeing a doctor. In the meantime don't touch and use warm compresses for comfort.

So many hugs

5
aussie.zone

Maybe it's a pimple on the inside of your eyelid or something? Or a subcutaneous ingrown hair or some such

4

Maybe? Theres nothing on the skin, no marks, no bruise or discolouration. No lump I can feel underneath, just the top of my cheekbone/orbital.

Hopefully it is just a stupid zit. I can deal with that.

4

no lump is a good sign, rules out a lot of shit. Could be a minute scratch, the area under your eyes is ridiculously tender

5
aussie.zone

Could be nerve pain, maybe even referred from TMJ or a tooth? Best of luck, hope you can get checked soon

3

Man I love my cat. She’s just a big old teddy bear and a sweetheart. Even when she’s a bit spoiled it’s cute

9
aussie.zone

Yeah, it’s all a bit disturbing

Edit: Also nepo babies touting themselves as ‘self made’

7
aussie.zone

I reckon Celine gets a pass, she's got some serious shit going on and didn't know if she'd be able to sing.

6

Didn’t she have Stiff Person Syndrome and it’s progressing, taking her ability to sing?

7

yeah, I saw a doco about Celine, she is so strong and brave to sing at the Olympics. And then she did it so beautifully, kudos and hugs to her

4

I think there more to come. People will use AI to generate art, music, writing, design and claim it as their own original invention. I guess that’s misrepresentation rather than fake, but there’s gonna be a flood of it.

4

Yah, official podcast confirmed. We're getting another season!

2
aussie.zone

Dropped off the transfer of shares papers to the executor of my grandma’s will today.

I wanted to mail them off so I didn’t have direct contact with the executor but it wasn’t to be.

Drove out of my way and got stuck in a one sided conversation I didn’t really want a part of due to the family feud going on between the executor who is my Aunty and half the family which consequently made me get home later as well.

Hopefully with that out of the way the distribution of the will can go ahead.

Parts of my family suspect that the Aunty has an unfair share of the will or has been stealing or misappropriating funds related to the will. She dumps all her emotional baggage on me because she considers me the nice one of the family but all I wanted to do was run away from her.

8

I haven’t looked at the will in awhile but there was a slight bias to my aunty’s side which has fuelled this fight and I sort of agree that it was slanted in that way too which I thought was unfair as well.

The problem partly being that she’s the executor as well and also had power of attorney for my grandma.

Anyway I don’t really want to be her emotional dumping ground, i just want this to be done fairly and split properly without stressing me out in the process as I have my own things to worry about.

4
aussie.zone

tried to book a camping trip for cup day weekend. Limited to "glamping" (ie: power and a hot shower) cause I was gonna bring the little fella, but no joy. Everythings booked out. Prom, Eildon, Bright, Philip Island, all totally booked out. The fact that it's still months away and its booked out blows my mind.

8
aussie.zone

Some nice glamping further inland - try Macedon, Mt Erica, Walhalla, Maldon, Wedderburn, or if you are willing to drive - Mt Buffalo, Beechworth maybe Rutherglen. The Grampians and Otways will probably be booked out too, but there's Horsham fairly closeish to the Little Desert National Park, and Rainbow near Hattah-Kulkyne. Off the beaten track may be your friend here.

EDIT: maybe farm stays? The little tacker will loooove that but might be a bit young.

5
TinyBreakreply
aussie.zone

yeah the drives kind of the hurdle. Trying to keep it under 3 hours. The mrs said last time he went to the prom the drive was the biggest hurdle. Sadly a bit young for farm stays.

4

Seems like you need to book popular areas for cup day by Easter these days. More people competing for the same spots. One of these days they might introduce a timed ballot system or something

2
aussie.zone

operation get rid of stuff continues , another dozen books I'm never going to read are sorted to go out , more knickknacks are going

8

load bearing bookshelf ...lol

and someone who likes book covers is a biblioplegic and there is nothing wrong with that, many are works of art in themselves

2
Nathreply
aussie.zone

I'm at the point where the movie shelf is full. I can't buy any more blu rays unless I sacrifice something. It's a great system: it means I'm very resistant to impulse buys and anything I do buy will improve my overall collection by design.

3
Taleyareply
aussie.zone

I just built a fileserver and stuff films on that

2
Seagoon_reply
aussie.zone

until they are lost, further, every dvd I buy has extras like commentaries and that's what I'm buying them for

2

oh I will buy movies that are worthy of it. But fileserving the average keeps them to hand and clears up cabinet space

1
aussie.zone

Toddler took my phone. I asked for it back, he disappeared for a moment then handed me back the purple ring from his tower toy thing. He looks satisfied with our "trade" and buggers off again, only to leave the phone behind on the floor anyway.

8
aussie.zone

If he was British he would've pillaged whatever was valuable from the phone then left it.

7
Seagoon_reply
aussie.zone

you mean liberate slaves from the Caliphates and Ottoman Empire?

2
aussie.zone

Tweaked my shoulder again yesterday and I'm getting a headache and also sending odd sensations and pins and needles down my arm/hand again.

Thought fully recovered from it a month ago.

7

There's someone stood in front of the Magistrate court on William St with a couple of big posters behind him, handing out flyers. He keeps repeating "Judges are motherfuckers" nothing else. At it for over an hour now

7

to be fair, if it was 16 and stabbed a bloke for the 5th time this week I'd probably just get a slap on the wrist. So the guy isnt wrong per say...

7

Aggressive people. They should all just pack up and go to an island to live together, and leave the rest of us to live in peace.

8

I don't think my manager understands my job. As in, I don't think she has done the same day to day work as me to be able to understand what goes into what I'm expected to do.

I can tell because some things have the name of the last user to modify them, and I don't see her name on anything or any of the documentation

6

Dealing with family stuff is annoying. Do I post back papers or go out of my way to drop them off in their letterbox?

5
aussie.zone

Bloody COVID. Bloody people who smoke, more specifically Mr P. What's the point of quarantining if you're going to wander through the living room where we're all sitting to go out for a smoke every half hour. Fucking ridiculous and I am fuming 😤😡

4
aussie.zone

Is he at least wearing a mask or doing anything to cover his face while he's in the living room?! Or at the very least waiting until everyone has left the room?!

3

He's wearing a mask but still opening and closing the door of his room where he has been quarantining and wandering through far too regularly for my liking. The kids and I started quickly putting on masks when he walks through the living room, so he started giving a little warning before he opened the door. But to my mind it's not good enough.

2

He occasionally mentions it, but really he's been smoking for 50 years at this point so it'd be very hard and take a big effort on his part. When he had a heart attack a couple of years ago and had a stent put in, he was in hospital 8 days. Then would've been a golden opportunity to give up but he didn't. I gave up years ago after smoking for 20 years, so I know it takes a particular mindset and dedication to achieve. I've started to really doubt that the will is there.

Edit: overzealous spellcheck error

2

omg, I have finally cleared all 50 levels of bubble town. it only took a few years and many thousands of attempts. I took a screen shot. I'm a bit numb...lol

7
aussie.zone

The race riots in the UK make Cronulla 2005 look like a children's tea party.

6

It takes a lot to get the brits of any persuasion off their arses and out in the street protesting, but when they do ... it gets pretty brutal. There'll be more of these riots. Imo the root cause is that brexit didn't deliver the earthly paradise that they were promised ..

8

The rioting was set off because they believe the stabber of the kids in the dance class was an immigrant Muslim. Nope, born in Britain Christian. Was fake news spread by Andrew Tate and other questionable sources. It’s the idiot olympics, and utterly terrifying how easily people can be set off.

5
aussie.zone

Enrolment bonanza day! Mine got processed today, after running around realising I had the wrong email address, then the process had changed from last year and a bunch of manual stuff was required... I'm in nowhere near the same situation as you but somehow throughout all my schooling years I've ended up needing all sorts of exemptions and it's taught me a lot about patience when dealing with bureaucracy.

I'm glad the wheels are turning in your favour!

3

In all seriousness, that is a resume skill! (Process oriented, attention to detail, familiarity with complex multi-stakeholder systems etc)

I currently have jobs that are very heavy on bureaucracy (one in the org itself, the other due to client requirements) and being used to working with it and learning how they think has been a real boon. It makes some parts of the job a lot less stressful than they would be otherwise and also makes me more likely to pick up stuff that others won't

2
aussie.zone

Round 2 of using the vegetable and tomato paste. This time with frozen pesto, frozen green veg, and canned springwater tuna mixed with pasta. Another win, definitely added an extra depth of flavour without tasting tomatoey for very little cost and effort. I will say I'm also proud of my little habit of chucking in some cardamom seeds to pasta or other non Indian dishes. It adds a certain je ne sais quoi.

Pretty good meal for zero prep. Cost about 3.32 a serve minus the homemade pesto, and most of that would've been the tuna and Fancy Expensive Pasta

6

Ah, our familiar Force is back after spouting such alien statements this morning... And yes I'm very proud of this concoction. I really do love a quick and dirty pasta meal. Bonus it was sirena 185g on special. Tastes nicer I reckon 😛

3
aussie.zone

Grateful for my four hour meeting being cancelled and having a full WFH day

6

It was not going to be ... it was supposed to be a working meeting but that client is never organised so I would have just been hand holding while they organised themselves

4

I just checked the status of my Temu orders, there are four packages in the country and ready for delivery. They should arrive tomorrow, and if they don't I get $5 credit for each package.

4
Duenanreply
aussie.zone

I've already eaten a slice of apple cake and it was delicious.

4
aussie.zone

Yum. I had an apple and custard scroll with boston bun topping. It was so delicious I immediately ate another one.

3

Since my morning post I've gone back for 2nds and I've demolished several slices of chocolate cake too.

3

Grateful for my MIL. She really stepped up after my mum died and tries her best to help, even though she's 90, and I try my best to help her when I can. We agree on most things, disagree well, and our relationship is easier than the one I have with her son.

3

um. 1 tube green garden lemon grass. 1 tb garlic. 1 tb ginger, 2 tb fish sauce, 2 tsps hot curry powder, 1 tin coconut milk, 3 cups water . Then add chicken and vegetables of your choice. eat with rice and chopped fresh coriander

5
aussie.zone

Mr Woof's meal prep has been done for the next 6 weeks. This batch features some home grown pumpkin, potato and parsley, as well as some fancy diced meat from the free market (his normal meat is all minced).

5
aussie.zone

I used to meal prep for Melbcat but she refused to eat it! It was too healthy for her taste

(She’d be happy to eat steak though)

3
aussie.zone

Miss Meow used to quite like the raw food, and the meal prep was just dividing up the bulk bag to smaller containers for the freezer. But the vet advised not to feed her that because of her immune issues, so now she gets Whiskas and meal prep is just mashing it with a fork when I serve because she can't deal with chunks now that she has no teeth. She still manages the dry food somehow though!

3
aussie.zone

Melbcat’s home cooked food was low protein vet nutritionist created recipes designed for cats with kidney disease. It wasn’t yummy enough! She sent it back to the kitchen and said ’fancy tins please’

3
Seagoon_reply
aussie.zone

I think cats can get used to salty food and start to demand it.

3

Our Miss Mimi is especially fussy.

There's particular varieties of particular cat food brands that she'll eat.

But if you give her the wrong one, she'll just look at you as if to say: "Excuse me servant, send this one back to the kitchen! Haven't we already been over this before?! This is not the tuna I like!" 😾

2

Oh yes, baby girl tells me when it’s time for a treat.

Ironically the cooked nutritionist food did have some salt though (potassium chloride)

2

My tv has died. I guess I don't need to watch the gymnastics after all, I'll read my book. But boo. I'll deal with it tomorrow.

5

TV review. Archer Series 13.

I loved Archer, the first 2 series made me laugh out loud so often and many of the following episodes also had their laughs.

Series 13 is a pale ghost of a show comprising running jokes, boring character repeating one liners they've said a hundred times and vulgarity for no reason. A vulgar joke is funny, these aren't even jokes.

So sad. 1/2 a whisky, no ice.

4
aussie.zone

Beep Beep 🚚
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4
aussie.zone

Minimum chips pls with chicken salt and food safe cleaning vinegar.

4
aussie.zone

Anyone had Thomas Dux cheese before. I finished off some brie but it kind of just tasted watery and salty, not much'cheese' taste.

Maybe that's just what fancy cheese tastes like

4

I find the Thomas dux ones are nothing special, despite the fancy branding. Australian cheeses like King island or Millawa are a much better brie. If you want a more flavoursome soft imported cheese, try a d'Affinois. Very $$ but omg so very delicious.

5
aussie.zone

Any sport in particular I should catch up on from overnight? I need to put something on in the background while I power through some boring monday morning stuff

4
Nathreply
aussie.zone

If you have Stan, just pop on one of the big ones. Like "Athletics day 8" or one of the main Olympics shows, and it'll just show you what is on the stadium. I watched the Athletics Day 8 one last night, to see all the 100m heats. It was really great, because it meant I actually knew a little bit about all the runners in the 100m final and had seen them all run before.

Note on that Jamaican kid who came second by 0.005 seconds: This event was his international debut, and he ran 9.77 in June. He's one to really watch. No idea why that US dude was so cocky when he learned he'd won after waiting 30 secs on that photo finish. It was hardly a resounding victory.

3

No but I have been watching the overviews on the 9 app Mainly landed on athletics today. The high jump final was pretty awesome..looking forward to the Sport climbing tonight

2
aussie.zone

Just pop it on 9. The news is on currently but they have highlights on up until 6pm.

2
aussie.zone

I've been playing Red Dead Redemption 2 a lot. It's my first playthrough, but 3rd time attempting to get into this game.. it's actually sticking this time though and I'm 35% through now. Enjoying it. It's crazy how many hours I've put in and it says I'm only 35% this game is hooooge.

Anyway the game is absolutely GORGEOUS. Playing on my PC with the graphics almost maxed out and riding around has made me desperately miss America's parks and mountains. I ache to go back there. I don't think we have anything in Australia which directly compares to that place, as unpatriotic as that sounds.

Also I found out that my tablet runs RDR2 fantastically (it's a stupidly expensive one with it's own discreet graphics card) so I can actually play it in bed too. It's not as gorgeous on that as on my 4k monitor with HDR but it still looks and plays great using my PS5 controller.

3

Listening to the soundtrack of The Mandalorian. I'd forgotten what a beautiful show it is so might take another look. ( and at The Orville as well 😊 )

3

There was no Solensia in stock - Miss meow might have to go to a different practice that has some.

I may also be switching her in future to a more expensive food that is lower in phosphorus. 😖 Waiting for the blood test to come back

3