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View original on aussie.zone

165 replies

Feeling better today anxiety wise. A couple of jobs popped up on seek that sound pretty chill so I applied for both and now about to put some nuggets in the oven for lunchie munchies. Also having a laugh at the expense of the greek family next door renovating the rental that they own. They are having the most mundane, polite conversations but speaking to each other in a tone so aggressive that they sound like they're all about to have a punch on.

13
aussie.zone

porterhouse steak with mustard seeds mashed potato tonight

12
Duenanreply
aussie.zone

Yum yum. Haven’t had steak in ages.

I have a whole pizza to myself tonight.

8
Baconreply
aussie.zone

are we jesus-ing this steak and potato

4

i considered buying a pizza but bought steak instead

2
aussie.zone

I'm knackered today. I keep walking into a room going "why am I in here again?" but I'll plod along.

12
aussie.zone

Seems like a chill kind of Sunday, today.

For some reason, I’ve taken a liking to motor inns recently. Something about budget, no frills you pretty much get what you expect is… comforting?

I’ve had the fortune of staying in nicer places, but they always seem to be… I don’t know maybe the higher the price the higher the expectation and the I don’t find they quite meet in the end.

Anyways, how is everyone?

12
aussie.zone

I've been mostly staying at motels when travelling these days - honestly all I need is a clean bed and toilet/shower and a halfway decent mattress, and a quiet night. Plenty of motor inns that don't do even that, but plenty others that do for a reasonable price especially off peak. Best compromise between a hotel/airbnb and camping.

Been a bit headachey and blah earlier but better now after going out to get some Brussels sprouts and pruning the curry leaf plants, and a bit of reorganising around the house. The friend I was supposed to catch up with today had to reschedule because she's got a cold and I'm secretly relieved because I'm really enjoying a day of no commitments.

7

I replied on the way home in the car but Lemmy ate my text. Glad you have been having a rest! Also I am envious of your curry leaf plant! (Fried curry leaves!) The one we stayed at had both split cycle and wall heating as well as electric blankets. And the usual bits, fridge, crockery, mugs, glasses, a kettle, toaster and microwave. Extra blankets etc. And the usually complimentary coffee, tea and biscuits. Really couldn’t fault it at all. I keep driving past the Kyneton Springs Inn and that seems to have been done up in this super cute retro decor. So there really is life to these motels yet!

2
Duenanreply
aussie.zone

Doing as well as can be. Staying warm and recovering from some physical ailments.

It’s been a lazy day I have to admit.

I have been fed with frankfurts I recently found in my fridge (still good) and now have a cup of large coffee here with a hot water bottle in front of the tv watching footy.

How are you doing?

7

Sounds like you’ve had the perfect day for you! Just hanging out a little out of town and doing a bit of window/online browsing. The sun was glorious this morning so soaked up a bit of that, but otherwise good/grateful for sure!

6
aussie.zone

I love a good motel. You can get a nice room for under $100 in lots of country towns, so a spontaneous weekend away can be pretty affordable.

7

And you don’t have to empty the bins, bring linen, fumble with a key safe and all those other Airbnb chores. Just basic accomodation with a dash of nostalgia.

6

That’s what I’m leaning more towards, even though I have a tendency to hover around Macedon and surrounds.

Do love a road trip though. Looks like more of those are going to be put onto the calendar!

5

It looks like the bot was just having a Sunday morning sleep in. No errors, it just shut itself down for no obvious reason. Thanks cuavas for filling in.

13
aussie.zone

Batdog made it through the night. Fought strong and self soothed with a heartbeat bear and a blanket from his litter.

Still very clingy and not interested in food, but loves lots of cuddles, head scratches, and belly rubs.

Dog tax

11

Very small. Time to put in the hard work though. The lady I got him from was very Ill from her breast cancer and chemo, so she did what she could and kept him happy, but there's a lot of work to do

1
aussie.zone

We didn’t have a heartbeat bear, but we did give ours a warm heat pack when he was little. He loved that.

2
aussie.zone

Might try that tomorrow night. I've had to take the bear and place it on top of the crate so he doesn't eat him.

But a heat pack wrapped in one of my jumpers might be good. My smell on clothes is like a calming drug for him

1

Surprisingly he's into a bit of Greek yoghurt but does love his plastic bone for a bit of a nibble

2

And she's able to hold strong and hard disks ready to frag? That's my kinda woman.

3
Seagoon_reply
aussie.zone

she's ready right now and that's more than most plumbers

6

The balcony looks a bit less sad. Took out a lot of dead stuff and crispy bits.

::: spoiler very long garden rambling Happy to see the hot lips salvia has bounced back vigorously after a prune and having a saucer placed under the pot a month ago. Being right on the edge of the balcony, it did need all the water it could get to battle all the sun and wind.

Chucked one of the scotch bonnets that's been ripe and on the plant for weeks, into the pulled jackfruit that's been simmering on the stove for 5 hours now. Not sure what to do with the myriad other SB and prik noom chillies that are going to start drying up on the plant - way too many to use fresh or even frozen as whole chillies as they are all HAAAAWT - I wonder if I should have a go at making homemade chilli sauce, or chilli paste that can be frozen.

Manzano/rocoto still going OK despite more yellow leaves from maybe 10 days of no water and bitterly cold winds. Two green fruit fell off, I'll let them ripen on the table; I don't know if the others will do the same. Been there for well over a month now.

The dwarf lemons look nearly dead. I've given up on working out how to make them thrive. Tried everything I could think of :(

The jasmine is doing well despite the tips regularly being burnt off from being on the hot railings. Lots of flower buds appearing so I'm really excited to welcome some lovely blooms in the next few weeks! I'm wondering if I should leave it behind when I go depending on how much it's twined around the railing.

Snowpeas and sweet peas have germinated but are slow. So is the coriander - despite a good amount of sun. Maybe it's the wind. No doubt as the days get longer they'll start kicking off. Being in pots with a water reservoir I reckon I could set and forget for almost all the time that I'll be away through Sep and they'll keep going.

Gave all the curry leaf plants but particularly Big Boi (who's almost completely leafless from being left in the cold wind for too long - sorry my friend) a heading prune, even as I could see new leaves unfurling from the top, because the last thing I want is leggy plants - which curry leaf plants tend to become without a good chop to promote side branching, especially in cold areas where they might lose heaps of leaves every winter.

Was a bit nerve wracking and I kept apologising to BB, but he's come back so many times from absolutely nothing, that I have faith he'll get through this as well, especially with such a robust root system. Please may you all become nice and bushy and I can start giving a couple of you away. There's another rescue from a near dead plant that's doing very well and hardly lost any leaves, I think it might be more cold hardy so might give that to a cousin in Ballarat. :::

::: spoiler bonus awkward salvia pic


:::

9
aussie.zone

A teacher at my son’s high school apparently had no choice but to resign after displaying racism while teaching a class. It’s a very multicultural school, I didn’t expect this. But given the amount of racism I get from random strangers in Melbourne, I really shouldn’t be surprised. Looking at threads over on r/melbourne, the introverted and unwelcoming attitude that permeates the city is really obvious. Rationally, I know it isn’t everyone in Melbourne, but God damn these people make sure you notice them.

9
aussie.zone

Unfortunately, I have a feeling that racism/xenophobia is going to be on the rise what with cost of living pressures and the housing crisis.

3
aussie.zone

Insert: Murdoch Cookie meme. You know they are definitely going to ramp it up in the media as a distraction from the billionaires hoarding the wealth and destroying the planet.

3

Hell yeah. I keep coming back to that LBJ quote: "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."

3

So I uninstalled BG3 and am reinstalling from scratch. Fingers crossed that it gets past 92% this time, but I won't know until tomorrow.

Least the download speed is jumping between 1.6MB/s and 3.0MB/s. Much better than .01.

I just want to fuck the bear ffs

9
aussie.zone

Oh no!

Also can't wait to romance the bear in another playthrough. I've decided to romance a hot tiefling.

3

My poor partner can't wait to tell me about his playthrough, but he's in Act 3 atm so is refraining with great difficulty haha! I should have listened to him when he told me to download it days ago lol!

I know I'm going to spend a solid hour to do character creation, because I love that shit, but I want to flirt with all the NPCs now haha!

4

Did it download all the way? I'm currently in act 2 and it's really good, but made me realise I needed to go back and level up. I recommend to do EVERYTHING in act 1.

Also you can pat a dog and I think an owlbear, I haven't gotten the owlbear yet but I'm happy to meet it.

::: spoiler spoiler for act 1 somewhat, no major spoilers but if you wanna go in blind don't read this! Also sorry for those w/ apps that don't spoil things.

Basically you want to go in the Owlbear cave and don't fight the mother. When you come back though, you'll find goblins have killed the mother Owlbear. You'll find the Owlbear at the Goblin Camp. You can either kill all the goblins (that's what I did at lvl 8 whoops) or you can persuade the goblins to let you have the Owlbear. You have to pass animal handling but it can come to your camp. :::

2

Nah, it's downloading fine now, I just realised that with change of providers on GOGs end, and me having the Early Access version already installed, there may be some file errors preventing it from completing the download.

So I aborted the download, uninstalled all BG3 files I had, and then restarted the download from the start. This seems to have fixed the 0.1MB/s download issue, I already have 5GB installed now, so early tomorrow morning I can hopefully start playing.

Regarding your earlier question, I love playing a Wild Magic Sorcerer in D&D and the last campaign we were doing Descent into Avernus, so I may make them again. Though, they were a Kenku, so I'll have to pick another race. I hope they add Kenkus in a later patch, but I doubt they will because dialogue would be difficult haha

4
aussie.zone

instant coffee has been achieved ( delicious and satisfying ) , also pb toast ( sans beurre because I'm not a savage )

8

Are you me?

I would have done all of that if I didn’t go for a nap.

4

Chicken tikka masala for dins. Marinade smelling gooood. Going to be served with heavily discounted store bought frozen samosa that tend to fall apart mid-frying with coriander chutney for the full quasi-experience.

::: spoiler spoiler


:::

8
aussie.zone

I slept in much like Botbot but I don't feel refreshed. After being in a house in the burbs for a month, being back in an apartment has not been relaxing. The minor traffic noises of cars driving past even at night have been making me feel tense, let alone the downstairs neighbour's Sunday morning bass heavy music, the upstairs neighbour vacuuming, and random talking from the garden next door... Honestly it's making me feel like curling up in bed all day wanting it to stop. It sounds so silly and irrational that I don't feel safe in my own home from perfectly normal noises? I really don't think I can live in an apartment for a while 🙁

But I certainly can't afford to rent a townhouse or house in most of Melbourne and moving is expensive. If I'm going to move I'm honestly leaning towards just having a new start interstate...

I think this realisation is adding just that extra bit of fire towards making those big life decisions around work, study, family, etc... Luckily I'm cat/housesitting for a month again in a freestanding house, from the week after next. So I'll have more time to let those decisions fall into place.

8
aussie.zone

Maybe consider playing some white noise to help drown that out? I sometimes play rain or ocean wave noise to help me fall asleep.

5

Yeah, I've got a good online radio station on backup for that at night. I'll manage. But it was just a bit of a downer realising how sensitive I was to that noise and of course it didn't help in the morning... Plus there's just this physical feeling of being unmoored that I can't shake off

5
bull⚡reply
aussie.zone

I live in a Docklands apartment but every so often will go and house/dog-sit for my parents when they go away out in the outer suburbs (Melton). I absolutely get it. It's SO QUIET out there, and so dark at night compared to in here (the roll down blinds in my apartment don't help there, they suck). If you have a car it's so easy to live out there. I've been looking to get out of the city for a while now.

I also want to be able to crank my Sunday morning music without worrying about neighbours. I have some country bangers going but I can never crank that dial.

4

Same same same. I've accepted, if somewhat selfishly, that I'd rather have a car on hand to be able to live out somewhere quieter (and also with an actual garden), as much as it sucks for the environment. This is where I have a real conundrum with myself because I definitely support better town planning and higher density, yet at the same time I completely understand why people prefer detached dwellings.

I grew up my entire life in a very densely populated and extremely planned out country, with amazing PT and amenities everywhere - so quite different from apartments here - and yet I craved living in a house with a garden so very much from childhood. Even though I hated the suburbs when I first moved here

4
aussie.zone

I hear ye. I honestly think the soundscape of cities is bad for overall mental health.

When I'm down the bellarine there's a bit of road noise / more garden / powertools but come 9pm it is DEAD quiet. Can hear the individual waves crash from 2kms away. It is BLISS. Makes such a difference mentally.

4

Hundred percent. Honestly I think I've been ready to get away from the hubbub for well over a year now. Now that I have options I think this is going to be an important factor in whatever next steps I make

4
aussie.zone

You’d be surprised on the affordability compared to the inner city. Can get something more spacious for the same price. Lots of suburbs where it’s walking distance to a train station. And even if it’s an apartment, it’s quieter at night than would be in the city, and there’s often community gardens you can join and larger parklands to enjoy. Downside is the choice of restaurants is less, and of course depends where you work for how long the commute would be.

3

I dunno, I'm already just about able to afford my 435/week 2br apt, if I'm moving to the outer suburbs I'd want a townhouse with private open space at least for that amount, but it doesn't seem like there's many options. I don't eat out much and can mostly wfh (site visits are all across the city, I will admit my place is very convenient for getting to most locations).

But moving out alone will cost quite a bit just in expenses. Currently my rent is on a periodic lease and won't go up until next April at least. Whereas if I move to a new place I'm locked in for a year. I think I'm gonna see (a) how long I'm going to stick on at this job and (b) whether I finish my studies here, because without those two, there is absolutely nothing substantial enough to keep me in Victoria any more tbh and I'm ready for a change in scenery plus I miss my family in Perth and Brisbane. And I could do my studies interstate - it'd be a research project and it doesn't have to be in Melbourne...

1

Loose bits of tobacco litter my desk;
I don't think about why I'm not at my best.
A pleasurable pain that fills up my chest,
I won't think about why I'm not at my best.
Losing control of this ship in distress,
Stormy seas drowning this vessel under duress.
I'm fighting my mind for my life in this test,
I don't think about why I'm not at my best.

7
aussie.zone

Dinner is served. Again, two new dishes.

8 hour stovetop jackfruit in some storebought pulled pork jar sauce (mostly pear puree and smoked paprika??), with Carib flavours (allspice, thyme, two scotch bonnets from the garden added whole) and other bits (cinnamon stick, couple cloves, bay leaf, stock powder). The pot sucked arse so there's a whole bunch of burnt bits.

Plus steamed Brussels sprouts in butter with a sprinkle of sumac and salt, and basmati rice and a side of spicy fried fish from a jar

::: spoiler dinzzzz

:::

7
aussie.zone

Don't expect it to be meat, but just a delicious vessel for flavour.

2
aussie.zone

Flavour bomb! I've never had jackfruit - what's the texture like? I imagine eggplat?

2
aussie.zone

Like soft pulled pork - hence its popularity as a meat sub. It's got a similar texture to muscle fibres, not stringy but idk what the word is. But holds a lot of flavour

1

Day 18 of exercise program was completed. Looked for a quiet place in the house to do it, as I generally don't like exercising in front of people. Settled on the formal living room in my MILs part of the house and started, then she came in and chatted briefly and was about to go when Mr Peeler came in and started chatting as well. I felt a bit like an exhibit but continued regardless.

MIL is looking into her family history and we found out some really interesting stuff about an ancestor of hers who was a Baron, engineer, philanthropist and published expert in lighthouse optics among other things.

Miniest Peeler is not well, was coughing a bit this morning. I can tell because she suddenly starts sleeping during the day, something very unusual. Funny how when some people are sick they sleep a lot, and others (me) find it hard to sleep at all. I'm keeping an eye on her and will give her a RAT test when she wakes up. Probably caught something from the Petri dish, oops I mean primary school.

7
aussie.zone

the steak packaging has a sticker telling me to remove all packaging before microwaving

excuse me i am not microwaving a porterhouse steak

7

I have never ever been a sports person but I did grow up in a football/soccer country and always found it fun to watch. Maybe I'll go, fuckit

5
aussie.zone

umm.. so it's time to check in for tomorrow's flight and just out of curiosity I hit the "change seat" button, mostly to see if the only other seat it let me pick was available, but now it shows several seats to pick! Including the exact seat I actually wanted (front row, window).

It is next to a bassinet seat which is also showing as available, so I'm taking the gamble and I've switched. My bid for an upgrade to business class still might come through anyway but if it doesn't, at least I got the seat I was hoping for now and I can cuddle up against the plane wall rather than potentially a passenger.

Pray to the flying spaghetti monster with me friends that no baby is in the seat next to mine..

6
tone_212reply
aussie.zone

Would someone will choose the baby seat without being in the seat right next to it? Doubt it, so winner seat selection in my view. Did you have to pay for that seat?

3

From what I understand from reading the Qantas site, that seat can have a bassinet which I think doesn't take up the seat itself but might extend from the wall in front maybe but I could be wrong, so I think potentially a single parent/guardian could sit there with a baby. The odds of it are lower but not zero. I'm feeling optimistic about it though.

No charge (booking the bassinet also don't get charged in premium economy apparently)

2

Strongly advise staying away from the city today; RMIT Open Day has everything at a standstill, it's pandemonium out here

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aussie.zone

So the chicken tikka masala (nagi's) was really very good. No photo though :(

6

That's the one! followed it to the letter and was top notch. Seemingly it's butter chicken but with a few extra things.

2
aussie.zone

White light needs to be banned, my eyes are turning to putty and my little noggin is going to explode.

6

Yeah, I’m with you all the way. Warm lighting forever!

Also white light hurts my eyes and feels so sterile, it’s so yuck.

3

WTF I need my white light. "Warm" light looks brown and dirty.

1

I suppose I should start cooking dinner now. It's gonna be chilli with macaroni and melted cheese on top

6
aussie.zone

I have bought 2 different coffees from 2 different McDonald'ses today, my usual order, and both have tasted like hot milk. They're coffee coloured but I cannot taste coffee in them at all.

This is where someone tells me I've probably got COVID for the first time ever, 24 hours from my flight to the US.

More likely explanation is the McEmployees making McCoffees today McSuck.

6

Lol omg I thought I was okay but I'm getting more confused the more I read from the ato website trying to figure out tax deductions. Probably shouldn't be a Sunday night thing but lol it's been procrastinated item 1 out of 50 so I'm just trying to do something.

5

Man I love the pizzas that baker delight. Just had a meat lovers and a mediterranean and i am not complaining

5

TIL my local Aldi has in stock net bags of 10 small Hass avocadoes - each a bit bigger than a large egg - for cheap. I really like these as there is an acceptable flesh to pip ratio, and each avo is one serve so no half avos going brown and squidgy in the fridge. They are the end of season thinnings but I actually prefer them to the big ones.

5
aussie.zone

Risky move of having a hojicha latte at this hour. Hopefully I can sleep.

5
aussie.zone

Still mildly sick but if I take another day the powers that be will start to get annoyed, so it's unto the breach. Honestly, just another reason why they should have left us at home, I'd have worked the last two days if I could have done them from the couch.

5

Not even joking when some big wig in a meeting laughed and said "we built this whole new building for you may as well use it", like we had held them at knife point and made them build it for us.

4

I have turned my apartment and my old bedroom at my parents place upside down trying to find my little travel pack I've been using for a decade or so, which is just my deflated-inflatable neck travel pillow and an eye mask tied together for easy stashing. Looks like I'll need to buy new ones before tomorrow night.

I've always kept it in a place where it'd be really obvious for when it's time to travel.. but it's not in any of those places. The thing which gets me is that I'm 100% sure it'll just appear once I get back from my holiday.

5
aussie.zone

I don't know if anyone used to watch MXC on Fox8 back in the day, well the original Japanese program Takeshi's Castle has a reboot of it. It came out April and is on Amazon (ugh) but it's actually been pretty fun.

4

Is that the one where they run up the hill to avoid the ball that's travelling down? Then yes. I don't know if they have it, but I've finished episode 2 of the reboot.

2
aussie.zone

the next hour is the only time i have today for a walk so of course it's dark & drizzling

4

Okay, GOG client is shitting me up the fucking walls.

Baldur's Gate 3 is currently 108.86GB/108.87GB but my download speed went down to 0.6MB/s wtf

I did a speedtest which says my download is 10MB/s, I have shut down and restarted my PC but GOG still doesnt go any faster.

What the actual fucking fuck. Love GOG, hate their motherfucking client.

Edit: download speed now at .01MB/s, not capped in the settings. I dont fucking knowwwwww

4

Sometimes I'll go months and months without an issue with GOG. Other times, when I want to play a game, it'll just shit itself.

Though I did some googling, and found others with the same issue as me with downloading BG3, and they reckon it's because GOG is changing providers and people are on holiday. I'll still give them my money, bc I support DRM free games, but damn this is driving me bonkers.

3

Any progress? I’m going to wait till the ps5 version comes out and see how that goes.

Maybe I should go back to number 1 and play that again.

What’s your class of choice for your main character?

I’m normally a chaotic good Cleric.

3

It seems the Miniest Peeler has a stomach virus or gastro. Symptoms correspond almost exactly.. it was suddenly hectic for a few hours there but seems to have settled down a bit now. Looks some time off school is on the cards. If she's ok tomorrow and just in need of fluids and rest for recovery then I can leave Mr Peeler in charge. If not then I'll have to take the day off. She told me lots of kids in her class have been absent due to an illness that still seems to be going around. Maybe people don't realise that even after someone has stopped vomiting etc and appear to have fully recovered, the virus is still contagious for a couple of weeks afterwards? I'll be keeping her home in any case.

4
aussie.zone

Ugh, ever had that thing where everyone reckons you should be mates with someone, you have sooo much in common....but they're a cunt

4
aussie.zone

When people tell me "omg, you need to meet so-and-so, they're just like you!" I generally response "but I hate myself, soooo...?!"

3

Jesus Christ this Christmas episode of The Bear is so fucked and so real and explains so much about the characters but oh my god I want to scream into a pillow oh my god. I think you could get minor PTSD just watching this episode

e: its been three hours, I'm still reading pages of reviews and comments and crying a bit, bloody hell what an episode. I'd go to bed but apparently I should really watch the next one as a nice pacifier

3
lemm.ee

Today's Melbourne road shenanigan:

  • Picked up some friends from Emporium. Immediately witness a massive 57 seater Mercedes coach get stuck trying to make a left turn from Elizabeth onto Lonsdale, and we all watched on as it spent the next 10 minutes awkwardly and dangerously reversing and trying again around pedestrians before finally managing to complete the turn with the help of the nearby tradies.

On another note, my right foot is sore today after hovering over (not pressing/resting on) the accelerator and instead letting the car's radar take care of the speed for most of yesterday's trip.

3
aussie.zone

Take it from someone who drove 1000s of kms in a car without any kind of cruise control... Use your radar. My right knee is a bajillion times better

3
Cendanareply
lemm.ee

Oh yes I love using the radar. It's active 95% of the time we're moving.

3

Spoiled by it now tbh. I'll have to find a car with that feature when I quit my job and return the work car...

2
aussie.zone

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

3
aussie.zone

Can I please have all the fruits and a strong latte for myself, and a couple of batteries for the bot.

3

🍏🍎🍐🍊🍋🍌🍉🍇🍓🫐🍈🍒🍑🥭🍍🥥🥝🥑

🥛☕️

🔋🔋

3
aussie.zone

Why why why am I up so early Bacon? I just need a little strength today. Maybe some batteries like midnight bot thanks.

3
aussie.zone

Morning chef! Happy Sunday 😊 can I please have your famous Eggy Surprise, and three pints of Guinness?

2
aussie.zone

So I got an appointment with my psych on Thursday which is great, but it's at 8:30 in the morning and I have work at 11, so I'll have to go to my psych, have the appointment, go home (all uber because there it's located is not near the train station or busses), and then uber back to work.

2

You might be able to get a doctor’s certificate for the day off.

2