Nice. Being able to grow the same plants for multiple years is such a good thing - why does everywhere tell you to pull them out and start from new seedlings every year?
I have three plants that survived both last years ongoing deluge and the winter. I think two Jalapenos and a Siam (yellow chilli). I planted out seedlings of four varieties this morning (annaheim, bulgarian carrot, jalapeno and siam) and hopefully they will not burn to a crisp in this sun before they get themselves established.
I hate public speaking. Am terrible. Colleagues think otherwise.
Tomorrow I have to present something about my team to another team at their team meeting.
Next week I have to record a video about something that needs to be sent to clients (this was originally supposed to be live but was changed to a recording last week)
The week after I have to present at the weekly company wide meeting (80+ ppl) on another topic.
Sigh. I mean, great learning opportunities but still, sigh.
Best bit of advice I got was slip into a persona. Its not you presenting. Its Fullkitwanker's "Professional image" presenting.
I find it far easier to put on another hat and be someone else than i find it to convince me to do stuff. And you can ABSOLUTLY tell when I've failed to slip into the persona and tried to present anyway.
Many years ago I went to a lunch with members of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. I was sitting with some percussionists and learned they consider the triangle to be one of the hardest percussion instruments to get right (I also learned that percussionists are absolute perfectionists). They told the story of a major performance in which the percussionist had to hit one note on the triangle. He was poised and ready, but missed the timing and could do nothing but quietly put the triangle down again. Even if a note is played perfectly it is not perfect unless it is also played at the right time.
I get the impression this is how bot001 sees it's job. Sometimes it misses the split second timing required to post at midnight and goes f*ck it, no point posting now, I'll just have to try again tomorrow.
Ok I don't know what's going on but Google Home is chatty today. It's 2pm. I hope you are having a good day. Would you like to go for a walk?. I gotta nip this in the bud. It's getting creepy now.
How about turning the lights off when you're told? Stick to your lane creepo.
3:30 Update. I was told to Go and have a glass of water. Why don't you wash your hands? Rrrrrrr
The little ones say no but were quite surprised when the alarm went off at 7:30am. The 2ic has control over these things so I'll need to have a meeting with him. Sometimes Google Home goes rogue.
I can't believe it... the much cheaper fish cat food really must not contain secret chicken. It's working?! Melbcat does not have the runs. Annoyed that the beef variety does have chicken/poultry though.
Long term health is another issue - it's possibly salty (which is bad) and a bit low in protein (which for her kidneys may actually be a good thing?) so in spite of it marked as meeting AAFCO standards and being fortified with taurine and vitamins I will be watching out and speaking to the vet about the quality when she's seen this week. Struggling to believe the own brand is really ok. (I buy generics for myself but the pet food industry is less tightly regulated.) But if she won't eat her biscuits she needs something with vitamins.
As much as I hate supporting Woolies there's also an own brand paper litter that's a smaller bag but a bit cheaper by unit cost. I'll still try to get the normal kind on special. Reducing these costs leaves a bigger margin for her medications, treats and vet visits.
Thanks, I do buy enough food for myself, the generics are pretty much as good as brand. And I do pay extra for the specific intolerance friendly items I need.
site:sends us a nice little vid the first hard drive is making a lot of noise I think it's on the way out
boss: gee, that's not good, taleya can you send them a new primary express and configure for them
me: watches vid Hard drives don't make that noise. jumps on box, fan RPMS up, chassis temp 46c (usually even at full tilt these things run about 5c over ambient) Uh guys, check your cooling in your comms room
site:OH SHIT, MIKE SHUT THE AIRCON OFF
You pay for the knowledge, folks. not just the work.
Hahaha. Google Home just spoke to me It's 10am. It's time to get up and stretch for 10 minutes. Yeah maybe after my cup of tea thanks luv. Stop watching me, you perv.
woo hoo! Sunny day, dog walked and Bunnings trip already completed. Today's focus: chillis. A couple of plants that survived the winter will be getting a trim, and some new seedlings to be planted. I didn't have good germination from my ornamental chilli seed, so I'll plant the few I have out and plant some more seeds too. I'd like to get a row of them growing along the front fence if I can. I'm also going to plant a few cherry tomato seedlings along the inside of the front fence - if they grow well passers-by will be able to grab their own multi-coloured snacks 😁
I tried the new Paul's Golden Gaytime Toffee Custard and I gotta say it was quite good. It's a thick custard so not pourable. Not too sweet. A definite golden gaytime taste. It would be delicious with Christmas pudding.
The thing is I don't know where the toffee part comes in and it would have been better with actual golden gaytime biscuit crumbs in it. So I give it 4.5/5 yum yums. Definitely worth getting.
Today's raspberry picking count is up to 11 berries. Another day or two I will have enough for a single serve of raspberries and yoghurt.
I've been making bags this afternoon to cover the fruit as if the birds get to them I won't get any. I seem to have lost the roll of green tule I was going to use (and I'm starting to thing I must have imagined it existing at all) so have had to make white bags instead.
ugh, starting very late with the chrimstas printing this year. But I have a pair of mechanically minded nieces (and a friend!) that will lose their everloving shit over Hextraction, so well sorted.
I bought myself a ukulele because tiny and cheap and simple to learn… (Plus quiet enough for a shared wall.) Found tabs for at least a few songs that don’t suck (you know exactly what I’m talking about)… and have now stressed myself out of even trying. Haven’t even tuned it.
Why is my brain like this
Attempts to do anything positive only make the anxiety flames rise higher
Edit: It’s because the songs I like and think could work are actually awesome and despite tab sites having chords I do not think they can really be replicated on a plinker. I’m talking reggae, alternative country murder ballads, or more traditional Hawaiian styles.
For them you’d probably actually want a real guitar, a banjitar, a mandolin, or a Mexican jarana. They were not originally intended to be ukulele songs but I know myself better than to shell out on the commitment to a real instrument that would take up precious space and only end up in the cupboard of shame.
Unfortunately they’re likely a lot harder to learn than the typical cheerful cutesy crap that I really don’t want to play. I’ve said it before I’ll say it again - beginner songs on everything are demotivating because they suck arse. And I’m having trouble overcoming the ukulele’s ‘quirky’ image.
Also I have never done a stringed instrument before. As a kid I played keyboard
I've been playing for 20 odd years now. You've made some important steps today.
You have an instrument, a goal, and the information required to reach the goal.
That's a big deal!
My suggestion would be, instead of learning the chords, start slow with just learning the main note of each chord and play them one by one. Ie: if the progression is C major, D minor, E major, then just locate the C, D, and E notes and play along with the song.
It's a slow process, but it's incredibly fulfilling if you give yourself the space and patience to learn and most importantly, have fun!
I learned glycerine by bush and come as you are by Nirvana just single notes when I first started. It gave me the confidence and sense of accomplishment to continue.
If you need any help, or guidance, shoot me a message. Always happy to help someone with their musical journey 🙂
Hey good on you for taking that first step! I was kind of thinking ukelele myself.. my kids had lessons at school, and I thought if they can teach kids in a public school setting to play a thing then why not have a crack myself! In the same spirit I had a go at recorder during lockdown, and it was fun and I sounded no worse than my kids anyway!
As a keyboard kid who has a guitar and a ukulele, guitar is a LOT more rewarding because if anything you could just play the melody. Ukulele doesn't give you that range. Guitar sounds way better on its own too. Just playing a single chord or note and enjoying the vibration already feel nice. Can't really do that with a ukulele.
Fruit bags made, with a couple extra for now. Miss Meow tried to help, which slowed things down a bit. But all the raspberries that are starting to get pink have been covered, and I made a couple of little bags for the strawberries, so my single ripening strawberry has also been covered. I'll need to look at covering the apricots soon, but I think a cover of the whole tree might be needed for that.
Something in the way of a crispy salad for contrast. A nice kimchi???? Or boiled/steamed chat potatoes with chopped celery & walnuts dressed with lemon juice and a bit of dukkah on top???
I'm so annoyed that there used to be a frequent feeder reward at Pet Warehouse where you'd get discounts (iirc you got every tenth bag of the same brand free). That made a difference with a food intolerance cat that needs higher end dry food, but she had to change over and now that brand has gone under anyway.
Now I make combined orders from Petcircle to get much better prices on another expensive essential (her Zylkene). Occasionally I go supermarket though, for the foods or litter that are ok/needed to top up quickly (and am trialing a more inexpensive brand). But I haven't sorted out any kind of smart system with Petcircle. Sometimes if you leave things in the Petcircle cart you get a coupon code emailed but that's it. I don't really want to sign up but may if it means benefits :(
The Woolies points are a bit of a joke with such low return on it, the higher delivery prices if you can't get a cheap slot, the price gouging and worker mistreatment, and due to my own food sensitivities I can't shop in a way that's really budget smart.
(So mad that there are half price/extra point things I miss out on due to a very restricted diet and I just have to buy what I'm able to eat. I would go HAM on those canned soups at half price or when they had a lot of extra points. Also some very specific items can have a much higher price than the basic item.) I do stock up on toothbrushes when they give extra points and bank what credits I do get for Xmas.
I most often get Coles because of more generic options and very cheap off peak delivery slots but they don't have everything I need and sometimes I have to go to the other duopoly bastard. I haven't signed up for FlyBuys because there was nothing that interested me until I saw someone got a $50 Bunnings card??
I always feel a bit dirty when I talk about buying from these clowns or call out a cheap deal/loss leader to others... wish Aldi was more accessible but I'm physically disabled with no car.
Those extreme couponers in America are awesome. I just cannot hustle the system the way they do it.
It was probably me with the Bunnings card. I used to get the Flybuys dollars to spend when I did my shopping, but you can't use them online and as I rarely shop in store I switched to the Bunnnings vouchers. Most of my points don't actually come from shopping at Coles - I have a Coles credit card that I use for almost all of my spending (I put the money into an account I use like an offset account, so I don't use it to spend money I don't have and can earn interest on the money). The card gives me quite a few points, and there are quite a few other shops (including Bunnings) that give Flybuys points as well. I don't do anything different that I would normally to get points, but receive somewhere between $100 and $150 a year in vouchers.
The couponers in America have a different system to work with - they get coupons from manufacturers as well as the shops themselves, and the norm seems to be that they can stack multiple offers, whereas we can generally only use one discount at at time. They also spend a lot of time collecting multiple catalogues and things to get the good deals.
Ah thanks for explaining! I’ve never actually had any type of credit card as the stories scared me off them (I don’t believe I could be trusted).
Yes. I don’t envy much about America at all, I wouldn’t survive for a second, but I would like being able to stack coupons.
And apparently you can buy a mobile home (trailer) in as is condition for about $3000 USD and it’s yours… the video talking about that was a few years old so maybe it’s inflated by now and the Aussie dollar could have dropped but just imagine. As shitty and small as it was you could buy yourself a stable little place. The dealbreaker would be the safety of the park and the condition of the electrical wiring though. And the residents kept being left without water?
Being wary of credit cards is a very wise thing. I have learned the hard way how much trouble they can be. I find that the way I am using it has been good for me, as I make sure everything is paid for when I buy it buy physically transferring the money into my offset account, and I go through the statement line by line and match it up to the payments to make sure nothing is missed - which also means I catch anything like recurring subscriptions I should have cancelled, or errors in direct debit amounts. I make sure I always have the money in the bank to pay off the full balance at any time - relying on expected money coming in in the future to pay it off can be the start of a cascade of problems if something goes wrong.
The credit reporting agencies in Australia don't get any information about whether you are using your card or not, just whether or not there are overdue payments. So if you think having that credit record would be useful (and it is much less important here than in USA) you could get a no-fee credit card and not use it. That will give you an ongoing history of having a card with no missed payments.
2 callbacks from recruiters today!!! Two interviews lined up. Birthday week is starting to look up 😀
Introducing my 4yr old thai chilli TREE TRUNK. Good productive chillo will see another year
Looks like it overwintered okay. Soil needs some work though but it pulled through.
Nice. Being able to grow the same plants for multiple years is such a good thing - why does everywhere tell you to pull them out and start from new seedlings every year?
I have three plants that survived both last years ongoing deluge and the winter. I think two Jalapenos and a Siam (yellow chilli). I planted out seedlings of four varieties this morning (annaheim, bulgarian carrot, jalapeno and siam) and hopefully they will not burn to a crisp in this sun before they get themselves established.
Yea i dunno. Starting from seed I suppose is pure. The hardcore chilli heads are definitely an odd breed heh.
I hate public speaking. Am terrible. Colleagues think otherwise.
Tomorrow I have to present something about my team to another team at their team meeting.
Next week I have to record a video about something that needs to be sent to clients (this was originally supposed to be live but was changed to a recording last week)
The week after I have to present at the weekly company wide meeting (80+ ppl) on another topic.
Sigh. I mean, great learning opportunities but still, sigh.
Best bit of advice I got was slip into a persona. Its not you presenting. Its Fullkitwanker's "Professional image" presenting. I find it far easier to put on another hat and be someone else than i find it to convince me to do stuff. And you can ABSOLUTLY tell when I've failed to slip into the persona and tried to present anyway.
Many years ago I went to a lunch with members of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. I was sitting with some percussionists and learned they consider the triangle to be one of the hardest percussion instruments to get right (I also learned that percussionists are absolute perfectionists). They told the story of a major performance in which the percussionist had to hit one note on the triangle. He was poised and ready, but missed the timing and could do nothing but quietly put the triangle down again. Even if a note is played perfectly it is not perfect unless it is also played at the right time.
I get the impression this is how bot001 sees it's job. Sometimes it misses the split second timing required to post at midnight and goes f*ck it, no point posting now, I'll just have to try again tomorrow.
Man, it's rough coming back to work after being away for 2 weeks.
I'm glad to be back but at the same time maybe I wish I had another week off.
Take it one day at a time mate.
Having a lowkey day today and pacing myself with coffee and taking a break by myself at my desk.
Didn't want to be overwhelmed by people today either.
Ted Cat says Hi. 😸
::: spoiler spoiler :::
The Grey Ghost. The Phantom Bum Biter
Must be a grey cat thing, my Pepper is a chomper!
meanwhile my torbie is a tit-horker. Just shoves her head in there and starts snorting.
Tits must be a torbie thing - my torbie-calico stomps all over them.
Is she a size queen as well? I s2g torbies are obsessed with their giant human's ability to pick them up one handed
Hi Ted. You're a handsome fella! I wish you many chin scritches and warm sunbeams today.
Ok I don't know what's going on but Google Home is chatty today. It's 2pm. I hope you are having a good day. Would you like to go for a walk?. I gotta nip this in the bud. It's getting creepy now.
How about turning the lights off when you're told? Stick to your lane creepo.
3:30 Update. I was told to Go and have a glass of water. Why don't you wash your hands? Rrrrrrr
Maybe it’s lonely and just wants a chat?
We chat all the time. We also have an understanding, at least I thought we did, don't speak unless spoken to. Now she wants to organise my day.
Yikes that's annoying and creepy. Do you use it only for the automation? What else does it do? Do you find it helpful in general?
Yeah she's normally good. I use her for the lights, TV, weather, radio, news, music, timer, general questions.
Have the mini-CEO(s) been messing with the settings?
The little ones say no but were quite surprised when the alarm went off at 7:30am. The 2ic has control over these things so I'll need to have a meeting with him. Sometimes Google Home goes rogue.
First swim / dinner for the incoming summer. Was perfect. I think I'm addicted to the concept. Go for a dip then dins on the beach.
::: spoiler Cat rambles
I can't believe it... the much cheaper fish cat food really must not contain secret chicken. It's working?! Melbcat does not have the runs. Annoyed that the beef variety does have chicken/poultry though.
Long term health is another issue - it's possibly salty (which is bad) and a bit low in protein (which for her kidneys may actually be a good thing?) so in spite of it marked as meeting AAFCO standards and being fortified with taurine and vitamins I will be watching out and speaking to the vet about the quality when she's seen this week. Struggling to believe the own brand is really ok. (I buy generics for myself but the pet food industry is less tightly regulated.) But if she won't eat her biscuits she needs something with vitamins.
As much as I hate supporting Woolies there's also an own brand paper litter that's a smaller bag but a bit cheaper by unit cost. I'll still try to get the normal kind on special. Reducing these costs leaves a bigger margin for her medications, treats and vet visits.
:::
Pusskuss is one lucky lady to have you. I hope you are looking after yourself too. You both gotta be nourished to be able to function.
Thanks, I do buy enough food for myself, the generics are pretty much as good as brand. And I do pay extra for the specific intolerance friendly items I need.
That's good to hear and I agree with the generics bit.
so many hugs, you are the bestest friend to melbcat 🤗🤗🤗
She's my little baby
site: sends us a nice little vid the first hard drive is making a lot of noise I think it's on the way out
boss: gee, that's not good, taleya can you send them a new primary express and configure for them
me: watches vid Hard drives don't make that noise. jumps on box, fan RPMS up, chassis temp 46c (usually even at full tilt these things run about 5c over ambient) Uh guys, check your cooling in your comms room
site: OH SHIT, MIKE SHUT THE AIRCON OFF
You pay for the knowledge, folks. not just the work.
No alarms? 🥺
Not worth it for our single units, not my problem with sites dc
Salad weather!
It's been such a lovely day in the garden today I thought I would take some photos of my flowers to share it with you.
Christmas Turkey ordered 🦃💃🎄
sick at home with a chest infection instead of presenting at a conference today.
had set-aside some cash to spend while away, so am frittering away some cash with online shopping while on the couch.
Is a synology NAS any good? minimum specifications I need? streaming media, mostly.
rest and take care 🤗🥃🍯🍋
am all over the ginger/lemon/honey/chilli 'tea'!
Hahaha. Google Home just spoke to me It's 10am. It's time to get up and stretch for 10 minutes. Yeah maybe after my cup of tea thanks luv. Stop watching me, you perv.
woo hoo! Sunny day, dog walked and Bunnings trip already completed. Today's focus: chillis. A couple of plants that survived the winter will be getting a trim, and some new seedlings to be planted. I didn't have good germination from my ornamental chilli seed, so I'll plant the few I have out and plant some more seeds too. I'd like to get a row of them growing along the front fence if I can. I'm also going to plant a few cherry tomato seedlings along the inside of the front fence - if they grow well passers-by will be able to grab their own multi-coloured snacks 😁
I tried the new Paul's Golden Gaytime Toffee Custard and I gotta say it was quite good. It's a thick custard so not pourable. Not too sweet. A definite golden gaytime taste. It would be delicious with Christmas pudding.
The thing is I don't know where the toffee part comes in and it would have been better with actual golden gaytime biscuit crumbs in it. So I give it 4.5/5 yum yums. Definitely worth getting.
Today's raspberry picking count is up to 11 berries. Another day or two I will have enough for a single serve of raspberries and yoghurt.
I've been making bags this afternoon to cover the fruit as if the birds get to them I won't get any. I seem to have lost the roll of green tule I was going to use (and I'm starting to thing I must have imagined it existing at all) so have had to make white bags instead.
I'm off to Daiso. Does anybody want anything?
ugh, starting very late with the chrimstas printing this year. But I have a pair of mechanically minded nieces (and a friend!) that will lose their everloving shit over Hextraction, so well sorted.
Breakfast 🍏🍎🍐🍊🍋🍈🫐🍓🍇🍉🍌🍒🍑🥭🍍🥥🥦🥑🫛🍆🍅🥝🥬🥒🌽🥕🥐🍠🫚🥔🧅🥯🍞🥖🥨🧀🧇🥞🧈🍳🥚🥓🥩🍗🍖🫓🍕🍟🍔🌭🥙🧆🌮🌯🥗🍲🍜🍝🥘🍛🍣🍱🥟🦪🍥🍘🍚🍙🐠🍤🪼🦀🐙 🍗🥮🍢🍡🍧🍰🧁🥧🍦🍨🎂🍮🍭🍬🍫🥜🌰🍪🍿🍯🥛☕️🍵🍺🍶🥤🧋🧃🥂🍷🥃🍸🍹🧉🔋
Bot bacon... a can of Spam pls
🥫
🤖🥓
Oh, a bacon bot! I'll have all things bacony, and a battery for bot 001.
🥓🍔🧀🍟🥞🔋
A sweet potato with chilli beans and cheese please
🍠🌶️🫘🧀
Your most effective methods of waking me up and getting me off my phone and out of bed, please.
and a cookie
🐈🍪
Ooh is it bacon day? I’ll have pancakes and bacon and maple syrup please, with extra crispy bacon
🥞🥓🍯
Delicious!
I bought myself a ukulele because tiny and cheap and simple to learn… (Plus quiet enough for a shared wall.) Found tabs for at least a few songs that don’t suck (you know exactly what I’m talking about)… and have now stressed myself out of even trying. Haven’t even tuned it.
Why is my brain like this
Attempts to do anything positive only make the anxiety flames rise higher
Edit: It’s because the songs I like and think could work are actually awesome and despite tab sites having chords I do not think they can really be replicated on a plinker. I’m talking reggae, alternative country murder ballads, or more traditional Hawaiian styles.
For them you’d probably actually want a real guitar, a banjitar, a mandolin, or a Mexican jarana. They were not originally intended to be ukulele songs but I know myself better than to shell out on the commitment to a real instrument that would take up precious space and only end up in the cupboard of shame.
Unfortunately they’re likely a lot harder to learn than the typical cheerful cutesy crap that I really don’t want to play. I’ve said it before I’ll say it again - beginner songs on everything are demotivating because they suck arse. And I’m having trouble overcoming the ukulele’s ‘quirky’ image.
Also I have never done a stringed instrument before. As a kid I played keyboard
Let me give you some advice:
I've been playing for 20 odd years now. You've made some important steps today.
You have an instrument, a goal, and the information required to reach the goal.
That's a big deal!
My suggestion would be, instead of learning the chords, start slow with just learning the main note of each chord and play them one by one. Ie: if the progression is C major, D minor, E major, then just locate the C, D, and E notes and play along with the song.
It's a slow process, but it's incredibly fulfilling if you give yourself the space and patience to learn and most importantly, have fun!
I learned glycerine by bush and come as you are by Nirvana just single notes when I first started. It gave me the confidence and sense of accomplishment to continue.
If you need any help, or guidance, shoot me a message. Always happy to help someone with their musical journey 🙂
Heh, thanks. I think I’ve scared myself off already
Hey good on you for taking that first step! I was kind of thinking ukelele myself.. my kids had lessons at school, and I thought if they can teach kids in a public school setting to play a thing then why not have a crack myself! In the same spirit I had a go at recorder during lockdown, and it was fun and I sounded no worse than my kids anyway!
That’s what I’m trying to do, let myself be a beginner at things. It’s so hard
(I have an $8 recorder too)
As a keyboard kid who has a guitar and a ukulele, guitar is a LOT more rewarding because if anything you could just play the melody. Ukulele doesn't give you that range. Guitar sounds way better on its own too. Just playing a single chord or note and enjoying the vibration already feel nice. Can't really do that with a ukulele.
A ukulele is easier to hide when I inevitably fail 🤦
Fruit bags made, with a couple extra for now. Miss Meow tried to help, which slowed things down a bit. But all the raspberries that are starting to get pink have been covered, and I made a couple of little bags for the strawberries, so my single ripening strawberry has also been covered. I'll need to look at covering the apricots soon, but I think a cover of the whole tree might be needed for that.
l have been to the outside and I would like to announce that it is warm.
Hoodie and shorts warm or t shirt and shorts warm?
hoodie and shorts when i went out but probably tshirt and shorts soon
It Monday. Wfh. Back to bed.
I think I may have figured out my fatigue issue from yesterday. I might have a bit of an ear infection.
I kind of want to go to the dog park and hang out with other people's dogs today. Not sure if that's socially acceptable.
#Worldle #661 6/6 (100%) 🎉 ⭐🏙️ https://worldle.teuteuf.fr 📷 #WhereTaken🇺🇸 #244 6/6 🎉 ⭐⭐⭐ wheretakenusa.teuteuf.fr
I love Ted Cat , I just wish he would stop biting my bum. 😸😂
He hungers for flesh
Don't we all 🤭
Is he jealous of attention given to Billcat or other people?????? Wants you all to himself????
What's your favourite sides to have with pork belly? I plan on making this pork belly recipe and I'm undecided what to have it with.
A Penfolds Riesling
How about something from Aldi's carefully selected grog shelf?
It's been my experience that European supermarket wine to be superior to much name brand aussie wine
I do like a drop of Brown Brothers occasionally.
mashed potato
That is a big contender.
pickled carrot and onion and cucumber. pertater salad. His Lordship also cares for coleslaw, I do not.
I agree with Your Lordship. Coleslaw goes well with crispy pork.
it's not the combo I object to, it's the concept of coleslaw as a whole.
I like to put a bit of fennel in mine. Delicious
None for me means more for you!
Something in the way of a crispy salad for contrast. A nice kimchi???? Or boiled/steamed chat potatoes with chopped celery & walnuts dressed with lemon juice and a bit of dukkah on top???
Yeah that sounds good. A warm herby lemony baby potato side dish. Mmmmm.
Chinese greens stir fried with soy sauce, chilli and garlic!
Yummmm. This gives me good ideas. Thank you.
::: spoiler Budgeting rambles
I'm so annoyed that there used to be a frequent feeder reward at Pet Warehouse where you'd get discounts (iirc you got every tenth bag of the same brand free). That made a difference with a food intolerance cat that needs higher end dry food, but she had to change over and now that brand has gone under anyway.
Now I make combined orders from Petcircle to get much better prices on another expensive essential (her Zylkene). Occasionally I go supermarket though, for the foods or litter that are ok/needed to top up quickly (and am trialing a more inexpensive brand). But I haven't sorted out any kind of smart system with Petcircle. Sometimes if you leave things in the Petcircle cart you get a coupon code emailed but that's it. I don't really want to sign up but may if it means benefits :(
The Woolies points are a bit of a joke with such low return on it, the higher delivery prices if you can't get a cheap slot, the price gouging and worker mistreatment, and due to my own food sensitivities I can't shop in a way that's really budget smart.
(So mad that there are half price/extra point things I miss out on due to a very restricted diet and I just have to buy what I'm able to eat. I would go HAM on those canned soups at half price or when they had a lot of extra points. Also some very specific items can have a much higher price than the basic item.) I do stock up on toothbrushes when they give extra points and bank what credits I do get for Xmas.
I most often get Coles because of more generic options and very cheap off peak delivery slots but they don't have everything I need and sometimes I have to go to the other duopoly bastard. I haven't signed up for FlyBuys because there was nothing that interested me until I saw someone got a $50 Bunnings card??
I always feel a bit dirty when I talk about buying from these clowns or call out a cheap deal/loss leader to others... wish Aldi was more accessible but I'm physically disabled with no car.
Those extreme couponers in America are awesome. I just cannot hustle the system the way they do it.
:::
It was probably me with the Bunnings card. I used to get the Flybuys dollars to spend when I did my shopping, but you can't use them online and as I rarely shop in store I switched to the Bunnnings vouchers. Most of my points don't actually come from shopping at Coles - I have a Coles credit card that I use for almost all of my spending (I put the money into an account I use like an offset account, so I don't use it to spend money I don't have and can earn interest on the money). The card gives me quite a few points, and there are quite a few other shops (including Bunnings) that give Flybuys points as well. I don't do anything different that I would normally to get points, but receive somewhere between $100 and $150 a year in vouchers.
The couponers in America have a different system to work with - they get coupons from manufacturers as well as the shops themselves, and the norm seems to be that they can stack multiple offers, whereas we can generally only use one discount at at time. They also spend a lot of time collecting multiple catalogues and things to get the good deals.
Ah thanks for explaining! I’ve never actually had any type of credit card as the stories scared me off them (I don’t believe I could be trusted).
Yes. I don’t envy much about America at all, I wouldn’t survive for a second, but I would like being able to stack coupons.
And apparently you can buy a mobile home (trailer) in as is condition for about $3000 USD and it’s yours… the video talking about that was a few years old so maybe it’s inflated by now and the Aussie dollar could have dropped but just imagine. As shitty and small as it was you could buy yourself a stable little place. The dealbreaker would be the safety of the park and the condition of the electrical wiring though. And the residents kept being left without water?
Being wary of credit cards is a very wise thing. I have learned the hard way how much trouble they can be. I find that the way I am using it has been good for me, as I make sure everything is paid for when I buy it buy physically transferring the money into my offset account, and I go through the statement line by line and match it up to the payments to make sure nothing is missed - which also means I catch anything like recurring subscriptions I should have cancelled, or errors in direct debit amounts. I make sure I always have the money in the bank to pay off the full balance at any time - relying on expected money coming in in the future to pay it off can be the start of a cascade of problems if something goes wrong.
Ah, I considered doing that to build good credit but my brain gets so scatty I wouldn’t be able to handle it.
The credit reporting agencies in Australia don't get any information about whether you are using your card or not, just whether or not there are overdue payments. So if you think having that credit record would be useful (and it is much less important here than in USA) you could get a no-fee credit card and not use it. That will give you an ongoing history of having a card with no missed payments.
Good idea
Weather update: went out for a Viet iced coffee, still hoodie + shorts cuz it be chilly. Will update again at 5pm. Stay tuned.
Any recommendations for a good power bank that is under $100?
Writing vocal melodies is so hard when you've already written the whole song. I've got lyrics, just hitting a brick wall.
I'm making a whole new style (middle eastern industrial) so there's no real references to rely on.
I am intrigued by the concept of middle eastern industrial. Trying to figure out how that would sound in my head.
I'll show you:
Listen to On the banks of the nile by Stray on #SoundCloud https://on.soundcloud.com/ou3ED