Melbourne

Uni marks came in. Somehow an A slipped onto my "barely passing" academic transcript. Also I got a high pass in the subject I thought I was going to fail, and a C in the third one.

I'm shocked, I might actually graduate this year

racked up 50 days alcohol free as of today, no pressing reason just wanted a break and a minor challenge to see through to the end. funnily enough the social drinking part was easy and had some fun nights out on 0 alcohol beers. the at home turning brain off and playing video games sipping soju is what i missed.

didn't experience any actual benefits, which is exactly like when i quit coffee for a couple months and nothing happened just mildly less enjoyment

For me, having a team lunch is not a “break”. I get back to the office feeling like I haven’t stopped working. Went straight back outside for a 15 min walk to reset.

I've started an 8 week challenge for fitness and healthy eating and fuck me, the amount of admin involved is exhausting. I've been so enthusiastic but the more I've had to prepare for it food wise, the more my enthusiasm fades. I'll still go to the group training session tonight but I'm genuinely already exhausted.

Got the cross-stitch project done! Now let's see if I can master this spoiler thing:

my cross stitch project

Okay retailer it's been less than 24 hours since I've made a purchase from you. Maybe wait until you delivered my first purchase before sending marketing material for further purchases?

(vent)

Stayed late at work by accident and busted my hump trying to catch my "backup" bus that gets me home relatively early. Waited here since the PTV app said "arriving in 5 minutes" then it counted down and said "Now" for about two minutes, then ticked over to 21 minutes. No bus went by in either direction.

Also this bus stop I'm at doesn't have a bench or anything.

Oh, I just remembered I missed my normal bus to work this morning, too. Looks like I've got a case of the Mondays!

ugh, yet another failure to die in my sleep.

Heavy things lifted. Miss Meow is very confused about the point of it all, but has also done her own exercise routine, involving stalk and pounce of a small piece of cardboard and a limbo across the weight bench and under the barbell. She is now suggesting it would be a good time to eat some protein.

Update from my post yesterday about the disability medical assessment I had for my disability claim, for anyone that saw that.

Had the appointment. The assessor was nice, I was so nervous I was stuttering. I don't even have a stutter, so that was weird. Took all of 10-15 minutes and I was exhausted after.

Now I just wait I guess. The estimated completion time is 4th of August, so if it takes that long I think I'll get around $2k in backpay, which is enough to pay off two of my debts and get things back on track(do they still backpay the difference in payment for people currently on jobseeker? Actually unsure on that.)

The suspense is killing me. I should just avoid thinking about it, but that extra $400ish a fortnight would be life changing. And not having to make myself bedridden going to disability employment services appointments every other week.

Minecraft has been a good distraction. Been digging big holes to calm down. There's something Zen about it. Except that I keep burrowing in to giant cave systems and having to explore them for loot and glory, which is less relaxing.

Good morning, all you hotties!!

It's cold and dark out there, but I'm going to brave it with Mr Woof to get first walkies done. Then I can follow up with some nice hot porridge for breakfast.

Just listened to Shorten roasting Dutton and Morrison on ABC radio. Oh, what could've been. He deserved his shot at PM.

I just walked out of my work building and smashed my Apple watch really hard against the (metal) doorframe, and it took me until I got to my car to muster up the courage to inspect the damage 🥴 Incredibly, not a scratch on it. I'm genuinely surprised it didn't crack.

Time to stop being lazy and buy a cover, I just hate the way they look but if I actually end up smashing this thing I'll be gutted.

I've finally put a bow on a document I've been working on for months. Technology changes quickly and frequently so it has needed a bunch of changes since I started but I'm finally calling it "document correct as of date of writing" and will present it to my team tomorrow.

It was my largest piece of work and a huge weight off my shoulders - or rather will be after I present it to my team tomorrow. Now I can focus on thinking about what comes next for the 35 days until my holiday. Good times.

Time for bed I think. Hopefully bot #001 can manage the night shift, it has been a big day. I think the day naming problem we had might be sorted (the bot will be putting it in the body of the post until I'm sure it won't mess up the title again!). There was also an update released for the base code which has been included, and I tried to do something else which went horribly wrong. I had to do a full system restore and reinstall everything to fix it, so the poor bot was homeless for a while. Everything looks fine again now, but if things go wrong tonight it's probably not the cat's fault.

started watching "from" on Stan. suitably intrigued, but just found out it's by the makers of "lost", and now I dont want to invest any time in it as it descends to an inevitably shit conclusion.

It's vaguely annoying how when anything bad happens the default response is "here, have some counselling". In so many cases what needs to change is someone's circumstances, and quickly. And a quick chat is not going to fix that.

Made a kilo of deep fried buttermilk chicken nibblets for dinner. I can't believe we managed to finish it all.

There is a new coffee community that has just been created. I believe as Melbourneans we need to make sure we go and add our collective coffee wisdom.

Scrambled eggs, Vegemite toast, a selection of cold meats, cherry tomatoes and cucumber for dinner tonight. Tasty, comfort food, very low effort.

Just worked out again.. why wholemeal crumpets are always on sale.

Okay cleaned up after dinner and got the laundry folded. Didn't get around to vacuuming so tomorrow it'll have to be. Took a big task and broke it down into smaller tasks and will start with the first two tomorrow. Set myself some learning objectives and will start tonight. Yes I'm doing it I'm doing it. Slowly.

I've been trying to get my wife to ditch her dying phone for months now. Some woman just paid for her crumpets and deodorant at the supermarket cause the NFC didn't work so she couldn't pay. Why she didn't carry her physical card with her if she knows the the phones iffy is beyond me. Thank you to the kind lady, but im dying of second hand embarrassment.

Today is absolutely dragging in the office.

Only a bit more to go, but holy shnikes I'm suffering here.

The group of cacklers are within earshot too.

Going to bed early. Nothing much to see here. I had to write a beautiful letter to the mum of a trans girl today though which thouroughly warmed my heart. There was a four corners thing about trans kids on tonight I think and again the abc seem to want to reflect the transphobic views of those who spread misinformation, but this is just hearsay. I didn't want end the day on a bad vibe so I avoided it.

Banana bread is in the oven yay. Baby woke up an hour earlier than usual this morning so I’ve already had 2 coffees, done a load of laundry, read some of my new book, and of course the banana bread. I have either been feeling a bit depressed or am suffering from horrendous PMS post partum but I thought today I should try to keep busy rather than scrolling my phone all day.

For the rest of the day I’m hoping to work a bit more on an essay I’ve been writing for my newsletter and hopefully squeeze in an exercise routine. We shall see!

Lmao watching an older film and I forgot you used to be able to just hire porn from the video shop. I was to young to hire it but I was always curious about those who did, like were they embarrassed taking it to the counter.

I had to force myself to get some work done today to prevent the rest of the week and next week from blowing up but I definitely need to take tomorrow and possibly Wednesday off because I feel like absolute death. Had a chat to one of my senior colleagues today about what happened last week and next steps because I need to feel like I'm taking action to get out of an unfulfilling dead end situation. But I also don't want to burn bridges and leave people hanging

Looking at the metro train site and all lines are green? This is both surprising and seems too good to be true. I wonder how long it’d last

Day 16 of my exercise program... and it's a rest day. I feel like doing some exercises though, so I did 5 minutes of the ultra back friendly stomach exercises in the video I saw yesterday. Oh man, they seem a bit lame but you can really feel them engage where it counts! It's a 10 day program in itself, so it looks like I've started a new thing! But it's hi ho hi ho for me now so I hope you all have a lovely day that you deserve!

Here I am up again, thinking.
Late night coffee, same old story.
Only two beers, but coffee I'm craving.
Fuck, I need to get my shit together,
I think I'm in for stormy weather,
Ugh, I have to get it all together.
I have to be an adult,
Sooner or later.
Preferrably sooner rather than later.
I mean, sure, I'm quite messed up,
Longterm therapy is on the cards.
Fighting myself
But I should be fighting for help.
But it isn't an excuse
To stagnate.
This is not my fate,
Just an actual phase.
An inbetween state,
While I mutate
It's not too late
For me to close that gate
Behind me.
I'm more than the sum of my past,
A human with some janky parts.
But it's all here, still chugging away,
Rusting but taking it day by day
Rusting away but it's okay.
I'm temporarily corporeal,
We're all here for just a little while.
So thank you all for reading my prose,
Be it funny, sad, a little bit morose.
You all are amazing, so human and cool!
Just keep being you.

Why are tradies so bad at keeping appointments? We are not talking about being a little late here. We are talking about not coming at all even when confirmed in writing. And no comms if they aren't coming either.

Ugh. I bought an old phone off of eBay, I did my due diligence and everything seemed above board, but old mate's been fucking me around for the last week and a half. It finally arrived today and it's FRP locked

Edit: with the help of a youtube video, I managed to figure it out. I mean, looked dodgy as fuck, I probably have more malwares than there were variants of covid, but I got it sorted

I learnt a new word today. "Ventifact", a rock that has been abraded by wind carried dust or ice .

Kids these days. First the Sydney fire and now this one...idiots filmed themselves confessing to it too

On the dot I see. Edit: or should I say, on the stroke of ...

I've had my garmin watch for over a month now and I had to take it off because I developed welts on my wrist like I'd been attacked by a iced vovo. They weren't burns or itchy. It wasn't tight or anything. I don't wear it in the shower or get it wet. Very odd. So I've cleaned it and I've just put it back on. Maybe I should have cleaned it before I started wearing it the first time. Anyway time to watch and wait. (Puns intended)

Bought my cat biscuits meant for sensitive stomachs and skin, the same brand as he has had before and within 10 minutes he vomited them up. I think he ate too fast but the irony is not lost on me.

Thank god for a later start to the work day today.

Helped ease through having to wake up early again though I felt like I hardly slept last night because of very active dreams or thoughts.

Hopefully we can end today with an early finish as well and get home early.

Also been super heated here too then it got too hot and they had to let it cool down but now it’s to cold. Bleh!

Brain is officially back in business.

Finished a 2nd assignment that I started at 5am Sunday on LLN needs of students.

Ended up being perfect timing since I based it on the induction training I gave to a new employee 2 weeks ago who had revealed to me in their interview that they are completely illiterate.

The guy is amazing. Really mechanically gifted, super upbeat, really good memory. Everyone who meets him instantly likes him.

In his life he has been a manager from just how gifted he is mechanically and done well enough to buy his own home.

Cliched but I've definitely learnt a lot from this guy.