Here’s to the end of a pretty ordinary week. Mr P had to give bone marrow sample and has had appointment at Peter Mac. We’re waiting to find out if he has blood cancer, leukaemia or whatever they call it now. Elder minipeeler is still having major issues with anxiety and school refusal. My MIL offered to pay for him to go to a private school she thinks would be better for him… would’ve been nice to offer that last year, when I was having to enrol him in the only (really big) public school in our catchment and I was saying that I didn’t have a good feeling about it, that I felt that there’d be problems for him given the issues he’d had in the past, but had no choice financially. I was equally anxious and bummed out about it and she knew that back then. Now she wants to sweep in with her money and save the day, by uprooting him and plonking him into a new school‽ I feel bad for being ungrateful. Miniest is going through a very testing rebellious and wilful stage. I’m trying to give her as much of myself as I can and my patience, as she is jealous of Elder and her dad being home all the time, which is perfectly understandable. She is academically gifted but puts in a bare minimum of effort and is wasting her awesome potential and it’s hugely frustrating, but she doesn’t give a shit. I am feeling older and more tired in my body and it’s depressing. I’ve been bingeing dystopian shows on Netflix and find them comfortingly awful. I gave up on the “comedy” category… maybe Americans just laugh at different stuff, but I found little humour there. Thankyou for reading my grumbles.
Girl, you have so much on your plate. Like, you’re the only one holding it all together. Your strength is admirable. I’m sorry you’re going through all of this, it’s hard! If you ever want to, or able to, catch up for a coffee and a debrief, I’m available. It sounds like you need some serious “me time”. Sending you all my love and postive energy 💜
Thankyou spud 🫶
It sounds like you’ve got an awful lot on your plate. Just keep swimming mama, your strength is a beacon for your family.
Thankyou eagle 🛟⚓
Sounds like it’s gonna be rough for a while. You can vent here anytime. We gotcha. I very much hope the tests all come back negative. But shit happens. And if it does, there are very good treatments these days and Peter Mac is world class, no better place to be. You’re doing brilliant with the minipeelers. Other people will always have opinions, but you know their needs best. And if you decide the offer of money is helpful, take it without hesitation, do whatever you think is best for the minis. The politics can be worried about later. As for Netflix, I can recommend 3 Body Problem for the dystopian genre. For comedy there’s heaps of older movies on there sometimes old school comedy is a good remedy to modern American humour. Although The Good Place is an exception, thats one of my favourite shows of recent years.
Older comedy, of course! Thanks for your kind thoughts and for the recommendation 👍
I’m so sorry to hear it. Please, if you can handle doing it get in touch with carers supports right now. If someone could help you with it that would be great.
I’ll keep it in mind thanks Melba 🙂
so many hugs to you all
use all the social workers at the hospital
I’ll keep that in mind Seagoon 💜
That is a nightmare week 😔
Wishing Mr P all the best for the test results, I can’t imagine how stressful that would be 💜
You’re totally justified in being frustrated at MIL’s belated benevolence. It’s nice she’s offering to help, but not helpful when she’s offering!
I went through a phase like Miniest and grew out of it — mostly anyway.
Before you know it, she’ll be 40, and you’ll laugh as you recount a story about a crazy thing she did when she was a teenager.
Take care 💜
Thanks AJ 🫶
I am so excited. Tonight I’m off to London for a month for a holiday woop woop!!
Pls give recs on things to do! Currently planning on visiting:
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Cornwall
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Bath
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Oxford
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Cambridge
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Scotland / Wales
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other places in and around London
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all Premier League stadium tours in London
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hopefully Old Trafford as well
London: Camden Town is a cool place if you’re into markets and food. The usual spots in London (Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, The Mall, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London if you’re into history). I enjoyed a low-key stroll through The National Gallery in London. Southbank is great for a walk too from Tower Bridge down towards Blackfriars or even Waterloo Bridge. Oh almost forgot… Ye Olde Mitre pub. It’s a tiny traditional 1547 real ale pub. I fell in love with hand pulled ales over there.
England: If you’re in the south/the coast I preferred Eastbourne and Hastings to Brighton even though Brighton is the most famous. Also if you’re after white cliffs, Eastbourne has more impressive ones than Dover even though the white cliffs of Dover are the more famous.
Scotland: Definitely try a nice sit-down meal of Haggis if you haven’t had it before. I spent a bit of time in Edinburgh just unwinding and soaking it all in. Obviously the castle is a focus point. You can’t really go wrong much there. Went to bingo at Meadowbank and that was great if you like bingo.
Wales: I only went to Cardiff and the main thing I went there for doesn’t exist anymore (Doctor Who Experience). The streets and Cardiff Castle are lovely to see though.
Wanted to show a couple of photos from the cliffs near Eastbourne… the first one gives you a bit of scale with the lighthouse. The second one was me demonstrating that there are absolutely no fences or safety measures of any kind.
My mum hates that second photo.
Have you read The Dark is Rising sequence? Lots of Cornwall and Wales things to go see.
all Premier League stadium tours in London
hopefully Old Trafford as well
if you’re keen to see a game - tickets to premier league games are expensive and hard to come by. if there are any FA cup games on, it can be a good way to see a premier league team play, tickets are cheaper and easier to come by in the early stages.
Cornwall
do a walk on the coast - can highly recommend Polperro
Turns out I wasn’t across where the FA cup was up to, good luck getting tickets to the final on the 26th of May
I’d keep an eye out for UK brands that get smashed with the Australia tax. Fashion, fragrance, alcohol etc.
If you’re driving to Cornwall because the train is expensive, you can take a lesser motorway for a free squiz at stone henge as you drive by. I was told by family near Exeter that Cornwall is pretty touristy and parking can be a nightmare in season, so maybe a tour bus?
The London museums and art galleries were free. May as well see all the cool shit they acquired from the world.
Check out Edinburgh! I got recommended it and went in with low expectations but man it was the highlight of the trip. The Churchill war rooms were amazing too. Also get on the millionaires shortbread from m&s!
I reckon you have to try Greggs, especially their sausage rolls, so you can compare them to ours.
Also fish & chips for the same reason.
Don’t eat Greg! He doesn’t like it :(
Who knows what’s in their sausage rolls. 🤷♀️
I am vego so unfortunately I can’t :(
all the museums , the globe theatre, have lunches in tea rooms or pubs , carnaby street, greenwich observatory, you can buy little books of walks to go on
Stone henge
Winchester
Tate Modern is just stunning, it’s across the river from st pauls and it’s next to the globe and the london museum
Watch out for “road men”, which is apparently what they call eshays
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Kinda just laying here in a stressed out but exhausted state from the week. Had a bite to eat but too tired for much else. Think I am gonna pour a drink and make a list of the work life things that have to happen next week then go to bed. I hate feeling like I left everything in a mess but nothing seemed to get finished this week and I can already feel the wave building up for next . Gah hopefully it’s just grey day blues
Feeling a bit like that except it’s my travel plans that’s a siren-blaring mess lol. I’m letting myself park it till tomorrow, can’t fix the mess if I don’t recharge right now and let my brain heal from all the load it’s been placed under. Lean into the grey I say, get cozy and warm for one night at least.
You are right. Ended up just writing down what I need to do tomorrow morning in case I wake up stressed still. Now listening to the rain. Good luck with the travel plans. I am sure it will come together when you have some rest
Declining a work social event is a great way to get a secret afternoon off if everyone else is going
The words work and social do not belong in the same sentence.
Especially if you’re so not popular that nobody notices you’re missing
The secret is to never be known enough for people to notice
Dins, some music and bed. Going to stick to this 6am wake up thing. It’ll make it easier for when I find a role.
Enjoy your evening everyone ❤️
Sleep well, MusicMan 💜
I have a Velcro kitty this morning. Probably just a function of weather and I’m wearing wool, but makes me a bit nervy. Both WhiteBoy and Miss Tortie behaved like this when terminal. Stupid brain, just enjoy the hugs!
Miss Meow was velcro overnight. She’s happily snoozing in her own bed now the heating is on, so I’m putting it down to weather.
My velcro kitty just got a health check and came back fine. Deffo something in the air at the moment.
When mine doesn’t ignore me completely I get worried, but she’s always been fine.
Ted bitted me, I held him. You would think I was torturing him the noise he made. 😹
Interview was rescheduled. This is fine, I am still fucking drowsy.
I miss feeling awake 😭 like cotton-wool over my brains and constantly yawning.
Puss has been chewing on my toes, since I took away the wooden fork he was gnawing on lol
☕?
Yeah, have had many coffees, does nothing unfortunately. I think I just need more sleep to pay back the debt I have incurred.
I did play some FTL yesterday, and promptly died on the last sector. So maybe I’ll give that a go again, until I feel able to have a nap
I bought FTL almost a year ago and still haven’t played it
FTL is amazing! Get on it!
I just played the tutorial and I’m not sure I really like it. It reminds me of a more fleshed out version of a mobile game I used to play called seedship
It seems to have a wild difficulty curve, even on easy, but focusing on a specific build seems to help. It’s addictive after a bit. Make use of the pause function and help distress signals for free-ish upgrades for sure
I mean, if you don’t gel with the combat then yeah its probably not for you. But there are other builds. Drones, transporters, mind control and hacking plus different weapon types.
it took me AGES to beat on easy! the first win I had to have the mrs co-captaining with me. But the excitement for when you finally beat it is huge!
Bruh it was the first time I made it to sector 8/last sector on easy haha! Had drones and some ion cannons, but
spoilers
That end boss rebel flagship is wild! Barely did anything to it. Then my partner got home and was like “you know it has three phases?” And my head exploded hahaha
I love rogue-likes/lites and sci-fi, so this is right up my alley. The last time I had this much fun was Binding of Isaac (hands-down my favourite).
Same! It was BRUTAL! But I loved it! And I mean, if you’re not sitting there in your mind shouting “action stations! set condition one through the ship!” and “Fire Torpedoes, full flack field!” what are you even doing!?
I tried to post on a tolkien site, it was like trying to post on a fundamentalist site where all answers have to be from tolkien scripture 😵
You must read all of his letters, or else you’re not a true Tolkien fan /s
Also, i know his name is pronounced “tok-keen” but I always say “tol-key-en” 😭
because he never wrote the same thing twice there are different versions of middle earth history and facts
so it really is like scripture with people quoting different facts at each other or quoting from gospels, ie accepted writings about tolkien
i was foolish and wrote something from real life and in my own words😹
Gosh, ever read The Silmarillion, that’s scripture at the start. And then you get into his letters and it’s retcons for daaaayyyys. And the insane fans will just rip you to shreds if you haven’t read the letters.
I’ve read The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and The Lord of The Rings; I’m not gonna read his freaking letters too, or his son’s.
If you’re able to, get a copy of The Soddit and/or The Sellamillion by Adam Roberts. They’re hilarious parodies that I love too, I still quote The Soddit. Don’t mind the insane fans, they’re ridiculous people lol
I admit reading books about tolkien’s world as well but not the letters, that’s just crazy
My favourite tolkein character is Handshoe from one of his draft translations of Beowulf. Checkmate tolkeinheads
Out of snot, now it’s just blood. Halp
Sympathy! Been there snotted that.
I have a dilemma. Boyo will become 40 in the not too distant future. He’s asked I not do a big thing because not trusting people to turn up. Based upon his 30th this is valid. So WTF do I do? Self fulfilling nothing or attempt a Thing that could end up worse?
invite the DT
Will you cater?
pot luck
I used to do open event calls on an app called Skout. aquired stalker, not fun.
whoa, really? thats horrifying!
Yeah. Nice pub meet ups with random net people became a horror story of avoiding a twat.
Go away somewhere nice for the weekend.
Yeah this is my advice. Pick somewhere super duper fancy or somewhere hes always wanted to go. And just… chillax. Maybe organize a small pub meal for anyone willing to rock up the week afterwards?
We once stayed in a nice hotel in Geelong, corner suite overlooking the bay. At night the ferris wheel lights go on, ordered room service. It was beautiful.
I mean, skip Geelong, but the rest of it sounds great! Theres a place at Falls Creek that I really wanna stay that has a spa overlooking the mountain slopes and TBH I’ve never wanted to get drunk in a place so bad as that!
Nah, Geelong’s alright on the foreshore there. Head into Torquay or Lorne for the day. Head back. It’s all good.
Speak to the most reliable friends (the ones that will definitely show up) and maybe oragnise a group pub thing. Send a larger invite so more could show up, but if they don’t at least it’s not that awkward with others around, maybe?
Just spitballing here
Yeah, some of the people he may most want are the least reliable.
Maybe a nice dinner date, just the two of you? A movie and food? A daytrip somewhere?
Small thing?
I went to the Gold Coast for my 40th. Spent my actual 40th birthday at dreamworld. Fed the tigers, rode the rides and had a ball with the family. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but I didn’t want a party and the only way to stop my mother from planning one was to go interstate!
I visited the Servals at Werribee for mine. Most wiry fur. Those girls love their cream cheese! 😻
Feeling sick still today from the migraine yesterday so am chilling in bed with fluffy butt. Might get some music done today because the weekend is all IT learning time.
As an aside, windows server seems pretty straightforward. Nothing too crazy as yet.
Half my team is out with the lurgy. Week got derailed by random urgent requests and bugs and feels chaotic…
Need a strong coffee and a list I think. Flu season/COVID return seems bad and early this year. And the general level of unhingedness and stress is high out there
Physio visit today to ward off any future migraines this weekend. Need the study time.
Expensive insurance, but hopefully worthwhile in the end!
Email subject line: “Order Your Custom Branded Diaries for 2025 Now!”
OH HELLS NO. I’ve barely entered 2024. Geeezzzus
2025 sounds made up.
A conspiracy of diary makers, I tells ya!
Excuse me? It’s still 2020
2016 was only 4 years ago as far as I’m concerned 🤷♂️
Every fule nows it’s 1986. 👍
But where is the future I was promised. No flying cars, no aliens, no mega volcano, no zombies, and my clothes do not look remotely futuristic. I guess we have had a viral apocalypse (biological), and viral apocalypse (technological) can’t be too far away with the progress of AI and cyber warfare.
I need to know what outfits to plan. Are we doing the Walking Dead or Mad Max?
