Melbourne

Howdy all.

I have not been here for a long long time. Life has certainly got in the way of everything.

Hope you are all doing well and life has been good.

Second last day w/ hams.

Pushed him pretty hard today (twice) and now he's pulled his monkey from the toy box to hold his hand to pass out.

I've never seen a dog do that.

Well, the wall heater was leaking carbon monoxide. Lucky I got the plumber to have a look today.

And apparently the valve with the gas meter is fucked so if it needs to be turned off in case of emergency it can't be.

Thankfully my landlord is a decent guy and gets stuff fixed fairly quickly but still. Jesus christ.

Edit: cost $300 bucks to get it capped off. Jesus fucking christ.

Spoke to the energy retailer. The jobs been raised and someone will be out to fix the gas meter asap

What are you lovely people looking forward to at the moment? I'm looking forward to my holiday at the end of next month! Anyone else got a holiday booked or a fun dinner planned or even just a day in general they're looking forward to?

Next door neighbour has a dog walker who comes around daily. She hypes up the pooch for a walk in baby/dog talk for a few mins before heading off.

Me trying the same thing with hams:

Definitely in his prime.

i've only just recovered from dinner with MIL and BIL the other night

MIL was grumbling about dinner, I asked if it was too hot, she said yes, it hurt her

I said i added no spice at all . she said nothing

then she ate dessert and said it made her feel better from the terrible stomach ache dinner gave her...lol

next week she'll order a hot curry from a restaurant ...lol

BIL kept on licking his knife, even after I glared at him

since he insists on eating like a 1 year old, a 2 year knows better, if there is a next time I will chop his food before hand and give him no knife

the conversation was just as riveting and social

The thing I hate most about being sick is it fucking with my emotions.

Feeling sick I can deal with, but depressed and anxious I can do without

At least I have some company

....the email is neverending.... I am working back until I have inbox nearly zero. There has to be a better way

Neighbour has been trying to start his wife's car for a good hour now. Keeps clicking without turning over.

He had the same issue a few months ago and was convinced it was the battery. Gave it a jump start and charged it up.

Myself and another neighbour suggested it might be alternator, he didn't want to hear it.

Looks like he's up for an alternator for 99 Honda Prelude.

Gonna be a cold one tonight, my house temp is dropping fast without the heater on. I don’t want to see my next gas bill.

Imagine getting meowed at angrily because you're talking on the phone

Melbcat has started patting me to communicate what she wants. Treats? More treats than that? Help her get under the doona? Pat pat.

I’ve thoroughly spoiled her but don’t care. She’s old and very loved and deserves a soft life of being cherished.

Rightio. Got a 2nd plumber out to double check everything because I'm paranoid.

What an expensive fucking day today has been.

In other news:

That lady that was doing less than half the work at my old work place, today they offered her a role in fucking Perth in service desk. She an account manager lol

They really did a number on her.

Holes to dig and washings to do on a full work day yaaay

I accidentally left my personal phone at home today. Unsurprisingly, I had an extremely productive day at work. Probably did 2-3 days' worth in 1... If I was on full time hours I'm sure I might've dragged it out, but the pressure of that thing is mounting!!!

Sox is being particularly whiny today, maybe because I got home late. Time to play a bit of snack-throwing I guess. I have her until next Saturday which is great for relieving the huge amount of stress coming up!

Your YouTube premium family subscription cost has just been increased again because we as company only made $35bn in the first quarter of 2025..... Fuckers....daaaaaaah!

The other day, I served a customer who was wearing a dirty looking mask over her mouth, but not her nose. She panicked when she saw the barcode scanner.

"When the infra-red light touches my body, I get pains in my body."

I have a feeling this could have been a delusion, but I asked her if she had seen the doctor. She said yes, and they just told her they don't know. I just hope she gets the help she needs.

Here's a western themed puzzle i'm doing. It's a painting by Remington. 🙂

Hellooo...

I've been getting into Westerns recently. I read Blood Meridian a little while ago and it's such a slog of a book. I wasn't into the genre much before but it feels so antithetical to all the regular tropes.

I just finished Be Cool by Elmore Leonard as well. It's not a Western but he's written a lot of them and you can see the style crossover. I thought I was reading the first Chili Palmer book, so I'll need to go back and read Get Shorty, as well as some of his Westerns.

I've also started reading the Vampire Hunter D collection I got as a result as well. It's interesting seeing the prose difference. Vampire Hunter D has such purple prose that's trying to read fancy and doesn't hit the mark at all. Be Cool had simple writing that allows it to flow. And Blood Meridian was almost too simple in that it felt plodding and hard to read because of how flat it was.

I'm also reading True Grit now because I watched the Cohen Brothers movie when it came out. They're very good at the gritty Western so I thought I'd check out the source material.

I feel like a Western is more than its American West aesthetics. There are themes of a frontier, colonialism, expansion, and areas of little to no rule of law. Westerns are very American, but a story can feel like a Western without being set in that specific time and place.

Despite the sun being out and it being bright outside, it is not warm!