Mmm. Hot Cross Buns. Mmm
I sent the ABC an email a few weeks ago. I was offering my story about overcoming addiction and coming out the other end.
They got back to me!
Colour me surprised. Trying to setup a meeting for this week.
That’s great! Congratulations on overcoming addiction, hopefully your story can help others who might be going through something similar.
Thank you that’s very kind of you to say ❤️
I hope so too. That’s pretty much why I want to tell my story. It might help someone who’s struggling and trying to find the motivation.
that sounds really good :)
Interview in 15 minutes. I stupidly didn’t eat breakfast so I’m a little less calm than I’d like to be. But I got this, I know I do dammit
E: I think that went well! I feel much more positive about this team. The interview was a lot more chillaxed too. I have a good feeling about this job ☺️
A jelly frog and internet hug 🐸
Don’t drink a coffee, it’ll give you the shakes!
Edit: and Good Luck!
🤞🤞🤞
🤞🏻
Fingers crossed!
Here’s a small part of the story I’m writing for the ABC. They want something before they decide to ok it or not.
"Most of the people I’ve met when I was active in my addiction, and the few I’ve met since I became sober, were abused as children.
After I bought whatever drug I needed that day, I would find what I call “a single use friend”, so that if anything happened someone would be with me. Plus, I was less likely to be jumped by other addicts if I had a buddy.
Once we’d had our fix, I would start to ask them questions. I’d ask them to tell me about themselves. People are a lot more vulnerable once they’d consumed what made them feel normal. The walls are down. We share a kinship that’s difficult to describe.
I guess you had to be there.
After some chatter, eventually I would ask the question:
“So, how long have you been using for”?
From this question, you can gently, patiently, start to tease out a story. The story of how they ended up in this alley way with me. "
Looks good, I reckon they’ll run it. I’ve almost sent in several things to the ABC but always ended up backing out because I didn’t believe in myself, or that the thing I was writing about “wasn’t actually that bad in the grand scheme of things” (whatever TF that’s meant to mean)
Give me a tag when you hear back, I’m interested to see what comes of it. Also I’m happy you’re in a better place now
…addiction …were abused as children.
I feel called out 👀😬
Just cigarettes, but damn. This is my last pouch. I hope they do go ahead with your story, I’m sure it will help many out there who will read it!
You ought to feel very proud of yourself for coming out the other end, it’s inspiring.
That’s a great start, I’ll be very interested in reading the rest when you’re done. Addictions and abuse sure go hand in hand.
I would definitely read/watch/listen to this story in whatever format. It’s putting a human face to addiction which is often sorely missing from the drug conversation. I bet it takes a lot of strength and self acceptance to tell your story. I really hope they pick it up.
That’s really kind of you to say. Thank you ❤️
It shouldn’t be a privilege to not have to recover from your childhood, but it is.
sitting here dreaming of a holiday home. Figured I’d price up buying some land and just chucking a portable home on it. Net results the same vs buying an existing home. I cant afford either haha Tell me where you’d go and what you’d do with it if you had one.
I’d get a campervan then I could go anywhere.
Ditto for a campervan. Or maybe a van & car to tow it, then you could park the van and explore more easily
Yeah that’s what I meant. You need a car. I just want a van with a shower cos I’m not visiting shower blocks.
Dapto, Dapto, Dapto, Wollongong!
Oh absolutely! But that requires a bigger car than my medium SUV haha. But I’m more thinking for something as I get older, somewhere I can have a wood fire place.
I’d get a house and land (rather than an apartment), close-ish to the city. Reno it and become a foster carer for pets 🥰 one can dream
My dream is to make enough to start an animal sanctuary. One day.
All I can say about this is imagine your current house maintenance. Double it, then add some more :)
My family had a house down at Somers on Westernport Bay many moons ago - great place to run wild as a kid as all the roads were dirt and we could ride our ponies or bikes everywhere. I miss that, and have some pity for kids nowadays that can’t do that. It’s mostly built up now and the roads are slowly getting tarmacked and it’s pretty much a dormitory suburb for Frankston workers. Still one of the best and safest swimming beaches near Melbourne. And being next door to the HMAS Cerberus bomb testing range meant that it’s never going to be sandwiched between suburbs like so much of the Port Phillip side. I love that part of the world. If it wasn’t for the transport and supply difficulties I’d like to live on French Island.
I think just ordinarily I’d like to live in Eynesbury or somewhere around there. Holiday home, deffo marble bar (or probably either Mildura or Mallacoota if it had to be vic)
I’ve always sort of dreamed though, that if I was really rich and could afford a lot of land I’d like to get as much as possible somewhere in Vic and set up a little animal sanctuary and build a miniature railway around it
Bonnie Doon
really? Or just for the memes? I camped their once and I gotta say, I didnt “get” it.
Nah just being silly. Not sure what your budget is or what environment you prefer but it’s definitely doable.
Venice.
I’d live there at least 3 months the year. Just relax, read, do arty stuff, go to concerts and plays, day trips to other islands and Ravenna.
Found one.
I’d love a place somewhere like Bright or near Wangaratta. Ideally I’d be fully remote and could spend my weekdays over there and come to the city for weekend activities (to my non existent docklands apartment lol).
The biggest drag is a certificate of occupancy. A manufactured house properly installed for about $80k+land will deliver that. If we’re ignoring council rules, these are about $8,000. https://www.pickles.com.au/general/item/-/details/CP--08-2000-PKA-3-Tri-Axle-Refrigerated-Pantech-Trailer/663204 And a few grand more to move. I’d drop one somewhere pretty and build a house in it.
Depresso/disability
I’ve lost so much strength and weight since lockdowns, various factors making it incredibly hard to eat enough and stay active. I can feel my hamstrings have tightened and my posture has suffered. The muscle gains I worked for are gone.
I don’t want to go back to the light weights/exercise band and have to slowly earn years of progress back 😑 Doing anything is hard, being consistent feels impossible and most days I don’t even actually want to be alive.
I guess I’ll do 10 dumbbell rows on each side and call it a day because I can feel my spine fusing over like Mr Burns. 🍤
There’s sitting yoga poses if that helps.
Maybe it will. It feels like I’m turning to stone
you’ve got all of us here cheering you on , you’re not alone
so many hugs
and keep doing what you’re doing 🤗
Thanks.
I can sort of relate. Fitness took a hit during lockdown then I got a shoulder injury and Achilles tendonitis. After a long period of six month rest I’ve been training again for 5 months. While things have improved, I’m a long long way from where I was, and it’s depressing.
Yeah, I’ve got an old shoulder injury that flares too. It’s so hard to be back at square one (or worse)
Whinge/Vent: Put on three year surgery waitlist. Came into some money recently. Deciding to pay for surgery because fuck this. See doctor for referral. “Oh they lost the initial application”. F U C K.
How can an application be “lost”? Unless someone fucked up it’s not lost.
and hugs,
According to my doctor, Monash medical had an issue over covid, a computer error or storm-flood or something and they lost two years of applications. So if anyone is waiting for surgery, consider going back to your doctor and saying what’s up? The real LPT in the comments.
I found out I can add custom
emojisemoticons to my instance today.
that looks pretty cool
Life is hard and it sucks. Maybe I should buy the chocolate toothpaste and keep it next to my bed.
Edit: Oh. I think I’ve worked out the random crying from kitty. To be fair this is new behaviour (normally she never meows) and a new request. She was asking me to turn the shower on for a second so she could lick up the water droplets afterward.
She kept crying for refills so there is now a flat baking tray filled with water sitting in my shower
Cats (and dogs) are weirdos. Furry little weirdos.
I think it’s like raindrops in the wild
Toe jam rain drops. Yum!
Honestly a bit worried about her health with mould and any residual detergent (especially on occasions of using tea tree shampoo) but cats gonna cat
Edit: I did previously buy her a cheapie water fountain but she ignored it
My dog has cleaned up the shower floor for us forever. Apart from deadly farts when she eats bread crusts, she’s happy and healthy. I do make sure the door stays shut after cleaning, until someone showers next, just in case. And we have 5 water bowls inside, two outside and a fountain.
Ahh, a closed door wouldn’t stand… one of her litterboxes is in there. Squeegees aren’t good on tiles but I’ll consider getting better about wiping the shower dry afterwards with the towel, using any medicated shampoos over the sink when needed and (while unhygienic) adding a third water bowl in the bathroom.
Human soup is popular around here too
I really hope she doesn’t get a taste for human. She sleeps next to me
Yeah I’m gonna need that coffee today. Kid went down around 10pm, and there is just something so draining about the loss of your “Me” time its not even funny.
I know that feeling. The kid goes down late, then you stay up later to have time to yourself, making tomorrow morning worse as well
Im going on an excursion of sorts to the city tomorrow. I’m genuinely excited! I love being around people and crowds.
Go to Pasta Khan Dolan Uyghur for lunch!
Having a shit day. Smashed 2 iced mochas money be damned. Feeling a bit better now. Some tennis and then off to bed 😇
You got 🪙👛
Ok I googled the joint I applied to and wow they are indeed dodgy. As I guessed, the store itself isn’t dodgy, but the boss seems to be one of those “alpha man” types. All the reviews I’ve found seem to mainly be about him being abusive. Also he looks like that Tate dude everyone keeps going on about
I don’t really want to no show for the interview, but I don’t think I want anything to do with it anymore and they don’t have a way to cancel. The message didn’t even come from a phone number, it came from one of those short code things so I can’t even reply
Sounds even more sus - no way to cancel? Maybe dob them in to Fair Work? Like, send an enquiry to Fair Work asking if this is industry standard behaviour, attaching screenshots/copies of everything they’ve sent to you.
I found an email for bossy Boi and sent a rather blunt “I’m no longer interested in this position” email but there wasn’t any response and I still got reminder messages
Probably automated. Does sound like they’re trolling for someone desperate enough for work that they can be exploited. You’re much better off ignoring them I think. And you’re worth far more than a job like that. Bullet dodging hero you are.
You can cancel by just not answering 🤷♂️
I ended up doing that. They sent me a message 15 minutes earlier telling me not to be “a cosmic disappointment”, so…
😂 you dodged a bullet for sure
Today’s preserving effort: 6 1/2 jars of raspberry jam and 2 jars of marinaded mushrooms.
Raspberry jam, cream and scones. Mmmmmmm
Oh wow, I’ve always wanted to try preserving things. Is it dangerous?
There is a danger of becoming addicted.
In terms of food safety it depends on the type of food and how well you can follow directions. Things like jams and fruit are quite low risk even if you do the wrong thing, but vegetables and meat have the potential to be deadly if you don’t do them right. The same can be said of any type of cooking though, there is always a food poisoning risk.
No. But you have to be scrupulous about cleanliness and getting the temperatures and proportions of preservatives like salt and sugar right. And eating preserved foods or it’s not worth the bother.
You can make just a few pots of jam etc. in the microwave and this is fun and easy. Google up microwave preserving and enjoy the process and results!
Fruits and anything rich in sugar, and anything fairly acidic like tomatoes is easy. I recommend starting with apples - and new season apples are not far away time wise. Or kimchi - that’s a good starting point too.
Other vegetables like beans or zucchini preserving has some traps for the unwary so probably don’t start with these. Meats are for pros only. Cos botulism and other problems.If you leave a pressure cooker unattended? If you wash jars badly enough to invite botulism?
What is it about passport/visa photos that make you look like a serial killer?
It took so many attempts to get my WWCC photo approved that I ended up looking really really dodgy in it. I had to end up looking down at my phone then editing the background with a passport photo app to make it work.
It’s the whole “not allowed to smile” thing. I had my photos taken at the local post office newsagency and the woman kept saying, “you’re not allowed to smile.” I’d be like, “but I’m not smiling!” She said “yes you are, you’re not allowed to or they won’t accept the photo” and I’d say "but I’m not!" We actually both ended up laughing at me for a solid few minutes there. I didn’t think I was, but I was. I just couldn’t glare into the camera like an angry serial killer lol.
Lol ok well apparently I’m a natural at it then.
My current one is awful; I look so grumpy. It’s stressful being photographed at the best of times, let alone in a post office under the fluros
Fluorescent lighting is toxic and abusive and should be outlawed.
I’m too anxious to art so I’m just soaking up information. Somehow I’m still interested in that. Maybe one day when life isn’t such a slog I might even remember some of it.
Gaza
If you were also feeling helpless about Palestine but overwhelmed and unable to sort through the scams, there is a button you can click every 24 hours and the ad revenue goes to aid. (If your adblocker is turned off for it.) You can do it from different browsers/devices and also private windows to get multiple clicks each day if so inclined. https://arab.org/click-to-help/palestine/
I’ve been trying to keep the information I see minimal and this is the one thing I find manageable enough to do.
