Melbourne

Good on the nurses for negotiating a decent pay rise so that they're less horrifically underpaid. It's such a dangerous and important line of work.

So things have quietened down a bit since Mr P's Hulk smash of the bed. He is now using some salvaged wood bits of the bed and other wood bits to build himself a new base. He's done this before (built himself a day bed for the man cave) so he'll probably end up with something ok-ish. Good; he needs a project, and he hasn't been coping well with becoming a house husband.

The Minipeelers were surprisingly unphased by the whole incident. Sadly, I think they're used to their dad's spontaneously nutty outbursts.

Elder Minipeeler is doing fantastically with his treatment for anxiety. He's spending slightly longer at school each time and he's really starting to noticeably change. He wants to get fit so he's roped in Miniest as a fitness buddy, doing things like dancing with those kids dancercise apps for exercise, and mock WWE WrestleMania lol. The latter is, as a parent, both really entertaining and a little alarming at times ("No you can not German suplex your brother!")

Heading to interview now. Still haven't heard back from the other place. I find it easier emotionally to assume the worst instead of living in a state of nervous anxiety.

Did get another 2 calls this morning for other places so that's cool!

Enjoy your day guys ❤️

Gratitude thread :)

Mine:

• psych appt, she gave me an extra 10 minutes because I was crying
• going to guitar trial lesson soon

The local lolly shop is closing down so I bought up big. Pineapples, strawberries & cream, sherbert bombs, raspberry drops and an assortment of rock.

The kid bought stuff too. Gobstoppers and assortment of chews.

I need coffee. As much as possible. Directly into my face.

My cat is on my lap so instead I suffer

Hahhahhaha my cat stepped in her own puke when whoring at me for 4am food. the look on her face!

K A R M A

This feline needs a nap. I decline to comment about there being crayons and Tomsauce before noon.

I had a decent night's sleep last night, but my body decided 5:30 was wakeup time for no reason at all. Managed to get back to sleep at 6:40, and then woken up again at 7:02 because there's tradies next door and they did not miss a beat. They started clanging stuff around and sawing the moment they got here. Maybe that's why the Airbnb people were desperate to get away

I got this in my letterbox

Apparently if you give catnip to dogs it may work as a mild sedative. I wonder if it works on very active Jack Russells? Experiment time!

Update: Wasn't sure how much to give him. Gave him the whole lot. He scoffed them down. Now I just wait.

Gotta be up at 4.45am, to catch the tram at 6am, to be at my volunteer shift at 8am. Hoping I can get arvo shifts from now on.

I wish I could teleport there - one of the very few times I wish I could drive lol

I got a phone call from the TAFE people about that course I wanted to take. They scheduled a meeting with me for Tuesday morning for a pre-training review or something. I have to complete a literacy and numeracy assesment before then. I was nervous, but they let me know that even if I don't score as highly as I need to, it won't necessarily be a disqualification. They said that the LLN assesment is just their prefered way of assessing whether I could actually understand the work, rather than being a firm requirement. Wish someone told me that before, because being worried about failing is the only reason I didn't leave school for TAFE in March.

I'm still worried they might not accept me though. They don't list eligibility criteria besides the LLN assesment which I should pass anyway, but I just feel like I must look like a terrible student. Although I guess they shouldn't care since they get paid either way

Update

I took the LLN assessment because I didn't want it hanging over my head. It didn't tell me my score/how well I did, and nobody told me what I needed to get anyway.

I think I did well on the communication and written portion, but I think I sucked on the math part. I know I screwed up an answer that I know, because I misclicked and pushed the wrong button, but I couldn't go back... Thanks for being so understanding, computer system.

I guess I'm happy I've done it, because it means I can't forget about it. But now I have to have it hanging over my head until Tuesday, not knowing whether I passed or failed. My course is due to commence on the 16th, too, so I don't have much time to fix myself if I colossally fucked it up

A walk in the sun is nice if ya'll get a chance to go out and grab some air. Not too cool, not too warm with a soft breeze.

It's bin day today and I am going to be all adulty for a change and actually put them out this week.

Edit: Adulting was a success. Both bins are out on the naturestrip and I even emptied all the inside bins instead of half-arsing it.

I'm set up with my laptop in the customer lounge of the Subaru service centre while my car gets its first service. They're using the "Public Transport" heater setting so it's a billion degrees in here. Otherwise it's actually not too bad.. there are free drinks, snacks and WiFi!

i have a sudden urge to watch the octonauts

Through to stage two of one (of three total) application which is some kind of test provided by third party. It includes the need to respond to a video in real time 🤔. If that goes fine, then interview. I also had to go through a list of emotive words/phrases/personality traits - about 100 of them, and select ones I agreed with. I guess this is now the norm for large corporations

I forgot to have lunch. I am now very hungry so I think I'll go straight to early dinner.

Test 1: Can the man open the gates without the dog going off his head around 2:45 pm?

Test 2: Can the neighbourhood kids walk past bouncing basketballs without the dog going off his head around 3:30 pm?

Test 3: Can the kid open the gate without the dog going off his head around 3:35 ish?

Test subject is currently napping inside.

Update: Test 1 - pass. Test 2 - fail. Test 3 - fail. Between Test 1 & 2 the experiment was compromised with light and tangy chips. Definitely think there's something there. Will purchase Temptations.

And tonight's chocolate flavour is the Cadbury Vanilla Key Lime Pie that's being sold everywhere at half price. It's horrible. After 2 pieces, it tastes so so plasticky it's not funny. Don't waste your money peeps, even at half price.

Sitting down to try and write a full track from that small piece from yesterday. Exciting!

Tmi and kind of icky

Started to recognize when I feel "exhausted" there's a not 0 chance that its really a sign my brains blocking shit out super hard and I don't really recognize it. OR I'm really tired. So today its time to play "Am I really tired or just a bit depressed?". Cause the treatment is very different: emotional shit gets met with kindness, going easy and breathing exercises. Exhaustion is met with coffee and trying to fire up a bit. But the wrong treatment for the wrong cause can be pretty detrimental.

I went to the hipster cafe this morning around 11. It was pretty good! The coffee was alright, but the milk tasted a little funky. I think their only cows milk option was reduced fat or something. Definitely wasn't off though. Cost me $6.50 though :(

I also went to a smoke shop because I saw they had some American chip thing called a taco or something. Kind of like a rolled up Dorito that's spicy. I don't care for them, but I have a friend who loves them so I got her a bag. I noticed that the smoke shop and coffee shop both had super good customer service though, like really good. The smoke shop lady wasn't in one of those prison cage looking things the rest seem to have. She wasn't behind anything really, it kind of looked like an apple shop that sold smokes and yankee lollies. And the bloke at the coffee shop was so upbeat and super nice.

I'm one of those people that's not really affected very much by caffeine, I drink it mostly for the social aspect, or because I feel like a warm drink. And I'm definitely not a buy (or even drink) a coffee every day type, not that I have the money to at 7 bucks a cup anyways.... But I think I will try and go again before I leave, honestly just because it's kind of like a chance to have a little wander and talk to some people.

My area has a nice cafe, too, but people in my area aren't very talkative, so despite my best efforts, the cafe people never do any sort of small talk, and my "hey, how's it going"s are always returned with a "what can I get for you". So it's nicer than one would imagine for people to match my energy

Edit: and the cafe man instantly pegged that I wasn't from here, despite my fake denim and longish hair, so I don't think I quite blend in

Someone from work messaged me asking how to do something, and I don't recognise the name? She told me I showed her the process and I don't recall it at all?