I’ve accepted that my curry leaf plants and chillies are gonna look pretty shit tomorrow and not get any better until late September at least. I’m just thoroughly enjoying my warm living room, but better roll out of it and into bed soon before the bedroom oil heater goes off its timer.
Even with the slower pace there’s so much going on in each episode. It’s sort of a beautiful fleshed out epilogue to s2. I loved the Tina episode that way. Also, that long montage of all the service workers in s3e2, that made me feel so connected and proud to be part of a society for a moment
Excuse me, but I think you meant blah blahblahblah blah blah.
I’m partway through s3 e9 and I definitely found this season a lot more spaced out and chill than the past two seasons. It seems to be the reason it’s not so popular either, but I like it. More slow-burn character exposés and a great showcase of the acting talent, after the frenetic pace of the last two seasons. I’ve read that they filmed s4 at the same time so it tracks that they’re taking longer with plot developments this time around.
Such beautiful weather out today! I wish I wasn’t stuck in an office for most of it. Tonight is gonna be froooosty, I’m STOKED that I can roll outta bed late tomorrow. Have a meeting on campus at 2, plan is to try and finish all my work off by noon and quietly clock off after that. Would love to have a stroll round campus after if tomorrow’s as beautifully sunny as today.
Grateful I got WFH approved tomorrow to take the edge off everything I gotta do this week! And grateful to weekend me for meal prepping enough to last me til Thursday 👍
As with so many things in life, they don’t make em like they used to.
Before I came to Australia I had this impression that tax was Awful and Complicated and A Nightmare - primarily from American media - and this was before I was old enough to have needed to file a tax return.
Only to find out it’s a total breeze here.
Used to get a decent chunk back when they had the LMITO… last year’s tax return had me deadset depressed :(
This year I am claiming about 2k off my taxable income, that alongside not earning for about 3 months means hopefully I will get a reasonable amount of tax back.
I’m a card-carrying introvert, but prolonged isolation (and lack of purpose) will definitely bring round grey clouds that are hard to shift. Permanent WFH was really shit for me in that regard. I could feel myself sinking a bit before I got my current jobs too, the break was nice at the start but then I started getting a bit loopy…
Really crossing my fingers that something pans out for you very soon mate. It’s been a while 😔
It extends onto the laptop’s own screen (which is pointless as the laptop is closed)… Ah well, I’ve simply accepted that I can only use one monitor with this particular laptop via the dock. It’s too complicated for me to understand!
Just display settings. The keyboard button for toggling multiple displays does basically the same thing (choice of extending, duplicating, etc)
I can technically run two external screens by plugging one monitor into the laptop’s HDMI port, but that kind of defeats the point of a port :( don’t think I’ll do it unless I really need to.
Grateful once again for being able to take today off and having a supportive workplace. Grateful for the stability of my jobs so that even if this study thing doesn’t go the way I’d like it to, I don’t have to worry about my self worth. Grateful for my super comfy and warm alpaca wool jumper - feels like a hug.
Yeah. I’m spending too much time going down rabbit holes about what the cause is (maybe it’s because the processor doesn’t support DP 1.4? Is it the port? I don’t know!)
Worst case if I need two screens, the laptop itself has a 17" screen so that’s not so bad. Just takes up a heap of space and isn’t at the right height. I don’t do that much work on this laptop atm so I’ll survive. At least the dock generally works, last time I tried using a USB-C dock with this a few years ago nothing worked.
Hmmm, doesn’t look like it is. I installed the DisplayLink driver and have the utility running anyway, but it doesn’t seem to be making much of a difference. I think it might be the USB-C port for this laptop, it might be an older one that can’t support the thoroughput of 2x 1080p monitors at 60Hz for some reason?
E: The dock (Belkin INC014) does support Display Port Alt Mode, and obviously it worked on other laptops, so I’m thinking it’s really this older laptop that’s got an issue.
Finished the dual screen and dock setup. One work laptop is STILL a bit dicey with the dual screens and I can 100% confirm it’s a shitty usb-c port.
My original Metabox laptop though… it’s getting onto 6 years old, the dock connects to one screen only but not two. Realised the internal AND external graphics drivers basically haven’t been updated since the laptop was bought, yikes), so I’ve updated those but no dice.
I can sense myself using this to procrastinate on all sorts of other things so… one monitor is better than none. Onwards…
Ugh I bought some smoked NZ king salmon yesterday as a treat and now I think I know what I’m having for lunch… scrambled eggs and smoked salmon on toast with garden chives and parsley. And a tiny smidge of homemade hot sauce
Today’s dream involved looking at planning applications… but every time I did, they fell apart. Like the drawings of the buildings collapsed on paper or on an aerial image. Or I’d head on site and watch them blow up in front of me. Meanwhile Sufjan Steven’s Eugene has been playing in my head in the dream and while awake. …and he called me Subaru… And now I wanna be near you 🎶
Confession: I didn’t get around to watching The Bear last night, and I didn’t get out of bed when I meant to this morning to walk across the suburb for a coffee 😑 I lolled around in bed reading about “pretendians” in Canada until I truly felt sick in the head from hunger/dehydration.
Still had a coffee, then did the grocery shop, and cooked a heap of food, some for the freezer. I’m onto a new bag of basmati rice that is banging - real game changer, worth paying the extra $1/kilo, my hoppin’ John/pilao dish came out beautifully. I also teed up a couple of easy social events for the next two weekends which is great.
This is banal but I’m also proud of myself going to Officeworks to get two monitors and a dock on the very last day of the FY (couldn’t spare the cash until I got paid). It’s an oblique act of self care: a gift to myself to be able to WFH properly when needed, so I can manage my time and energy when I can’t handle people or early starts.
It was a lot of money (why are docks so fucking expensive) and i felt uncomfortable and could’ve just procrastinated on it even further; part of me wishes I bought everything second hand, like nearly everything in my house, or researched better brands… But I’ve accepted that right now it’s better to get something good enough and move forward, rather than insist on perfection and waste time and energy in limbo for too long. Like how it took me 2 years to get a second hand vacuum cleaner at the cost of a clean house and my sanity. Action is important. I’m glad I managed to be an adult for myself and get this done.
The biggest accomplishment for today was…
I also sat down at the cafe and the library and had a few uninterrupted hours of journalling after a long, long time. Last weekend I cleaned my house; this weekend was about tidying up my mind a bit. I wrote down the things that are and aren’t working for me with my living situation, jobs, finances, etc.
It was so important to acknowledge both, and work out how to maintain the good, while also acting on or reframing the things I’m not liking. Getting the wfh setup was part of that. Taking back some agency, and not developing resentment against something I acknowledge I do actually have some control over. Worked out when I can afford to drop my hours and how to stay financially comfortable enough. It does mean negotiating a higher salary at my three month review…
It was a really welcome moment of evaluation because I really want to head into this last bit of study with a clearer intention and not fall into old, bad habits of WHEEE and then self-hate. Wanted to be aware of my unmet needs this time, so I don’t try and pile all my expectations on my new activity and then inevitably get disappointed/burnt out. I want to pace myself, seek balance, and still do some great stuff BECAUSE of moderation, not by pushing myself insanely.
I’m just watching a bit of The Bear now which is timely because Carmy is a great reminder of who I’d be if I didn’t wise up. And then bedtime so I can wake up recharged and ready tomorrow.
They’re in pots, but trapped in an inconvenient part of my narrow balcony where bringing them in would mean moving half my plants around (and tbh the curry leaf plants are big fellas that I don’t really have space for indoors any more, I used to bring them in in past years).
If I was organised enough I’d have acquired a bit of geotextile or something to drape over the plants but I’m just going to hope they’re protected enough in their awkward corner with the brick wall and partial shelter. 🤞 I doubt anything will die, except maybe this chilli plant that’s been hanging in there for over 3 years.