isol

I'd think it would make more sense to check the chain for wear *before* going through the process of degreasing it, drying it, and lubing every single link. 🤔
Imagine putting in all that work, then finding that you have to throw the clean, lubricated chain in the bin. 😡

2026-06-02 07:52:46 UTC

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I see what you did with the "no rush on that" in the bedding context 😂
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/116/679/424/142/470/111/original/fc5fe5ff486df77a.jpg

2026-06-02 07:44:14 UTC

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Whoah!!
A Plexiglass paged book? 🤯
That would be perfect for your "tiny balls of Blu Tack squished on and then viewed from the back" art!

2026-06-02 07:05:50 UTC

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YouTube just served me up a restoration video (by Bloomfield) of 2 paintings bought at a garage sale in Toowoomba, being restored in Manchester UK, and then heading back to Toowoomba.

2026-06-02 06:48:18 UTC

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Ah, OK - not that sort of "Sewing Single Sheets" 🤪
Clearly needs an asterisk, and an explanatory footnote: "Not for beds! Books"
Wishing you speedy going-away of the migraine and associated Ouches. 😢

2026-05-30 14:21:36 UTC

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Saw this, and thought of poor Rosie, who has never had icecream 😢
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/116/663/954/920/495/561/original/f2aefeb239b6cf90.jpg

2026-05-30 08:09:32 UTC

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A8: just saw Baba Yaga's hut on chicken legs! 🤯
On my way back from a twilight ride to the library, on a poorly lit suburban backstreet, I rounded a bend and saw a large shape (larger than a car) blocking most of the road. Then I realised it was moving, then I saw that it was on legs!
As I got closer, I realised it was a bunch of people moving a large ramshackle shed by supporting it from the inside and "navigating" down the street in the dark like a pinball ball navigates.
So, it went from a possibly supernatural extremely weird and unusual experience, to just an extremely weird and unusual experience.
#BikeTooter

2026-05-30 07:46:21 UTC

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When you say "All the cake went", enquiring minds would like to check that it all went to visitors and exhibitors at the exhibition, and not to Anyone else.

2026-05-28 11:41:42 UTC

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Next dumb question - if you can source 2-ply linen thread, can you wax it yourself?
(like the people do, who wrote/video-ed the various tutorials on waxing your own threads 🤪)

2026-05-28 09:16:35 UTC

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Queensland Bookbinders’ Guild ?
They list a couple of bookbinders in Toowoomba who might have contacts or sell you some thread?

2026-05-27 09:56:51 UTC

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and after the other art is removed, the Blu Tack detritus could offer a poignant reflection on the contemporary societal ambivalence towards the emphemeral impermanence of transactional bonds once past their usefulness. And lots of other pseudo-arty clap-trap, waffle, and pretentious verbiage 🤪
I blame the above on the actual alcohol which I just noticed as an ingredient in my Coles tiramisu.

2026-05-27 08:26:12 UTC

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I'm putting on my beret and cravat, and imagining an exhibition where all the art is mounted to transparent panes of glass or perspex, and viewed from behind, so the only thing visible is the myriad Blue Tack balls squished into performing their function.

2026-05-27 07:57:53 UTC

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Yes!!
And I feel like the name's right there:
CHOKO
where we know what C.H. stands for, and the O.K.O. but could be Orbital Kinetic Operations, or something 🤔

2026-05-27 06:15:58 UTC

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A 5W diode can definitely do things to thin stainless steel.
Sometimes Sharpie, dry moly lube, or a coating of Dijon mustard are recommended to get more impressive or permanent markings.
From the Lightburn forums (not me)
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/116/645/066/154/419/620/original/bf9c3e1b8a819f03.jpg

2026-05-27 05:38:26 UTC

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Mine is an Ortur LM3, and I was just curious to see what it would do. It will never cut, but these marks are legible and survived a vigorous cleaning.
My initial plan was to use masking tape on the disc, laser cut the tape, weed it, and then have a play with salt water etching.
I missed a corner of the tape, and saw it had etched, so just peeled the tape off, and gave it a clean.
I wasn't even running full power, and might try more experiments using Sharpie or black paint as a mask.

2026-05-27 02:13:34 UTC

Quick experiment, diode laser engraving identifying number on bicycle brake disc.
#BikeTooter
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/116/644/116/131/316/054/original/c49e99872245d7cf.jpg

2026-05-26 12:35:12 UTC

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While your fingers were involved with that repetitive task, I'm guessing that your mind was off working out how to edit the PMCH gene into the DNA of choko vines 🤔

2026-05-26 10:09:35 UTC

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Alternate AltText for 4th pic:
"Caity in dung beetle mode"
🤪

2026-05-26 00:51:44 UTC

Watching a Time Team video about removing artefacts from a northern Scottish cave inhabited by early painted people, and I'm a bit disappointed that there hasn't been a single pun about "dePicting" things. 🤪

2026-05-22 08:03:20 UTC

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Would PMCH solve the space elevator cable problem?

2026-05-22 07:57:12 UTC

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Oh no! Actual real, revolting evidence?
Or just entering a state of anticipatory preparedness?

2026-05-22 07:49:21 UTC

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My brain is seeing a misspelling of "REALTOR"

2026-05-20 10:55:24 UTC

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Ah, OK.
But … just got this in a cryptic 🤪
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/116/606/531/720/270/327/original/bbb5afa2007d4eee.jpg

2026-05-20 10:08:40 UTC

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What's an "exhibition sitting slot"?
In the art context, I've heard of "sitting" as staying very still while an artist captures your image - is that what you're doing?

2026-05-18 09:11:03 UTC

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Any unaskedfor rewrite is a bit of an insult! 😡
I had a woman I knew from a pottery class tell¹ me she'd rewrite my mother's eulogy for me, because this woman did the pottery newsletter. The fact that she'd never met my mother wasn't seen as an issue, not compared to the unchallengeable wording skills of a local newsletterist.
¹Tell, as in not ask, or offer, or enquire whether I had come 1st in English throughout school, or consider that I'd known my mother my entire life.

2026-05-18 06:16:23 UTC

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This is one of those posts which needs something other than a "Favourite" button!
A "Slap the insensitive, unappreciative, <insert other imprecations>, slop-loving so-and-so about the face with a slimy fish!" button, perhaps?
😡😡😤😱😢

2026-05-16 08:22:11 UTC

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Well, cycling and sewing aren't mutually exclusive, timewise …
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/116/583/280/745/928/924/original/0568fa72e37c381a.jpg

2026-05-11 10:50:45 UTC

Who needs an AI girlfriend to combat loneliness, when you can buy glue from AliExpress …
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/116/555/552/254/279/795/original/dadfa52065be9f37.jpg

2026-05-11 03:09:30 UTC

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As endorsed by Rosie the Red Cattle Dog?
🤪

2026-05-10 08:41:57 UTC

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Good news and bad news.
Bad: I didn't get icecream.
Good(ish): there wasn't any icecream on offer.
Good: I have deeply investigated the Ts & Cs, and will be there early on subsequent Fridays. 🍦
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/116/549/382/483/359/350/original/7ff0e2a2f35d29c8.jpg

2026-05-09 12:15:03 UTC

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I.K.M.M.S Award
09-May-2026
Presented to
Cayty¹
For keeping her mouth shut, despite extreme provocation.
🏆
¹In the interests of getting rid of AI everywhere, the awards committee has decided to change the spelling of "cAIty" to "Cayty" 🤪

2026-05-09 07:03:58 UTC

On today's evening ride to collect my reservations from the library, I saw an echidna, in a quite urban area, then personally increased the crowd at a twilight council-sponsored concert by 10% 🤪, but apparently missed out on free icecream for the first early arrivees.😢🍦
#BikeTooter
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/116/543/335/259/913/648/original/bd423d980373f81d.jpg

2026-04-30 06:50:13 UTC

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Mandatory minimum tyre sizes and suspension heights which make them 30 cm too high to fit under most bridges.

2026-04-29 08:33:45 UTC

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Oh great! *another* new measurement unit!
1 Caity choko vine = 506.03 km

2026-04-29 08:31:17 UTC

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You can't just say "Covid VAX" without explicitly stating whether you got it in the right¹ arm this time!
¹"right" as correct, not "not left", although the left arm could be the right arm.🤔

2026-04-29 08:21:50 UTC

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wooot ?
What, no chokos? 😢

2026-04-29 05:41:53 UTC

Beat my 500 km monthly riding goal, and I still have a whole day left. 🚲
#BikeTooter
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/116/486/389/749/244/881/original/b1cbc3b95e405743.jpg

2026-04-27 05:40:40 UTC

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I'm not sure that it's a good idea to publicly admit on social media that you've never, ever, ever, ever given Rosie the Red Cattle Dog any food at all ever. 🦴
🤪

2026-04-25 08:26:07 UTC

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Ohh 😢
May the hurt and sadness leave you, like a year's worth of dirt leaves a vacuum filter during its annual cleaning. (Without, of course, you having to be dunked in water, and vigorously squeezed and wrung out)
Is that a choko-worthy metaphor?

2026-04-21 07:57:16 UTC

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A large ROUS the size of a small ROUS.

2026-04-21 06:16:23 UTC

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I wonder if all mail is being closely scrutinised, after the recent shootings in Lake Cargelligo?

2026-04-19 12:59:23 UTC

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You switched arms too, didn't you?
I remember seeing a study which (slightly) recommended same arm each time for a given vaccine, because the nearest lymph gland(?) learned to optimise its learning about the new variant, rather than setting off a fully fledged immune response. (Very layman-ised, simplistic, and not necessarily perfectly remembered 🤔)

2026-04-19 12:28:47 UTC

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I'd be demanding a refund if I didn't feel bleurghh after a flu or COVID vaccination! 🤪
I want my immune system to go "AWAKE! FEAR! FIRE! FOES! AWAKE!", (and then settle down for second breakfast.)

2026-04-16 05:59:53 UTC

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A "Flu this side" tattoo ? 🤪

2026-04-14 22:49:08 UTC

Bunnings website enshittification complete 🤮
The last few times I've tried to use the #Bunnings website, it has been painfully slooooow.
This time I forgot to close the tab when u gave up in frustration, just switched to another. When I realised, and switched back much later …
Has anyone at Bunnings actually tested the abysmal (non)response time of their website lately??
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/116/405/488/967/664/283/original/3bf32c841635c864.jpg

2026-04-12 06:15:45 UTC

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One non-coffee birthday cake, and one beef, onion, and cucumber FODMAP¹ cake for the whinger.
¹F*** Off, Despicable Moronic A**hole Person
🤪

2026-04-09 07:46:30 UTC

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You need to move to Andorra!
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/116/373/633/320/677/258/original/5926cc3168b06b69.jpg

2026-04-08 11:29:42 UTC

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Take all the chokos out of your pockets before stepping on the scales.

2026-04-07 13:13:19 UTC

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Meanwhile, in Denmark …
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/116/363/593/709/731/626/original/785adc7c2e890b81.jpg

2026-04-07 08:23:35 UTC

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A huge rounded bulk, larger than a very small bear, rose up slowly, glistening like wet leather (if it was dry). Snakelike tentacles writhed over the backyard dunny…

2026-04-03 03:33:31 UTC

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When the supply chain, and all of society outside of Mastodon, breaks down due to a dearth of diesel, you'll be glad you have a bathtub full of drinking water and "lots of dried beans and lentils, big bags of rice, good snacks, whole and powdered spices"
Oh, and probably a dog with enhanced fence-guarding abilities. 🤪

2026-03-26 10:06:09 UTC

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Hey diddle diddle
The cat and the fiddle
The cow jumped over the moon
The fuckweasel's Starlinks
got caught on its horns
and Kessler Syndrome
popped SpaceX like a balloon.

2026-03-24 11:02:32 UTC

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Can't you just check the NBN outages web page ? 🤪
Wait, I'll have a look for you :
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/116/283/807/684/970/853/original/833bd4580c494ca0.jpg

2026-03-22 04:38:33 UTC

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Take the fan guard off, toss the chokos into the spinning fan, ta-da sliced chokos.

2026-03-22 04:35:21 UTC

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What happened to the rest of the fan? 🤪

2026-03-21 05:34:43 UTC

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Becoming black, squidgy, and sludgy is just a vegetable's way of asking to be let outside to volunteer in the compost heap.

2026-03-17 09:27:21 UTC

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Just saved you $280 🤪
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/116/243/793/051/005/320/original/34fb9a0c7053c215.jpg

2026-03-12 09:04:29 UTC

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So who took the picture?
Some concerned bystander capturing a manically grinning person, whilst prudently staying out of thwacking range of the walking stick? 🤪

2026-03-07 06:57:14 UTC

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What about traffic lights?
They used to have PDP-11s running busy intersections in Australia.
So that would mean that you'd have to verify your age before pushing a pedestrian button, because you'd be a user of that operating system.

2026-03-05 00:18:37 UTC

Customer "service" general degradation whinge. (First world problem)
The library app was changed to prominently display Parenting TV videos 🤯, and simultaneously all the search filters broke.
A search for books available at a given branch, returns books at all branches, including those on loan, and in the Hold queue.
I have previously emailed the app developers (about other bugs), left Google reviews, emailed the council, and none of these has produced a response.
The other day I tried writing in the library "Communication Book", listing the new app bugs.
I did get a written response, basically "Sorry you're having problems, but you should have emailed the library team. The email address is in the pink folder on the desk near the phone"
Sheesh!
As a teenager, first job, at Woolies, I was taught that if a customer gives you their problem, and you can't fix it, you do 2 things:
- you take the problem to the person who can fix it, and
- you let the customer know how to contact that person, so they can follow up without wasting the customer's time (or other wrong peoples' time).
Why couldn't library loser have forwarded my complaint? Taken a picture of the page, and emailed it to the right team? Torn the page out, and sent it through internal mail?
Why is it my fault for accessing all the obvious, published contact points, and not knowing the secret squirrel internal email address?

2026-03-01 01:04:35 UTC

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https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/116/151/219/711/306/215/original/c4339f20075aba3b.jpg

2026-03-01 00:04:20 UTC

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Sounds like you need a manual crank handle on the front of your washing machine, like they had on early cars.

2026-02-26 09:50:35 UTC

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Artificial hippies? Titanium ones to match the artificial kneesies?

2026-02-24 13:58:19 UTC

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Is it possible that you're an illegal time traveller?
I just read this:
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/116/125/950/002/414/417/original/021ce7d90e2e8f7b.jpg

2026-02-20 23:32:07 UTC

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39 here, with the first 3 scores really high, then 2 abysmal.
Then … 🤯 … I realised that the scrunched-up towel I'd been using as a phone stand had the first 3 colours in the beach-theme print, near the edges of my phone screen, and I'd inadvertently anchored to matching patches of towel colour.
A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. 🤪

2026-02-15 02:26:26 UTC

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So, the rain has caused an outage outage? 🤔

2026-02-06 22:26:55 UTC

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On the right hand page, I see a French mermaid (because she's wearing a beret), possibly about to yeet a yellow lobster back into the water.

2026-02-03 05:52:50 UTC

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The Aussie YouTube channel "Artisan Makes" has an AL-250G, so he may have specific feedback.
I think the last video I saw, he was unhappy that the gearbox was just splash lubricated, and didn't have any oil filtering.
Whether this is a real issue, or applicable to everyone, or just an excuse for a cool project and video, I don't know.

2025-11-20 22:12:10 UTC

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"Daisy Bell" was the first known song sung by a computer. Arthur C. Clarke saw a demo, and referenced it in his book.
https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=3986
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/115/584/307/003/165/637/original/f027855e8606343c.jpg

2025-02-17 06:24:33 UTC

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If you're going to go to that amount of effort, why restrict movement to one axis?
With an additional set of tracks at 90°, you could have a system where you drag your favourite bookshelf anywhere in the room (in the house?)

2025-01-31 23:09:10 UTC

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Maybe this ?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/cartoonoftheday/2016/03/15/how-this-crazy-design-for-protected-bike-lanes-may-keep-cyclists-safe/
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/113/925/481/178/335/903/original/e7669ddbade08748.jpg

2025-01-21 09:47:22 UTC

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Not random.
A real, soul-scarring coffee order, experienced by innocent impressionable me.

2025-01-21 09:40:59 UTC

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Want the backstory?
I grew up hating the smell of Dad's Nescafe 43 every morning, and had my first coffee in my late teens while driving Sydney to Brisbane overnight for a birthday party. That truckstop coffee gave me sweats and trembles and palpitations, so I hated coffee even more, until a few years into my IT career, when I'd learned to sorta like the free stuff available at various jobs.
On my first contract in a big bank, in the heart of Sydney CBD, someone said they were going out, and did anyone want a coffee? I was ready to say "Yes", when the guy in the cubicle behind me trotted out that order, and triggered the most overwhelming imposter syndrome in me! Sheesh, I didn't even understand coffee 😥
Next time, I wrote his order down, visited cafes until I found pictures of the various components, and 40 years later, I can still trot that out. Still haven't ordered it in real life, though 🤪☕
#coffee

2025-01-21 08:47:38 UTC

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I'll have a weak skim decaf macchiato, with a layer of latte, and a cappuccino head, made with soy, please.

2024-12-31 21:32:20 UTC

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From the headline, I thought that it was going to uncover that Lehman Brothers was secretly the funding behind the proliferation of AI.
But the article's just "OpenAI is like Lehman Brothers", or "OpenAI could be the next Lehman Brothers"

2024-12-15 06:48:39 UTC

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veneer - n. someone who makes overlapping circle diagrams.

2024-12-14 05:32:17 UTC

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… spent 45 minutes explaining my ongoing blood feud with the duolingo owl, in French, then German, then Esperanto, then in Japanese, then Swahili, Urdu, and finally in Tagalog.

2024-12-11 07:32:52 UTC

I just discovered that the new 4km section of shared bike path to The Entrance is now complete and open. 🚴‍♂️😂
I only sampled 1km, but was impressed by the frequent sprinkling of rest areas with seats and bike racks, and the bike repair station, with stand, pump, and assortment of tools on retractable security cables. ✅
#BikeTooter #CentralCoast #cycling
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/113/633/012/758/376/733/original/0c0ee1c5a2e74bdb.jpg

2024-12-09 11:28:02 UTC

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Did it work?
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/113/622/620/160/743/359/original/acbe5ce0a5951f1c.jpg

2024-12-04 02:40:08 UTC

#Woolworths Soy milk 1l price (NSW)
September $1.15
03 November $1.35
17 November $1.40
December $2.00 🤯😱😡
Gotta pay for that AI Framework to track the workers somehow!
💵💵💵💵

2024-12-01 09:45:47 UTC

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Shepherds of the trees.
Might be a bit woody to chew on, but they're the closest to "plant-based shepherd" that I know of.

2024-12-01 09:37:23 UTC

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Ents?

2024-11-30 21:00:36 UTC

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Australian here:
Biscuits… in a STEW ?!?!?
🤯🤮🤯🤮
Maaate! Dipping biscuits in a cup of tea/coffee is marginally socially acceptable, if they're sweet biscuits, and you're alone or the company isn't into etiquette rules big time.
But stew?
Unless "stew" is your word for icecream or something. Here it means like a thick soup with chunks of meat & veg floating in it.

2024-11-30 20:00:34 UTC

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I understood that EVs were measurably *worse* in tyre and brake wear, because of the increased weight (battery pack), and higher, and instant, torque.
E.g. from
https://www.automotiveworld.com/articles/inside-the-not-so-hidden-issue-of-higher-tyre-usage-in-evs/
"According to Emissions Analytics, for every 1,000 pounds of vehicle weight increase, there is 20% more tyre wear, ccompanied by a rise in brake dust. Another reason for increased tyre wear and tear in EVs is their high instant torque at low speeds, which helps EVs accelerate faster than conventional cars. However, increased acceleration wears tyres and produces more wear particle emissions."
Also:
https://www.cars.com/articles/do-evs-wear-through-tires-more-quickly-than-gasoline-cars-481973/
https://www.jaxtyres.com.au/knowledge/tyres/electric-vehicle-tyres

2024-11-21 06:57:39 UTC

Just wondering how the proposed Age Restricted Socmed Experiment (ARSE) would work for a young visitor to Australia from another country, using the social media of their own country?
What if they want to post tourist pics of their visit?
#AgeRestricted #SocialMedia #Australia #GovernmentStupidity

2024-11-20 10:08:15 UTC

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You can disassemble a blender into its individual components.
Chia seeds burrowing in between your teeth, with the intent and determination to stay there permanently, doesn't have that option.

2024-11-20 09:13:52 UTC

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That stuff is hydrophobic, or hydromatic, isn't it?
Doesn't get wet without extreme measures.

2024-11-20 09:10:23 UTC

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I don't think applicants think you're serious, or a potential advantage to have on their CV.
If you were a really desirable opportunity, you'd be expecting applicants to pay you for the chance to do your dishes.
This has been the standard for over 10 years now.
Maybe update your ad to include how much you think applicants should pay for the privilege of a chance to impress you?
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/young-jobless-pay-for-internships-20140810-102e6o.html

2024-11-16 08:40:05 UTC

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If you remove the advertising/financial connotations from the word "influencer", then I have been influenced more by people on Mastodon than any prior social media:
I now often go for bike rides when the weather is not perfectly wonderful, because of a guy who rides every day.
I've found, looked at, and intend to swim in the local ocean baths, because of a lady up the coast who frequently swims and posts pictures which make her ocean baths look pretty wonderful.
I've read several books because of people here waxing lyrical about them.
I've made a chilli dipping sauce, because a lady on here suggested that to me.
So, for me, the influencing on Mastodon is more … "authentic"?

2024-11-02 19:36:02 UTC

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Bright red patches are a new thing to me.🤯 Is there some story or technology behind them?
I just punch my patches out of an old tube.

2024-10-27 22:10:01 UTC

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Couriers also transform transport routes
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/113/381/665/104/227/246/original/af2ffe14692ee75c.png

2024-10-20 02:55:28 UTC

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I wonder if there's a link between the coriander genes, and whether you like the smell of patchouli, or think it stinks like rotten dirt?

2024-10-15 11:58:42 UTC

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A plant with vigorous foliage (bonus free air quality improvement), or …
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/113/311/315/898/800/828/original/e700552cd3029b61.jpg