Happy birthday!

I know this situation well. She will not go to a counsellor, because she believes she is right and you and other non believers are wrong and influenced by evil. Put yourself in those shoes - would you listen to someone telling you to go to a counsellor to turn you against your righteous religion? (Rational person would not, but once beliefs get to this stage rationality has left the building). You will not change her mind. She will always view you with disdain. You have to accept this if you want to continue contact. Try to stay away from religious topics, but when inevitably she raises it you will need to brush it off and pretend she didn’t say hurtful things. This might be acceptable to you for the sake of maintaining a relationship. If it’s not, then the other option is to break contact. I know people mean well when saying try to empathise, but I have been in this situation and there is no solution that I know of. They will only come back if they decide it for themselves first. And very sadly, family is usually not enough of a motivator. The religious grip can be that strong.

Recently discovered the Woolies cinnamon rolls are pretty good. You have to look through them for the most recent dates though, I notice they keep them out for a few days and no one deserves the disappointment of a stale bun!

Been woken up multiple times, red eyes for me tomorrow.

Eh I’m bored. I’m usually happy to chill in front of tv most nights but am feeling like there’s nothing I really wanna watch. Maybe I should read a book? I’m too tired to go anywhere but not too tired to want to do something. First world leisure time problems.

That will be such a fun holiday. So much beautiful scenery when driving too.

The cat make it perfect.

Happy Halloween. Ooooooooooooo (is that the noise that ghosts make?)

The annual battle with spring weeds has commenced. Pulling out in garden beds and spraying in paved areas. I feel terrible about the spraying but it’s the most effective. Pulling out between pavers often leaves the roots and regrowth. If I ever move house, I’m gonna make sure that any hard surfaces are concrete and not paving.

I don’t know how some people have so much energy and motivation. You know the ones. You get tired just looking at them. I want this superpower.

Hope you’re doing ok and are out of whichever dangers affected you. I think the world has lots of problems. But also, there’s lots of things that are better than they used to be. (At least in the western world). Better healthcare, less racism, less homophobia, more awareness of mental health issues, taking domestic violence seriously, etc. I think your nephew is lucky in one aspect - never underestimate how important it can be in a kids life to have a plain speaking uncle/aunt who might tell them about world perspectives their parents may not.

I have a feeling that as a kid spring /summer/autumn had more warm days in the past, but I guess is am imagining it because climate records say otherwise. Maybe I’ve pushed the cooler days out of my mind because they weren’t as fun. I don’t think it’s unnatural to be permanently in a warmer climate, that’s where we evolved. We overcame it by inventing clothes.

Am jealous. I run on the cool side, my feeling of warm starts at 23+ and hot at 30+. One day I’ll move to a warmer climate. Maybe for retirement.

Beautiful afternoon. But what baffles me is how many people are in shorts or dresses. When my day started it was a chilly 12c so jeans it was. Do people just freeze for half the day for the 1 hour of nice weather, or do they carry around a change of clothes for when the sun comes out. I’ve lived in Melbourne all my life and still can’t figure it out.

It’s cold. I am desperate for some warmer weather. I know global warming is bad but if a tiny bit of it happened to Melbourne so we could have some glorious Spring weather I would not be mad.

I miss him, and hope he comes back when he’s ready.

I just grab a corner of doona and reach into the cover. Then shiny he cover down, and then grab the top 2 corners holding the cover and doona, shake it out, then same from the bottom end and then the buttons. I’ve tried different methods but they all seem about the same amount of stuffing around to get it evenly contained in the cover.

It’s unfortunately a requirement from many employers even for entry level jobs. In my various workplaces I don’t think I’ve seen anyone under the age of 40 without one. Some older staff are still around who worked their way up in the days when getting a foot in the door didn’t require a degree. The irony is the people making the hiring decisions think their own capabilities are just fine without a degree, but expect new employees to have one.

I think the cost of infrastructure in Australia is a joke. Was just reading that refurbishing the Queensland gaba stadium for the Olympics would cost something like 3 billion. A billion is a thousand million. How can it cost 3 billion to refurbish (not build!) a stadium? Are they putting in solid gold seats?