Daily Discussion Thread: 🎨👩‍🎨 Thursday, 27 February 2025

Just sent a pretty forceful sounding / legally threatening email to a client that still owes me a couple of grand. 4 months overdue invoice, all kindly worded follow up emails totally ignored. Spoke to him on the phone a few weeks back, said he'd pay by the following week but never did. Just taking the piss now, and I'm angry.

Give me my money, then they're getting blacklisted for good. There's more work to be done for this client (and I'm letting them think things will continue) but I've decided I won't be doing it. I don't want to work with people that have zero respect for what I do. I have the authority to say no, take your business with maybe payment elsewhere, and I plan to use it.

When I did mobile therapy, I had some many people get lax with their payments. This was before OSKO and payID. I had someone I'd been to visit four times take another six weeks after that to pay me. I think they only got their shit together when I started calling every second day to ask when payment was. THEY got pissy at me for pestering them for work done. We dropped each other after that.

News from on high is that we’re back in office from Monday.

It’s fine for me - I can walk to work! I sometimes go in just because it’s cooler and my VPN isn’t working - but this doesn’t feel like a lot of notice for anyone who isn’t me

5 days or hybrid?
- We’ve gone from one day per week expected in office to a minimum of three, preferably all.
  I only work three days, so…

These daily discussion threads are great for tracking what day it is. Sometimes I need a moment of pause to remember which thread is the current one

You mean, today is Thursday, not Wednesday?!
- dammit, you made me double check ...lol

Someone who is welcome to clean mine. 👍
Good work! I had to do a frantic house inspection clean last night.
Never again lol
Good on you! The other day I just turned in a slow circle in my flat and actually said out loud, "Jesus Christ where do I start?" I mean, I know how to do that stuff but it was just feeling overwhelming at that time.

Thanks for the advice everyone. Will request further clarification in writing. Once obtained will go to fair work.

Other than that, feeling pretty chill.

I log on whenever I wake up, log off when I've had enough.

3 seeks weeks to go!

Check your employment contract too - it should say when they agree to pay your salary and when they can withhold payment.

Michelle trachtenberg died? Wtf?

So sad, so young as well.
Very tragic.
I heard that too, and had a similar reaction.
I know right?
From what I've read she had a liver transplant recently that resulted in complications.
Could be wrong though.
Very sad to hear!
Might need to rewatch her episodes of Gossip Girl, her character had such amazing lines. "You can tell Jesus that the bitch is back." and "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get drunk enough to make you all seem interesting."
- She'll always be annoying Dawn to me.
Bloody sad! Had no idea she was in so many roles.

They're withholding this months pay until next month. Because my last day is the 25th, they want me to return the laptop etc which is fine.

But now I won't be paid for 6 weeks!!!

that doesn't sound legal.
If you call fairwork or an employment lawyer you might get your gardening leave...
That doesn’t sound right. You might need to contact the Fair work about this.
If you were living week to week this would be devastating.
- exactly
  that an employer would do this is shameful
  workers need their pay
  and employers should be thinking of worst case scenarios where food needs to be bought for children, vital medicine, etc etc.
  call fairwork asap
Um...is that even legal?
Next month starts on Saturday. This is also highly dodgy. Call Fairwork asap tomorrow. They would have to have a really convincing excuse to not pay you out in accordance with your regular pay schedule. And that's about as far as they can delay payment. Also you would have accumulated at least some leave entitlement also even if only a few days.
- Thank you will do so :)
I’d be withholding work in that case. “Here’s the laptop. Shove it up your ass and if I don’t see the pay next month I’m going to fair work and contacting every client to say you screwed me!”
- Damn good point. Tbh I'm doing Jack shit at the moment anyway lol
When you get it use some of that pay for a bottle of bubbly. You know, for when they go under. If they last that long that is

Movers have been and gone, those guys deserved a bigger tip. Not everything fit. Guess the location of "the most important box in the house"?

The sex dungeon™
- Ya'll have a dungeon? I just stash stuff under the bed!
- If that were true I'd at least know where it was
We used to have a special box for remotes, cables. furniture screws and final odds and ends. Sometimes when we did containers from England, they'd've packed tea cups, tea and the kettle in there.
- This special box is all the fixings for the extensive shelving system. Without it we're fucked.
I wanna know if the air mattress survived?
Because those things can be iffy.
- Yes. Neither the cats nor I punctured it.
garage

Good night everyone, sweet dreams 😘

I'm kind of digging the cloudy morning autumn vibes. Wish the temperatures would reflect it a bit more.

I was annoyed for no real reason most of today, but then I got to keep the leftover cheese from a work function and all is well.

Shitty photo of work cheese:

Some of the best cheese I ever had was work leftovers. Stinky enough to get me funny looks on the tram.
- The one time an airline lost my luggage I had some frozen blue cheese in it. When I informed customer service of it they found that bag fast as fuck. Soo if anyone is ever dealing with a lost bag situation and wants to put some priority on it...

Good morning! Have slept a little earlier and am now wide awake. I wish I could do the vacuuming or something. Oh well, scrolling social media it is!

Never leaving the west past 2:30 pm ever again. Dust and heat aside, I think I feel physically sick from all the traffic and driving, especially the shitty Hoppers Crossing roundabout and 40 mins of crawling along the m1 to power st. And my measurements from later in the day seemed sus to boot :/

Nice surprise is I snagged an appt with the dishwasher tech for tomorrow itself so a perfect excuse to fuck off fieldwork and recover. Fingers bloody crossed they can fix it. Next week starts off with two big days of fieldwork in the southeast for work but at least I'm getting paid for it!!!

If they can’t fix it or it still breaks down maybe push for a return and replacement or something?
I hated living out there, I felt so far away from everything.
- The young Seagoons lived out past Melton for about 4 months. Miss Seagoon said it doesn't look far on the map but the roads and access to the city is slow. They both couldn't wait to get back to the city.

TIL Amway is still a thing

Down with that sort of thing
- I didn’t see your reply till just now. Thanks for that 👍

Cutting paper, laminating said paper, low key arvo. 1 hour to go!

Dinner had, very full but had a minor disaster cooking.

Went to crack an egg on the fry pan and instead of it cracking a bit the whole thing exploded all over the place.

Also mistiming the cooking of everything, some of the stuff went cold and wasn’t as lightly cooked as I thought I’d be.

Oh well try again tomorrow and hope for better results.

Hey funny you mention it, I've had that a bit with eggs lately. I crack a lot of eggs for work when I'm pasta making, and I've had some batches that with a light tap just completely fragment and deposit the egg where I didn't want it. Also some I had recently were oddly hard to crack with a super strong shell.
- I’m only lucky for some odd reason that I didn’t have any bits of shell in whatever bits of the egg that managed to make it into the frying pan.
  It was so weird how the shell basically just crumbled and collapsed on itself.

The nap to meeting ratio is increasing.

Wish they'd give me garden leave. Not allowed to say anything to clients. Just feel like I'm going through the motions.

At least I'm getting paid.

I've heard notice period weeks drag on because you can't do anything about them. You'll have to find a way to make the most of them and not let it get to you too much
- A company wide email calling out the management for being cunts usually sorts out any notice period from my experience.
- Naps and video games help when I'm working from home lol
Not allowed to say anything to clients.
"And you trust me not to do that?! Cause maaaaaan insert laugh. I fuckin wouldnt!"
Honestly, nothing is stopping you from must leaving. Notice periods are a professional courtesy. You won't be paid for the time you're not there, but they can't hold back your entitlements (like annual leave).

The one time I drag myself out early to do uni fieldwork and pat myself on the back for avoiding traffic... it's a beautiful cloudy morning and it turns out my equipment is pretty much useless in these conditions 😭 now I have to sit around and wait until the sun clears a bit. I guess I'll go find something to eat... dosa time!!

New phone screen has an added advantage: the slowness on typing seems to have disappeared. I thought it was the new iOS that slowed it down, but man this is heaps better for no real change other than a new screen.

This diet means I do one quarter the cooking I used to do. It has freed up so much time and is def less stressful. 🙂 This is a totes unexpected bonus.

Food takes so much time. Shopping, putting away, cooking, dishes, put away dishes, repeat. And the headspace used in deciding what to cook can get tiring.
Interesting, since I quit my diet, I'm cooking so much more... but it's just trash. Trying to find the balance. I think meal kits helped!
- meal kits are good

I'll give you a pillow, do with it as you will.
- is it a memory pillow though

Sorting through stuff at home and found quite a few games for Nintendo 3DS. I don't think I'd get much trading them (I don't really know) but we don't want to keep them either. I don't want to get Facebook/eBay scammed out of them so I guess I'm just stuck with them. If anyone knows of any place that gives you a decent (ie not completely ripoff) price I'd love to know.

Edit: picture of games

Which games? And you'll find some 3DS games are very in demand.
- I'll take a pic tonight and add it to my post. Mostly kids stuff I suspect, eg Super Mario Bros and marvel themes.
Wouldn't mind hearing what you've got as well if that's ok?
- I'll take a pic tonight and add it to the post. Mostly kid's stuff I suspect. Edit: like super Mario Bros and marvel related.
Do you have a market nearby with a retro gaming stall?
- Don't think so but I'll have a look.
If there's a place around that sells trading cards they might buy them. Not as good as selling them yourself but you cold get a bulk sale that should be decent
I’ve got the console, would happily buy the games?
- I've just added a picture to my post of you're interested. They are just as I suspected, mostly Mario and marvel themed lol
- I’ll happily take “classic Sonic” off your hands. Name your price, including postage, and I’m in
  Sonic 2 was the first game I beat
If you've got some of the stuff I'm after I'm happy to make an offer, or if you tell us what you want per game. Probably less sketch dealing with the DT then ebay.
- No problem will have a better look tonight and add pics
- I've just added a picture to my post if you're interested, it's as I suspected with the Mario/marvel themes lol
I'll buy the mariokart ds from you!
- Cool, I'll DM you later after I've finished getting dinner ready 🙂

that's a new one

I opened the fridge and there was a spider hanging down off the door compartments, only a small one, about 2cm, but still, it was unexpected

my brain is stuck today

I will do what I always do when it is stuck, tidy my work area and the living area

and make lists 🙂

I think we are the same person 😆

McDonalds have brought back the breakfast wrap. It's now much easier to have breakfast in the car again

Think I'm lucky today, not much work to do due to finishing all my backlog earlier in the week.

If something doesn't pop up today I'm going to have a cruisy day tomorrow as well.

For now I'm stapling paper together.

Winning! Sounds like you've earned a pizza night 🍕🍕
- Oh I wish but I am going to make a monster burger tonight!

Aldi have those acupuncture mats for sale this week. $16.99.

Of course I got one.

I got a shakti years ago, they take a bit of getting used to, but by god they work on them tired feets.
the cats do disagree tho so YMMV
- As soon as I put it on the floor the dog got on.
Can confirm they're good. If they come with the spiky pillow, even better.
- Yes it does.

Classic Herbal Essences is discounted right now at Coles and silicone free. 🤔 Finding it a bit hard to rinse the Dove bar out sometimes so maybe I’ll try just the shampoo in whatever type looks least smelly. Edit: Actually looking at the descriptions I might go smell it first. I’d go for the Moisture Milks but they seem to be gone.

The zucchini are sending up more male flowers. I thought they were done. The mildew and heat have left them looking a bit rough.

There’s progress on the string bag. It’s mind numbing and I’m trying to nail the way to hold the yarn but soon I’ll be to the next stage.

Has anyone ever done any icebreakers that don't suck for a group of friendly but introverted IT types?

I have a couple of newbies starting and want to help them get to know people but we are a naturally introverted lot. We are going to do a bit of a cake and chat before the next team retro. Do I let the awkward convos ...sorta flow? Should I just get everyone to introduce themselves formally (small team - they will have met the newbies) or is there any non sucky thing that helps people relax and chat? This will be an in person thing.

I've done this once and it was great, but instead of list your 'favourite' of something, it was list your most hated.
Question we had, what is your least favourite popular show, or something similar.
As an introvert, I love hating on things. This brings out the best hater in me.
- Oh nice.
I like asking people to share their favourite ice cream. Everyone likes ice cream (or sorbet etc) and it's no pressure.
If they're IT people then you can ask them about their tech stack at home, what games they're playing, or their favourite OS. I'm sure if you go up to someone and ask what their preferred scripting program is you'll get plenty of conversation out of them. Got to focus on what the group is into, rather than generic questions
Janeway was a better captain than Picard: Discuss. Stargate was better than startrek: discuss. I actually LIKED vista. Fight me on it.
- I let out an internal cheer at the Stargate comment! And okay, Janeway as well.
- Love it but I fear I would have a sea of genZ faces confused asking " who's Picard?"
  Also DS9 FTW anyway 😎
- ☠️☠️☠️☠️

It do be lunchtime

What's for lunch? I'm hecka excited about the toastie I've got! Boyo made a tasty mince mix, gonna chuck that in with some cheese!
- Pie and salad
- toasted chili cheese bread and a coffee
At the Lunched time straight snacking on 'it', and by 'it' I mean...

Beep Beep 🚚
🍏🍎🍐🍊🍋🍈🫐🍓🍇🍉🍌🍒🍑🥭🍍🥥🥦🥑🫛🍆🍅🥝🥬🥒🌽🥕🥐🍠🫚🥔🧅🥯🍞🥖🥨🧀🧇🥞🧈🍳🥚🥓🥩🍗🍖🫓🍕🍟🍔🌭🥙🧆🌮🌯🥗🍲🍜🍝🥘🍛🍣🍱🥟🦪🍥🍘🍚🍙🐠🍤🪼🦀🐙 🍗🥮🍢🍡🍧🍰🧁🥧🍦🍨🎂🍮🍭🍬🍫🥜🌰🍪🍿🍯🥛☕️🍵🍺🍶🥤🧋🧃🥂🍷🥃🍸🍹🧉🔋

Ultimate double whopper meal plz
- 🍔🍔 🍟🥤
a burger with the lot and some chips please
- 🍔🍳🍳🍳🍟
It's too hard to decide. I think I'll have a grazing platter, please.
- 🌻🌲🌼☘️🌿🐐🐄
Anything delivered please
- 👨‍🎨

Today is v. vague

Rise and shine. 😄

Good morning Seagoon, thank you for posting a Thursday thread. Briongloid's Tuesday version had me most confused. I have a hard enough time keeping track of the days as it is, I wasn't sure what part of the week I was in for a few minutes 😃
Argh no, I want to sleep in today.
Absolutely not

I’m grateful for the dishwasher doing the washing part but I still need to fussily stack it and then manually rinse everything and set it to drip afterwards. (Doesn’t rinse well.) So I get stuck on that part and dishes pile up anyway. :(

Can you do a second run without any detergent to rinse instead? That would at least cut out a little bit of effort.
- I’ve done it and could still taste the soap for some reason. I ended up having to kind of rinse and rub under the tap to get it all. Reducing the amount just meant the dishes didn’t get clean

Feeling a bit grumpy tonight, mostly in just not being happy with me, but I went for a stroll around the block, indulging in some gaming and now I'm just appreciating how good my chest is while winding down for sleep by watching a Kdrama. Anyone here seen It's Okay Not To Be Okay? Fucking batshit, I tells ya.

Trampled the shit out of this thing a few months ago doing the retaining wall and was worried it wouldn't make it. After putting in the watering it has other ideas. I think it's a giant taro / elephant ear thing:

Absolute messy jungle corner.

Seems like people rate them as indoor plants. Would be hilarious to have something like that taking up half the room.

Good night everyone. Happy dreams. 😘

🍔🍔 🍟🥤