social.mjd.id.au
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
The boss didn't ask whether I might be able to start at 6am tomorrow. He did't even tell me to start at 6. He told somebody else to tell me that I was starting at 6, the rotting coward.

Then, as I was leaving at 7:30pm, a random psycho wandered in off the street and started screaming abuse and smashing the place up. Delayed my departure a bit.

Fortunately, it's $4 pint night at the Workers Club, so I'm calling that dinner. The store 2IC texted to say "u r the best". Probably want to wait before you see me tomorrow morning sleep deprived and still pissed before making that call.

#
#MelbourneLifestyle
5 comments - Show more
Ruben
Ruben friendica
When I was young I never expected the need to lie about my age because I was too old. What crazy future is this?
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
I'm ashamed at my cowardice. The bar manager came out and explained to the aggrieved gentleman that tonight the pub was effectively closed for a private function. I had a stamp on my wrist guaranteeing re-entry, because I'd paid the $5 cash-only (so they are tax evading) cover charge. I could have asked the manager what that stamp means. I could have gone to any of the kids in the queue and asked about the private function they were supposedly attending.
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
Jeez. That sounds like a story from the Arctic Monkeys first album, but for old people.
Ruben
Ruben friendica
I wouldn't feel morally compromised over that. As my straight taking partner likes to say, Not your circus, not your monkeys.
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
About time: https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/walmart-cvs-must-face-lawsuit-over-placement-of-homeopathic-products
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
According to PM Albo "there’s not a role for government in running every bit of people’s lives forever." https://www.theage.com.au/national/nsw/doctors-urge-people-to-still-isolate-wear-masks-despite-scrapped-rules-20221001-p5bmgg.html

Amen. So many regulations are past their expiry dates. That's why I'm quitting my job to take up selling alcohol to children. I'm also standing in front of the yellow line on railway platforms and wedging open every fire door I see.

I'm only ever crossing the road against the lights. Feck you, Green Man, I've had enough of your nanny state oppression; I'm going to wait until you're gone before I step off this kerb. And why should I have to look left or right when I'm stepping right into the field of vision of oncoming drivers? If they're looking my way already, surely they're better placed to be careful. It's hardly surprising they're so inattentive what with all those guidelines painted on the road at great public expense. When it comes to driving, every individual should be free to decide which bit of the road - or indeed the footpath - works best for them. Everybody would have to be a good deal more alert, or suffer the consequences, which would be of great benefit to the overall fitness of the herd.
Ruben
Ruben friendica
Interestingly I believe this is exactly how the roads operate in Vietnam. I found crossing the road to be an exercise in trusting other humans not to flatten me. It was actually beautiful to watch how everyone took responsibility for their and each other's actions. I saw no road rage over perceived road rule infractions and no accidents or injuries despite the beautiful anarchy. Ironically, on landing back in Australia, we got delayed driving out of Sydney airport due to a bus and motorbike collision.
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
I think there's probably a strong correlation between the number of coffee shops and the number of traffic incidents per capita. In the absence of a strong coffee culture, you get very mellow and courteous people.
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
Seriously considering taking up wearing a beret as a hair substitute. The difficulty would be finding the right colour to match my eyes. "Would you have this in bloodshot?"
Ruben
Ruben friendica
Perhaps you could affect a Judaic or Islamic stance they both have the perfect Devon patch headgear. In addition you can enjoy their excellent cuisines and expose yourself to a fascinating and complex cultural legacy.
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
Ironically a yarmulke won't occupy enough territory. Maybe something more like the roof of a convertible car, unfolding from my collar to clip on to the rim of my glasses.
Ruben
Ruben friendica
I don't think it should ever be about covering the entirety. Consider it more of a feature to distract and entertain. You should choose something that you can wear with confidence, you wear the accoutrement it doesn't wear you. For example Tommy Cooper knew how to wear a Fez but my old science teacher did not know how to wear a toupee.
Dvd Mrsdn
Dvd Mrsdn mastodon (AP)
cheaper than a wig!
Image/photo
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
It's certainly a look that screams understated sophistication. Biology just keeps presenting me with a sumptuous smorgasbord of personal styles. What shall it be this morning: Montgomery Burns or Frank Spencer?
simsa04
simsa04 gnusocial (AP)
Listening to Richard Thompson lately?
#
Dvd Mrsdn
Dvd Mrsdn mastodon (AP)
not lately, although he was more of an inspiration than Frank Spencer.
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
The # Town Hall Hotel. $15 a pint! But it's on my way home. Sort of. The best thing about starting work at 6am is daytime drinking. Stepping out of the pub, gently buzzing, to feel the sun on one's gaunt, pallid face. Magical.
#Fitzroy
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
"Surprising new census data released today shows that only four in five Australians identify themselves as wellness, beauty or lifestyle influencers, leading many to question what the remaining one in five is doing with their time. https://www.theshovel.com.au/2022/06/28/only-83-australians-influencers-census/
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
Got an early release from #. 6am start, after an 8pm finish last night. Now in the Birmingham Hotel listening to a 90s grunge playlist. This could be an expensive afternoon. Feel like I'm due some self-indulgence.
#work
3 comments - Show more
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
Walked the long way home on a bit of a psychogeographical survey. No better place for it than Collingwood/Fitzroy/Carlton. So many different atmospheres, so tightly packed. It may be the four pints at the Birmingham talking, but I like where I live.
Ruben
Ruben mastodon (AP)
I love a good psychogeographical survey. I'll go and get lost as soon as this cold let's go of me.
#
#dรฉrive
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
Do you think that alarm bells should be ringing if you find yourself practicing responsible drinking by diluting your wine with slightly less strong wine?
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
"If Your Business Depends on a Platform, You Don’t Have a Business" # Yves Smith https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2021/02/warning-if-your-business-depends-on-a-platform-you-dont-have-a-business.html

I'd never heard of # until literally the day before the # buyout was announced. I watched (via Zoom) a presentation where a developer was talking about how they were releasing all their Figma source files because they were such a believer in "open source". The source files are of course useless without the software to run them on.

When # bought # (through it's purchase of Sun), the sum total of my migration pain to a safe harbour was `apt-get dist-upgrade` and suddenly I was a happy # user. When you depend on a proprietary tool to get your job done, there is no such escape route. Especially if that proprietary tool is a Service as a Software Substitute platform.

Dipping my arthritic toes back into the tech waters after an extended absence, I'm shocked to find how far #, #, #, et al. have become integrated into the daily life of free software projects. (Mind you, even working in a supermarket as I do, having WhatsApp installed on my phone is mandatory. Corporate IT is so broken that the universal API connecting systems and people is photos of screens and printouts sent through a third-party social networking service.)

# saw this over ten years ago: https://mako.cc/writing/hill-free_tools.html

YouTube: Free Software Needs Free Tools (OpenDev)
#q #Figma #Adobe #Oracle #MySQL #MariaDB #GitHub #Slack #Zoom #Mako
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
A full day of "You done them aubergines yet?" work (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detectorists). Tired.

Clocked off at 9pm. Then did another half hour of tidying up before actually finishing work. Walked home. I like where I live: cobblestones, trams, and most buildings at least twice as old as me. I feel safe.

Washing up and cooking while listening to a podcast. Dinner around midnight. Tired.
Ruben
Ruben friendica
This post makes me think of words like, wainscoting, corduroy and hobbits.

Keep on keeping on @Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
Love is like hard drive space.
5 comments - Show more
Ruben
Ruben friendica
Needs a good filesystem to prevent corruption.
Ruben
Ruben friendica
Entropy is inevitable
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
Well, I did it, despite telling myself that I wouldn't - or at least that I would take some convincing. Signed a contract to go from casual to permanent part time this afternoon. Instant 20% pay cut. Post hoc, I rationalised it in various ways, but I'm just emotionally needy. All I was thinking was "You like me! You really like me!" #
#work
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
Also, I just renewed my lease for a further 12 months. I'm just a cash pipeline between employer and landlord. But I do love my (very) little flat, and the fact that none of my neighbours are homicidal madmen who have a vendetta against me, which is a refreshing change.
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
Long live King Bluebottle. [Pauses for audience applause. Not a sausage.]

YouTube: Impressions of a goon (Alzombie)



#
#Goons
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
"Please pray to the Social Media Gods to look kindly upon our work." https://www.levernews.com/otherposts/help-the-lever-grow-follow-our-social-media-accounts/
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
"I often tell people who say 'Well how do you get involved in technology?'. I say 'Well, you know if you don't have the self-discipline and foresight to be born in 1971 I just can't help you.'" # Cory Doctorow https://pileusmmt.libsyn.com/135-cory-doctorow-blockchain-bitcoin-selling-the-brooklyn-bridge @Cory Doctorow's linkblog
#q @Cory Doctorow's linkblog
Cory Doctorow's linkblog reshared this.
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
Content as she may be to #, Barbara Ehrenreich's wit and righteous anger will be sorely missed. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/sep/02/barbara-ehrenreich-author-dies-nickel-and-dimed
#RIP
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
"I don't open my beak to squawk out good news. This thing pops open for sad news and porridge, and I'm all out of porridge right now." # John Oliver, Last Week Tonight S09E21
#q
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
"At first glance the partnerships between supermarkets and gig economy platforms look like the supermarket is outsourcing the work of delivery. But this is a simplification: in fact, the traditional companies are bringing the precarious and on-demand labour of the gig workers inside their own firm, and making it legitimate through formal partnerships."

https://theconversation.com/a-weird-dinging-sound-that-everyone-dreads-what-rapid-deliveries-mean-for-supermarket-workers-185960

#
#work
ghostdancer reshared this.
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
This is just lovely. Zest for life recharged.



# #
#Undertones #JohnPeel
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
Happy 100th birthday (last Wednesday) to the late Howard Zinn. Very sorely missed in these crazy times.
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
Perhaps the most surprising thing about walking around a city after so many years away is the switch from smoking to vaping. # smells like a corner shop twenty cent bag of mixed lollies.
#Melbourne
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
Great. Lightbulb in the bathroom just went. Time to play "How Does this Light Fitting Undo?" Guess wrong and you will be rewarded with a shower of Gyprock and paint flakes, and the opportunity to write an awkward email to the estate agent.
Ruben
Ruben friendica
A man of your practical nature would have that bulb changed in mere weeks I am sure. Have you even started writing the Drupal module to begin the process yet?
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
The time consuming bit is not so much the technical challenge as getting over the impostor syndrome. You've no idea how many hands of GNOME Aisleriot I have to play in order to boost my self-confidence enough to tackle a project of this degree of manliness.
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
Jesus. Even Eliza doesn't want to talk to me.



In my defense, I saw Snappy, clear as day, in the middle of Collingwood Liquorland, in a state of considerable distress, and everything I subsequently did was done with the best of intentions. I've moved on, Snappy has moved on, but some people (*cough* Cassie-bot *cough*) apparently can't let go.
Ruben
Ruben friendica
Cassie understands the vacuum which is the well-spring of life of course she can't let it go
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
Happy # Day. https://wiki.debian.org/DebianDay/2022
#Debian
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
# Raiders of the Lost Ark. Not that I need to, as I can replay it in my head. A perfect movie. Wish I had some popcorn.
#Watching
3 comments - Show more
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
I must rewatch that one, actually. I thought it was fine when I saw it at the pictures with ex-DLW, but I haven't seen it since. I think I was just pleased to see the marvellous Karen Allen again, so I enjoyed it more than than both Indiana Jones: The Incredibly Racist One and Indiana Jones: The One with Sean Connery In It.

At the time, I remember a lot of criticism about the implausibility of the plot. [Spoiler alert:] I don't know how you can have a problem with aliens, when the first film hinged on the literal truth of the Old Testament.
Ruben
Ruben friendica
I think I've watched too many Hollywood FX marathons. I prefer slow YouTube docos or this would be good, https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/nudity-brawls-unspeakable-acts-film-celebrates-unofficial-mayor-of-st-kilda-20220810-p5b8q0.html
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
"At one point last year, there were 10,000 Airbnbs available to rent in #, and only sixty-nine private rentals. There are 12,776 second homes registered in Cornwall, and 21,817 people waiting to be housed. The figures speak for themselves: the sheer quantity of second homes and holiday lets is leaving tens of thousands of people in Cornwall without a secure home." https://tribunemag.co.uk/2022/06/cornwall-acorn-falmouth-penryn-holiday-homes-homelessness-community-union/
#Cornwall
Ruben
Ruben friendica
Yes, it's awful what's happened to Cornwall. The rich peoples playground whilst the locals can't afford to live there. It was a basic backwater when I grew up there in the 70s but in the 80s the crowds began to descend.

Seamas Carey did a fantastic podcast exploring many of the issues.

The Reason Why - https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1922403.rss
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
The Beta version of my.gov.au pulls in # from gstatic.com. There's a feedback form, but it only gives you half a dozen sets of Likert scale radio buttons - no text field in which to scream "WTF!?!"
#JavaScript
Ruben
Ruben friendica
Yes, I gave it a shot last week. Looks like a colossal turnip
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
The Welsh male voice choir is rehearsing again at the back of the Charles Dickens. It makes me smile. I may be here some time. There goes this week's beer budget. It's "differently hard" to #, but I love living in #.
#Sawtell #Melbourne
Ruben
Ruben friendica
Bloody lovely, when are you going to join?
Luke
Luke mastodon (AP)
he can’t, he’s not Welsh
Ruben
Ruben friendica
A technicality, I'm sure they're inclusive
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
I think if you are willing to have a go, they'd be flexible on both the Walian and masculine requirements. Which would be to my advantage on both counts, were it not for the fact that after two decades of living like a hermit, I've hardly a voice left for speaking, never mind singing.
Ruben
Ruben friendica
I'm sure they'll need a fan. You can just sit back with a glass or two and enjoy watching them practice.
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
At the start of #, I confidently asserted to Mayor McWheeze at the # that, on the basis of past novel disease outbreaks, one should expect transitory inflation due to Chinese supply chain issues, but it would all blow over. Now the supply chain issue is that everybody everywhere is getting more sick more often, and this is not going to end. I'm a big-mouthed know-nothing. I should probably stand for parliament.
#Covid #Aloha
Ruben
Ruben friendica
You wouldn't do well. Politicians never come clean
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
Nothing says "Local Band" like this photo:



https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/local-band-unison-release-new-song-inspired-by-coffs-coast-life-92385

That they're not allowed to turn off Fox Sports while performing is the icing on the suburban cake. #
#Coffs
Merde stunder nugget reshared this.
3 comments - Show more
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
There are s dwindling number of news organisations left that still maintain # feeds. Now that even the # has abandoned them, this might soon be my sole window on the outside world.
#RSS #ABC
Ruben
Ruben friendica
# is over-rated.
#News
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
Just finished # Hill Street Blues from beginning to end. I started it about four years ago, and the one regret from my divorce is that I didn't get to watch it all the way through with my ex-wife. Sharing these vital cultural things is so much more important than petty personal issues.

Still, after the initial unpleasantness but before I moved out, when civility had settled in, she asked to watch some more episodes, and we got as far as the death of Sgt Phil Esterhaus/Michael Conrad. I was happy about that.

Watching it the first time round, I loved listening to my father laughing himself silly over the comic subplots. Let's be careful out there.
#rewatching
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica


Pub muzak win:


https://www.youngandjacksons.com.au/
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
Made a phone call to my ISP this morning because I discovered they've still been charging me for connectivity at the flat 1000kms away which I haven't lived in since May (I'm busy; I don't read the bills, I just pay 'em).

Subsequently I've been feeling grumpy because I had to waste half my day off dealing with a call centre. Just now noticed that it's still only lunch time. I just assumed that the call took most of the day, based on past experience. Post-industrial capitalism has successfully implanted Soviet-style expectations to the extent that they trump reality.
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
#: "Female journalist told skirt too short when reporting on Alabama execution" https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/01/us-prison-officials-alabama-female-journalists-change-clothes-execution
#21stCenturyHeadlines
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
2022-07-30 12:00:08
Samuel Beckett once was enjoying a walk with a friend on a sunny afternoon. The friend remarked it was a beautiful day that made one glad to be alive. Beckett replied, ‘I wouldn’t go that far’.
Ruben
Ruben friendica
Beckett also said of endurance, "You must go on. I can't go on. I'll go on" this is something I'm living through today.
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
Missing the story here, somewhat. It's _only_ seven players out of the team prepared to go on record as bigots! 'Straya has come a long way!

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-62301091
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
We stand for only what we believe everybody can agree on. So far, we are fully committed to:

1. More toilet paper on supermarket shelves, and
2. Bringing back Seinfeld.

Expect more policy announcements shortly.

https://boingboing.net/2022/07/28/its-official-andrew-yang-launches-third-party-with-both-democrats-and-republicans.html
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
"The fact that we humans make history is empowering even if the fact that we _must_ do so is daunting." # Alfie Kohn https://www.alfiekohn.org/blogs/regress/
#q
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
The regular Saturday anti-vax nutters shut down the CBD trams again this afternoon, ironically nearly making me miss my booster appointment. I suppose either way somebody would have been able to tick off an item on their todo list.
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
At # yesterday, we had a "Click 'n' Collect" order for just a single item: a mobile phone. Nobody buys a mobile phone from us online. In fact, nobody in their right mind would buy a mobile phone from us at all. The guy turned up forty minutes early to collect it, at the counter where he could have just asked for one and paid for it then and there. He came back forty minutes later, on the dot, but by then I'd found we were out of stock of the model he ordered.

Who does this? I couldn't fathom it. I relayed the story to a colleague and she solved it in one.

"Was he a junkie?" This wasn't a word I expected to hear uttered by this demure little teenage Muslim girl.

Of course! The perfect way to untraceably turn a nicked credit card into an easily resold commodity, no questions asked! I may look like the picture of Dorian Gray, but I am so innocent I really shouldn't be allowed out of the house.
#work
Ruben
Ruben friendica
Did you replace it with a similar item? An iron perhaps? Bit risky though, he might burn his ear.
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Davidson friendica
No, he wouldn't allow substitutions, otherwise he would have got two cans and a ball of string.
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