The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 09

[MrPixel]

I'll bring up a local weirdness - trick-or-treat here was last night. The Halloween parade is tonight.

Some city father many years ago decreed that they were to be observed on the last full weekend of October. A nearby town declared trick-or-treat to be the last Thursday (WTF?). Everybody else around keeps traditional.

 

[NuclearFairy]

I dunno... but I can understand that. American white bread is a tasteless sponge you can't scrub the sink with.

And yet, there are a large number of people that think white bread is the best thing for packing into a tooth cavity.

 

[yowser]

I will be giving a talk in Melbourne in December, my first visit to Australia. My spouse did some fieldwork in Queensland some time before we met, but this will be our first trip to the continent together.

I would be interested in what any of you Oz-dwellers have to say about 'must-see' adventures in Melbourne (anyone who has visited and has suggestions please also chime in). I will be aiming to hit universities and libraries, but am open to day trip options and unique places.

Caveats (there are always caveats) include vegetarians in the traveling party and a wheelchair user. No rental car, so public transportation will have to suffice.

Any suggestions on local beer/breweries, vintage car-related museums or events especially welcome. Looks like a trip down the coast (Anglesea, but maybe too crowded?) or to quieter neighborhoods or towns nearby (I am a small town/rural person at heart) might be in order.

As an aside, the online Australia visa application is curious, complex, quirky and overwhelmingly frustrating (for anyone contemplating a trip, budget some serious time and patience for this process.) The designers and UX folks need to be shot, or at least beaten severely.

Thank you, very exciting.

 

[NuclearFairy]

We have frozen balls of cookie dough in the freezer. They're chocolate chip, banana, oatmeal. And I so want to cook them and eat them all, but I know I shouldn't.

 

[TheLobster]

We have frozen balls

Oh no!

of cookie dough in the freezer.

Oh yes!

 

[Rustyoznail]

Hi @yowser - how long are you heading over for?

First, be prepared for the weather to change instantly. Pack for the Antarctic as well as the Sahara. Take the weather forecast with a grain of salt...

Vegetarians are catered for at most cafes and restaurants. Some are better than others, but there's enough online reviews to help.

You'd like Scienceworks, a museum at Spotswood.

You will be severely limited without a car. Public transport around Melbourne is good, but getting to places outside the city will be painful. A train to Ballarat, then a taxi or maybe a bus to Sovereign Hill is doable.

Castlemaine is also worth a visit.

Many trams in Melbourne are theoretically ok for wheelchair access, but because the CBD routes are free, they are crowded. Use this link to help plan things.
https://yarratrams.com.au/accessibility

PM me if you want more details. Unfortunately, I'll be heading west around that time.

Edit - a website you should look at. Www.secretmelbourne.com

Cheers

 

[sirhugs]

*wanders in, wonders where everybody is, pours some whiskey in his coffee and pour out a measure into a saucer for theplot bunnies*

 

[Candy_Kane54]

It's another chilly start to the day with rain threatening this afternoon. I'm going to try to get some gardening done today and if I feel like it, I'm going to make one last apple crisp for the season.

I've got a fresh pot of coffee brewing and the teapot is hot. I've got danish on the counter this morning. There's cornbread on the counter for anyone who wants to indulge.

I'll be over in the corner trying to figure out how to type again since I seem to be having trouble getting back into my story. I'm going to really need my Muse today to help me get back into the groove. I saw @sirhugs wander in and find the single malt to add to his coffee.

 

[iwatchus]

I got almost 9K of my winter holiday contest entry written friday afternoon and yesterday. After 11 hours in the car together and then almost dying in a blizzard, he is completely smitten with her and she thinks he's "nice". Love is still on the horizon, stranded together in a cabin in a blizzard.

Now if I could just force myself to crank out the overdue grading like that...

My son and his partner cut their trip to the big city short and came back last night. So much for a quiet, peaceful house to work in. Well it is until someone else gets up.

We are definitely into the fall meh weather here. We'll have maybe half a dozen days between now and new years that aren't gray and dreary. I love this state in many ways, but the weather time of year sucks. And then it gets actually cold. Although we have rarely gone much below zero in recent years.

 

[iwatchus]

One minor victory. My SO forgot to lift the weights for the grandfather clock on Friday, so it stopped yesterday morning. The plan had been to restart it last night, but we remembered 15 minutes too late -- it's a pain to move the clock forward. But I just started it smack on the button of the time it stopped yesterday. I missed hearing it chime yesterday and last night. Maybe the the chimes will motivate my grading.

 

[sirhugs]

One minor victory. My SO forgot to lift the weights for the grandfather clock on Friday, so it stopped yesterday morning. The plan had been to restart it last night, but we remembered 15 minutes too late -- it's a pain to move the clock forward. But I just started it smack on the button of the time it stopped yesterday. I missed hearing it chime yesterday and last night. Maybe the the chimes will motivate my grading.

done my grading... the plot bunnies helped

 

[stickygirl]

One minor victory. My SO forgot to lift the weights for the grandfather clock on Friday, so it stopped yesterday morning. The plan had been to restart it last night, but we remembered 15 minutes too late -- it's a pain to move the clock forward. But I just started it smack on the button of the time it stopped yesterday. I missed hearing it chime yesterday and last night. Maybe the the chimes will motivate my grading.

We went back to GMT last night in the UK so I have to wait 11 hours to be able to stop the clock for an hour to set it to the correct time. Simples. I love analogue

 

[NotWise]

We went back to GMT last night in the UK so I have to wait 11 hours to be able to stop the clock for an hour to set it to the correct time. Simples. I love analogue

We're done with DST on Nov. 1, and most of the clocks we use reset themselves. The exceptions are my truck, one analog clock, and the two timers/clocks on the oven and microwave.

It looks like our first frost will come Wednesday morning. As of this morning, the weather service is predicting a low of 36, and it's likely to frost here when the official low drops below 40F. Short days and cool nights shut down most of the garden plants, but I'll bring in three or four more cucumbers and a ton of green tomatoes before then. The broccolini are supposed to keep going.

Our fall weather is gorgeous, and should stay that way at least 'til mid-November.

@Candy_Kane54, your Lobos thumped Utah State yesterday. They're doing well. They could even be bowl-eligible at the end of the season.

Broncos have a big game against Dallas this afternoon.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Not a good week to be in Jamaica 'Mon.


...NOAA HURRICANE HUNTERS SAMPLING MELISSA... ..*****-THREATENING AND CATASTROPHIC FLASH FLOODING AND LANDSLIDES EXPECTED IN PORTIONS OF JAMAICA AND SOUTHERN HISPANIOLA THROUGH MIDWEEK...

 

[MrPixel]

We're done with DST on Nov. 1, and most of the clocks we use reset themselves. The exceptions are my truck, one analog clock, and the two timers/clocks on the oven and microwave.

It's next weekend? Already? Be it on the record that I don't care for this time of year at all. The fewer sunlight hours, the cold, the wind, the neighbors' leaves, the... ohgawd... snow (though thankfully rare here). I'm a desert summer kind of guy - bring on the 100° sunny days, 8% RH, the gentle breeze that kicks in at 3 p.m., the squee-squee-squee of the swamp cooler. It may not be everybody's cup of tea, but throw a few cubes in the glass and the tea is just fine, thankyouverymuch.

Clocks to reset are the microwave, stove and coffeepot in the kitchen, a 40-year-old LED clock and modern LCD thermometer/clock in the bedroom, one each analog clocks in the living room and bathroom, two analog clocks at the studio, 2 cars and the van, and, finally, the microwave and stove in the guest cottage. Some years I don't touch at least one or two, doing the conversion in my head for the five months on standard time.

Keeping track of the time takes a lot of... uh... time.

 

[NuclearFairy]

The power flickered on Friday, causing me to need to fix the clocks again. I'm just going to pretend that I put it off till today on purpose.

 

[iwatchus]

The power flickered on Friday, causing me to need to fix the clocks again. I'm just going to pretend that I put it off till today on purpose.

I had a car a few years ago that had terrible electrical. (Fun to drive though when it worked). Clock was a pain to reset so I just learned the offset until the next outage. This week is was four hours and seventeen minutes off. Next week, maybe 9 hours 41 minutes. Just added a little mental math to telling time. Drove my SO crazy

 

[NuclearFairy]

My right ear has become a weird echo chamber that makes everything simultaneously painfully loud, and impossible to understand. If it doesn't clear up by the morning I'm going to have to call the doctor.

 

[MrPixel]

I had a car a few years ago that had terrible electrical.

British, perhaps? Lucas, the Prince of Darkness?

 

[iwatchus]

British, perhaps? Lucas, the Prince of Darkness?

It was actually a 1990 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX. Most fun of any car I have even owned. but it was in the shop a lot. More than a classic XKE. I finally gave it to my neighbor. It was supposed to be for his daughter, but dad thought it was so much fun, he gave her his recent Lexus instead.

 

[stickygirl]

My right ear has become a weird echo chamber that makes everything simultaneously painfully loud, and impossible to understand. If it doesn't clear up by the morning I'm going to have to call the doctor.

Could be something simple like wax, but yea - get the doc to have a look.

wrt Time and clocks
My tummy has been confused all day and now I'm looking at the clock thinking I'm a child because it feels like bedtime at 8pm. Do they play clocks in the southern hemisphere I wonder?

 

[sirhugs]

And another week begins... the sort of week where playing bridge is a boost, even though I finished last.

 

[iwatchus]

And another week begins... the sort of week where playing bridge is a boost, even though I finished last.

Savor the good, like playing the game.

 

[Duleigh]

Never in my life would I have believed that I would own a machine that poops. Every time my new printer changes color it poops, and it's kind of rude about it. It just poops where ever it wants. I was not expecting this in the least. Maybe I have to take it for a walk in the evening?



Punkin, my Jeep Duck, and a printer poop.

 

[MrPixel]

Never in my life would I have believed that I would own a machine that poops. Every time my new printer changes color it poops, and it's kind of rude about it. It just poops where ever it wants. I was not expecting this in the least. Maybe I have to take it for a walk in the evening?

Yeah, my printer poops, too, but it has a built-in toilet function ejection chute, so a collection bin keeps the discards contained.

Funny thing... never thought about it until just now... it has a nozzle cleaning feature after each change. That's right, it wipes its own butt after pooping. I'll never be able to watch it work again without laughing.