@david@theblower.au
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david

@david@theblower.au

IT geek of many trades, hobby Blacksmith, cook and photographer hailing from the southern end of Queensland (Australia)
Beware, I am a fully qualified Dad Joke practitioner.

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david, to food
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Breakfast of champions. Dutch Apple Fritters (as my Grandma called them, Appelflappen), with vanilla fudge ice cream.

david, to random
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Went for a short walk up to our creek before it gets unbearable outside. There’s a tiny flow of water from the recent rains. Not enough to wash the palm fronds away, but I’m sure the local wildlife will appreciate it.

https://youtu.be/JKsYeJTfd4c

david, to random
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I found somewhere that sells modern day Liquamen (clear Garam) in Australia, and have therefore ordered some, because I'm not going to try fermenting fish in my backyard anytime soon. (Colotura di Alici in case you're wondering what the modern equivalent is called).

I guess I should dig up my copy of Apicius at some point. ;-)

david, to random
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I can now reveal that on Thursday, I had my team at work attempting to make Origami Humpback Whales. I even recruited someone from another team too.

It turns out that no-one, including our token Japanese member could manage to make a decent whale.

Having said that, I did pick a particular impressive looking piece to attempt, but it was to go with the birthday present for @leadegroot

If you want to have a crack at one, here's the link to the instructions we were using:

https://www.scribd.com/document/689237795/Michael-G-LaFosse-Humpback-Whale

david,
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@leadegroot this was the best I managed.

david, to food
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Pudding came out well. Very delicious. Fruit didn’t stink either.

david, to random
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It's 98% humidity outside, approx 23ºC and my fire alarm keeps going off because it's TOO HUMID.

Time to close up and put the A/C on Dry I guess.

david, to food
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It’s that time of year again where I make my Grandmother’s Veal Croquettes (this is a two day thing, so starting today in order to eat tomorrow).

https://degroot.id.au/recipes/veal-or-chicken-croquettes/

david, to random
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We had a hail storm! 3-4cm hail.

Hail bouncing off our roof and collecting on the ground.

david, to random
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One of my work colleagues has started a Christmas Song Playlist on their computer and then wandered across campus to attend to a job.

I’m now at the point of considering shutting down the PC.

david, to random
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Apparently the microwaves at work are very untrustworthy.

timrichards, to random
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As a fun Sunday activity, @NarrelleMHarris and I got our sixth COVID vaccination yesterday (this was the new Pfizer XBB.1.5 dose for the current variants). Couldn't point at the band-aid this time, as I needed both hands to count!

david,
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@timrichards @NarrelleMHarris oh is the 2nd booster for 2023 approved for general population now?

david, to food
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Tonight I made Carbonara, based on Luciano Monosilio’s recipe, since I managed to find some guanciale locally.

My plating still needs a fair bit of work.

frogglin, to random
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Another glimpse into my daily work here.

Someone is complaining, a lot, on every post, that she can't pick her kids up from school because she bought a new car and there's no cupholders in the back seat.

Now, I'm not a parent so perhaps I don't know all the details here of raising kids, but do children require cup holders to sustain life?

david,
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@frogglin not that I recall

timrichards, to DoctorWho
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Who here has been watching the new Doctor Who episodes on Disney? Haven't seen much DW chat here on Mastodon. (BTW they're very good!)

david,
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@timrichards well the 2nd two were fairly good. The first was predictable.

david, to random
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Tonight I made pasta all'amitriciano for dinner (well, an approximation of it, as I couldn't get guanciale and had to substitute speck instead).

It was still delicious, but no photos since my presentation was lacking.

david, to random
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I saw this in the deli and was intrigued, but not enough to buy it. Anyone had this before? What do you use it for?

david, to Bread
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A bit short, but smells great. Plain loaf with edible lavender.

david, to TodayILearned
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Today, I had students in the forge (well, ok, I didn't put the students in the forge, but you know what I mean; and the students were adults from work).
Anyway, this was the first time I've had a group (3 people) here to learn the basics of blacksmithing.

Things I learned:

125mm of 12mm square bar (mild steel) is too big for absolute beginners (even if it was mild steel).

Three people is a bit too many for a session. Two students would work well.

Smith & Striker is soooo much more efficient than forging on your own. (I acted as striker to help the students get through the work).

Also, the forge weld on the face of my wrought iron hammer, was not as good as I first thought, with the face coming off today :(

I also had a hammer handle give out on another hammer. (no one was injured).

#blacksmith #teaching

david, to random
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Email from eBay:

"It's been more than a year since you last updated your personal info.
Keeping your personal info up to date can help better protect your account."

Ummm... how many people change their "personal info" on a yearly basis? wtf eBay?

david, to food
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Small (6 inch) pizza for lunch.

david, to random
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Ah, we have got to the part of the week where I go "wtf am I going to cook for dinner?"

david, to random
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After all the rain in the last couple of days, there's an explosion of frogs outside tonight.

timrichards, to workersrights
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It's probably easier to do this as a freelancer, but I draw a line at working outside my usual set hours. I don't look at email at all over the weekend, and I have notifications turned off on my apps. If something is incredibly urgent people can ring me, and I'll deal with it, but I'm not dancing to the tune of their emails in my spare time.

Work has conquered every day of the week. How do we remain human in a world that worships toil?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/20/work-has-conquered-every-day-of-the-week-how-do-we-remain-human-in-a-world-that-worships-toil?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

david,
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@timrichards I have a separate work phone. It gets put down at the end of the work day, and on weekends, and not looked at again until the next work day.

I don’t have work emails or messaging on my personal phone, or on my personal login on my laptop (separate work login).

:)

david, to random
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We're rolling out new monitors at work (Dell C2722DE in case you want the specifics), and they come in 99% cardboard packaging (there's a tiny bit of foam to protect the lcd panel). The cardboard though, is a complex origami of interlocking parts and an absolute pain to break down flat. (we break them down as flat as possible to fit as many in the cardboard recycling skips as possible).

So this morning, I knocked out a small pry-bar to assist with undoing the various cardboard clips. I ran out of gas before I could straighten it, but this is a proof of concept and will work fine even if both ends don't align perfectly.

#blacksmith #metalwork

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