You look fine!

It's no secret that I ride into work every day. In fact I pretty much ride everywhere, if I can't get there on my bike, I probably don't want to go. And it's made possible by the fact that the building I work in has some pretty decent showers available. I lock up my bike, climb up to the first floor, have a quick wash, brush my hair and get down to my desk in about 10 minutes. As long as I'm clean and tidy no one gives a toss what I look like. Sometimes my shower takes 15-20 if it's cold and I want to stand in the warm water. My hair dries in the first half hour of the day, and I tie it up when I get sick of it getting in my eyes.

Learning to code (encourages you to do ugly things)

 The upside to learning to code is that you get to learn a new thing.

The downside to learning to code is that it actively encourages you to make things really ugly, just to prove you can. Like putting backgrounds on text. Or changing the font size and colour.

This thing I've created isn't really ugly, but it's a thing, I did it, using code, not using any WYSIWYG (What you see if what you get) editor.

Yay for me!

Every day should be like Wednesday was

I took Wednesday off work to celebrate my partner breaking in to a new decade. Congrats, now you're properly grown up! Here's a rough rundown of the day.

I got up when my body told me to. Screw you alarm clock!

Mike made me a coffee, and we sat outside enjoying the almost-but-not-quite sunshine. I poked a couple of plants and checked on my chickens. Blyss (aka Monster-cat) didn't get tangled in her leash for once.

Excellent work moments

It's the little things that make the day brilliant.

Email from me:

HI Jeff,

This request is (mostly) complete.

There is a slight snag with the Learning Materials – I’ve removed the link on the A-Z and replaced it with a new one, but I can’t find where the file was originally uploaded. There were links to it on the main A-Z but there seems to be another original version floating around somewhere. For now the A-Z has the new version, and I’ll get Ian to help me find the old version on Monday.

Disclaimer: No animals were harmed in the completing of this publishing request.

'Small' deaths are scarier than the big ones

"Daniels notes that contemporary examples of the defense of white womanhood look horribly similar to the murder of Rubin Stacy [In 1935]. She points to the 2013 shooting of Jonathan Ferrell in Charlotte, North Carolina as an example. After crashing his car, Ferrell extricated himself, and knocked on the door of the first house he came upon, to ask for help—as any of us might do in such a situation. “A white woman, thinking it was her husband knocking, answered,” Daniels writes. “When she saw Ferrell she shut the door, hit her alarm and called the police. Ferrell, who was unarmed, was shot ten times by a Charlotte police officer.”

- Chloe Angyal

Another shooting massacre has happened in America and the internet is filled with opinions. Most of them are (thankfully) rational discussions on how these occurrences can be stopped. They touch on racism, feminism, mental health and legal powers. Terrifyingly, these reports don't shock me.

Afford Anything's 1% Challenge

Hi, I'm Scrooge McDuck,

And since I'm thiiiiiis close to not being able to pay my bills this month, I'm also starting to really resent being called that.

I don't understand this philosophy where having a diversified portfolio of shoes and dresses you never wear is okay, but saving money for stocks, bonds, a new hot water system and knowing that I don't have to panic if my contract isn't renewed is not okay.

Personal Finance Blogs that made me crazy

Whenever the topic of personal finance and my savings come up I generally get a few sideways glances, and get told I'm a little crazy. The spreadsheet I use to track my savings and account balances is jokingly referred to as my 'Scrooge McDuck' spreadsheet. But I didn't get crazy on my own, I had a little help from some (internet-famous) bloggers.

Long Weekend, Freedom, and all the games you can squeeze into eight hours

Hey hey! I've had three weeks off the pressure of blogging. At first it was great, then I started to get this creepy sick guilty feeling. Like I was blowing off work, or avoiding visiting grandparents. You know it feels good when you do it, but it's also sort of inconvenient, and there's better things to do, and look puppies! I kind of got myself into a rut where I felt like my first blog back was going to have to be an apology for being away for three weeks. Then I realised that it's my life, and if I don't live it my blog will get really boring.

Tuesday Reviewsday... or not!

I confess, I'm quitting. Kind of. I'm very proud of myself for blogging weekly for a month, and then twice a week for three month, but I can't keep it up. I'm a little ashamed of some of the half arsed effort that I've been putting up in the last month-ish. Since Roller Derby started up again in January I've been feeling a little overwhelmed. I work 8:30-5:00 Monday to Friday, head out to roller derby training Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday for a total of 8 hours a week, cook, clean, half-assedly renovate my house and sleep. With this blog I've been sacrificing Monday nights and Thursday nights to writing. Maybe sacrifice is a little melodramatic since I do enjoy writing it.

Tuesday Reviewsday: Small World

Players: 2+  
Playtime: 45minutes+
Replay Value: 10/10

Small World (released in 2009) is a brilliant example of a game that has been play-tested, balanced, re-tested, re-balanced, critiqued, and trialed, then put on a shelf for six months before being play-tested again with fresh eyes. There may be overpowered combinations, and 'weaker' combinations, but after just one play through you'll learn to lynch whoever is winning at the time as you fight to control most of the Small World.

The plot of every fantasy book you have ever read (a how-to guide)

Image Source

1. Pick a protagonist, orphans are popular. If your protagonist has both parents, then one of the parents has to be a bit of a jerk. Make your protagonist an outcast. Alternatively, give them a happy family and lots of friends. Then kill them off so you have a quest for revenge.

2. Travel alone for a while. Or be alone and friendless in a crowded place, generally a castle. For older protagonists, hint at a tortured past.

Tuesday Reviewsday: Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot

Players: 3+  
Playtime: 30minutes+
Replay Value: 2/10

Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot, released in 2002 and followed by a plethora of expansions, is a terrible game. Someone forgot to play test this, and the rules were written at 4am after too many shots of laced-coffee. The jokes barely raise a chuckle, and the game play is too messy to allow glorious 'Take that!' moments.

Save Your Vagina! Down Under

A couple of weeks ago I gave all the homosexual men a pass on reading my blog when I wrote "Save your vagina" - a post about menstrual cups. If you're a man and only interested in other men, then you don't need to know about this, nobody else has an excuse. Stop being grossed out and get familiar with your bodies!

When I wrote a couple of weeks ago, I was talking specifically about Mooncups -  the brand I know and love. However I know a lot of people like to support local, and the Mooncup is from the UK. Introducing Juju cup! The down-under, locally sourced, Australian solution to all your monthly woes.

Tuesday Reviewsday: Zombie Dice

Players: 2+  
Playtime: 5-10 minutes

Replay Value: 5/10 

Zombie Dice (another Steve Jackson game) is a quick and simple dice rolling game that is great for getting you in the gaming mood. You play as zombies. Hungry zombies. Each dice rolls dictates whether you collect brains for your winter stash, the humans run away, or you get shot.

At the start of your turn, you pull 3 dice out of the container and roll them. Each brain is worth one point. Footprints mean the person has run away. The shotgun blast is, well, as shot in the head. Don't worry you are a super zombie and can handle getting shot twice times, but the third time puts you on the ground.

Five click bait titles that need to stop happening. And you won't believe why!

Because it's fucking annoying. *end post*

But seriously, it needs to stop. Whatever happened to meaningful headings? I don't mind if they are sensationalist attention grabbing headings, but they need to tell me what is happening. It's not that hard, I could have titled this post "Why I hate clickbait" or simply "clickbait" but A. my friend Shigy beat me to that one (damn you, I've been sitting on this idea for a month) and B. I think I finally hit on some solid irony. Or satire. Or sarcasm. For a writer I'm really bad at defining those terms.

Tuesday Reviewsday: Munchkin

Players: 3+  
Playtime: 45minutes+

Replay Value: 10/10

Munchkin is a role-playing card game based on old-fashion dungeon crawlers which makes it sound complicated and boring. However Munchkin strips away the tedious character creation, grumpy dungeon master and in-depth creation of a big complicated fantasy world, and just leaves you with good ol' fashion monster squishing, back stabbing and hilariously illustrated shenanigans.

Save your vagina!

While it's not Tuesday, I want to review something. As a female, I statistically spend 25% of my time walking around with my knees clenched together because it's That Time of the Month. At my age I also need to think about contraception, and I chose the Implanon implant, because I'm forgetful. It's a small implant embedded under the skin of your inner arm. After the first week my arm had recovered from the implant, and now you can feel the rod under the skin but otherwise it doesn't effect my arm movement, or hurt if you press on it. However, reading the side of the box is pretty off-putting because the possible side effects of Implanon are listed as:

• Mood swings
• Weight gain
• Headache
• Depressed mood
• Headache
• Vaginitis (inflammation of the vagina)
• Weight gain
• Acne
• Breast pain
• Viral infections such as sore throats or flu-like symptoms
• Stomach pain
• Painful periods
• Mood swings, nervousness, or depressed mood
• Back pain
• Nausea
• Dizziness
• Pain
• Pain at the site of insertion

Let's be honest, I have had most of these although I haven't gained any weight or suffered any (more) Acne. I'm on to my third Implanon implant (each on lasts three years) and because I'm so forgetful I would never switch to the pill, or a monthly injection (which has been shown to weaken your bones).

Tuesday Reviewsday: Games library

So for the last couple of months I've managed to stick to the schedule and review one board game a week. I'm a little chuffed with myself for managing this level of committee, but I'm starting to run out. Not all the way out, here's my games library, reviewed and to-be-reviewed:

• Pandemic - Base game (done) On the Brink expansion (done) and In the Lab expansion (coming soon)
• Lords of Waterdeep - Base game (done) and Scoundrels of Skullport expansion (done)
• Betrayal at House on the Hill (done)
• Takenoko (done)
• Star Fluxx (done)

Tuesday Reviewsday: Star Fluxx

Players: 2+ 
Playtime: 5-45minute

Replay Value: 10/10

Star Fluxx was released in 2011. There are currently 16 different versions of Fluxx, including the original, Cthulhu Fluxx and Stoner Fluxx, however, we opted to purchase Star Fluxx. This game is stupid fun. I mean those together and separately, it's stupid, it's fun, it's stupid fun. The rules are quite simple, you deal each player three cards. First player is decided by whoever says "I'm going first" and draws a card. Then they play a card. Then the next player draws one, and plays one. Super duper simple. In fact those are the only rules that exist when you start the game.

Happy Birthday Dad

Caught looking grumpy after a day at
White Water World without sunscreen.

Thanks for that last trip to Queensland. I'm so glad I got to spend five days with you for my birthday. Thanks for going on the kiddy roller coaster with me, and admitting it was the best one in the park, even if we barely squeezed into the seats. Thanks for tolerating me stubbornly insisting we don't eat any junk food. Except in Theme Parks, where it's $10 hotdogs or $50 sit-down three course meals. What's up with that anyway?

Thank you for teaching me to drive. And for not laughing at me too much as you did.

Thanks for never taking over any project I was doing, no matter how badly I was screwing it up. Thanks for helping me fix everything after. You taught me that asking for help isn't a problem, if you tried your hardest first. You showed me that I can do anything, but I'm going to screw it up a few times first.