So yesterday National made life worse for my older son, who is doing a PhD in public policy. Today, it’s my younger son. Fuck these guys, seriously.

Hey Wellington, I'm starting to get the feeling this government doesn't like the way you vote...

He's talking about Labour in England, not NZ, but...

Not only am I watering my garden in May because apparently rain was only a thing in February, but I am now overwatering it because the cat won’t get off my lap.

Having waited an anxious nearly-a-week for the paperwork to come through, and then a couple of extra hours for Bluesky to come back up, I can now officially tell you that I have a new job. Yay, and many, many thanks to the person mostly involved in this.

Can a bluesky plea possibly summon up someone near Christchurch who has a rotary phone gathering dust in their garage? (Wanting to borrow one for a prop for a school play)

So I just found a Bic lighter and someone else's keyring in my letterbox. I... what? (Still nothing like as strange as the day I got up and there were five dead fish neatly arranged by size on my front lawn.)

There were several indications as I went down this list that I was not going to take it seriously, but they saved the "best" til last: Ulysses at #3 and In Search of Lost Time at #5, remarkably high rankings for two books no one has ever read. www.theguardian.com/books/ng-int...

Hey Erica, I dunno if you've noticed, but our babies are moving to Australia in record numbers.

I have just had a great haircut with my wonderful hairdresser (Aimee at Rouge Hair in Linwood) and she said people are bringing in pictures and saying “I want this”, and she has to say “I can’t do that, it’s not real, it’s AI.”

Yesterday I received a letter summarising my last haematology clinic appointment. The Heidi AI scribe appears to have hallucinated a reference to gout, which I neither have, nor mentioned. I've emailed the DHB data quality team asking for a correction. Won't be consenting to Heidi's use in future.

The last couple of weeks have had so many things not go smoothly, and I am so stressed, that I am genuinely avoiding paying the insurance bill that's on my desk in case I fuck that up too.

I was listening to No Such Thing As A Fish today and they were saying there’s a study that shows a correlation between a person’s intelligence and that of their best friend’s mother, which I think bodes very well for both me and @msayana.bsky.social

"this is a political hitjob" and "straight people shouldn't use the word faggot" are two truths that can exist simultaneously, youse can go after the hitjob without excusing the slur

If you are having a hard day just remember there are dogs

*cracks knuckles*

After two days and four phone calls, I have managed to confirm that the last three communications I received from Work and Income were incorrect, I have done nothing wrong, and they have repeatedly fucked up in three different ways. Any of these errors could have cost me my benefit.

Trevor Project released its annual LGBTQ youth mental health report. The results are shocking. 40% of trans youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. Trans youth who wanted hormones but couldn’t access them were nearly twice as likely to attempt suicide than those who could.

Hello, I was at intermediate school when an MP decided it would be a great idea if we all saluted the flag at school every morning and the whole country was all "WTF is wrong with you?!"

Nostalgia bait.

Here’s a sneak peek of some of the amazing LEGO builds you will see during Open Christchurch at Tūranga tomorrow and Sunday. ^DR

You know what's cool about having a Teams job interview at your desk? Having your cat start yowling his head off halfway through, then climb up on the desk and roll all over the keyboard.

So today I had an attempted gynaecological procedure that we knew was going to fail so that we could say it had failed on a referral that might therefore actually get accepted. I am in so much pain.

The Green Party of Aotearoa needs a bit more funding to hit their month goals...and I gotta say it. We DESPERATELY need them to do well this election with everything going on. Consider helping them if you're financially able to??? www.greens.org.nz/donate

Watching the most recent Brokenwood, the plot point that was dependent on jumping off a moving steam train reminded me of discovering, in my 30s, that my mother was an expert at just this. She would jump off the train home from high school as it passed her house to save the walk from the station.

Went for a walk and there were so many pīwakawaka, tauhou, pūkeko and monarchs that I felt like a Disney princess even before I hand-fed one of the horses in the Tiny Pony Paddock.

One change I do like about netball is the thing where if you score in the bisexual-pride-coloured area, it’s worth double points.

I was wondering how many Tova O’Briens he could take. Not many, as it turns out. www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

These are the ducklings. Turns out everyone was in the gardens today

Today was a gorgeous day and we went for a walk in the Gardens. There was a duck with 22 ducklings. WTF, for so many reasons. Then we got rear-ended at a set of traffic lights because we declined to run over a pedestrian.

Cleaned the oven. Cleaned out the treat cupboard. Found some popcorn that expired in 2017.

Third straight day of rain. About to clean the oven out of sheer boredom.

Yeah, I have no interest in a tsunami of butter chicken. A tsunami of rogan josh? I'm going to need a naan the size of Lake Taupō.

Last week, a gentleman returned this rather dilapidated copy of this famous book to us after 50 years. He had found it in his attic! Presumably this means there is a pristine copy somewhere in our libraries....

I love netball. It’s a great game. However. Two things that are really shitting me about it at the moment? Music playing in indoor stadiums during gameplay, and fucking tactical time outs.

The FBI Director, the DC US Attorney, and the Secretary of Defense walk into a bar. Apparently like every day.

Just did my grocery shopping. The only meat at Woolworths Eastgate was chicken. I’d been stressed that mince was $30 a kg, but now there just isn’t any.

“That which yields is not always weak.”

Moir says "embattled"!! TEAM WE HAVE AN "EMBATTLED" IN THE WILD #nzpol

OMG I just realised the Allbirds thing is reverse Shoe Event Horizon.

So yesterday Karl and I were talking about the Crusaders not being able to have their horses any more, and I think I've come up with a very creative solution. Greyhounds. Soon-to-be unemployed greyhounds. You put the opposing team's mascot on the rabbit thing, they chase it and rip it to bits.

*sigh* Hello, apparently today it's my turn to be all, "Yes, I said something political, but it was about Aotearoa/New Zealand, the country where I live, not the US. People exist outside of your country."

Weird how apparently we still believe in trickle down theory when it’s farmers.

Two enormous Polynesian yoofs just went past my house, one on a bike and one walking with a rugby ball, with music absolutely blasting out, and I was getting a bit shitty, and then one of them said, "What a wonderful garden," so they're forgiven.

Spent extra to get liquid antibiotic for Min on the grounds that I might actually be able to get that into him. 1.3 mL of liquid antibiotic goes a long way when your cat pouches and then spits it.

*scribbles notes*

Open the door from the lounge to the hall. A teeny mouse streaks past me into the lounge, closely followed by a currently very stupid-looking cat. Min is now guarding the bookcase.

Good morning Min and I are both covered in cat antibiotic.

The Greens won against Reform *in Kent* It's all up for grabs folks. The myth of Reform's inevitability is just that, a myth. They can be defeated.