We have an apartment! After six inspections and 4 applications, we are moving in next Wednesday! I understand that's pretty good for Melbourne. Very grateful to have a home by Christmas. ☃️

We stopped by the park after an open house and encountered this well dressed statue. She is dedicated to the women who cared for the veterans of WW1. The scarf was clearly hand crocheted. Someone put a lot of love into it.

Maybe it's just because it's been a year and a half since I've experienced summer, but 22 degrees feels way hotter than I remember.

Applying for a rental in Australia is psychotic. I swear if this realtor actual calls my previous employer - a research lab on an American military base, they're going to think it's some kind of espionage.

I knew groceries would be cheaper in Australia but WOW they're so much cheaper.

Just sold the 2009 Subaru we bought our first week in NZ. The best car I've ever had! It's been our home base for the past 8 months. I won't miss parking it, but I'll miss the adventures it took us on. The next chapter starts tomorrow with an early flight to Aus ,🛫

I know Aotearoa still has a ways to go when it comes to toxic masculinity, but I want you all to know that the first time I saw a bunch of tradies order mochas it blew my mind. Don't rest on your laurels, but know that you're doing pretty damn well comparatively. Tldr: in the US coffee is gendered.

It’s wild that the tradition of singing anthems before sports matches started with a Wales v NZ rugby match in 1905, as the Welsh wanted to drown out the haka. The haka is a longer and more established tradition than pre-game national anthems. 🤯 No more moaning that the AB’s should stop doing it.

Did the touristy thing and carved some Pounamu. Really freaking proud of it.

Hot cup of coffee in Dunedin (and breakfast on the way) after our aurora all-nighter.

Driving south until we find a gap in the clouds and hopefully #aurora

Finally discovered that my melatonin pills have lactose in them! I go right to sleep and then wake up two hours later with stomach cramps. Are we putting allergens in medication just for funsies? The warning was covered by the dosage sticker 🙃

I've started studying chess recently and it didn't occur to me beforehand that being dyslexic would cause so many problems 🤦🏻 Half my blunders are because I've lost track of which row I'm looking at or I forgot which direction the pieces are moving. Very embarrassing.

This may be my hottest take, but Aussie Bakeoff is better than British Bakeoff 💁🏻

Can't believe it's been almost exactly a year since the US presidential election. I waited for hours that night to cast a vote that didn't change anything. Now here I am, on the other side of the world. It feels like yesterday and a lifetime ago. Life changes fast.

Going out in the cold to see the aurora whilst recovering from COVID has (big shock) hugely aggravated my asthma. I can't figure out what I've done with the inhaler I never need, and it is impossible to get a new one without a prescription from a doctor I don't have.

This picture does the rays a lot more justice. We could see them just with our eyes.

Kiwis get outside and look for auroras ASAP

Seeing aurora with the naked eye in Kakanui right now.

One of my favourite comedians, Brennan Lee Mulligan, was able to move to Los Angeles and jumpstart his career after winning 50 grand on a game show. I think a lot about how many other people would have so much to give to the world if they could just afford it. We are being robbed.

I love spring. Would love to see it sometime. Instead I'm stuck inside with this godawful hayfever cursing anyone who leaves the door open too long and taking more antihistamines than the box suggests.

Property manager insists on leaving the rubbish bin out for tomorrow, despite the gale. My condolences to everyone downwind.

Finally went to the cardboard cathedral today. I've wanted to see it since I was a teenager, but I wasn't expecting to get emotional the way I did. A beautiful symbol of hope at a time when I feel I am rebuilding my own life from the ground up.

the Muppets have been real quiet since the Louvre heist

Absolutely staggered by the size of the protest in my favourite city!

white house has joined bluesky click here to block all official us government accounts instantly bsky.app/profile/did:...

I'm reading about Australian election and political donation laws in preparation for the move. It is blowing my tiny little American mind. Just going down the list and naming a perfectly legal American scandal disallowed by each law. Incredible.

Starting October 14th it will be impossible for anyone with an X passport market to enter or LEAVE the USA. Get out, for the love of God. www.gtlaw-insidebusinessimmigration.com/u-s-customs-...

Anyone else do that thing where you read the Wikipedia page about whatever you're eating? I know a weird amount about the history of NZ biscuit companies.

cry havoc and let slip the frogs of war

My fiancée was accepted to a Master's program in Melbourne, and I'm very proud of her! But this means that by December we'll have moved countries twice in one year 😣. I'm really going to miss NZ. We'll be good to stay in Aus (and out of the US) for at least 5 years though, and it's such a relief.

Every morning I wake up and check in on the decline of the US, and it's always depressing, but today is the most depressing it's been in a long time. I'm very lucky and very glad to be elsewhere, but my heart aches for everyone I left behind.

The country of my birth may not want me, but someone else does. She said yes! Well worth the windy hike to the top of Mount Sunday. It's been a wild ride and I can't imagine weathering the storm with anyone else.

Used the flash on my phone in the bathroom (checking for sore throat) and my girlfriend just saw the light and thought I got raptured 😂

The venn diagram of people who avoid Tylenol when pregnant and people who would rather die than let their autistic child be diagnosed is a circle. This is what we call a confounding variable.

Donald Trump is a fascist.

A listener once asked Hank Green if he could eat moldy salsa if he scooped the mold out of the jar first. Hank said no, because visible mold only happens when there are already mold spores all through the jar. Trump is the US’ visible mold. He appeared because institutions were full of mold already.

The idea that a far right person might kill someone for being too moderate and the moderate position was that slavery was good, 10 year olds should endure forced pregnancy, school shootings are worth it and kids should watch public executions.

From ‘The Onion’ Editorial Board:

If I had the power to radicalize my students, it would be to put their phones away.

There’s a way to be respectful in reporting on Charlie Kirk being shot while also refusing to whitewash who he was and what consequences his political activism has had. Obituaries for public figures are a part of history.

Do your mental health a favor and turn this on for today. You really don't want to watch this. It is awful.

Political violence isn't okay, but I'm not going to waste my empathy on a man who thought it was weakness. He considered school shootings an acceptable price for mass gun ownership. According to him, this was worth it.

Good morning Ōtautahi. I think that's gotta be one of the top 5 sunrises of my whole life. #nz #sunrise

Throwback to that time I tried (and failed) to set up automatic ISO.

Good people of Bluesky, does anyone know of a good (preferably free) alternative to the New York Times mini crossword? My partner loves the mini but they're requiring a subscription now. We won't give the NYT our money on account of all the fascism and transphobia etc. Thanks 🙏🏻

Rock Looked Way Cooler Wet

Is there any kind of lemon law for human bodies? I don't have a warranty but a new part started acting up this morning and it's getting ridiculous. I've been running it on very clean fuel (it accepts nothing less). What recourse do I have? I've tried shouting into the void but it just ignores me.

Editing more photos and missing Lake Taupo today. The morning fog was so magical. I swear I saw Avalon once - an island shrouded in mist rising from the center of the lake before the sun rose. No pictures of that of course. #photography #nz

Quite happy with how this shot from Taranaki turned out. #photography #trees