Shane.Blamer's blogspot

Bfast at mr roberTson w/ N Uber driver was an old bloke with an English accent. Red tesla. He demo'd his Grok A.I. assistant for me, Rex The first thing i noticed is that Rex responded to information that we had spoken about shortly before activating Rex. Right off the bat, Rex misunderstood Blamer as "Palmer". Certainly sounded synthetic, like the Spotify DJ (albeit that DJ can't interact). Most noticeably, i found the delay before Rex responded to bed very clunky, awkward, off-putting, annoying 4 PM Le bon ton w/ A • Hurricane (rum-based, fruit juice cocktail)  • Cornbread w/ jalapeño • Loaded fried w/ brisket Slow poke Stomping ground Foragers

Found note: Meet me at 1:30pm or 2pm Optus near cafe 6 AM I've woken up 1 hour too early. My curtains are open, but the sun isn't up yet. There is a lone magpie singing a sad note In the distance, a judgy kookaburra lets out short belly laugh at him My parisian friend T (french-moroccan) has today sent me photos of herself w/ Juan (mexican) who i met in melbourne a very long time ago, 10+ years. They are holidaying in Colombia this week. It was her birthday — which strangely i didn't know. She closed her facebook account years ago. We stay in contact over whatsapp nowadays I feel like i produced a lot of output wfh yesterday w/o taking a break, 9am-6pm. Regardless, i will drive into the office today. Probably i will arrive early & leave work early, since i'm awake this early 8:15 AM Arrived at the work café, Nigel I'm on Day 3 of being back on a daily telfast anti-histamine. Itchy around the face in this morning in the car I tried going without my mo...

3 - 4 AM Wide awake. Perhaps that coffee before bed was a mistake 7:30 AM Two Brothers café bar to meet up with N WORK 9 AM - 6:15 PM No break. I hope what i did is useful, and not just busy work that i wanted: Make it exist, make it good later Evening weights, which took ages ~ 80 min SOLDAT Played some soldat again. Capture The Flag (CTF) which is a few humans vs a few humans. And then Zombie CTF which is a few humans vs endless zombies. Or sometimes me vs zombies  CRADLE OF FILTH Today, i bought Cradle of Filth tickets. They will play at The Forum with Devildriver who i'm unfamiliar with. My mate Sz will come down from canberra to saw the melb show. He'll buy his ticket tomrw he says On this day in history:  Feb 26 • 2018 Was in Melbourne, CBD • 2020 Found a pink spokey-dokie • 2022 Was hiding miniature flamingos in Ivanhoe • 2024 Was building a dollhouse • 2025 Was watching a rainbow lorikeet

7 AM Woke us softly, with the sun lighting the day. I sleep with my bedroom curtains open. It is the nicest, gentlest way to start the day WORK ROUTINE - WFO (Tooronga) My plan is the same every mon/wed/fri this month & from now on: 7:45am jump in the car, 8:15am park at work, sit at a table for food and a coffee at Nigel café & then get to my desk at 9am or a little after. Leave somewhere between 4-6pm WORK ROUTINE - WFH (Home) For tue/thu: 7:30am start walking up to any local café, 8am food and coffee, 8:30am walk back home, 9am login. Lunch break 1hr. Stop work ~5p 8:35 AM (Tooronga) Sat in Nigel café, ordered: coffee, bacon & egg muffin (which wasn't available here on monday) 12:15 PM (Tooronga Shopping Village) Subway 6" for lunch, and a walk around the block 5 PM (Tooronga - Mitcham) Drove home 7 PM (Mitcham) Foragers for 2 pots (Ocean Reach "Nine Lives" WC IPA, Philip Is. ) & then a Mad Pattie's burger. Then back to foragers for a final pot...

Added 2 frogs to the fairy-tree in the bottom of this tree in Stevens Reserve • This is a covid era fairy tree, so the fairies are looking very old • But the frogs are a brand new addition. I am getting rid of some of my trinkets that i have found, been given, or bought on ebay years ago • "Dust collectors" 1 AM Wordle 1,711 6/6 8 AM Saw 2 gang-gangs in Stevens Reserve. Took a short video, but they were way too high up. Very noisy which is what gave away their location I've parked halfway, at the scout hall / tennis court — just for something different, and to speed me up a bit. Steps not needed after yesterday's effort: 10,000+ Central Core Café I couldn't eat my egg at C³, something was tough about the outside. Soft boiled? Poached? Perhaps it was organic or something. It needed more artificial chemicals and pesticides 4 PM I got some +ve feedback from my customer via my account manager: apparently i'm "brilliant" 4 - 5 PM Weights  6 PM Che...

6:30 AM Woke up in Mitcham. Walked home to Vermont Quick showered, then grabbed my backpack — which still had my laptop's in it since Friday night Drove in to the Tooronga office 9 AM Nigel café is under-staffed. I couldn't get the bacon & egg muffin, so i had banana bread instead  Made sure to sit for my dine-in coffee, which tastes better than grabbing a take-away & feels more relaxed — healthier for me to do when i can My last anti-histamine was 3 days ago (thu). I may not need it anymore? I remembered to take my vitamin D  6:30 PM Finished work late & nearly got my car locked in the work carpark  Played some soldat, drunk a beer, ate an oven meat pie  Watched Planet America 10:30 PM Bedtime Total steps: 10,000

Met up with H for a sunday be session (upstairs) Miss Lucy for bfast with N, next to blackburn lake She's had the beef bacon & scramble, which was interesting but maybe. I had the chicken & leek pie which came with salad, and was a sensible amount  It's overcast and a little drizzly, so we thought we may not get much of a walk We walked Blackburn lake  Then we walked Mullum Mullum I drove home & showered, then inverted to Thornbury Local 2:30 PM Meet up with H. Drunk pints of cider 5 - 7 PM N came to meet us up. We watched a bit of a fantastic blues musician, Bill (29 years old, guitarist, singer). Drinks pots of IPA, ate hot chips & battered pickles Then watched Rachel & Harvey play from a table up the back of the room Caught an uber back to Mitcham

Walked from Mitcham to Mr Robertson w/ N for bfast in norklebst (which we call snorkle) ~ 10am Unfortunately i forgot to bring a spare pair of contact lenses (accidentally left them in the jeans pocket of my blue jeans that i last minute decided not to wear out last night). Also didn't have a pair kicking around my car, nor my spectacles  From Mr R i walked myself home, half blind & n walked herself home too 11:30 AM Back home, reunited with my spectacles. I can go collect my car tomrw (Sunday)  Potentially weights later (and soldat). But for now, podcasts, air conditioning, lying like a starfish on my bed, and v likely a snooze We plan to meet up later to go to see my mate Sz from canberra — at where he always decides to meet up with us all, which is Welcome to Thornbury  8 PM Welcome To Thornbury Total steps: 6,800

Morning sun, casting shaped in my dining room 7:45 AM Driving to work 12:30 - 1 PM  Lunch-break in the cafeteria, crumbed chicken & salad Today, being friday, feels fairly unproductive, social —a lot of chit-chat, not much typey-typey Sunny day & not too hot in black jeans ~ 27°C Got a few things done at work in the afternoon  6 PM Meditated. Had a bit of relax  6:30 PM Heading up to Mitcham to meet up with N and have a few quiet beers somewhere 

Pet rabbits at the bar in smith street, Beermash 7:30 AM Drove to rise & grind to meet N for bfast. I've now seen her 7 days in a row i think (potentially a 1st) 4 - 5 PM Weights 6:15 PM Arrived at birmy for trivia, very early 6:30 PM Walked down to Beermash, tap beer on the out-front tables: two cute small rabbits Trivia winners. I got photo with the trivia host, L Shared a parma with A, which was the 1st time i saw her for a while: potato gem crunch parma. And had 2 pints, plus a little of the free jug we won but it wasn't good Afterwards quickly bought 2 tinnies at Beermash, then caught an uber 10 - 10:30 PM Home

Red jewel beetle Woke at 7am, listened to Chaser podcast  8:15 AM Parked at work, sat in Nigel café for a coffee & banana bread  Bought vitamin D tablets in Coles, $28 for 30 pills My only other regular medication is Telfast (anti-histamine) i've been taking 1 daily in the morning — which may not be doing much for me anymore. I've been symptom free, no skin itchiness for weeks 1 PM Nando's for lunch. They said there will be a 15min wait on my avo wrap (medium hot)  My trivia team are currently discussing which messaging app to switch over to: because T will disappear from Facebook Messenger on Apr 15 Suggestions have been: • Signal • WhatsApp • Discord • Matrix (?) 7 - 9:30 PM Few beers at foragers, which makes it 3 nights in a row — probably never find that before (certainly never mon-wed of a working week)  N is pretty stressed & scared about a MS Teams meeting she's been told to expect from her work She saw her GP yesterday & got a medical ...

Redwood café, coffee art. Luna New Year: Horse Sweeping 7/11 views, i was the only customer & now there's 2 grey nomads I've driven to 1 end of bellbird dell (for something different) which gives me some nature without to much of a walk. I don't know if i've ever done that before as a pre-work walk Listened to add podcast interview with Steven Pinker on my walk back to the car: What they know you know (Late Night Live on ABC Radio) 12:30 PM Three meetings done. Two more this afternoon  It's very hot today, 31° heading for a top of 37°C Therefore, no weights until after work & after the cool change arrives (which may be quite late, after dark?) 7:30 PM E.J's chicken & then foragers for 3 pots 10:30 PM Home to bed Bird species: 7 Total steps: 7,000

12:30 PM Short walk around the block at lunch-time. I ate the tofu from the canteen. Noodles, rice, chilli, cucumber. It felt like a healthy meal & quite tasty 4:45 PM Left work a little early 5:30 PM Sandwiches for dinner as soon as i got home 8:20 PM • I just had 2 pots at foragers — because i bought tinnies from downstairs • One of the 3 re-offending crazies was there. She tried to scab a drink from 100% of the people in the bar one at a time. Off the planet. Hobo vibes • I wish they would straight up ban these angry druggy scammer weirdos. Volatile, putting everybody on edge & then getting agro when she doesn't get what she wants Played some soldat Watched planet America Total steps: 5,700

Italian pizza joint in Vermont South, Forno88 N walked my home. I didn't have contacts in 10 AM (Greensborough) Met D for a walk around plenty river. Then found a sri lankan café opposite thr train station in para rd We saw a heron & several gang-gang cockatoos Weights — while listening to a long PEP podcast (Planet Extra Podcast) ~ 3 hrs 20 min 7:15 PM Pizza for dinner. Take-away italiana (with extra buffalo cheese). Drove myself down here Played some soldat 9:45 PM Bedtime Total steps: 13,000

Blackburn Lake, many murrey-river turtles  Kimchi K Pop Benny at 96 Café. They put a my little pony  stencil on to of my magic  Suberb fairy-wrens, male & female  Afternoon nap w/ N in mitcham Rowville gins, i got Kelly holiday'd, cocktails, gin flight, Phili cheese steak Project, hazy ipa (just ok) & stout (pretty good), connect 4 Foragers, i got Kelly holiday'd again, out the back, oc ipa by range Total steps: 9,100

I nearly forgot Jolimont breakfast with Ash & Billy Arrived at 9:05 am, luckily they don't have to rush away to work either Dentist: 15 min, no issues Popped in on L, waited for M&D to day that he was fine with his 5th & final (for now) radiation treatment 1 - 5 PM Hung out with M & D and L at 8vic Natural science Popped out head in at Hit Pot, opposite Sessions (see photo above) China bar, 15 lamb/beef dumplings Sessions, box hill

Woke at 7:15am. N cancelled bfast, i'll go anyway I slept well, mostly. Woke at 3am, some anxiety (thinking about work?) did wordle: 3/6 8 AM (Central Core Café) Magic + smashed avo 1:15 PM (Lunch-break)  Forecast: 17°C

Cotton Harlequin Bug(s) on footpath at Tooronga Did a quick 5 min meditation before going to work 8:45 AM Warm morning. Having my coffee outside at Nigel café next to the office in Tooronga Listening to a high-energy "new" tech podcast, Future Around Find Out, which is discussing A.I. news. It's a rename of the Crafted podcast. Very relaxed, jokey, professional — 2x USA blokes 40+ I feel a bit frazzled, fried. Hoping today's production change is approved, goes to plan & to time 11:20 AM Walking around the block. I'm approved to push my change to production this afternoon. I'm really hoping it goes smoothly. Not on the mood for any stuff ups or unexpected behaviours 32°C Heard then saw a skink, outside the entrance to the shopping centre. Colourful beetles on the path along the river 2 PM A second walk/break. It seems more overcast now. I found a cricket ball, which must bring to st kevin's high school 4:45 PM Let work a little early. My dep...

3:33 AM Wordle 3/6 Work felt difficult: cranky • Bluetooth speaker batteries in my car ran out • Work carpark almost full, parked in a weird spot  • Arrived too late, had to buy coffee as a takeaway • Skipped breakfast, too messy to eat on the run • Pen ran out • Bug reported as a walk-up, wasn't logged in yet • Access to secure system have been granted 9 - 11 AM (At my desk) Went thru my proposed production change with colleague G. I didn't rush, and it seemed logical MORNING STAND-UP - TUE / THU (At my desk) We had stand-up, and i took notes w/ Notepad++ (the old school way) which helped me pay attention to everybody. We've about 8 in the team  Most of what they say is either too technical to gloss over quickly, or too vague for me to really understand what's been done & to be tackled next 11 AM (Break) Early lunch: Nando's wrap w/avo. It made me feel a bit less cranky. Perhaps i was just hangry Walked around the block. Started to feel okay  Put my Bluetooth h...

7 AM (Wake) Got it of bed. Many podcasts listened to last night • PEP first episode of the year, 3h20m • SYSK how colour effects mood 8 AM (Café) Walked to Boronia Rd café via Bellbird Dell Redwoode café raspberry muffin & a magic My 1,500th wordle 1:30 - 3 PM • Vermont LPO to pick up a package: David Jones moisturiser SPF 15+ • Weights: Listened to Charlie Pickering, then Planet America • Meditated for 10 min 5:30 PM Knocked off. Got done what i wanted to today Bird species: 12 Total steps: 6,000

Motorbike track, Maroondah hwy, Vermont south 11:45 AM Finally showered. Walking up to the train station to retrieve my car I've had an instant coffee at home, but nothing nothing eat yet  Drove to the skateboard ramp, next to the recycling centre (many bin chickens) to take photos Got some shots, uploaded the  Tiny Survivor pics My left foot is a little sore at the arch of the foot. I'm wearing thongs. Because it feels warm. There is a fair bit of wind, which is helping with the heat. The weather forecast says 28°C in melb today 4:45 PM Walked up to Mitcham social to meet N. I feel like my first drink may need to be an espresso martini 5:30 PM Ordered an espresso martini via the QR code. XPA. Reisling. Parmigiana. Total steps: 13,000

Coffee and a bagel at Figure 9 in mitcham Walked slowly in the heat at mullum mullum. Got a really good look at a floating, slowly swimming turtle from up on the pier at miller's pond. Then saw a 2nd one so quickly that N missed it 2:15 PM Home to rest/snooze 8 PM I'm on a train to the city. There is a couple taking a zoom call with their friend to discuss hair dye. And a dude playing Spanish guitar. What a circus No uber because there is roadworks on the eastern freeway. Thankfully, only in the city-bound direction: so i should be able to uber myself home 9 PM Farmer's Daughters I'm potentially the only metalhead that has ever come here for a breather between bands They let me taste thru several, including a white Pinot Noir (oxymoron), which tasted like a chardonnay to me — whacky The pinot was funky which i enjoyed. But also looks unfiltered, pet nat, organic, cheapo Ablaze, support variegation vocalist — impressive Elm Street at Cherry bar (third/last) ~...

Stairs near the outside coffee shop at Tooronga 7:50 AM Early start to get a carpark Had 30 min slow coffee in the café near the office 9am-10am canteen with team  10-11am showcase of log file monitoring solution 11am-12:15pm meeting 12:15 - 1:45pm lunch  6:45 PM Local bar crawl with N much like last friday night • Natural Science for 2 beers, ½ lasagna • Sessions for 1 more beer • Foragers ("First Friday") for 2 pots, 1 cider

Central Core Café ("C³") in rooks rd, nunawading 8:15 AM N cancelled, but i drove up here to C³ anyway  Will drop in on Forest Hill Chase (opens at 9am) to buy my "CPR" hair stuff that i use in the shower  1 - 2 PM I did weights at lunchtime 5:45 PM My Robot Friend is vacuuming the floor Today has ended well, i felt productive. There were a few tasks i needed to do on my AC3 laptop, like free up C:\ and upgrade some software — which i managed to do most of after 4pm Some days working for a consulting firm feels like having 2 full time jobs: running 2 laptops for example, and 2 diaries / contact lists / task lists. I don't recommend it Will get zen now (read: 10-min guided meditation, Insight Timer app). Then dinner which will be the tiny steaks i bbq'd last night. Most likely not in bread, because i'm out of bread  And maaaaybe have a  b̶e̶e̶r̶ beer-free day Had a hop hen imperial stout in the back decking Played some soldat: ctf then zombie ...

After work drinks with N at foragers drop Woke up a little late 7:50am I made it to the red supermarket HQ. The B1 carpark was full by 9am. I got a spot on B2 but not where i usually park. I may have to start coming in at 8:30am to avoid the rush 9:20 AM Even the coffee shop is hectic 12:30 PM Chicken lunch at the cafeteria, only 30-min break 5:30 PM Left work, drive home, bbq'd 2-minute steaks Picked up a package from my parcel locker, a black muscle shirt (so i can wear my bin-chicken party shirt without doing up the front buttons) 7:30 PM Foragers I met Hugh the scottish deer hound (and Alex) Range "Bandit" Hazy IPA pots x3 Wednesday is Forager trivia night, so we are out on the back deck away from the microphone — nice night for it 9:30 PM Drove home. Plan breakfast with N tomrw

The lost-and-found stump lives on! Had survived even though the park has been partially blocked off for some months to upgrade the path Jolimont isn't open on a Tuesday, which i remembered only when i had walked halfway Short walk to Terrara Rd instead — where i have taken that same photo of the horizon 140+ times (since 2021) 9 - 6 PM Worked thru, no break. I had 5 meetings. Got a couple of things done. Small steps forwards Weights felt heavy & took ages, 80+ min I listened to HDTGM "Hard Target" and the brand new Darknet Diaries ep170 Had 1 beer in the back porch m porch & are sandwiches for dinner: salami, tomato, cheese, gauc. Then the mosquitoes arrived on dusk Played some soldat CTF Bird species: 10

Don't look down , Tooronga Drove to the office, mandated 3 days/week now Spotted by the manager, which is s good look 2 PM Sushi time My team's hot desks are near the IT Helpdesk, my which means a lot of phone talking for them & a lot of headphone death metal for m 6:40 PM Twenty minute power nap 7 PM  El Jannah chicken wrap in mitcham & Accord the road for Range IPA on tap After 1 pot, N came to meet me. Two more pots and drive home ~ 10pm Watched ep 2 & 3 of Charlie Pickering "The Weekly". He watches they need, so i don't have to. Very impressed his funny it was. Reese Nicholson, Abbey who doesthe sports, Tom from Hard Quiz. I swear either Alister or Andy Matthews must write for this tv show — their voice (on the strongest zingers) is so obvious to me. Genius-level, modern aussie comedy zingers

Walked with my family to this tree in G'borough 10:15 - 11:15 AM Weights Visited my m&d and sister in greensborough We recognised a tree from their home walk calendar (see pic.) 5:30 PM Drove to Mitcham Social for dinner with N Played some soldat & watched some tennis 10 PM Bedtime. Listening to the end of Darknet Diaries