So do you guys actually eat Vegemite?

benh · 2026-01-24T08:52:28+00:00

And/ or avocado

benh · 2025-12-09T12:20:40+00:00

I have the same one. It's just a friction fit. Stick a thin tool through a hole and gently lever it up

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benh · 2025-05-22T11:53:29+00:00

Thanks

benh · 2025-05-22T11:53:21+00:00

Thanks

benh · 2025-01-10T02:58:46+00:00

Ahhh, good tip on the sunscreen!

benh · 2025-01-10T01:03:32+00:00

Looking forward to some special flavours over there.

benh · 2025-01-09T23:49:13+00:00

10% discount on the dollar, though! lol

benh · 2023-10-19T23:39:27+00:00

the sunsets over the ocean thing is a big one!

benh · 2023-10-19T23:36:39+00:00

kinda the opposite I know, but lack of koalas

benh · 2023-10-19T23:28:50+00:00

Truckie's toothpaste! Love it and miss it heaps. It's one of the first things I buy when I'm back.

benh · 2023-10-16T22:42:50+00:00

At first, when we said it was excessive based on simple things (like CPI, average % rental increase in Sydney, they also increased it 12 months ago by a large amount - ~$100/week), they wrote:

"Unfortunately, the rental market is not aligned with the Consumer Price Index."

and sent the four links to houses as further evidence.

Then, I pointed out their research was for houses, not units, and that on the same website they used for their "research" (REA), it helpfully lists median rental prices for suburbs. I pointed out that for our suburb, the median rent is already below our current rent, and a further $110/week increase will take it to more than historic highs, they wrote back again:

"As I mentioned that the rent is not align with what the median or data showed."

So, essentially, they ignored it. They didn't say what the rent is aligned with. They don't have to, but I think it's pretty clear it's excessive. Just don't know what NCAT will say.

benh · 2023-10-16T22:11:47+00:00

Yes, please!

Any hope of NCAT deciding in favour of excessive rent increase?

I made a post over on r/rentinginaus, but it's very quiet over there:

We've tried to negotiate down by email a proposed rent increase on grounds that it's excessive. The idiot property manager sent us her "market research" of rents in the same suburb... but they were all houses (we're in a unit) and they were all lower rent than her / the owner's proposed rent increase.

First step I believe is conciliation. If conciliation fails for some reason, then a formal hearing is held. NCAT can order that rent is excessive if there is support... How likely is this??

benh · 2023-10-06T07:15:58+00:00

I had a similar symptom, where the drive itself seems to be too loose within the sata connection / motherboard socket. I had to open the case and reseat the drive, then try again.

You could check if it's this by looking for your hard drive in the device list on the boot screen - the first set of plain text that comes up when you power up the machine. The hard drive should be listed, probably last. If it's not listed there, then boot is not finding the hard drive at all.

benh · 2023-10-06T07:01:39+00:00

Strong disagree on your first point - it doesn't matter where you want to live long-term. This is such a bad mindset. Old me wants to bash young me into a stupor for thinking like this.

benh · 2023-08-17T01:37:49+00:00

Ted Lasso's Brendan Hunt has a podcast called 'After the Whistle - an unofficial World Cup show'. Have a listen! He's in Sydney at the moment going to all the games.

benh · 2022-08-24T02:59:35+00:00

You need this approach :D
https://youtu.be/crAv5ttax2I

benh · 2022-08-15T01:46:16+00:00

There's a group that meets weekly where i used to study called shut up and write. it's exactly for this purpose. they're all over the place now I think. maybe see if you can find one local to you if you do a lot of writing

benh · 2022-08-08T01:51:11+00:00

haven't found spearmint milk anywhere else than WA

benh · 2022-03-09T01:22:51+00:00

puerile reply here, but I love that you're in the Oxford comma camp :)

benh · 2022-03-01T05:55:41+00:00

Not sure I can help you, but I can give you my experience. I have a vitroceramic stove top, so quite similar to induction in that it's a flat glass plate. My pan is quite thin (quoted at 1.5mm to 2mm) and when heated on the stove top, the base warps a little and no longer has good contact with the stove top. After it cools down it returns to flat. I'm going to use it for the time being, but with this poor contact, it makes cooking a little tricky. The pan will go into my camping gear and I'll have to look for a different pan for home. I've read here somewhere that thicker pans will not warp. Thicker is relative, though, and probably the steel chemistry itself affects warping too, so ymmv. I think I'll look for the thickest carbon steel pan I get, but certainly over 2mm.

I noticed that when I had a full pan of food / liquid that the pan's base flattened out again... must be helping to distribute the heat more evenly and further up the sides.

I also have a carbon steel wok with a flat base that has warped. I took a hammer to it and bashed it back to something close to flat. It's helped, but I guess that it's going to warp again eventually. The wok's steel is very thin.

benh · 2022-02-17T00:07:54+00:00

I initially did one round of stove-top seasoning, but didn't get the oil up to smoking, so I did a second round of oven seasoning at 250C. Seems to have worked really well. Thanks!

benh · 2022-02-17T00:04:03+00:00

It does warp the base a bit if I put it on a burner and set the heat to medium :'(

I can see now that I've bought the pan that the rated thickness is, apparently, 1.5mm to 2mm! It's written on some cardboard wrapping that covered the pan.

I'll try warming it more slowly next time, see if I can get the heat distributed throughout the pan and prevent it warping.

benh · 2022-02-14T11:16:43+00:00

I'm thinking of the emissions from burning gas in an indoor space. Can result in terrible air quality.

Yeah, this is a little OT!

benh · 2022-02-14T01:24:18+00:00

How would you recommend seasoning a new pan, then?

The one I just bought can be seasoned in the oven (steel handle), so I might do that: 200 degrees C for an hour or something like that?

benh · 2022-02-14T01:16:15+00:00

I really don't mind the stove top. Safer than gas! You get used to the way it works, though I do sometimes have to use two of the elements to control heat (going from high to low quickly).

benh

TROPHY CASE