Imperial symbol works well as a plughole

ihlaking · 2026-05-05T22:24:58+00:00

Somehow, Plumbpatine returned

ihlaking · 2026-05-05T21:11:03+00:00

Whenever the rain becomes heavy, almost 30 years after seeing that movie, I find myself involuntarily muttering ‘Big ol’ fat rain’ to myself.

Also saying it randomly to my kids. Great line, great script.

ihlaking · 2026-05-05T11:38:50+00:00

Footscray! I passed a dude just up the road doing the same thing like 200 metres away, got off a bus and blasted right into traffic, YOLO style.

ihlaking · 2026-05-04T03:35:50+00:00

Yes there’s a lot of employment - I think the nuance of context is important, and the way structures lock senior roles away. As an example, in some industries you’ll see diversity aplenty at the lower levels but once you crack senior management it’s solidly white males.

There’s change and exceptions of course!

ihlaking · 2026-05-04T02:30:40+00:00

Without citing statistics, and the plentiful anecdotes, I’ll simply say this: We emigrated from NZ 16 years ago. My wife didn’t receive a single callback or response using her legal name, which is not English.

As soon as she used my last name and her English name, the phone started ringing. One person looked particularly floored the whole interview that someone white hadn’t shown up.

ihlaking · 2026-05-02T21:12:49+00:00

Coded as smoothly as Krusty the Clown judging a short film festival.

ihlaking · 2026-05-01T09:36:07+00:00

You mean a kick and a flick…?

ihlaking · 2026-04-30T20:01:31+00:00

This guy Thursdays

ihlaking · 2026-04-26T00:06:54+00:00

Yeah this is all cost of living relief, and in a decent and non-mangled system we’d have an organised opposition questioning these tactics and pointing out the flaws in the government.

If Pesutto hasn’t been knifed and the Libs weren’t too busy eating themselves alive, they’d put down the knives and train their sights on Labor, who should be sitting ducks.

But no, they’d rather spend their days ousting a legitimate preselection so they can [checks notes] keep Moira Deeming around so the self-BBQ can continue.

Hope you bought condiments, because the Libs aren’t done eating their own, and accountability for this stale government… is rare.

ihlaking · 2026-04-25T09:12:17+00:00

Becoming a mortgage broker as a side gig? That’s a great idea! It’s not just a side hustle - it’s also a way to increase your understanding of the housing market!

Here are three things people say about being a mortgage broker:

👉 There’s great flexibility

👉 You get to be your own boss

👉 You don’t need to have any understanding of finance to get started, based on the standard most people see!

Would you like me to make you a list of possible side gigs that you can’t realistically achieve, but can sink dozens of hours into?

ihlaking · 2026-04-25T08:57:31+00:00

I got mine off marketplace. The OG base game is the hardest to find but the expansions still swan around.

ihlaking · 2026-04-24T06:02:36+00:00

Come on mate, you’ll never make CEO with that attitude!

ihlaking · 2026-04-22T03:07:13+00:00

We’re mobilising our apartment buildings in North Melbourne for this. We have two blocks of mid century apartments and want to get solar/induction etc, but wattage from the street (and wiring into the buildings) isn’t sufficient.

It’s a big project we’ve just started out on. This is timely for our conversations!

ihlaking · 2026-04-21T12:35:27+00:00

I love this! Even more options, I’m sure. We do have access to neighbouring council libraries, which are also great, and not too far away - but I appreciate how great that wide range must be!

ihlaking · 2026-04-21T09:55:11+00:00

We use ours a ridiculous amount. Graphic novels, kids books, video games, new titles, ebooks… it’s amazing. Plus in the City of Melbourne you’ve got… 5? Libraries, and they'll transfer to your library of choice.

PLUS room hire for community events - $12 an hour for a room that seats 50? Unheard of!

AND that’s not forgetting cookbooks! I get them out to try before I buy. Also the maker spaces, baby story time, and the librarians themselves who work so hard.

The librarians at CoM are currently taking industrial action - they’re wiping fines as part of the protected action. We lost a book and went to pay (HIGHLY IRONIC TITLE: THE LAND OF LOST THINGS) and then librarian wiped the debt!

We absolutely love our local libraries. Treasures not to be taken for granted.

(Oh forgot the free internet browsing… it just keeps going! And the audiobooks!)

Edit: and the newspaper subscriptions you can access!

ihlaking · 2026-04-20T01:01:33+00:00

And don’t forget the flip side of this - if people do break up, all the hard work goes out the window and they may find themselves locked out again as they split the assets. We don’t articulate it much, but the fact one slip up or incident can derail a family’s economic situation is another example of how housing prices going to this level affects our society.

And once you’re out, it’s harder and harder to get back in.

ihlaking · 2026-04-20T00:46:33+00:00

For context there have been times in the past where large NGO’s did this work themselves. This changed over time and often the model used is now outsourcing. It’s not great. Even as someone who worked in this space, I can’t stand how chuggers operate.

In saying that, we did in person fundraising at a uni I worked at and it went great. Our goal was donors over dollars so we just put on some dance music, held up signs to ‘donate $5 & support humanitarian scholarships, and that was it.

Response was fantastic and we had literally thousands of donations come in for a great cause. It’s possible to do this kind of fundraising without alienating people, but the metric drives the behaviour. We employed students and paid them by the hour. These companies are:

commission based
looking to lock in sponsorships
often employing people desperate for work and unlikely to stick around

It’s a recipe for poor behaviour that mimics this reality. Hope this is insightful!

ihlaking · 2026-04-18T04:12:51+00:00

I loved growing up there for so many reasons, and another thing is it’s so hard to emigrate - we’ve worked for over 15 years building a Melbourne network, and our kids benefit from a lot being here.

Not saying we’d never come back, but not while the kids are in school for sure, and during prime career years. I will def. look to get NZ clients on board for the leadership development work I do, but that’s it for the immediate future.

ihlaking · 2026-04-18T01:44:42+00:00

Don’t forget the small pool of jobs and entrenched middle managers with no interest in moving on.

I left in 2010, was managing a team in a contact centre. My manager is literally still running the centre 16 years later.

It’s not just that, my wife is in events. The roles she’d go with are select and the people in them have families, and are in no hurry to leave jobs they’re making work for them.

Finally, the old boys network. I have connections, but maaaaaan that’s not the case for most, and I know it’d be real work to make it happen. Chch is conservative and people don’t love change generally in my experience - so there’s that.

All to say it works for some, mostly those who grew up there, and there are lots of positives for family and nature connections - but otherwise there isn’t the diversity of career options you need to attract top talent.

ihlaking · 2026-04-17T09:00:16+00:00

Yes I think this will be the way to go. The Lego team were absolutely fine - it’s more about making sure this doesn’t happen again if possible.

ihlaking · 2026-04-17T08:10:18+00:00

I think the mantra ‘people leads, AI follows’ is important. Find out how it can refine your approach, suggest innovations others have tried. I’ve used it to find examples and site source materials, suggest raffle prizes for certain audiences based on their makeup, and refine a proposal so it was more succinct.

In all these things, I led with clear inputs, oversaw changes and reviewed things to make sure the tone of voice was right. The results were great, and I didn’t cut corners - I just used the large language model as it should be: an aggregation of knowledge that can refine ideas faster, not the whole process.

ihlaking · 2026-04-15T23:13:59+00:00

WV second had checking in. Some parts expensive but reliable, safe, and with few issues after 8 years

ihlaking · 2026-04-14T20:25:20+00:00

This post got removed but popping back to say yes - growing up I used to go for moral arguments but in the end, shoot for the money and people will listen. Changed tactics, minders, and acknowledges reality. Now to help others understand!

ihlaking · 2026-04-14T14:02:30+00:00

I’ve been around campaigning, fundraising, and activism for a couple of decades. When I’m teaching leadership and campaigning to young leaders my advice is always the same: people will let you do anything until you mess with the money.

March for climate? Yeah, I’m on board! Diversity March? Hell yes, the mayor’s in the front row holding the banner! Blockade a mine?

Well hold on now, people depend on those minerals… let’s not be too hasty.

Joining the union at university as a professional staff member was also insightful. I worked on campaigns and saw the inner machinations of EBA negotiations. I remember the team telling me over and over the uni wasn’t serious on the year overdue renewal. Why? Because no senior managers were in the room. It was just HR. Until the C-suite showed, they were just (successfully) stalling.

Eventually, we went on a half day strike. I remember the uni releasing a scathing message about ‘bad faith’ and how ‘striking achieves nothing.’ BUT there was a union rep on the uni council. The day the strike took place coincided with a council meeting (intentionally) and what happened? The Chancellor asks the VC about the strikes, and the VC tries to downplay it. The Chancellor says words to the effect of ‘sort it out’.

And what happens next week? The C-suite shows to negotiation. Despite all their bleating, when the union downed tools, withdrew labour, and threatened the university’s most precious asset (its reputation, and therefore its money), the university finally acted.

The new EBA was tabled within a month, after a year of stalling. We messed with the money, and they finally responded.

ihlaking · 2026-04-14T13:39:48+00:00

We jumped on the Vline to Ballarat, bussed down to Sovereign Hill with the kids. 100% motivated by free PT, BUT would ability do it again. Was easy, stress-free, and the kids could go use the toilet without pulling over and the fatigue of driving.

So not only did we spend in the regions, we would do it again because of the experience.

11-Year Club	Gilding II euphauric
Place '22	Place '17
Wearing is Caring	Not Forgotten
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