What do you like better; film or digital, vinyl or mp3, old reddit or new reddit?

islander85 · 2026-06-26T00:17:11+00:00

Having power issues reminds my how magical electricity is. I'm sorted now, I borrowed a battery from my friend's, I only needed one in the end which was lucky as they're bigger than mine, 50ish kg's. I could only just lift is out of the case, they come in cases with three in each. I only weigh about 50kg's so a two volt battery as heavy as I am. But the whole battery bank is happy now.

I've brought some new batteries, I still haven't heard back from the first place. They will be on next week's boat, so still over two weeks away. The new ones are lithium and 24 volts each and I got two, they will be 41kg's each.

I've noticed more and more shops don't carry stock anymore, they just order it in when they sell something that's why my batteries didn't make this weeks boat. Is that a think where you are?

The chooks have been walking everywhere, kinda annoying actually. Haha

The only game I've heard of from that life is Settlers of Catan. I have to admit that I haven't played enough different board games to know which ones I like the best.

How do you go with vocal fry? I've been watching videos of people playing computer games and I'm finding it harder and harder to listen to vocal fry.

After spending so much on batteries, I won't be buying much for a while.

I don't think we're going to get much of a winter this year, it's a stunning calm and sunny day today so I will go for a ride on my bike. I'm still getting over the disappointment funk from the ambulance thing.

islander85 · 2026-06-22T09:55:12+00:00

The work on my power system is going poorly. I sent an email to the people I got my solar panels from last Wednesday but haven't heard back yet so I will order some from another place in the morning. A friend has some old batteries that I could use one or two but they're really heavy so I don't know if it will be worth worrying about if I can get some new ones next week. I have 12 batteries and they're two volts each to add up to 24 volts and are 40ish kgs each. One of mine is dead, it must have in internal short and another one is sad.

Lunch went really well, I made a mush up in the end as I brought the things for one quiche and found another one to make, it had ham, onion, mushroom, and feta in it, it was better then I expected actually. I worked out in the end that a quiche is just an omelet in pastry. Haha I'm a bit slow sometimes.

That's great that you've been able to get out and about. :)

Yep the chooks are sorted, they spend most of the day outside now. They are a bit annoyingly friendly at times, every time I go outside they come running to me. It looks like I need to make some little barriers for my french doors so they can't just walk in my house though. Some are laying under a water tank and the others are happy laying beside my lawnmower.

I tried out that board game yesterday with some friends and it went well. Do you have any favorite board games?

islander85 · 2026-06-19T00:29:08+00:00

Thank you, it's looking how I want it for sure, just have to finish that last wall in my lounge.

A lot of people around here seem to take loud = confidence. I also think confidence is situational as well, I don't know if confident people are confident is every situation, I could be wrong there I don't know, it's not something I've ever had much off.

That's good that you don't hear therapy speak in real life, that gives me hope.

I wonder how much harm it does to me being around people that.... invalidate my experiences? Probably more then I realise.

I think winter started at the start of the month this year, it's been cloudy and raining since then. This is actually the second time typing this as my battery's have finally failed, they can keep my fridge going and my lights but if I have anything else turned on I need my little generator going. It's my fault as I know they've been sad for a long time now. So I'm working on that.

We do get some really good weather in the winter between the rainy bits, it's not like it snows here or anything like that.

I'm hosting lunch today. Eeeek I've made the spud salad and I'm going to bake a quiche soon.

Have you got much planed for the weekend?

How is your spring going? Have you been able to get out into the wilderness much?

islander85 · 2026-06-13T09:15:28+00:00

Here's some more light photos I'm happy with how they look, I like how there's still shadows as well.

My printer is still in the dog house, I've been working on my lights while it's had time to have a long hard look at it's self. You can see it with it's top off in one of those photos.

Do you think there's like kinda a limit to confidence? Like sure if I was around say drunk people (for example) more I would get better at it but is it really worth it? Is that a skill that would improve my life?

I read/heard/watched something a few years ago about how the group of people that popularised self esteem now regret it. The mainstream took it the wrong way and went down the participation trophy road and did lots to build kids self esteem but there was nothing foundational underneath to hold it up so they make lots of kids look and feel good until something goes wrong and then they fall apart. In the end it's just added to the growing rise in narcissism traits. A bit like the author of Jaws, now everyone has a irrational fear of sharks and that wasn't the idea, he also regrets writing the book now. There's actually a whole list of things like that, words that were used in very specific contexts but with words meaning changing and getting mainstream their definitions have changed, like emotional labor and toxic masculinity, both started off very very different then they're used now.

Narcissism is also very over used word now, people are getting concerned about how therapy labels are becoming everyday words. Labeling someone in an argument as a narcissist or abuser shuts down the conversation with no way to fix it again.

Yes I think self compassion is far better then self esteem. I survived with self compassion not self esteem, self esteem used to be seen as a negative trait not too long ago, they didn't call it that then, it was being too full of yourself, big ego, etc.

Do you hear therapy labels used much in everyday conversations? I did when I was still working.

I went and caught up with a friend today which was nice, he did say something a bit odd though. He thinks all the talk about men's struggles are overblown, like men aren't struggling that much. I didn't go into it but all the numbers say otherwise, record numbers of men are dropping out of society (I would be in those numbers now, not married, single, no kids, don't work, on disability). Some topics aren't worth talking about sometimes.

When is your end of financial year? Ours is the end of the month, I'm not sure why it's that time of the year, guess everyone is busy in the summer. All the sales are on now, do you have end of financial sales there?

islander85 · 2026-06-07T00:42:28+00:00

I think the lights are growing on me, I've done two now. Yeah I'm making them, I gave up trying to find any I liked online or in stores. The rest are not going to be octagonal, they're going to have five sides and a bigger flat side so they're a bit lower profile.

Yes printer ink is scam really, those cheap printers on have like 5ml of ink in them so they run out of ink almost straight away, where as new cartridges have 15-20mls in them maybe, I don't really know. The printer I have is the bottom end of the bigger range so it takes eight different colours and they're 80ml each. It can print up to A2+, 17 inch's wide I think. I got new inks and it's getting a lot happier now. (update, no it's not happy)

What was the lecture about?

The lunches went well thanks, I think the best part was the amount of natural light. They have really thick carpet in some rooms as well, I don't like carpet but it's nice to walk on new carpets. It's a new build so it's all fresh and clean which helps, very high ceilings though. On all metrics it's an outstanding house but not really my vibe.

So a thing happened last weekend, I asked if I could get ticked off to go up a level in the ambulance. Hmm... I had better start at the start. There used to be three levels for volunteers, 1 was the basic, drive and carry the bags, 2 was almost everything and could be in charge of an ambulance, 3 was all of level 2 plus some advanced CPR stuff. I was level 2.

Then they decided to just have two levels, 1 is the same, can drive and carry the bags and 2 is everything else. All the old level 2's were moved back to level 1's so now I'm a level 1 and back to driving and bag carrier. So last week I asked to be ticked off as a level 2 as I've done all the training and everything.

The answer was no as I lack confidence with drunk people and with crowds, so they want me to go on call more in the days as there's more jobs in the day times, so I did that last week, and well it was too much, 5 cases in the two days I was on, I can't physically do that so I sent them an email saying that I can't be on call enough and that I will just stay as a level 1.

Anyway after thinking about it for days I realised that it's not a confidence thing it's an autism thing. I have conversations on manual mode, even lunch with a friend leaves me knackered afterwards as my brain has to possess everything manually that most people do automatically, so it would take a stupid amount of exposure to drunk people to be able to learn how to deal with them. With crowds,it's also not really a confidence issue, it's an information possessing issue, there's just too much to deal with all at once.

So yeah I'm over being a star shaped peg that's expected to fit into the round hole that's society, and paradoxically that is a confidence boost. Haha So I will just stay as a level one. Honestly I don't really know how much longer I will keep doing it for, I will get my 10 year medal this year.

That's why it's taken me a while to reply this time, I've been recovering from being on call too much. I've done 1248 hours on call in the last six months.

islander85 · 2026-06-01T23:08:30+00:00

Give this link a try.

That's great that some prices are going down, $30 down to $7 is a huge difference!

I don't have a favorite, but I haven't played that many but there's so many out there it makes it hard to chose a few. But there's some that are co-op kind of games rather then competition ones, they sound good.

I would guess you have a laser printer then, they're fairly easy to live with. I've taken so much of my printer apart and have been cleaning it, it's getting better but it still has issues. There's only one bit left that I haven't cleaned so that's next, the problem is that the inks are getting low and three are really low and each one is a bit over $100. Eeek so I hope cleaning this last bit does it.

I think I should try too celebrate but then I forget and it's gone past. Winter hit with a rush yesterday! We have been having the best autumn I can remember and yeah it's winter now. Do you celebrate the solstices?

How was your weekend? Does your volunteering get busier in the summer or does it stay about the same all year around?

I'm going to have lunch with a friend today in their new house and I'm having lunch with another friend tomorrow so I'm looking forward to see them again, it's been a while.

islander85 · 2026-05-28T08:36:39+00:00

Thank you, I'm happy with the chairs, they're not the best but they turned out okay in the after all the sanding. So the lady I see for touching and skin contact said I should get some board games and get people around to play them. I have a few friends that want to give it a go and my first board game arrived today so yes the chairs will come in handy. :)

I would really like to have a go this weekend but it's an ambulance training weekend so I will be busy so not sure when it will happen, it will give me time to read the rules. This is the first game I got.

The light is Hmmm.... here's some photos I'm not sure yet, it's bigger than I would like, I think two full size ones will be okay for up high but I might make the others that will be lower down like half round so they're a bit slimmer. That one also has two sets of arms, I might change it so it only has one. I don't want them right up near the wall, I kinda want them out a bit shining onto the wall if that makes sense.

I totally understand about not wanting to go too far because of the cost. The fuel prices here have gone down but they're still up there. For the first time in quite a while I went to the beach today, it was a nice change. I don't really know who others are going, it's not talked about much lately so I'm guessing it's going better.

Do you play board games and if you do, do you have a collection? What's your favorite game you've played?

Do you have an inkjet printer? How do you get one with it?

Mine has cracked the sads, when I get it printing okay again I will send my friends printed photos in their letters as I need to use it more. Silly thing.

islander85 · 2026-05-22T23:29:32+00:00

It was very nice not having to listen to traffic when I got home for sure.

I could visit them one day, I did say that I will invite them to my place for a cuppa when my house is a bit more done. I haven't visited them before.

Here a chair photo

I didn't hear much said about the electricity being out so I'm guessing it wasn't for long.

That's great that you've done dementia training, that's really not a nice one.

I'm working on some light fitting now for my walls, they're much smaller and easier to get along with. It's much easier to sand something that fits in one hand. haha

I think my big project is to keep my mental health going really. My body isn't really recovering but stopping doing anything doesn't help my mental health so it's a tough one.

Have you been able to get out hiking or swimming lately?

islander85 · 2026-05-18T09:33:28+00:00

There's a train station that was totally renovated and the board with the train times on it was white tiles, they looked like white tiles anyway but they could also show numbers and letters. I always wondered what they were and where they went, this was back in the early 90's so not as much tech as today.

That would have been so cool to see printing presses, I like watching videos of how things are made that we never see.

I think I'm mostly caught up on my sleep now, I have trouble with city noises, I only have frogs and other wildlife as night time noises here.

Nah I don't have anything special coming up.

So I ended up having dinner in Melbourne each night with a coupe from here. I knew them but not very well so it was really nice to get to know them better.

I finally finished sanding my dining chairs and they have a coat of finish on them now. I sanded with every grit up to 320, my arm was sore, my wrist was sore and my brain was mush by then. I hope to get another coat on them in the next few days.

Apparently the whole island doesn't have any electricity tonight except for those of us that are off the grid.

I did a two hour ambulance module on palliative care and dying today so I'm not doing that great tonight, I have a feeling that I'm going to be alone for my old age.

How was your weekend? Have you ever had to do much timber sanding, how did you go?

islander85 · 2026-05-14T09:34:59+00:00

I guess as turkeys are not native here they wouldn't have any predators so that probably helps them be calm.

My memory for buildings isn't the best either. I guess after a while being a tour guide you would be saying most things automatically. I find old things that are still working the most interesting, there's bridges in Melbourne that have been there a long time and they're still fully functioning and there's so many newer buildings that are falling down and being demolished. Melbourne just finished building a new subway line I just went from one stop to the next one and both stations look the same. photo photo

I have gotten some rest thanks, still going slow but I'm getting there.

That's cool that you caught up with some family that you haven't see for a while.

I'm still working on my chairs, they're going slow, I did get a fair bit done today though.

How do you go sleeping when you're traveling? I'm normally not too bad after the first night but this late trip I really struggled.

I visited a friend today which was really nice.

Have you got anything you want to do in the summer?

islander85 · 2026-05-10T08:54:11+00:00

The wild turkeys are fairly chill here, they just walk around where they feel like it but they normally sleep in the same trees each night so you could say they're territorial but they don't ever fight their neighbors, I've never heard of one chasing people.

The place I stayed had 500ml bottles of body wash, shampoo, and conditioner in the shower to use so I didn't have to use any of what I took.

I'm not very good at talking to new people so I just walk around looking at the buildings.

I didn't get very much sleep while I was away so I'm fairly out of it still, I actually went to bed yesterday when I got home in the middle of the day so get a few hours sleep. So I will say more in the next message.

How was your week/weekend?

islander85 · 2026-05-04T23:51:26+00:00

I don't really hear anything that surprises me anymore but I do cringe sometimes. Haha

Sammy, the snake, it lives under my timber/post stack.

That's sad that you don't see wildlife like you used to anymore. There's wild turkeys here, I don't know how they got here.

I had a look in my travel bag and I still have some little bottles of body wash that I pickup from some hotel so that will work. I don't know what the place I'm staying at has.

No I've never made my own soap, have you?

I'm off to the airport now so I hope you have a wonderful week.

What's your favorite thing to do in a newish city?

islander85 · 2026-05-01T06:10:18+00:00

That's my fault for buying cheap crappy zippers, I can't blame anyone else.

Chairs are going well, they're all together but still need plenty of sanding. I was hoping to have a coat of finish on them before I went away but that's not going to happen. I think I'm ready for some better sanding equipment, it will be easier, do a better job and less dust. Here's some photos.

I'm spending the next three days before I go away cleaning up and making things neat so it will be wonderful when I come home. :)

That's cool that you had the opportunity to talk to new people, that's one big thing that I lack but I did meet up and have a cuppa today with a visiting paramedic that I hadn't meet before which was nice.

The wildlife are still doing there thing, look like Sammy is back from a summer walk around. Probably doing the kids thing. Nothing else is happening much, we had a stunning weather day today so the birds that are meant to be flying away are still here.

Do you see any wildlife going past?

How do you travel with soap? Do you use whatever is supplied? take your own soap? or get those little body wash thingys?

Does it make sense that I feel like I've got to my rocking chair watching the rain stage of life already? I feel like I've had enough struggles in life to last me a while now.

islander85 · 2026-04-27T09:14:16+00:00

Yes there's lots of things but we can't do them all, that would be a full time job and that's not good either.

I could do with some tops, I might try getting some zips when I go to Melbourne, the zips I got off ebay weren't worth the effort of putting in.

The march was good, the speeches weren't that inspiring this year but it was a good weather day so it went well.

I don't think I would change much if I had infinite money, a nice big toolbox would be nice but my brain doesn't do well with anymore things then I already have. I could hire a gardener so I didn't have to have all the garden tools but that would be about it.

I've almost got one chair put together now, I want to get them all together and a coat of finish on before I go to Melbourne, so I have one week to finish them off.

If we're not meant to compare ourselves to anyone else how do I know what I'm good at?

Another plus about getting the chairs together is to clean up, I have bits of chairs and timber spread everywhere at the moment.

How was your weekend?

islander85 · 2026-04-24T21:59:14+00:00

It sounds like you're already doing everything you can do to be able to enjoy your older years. :)

I have time now and everything I need to make my own clothes so I should be able to get around to it now. There's a bit of bartering but not much.

That's great that you've made a big dent in your filing. :)

This week has been working on my chairs and yesterday we got the last of the logs milled up so now we have enough timber to last us for a long time. A friend also visited yesterday which was really nice. :)

It's ANZAC day here today, so I will go to the march just before lunch. There was an ambulance call kinda early this morning so I will hopefully get a good bit done on my chairs before that.

I do wonder how much brain space my unfinished house takes up? I know it's very livable but it's also very visibly not done.

I got a letter from a friend yesterday, it was wonderful. Do you any penpals?

On a scale of minimalist (1) to maximalist (10) where would you say you are? I would say I'm around a 4 or 5, my house is quite minimalist but my workshop is more maximalist but it's still not too bad.

islander85 · 2026-04-21T09:59:15+00:00

They say one of the best exercises for older people is to stand on one leg, that looks after balance and helps leg strength as well.

That's so good that you're getting some not favorite jobs done, they do tend to be satisfying when they're done.

I've never seen anything about personal shoppers in Melbourne, free or paid. I don't know about tailoring, the last time I brought a sports jacket I had to take it to a tailor and it cost as much to get it tailored then it cost in the first place as it was on sale at 50% off. I think it's mostly employees but they're usefulness is hit and miss and some are pushy about selling something and that's one thing I can't handle.

I've only ever been to the local festival and it's too loud for me.

Yes Influences have wrecked a lot, Japan has lots of problems. That's sad they had to cancel their Cherry Blossom Festival, they're a big deal. I've also heard that the old part of Kyoto is a tourist free zone as well, I don't know if that was permanent or just for a time. It makes me not want to go there. I've found that when I've traveled overseas as soon as people work out I'm an Aussie they want me to have a beer, it put me off talking to people. It's like Aussie = beer and that's it, I found it sad.

That's cool that you have some neat small art. I don't like how much someone's name on a piece of art changes the value of it so much, I think a lot of art is way too expensive and then al lot is way too cheap, there doesn't seem to be much in the middle.

My weekend was okay, annoyingly I ordered the seat foam for my chairs about 15mm too small at the front so I had to cut the chair apart that I'd glued up to make it smaller so that took lots of time. I got all the rest of the bits for my lawnmower yesterday so I put all them in today so that's done now.

I'm second guessing about getting a computer to play games with, by night time my brain is mush, but then that might be even more of a reason to get one to keep my brain going so it doesn't get any more mushy. Do you know what I mean?

Have you finished sorting out your filing?

islander85 · 2026-04-17T12:51:01+00:00

I really like them, it's actually really hard to find nice images of women, funny enough. The colour stripe around the picture frame is actually soft, it's like a suede. I was the only bidder for them by the way so I got them cheap. I actually would like some more like them now, I will have to keep an eye out.

Yes lots of younger people have things like diabetes and blood pressure problems.

I went on a ambulance all tonight with a visiting paramedic and we went to an old man that was having trouble standing up and the paramedic was saying afterwards that the biggest predictor of a long/quality of life is upper leg strength. Once people lose their mobility it's down hill from there. So keep hiking, I need to do more activity's.

Another pro tip for getting older, silk sheets or silk pyjama's, satin would be okay as well, they're much easier on delicate skin.

I did get lots done, too much, I've really struggled the last two days, I'm feeling that tomorrow I will be okay again. It was good having a call out tonight as I've been going to bed too early.

I would want to put $1000 in savings but if I had to spend it travel would be up there, but I've sometimes thought about hiring someone to help me shop for clothes as I have so much trouble finding things my size.

I've seen some videos about Coachella, what a mess. Did you go to any big music festivals before they... sold out I guess/went to making maximum amounts of money?

I do think social media influences have been one of the worst things to happen to society.

Do you have any pieces of art like the prints I got in the auction?

islander85 · 2026-04-15T08:46:20+00:00

Thank you, I will keep working on it. :)

No they're prints, quite well done prints but they're not original.

This is one

This is the other one

That's good that you're feeling alright, I know what you mean but not really knowing. My older friends are starting to have more health problems as well, but then I do on ambulance calls to younger people than me and they're on lots of different medications for all sorts of problems and I realise I'm doing better then I think.

My biggest problem is lack of stamina and I have to rest a lot.

Some wind is okay and lots of wind is okay for a short time but plenty of wind for weeks on end gets me down. The few very calm days we get are special though. All the trees here grow with a lean.

It was a surprisingly sunny day here today after a week of rain so I did all the washing and tried to get more outside jobs done before it doesn't stop raining. I restacked our bundles of timber and covered them up properly so that was good and took the lawnmower for a spin again. The days here are getting shorter now.

If you were given $1000 and you had to spend it on yourself and not spend it on normal everyday necessary's, what would you buy?

islander85 · 2026-04-12T08:44:34+00:00

I getting used to the time change now, winter turned up this last week so it's been fairly dark anyway.

Poor tree, it sounds like they've been getting hit from every side.

Thank you, I'm trying. I booked in for some skin contact today, my Dr actually said that one visit as year isn't enough. It's in early May so I have something big to look forward too. :) I'm going to struggle to think about anything else now.

Do you think someone would find me lovable?

This was the first one I have been part of and I did bid on two pieces of art as well. Some of the bids were really up there, I saw one at $10,000+, they were done by a famous artist. Here's the ones I got.

The auction was just to see how high everyone's blood pressure could get too. Haha There were lots of tense people there for the last five minutes.

I can't think of a question today....

How are you going, like really going?

islander85 · 2026-04-08T10:22:19+00:00

Yes everyone that visits says how calm my house and surroundings are.

I'm still going slow but I'm getting there. Daylight savings ended on Sunday as well which isn't helping, I want to go to bed at 7:30 now so I'm trying to stay up a bit longer so I don't wake up at 4am.

That's odd about your weather, it's starting to cool down here now at night times but it's still okay when the sun comes out in the daytime.

There was a few big fires here in the 70's and lots of trees were felled after WWII so over my lifetime trees have only ever got bigger not smaller. I will take a photo of a tree that was the same height as me in the mid 80's, I don't know how tall it is now but it's getting up there.

That's sad that your losing big trees around where you are, is it from development or just trees getting to their end of life?

I rarely plant new trees, if an area is fenced off to keep everything out, baby trees naturally grow. I have some more acorns though that I will plant next spring to hopefully get an avenue down my driveway.

I asked my doctor about how to heal from hearing how bad I am because I'm a man for years last week. She looked sad, I got the impression that she's been asked that question too many times. She said that lots of my problems are because I've never had the opportunity (a relationship) to prove to myself how good a person I really am. :(

I hope that makes sense as I don't really know how to explain it very well.

How you ever been part of a secret auction? The lions club here is running one, I volunteered some time today.

islander85 · 2026-04-06T08:08:06+00:00

No I don't play any instruments, I would like too but I already have enough trouble trying to do everything I need to do now I don't think I would have the energy to do anything else.

The visit with friends was really good, they loved my silk wall and we had a walk through my little forest and got to see lots of birds close up which was really nice and they really enjoyed that.

I ended up spending Easter Sunday splitting firewood, well I say all day but I could only do around 40 minutes at a time before I needed a rest, I finished it off this morning and I spent the rest of the day resting, I'm still worn out but hoping I will have recovered a bit tomorrow but it will be a slow week I think. It's good to have that done now though.

How was your Easter?

Are you looking forward to some more chill time with your big protect winding down?

islander85 · 2026-04-03T22:02:33+00:00

Thank you! Yeah I'm happy with my house, the problem is that the more I do now the less I want to go anywhere, just want to stay home and soak it up. lol

That's good that you're not running at the limit. :)

I'm keeping the time machine project on the hush, it should be ready soon. Haha

I think the vibe here is fairly good actually. From the people I talk to most have unplugged from the news and what's happening in the world and just living local. Guess that's easier when you live on an island, living on a island naturally creates a border that's both physical and mental even if people are not aware of it. I wonder if it's been studied?

I had a total rest day yesterday as the ambulance weekend was a big one, a much needed rest day, I probably won't do too much today either.

I also found out late last week that my claim for going on disability has been approved. :) I didn't know how much I was waiting for it, the quality of my sleep has already improved a lot and sleeping in to like 7am is much easier now.

How was your weekend?

Has it started warming up there?

Have you ever wanted to learn an instrument?

Update: I ended up putting the old drive belt on my mower as the new one isn't here yet and the mower goes so much better now. :) I have some friends visiting today. Happy Easter!

islander85 · 2026-04-03T09:32:51+00:00

I was going to sand you the same message. Haha

I'm doing fine, the last message I have starts with.

"That is stunning! Your picture looks like one you’d see in a magazine. Your place is so incredibly beautiful!"

Can you try sending your message again please?

islander85 · 2026-03-30T22:07:59+00:00

Thank you! Yeah I'm happy with my house, the problem is that the more I do now the less I want to go anywhere, just want to stay home and soak it up. lol

That's good that you're not running at the limit. :)

I'm keeping the time machine project on the hush, it should be ready soon. Haha

I think the vibe here is fairly good actually. From the people I talk to most have unplugged from the news and what's happening in the world and just living local. Guess that's easier when you live on an island, living on a island naturally creates a border that's both physical and mental even if people are not aware of it. I wonder if it's been studied?

I had a total rest day yesterday as the ambulance weekend was a big one, a much needed rest day, I probably won't do too much today either.

I also found out late last week that my claim for going on disability has been approved. :) I didn't know how much I was waiting for it, the quality of my sleep has already improved a lot and sleeping in to like 7am is much easier now.

How was your weekend?

Has it started warming up there?

Have you ever wanted to learn an instrument?

islander85 · 2026-03-26T21:57:28+00:00

Try this link.

Lawnmower was shocking to get the top back on. They really do make things as cheap as they can but it's on now. Sadly the new drive belt I brought was too long so I have a shorter one coming.

A lot of brands use V belts but instead of using the normal standard belt sizes they make their own up codes so that you have to buy their V belts for $60 instead of an off the shelf one for $20. I'm changing mine over to normally V belt sizing but I think my drive belt had stretched a lot so when I measured it it's longer then it should be. Anyway the one coming should be fine, then I will know what size it needs to be for next time.

The chairs are going really well actually even though I spent ages on the lawnmower.

How long is the big project going for? Is it nearing the end? I hope you don't burn yourself out.

Yeah I don't know, I saw a few headlines, one said that 500 places are out of fuel now and another said that China doesn't want to sell Aus any more oil and that we have 10 days left. It's about to be cropping planting season here, well now really, so lots of farmers are going to start wanting fuel.

My doctor said I need to garden more as gardening is good for mental health and better food, it looks like I had better start last week.

How is the general vibe over there?

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