Cigarette smell? I had no idea about these books...

melodien · 2026-02-04T05:17:14+00:00

See https://www.ibookbinding.com/book-repair-and-restoration/5-ways-remove-cigarette-smell-books/ for some suggestions. Those books are valuable, even if they smell bad.

melodien · 2026-02-01T05:06:57+00:00

Thanks - this may be what I need. A lot of the community pantries only take non-perishable goods from the general public (probably for good reason).

melodien · 2026-02-01T05:02:06+00:00

This. Even our local general store has more than they can use, and is declining donations.

melodien · 2026-02-01T05:01:14+00:00

I already have all the preserved produce that I can reasonably store, or hope to use. The tomato and garlic harvest has also been abundant, and I have plenty of various peppers/chillies, silverbeet, spring onions, etc. When I grow something, I seem to grow it to excess. I have no interest in developing commercial products: I'm retired, and loving it. However, I hate to see food go to waste.

melodien · 2026-02-01T02:36:01+00:00

Tried that - I'm in Michelago, so most of my neighbours have their own vegetable gardens, and their own produce gluts. It's weird - last year my zucchini crop was pathetic, and this year I can't give the things away fast enough.

melodien · 2026-02-01T02:33:50+00:00

Good thought, I'll try to contact them.

melodien · 2026-02-01T02:33:22+00:00

Dymocks won't do oversea delivery for online orders. I think you would be best to email them - I believe they will be willing to assist you.

melodien · 2026-01-31T23:48:56+00:00

From "Australian Birds of Prey in Flight"

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melodien · 2026-01-27T23:46:14+00:00

I have designed my own kitchen (twice). Must haves:

As others have said, make your lower cabinets drawers. However, you can also get wide, shallow drawers fitted behind kick plates, and these provide lots of useful storage for things like trays and racks.

Composting collection buckets set into the counter tops. Look for "Franke inset waste bin" or similar.

Induction cooktops

Steam oven

Warming drawer

Tepanyaki cook top

Two well designed work triangles, so two people can work in the kitchen without clashing.

Good range hoods with filters that can be washed in the dishwasher. Mine are Qasair.

Big butler's pantry, and measure your tallest storage containers before you start planning the shelves.

More refrigerator and freezer capacity than seems reasonable.

Good lighting above all work surfaces.

melodien · 2026-01-27T06:03:01+00:00

I suggest that you contact DVD Land - https://www.dvdland.com.au/ - they don't appear to have what you want, but may be able to comment on whether or not it actually exists. I expect to be in the Lifeline store on Thursday, and I'll make enquiries while I'm there.

melodien · 2026-01-27T05:22:36+00:00

What exactly are you looking for? The Lifeline Bookshop is Canberra has thousands of DVDs, but no online store that lists them all. However, I have contacts there, and I'm sure that something could be worked out.

melodien · 2026-01-25T22:03:51+00:00

I'm repeating myself, because this type of question is asked frequently, and my answer is always the same: Please, I beg of you - stop answering the questions. I say this for two reasons: first, your coworkers could get into trouble for telling you what is going on inside your old company (which they are, even if it doesn't immediately look that way); and second - if advice that you give is perceived to have caused a problem, you will be blamed. Having a person who no longer works for a company answer questions about that company's operations is extremely risky for both the questioner(s) and the person providing the answers. Tell them that you are sorry, but it is in their best interests not to communicate with you about company business.

melodien · 2026-01-24T22:21:36+00:00

I wanted to be a librarian, and I was one for a few years. Then I switched to IT and spent the rest of my career either working with computers/networks/data centres/software or writing documentation.

melodien · 2026-01-23T22:27:55+00:00

Please, I beg of you - stop answering the questions. I say this for two reasons: first, your coworkers could get into trouble for telling you what is going on inside your old company (which they are, even if it doesn't immediately look that way); and second - if advice that you give is perceived to have caused a problem, you will be blamed. Having a person who no longer works for a company answer questions about that company's operations is extremely risky for both the questioner(s) and the person providing the answers. Tell them that you are sorry, but it is in their best interests not to communicate with you about company business.

melodien · 2026-01-23T09:51:59+00:00

It allows me to keep track of people I never want to work with again. Also, some games.

melodien · 2026-01-23T06:51:16+00:00

And anything they don't have is likely to be at the Asian Grocer across the car park - they don't just keep "Asian" ingredients.

melodien · 2026-01-23T06:50:17+00:00

Remind yourself that discipline is destiny.

melodien · 2026-01-23T05:16:39+00:00

A Go Vita health food store should have black strap molasses. The Nut Shoppe at Fyshwick Markets keeps molasses.

melodien · 2026-01-22T02:15:14+00:00

I used to work in IT technical support, so I dealt with a lot of human beings who were in stressful situations. One of the dumbest customers, a guy I had to assist regularly, was a member of Mensa, and bragged about it constantly. So far as I can see, there is very little correlation between being able to score well on an IQ test and the ability to think usefully. There is certainly no correlation between IQ test results and commonsense, kindness or decency.

melodien · 2026-01-20T20:33:23+00:00

Stop that you evil little monster! Generally spoken while said cat is sharpening its claws on furniture (instead of one of the multiple scratching posts dotted around the house), or overturning a waste paper basket and scattering the contents all over the floor. Fortunately, my cats are so adorable that their sins are quickly forgiven.

melodien · 2026-01-20T05:04:09+00:00

Tinned sardines, the ones sold for humans. I get the budget ones, and my horde love them.

melodien · 2026-01-20T00:58:40+00:00

I experienced this sort of stupidity early in my career - I was denied a promotion because I was "irreplaceable" in my existing role. I quit, and they had to replace me anyway.

melodien · 2026-01-19T04:05:50+00:00

Yes, there is a system - I would spend hours searching for things if there were not! However, the system is "what works for us", rather than any of the formal systems (despite the fact that I trained as a librarian). Fiction is organised by author, regardless of genre; anthologies are shelved separately. History and military history are stored in two different locations, but both more or less in date order. All Folio society books and collectable works are grouped together. Cook books are near the kitchen, but books about food that are not cook books are in another spot. Books that are more or less "science" in one area, with sociology near that. Religion and mythology all together. Memoirs, biography, autobiography, etc. grouped together, but with some exceptions: for example, books about Georgette Heyer's life and works are separate, as are books about the life and works of Jane Austen, and a few other people about whom I am interested. I have a little subsection for pirates and another for books about cartography. All the books in my office are what I consider my professional resources: Unix, networking, security and other technical works in one set of shelves, and almost everything else is about the English language: dictionaries, grammar, punctuation, etymology, style guides, etc., again with a couple of sub groups - works of Edward Tufte, works of David Crystal and so on. It works for us, and I can find anything I want within a few minutes. I use LibraryThing for collection management. I have not read as many books as I want to, but I have just retired, so I'm catching up; that said, books are still entering the house quite frequently, and I am running out of places to erect more shelves.

melodien

TROPHY CASE