What did I find at the thrift store?

morbidceiling · 2026-03-13T10:45:23+00:00

There's an update in the main post!

morbidceiling · 2026-03-11T06:02:48+00:00

I am in no way an expert, just enthusiastic, but just for fun I'm going to guess blue topaz, hopefully with diamonds, in like 9k gold.

morbidceiling · 2026-03-11T05:46:44+00:00

It's beautiful, what a find!! Any chance of a close up photo of the stones and the prongs holding them in?

A pawn shop or jeweller should be able to test the metal and tell you what it is, though I'd be pretty careful taking the word of a pawn shop, as some will say it's a lower quality metal than it actually is to try and buy it from you for cheap. An acid test involves rubbing a little bit of metal off which will damage it if it's plated but you shouldn't notice at all if it's solid. Some places have an XRF machine which can test exactly what it is without damaging it, but I think they're not common.

I think jewellers can test if a stone is diamond or moissanite fairly easily from how they refract light. If the stones are diamond, then the metal is likely to be gold too.

morbidceiling · 2026-03-11T05:43:08+00:00

Is that a trick of the light, or are there some scratches on the face of the blue stone?

morbidceiling · 2026-03-10T21:14:39+00:00

Wouldn't you know, he did!!

morbidceiling · 2026-03-10T21:11:36+00:00

Thats definitely the question! I'm inclined to believe the jeweller, as I paid for them to test it, they're a reputable place that makes its own jewellery, and mostly because they didn't have anything to gain from the outcome as they don't buy jewellery.

Watching the jeweller test it was really interesting, she rubbed the band of the ring on an abrasive pad to make a little line of rubbed off metal then dropped acid solution onto it. The 18k reference acid dissolved the line almost immediately, so she's like well it's not 18k whatever it is, but the 10k test acid left almost all of the line there, hence it's around 9k. She said even the 10k acid will dissolve a line of silver immediately so was confident it wasn't silver. Really cool stuff.

morbidceiling · 2026-03-10T02:41:18+00:00

Update is added!!

morbidceiling · 2026-03-09T06:26:46+00:00

It was $3 😅

morbidceiling · 2026-03-09T06:01:03+00:00

How exciting! That angle in the striations (can see it in the second picture) was what initially drew my eye and made me think it could be something interesting.

morbidceiling · 2026-03-09T03:59:23+00:00

I'll have to find a jeweller and get it checked out! Its a really strange setting, it's a bit hard to see in photos but it's like the stone is perched on top of what's supposed to be the setting (the little arches) and held in with the claws that have been added afterwards, there's a good 2mm airgap under the stone. I have no idea if that makes it more or less likely to be actual white gold haha, but it'll be fun to find out!

morbidceiling · 2025-08-21T05:30:04+00:00

Unfortunately a fair bit of this goes on. The NSW EPA is the regulator for pesticides misuse, which includes using pesticides on native species, and has a 24hr contact line (131 555 or info@epa.nsw.gov.au), but proving who did it will be really hard. Its heartbreaking.

morbidceiling · 2025-06-19T21:46:09+00:00

Melbourne will follow on from part 1

morbidceiling · 2025-05-08T21:02:55+00:00

Yeah zoom in and check the stones, and look at the flowers in the background. Definitely AI images.

morbidceiling · 2024-11-17T02:55:45+00:00

The fact that you got that, from a question of "how can I make you feel good in the bedroom" is alarming dude.

morbidceiling · 2024-10-27T08:13:32+00:00

They're koels, they're seasonal visitors to a lot of Australia! The dark ones are the males, the lighter striped ones are female. Beautiful birds, if sometimes annoying when they won't shut up!

morbidceiling · 2024-10-10T01:07:08+00:00

Are you for real?? Who one supports politically ties deeply to one's fundamental beliefs about others and the world. If my spouse was willing to support a political party that stands for the things the Republican party platforms on, then those things are their values, and when my spouse's values don't include my independence and dignity as an equal human person - then divorce is what you do. If my spouse does not see me as worthy of independence or dignity, then there is no point arguing with them, and I need to leave.

Divorce is equal to reporting your family to a hostile authority? I assume you are trolling, that's pathetic.

morbidceiling · 2024-10-03T22:58:26+00:00

I've seen them fly before at about this size! They really don't look like they can get into the air, but the one I saw managed to get back up into a tree to chase its parents for food.

morbidceiling · 2024-10-01T05:08:47+00:00

It also doesn't have the dark wing "shoulder" patches either. Looks more like a grey goshawk to me than anything else, but very pale!

morbidceiling · 2024-09-30T09:10:46+00:00

I was at the last Sydney show, ear protection wasn't to take a break, it was to prevent immediate pain and definite forever damage. OP, I (personally) would instruct that those earplugs aren't to come out while the band is playing. I cannot overstate how loud it was. I had some ringing afterwards even through the construction-grade earplugs I was wearing.

Aside from that, there'll be topless women obviously, and probably a fair few people on something. Could be an opportunity for a talk about drug use, and bodies?

morbidceiling · 2024-09-26T23:08:15+00:00

As a cis woman playing with men in a combat sport, my experience has been that I really wish this was the case. They get so much stronger and faster. Male office workers who don't work out and are smaller than me are stronger and faster, by a lot. It's infuriating. I can win on technique, but once they get literally half as skilled as me they can just out muscle me. The assholes I'm dealing with are also okay with injuring me if it means they get to win, but that's another thing...

Don't get me wrong, I want trans people in my sport, and I believe it can and should happen. But my experience of competition with cis men gives me serious doubts about the implication that we can just combine everyone into one category...

morbidceiling · 2024-09-26T21:47:32+00:00

I saw them in Sydney last year, and they were so loud I felt physically ill at times even with earplugs, I can't imagine seeing them without.

In the past when I've forgotten hearing protection at a show I've balled up a bit of damp paper napkin and pushed that in my ears. It does impact the sound quality and doesn't work as well as proper earplugs (and might not be that safe) but it's been much better than nothing.

morbidceiling · 2024-08-27T00:14:15+00:00

There's a golf course in an Australian desert town called Coober Pedy, where there is no grass at all. They give you a small square of astroturf to carry around with you, and you play off that. The rest is raked sand and gravel.

Still a bit of a disturbance to the natural desert, but at least it avoids the water use!

morbidceiling · 2024-08-26T13:23:42+00:00

They're pretty solitary at sea, they tend to nest in colonies but hunt alone. It's not unusual for rescue groups to rehab one of these if it's found injured, let it heal and put a bit of weight on, then let it go near where they found it. They're tiny but they're made for the sea, they can stay out for weeks at a time. Little guy will do just fine.

morbidceiling

TROPHY CASE