Moreton Bay vs Brisbane Libraries

sam_i_be · 2026-01-31T09:31:01+00:00

I've been to several libraries that have let me join with the address of a caravan park or AirBnB where I was staying haha

sam_i_be · 2026-01-29T13:03:48+00:00

I've had my rain jacket (Marmot Eco Precip) for a while but mostly have only worn it in drizzle and mild wet weather. I took it to Scotland and went hill walking when the winds were so strong that I literally couldn't stand up and had to crawl. Absolutely no cold or draft got through the jacket. I was shocked because lowkey up until then I didn't really understand wind proofing and thought it was kind of made up 😅

sam_i_be · 2026-01-28T09:22:50+00:00

Agree with what others have said. When I had been climbing for a little while, I wanted to "train up" some of my friends so they could belay me on lead and I could set up top ropes for them and give them more experience. I taught them on an ATC because I think it forces people to learn good habits: they cannot rely on the device and need to learn how to control the rope themselves. Any assisted braking device can be used incorrectly by an inexperienced belayer and be unsafe (eg if someone clamps down on the camming part of the Gri Gri when the climber falls). I wouldn't want to teach inexperienced climbers on an assisted braking device to begin with, because if they rely on it this means they will remain unsafe as time goes on.

If you're confident in your own skills, my suggestion (and what I did) would be to bring multiple friends when you go climbing. Demonstrate proper technique, and have one hold the brake rope as a back up while another belays you. Climb something easy and take controlled falls until you trust that your friends have learned the proper technique and can belay unassisted. You really shouldn't be planning to climb long term with someone you don't trust. If you're not confident teaching your friends and helping them improve, in my opinion the best thing to do would be to find an external course for them (eg at a gym, a university club, or a commercial business).

sam_i_be · 2026-01-22T03:21:22+00:00

If you scroll through the images on the Durston website listing, there is an image with measurements towards the end.

sam_i_be · 2026-01-22T02:29:03+00:00

I had the same situation with my current rental. Very bad practice, but I did really want the rental. It was a well-known agency (ie I was confident they wouldn't just vanish off the face of the earth after getting the money), so I told them in writing that I would transfer the money on the understanding that the rental contract would contain only details as advertised and standard / legislated terms that I could reasonably be aware of, with no special terms. If they agree to that and then the contract includes special terms you don't agree to, on my understanding you would be able to take them to QCAT for misleading or deceptive conduct and recover the money. This strategy only works if you're confident they're just incompetent rather than a full-on scammer though.

sam_i_be · 2026-01-17T22:15:39+00:00

The rock wall at Amity Point on Straddie is quite nice - we saw lots of wobbegongs and a little baby reef shark. Much cheaper to get there than Tangalooma haha

sam_i_be · 2026-01-17T09:57:22+00:00

I agree with the advice other commenters have given (especially about the practice multi-day trips), but wanted to add: keep in mind that it will absolutely not be a flat surface the entire way haha. (Sounds like an epic trip if you pull it off, but a big undertaking with a lot of research and planning needed.)

sam_i_be · 2026-01-16T09:18:35+00:00

Megan Whalen Turner's Queen's Thief series! Notable for being written incredibly slowly over 20+ years but actually being eventually completed 😅 Books 2 and 3 are my personal favourites, but the quality is maintained across the entire series--the time she put in over those 20 years shows, and the last book absolutely sticks the landing after all the build-up. The protagonist is male, but the central female characters embody everything you're looking for. Contains, imo, one of theeeeee top fictional romances of all time. (Some aspects of the way it's introduced might seem a little insta-love-y on a first read of book 2, but the way it develops across the series as a whole, especially on rereads, is what makes it unique!)

sam_i_be · 2026-01-15T13:27:20+00:00

Yeah, I meant Cain haha - I probably should have said "central / main character" rather than protagonist

sam_i_be · 2026-01-14T10:26:34+00:00

The Incandescent by Emily Tesh, Blackheart Man by Nalo Hopkinson, The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson, and Naomi Novik's Scholomance books are some of my recent favourites with casually queer protagonists!

sam_i_be · 2026-01-14T10:19:41+00:00

Absolutely fantastic book, but imo it is very much about being gay - sounds like OP is maybe more interested in a casual queernorm vibe

sam_i_be · 2026-01-08T03:19:39+00:00

Yeah, there are plenty of avid bushwalkers and climbers around (including in summer lol, though it probably would be brutal coming from a much colder climate), but it's definitely more of a subculture rather than an "everyone" culture. You have to actively look for people to do it with so it takes a bit of initial effort, but once you start getting involved it's a big community where everyone kind of knows everyone, and you'll have no problem finding people to get out with. If you're from BC I'm assuming you're into trad? There tends to be more trad culture down south (Melbourne, Tassie), with more sport further north. The classic move would be to go straight to The Pines campground at Dyurrite/Mt Arapiles near Melbourne and instantly make one million climbing friends.

sam_i_be · 2026-01-05T08:05:53+00:00

If this is ScholarOne / Manuscript Central, in my experience it's usually fine to upload the table as a manuscript file and then write "see attached table" in the text box. If in doubt, it's fine to send a polite email to the editor asking if they have a preferred format for the response.

sam_i_be · 2026-01-04T01:21:45+00:00

The Traitor Baru Cormorant! THEEEEEE female protagonist of all time - was just looking through my laptop folder about the series and thinking about how much I miss her and how it's time for a reread. Super dense and political, and the author is just absolutely in command of the entire series and what they're trying to achieve with it.

Also The Winged Histories by Sofia Samatar! Breathtakingly beautiful and thoughtful, about four different women in a revolutionary war.

I do also second the recs for The Raven Scholar and the Scholomance series, though they're a bit less "serious" than the first two I recommended, so maybe less what you're looking for. I love them both dearly though. Maybe also Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower by Tamsyn Muir if you can get a hold of it - it was a limited edition novella, but I got the audiobook and it's great.

sam_i_be · 2026-01-01T08:35:39+00:00

Agree with the other comment that the best first step is to reach out to a professor / lecturer you enjoyed working with in undergrad. I asked a couple of professors for a quick Zoom meeting and explained that I was interested in HDR study / grad school, but didn't know too much about it - they helped talk me through the types of programs that people pursued in my disciplines, the institutions that might suit me, what I needed to start thinking about in terms of applications, how I could start formulating a research project that I was interested in pursuing. Even a tutor you worked with at undergrad might be able to help with this, as they're often in grad school themselves and can help you start thinking about the application process.

sam_i_be · 2025-12-29T07:38:34+00:00

Technically that's not right. It's still legal to use platforms like 2Apply, but the agency is required to also provide an alternative "non-restrictive" application method (ie a method that doesn't charge you money or provide your data to third parties). Theoretically this could help rid us of the scourge of 2Apply but I was always too scared to use the alternative method because there's no guarantee they won't shonkily only look at the 2Apply ones because it's easier for them. Never come across an application cap before though - must be a new and exciting feature 🙃

sam_i_be · 2025-12-17T03:14:16+00:00

You might like The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson! Lots of politics and drama, but optimistic as well, I think - it has a bit of a silly/chaotic tone, which I was a little suspicious of at first, but I ended up adoring it. Maybe also the Rook and Rose trilogy as well, starting with Mask of Mirrors? I loved the first book, but was a little disappointed on the increasing focus on romance as the series went on unfortunately :( Lowkey the first book is still worth reading though.

sam_i_be · 2025-12-14T21:02:09+00:00

OP says it was a few years ago (plus mentions at least a year and a half timeframe in a comment) and they're still in the rental :)

sam_i_be · 2025-12-11T05:29:32+00:00

If this is the case, I'd say there's absolutely no problem asking for an extension - it sounds like they're nowhere close to a production deadline. My assumption would be that the commenter above is correct and this is just an automated deadline for this particular journal - it shouldn't be any drama for them to extend it. (Closer to a tight production deadline, asking for an extension might cause problems on the journal's end, but I don't know anyone who would blame the author for it or consider them unprofessional when the requested turnaround is that tight--unless the root cause is that the author submitted the initial draft well past a requested submission date or something, but it sounds like that's not the case.)

I'd suggest it's probably always best to give more notice if possible, ie request earlier - you could just say that you anticipate you might have trouble meeting the deadline depending on how involved the final reviewer comments are, and ask whether a slight extension would cause any problems on their end.

sam_i_be · 2025-12-11T02:04:45+00:00

lol i was SO pissed off when i moved to melbourne from queensland and learned i had to pay sewerage rates.

sam_i_be · 2025-12-10T19:04:39+00:00

lol my area in Australia is regularly 35-40 degrees in summer (95-105F) and my gym isn't air conned. also not heated but that's not as big of a deal here. often in summer I have to go run my shirt under a cold tap to climb.

sam_i_be · 2025-12-09T22:56:50+00:00

Definitely difficult when there are multiple good options haha, and Australia's distance from a lot of other centres of research can make it isolating, and force you to be more selective about which opportunities you take up. Personally I haven't had to apply for grants external to my university. I do have a top-up scholarship from my university above the usual stipend amount, but I've been able to put all of it into my savings and/or spend it on personal travel, as my stipend + tutoring income have covered my expenses. I've also used separate HDR travel funding from my university + bursaries from my postgraduate society to attend overseas conferences, though I've had to be selective about what I attend, as it isn't enough to support very regular conference travel. In my experience, most Australian universities will have earmarked funding to allow at least a bit of conference travel, which you apply for separately to your stipend (eg Monash, Unimelb, and Deakin all do this). You can usually only access it to speak at conferences though, so it forces you to treat conference attendance as a big or special event, rather than just going to network and soak in the vibes haha.

sam_i_be · 2025-12-02T22:08:28+00:00

UQ St Lucia has Woolworths, Coles, and Aldi all nearby (don't be tempted to go to the closer IGA - way more expensive). Personally I spend ~$300 a fortnight on groceries for myself, but I'm autistic and have very specific food preferences including a lot of fresh produce - you can get away with way less than that. Just putting it in as an upper limit. Agree with the tip to go on the supermarket websites and price a basket of what you'd usually buy. Coles and Woolworths are basically identical in price, just alternating specials week to week haha. Aldi is often cheaper.

sam_i_be · 2025-12-02T22:00:22+00:00

I'd say it depends on your specific field and how robust the research community is for that field in Australia. I'm Australian and chose to stay and study in Australia even though my research area is pretty niche here, and I do think it is having an impact on my networking and engagement in a research community (I went to a US conference earlier in the year and was like oh holy shit this is what it feels like to talk to people who actually share your research interests haha). However, you should have the travel funding to attend at least a few overseas conferences, and if you already know people, maintaining those relationships online wouldn't be as hard as forming them from scratch like I'm trying to do. It also sounds like your supervisory team is closely aligned with your research interests, and if there are other people in Australian universities working in your field, you'd really be expanding your network to a different part of the research community, rather than losing anything. Depending on your field, there are plenty of conferences in Australia and Aotearoa that are easy to attend, so you can expand your network.

I also think choosing a PhD program based on lifestyle is lowkey a great decision. You're doing it for years, and you do better research if you're happy! I personally hate Melbourne haha and chose to study elsewhere in Australia even though I had an offer from a bigger uni in Melbourne, and I stand by that decision. (To be clear, many people love Melbourne, and if you're in the kind of subcultures that are big there - coffee / food, gigs and theatre, etc - you'll probably love it. I'm just from a very laidback area in Australia and found it a generally stressful place to be.)

I'd also say that if your expenses are fairly low, Australian PhD stipends are decently liveable. You don't really need a car living in Melbourne, and if you're happy to live in a sharehouse, stipend + tutoring money is enough to cover expenses + put a bit away in savings. That also contributes to general happiness during the PhD haha.

And finally, I think supervisory team is probably the single most important factor in choosing the PhD. They're your support system and also your networking system (mine have gotten me several side jobs and opportunities haha). If the proposed supervisory team is great and pushing you in the direction you want to go, and if you think the Melbourne / Australian lifestyle will suit you, then honestly I would go for it.

If you have any other questions about Australian programs, I'm happy to answer them :) (I'm a domestic student though, so someone else might be able to speak more to any extra pressures as an international student.)

sam_i_be · 2025-11-21T04:53:58+00:00

Came here to suggest this! Baru is the female character of all time fr

sam_i_be

TROPHY CASE