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I've heard of this happening - absolutely disgraceful.  Surely there are laws against this kind of thing? Probably not, of course.

I'm no Sherlock Holmes, btw, but I'm about 95% sure I've worked out Vince's surname, by Cross-examining the evidence he has presented.

Hahaha. SherlockB.Christ just reminded me of a joke I heard recently.

If you're every accosted by a wild animal with a gun (bear with me) and you're only able to ask for help by sending updates on social media (bear with me), then you need to be very careful and insert coded messages (BEAR WITH ME) into the text.

Hey AV

I love the idea that your actual name is Angry Vince.

Actually not far from the truth... my last name is a synonym for angry.
And I have a resting asshole face, so there's that too.

Recently was asked to apply for a job. This is not unique but normally they are weirdly tangential to my skill set ("Hey AV, we know you love supply chain in the food industry, how would you like to be a timber salesman?").
This (almost) most recent one was in my wheelhouse though, good company, right role, right money.
Two interviews go well and I'm invited to a third which should be the last.
A day before the last one, I'm told that it is going to be rescheduled. Not an issue, as the interviewer travels a lot.
Then radio silence for a week.
I email and ask for an update, get told something about them rescoping or reviewing their needs.
Silence for another week.
Obviously not good signs.
After another week, I know I'm not getting the job. I ring them up and leave a voicemail asking for an update.
They called me back yesterday. 
No, I didn't get the job.
After a bit of back and forth, I'm told that there were 320 applicants plus me. They thought I was a great fit and were ready to offer me the job at the third interview but two days before, someone they had worked with mentioned he was looking for a new job. They had a chat, cancelled my interview and offered him the job instead.
So I beat all 320 applicants in a job which I was asked to apply for and lost it to someone who didn't even apply.

In fairness, that's only the second-worst interview experience in the last six months. At least I didn't get PTSD during an interview this time.

Linguist's corner: article contains word "contumelious".

My new favourite word (after obstreperous)

Thanks for explaining Funt. It makes way to much sense.

Now, I would like to say, as a right-leaning kiwi*: Fuck Trump and tricycle he rode in on. If narcassism had a colour, it would be orange. The election this year is likely to be a freaking shit show.


*in fairness, a right-leaning kiwi is usually very left of a left-leading American.

It's been a while, so I can't remember the forum rules around politics and swearing. In fairness though, the guy is a prolapsed anus with an orange tan, so I'll let my comment stand until told otherwise.

Thanks for explaining Funt. It makes way to much sense.

Now, I would like to say, as a right-leaning kiwi*: Fuck Trump and tricycle he rode in on. If narcassism had a colour, it would be orange. The election this year is likely to be a freaking shit show.


*in fairness, a right-leaning kiwi is usually very left of a left-leading American.

Louis Gossett Jr.
Oscar & Emmy winner for An Officer & A Gentleman and Roots.
Also in Enemy Mine which this young Sci-fi fan thought was underated. And the Watchmen series which was bloody good.
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/29/entertainment/louis-gossett-jr-death/index.html

This is the best analysis I have read explaining why GoT tell off a cliff

Seasons 1-5 employed sociological storytelling then (coincidence that the source material dried up?) the writing became more psychological.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/observations/the-real-reason-fans-hate-the-last-season-of-game-of-thrones/

Well, shit, she's not wrong.

Also, apparently there is no point in going back in time and killing baby Hitler. There's my weekend plans ruined.

[Shogun]

Loving the new series of Shogun - amazing sets, great writing and more Toranaga-focused. When the episodes drop, I watch them in the evening with my son. (Don't tell him that I watch them earlier in the day and then tag them as unwatched.)
Struggling to get through Masters of the Air. Great aerial scenes, but it took me 4-5 episodes to work out who anyone was.
Rewatched Game of Thrones with the wife, final season is not as disappointing as I remember it (or the hype). Were people just pissed that Dani turned evil and John didn't become king? Oops spoilers...

[Tunguska: The Visitation]

Currently playing Tunguska: The Visitation.
Small studio game, kind of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. if it was an isometric RPG. Difficult(ish), dangerous and fun.

A kiwi rock band I used to listen to about twenty years ago recently released a whole bunch of stuff online which their agent had held back for 'reasons' until their contract expired.

Having spent the year saving up for a holiday for the family. we all took off for Sydney for a long week of relaxation. Then the lot of us caught covid and I ended up in emergency.

If it makes you feel any better... for our twentieth wedding anniversary, I flew my wife and I first class to New York, booked four nights in a very fancy Manhattan hotel... and on the morning of our first full day there, just after breakfast, I said "Ooh. I don't feel so good..." and had to run to the loo in our hotel room, where I basically remained for two full days, barring the nights, when I had to sleep in the shower.

It was certainly a... memorable trip, albeit not necessarily for the reasons I'd hoped.

Sounds worse than my pre-honeymoon to Venice where I spent two days holding tight to the hotel toilet.

Anyway, I flew back home last night. Feeling better this morning and have just had a morning coffee and taken some flu medicine.
On closer inspection, I think I've picked from the wrong end of the Night and Day pack. Going to be an interesting day at work...

Having spent the year saving up for a holiday for the family. we all took off for Sydney for a long week of relaxation. Then the lot of us caught covid and I ended up in emergency.

On the plus side, apparently my heart is in really good shape.

PS: on an unrelated(?) note, there are a metric crap load of bats in Sydney. Who knew?

PPS: The A&E I got taken to was St Vincent's - so apparently the Aussies have canonized me. Finally, some recognition!

Edits for PS & PPS as my brain catches up with events.

It's Christmas Eve over in my side of the world. Knowing that many of you (like myself) had challenging years, I thought I'd take ten second to say Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, a great Hanukkah and every other sort of merriment that may apply to you.
Spend it with loved ones and come back for a better 2024.

AV.

Have been using a VPN on my home computer, recently this has caused Google to think I'm a bot.
So then every time I search for something, I'd have to tick the 'not a robot' box* and then go through the 3x3 click on a bus/stairs/car/motorbike** nonsense repeatedly until it lets me through.
One time I counted thirty attempts at clicking on the stupid pictures and it still wouldn't let me through.
I fixed it by typing in 'bing.com' whenever it happened and using Bing*** instead.
After about a week, Google stopped asking for recaptchas.


*While hiding my avatar
**The drokking recapta pictures always give me existential nervousness - is the motorbike rider part of the motorbike? Is the shadow part of the bus? Only god and Google know and neither one is fracking telling.
***Bing is, for all intents and purposes, a complete dive bar toilet bowl of a search engine. Most times, I'd be better off asking my mum.