[-] mycatsays@aussie.zone 2 points 1 month ago

Did mine a couple of years ago after reading an article about the potential for lead in soils in residential areas.

Thankfully my yard is fine, only the drip line of the house shows elevated lead (probably was originally painted with lead paint). So we just won't put food plants in the beds next to the house.

[-] mycatsays@aussie.zone 2 points 1 month ago

If you can find an annual plan that fits your needs, and paying for a year at once is possible, that may work out cheaper per month.

It's been a while since I looked for a new plan, but it seems to me that the direction mobile plans are going is that the only differences are how much data and whether anything international is included. Most plans these days include unlimited calls and texts. As someone who doesn't do much calling or texting and needs like 2GB/month tops, pretty much everything has more than I need. A few years ago I was service hopping to whoever would give me a $10/month plan, but many of those have increased to $15/month.

The plan I'm currently on is no longer available to new customers, so unfortunately I can't recommend it to you.

[-] mycatsays@aussie.zone 3 points 5 months ago

You can boil them to extend shelf life. Once a food is cooked, you have another week (approximately) to use it before it goes off - maybe a little longer for eggs still in unbroken shells. Boil them, store them in the fridge, and add them to meals over the next week.

[-] mycatsays@aussie.zone 2 points 6 months ago

I just finished Dragonsteel Prime. I read Way of Kings Prime when it was released (so: not recently). Dragonsteel (canon) hasn't been written yet, so I'm not sure what you want to compare DP to?

Brandon has commented that Dragonsteel (Prime) never got published because the story didn't really work. Some elements of it eventually turned up in Stormlight, of course.

I enjoyed both Prime books as a look at early versions of characters, settings, and magics. Reading WoKP after several Stormlight books, it was a little jarring to have a character die in Prime who is very much alive (as of SA4). DP didn't do that to me; and as much as Brandon says there's an early version of Shallan in that book, it felt like a wholly different character. I quite enjoyed getting to know Frost a little bit, and seeing early Hoid.

[-] mycatsays@aussie.zone 2 points 8 months ago

If you already have the cheese on hand, do an experiment. Cut off a piece and freeze it overnight. Next day, defrost it and see how it is. Because the issue you're concerned about is change to texture or taste after freezing and thawing, you only need to leave it long enough to be fully frozen through - not as long as you normally would for storage.

(You wouldn't want to buy a bulk size piece of meat/cheese just to experiment, but if you already have some on hand it's worth trying for yourself to find out if you'll find the result satisfactory.)

[-] mycatsays@aussie.zone 2 points 8 months ago

Shipping costs for the set bundles are listed on the campaign page. If you want add-ons, that will be extra and calculated later.

It does say somewhere that Dragonsteel will cover import duties for all international backers.

So really, the only unknown is shipping for add-ons. If shipping cost is a stress, maybe stick to the bundles with fixed shipping costs?

[-] mycatsays@aussie.zone 2 points 10 months ago

Well - unless I am having a major mental blank, Mistborn and Stormlight are the only two series in the Cosmere. Some of the books which are currently standalone may get sequels eventually.

I think this link is actually pretty close to what you're looking for: https://coppermind.net/wiki/Category:Books It's just that the table format is a bit "wall of text". But you only need the top portion which is the Cosmere works, and they are grouped by series (or by planet, if it's not a series).

[-] mycatsays@aussie.zone 2 points 11 months ago

It might depend on where you live. For example, basil is frost sensitive, so where I live it won't survive outdoors in winter. Coriander races to seed in heat, so even staggered plantings won't help a whole lot in a hot summer. Parsley might do okay with a few planted at different times of year; at least it seems less driven by season than the other two, in my limited experience.

You could have more success with indoor pots, if that's an option for you (that said, I've recently had a parsley plant going to seed in my kitchen, so results will vary).

And if the plants start flowering you can prolong their usefulness by pinching off the flowering stems - though that only buys you some time, rather than preventing the process entirely.

[-] mycatsays@aussie.zone 2 points 1 year ago

I did VegeSafe last year after reading an article about the potential for lead concentrating in homegrown eggs and veggies. Our house (and neighbourhood ) date from the era of lead bring in paint and petrol, so I wanted to check.

Thankfully the only area of this yard that came back as a red flag was the dripline (i.e. next to the house), so we should be okay as long as we grow our food away from the building.

[-] mycatsays@aussie.zone 2 points 1 year ago

Such a fabulous idea!

[-] mycatsays@aussie.zone 2 points 1 year ago

There is a resentment of international students who get partway through a course and then cry poor. Our university (and probably others) held a big campaign during COVID lockdowns to donate money, clothing, groceries to international students who couldn’t work and couldn’t get back home...

Understandable. I wasn't aware of international students struggling when I was at uni (doubtless there were some, I just didn't see them). COVID lockdowns and border closures were an extreme situation, and I would think there were probably some students who would have been fine normally but didn't have the extra resources to deal with that large a curveball.

Generally, I think the rules around student visas are reasonable. You're here to earn a degree, and that needs to be your focus... Not holding down a full-time job to put a roof over your head. Studying abroad is a luxury. (Of course, universities like international students because $$$...)

[-] mycatsays@aussie.zone 3 points 1 year ago

Happy to answer questions!

In Australia, the big difference between domestic and international students is that domestic students costs are subsidized by the government via a federal interest-free student loan scheme, whereas international students must pay each semester up front. That cost varies depending on what you're studying. (Every university should have info on their website about international student fees.)

The other limiting thing is that on a student visa, you aren't allowed to work more than 20hr/week during the semester. So you either need to arrive with a very healthy bank account or put a lot aside during summer and winter break, in order to cover cost of living in addition to tuition. I was only able to do it because my parents were covering my tuition and accommodation.

(A possible point of interest: my bachelor's degree as a full fee paying international student in Australia ended up being cheaper than my sister's degree from a private college in the USA. Go figure!)

view more: ‹ prev next ›

mycatsays

joined 1 year ago