The world’s first Roald Dahl + Vintage Sewing Machine museum is *nearly* open for business! (Another box of Dahl stuff still to unload…)

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I had a great time today track hosting at the YOW! Australia Tech Leaders Summit. Thanks to Steffen and the team for inviting me! Great talks, good conversations, and I even got to try on an Apple Vision Pro. (I didn’t turn it on; I just took a selfie. )

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Civic duty complete! (We’ll be away on Saturday so we had to vote early.) After confirming my name and address, the poll worker handed over my ballot. “Is that an American accent?” he said, chuckling. “Our elections are a little different. For example, we actually try to HELP you to vote!” He’s not wrong. We were in and out in less than 10 minutes, and I didn’t even need to show ID. #democracy

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Very important and delicate mending complete! My lace dirndl blouse has a channel for a ribbon at the front so you can adjust the amount of décolletage you wish to display. However, mine was off-center and it always annoyed me. So today I *very carefully* unpicked the gauze, moved it, and reattached. It worked! #oktoberfestpreparation

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Self-care is very important.

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We are killing it in terms of productivity today: the Snook made some key progress in sorting out our retirement accounts, installed four new hooks in the bathroom and bedroom, and baked a blueberry buckle. Meanwhile I wiped an old MacBook and prepped for recycling, finally refilled the olive oil bottle, did three loads of laundry, and mended three shirts and a pair of pants. The collapse is imminent….

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Somebody’s baby is getting stripes! #knitting

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Things are still ticking away on the renovation. In addition to the remedial plumbing work happening outside, the HVAC guys came back to install our new office wall units as well as the compressors that power them. Should be all done by the end of the week… just in time for the landscaping to kick off.

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From last night’s dinner hash to today’s lunchtime quesadillas…

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Lots of cooking today! Rodd made Lamb Biryani With Saffron, Yogurt, and Caramelized Onions, while I cooked up a big pot of Cajun red beans from scratch (including a smoked ham hock; rice to follow tomorrow)!

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Kristine Howard shared a link.

• https://www.seriouseats.com/lamb-biryani

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Kristine Howard shared a link.

• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyde_Park_Obelisk

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It took two months of retirement, but it finally happened: I forgot what day of the week it was for a good ten seconds.

Relatedly, I met another person today who was *shocked* and appalled that we would voluntarily quit our tech jobs. “But won’t you get bored? You’re too young!” He simply could not understand not wanting to work. That makes 3 people in total, and interestingly 2 of them were East Asian. I wonder if it’s cultural…

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I’m excited to use my new #jawsug Pankration water bottle! But OH NO, I’m already behind schedule… (Thank you @shigeru_numa!) #hydration #aws

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