• Seagoon_@aussie.zone
    8·
    5 days ago

    I’m pretty beat. So many stairs .

    Another early night I think.

    Sorry I haven’t been here as much as I would like. Love you all. Special hugs to Spud’s partner, to Tinyest for talking and to Melbs for being a great cat mum and community gardener. 😘😘😘

  • melbaboutown@aussie.zone
    8·
    6 days ago

    One of the pumpkins has aphids really severely and it’s starting to spread to the others…

    I’ve sprayed soapy water and physically wiped as many as I could off but am a bit worried. Especially as ants are farming them.

    • indisin@aussie.zone
      2·
      6 days ago

      Fast, reliable and relatively cheap ethical solution that I’ve used many many times before: bugs for bugs.

      It is funny when you see some of your money literally flying away though, but in the grand scheme of things it’s good for the environment.

      • melbaboutown@aussie.zone
        1·
        5 days ago

        That’s a good idea. I’ve scrubbed off as much of the heavy infestation as I can but maybe there’s enough to get them to stick around for a bit

        • indisin@aussie.zone
          2·
          5 days ago

          If there is food (e.g. aphids) they will stick around and set up a colony, get them a box or a bag. When they’re done they will eat each other… You could also look into lacewings.

          This season I’ve been fortunate enough for predators to establish themselves and not had to buy anything.

          You’ll defo solve the problem if you buy those. Just one ladybird would demolish what I’m picturing of the problem you have.

          For context we have somewhere between 120-160 plants, and about 70% of those are fruit and so prone to aphids and therefore ants marshalling them.

          Bottom Racer (not tagging on purpose) and I have been talking about growing chillies for years.

          Harvested a tiny amount the other day for dinner (hopefully proving that I’m not talking out of my arse here and that this is genuine advice and that the site is reputable and will solve your problem)

          • melbaboutown@aussie.zone
            2·
            5 days ago

            Oh damn, there was a praying mantis but it seems to be gone.

            There was a ladybird sitting on the zucchini plant a week or two ago but I didn’t want to move it to the pumpkin plants I had just sprayed (even though organic) and it also hasn’t stuck around.

            I bought some dill to help attract ladybirds back and be a sacrificial plant

  • imoldgreeeg@aussie.zone
    7·
    6 days ago

    Did a first aid course today. It was way more interesting then I expected (I am scarred by some terrible OH&S seminars). Also a bit confronting. And there’s an app you can sign up to and opt-in to be notified if someone nearby is having a cardiac arrest. So you can hightail it there and help while the ambulance comes. On the one hand I’d love to do that but it also terrifies me

    • CEOofmyhouse56@aussie.zone
      6·
      6 days ago

      I was working at this joint and I had to study for my first aid renewal. The Minister came in with his grand kids to have a chat. This little boy about 4, grabbed the handle of the iron and went to pull it off the ironing board towards himself. Fuck me. I took the biggest step and managed to grab it in time. When they left someone said “You nearly had to use your first aid then. That was a real life scenario”.

      • imoldgreeeg@aussie.zone
        2·
        6 days ago

        GoodSAM. I’ve not looked into it beyond being told about it today (Red Cross)

        edit: looks like you sign up through the ambos and then use the app.

        • Rusty Raven @aussie.zoneM
          3·
          6 days ago

          I hadn’t realised they had widened the criteria to anyone with first aid qualifications, when they started it they just had off duty paramedics and similar using it. It’s a good idea, but it would definitely be confronting if it happened.

          • dumblederp@aussie.zone
            4·
            6 days ago

            I’ve been in a few confronting first aid situations, I keep my head.

            Looks like its a UK app, it’s all about the NHS and UK quals.

            • Seagoon_@aussie.zone
              1·
              5 days ago

              i hate doing life saving first aid, I get real shook up after

              once gave a 4 year old at a kids party a strong whack on the back as he was choking on a big gummy snake, he had blocked his windpipe. He was white, making no noise, making coughing movements, flailing a little. I jumped over chairs and tables to get to him when I saw what was happening. Other mothers at the party looked at me like i was an idiot.

              one time getting aid for a stabbing victim lying on the street, other times was just helping with car accident type things

  • LowExperience2368@aussie.zone
    7·
    6 days ago
    just my rant about the education system

    The school I’m at has very low standards for its students. Most students are not interested in tertiary education or are doing unscored VCE, so all they have to do is fill in a worksheet for each subject (barring English I think) and there’s their satisfactory. They don’t even have to pass the unit tests, and if they want to pass, all they really have to do is regurgitate information from a textbook and tailor to different scenarios.

    Then there’s the UK’s curriculum and IB, requiring students to write essays in their science subjects and conduct their own research projects. GCSEs probably have more rigour than the VCE system, and that’s not even the final qualification if you do A levels.

    I understand education in the academic setting is not for everyone, but I feel like as someone who actually wanted to develop better critical thinking skills throughout my education, the system has failed me. All I learnt from doing VCE was how to memorise a bunch of pretty much useless facts, so I when I got to uni, I knew fuck all about writing essays. Heck, I still can’t write a very good essay or write well in general. Maybe my experience would’ve been different if I did more humanities subjects.

    But I’m about to go on and teach kids content that they’re going to have to memorise for an exam. At least with one of my subjects, it’s easier to deviate from the whole “here are some slides, now take notes” thing and make it more hands-on.

    • imoldgreeeg@aussie.zone
      6·
      6 days ago

      Low, you sound like a teacher already - yep its a frustrating job, and that is a super sucky placement. But you care about those kids. Which is really important. And there are other schools out there. Yep, the education system sucks. So does the health system. So do most of the systems (yay, late stage capitalism). But people care, and if you can find a group of them that do it’s awesome. There are schools with better cultures.

      This also reminded me - I learned how to write essays in year 10. Not because it was on the curriculum, but I happened to have one ace english teacher and she taught us the principles one day. Decades later I am still grateful for that teacher, and use that info still, and my science/maths teacher who pushed me into trying when I wanted to just fail.

      Edit: posted then worried that sounded lecturey - was trying to be empathetic and share in response…

    • SituationCake@aussie.zone
      4·
      6 days ago

      I was a bit shocked recently when I found out a friends 12 year old could barely read, and that according the school and the parents the kid is educationally doing just fine. I mean what!? That’s nowhere near fine. How is this good for anyone? The kid has no learning difficulties according to the parents. They are getting him a tutor now. He seems to be of average brightness, so having good reading at 12 should be no problem. Everyone has let the kid down. School and parents both.

      • LowExperience2368@aussie.zone
        3·
        6 days ago

        Yep, I feel like a lot of kids will slip through the cracks and they’ll get to upper primary when someone recognises that they can’t read :(

  • underwatermagpies@aussie.zone
    7·
    6 days ago

    I’ve just done psychometric testing for the first time, for a potential job. This seems like a really dumb way to select candidates.

  • CEOofmyhouse56@aussie.zone
    7·
    6 days ago

    This is the perfect weather to make health and fitness changes if you need to. Also getting rid of clutter. C’mon guys. You’ve got this!

  • TinyBreak@aussie.zone
    5·
    6 days ago

    aldis got a camping sale coming up. If any of you were thinking “man, I’d love to try camping but dont have the gear” this is a pretty good entry point. Kmart is even cheaper (but you get what you pay for there).

    • imoldgreeeg@aussie.zone
      3·
      6 days ago

      ooh thank you! I need to build up my own gear now I’m not with my ex (who was a long time camper and generally stocked up)

  • dumblederp@aussie.zone
    3·
    5 days ago

    Is there a lemmy suggestions box? I like to be able to hide users without blocking them and I’d like to be able to disable comment replys. God dam making some comments out of the instance and I get a bunch of updates from aggressive nerds that I really don’t care for. I tended to disable comments on reddit as soon as I’d commented due to notification avoidance.

      • dumblederp@aussie.zone
        2·
        5 days ago

        Hiding feels more like I’m not interested in their content, blocking is for people I don’t like. Sometimes when dealing with my own struggles I can do without hearing about someone else’s. Even just being able to have their posts auto collapsed.

        • Nath@aussie.zone
          1·
          5 days ago

          This is the closest feature request I have found, you could probably filter on username if/when that feature is implemented.

          If that isn’t quite what you are after, that GitHub is the place to make your request.