Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 15hQuite small monkeys maybe. They still give me a bit of scare when they lurch out of the mulberry tree if I'm in the back yard at night. Fruit bats are very noisy and ungainly up close 010
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 15hYears ago I worked fairly close to a big flying fox camp in northern Sydney. We had an American engineer visiting. We were standing outside at the end of the day when the flying foxes started moving out. From the look on his face he thought he'd wandered into a horror movie 020
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 06/10/2026I'm seeing a few wild rabbits around, even one in my suburban street. They're pretty healthy looking so I suspect the calicivirus is either not circulating or the population is increasingly resistant. Eat away! (I ate a bit of rabbit as a kid bc it was cheap, not keen to eat it again) 010
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Thanks, recommendations are welcome. There's so much choice and it's a fair bit of money to spend. I used an LG stick when i was looking after a friend's house & it was OK. 241
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 06/10/2026My Dyson stick's been disappointing too. The high suction failed about 5 minutes out of warranty (OK I exaggerate a bit). Unfortunately, that ruhruhruh noise in mine was a sign of impending total failure. Now getting by with an old LG ball vac & an unkillable Nilfisk, but they're both so heavy 171
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 29/09/2026That's a perfectly normal and rational response, Wendy 010
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 25/09/2026A bit of a tangent - remember the endless BS peddled by RW media over the "wasteful " school infrastructure program run as economic stimulus in the GFC? In NSW public schools it was new halls. I visit schools across Sydney, sometimes further afield, and i can tell you those halls aren't wasted. 130
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 24/09/2026I've thought for a while that one or more of Albanese's close advisors must *really* want to undermine and humiliate him. However, I know it's also quite likely there's some completely unmoored groupthink going on in that inner circle, and they all believe they're executing some cunning plan. 1123
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 21/09/2026I suppose it varies in detail, but yes. Excessive data collection & security issues seem to be pretty rife across carmakers. This story, of course is just the ABC China-bashing, with some EV-bashing chucked in. Why not do Tesla? Their cars are notorious, esp. in the US, for intrusive surveillance 021
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 20/09/2026Wot no funeral insurance? Also my favorite - the shifty looking woman that rocks up to the gold buyer with a bag of random jewellery and walks out with the handful of cash. I keep wondering where Granny is... 011
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 18/09/2026It's so good to see them there. I'm in Sydney AU, so we get the two way humpback migration in winter/ spring. They pretty much follow the coast so it's a great view. In my lifetime I've watched this population recover from near extinction to ~40,000 individuals. It never gets old 000
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Yeah, I'm definitely too soft on them, but they're good for a laugh. The eggs are good too 000
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Harsh but fair. I'm Australian and i can't even keep my normal sized chickens in line 100
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Counterpoint: experts predict well positioned crocodiles will result in a substantial uptick in record times 000
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Two washed up pollies blithering about AI. I suspect they have trouble using email without help. 010
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 14/09/2026It's a bit unfortunate, isn't it? Maybe just enjoy the photos, all pre-digital & guaranteed slop-free. Gunther was absolutely dedicated to his photography, he was self taught, & developed highly sophisticated methods and setups. He was generous with his photos, as well, for nonprofit use 250
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 13/09/2026I have already worked out where best to set up on 22/7/2028 (in my driveway). I'm officially quite old and I have never seen a total solar eclipse, and now one is going straight over my house! Weather permitting... 010
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 12/09/2026This ring repair has a deadline (for good reasons), but I've managed to stay on track and get it done. I seem to be getting better at not going in all directions at once. Nothing I do these days is anything like as complex as your work, though 110
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 12/09/2026You get these days, don't you. I spent a lot of yesterday making a 4 mm hemisphere of an obscure type of garnet for a friend's ring (& I'm very rusty at this). It took 3 goes bc I'd almost get finished, it'd fly off the holder & disappear, & I'd start again. Bluesky is wonky too, yes 110
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 12/09/2026Spring definitely approaches, in one day a friend had the first paralysis tick of the season, and a channel billed cuckoo went flapping and sqawking overhead. 000
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 12/09/2026They might have come from inside the Earth, through the portal at the South Pole, so it is best to be specific, I think 000
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 12/09/2026Very cute, even this iggerant Australian got it. Extra points for using the Lynch version. I like the design much better, even if nobody watching had any idea what was happening. 161
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Running and screaming leaves no time for culture 21311
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 08/09/2026I was just a bit horrified that you handled it yourself 030
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 08/09/2026It's much simpler in Australia. Assume the worst, call the local snake catcher. 41252
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 02/09/2026Terry Pratchett sorted this, in The Last Continent 010
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 01/09/2026My chooks didn't stop laying, like they usually do. The bees have been producing honey right through winter, with some odd hive behaviour thrown in as well, probably to do with varroa. We have some fish in ponds that should've been dormant & have been a bit active. None of this is reassuring at all. 010
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 28/08/2026310km per charge is specified. It's the smaller battery for this model. A good fit for my use pattern if it's about right. We'll see 000
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 27/08/2026Yep, Australian here. I looked at smaller BYD models. I went with an MG in the end, mainly bc of the arrangement of the load space and personal preference in the control setup, but we have multiple choices here and it's all going gangbusters 140
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 25/08/2026I have to drive Sydney to Portland next week, so thanks for the heads up, but also, oh dear. I hope my old car holds up for its one last trip down that way 000
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 23/08/2026That *is* handy. It could be useful to me from the Burwood end, though buses are always hostage to Sydney traffic. My son worked at International for a a few years and so I know they get no concessions if they use the train. That would definitely influence where you live, given a choice 000
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 23/08/2026This gross rentseeking irritates me to the point that I usually walk in from Wolli Creek (International)or Mascot station (Domestic) if I'm flying. It takes about 25 minutes for either one 000
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 23/08/2026It is cunningly designed that way, just on principle. Also, if it's really slow SACL might be able to properly empty your wallet. 100
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 23/08/2026Because iirc the original contract for the airport rail line specifically prohibits competing bus services. With one exception, a service that goes from nowhere useful to somewhere obscure via the airport. Otherwise how would the airport be able to gouge ~$18 for access to the terminal platforms. 110
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 20/08/2026Fucking channel 7 news showing video of Lily Hooper's family celebrating when they were mistakenly told she was alive. Presumably they went on to cover them being told the truth. I cut it off before that. What is wrong with these ghouls ffs 000
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 17/08/2026I hadn't thought of it that way before but yes. My partner heard one yesterday, so hopefully we'll have a resident TF again, sitting in the trees down the back 030
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 17/08/2026Thanks Sandy, I'd thought tawny frogmouths were nightjar adjacent, but I defer to your knowledge. Nice to learn something new 240
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 17/08/2026I hadn't even heard of Sam Rae and I think I'd be happier if I'd remained ignorant. I should be paying attention to all this bc I'm getting on but this creature is so awful - dissembling then clumsily trying to double down when his BS is called out 152
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 15/08/2026More seriously, I was a doping control analyst, and I formed the opinion that the ones that won at that level were the ones that survived the grotesquely abusive training regimes 010
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 15/08/2026Are the IOC introducing pottering as an event? I reckon I'd have a shot in the pottering 010
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 13/08/2026Yesterday I got cranky on a crowded Sydney train. Fit looking St Aloysius kid, bag on the seat as well. Caught his eye, pointed & gestured to get up, so my partner could sit (she has a joint problem & was in a fair bit of pain yesterday). He did it without a fuss but I shouldn't have to ask 010
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 28/07/2026No need for wooden spoons. Just consider the dark enjoyment you will get from reading this book, and then go ahead and read it 000
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 27/07/2026Here's a perfectly normal lift button panel, at the Coal Loader in Waverton, Sydney. They were very impressive chickens, I have to say 010
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 27/07/2026Eeew! I'll have you know I'm a respectable amphibian. And I haven't had to think about that bastard for a while. 010
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 27/07/2026 No, can't feel anything ye- +++Divide by Cucumber Error! Reinstall Universe and Reboot from Start+++ 050
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 27/07/2026I'm fine, it just turned me into a newt. I'm used to it 110
Chris Howe @chrisjhowe.bsky.social · 27/07/2026My old i30 is being traded in for a new car, a bit unwillingly bc it's been such a good car. I've told my partner that if the car is in earshot, we have to say it's going to live on the farm so we don't make it sad 010
