Nyt crossword solution

42 down

Just excited to share and wanted to see if anyone noticed that Dax made it into the Saturday crossword! Pretty cool, lol. I wonder if he knows or if they can just do that without his permission? Someone has to let me know if he ever mentions it!

So I've been getting lots of reps/practice in with the NYT app. The "easy" puzzles now take me about 4 or 5 minutes (down from about 9 or 10 a month or two ago).
I've seen 1 1/2 minutes as a good time for these. I'm not sure how to get there. I feel like if I had the entire solution memorized with perfect recall, it would take me longer than that just to type in the numbers!
How do you build speed?

"Republicans got outsmarted by a President who can't find his pants." - Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) losing her mind over the debt ceiling deal

A House (Like, Seriously) Divided

Oh, to be a fly on the wall in Congress this week.

• After far too many painstaking months of brinkmanship and hostage demands from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the deal he reached with President Biden finally advanced in the House of Representatives. First, on Tuesday night, the House Rules Committee narrowly passed rules of debate (the procedural motion that will allow members to vote on a final bill) on a 7-6 vote. Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Ralph Norman (R-SC) defected, joining all of the committee’s four Democrats in opposition.
  
• Second, the agreement to lift the nation’s debt limit (with a considerable list of right-wing strings attached) cleared its second major procedural hurdle on Wednesday, when the vote to start debate on the bill passed 241-187. McCarthy sounded extremely confident that the next vote, which will happen on Wednesday night, will succeed, insisting “It’s going to become law.” Okay Kevin, whatever you say.
  
• Members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus have already made a big show of their opposition to the deal, which they say does not go far enough in hurting the poor cutting federal spending, which, I cannot stress enough, they do not actually care about. The GOP’s ultra-right flank is actually mad that defense spending did not increase enough. That’s right, $886 billion for defense in 2024 (the only area of the budget to get more than a one percent increase) simply isn’t enough because…China is building up its military?
  

Despite GOP infighting, preliminary counts suggest that the deal has enough support to pass in the House. Here’s why.

• Republicans led by McCarthy got Biden to agree to additional work-requirements for able-bodied Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients, but Biden got McCarthy to agree to reduce those requirements for more vulnerable recipients such as veterans and homeless people. Add it all up and the Congressional Budget Office projects that the number of people eligible for SNAP will actually increase by almost 80,000 Americans. Work requirements for food assistance and other government aid were first put into place under the now-maligned “Welfare Reform” in 1996 (thanks, Bill Clinton).
  
• Even if the agreement passes in the House of Representatives, it still faces delays in the Senate, unless Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer can convince their members to expedite a final vote on it. Emerging from a Senate GOP lunch to discuss the debt ceiling on Wednesday, which Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said, “I’m just relieved nobody stabbed each other in there.” Sounds like everything is going great!
  

It’s worth noting that many progressives on the other side of the aisle are not happy with the deal, either. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) released a statement saying that the best thing about the deal was that it could have been “much worse” and was a significant improvement from the original GOP proposal, but because of the cuts to non-defense spending, the IRS, and other areas, he “cannot vote for this bill.” Sanders called the bill “unnecessary” and underscored that Biden “has the authority and the ability to eliminate the debt ceiling today by invoking the 14th Amendment.” Nevertheless, the bill will likely pass, and the rest of us are tasked with making sure the damage is undone and Democrats never let themselves concede ransoms to the GOP again—for real this time. [singing] “I’m proud to be an American…”

Look No Further Than Crooked Media

Don’t miss Lovett or Leave It at Dynasty Typewriter in Los Angeles on June 8!
Expect games, sketches, perfect jokes, jokes that were worth a shot, and an overall great fucking time while Jon Lovett and his hilarious friends Ronnie Woo, Michaela Watkins, Brendan Scannell, and Oscar Montoya rant the night away.
Get your tickets here!

Under The Radar

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder and leader of the Wagner mercenary group, announced on Wednesday that he has asked prosecutors to investigate whether senior Russian defense officials have committed crimes during or before the war in Ukraine. The former restaurateur who last week jokingly referred to himself as “Putin’s butcher” is a bit of an unpredictable figure, and this development is the most overt public challenge to Putin’s top military officials including Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov. Prigozhin has spent months insulting the two men at the top of the Russian war effort and accusing them of deception, questioning their allegiance to the (horrible, evil) cause. The Wagner group is on the front lines of the Russian assault on Ukraine, particularly in the eastern city of Bakhmut, and Prigozhin has repeatedly slammed senior Kremlin officials for blocking media coverage of him and his private army.

What Else?

DOJ special counsel Jack Smith is investigating disgraced former president Trump’s firing of Christopher Krebs, the Republican cybersecurity official who issued a statement calling the 2020 election “the most secure in American history.”
An audio recording of a summer 2021 meeting in which Trump references holding onto a classified Pentagon document about a potential attack on Iran has been obtained by federal prosecutors. This admission flies in the face of his argument that he declassified everything.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) kicked off his first major presidential campaign event in Iowa and used the occasion to bash disgraced former president Donald Trump for his “[decision] to move left” on some issues. Lol.
Govs. Glenn Younkin (R-VA) and Henry McMaster (R-SC) signed executive orders that will send members of the Virginia and South Carolina National Guard to the southern border to support a Republican crackdown at the border led by Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX).
That ‘70s Show actor Danny Masterson was found guilty of two out of three counts of rape on Wednesday in his retrial. Prosecutors said Masterson forcibly raped three women in his home between 2001 and 2003, and used his position in the Church of Scientology to avoid consequences for the past two decades. (All three women were also members of the church at the time.)
Eighty-three year old Al Pacino is expecting a baby with his 29-year-old girlfriend. Okay! Gross!
Donald Trump’s on-again-off-again little bitch boy Chris Christie will reportedly announce his candidacy for president next Tuesday.
Another GOP failson, former Vice President Mike Pence, will also be announcing his presidential campaign next week.

Be Smarter

Meta said on Wednesday that it would remove news content from Facebook in California —the company’s home turf—if the state passes the California Journalism Preservation Act. The proposed bill would require online platforms to pay a “journalism usage fee” to news outlets whose work appears on the platforms, a corrective measure aimed at reversing the precipitous decline in local news. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone derisively called the payment structure a “slush fund” that would primarily benefit “big, out-of-state media companies under the guise of aiding California publishers.” The company has been fighting similar battles over compensation for news publishers at the federal and international level for some time now. Facebook infamously refused to go dark in the face of an international consensus concluded that the platform fueled the 2018 genocide, but when Australia floated a law similar to the one being considered in California, it was lights out the next day.
Crooked Media political contributor and resident Big Tech expert Max Fisher, who has reported on Facebook extensively, had this to say: “Facebook has repeatedly refused to so much as throttle its algorithm when its platform is demonstrably contributing to an ongoing genocide, but it showed in Australia in 2021, and is likely to show again soon in California, that it will hit the off button without hesitation when the one thing it does care about gets threatened: money. The company is perfectly willing to shut off citizens from vital, life-saving services in the process of coercing whole populations to protect its bottom line.”

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Light At The End Of The Email

The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that two statewide abortion bans are unconstitutional because they violate the inherent right of pregnant patients to terminate pregnancies to save their own lives.
Twitter is now worth only 33 percent of what CEO Elon Musk and his investors paid for it less than one year ago. I guess that’s what happens when you’re a business genius.
Minnesota became the 23rd state to legalize recreational marijuana. The Land of 10,000 Lakes is using its one-seat Democratic majority in the state legislature to run laps around other blue states and enact a robust progressive agenda.

Enjoy

Microplastics Enjoyer on Twitter: "Ted Kacyznski proved what lengths you have to go to in order to get your name pronounced right if you're Polish"

FLOWERY HAS WOKEN UP, AND THIS TIME I SHALL PLAY THE GAME WHILE TYPING IT ON REDDIT TO SEE HOW DIFFERENTLY IT GOES! NYEH HEH HEH!
I ONCE AGAIN HAVE TO READ THE STORY ABOUT HUMANS AND MONSTERS, BUT I LEARN HOW TO SKIP IT ABOUT HALFWAY THROUGH, SO THAT'S NICE! I GO TO THE MENU, AND I SEE TORIEL READING A BOOK TO THE CATCHY MUSIC! I CLICK SETTINGS TO SEE WHAT THERE IS, BUT I CAN ONLY CHANGE THE LANGUAGE! SO I GO BACK AND CLICK CONTINUE INSTEAD!
I AM IN SNOWDIN FOREST, WITH FRISK GREETING ME WITH THEIR USUAL STARE! I WALK OVER TO THE BOX AND SEE THE TOUGH GLOVE, WHICH I DO NOT NEED! BUT SOMEONE PROBABLY LEFT IT THERE, SO I SHALL LEAVE IT IN THE BOX! I THEN ENTER THE NEXT ROOM AND FIND ME TALKING ABOUT HOW UNDYNE'S TRAINING WAS GOING VERY WELL, BUT GOT CUT OFF BY ME!
SANS AND I START SPINNING, AND I GET FOOLED BY SANS, THINKING THE HUMAN IS A ROCK! THEN SANS UN-FOOLS ME AND I TELL ME I WILL BE CAPTURED AND DELIVERED TO THE CAPITAL, AND I WILL BE SUPER SUPER POPULAR BECAUSE OF IT, AND SANS AND I RUN AWAY! SO I WALK FORWARD AND OBSERVE THE COOL SENTRY STATION, BUT GET ATTACKED BY A SNOWDRAKE! FLOWERY SUGGESTS I SPARE, SO I DO, AND SNOWDRAKE TELLS A HORRIBLE PUN! I GET HIT, AND THEN, RELUCTANTLY, I DECIDE TO LAUGH. AND THEN I FEEL BAD FOR RELUCTANTLY LAUGHING, AND I AM SORRY ABOUT YOUR FATHER DOUBTING YOU, SNOWDRAKE! THE NARRATOR TELLS A BAD PUN AND I SPARE SNOWY AND WIN THE BATTLE! THEN I INTERACT WITH THE COOL SENTRY STATION, WHICH IS VERY COOL AND WELL-CRAFTED! THEN I ENTER THE NEXT ROOM!
I IMMEDIATELY NOTICE THIS IS DOGGO'S AREA, AND I SHOULD BE VERY VERY SNEAKY, BUT UNFORTUNATELY, DOGGO SPOTS ME ANYWAY!! THEN DOGGO FIGHTS ME! I'M VERY EXCITED TO SEE HOW A ROYAL GUARDSMAN FIGHTS THAT ISN'T UNDYNE! BUT MY EXCITEMENT IS IMMEDIATELY SHATTERED WHEN I LEARN DOGGO'S ONLY ATTACK IS A BLUE SWORD. BUT, IT'S JUST THE FIRST ATTACK, AND HE CAN'T SEE VERY WELL, SO I FORGIVE HIM! I PET DOGGO, AND HE STARTS FREAKING OUT!! AND THEN HE USES THE SAME ATTACK. STILL, I CAN'T BLAME HIM! I SPARE DOGGO, AND LOOK AT THE SMOKED DOG TREATS! ALSO, I REALIZE I HAVE 64G! I CAN'T WAIT TO FIND THE NICE CREAM MAN AND BUY SOME NICE CREAM!
I ENTER THE NEXT ROOM, AND SEE SANS, WHO ISN'T DOING ANYTHING. I TALK TO HIM AND HE TELLS THE HUMAN ABOUT MY BLUE ATTACK!!! I SUPPOSE IT'S OKAY, SINCE DOGGO ALREADY RUINED THE SURPRISE, BUT COME ON, SANS! I WALK AWAY FROM SANS AND PREPARE TO SLIDE ON THE ICE, BUT GET ATTACKED BY ICE CAP! I COMPLIMENT THEM, BUT THAT DOESN'T DO ANYTHING, AND I GET HIT! I TRY COMPLIMENTING YET AGAIN, BUT STILL, NOTHING. FLOWERY SAYS I SHOULD USE STEAL, BUT I WANT TO TRY TO IGNORE THEM INSTEAD! ICE CAP LOOKS ANNOYED, BUT THEIR NAME ISN'T YELLOW! I IGNORE AGAIN, AND IT WORKS! BUT I ALSO GET HIT. I SPARE ICE CAP AND CONTINUE ON MY ADVENTURE ON THE ICE!
I GO UP AND FIND THE SNOWMAN, AND I TAKE A PIECE OF IT SO I CAN SHOW IT THE WORLD! I THEN GO BACK DOWN AND GO RIGHT, TO SEE SANS AND I STARING AT EACH OTHER ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE INVISIBLE ELECTRICITY MAZE! I WALK FORWARD AND MORE SUSPICIOUSLY ACCURATE DIALOGUE PLAYS, BUT AT LEAST IT ISN'T INACCURATE, I GUESS! I WALK FORWARD ONCE MORE, AND SOMEHOW GAME ME GETS SHOCKED!! HOW SAD, AND ALSO CONFUSING, BECAUSE I WENT IN THE CORRECT PATH. NO MATTER, FOR OTHER ME HAS RAN ACROSS THE MAZE AND GIVEN ME THE ORB! I THEN SOLVE THE PUZZLE WITH EASE, AS I HAVE MEMORIZED THE PATH! GAME ME ASKS HOW I DID THAT SO EASILY, BUT I CAN'T ANSWER THAT QUESTION. I TALK TO SANS AFTER GAME ME RUNS AWAY, AND HE SPEAKS ABOUT MY SUPER COOL BATTLE BODY! AND THEN I ENTER THE NEXT ROOM!
AND THE NICE CREAM MAN SHOWS HIMSELF, AND I BUY TWO NICE CREAMS, WHICH I DON'T NEED TO INSPECT, BECAUSE I ALREADY KNOW HOW MUCH THEY HEAL! I PLAY THE BALL GAME, AND GET THE GREEN FLAG! THEN I TALK TO SANS, WHO IS SELLING FRIED SNOW. I THINK I'LL PASS ON THAT ONE, BROTHER. THEN I GO RIGHT, AND FIND THE DOG MARRIAGE ROOM, AND THEN I GO DOWN AND GO TO THE NEXT ROOM, AND FIND SANS' "PUZZLE", WHICH IS VERY LAZY! I WALK PAST THE WORD SEARCH AND SANS AND I ARGUE ABOUT CROSSWORD AND JUNIOR JUMBLE! FLOWERY SAYS I SHOULD SAY CROSSWORD, BUT I SAY THE CORRECT ANSWER, WHICH IS JUNIOR JUMBLE, AND SANS THANKS ME FOR SAYING THAT JUST TO MAKE ME HAPPY, WHICH ISN'T TRUE! JUNIOR JUMBLE IS HARDER!! I THEN ENTER THE NEXT ROOM
AND WHEN I ENTER THE ROOM, I SEE MY SPAGHETTI TRAP! UNFORTUNATELY, GAME ME DIDN'T CONSIDER TO KEEP IT WARM AND IT'S FROZEN!! OH NO! I GET FILLED WITH DETERMINATION FROM THE KNOWLEDGE THAT THE MOUSE MAY ONE DAY FIND OUT A WAY TO HEAT UP MY SPAGHETTI, AND SAVE THE GAME! AND I ALSO INTERACT WITH THE MOUSE YET AGAIN! AND THEN I ENTER THE NEXT ROOM!
I ENTER THE NEXT ROOM, AND I ALREADY KNOW WHERE THE SWITCH IS, AND I FLIP IT IMMEDIATELY! BUT GET STOPPED BY LESSER DOG! I PET LESSER DOG, AND FLAWLESSLY DODGE THEIR ATTACK! FLOWERY WANTS ME TO SPARE NOW, BUT I PET THEM AGAIN! AND AGAIN! AND AGAIN! AND AGAIN! UNTIL FLOWERY FORCES ME TO SPARE THEM. I GO DOWN TO THE NEXT ROOM, BUT GET STOPPED BY DOGAMY AND DOGARESSA! I TRY TO PET DOGAMY, BUT THEY REFUSE TO LET ME, BECAUSE I SMELL TOO HUMAN-LIKE! SO I ROLL AROUND A BUNCH AND NOW I SMELL LIKE A WEIRD DOG! THEN THE DOGS SNIFF ME AGAIN, AND NOW I'M A DOG TO THEM! BUT I STILL CANNOT SPARE THEM! SO, I TRY TO PET THEM, AND THEY LET ME, AND I WIN THE BATTLE, AND CONTINUE TO THE NEXT AREA!
I ENTER THE X-O PUZZLE ROOM, AND SOLVE IT WITH EASE! THIS FEELS LIKE CHEATING, AS I ALREADY KNOW THE SOLUTION TO ALL THE PUZZLES IN SNOWDIN, BUT ALAS! I CANNOT UN-KNOWLEDGE MYSELF! I WALK FORWARD, AND GAME ME SPOTS ME, AND ASKS HOW I AVOIDED THE SPAGHETTI TRAP! I CAN'T TELL HIM THAT IT FROZE, SO I JUST SAY I LEFT IT! BUT FRISK DOESN'T SAY IT FROZE! SO I'VE FOOLED MYSELF BY TRYING TO NOT FOOL MYSELF!! CURSES! BUT PAPYRUS AND PAPYRUS TRAVERSE TO THE NEXT AREA, AND FIND THE PAPYRUS-SHAPED X-O PUZZLE, BUT I REFUSE TO CHEAT WITH THE SWITCH BEHIND THE TREE! SO I TRY TO SOLVE IT, AND WITH MY INCREDIBLE PUZZLE SKILLS, I SOLVE IT ON MY FIRST TRY! AND THEN I TALK TO SANS, WHO CONGRATULATES ME ON MY INCREDIBLE PUZZLE SKILLS, AND THEN MAKES IT SOUND LAZY, AND I ENTER THE NEXT ROOM!
I WALK ONTO THE BRIDGE OF THE COLOR TILE PUZZLE, AND GAME ME EXPLAINS THE RULES, WHICH I ALREADY KNOW! BUT FRISK DOESN'T, SO YET AGAIN, I AM GRATEFUL! BUT THEN, I CAN ONLY WATCH IN HORROR AS THE TILE PUZZLE MAKES THE RED AND PINK PATH AND COMPLETELY REMOVES THE CHALLENGE! I WALK ACROSS AND TALK TO SANS, WHO TELLS ME MY FOOD WILL BE EDIBLE SOON! WHICH IS VERY INSULTING, BUT ALSO FLATTERING?? AND I ENTER THE NEXT ROOM!
AND I SEE SNOWDOGS OF LESSER DOG WITH REALLY LONG NECKS AND HEADS THAT HAVE ALL FALLEN OFF. I GET FILLED WITH DETERMINATION FROM THE KNOWLEDGE THAT LESSER DOG WILL NEVER GIVE UP ON TRYING TO MAKE THE PERFECT SNOWDOG, AND SAVE THE GAME! I TALK TO THE PERSON WHO'S NAME I TOTALLY REMEMBER, AND THEY TELL ME ABOUT THE SADDENING FATE OF LESSER DOG, AND I ENTER THE NEXT ROOM!
I FIND THE ICE X-O PUZZLE, BUT I GO DOWN TO VISIT MY SNOWPAPYRUS, AND SANS' LUMP OF SNOW. THEN I SAY GOODBYE TO THEM, AND SOLVE THE ICE PUZZLE WITH EASE! BUT THEN FRISK HAS A SNOWDOG OF THE RAMBUNCTIOUS RODENT ON THEIR HEAD, WHICH DISAPPEARS IMMEDIATELY! I GO DOWN TO SEE SANS DOING HIS SHORTCUT SHENANIGANS, AND GET ATTACKED BY GYFTROT, SO I TRY TO GIVE THEM A GIFT, BUT THEY REFUSE IT, SO I HELP UNDECORATE IT! I DO THAT AGAIN, AND GET HIT! BUT I UNDECORATE IT ONE MORE TIME, AND THEN THEY ARE HAPPY AGAIN! BUT BEFORE I LEAVE, I GIVE THEM A GIFT, A GIFT OF 35G! THEN I SPARE THEM AND LEAVE TO THE NEXT AREA!
I FIND A BUNCH OF SNOW POFFS, BUT I KNOW ONE OF THEM HAS G INSIDE IT, AND I WANT SOMEONE WHO NEEDS IT TO FIND IT! I INSPECT THE TINY DOGHOUSE, AND WALK FORWARD TO MEET GREATER DOG! I TRY TO PET THEM, BUT THEY'RE TOO FAR AWAY, SO I CALL THEM OVER AND THEN PET THEM! AND THEN IT'S AWAKE AND VERY EXCITED! FORTUNATELY, I AVOID ANY ATTACKS THROWN MY WAY, AND THEN I PLAY WITH IT! AND I PET IT SOME MORE, GET HIT ONCE, BUT EVENTUALLY I WIN THE BATTLE! GREATER DOG KISSES ME GOODBYE AND WALKS AWAY, AND SO DO I! TO THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR WITH ME!
I WALK ONTO THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR, AND SAY HELLO TO THE CAMERA UNDERNEATH IT! I SEE SANS AND GAME ME ONE LAST TIME BEFORE OUR EPIC BATTLE OF TROUSLED BONES, AND I LET THE HUMAN PASS WITHOUT THEM EXPERIENCING DEADLY TERROR, AS THIS CAPTURE METHOD HAS NO CLASS! I TALK TO SANS, AND HE TELLS ME MORE ABOUT MY BLUE ATTACKS (STILL UPSET AT HIM), AND I FIND SNOWDIN TOWN, AND GET HIT WITH NOSTALGIA TO THE EXTREME! I GET FILLED WITH DETERMINATION FROM THE SIGHT OF SUCH A FRIENDLY TOWN, AND SAVE THE GAME! THEN I ENTER THE SHOP! I'M GONNA NEED ALL THE PREPARATION I CAN GET IF I WANT TO BEAT GAME ME IN COMBAT! I BUY A MANLY BANDANA, AND A CINNAMON BUN! I EQUIP THE BANDANA, AND PUT MY BANDAGE AND RIBBON IN THE BOX, AND THEN I BUY ONE MORE CINNAMON BUN, BUT THEN I RUN OUT OF MONEY! THIS SHOULD BE ENOUGH, HOWEVER! WITH MY KNOWLEDGE ABOUT MY FIGHTING STYLE, I SHOULD BE OUT OF HARMS WAY IN NO TIME! I WALK THROUGH TOWN AND SAY HELLO TO EVERYONE, AND THEN I FINALLY WALK TO THE END OF SNOWDIN TOWN, AND I CALL TORIEL, WHO DOESN'T ANSWER. SHE HAS PROBABLY BEEN ROBBED BY THAT PESKY PUP! BUT THEN, I FINALLY DECIDE I AM READY FOR THE BATTLE OF A LIFETIME!
GAME ME THROWS ME INTO BATTLE AFTER A GREAT SPEECH ABOUT FRIENDSHIP AND POPULARITY, AND I DECIDE TO FLIRT WITH MYSELF! I TELL GAME ME I CAN MAKE SPAGHETTI, AND MEET MY OWN STANDARDS! GAME ME THROWS A BONE ATTACK ON THE FLOOR, BUT HE DIDN'T TURN ME BLUE YET! I SPARE GAME ME, AND I HANDLE THE FABLED BLUE ATTACK WITH EASE! AND I DODGE THE TRICK-BONE EASILY AS WELL, AND I HAVE OFFICIALLY BEEN FLOORED!
I SPARE MYSELF, AND GAME ME TALKS ABOUT THE FUTURE DATE (I DIDN'T KNOW I SAID THAT OUT LOUD) AND GAME ME DABS SOME BONE COLOGNE BEHIND HIS NON-EXISTANT EAR! I SPARE YET AGAIN, AND JUMP OVER THE BONES EASILY! GAME ME DABS MARINARA SAUCE BEHIND HIS NON-EXISTANT EAR, AND I SPARE YET AGAIN! GAME ME THREATENS TO USE HIS SPECIAL ATTACK, WHICH I AM HOPING THIS GAME IS GONNA BE INACCURATE YET AGAIN AND NOT HAVE THE BARKING BURGLAR STEAL MY SPECIAL ATTACK! GAME ME DABS MTT-BRAND BISHIE CREAM BEHIND HIS NON-EXISTANT EAR, AND I SPARE MYSELF YET AGAIN! GAME ME MONOLOGUES ABOUT HIS FUTURE POPULARITY, AND DABS MTT-BRAND ANIME POWDER BEHIND HIS NON-EXISTANT EAR! I SPARE ONCE AGAIN, AND GAME ME TALKS ABOUT BEING HEAD OF THE ROYAL GUARD, AND DABS MTT-BRAND CUTE JUICE BEHIND HIS NON-EXISTANT EAR! I SPARE AGAIN!
FLOWERY GETS BORED OF THIS CYCLE REPEATING, SO HE SUGGESTS THAT I TRY ACTING, AND SO I FLIRT ONCE MORE, BUT NOTHING HAPPENS! GAME ME SPEAKS PROUDLY ABOUT HIS STILL HELD TITLE OF BEING THE UNPARALLELED SPAGHETTORE, AND DABS MTT-BRAND ATTRACTION SLIME BEHIND HIS NON-EXISTANT EAR! I SPARE AGAIN, AND GAME ME TALKS ABOUT HOW UNDYNE WILL BE REALLY PROUD OF HIM! WHICH SHE IS! AND HE ALSO DABS MTT-BRAND BEAUTY YOGURT BEHIND HIS NON-EXSISTANT EAR, AND I SPARE YET AGAIN! GAME ME TALKS ABOUT ASGORE TRIMMING A HEDGE IN THE SHAPE OF MY SMILE, WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENS! AND GAME ME THEN REALIZES HE DOESN'T HAVE EARS, AND I REALIZE I HAVEN'T GOTTEN HIT A SINGLE TIME YET! WOWIE!
GAME ME TALKS ABOUT HOW SANS WON'T CHANGE MUCH, WHICH HE DID NOT! BUT THAT'S A GOOD THING! SANS IS VERY GREAT AS HE IS! GAME ME IS RATTLING HIS BONES, AND I SPARE YET AGAIN! GAME ME TALKS ABOUT THE SINCERITY OF HIS FANS, WHICH THEY ARE VERY SINCERE! GAME ME PLAYS IT VERY COOL WITHOUT TRYING IN THE SLIGHTEST, AND FLOWERY DEFINITELY AGREES THAT'S WHAT THE NARRATOR SAID! AND I SPARE ONCE MORE, AND GAME ME SAYS SOMEONE LIKE ME IS REALLY RARE! WHICH I AM HIM! AND THE AIR ALSO SMELLS LIKE BONES, AND I SPARE ONCE MORE! GAME ME TALKS ABOUT DATING, AND STARTS CACKLING! I SPARE AGAIN, AND FLOWERY HAS DIED OF BOREDOM, OH NO!! I BETTER FINISH THE BATTLE QUICKLY!
GAME ME TELLS ME TO GIVE UP, WHICH I WILL NOT DO! AND THEN HE THREATENS TO USE HIS SPECIAL ATTACK! AND THEN HE THREATENS TO USE IT ANOTHER THREE TIMES! AND THEN THE GAME IS SUPER ACCURATE YET AGAIN UNFORTUNATELY, AND I USE MY SUPER COOL REGULAR ATTACK! AND GAME ME SPARES ME, AND THE BATTLE IS OVER AND FLOWERY IS ALIVE AGAIN HOORAY! BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDUELED DESCRIPTIVE PLAYTHROUGH!
THE FOG FADES AWAY, AND THE GREAT PAPYRUS WALLOWS IN SORROW AND DEFEAT. "NYOO HOO HOO!" HE CRIES OUT, AS HE SHAMES HIMSELF OUT OF SADNESS! BUT WORRY NOT, DEAR PAPYRUS! FOR I, THE GREAT COOL HUMAN, AKA FRISK, HAVE DECIDED TO BE YOUR VERY COOL FRIEND! THE GREAT PAPYRUS CHEERS UP IMMEDIATELY, VERY GRATEFUL TO HAVE ANOTHER FRIEND! THE GREAT PAPYRUS GIVES DIRECTIONS TO THE SURFACE, AND TALKS ABOUT THE GREAT KING ASGORE! AND THEN HE FLIES BACK HOME SATISFIED WITH THE RESULTS OF THIS DUEL! BUT PAPYRUS' GREAT STORY DOESN'T END THERE, FOR FRISK WILL BE COMING BACK TO HIS HOUSE TO DATE HIM, NEXT TIME ON PAPYRUS AND FLOWERY PLAY UNDERTALE AND REGURGITATE THE KNOWLEDGE BACK TO YOU!!
-NYEHFULLY YOURS, PAPYRUS AND FLOWERY

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I've been working my way backwards to complete puzzles I've started but not finished on the NYT crossword app. A few times there has been a bug where the timer would start at zero even though I had almost all of the puzzle finished already. This has ended up with a Monday best time of 2:00 and Tuesday best time of about 3:00.
It isn't a huge deal but I enjoy trying to beat my times and I'm no where near good enough to match those times.
Anyone have any suggestions?

I made a new crossword game! www.pyramini.com
I love the NYT mini crossword and came up with this derivative. Please try it out and let me know what you think! Open to any and all suggestions; hope you enjoy!
*I just added a feature where you can play previous pyraminis by clicking the calendar icon, check it out if you want to play more!
https://preview.redd.it/0xulq9fj9u2b1.jpg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=076d130061172681062020760e960be9d0327273

Hi everyone, as a Canadian I had a question about the current Debt Ceiling debacle in the US, and I was hoping some of you could help me see what I'm missing. My understanding of the situation (from Ezra's podcast and other NYT articles) is that the populist, far-right faction of the Republican party is essentially holding McCarthy hostage and as a result he is being more of a hardliner than he would otherwise be. They're able to hold him hostage because without them (I think there are around ~15 of them) the Republican party does not hold enough seats in Congress to make McCarthy Speaker of the House. Now here's what I'm having trouble understanding, isn't a nice easy solution to this for the Democrats to just pick 15 of their most moderate/right-leaning congressmen to vote for McCarthy? Wouldn't that be a good way to totally bypass the influence that the small populist faction of the Republican party has? Obviously there's a list of objections one could make to this, but is there any institutional reason/rule making it so this kind of strategy can't work? Just to save myself the time from responding to comments, here are some practical reasons I think McCarthy/Democrats don't want to take this approach:

1. McCarthy would look very weak, and might have a hard time getting re-elected
2. McCarthy is further right than he portrays, and likes blaming the populists for decisions he ultimately supports
3. Democrats don't want to be seen as collaborating with Republicans, it makes them look weak as a party
4. If Democrats are open to it, the next 15 most-right Republicans will take the place of the current 15 far-right Republicans and try and hold McCarthy hostage
5. No Democrat wants to vote for a Republican for Speaker of the House as it might make them look weak in a reelection bid (though I think this isn't a strong argument for Democrats in very competitive districts)
6. There's a great deal of theatrics going on about the Debt Ceiling, but both parties are fairly certain it will be lifted and see no need to take risks of this kind

Anyways these are all fine reasons for the most part. It just seems to me so much of the rhetoric is about the influence that this handful of Republican congressmen that it's weird no one has brought up a solution like this.

I hardly ever read NYT articles, but whenever I do, I get the alert saying I've used up my 10 free ones for the month.
So now I'm wondering if using the Bee hints counts as reading a NYT article. (There's no 2 letter grid in Safari)
I don't look at the crossword puzzle write ups much either, but maybe those count too.

Apologies this is late, I completely lost track of the date/time difference!
Disclaimer: I am very grateful to have had a lot of parental assistance over the years and also have serious mental health diagnosis, both of these flavour my money choices heavily (e.g. private healthcare and lack of car loan/insurance)
I am also heavily pregnant so please excuse any baby brain related errors!
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START SCENE
Retirement Balance: $62,000
Equity: $35k of a $680k property, we bought our 3 bedroom apartment last year using my parents’ equity, so no deposit was required.
Savings account balance: 20k - a lot of health/baby related costs have come out of it lately!
Credit card debt (and how you accumulated it): $800 which I pay off each monthly pay, if it wasn’t for the grocery rebates I’d consider getting rid of it.
Student loan debt (HECS): BA in passion/fun area, then IT/Accounting degree, very proud to say I am down to my final $19k!
My husband P earns around $90,000 in healthcare but can be more with overtime, he has around $30k in super and his HECS debt is due to be wiped out following our recent election so won’t be including that.
Section Two: Income
Income Progression: I had been working in retail full time after loving full time work instead of uni, until my transition to IT so started as a retail casual worker on $30k 10 years ago and changed to IT 6 years ago, jumping from $55k to $95k in that time, mostly through promotions, 1 company merger and 2 company changes.
Main Job Monthly Take Home: I am paid $5200 monthly and P is paid fortnightly at $2400 to $3000 depending on his shifts. Both our pay excludes tax, HECS payment and medicare levy, his pay includes salary packaging.
Section Three: Expenses
Mortgage: 3150 (locked rate until next year, pending interest rise)
Savings contribution: $500
Donations: $25-75 a month mostly to various MH organisations
Electric/Council/Water: 400 (we’re currently overpaying ahead of Mat leave)
Internet/our mobile phones: $320 (we’re currently overpaying ahead of Mat leave)
Subscriptions (Newspapers (NYT, SMH), Youtube, Xbox, online backups/cloud, VPN, pregnancy app, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Bitlocker, UberOne, Spotify Duo): $110
Private Health insurance: $420 for Top CoveTop Extras + pregnancy
Car insurance: covered in my parents plan, our car was a gift from my parents
Regular therapy: Psychologist $220/fortnight and psychiatrist $280/quarter
Transfer to P for things like fuel: $500
7 Day Money diary:
Thursday:
5am
I’m staring at the ceiling while the baby kicks my kidney, P snoring next to me, contemplating my existence. I’m trying not to start ‘the list’ run through in my head (buy milk, have I booked my next blood test, where is my winter coat, etc).
5.30am
Give up on sleep and get up for the day, I make a weak coffee for me and a regular coffee for P (I like the taste of coffee, weak lets me have 2-3 cups throughout the day without hitting my pregnant caffeine limit) and start packing up my lunch and bags for work. It’s OB day so I won’t be in the office until 10am today.
9am
After a dance party in the car we’re at the OB, all good news and another list of final scans and tests, we’re now in the downhill run! I pay for my last half of (private) OB management fee since we’re passed 28 weeks now. ($2500 (Medicare rebate soon: $580))
Stop at a bakery to treat myself before work, danishes are the breakfast of champions! ($12.00)
2pm
Last vendor meeting of the day, and i’m ready to take a nap. I’ve decided to spend the rest of the afternoon working on my handover document, I’ve only got 8 weeks to go before Mat leave!
3pm
Text my psych to convert our Saturday afternoon to a Zoom call, I’m not up for extra waddling to the train this week.
5pm
Spend the train ride home working on my crackhead baby spreadsheet (colour-coded, multi tabbed, shopping list, meal prep list, etc) and researching baby items.
P meets me at the station to grab my bags and we walk home, well he walks ahead and I move at a more stately pace.
7pm
Crawl into bed with a bowl of pasta and Ambulance UK on the iPad, kitten at my feet, older cat at my hip. Eventually P awkwardly maneuvers around blankets, my pregnancy pillow and cats.
11pm
Spontaneously adding to my online chemist wishlist of things I need for post birth and hospital bag. Cats and P grumble when I once again get up to pee, pregnancy feels so glamorous now.
Total: 2512.00 (pending MR)
Friday:
6am
Wander around the apartment with coffee in hand and contemplate the nursery layout options, I’ll measure it all tonight and make a floor plan so I can visualise it better. After boarding the train, I scroll through my due date Bump Group on Discord and catch up on the topics, many of the mum’s are NA based so the chat pops off 12am - 4am my time. I message a few friends and my bestie spams me with tiktoks. We tell a few dark MH jokes and I try not to laugh on the train.
8am
Arrive at the office, coffee number 2 in hand and I jump into a few Teams chats with various groups, including my manager and counterparts in another city’s office. They’re in a different time zone ahead of us so they flag any issues that started earlier our time and I’m grateful.
1.30pm
Where the hell did today go? I’ve barely left my desk and can’t believe the amount of firefighting I’ve been doing today, following up vendors, coordinating fallback solutions for outages, soothing ruffled feathers and talking team off the ledge in stressful situations.
I’ve definitely not eaten enough today and decide to place an ubereats order instead of raiding my mini fridge stash - Subway it is! ($18.97)
I spend my lunch break reading my latest pregnancy/birth book (The Complete Australian Guide to Pregnancy and Birth) and it’s honestly my favourite one I’ve read so far. I’m also a big fan of the podcast the authors run. I have queued up this week’s episode for the trip home as the mum featured has a similar mental health issue to me and I’m excited to hear her journey, also to get ideas for things to raise with my care team.
5pm
Security protocols kick us out of the office building and I am thrilled to escape! P picks me up from work since he’s off today, and my hips and feet are very grateful. There’s a quick stop in at Coles for pizza ingredients, milk and the very essential choc chip waffles. ($46.94)
Once we’re home P feeds the cats and unpacks while I get started on the bases, my birthday present last month was a KitchenAid and at the rate I’m going the cost per use is coming out pretty damn good! I leave the base to rise, pop my feet up and do my nightly blood pressure (127/82) which I log into my health app. I also add my weight from yesterday’s OB appointment and I'm thrilled to say I’ve stopped losing weight now the suspected HG has finally settled.
7pm
Take several brag photos of my pizzas #homemade and settled in front of the TV with blankets, footrest and P. I do send P back to the kitchen twice for serviettes and my water bottle, but once I’m settled, I’m not bloody moving.
I queue up the latest Top Chef (International All Stars Season 20) on Plex and get ready to support my fellow Aussie! P grumbles about my fixation with Top Chef, but all he gets is side eye in response. It’s a great episode for creativity, he even admits the winning dish is impressive. He vanishes the second the episode’s over for his office and a rewatch of the extended, super, mega, special edition of The Hobbit. I move on to Ambulance UK and annoy him over text with questions about the medical terminology being used.
8pm
Bedtime with a heat pack as my back is killing me! I try to convince P to come to bed and hold it against me since bubs is not allowing stomach laying anymore.
8.30pm
Success! P is helpfully holding it against me while I finish the episode and scroll the Iconic. Oh no! There’s now Stanley cups on there, I add it to my wishlist and promise myself I’ll think about it first. I want to also be a chic put together Stanley cup girlie!
Total: 65.91
Saturday:
3am
Back scrolling the Iconic and on a hunch check my credits (after rage returning maternity clothes a few weeks ago) and bingo there’s a credit there. I play around with wishlist items and stacking discounts, there’s a pale pink theme developing between the pink pregnancy overalls and the Stanley cup.
3.30am
Screw it, I’m ordering (10 points if you can guess what room of the apartment I made this order from) and it’s all due this afternoon except the pregnancy belt I've been grumbling about wanting. ($14.95)
9am
P brings me coffee, the kitten and the statement that he’s approved our Medicare Safety Net balance (he’s our primary family member) which means the rest of our refunds will be great going forward!! I’m very excited for 90% back on out of pocket costs for most medical things from now until December. Between my mental health and pregnancy I’ve beaten my normal record of September for the max you can pay OOP.
12pm
I’m sitting on the floor in the nursery trying to sort out piles of tiny clothes and remember to get P to help me off the floor before he heads to work. I head to the kitchen and start the bread process, I make our bread from scratch every weekend and the KitchenAid has made this sooo much easier. I decide one x1 wholemeal seed bread for P and x1 rosemary focaccia for me. Once they’re rising I head off to bed for a nap before therapy this afternoon.
3pm
I made myself some tea and washed my face to prepare for therapy as I woke up from my nap feeling like I was on another planet. I head into my office, no no now the nursery, damn I slightly tear up at the thought of my nice office now being a small desk in the corner. Well that can be another topic for my session today!
3.30pm
My psych and I go over all of the last 3 weeks worth of appointments with my health team and what my next steps are. I need to sort out my postpartum stay referral and lock in when I’m starting my top up meds. We talk through some of my work frustrations (not clear cut sexism but a level of obliviousness some of male managers are showing) and how I’m tracking mood/symptoms wise across the pregnancy. We’re both very aware that the final few weeks of pregnancy and the accompanying hormones can cause serious issues, so we go over warning signs and coping mechanisms. We go over the difference between ‘normal pregnancy feelings’ and my mental health condition feelings.($220)
4.30pm
Session done and my bread has all risen nicely despite the cold weather, I start the baking process and contemplate dinner. P is at work until 10pm so I’m on my own, which means all the Top Chef reruns and Ambulance UK my heart desires! I have a craving for spätzl so dig that out of the cupboard and defrost the schnitzel.
Iconic delivery!! I am officially a Stanley cup owner! I ordered the original, not the soft matte because Tiktok told me to, so I’m hoping I’ve made the right choice. Something about cold water through a straw just hits the spot. My glittery Starbucks cup looks on in disgust.
10pm
P finds me at my desk working on my spreadsheet of crazy, I mean baby, and is impressed but also too tired to focus on it now. I hear him calmly explain to the kitten that he can’t join him in the shower but he isn’t entirely successful.
We get into bed and P puts headphones in so I can drift off faster (or because I threatened more Ambulance UK? We’ll never know!).
Total: $234.95 (pending MR)
Sunday:
4am
And I’m up early again, my passenger is apparently an early riser these days which leads to me looking down and asking for more sleep “pleeeeease!” I try 37 positions and try to get comfy before finally drifting off again.
8am
I steal P’s dressing gown (mine’s now got an awkward gap due to the bump) and start the coffee process, the kitten joins me after finding a piece of plastic to pinball around the kitchen with, I am not coordinated enough these days to dodge him so I remove him and plastic to the living room.
I’m craving an egg muffin so I cook some sausages, eggs and toast english muffins and enjoy a mindless tiktok scroll while I eat.
12pm
I’m surprisingly tired after doing nothing all morning and head back to bed for a nap. I really hope the tiredness isn’t a sign my illness from last week is back! I’ve got a support group meeting in a few hours so I set an alarm.
2pm
I join the support group Zoom and immediately hear about how many people are sick or recovering from some flu or cold thing. There’s a lot of bugs going around at the moment! I meet some new people who have the same disorder or same ‘family’ of disorders as me and I update the group on my pregnancy journey. I really bond with 2 of the new ladies and I offer my email up to both to keep in touch before next week’s meeting.
5pm
I’m happily browsing Facebook Marketplace for baby things when Mum calls, she’s been shopping for baby (uh oh) and is excited to tell me about it. Amazingly she’s bought a bedside bassinet very similar to the one I was planning on buying secondhand and a safari themed lamp for the nursery. She’s also ended up with a high chair for their house on the coast and a bunch of themed fabric for swaddles, pillows, etc.
Total: 0.00 thanks Mum!
Monday
7am
I wake with my alarm for once, which would be odd except for how awful I feel. I end up deciding to call in sick, the flu thing that knocked me around until early last week appears to be back. Pregnancy means lots of cold/flu meds etc are not an option so I can’t soldier on. I alert my manager, set my team up with urgent tasks, chuck my OOO on and crawl back into bed.
A few things debit like SMH and Youtube (accounted for in monthly expenses above)
10am
I open my phone to a flurry of emails on my personal account, OH! It’s healthcare cover day! We have finished all our waiting periods and the beacons are lit! Let the floodgates of services and information begin! Our hospital and health fund both email to welcome me to their online learning platforms.
11am
A nice lady from our health fund calls to give me the spiel. I'd normally be wary about what all these amazing services are going to cost, but it’s all covered! She tells me about the learning platform (Nourish), the sleep clinic calls I’ll get after the baby's arrival and the welcome pack I’m going to be mailed. I get my login details as soon as we hangup, another fun thing to explore tonight once I’m feeling human again.
P is amused by how excited I am for all this information, he does caution me against over planning/over researching which is something I’ve been working on with my psych. I struggle to find a good balance between planning for problems and over planning to the point of stress. It’s a work in progress. I suspect I’ll always have issues with control/over planning.
4pm
I’ve napped most of the day, dealt with 1 urgent work issue and am now getting access to the hospital’s learning platform (Cradle). I'm grateful they’re short 5-7 minute long videos so put some on the iPad while I make tea and toast before deciding to tackle the nursery again.
7pm
Mum calls about more baby things - they’ve bought me a change table!? I’m slightly annoyed then I’m thrilled - it’s a brand I like that’s normally $400 ish for $30 at auction yesterday (a Sunday afternoon family hobby). They've just collected it, they’re going to sand and paint it for me in a nice green for the safari nursery. Another thing ticked off the baby spreadsheet.
Dinner tonight was heated up leftovers, I’m too tired for cooking.
Hmm blood pressure is high, I hope this is just sickness related and log it in my app.
8pm
Bed time! Despite sleeping all day I am exhausted and pass out almost immediately.
Total: 0.00 thanks again Mum!
Tuesday
11am
I’m in the office however I cannot tell you what I’ve done today, it’s all a blur and when I sit down with my ipad to make notes for this money diary my brain goes blank. I scroll through my sent emails and can see I’ve sent 26 emails (herding a difficult vendor, setting up meetings for later in the week, submitting my sick leave for yesterday and setting up a new starter orientation). I make another coffee and realise the mini fridge hasn’t been restocked (because I am the one that stocks it each week sigh). I jump online and do a grocery order - yogurt, cheese, salami, tomato paste, sliced bread, babybel cheese, apples and several juices) (52.00) it’s due in next 2 hours.
1pm
I make myself toasted sandwiches and try not to eat the entire packet of babybel. My work lunch group tells hilarious stories from their level of the office and it’s a nice escape from my level’s workload.
2pm
I send off my psychiatrist's referral for my private postpartum care stay (1-3 weeks long) and check it’s all covered with my health care fund (it is!). The private place I’ll be staying at calls me to check in, advise me of next steps and to give me my tentative booking date of 1 week after birth. I’ve got a spare 20 mins so do my intake assessment with them over the phone and get the all clear to be accepted in a few weeks. I’ll get another assessment 2-4 days after I give birth just to make sure I’m still a good candidate. I look over the welcome pack, what to bring lists and advice on partner overnight stays that all hit my email when I hang up. I forward the relevant bits to P and jump back into work.
5pm
An afternoon of meetings meant I did no deep/focus work or work on my handover, but I accept that and move on. I top up my Opal card for the week (50.00) via the app and it’s loaded by the time I’m tapping on the train. I’d normally account for this in the expenses up top but my train trips are very sporadic right now due to pregnancy waddle, so I’ve been carpooling with coworkers and P has been collecting me if his shifts line up along with the occasional UbeShebah.
5.15pm
I’m pinged regarding a site issue and it looks like the site is down. I jump on via my phone and iPad while on the train, I also start my time tracker for out of hours work. I scrap the conference call between my team and the vendor at 6pm and instruct the site to rollover to fallback mode, my team member gets them online again. I email my manager a quick update and switch back to tiktok scrolling. I’m really enjoying not having to fight for a seat most train trips now since I’m so visibly pregnant!
6.30pm
P meets me at the station again, is horrified that I’m dragging 3 books, several cups to wash, my coat (I overheated on the train) and my iPad around in multiple bags, he snatches it all and we start the walk home.
He’s made bolognese and it is the best smell to walk into after a cold day! I smother mine in cheese and prop my feet up to depuff. Then I puppy dog eyes at him and he agrees to Ambulance UK, we’re now in the London seasons and I’m loving the big city vibes. He still cringes at the medical sounds, but takes the time to explain how these patients would be treated at his hospital after their ambulance trips. I enjoy his commentary and it adds a background I would never normally know about.
8pm
I take my blood pressure and it’s high for the 2nd night, I’m a bit concerned but trying not to stress. It’s not 160/100 aka get your butt to ED but it’s still over normal. I log it in my health app and make a note to monitor it and call the OB if it’s up again tomorrow.
I message a friend about his opinion of epidurals (since he does them all day) and ask for the dumbed down reality check, he’s been an amazing support this pregnancy so I know he’ll give me a great answer, and he replies back with all the pros/cons as well as the common issues and how they get fixed. He reminds me to ask my OB since I’ve got pregnancy hypertension, it’s likely I would almost benefit from that common side effect and I make a note in my phone to ask at the next appointment.
Total: $102.00
Wednesday
5am
Coffee, kitten pats, older cat snuggles and then a small cry because I forgot to wash my preferred pregnancy leggings. I thankfully remember I’ve got an onsite vendor meeting today so don’t dress like a potato! I still wear Stan Smith’s but a cute knit dress and scarf up top so I look presentable. I bathe in embryolisse cream after washing my face (fun pregnancy fact - you can develop dry skin patches that make you look like a lizard!) and actually put some makeup on (Charlotte Tilbury base, YSL touche elcat, innisfree powder, lancome mascara and CT blush) followed by Replica’s By the Fireplace perfume. Ready for battle!
7am
On the train scrolling through the morning reports, I’m relieved to see all systems are reporting green after a few small hiccups yesterday. I move onto discord and catch up the overnight conversations in bump group.
9am
Quick catchup with my team and then I spend the morning preparing for the big cross time zone/country catch up with all IT team leads also updating my WIP tracker. I obviously then forget to save it and rage stomp off to the kitchen to make conciliation coffee.
I rage shop for KitchenAid accessories but don’t actually buy anything and my manager comforts me over teams.
12pm
I’m wrapping up in person site meetings to see a bunch of messages from P, he’s grocery shopping and querying baby wipe brands. (One of the best tips I got was to buy a pack of nappies and wipes each grocery trip to build your stockpile so it’s not such a shock, since newborns go through 10 nappies a day!). I reply but I’m a bit late and he finishes in Aldi, Coles and the butchers for the next fortnight (389.23). I’m getting very over this cost of living price increase on basic things like milk. He’s a smart shopper so I know that he didn’t overdo it.
3pm
I’ve taken my blood pressure a few times today and it keeps coming back high. I ring the OB’s office and book in for tomorrow morning (spoiler: my blood pressure meds are increased and I’m asked to check in with my pregnancy nephrologist sooner)
4pm
What the hell is this debit? Oh it’s the meal delivery service I forgot to suspend this week, guess we’re going to be a bit overstocked on food this week. I’m just going to class this as idiot/baby brain tax. (69.95)
5pm
P collects me and I have a small cry in the carpark, he’s had the baby capsule installed and driven to collect me with it so I can see it. Things are starting to feel very real now! I practice removing it and carrying it up to the apartment when we get home.
Leftover bolognese for dinner and we do separate screen time. I head to my computer after a bit to review my spreadsheet, since P has smashed out a bunch of things today in Baby Bunting. Nappy bin, capsule + install and baby bath are all ticked off! I get the receipts off our emails to log the costs (375.16)
7pm
Mexican bowls for dinner and we decide to try out the new RPA reboot that’s recently come back to TV (from the 90s!). I honestly hate every minute of it, the talking heads are really cringe and after the gritty realism of Ambulance UK (and Nurses Down Under) I can’t cope with it. We switch over to Ambulance UK after 1 episode and discuss deleting the rest. I was also really disappointed by how “doctor focussed” it was to the point where the nurses and allied health professionals (physios, ambos, etc) were cut out of certain shots, but you could still see their hands or shoes, that’s just not reality in Australian healthcare they’re the people patients see 90% of the time! Okay getting off my soapbox now.
8pm
I start my out of hours tracker and handle an issue for a site 3 hours behind me, in the end the onsite team and I get our part done, one of the vendors does not. We decide to tackle it tomorrow and a flick off a complaint to our account manage regarding this vendor rep. I notice a few of my counterparts are all in a teams call in their timezone and realise they must be cutting over a new system since it’s so late their time. I make a note to not bother them first thing tomorrow since they’ll likely all be start late.
9pm
Yep blood pressure is still high, so I’m glad I’ve got the appointment booked for the first thing tomorrow. P takes it for me twice just in case I’m doing something wrong with the cuff but unfortunately it’s still high. I’ve finished my new pregnancy book and I would recommend it to any Aussie mums or dads to be out there, P even flicks through it.
Why are both cats trying to sit on me? Oh we forgot to feed them! I sort them out and all is well again in their world.
10pm
My glorious bed calls me to me and I bundle myself up in the blankets, scroll through tiktok and happy cry at birth videos.
Total: 834.34
END SCENE
Weekly Total: $3749.20
Food + Drink: 589.09
Fun / Entertainment: 0.00
Home + Health: 2720.00
Clothes + Beauty: 14.95
Transport: 50.00
Other (Baby): 375.16
REFLECTION:
Besides the health care costs, this is a pretty normal week for me! I’m obviously thrilled to hit the Medicare max as this makes things so much easier with health care costs. I feel really relieved to know all my future costs are being covered by private health or what isn't is at a higher rebate now. Seeing my hospital estimate last week (before private health covers 95%) was really confronting and made me briefly reconsider my choice to go private, but the things that are now covered by health fund are amazing and worth nearly $30k over the first 3 months of the baby's life (especially if we end up needing special care nursery).
I’m pretty impressed about how many wtf and ffs I say in real life that I’ve removed from this diary. I find the Aussie approach to swearing can be a bit relaxed haha, so I did my best for you guys!
The impact of the baby brain is very real, aside from mental blanks at work, I had to check things like my subscriptions and ask P a few times, since so much of it is bpay and auto-debit, I don’t pay attention to it! There’s a few charges we have always had historically like tolls and ubereats that we’ve cut way back over the past few months.
I'm also considering a "what it costs to have a private baby in Aus" as well as a follow up in a few months once I've settled into Maternity Leave life (minimum wage, not my current salary) because tracking was fascinating and I'm a data hoarder.
Happy to answer any questions in the comments if I've explained something poorly.

The Wordle website can be played on NYT. So, I was guessing which was the real Wordle.
Wordle by Lion Studios Plus:
Or NYT Wordle and other games:

I’m pretty new to solving crosswords, and just signed up for the NYT games account. I’ve been doing the mini every day for about two months, and usually spend around 2 hours per full puzzle. Today (Friday, May 26, 2023) the mini has a strange format for all the clues. Some letters are replaced with an * (it’s pretty easy to figure out what the missing letters are, but I’m avoiding a spoiler here). One of the clues says the answer is a key for deciphering the missing letters in the clues. What am I missing? Does the author really think that people somehow can’t figure out what all the missing letters are without this clue? When the puzzle was complete, and I knew what the answer was to that clue, I’m clueless how that answer would have helped if I did need that clue to find the missing letters.