While I am celebrating today, I do wonder why the US has to hit rock bottom before it can manage to stem the tide of [insert the word - fascism, racism, every type of 'ism and 'phobia].
Maybe today is not the day for this, but the world and the US still have to suffer two more years of Trump.
Today I am buying some champagne and snacks foods, and will watch #USpol for the first time in 2 years.
This morning I have hand-written A3 sheets of paper with all the House and Senate seats to be decided and another sheet with all the key races to watch.
I am not back in the office until Friday, so I have two full days of poll watching.
As an Australian, will I be disappointed?
Here I was, fearing the wrong animal all along:
"Cat-related hospitalisations have almost tripled in the past decade, rising from 1,219 cases in 2015–16 to 3,459 in 2024–25. It's even more common than venomous snake bites..." in Australia.
Happy #Caturday
Has anyone ever looked themselves up in AI mode?
Either their real name or their Mastodon handle?
I was thinking about a friend of mine who died, so I stuck her name in my search engine to pull a photo because she'd been in the newspaper once.
Her AI bio came up first. I usually scroll straight by but I was curious to see what it said. Apart from a incorrect birth date, it was scarily accurate.
My name search was accurate too.
My Mastodon handle uncovers my identity.
But it is wrong as wrong can be. Although I am flattered to be identified as Ewen Bell @ewen
"@HalbHalb is a Mastodon account operated by Ewen Bell, an Australian photographer, on the Australian-centric Mastodon instance The Blower."
Sorry Ewen!
Although your account looks good and I'll follow you now! 😂
#AI Still getting it terribly wrong!
It's just past 4pm, and at least 4 camp-fires are already blazing within 25m of me.
Must be wine o'clock! 😂
Possibly a bit of repetition here (this is my third or fourth time staying here with Dave), but this is a lovely free camp site, with a clean hybrid drop toilet.
People are friendly and it is close enough to Adelaide to be a good overnighter. Maximum stay of 72 hours.
Thought I'd visit before bird flu takes all our pelicans and other precious Coorong birdlife.
Narrung. Ngarrindjeri land.
Look, I don't want to have to share this article. But the statistics are scary and the risks are real.
Young women/girls are dying and suffering permanent brain injury.
This is not a game.
First rays of sunrise hit the red rock of Uluru.
I'm at the first lookout point on the Valley of the Winds walk at Kata Tjuta.
There is no photography allowed here, so I'll just tell you it's stunning.
I can hear voices echoing on the rock, from others hikers unseen, but ahead of me.
There are also bird calls and the wind whistling through the "many heads" of Kata Tjuta.
No wonder it is such a special place.
Sunrise. Cloudless again. Sunrises = Sunsets, except at different points of the compass.
On the road again. Coober Pedy to the SA/ NT border today. Uluru on Monday.
Might be out of range tonight.
I have seen all I want to see in Coober Pedy.
Should I:
In Port Augusta. About to turn north along the Stuart Highway.
Here are three of the 30+ of the creek crossings yesterday. The one with the branch is where my feet went in the drink...
Today I overdid it. 25km, 40,000+ steps, 8hrs of walking.
I think I did at least 30+ creek crossings. I walked with wet socks and shoes for half of it.
Problem was when I had taken 20 mins to do creek crossing number 5, I told myself I feared the known, rather than the unknown.
Anyway, I made it back without falling over, although I threatened to many times.
Bed now. Too tired to walk further to post pics...
Goodnight!
I am somewhere utterly gorgeous in the Southern Flinders Ranges, but my campsite is out of range.
Limited range when I walk a few hundred metres away from camp.
Might check in before I go to bed, but otherwise catch you on the flipside.
It's raining today. The house is clean, food is pre-prepared in the fridge for a few days, I have no commitments.
I want to watch a TV series all day, while doom scrolling on my couch, under blankets.
I have Netflix, and all the free to air TV apps (iView, SBS on demand, etc).
I am taking suggestions...
Not sure if there is something wrong with my internet connection or if something is wrong with The Blower, but my Home timeline currently says:
"Your home timeline is empty! Follow more people to fill it up."
And the last Notification I have listed is from 18 hours ago, and I know that is not correct.
While I am sure some people may have legitimately blocked me (it happens, meh!), I doubt you all have...
The #Aurora is on the way southern Australia and New Zealand...and it is a big one!
Seems like a very pointed message is being sent:
"When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognise courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist."
