Random tangent (blog)
Ameel Khan's personal blog. This is a blog about life, technology, the internet, science, skepticism, feminism, books, film, music, and whatever other random stuff I come across or happen to be interested in today.
It’s nice to have a dog that responds well to antihistamines. Instead of congested snoring while you’re trying to work you get adorable, quiet snoring :)
Photo of a red/brown dog curled up and asleep in a fuzzy orange bed. The dog’s face is nuzzled into the wall of the bed, and it has its paws tucked up in front of it.
Yay for homemade, gluten free, sweet potato pie!
This is the first time I’ve made this pie and also first time I’ve made gluten free shortcrust pastry from scratch. Both turned out really well :)
Photo of a hand holding up a small plate on which there’s a slice of homemade sweet potato pie.
Might not be a lovely, sunny day in Melbourne today, but we still had a lovely walk in the drizzle.
Selfie of a man walking a red/brown dog on a residential street on an rainy day. The man is wearing a light grey rain jacket with the hood pulled over his head. The jacket is wet in large patches. The dog is on a grass strip next to the road and is looking at something off-camera.
When the human has stayed up way past your bedtime…but you don’t want to abandon your awake human to go sleep in the bedroom with your asleep human.
Photo of a red/brown dog fast asleep inside of a round, fuzzy, orange dog bed. The dog is curled up on its side with its face smushed against the fuzzy wall, and with all four of its paws in front of it.
Turns out if you need to pour cement into a block at the back of a good sized residential property then this is the crane you need.
Photo of two trucks parked back-to-back on a residential street. One truck is a cement mixer and the other truck has a tall crane on it. The two are connected via a large pipe.
It might be loud, but it certainly does the job.
Photo of a truck parked on a residential street. The truck has a tall crane built into it. The crane has a long pipe running through it. The pipe is pouring concrete into the very back of an empty plot of land.
It is a little disconcerting to have a four story tall crane teaching into the sky just a couple of houses away from yours though!
Photo of a residential street with cars parked on it. Also on the street is a truck with a four story tall crane that is reaching out to the back of one of the properties on this street.
The Australian federal election has been called for 21 May 2022.
As a result, ABC have launched the 2022 version of their Vote Compass, which is “a tool developed by political scientists to help you explore how your views align with those of the election candidates”.
No surprises on where I fall along that spectrum.
Screenshot titled “Vote Compass” and “Australia 2022 Federal Election”. Below that there are two visuals.
One is a grid chart titled “How you fit in the political landscape”. The horizontal axis of this chart shows whether you’re on the economic left or right; the vertical axis shows whether you’re socially conservative or progressive. In the economic right and socially conservative corner is a marker for the Liberal-National Coalition (LNP). Close to the exact middle is a marker for the Australian Labor Party (ALP). In the economic left and socially progressive corner is a marker for the Australian Greens (GRN). In the top left quadrant (economically left and socially progression) is a marker that shows where I stand. This is located between the Greens and the ALP, but much closer to the Greens.
The second visual is a bar chart titled “How much agree with the parties” and it shows that I agree 90% with the Australian Greens, 60% with the Australian Labor Party, and 33% with the Liberal-National Coalition.
And not just one, but two packets of chips to yearn for!
Photo of a red/brown dog on a red leash twisting its head sideways as it tries to reach for a couple of brightly coloured empty packets of potato chips mere centimetres away from her on the other side of a chain link fence.
Another year, another fantastic Barbell Babes Brigade lifting party for Nadia – with one equal and two new personal bests!
Photo of a woman in a large indoor power lifting gym. The woman is wearing black exercise gear, wrist straps, and a lifting belt and is smiling at the camera. She is leaning on a barbell with heavy weights on it that’s been placed on a lifting rack.
This year’s results:
Squat: 90kg
Bench press: 50kg
Deadlift: 107.5kg (up from 65kg just two years ago!)
Photo of a woman smiling broadly at the camera. The woman is wearing a sleeveless black exercise top and is standing in a large power lifting gym.
#JustStrong
Photo of the back of a woman’s head. The woman is standing in a large power lifting gym. She is wearing a sleeveless black exercise top and her hair has been arranged into a bun that’s being held together with paint brushes.
Maggie was only a little stressed at the vet today. Her visits usually end up net positive though, because the *second* the vet gives her a treat all her stress goes out the window :)
Photo of a red/brown dog standing in a large waiting area, looking up at the photographer. The dog’s mouth is open because she’s panting and her ears are pulled back slightly from the typical alert position. She looks a little stressed.
Two years ago today I wrote this on the whiteboard next to where my team sits in the office. I guess “foreseeable future” was right because, in this post-vaccine stage of the pandemic, we’re all still working from home.
Photo of a whiteboard on which there is text that reads: “Looking for the Digital & Social Media team? We’re all working from home for the foreseeable future. Contact us via Webex, phone, or email. #FlattenTheCurve #COVID_19”.
My current plan is to start going into the office one day a week from April. Maybe. I’ll still be fully N95-masked, of course. We’re not in the post-pandemic stage yet! But let’s see what happens in the next few weeks.
We’re certainly living in interesting times!
Turns out peanut butter bread is super easy to make and is quite delicious.
The recipe I followed made a relatively mild loaf, so next time I’ll make a richer, more cake-like version.
Photo of a home-baked loaf of rich brown bread cooling on top of a wire rack on a kitchen countertop.
FYI: I followed the 1932 recipe in this video (which is from the US Great Depression) and I’ll try Dylan’s own peanut butter bread recipe for the next loaf.
Nadia Tweeted this:
Best part of the day. (Less so for @ameel because he has to spot me these days.) pic.twitter.com/BfgngsknPA
— Nadia Niaz (@NadiaNiaz) March 2, 2022
Which I quote-tweeted and said:
Don’t tell Nadia, but spotting her is one of my favourite things to do. Not only do I get to watch her lift ridiculously heavy weights (and increasingly heavy ones at that) I also get the opportunity to hang out with her when she's having the most fun (+ take cool photos of her)!
Photo of a strong-looking woman in a black sleeveless shirt and hair held up in a bun with paint brushes. The woman is wearing wrist straps and a thick leather belt for lifting heavy weights. She is standing in a room in front of a weight rack that has a loaded barbell on it.
Up side of wearing a well-fitted, (K)N95/P2 mask: your likelihood of contacting COVID-19 in an indoor setting is greatly reduced.
Down side of wearing a well-fitted, (K)N95/P2 mask:
Close-up selfie of a man’s face. On the man's cheek and nose are reddened indentations made by the straps of a tightly fitted faced mask. The man is sitting inside a car.
Sunday afternoons, amirite?
Close up photo of a sleeping red/brown dog with its head resting on the side of a fuzzy dog bed.
My ‘highlights of red’ outfit while walking the dog today: red sneakers, red watch strap, and red leash+collar combo. Not exactly painting the town red; more like fine lining it :)
Photo of the bottom half of a man’s outfit as he stands on the pavement next to some grass. The man is wearing a black T-shirt, olive green shorts, and red sneakers. The man’s watch is on a red strap and he is holding a red dog leash.
The best way to spend an afternoon, tbh.
Photo of a red/brown dog asleep on its side inside an enclosed dog bed cube. The dog’s face and front paws are leaning against the circular hole that is the opening of this cube.
I’ve taken today off (yay for time-in-lieu leave) so I’m doing pretty much the same too :)
Hello from Herring Island in the Yarra River in Melbourne!
Selfie of a man wearing a t-shirt, sunglasses, and a straw hat. The man is standing in an lightly wooded area that’s on an island in the middle of an urban river.
The island is a short punt ride from Richmond.
Photo of a small punt making its way across an urban river to ferry people to the other side.
It has gazebos, public barbecues, several picnic areas, toilets, and even a pottery store.
Photo of a gazebo and some park benches in a large open field surrounded by a wooded area.
Plus there’s artwork to check out. Including this one – ‘Steerage’ by Jill Peck – that you can sit in :)
Selfie of a man wearing a t-shirt, sunglasses, and a straw hat. The man is sitting inside a large piece of artwork that’s shaped like a wide boat. This “boat” is made from pieces of granite, so it looks like grey cobblestones.
It’s a lovely place for a walk and a picnic. 8/10 would recommend.
Photo of a woman in a red and black patterned dress and a straw hat walking across an open field that’s surrounded by tall trees.
*sigh*
(When you’ve been super busy at work and haven’t paid enough attention to the dog.)
Photo of a red/brown dog lying on her side in a carpeted room. The dog’s back is smooshed up against the leg and caster of an office chair. A very short distance away from the dog is a fuzzy, orange dog bed. The photographer had added bold, all-caps text on top of the three main objects in the photo. This text reads: MY CHAIR, MY DOG, and HER BED.
Important update: it’s warmer outside in the sun than it is my study.
Photo of a red/brown dog asleep on her side next to a fence in the sun.
A smidge of sunshine…
Selfie of a man walking a red/brown dog on a residential street. The man is wearing a bright blue cap and a light grey rain shell. There’s a bit of pale sunlight on the bottom half of the man’s face.
On an otherwise overcast and drizzly day.
Selfie of a man walking a red/brown dog on a residential street. The man is wearing a bright blue cap and a light grey rain shell, with the shell’s hood covering the cap. There are splotches of rain on the rain shell.
I know it’s going to be a Hot Day today, but it’s quite nice out there right now. Even if it is a smidge windy and a tad humid.
Selfie of a man wearing sunglasses and a wide brimmed hat with the sun behind the man’s head.
That said, the temperature did rise by almost three degrees in just the half hour that Maggie and I were out walking. So it’s not going to be pleasant for too much longer!
Selfie of a man walking a red/brown dog on a red leash. The man is wearing a t-shirt, sunglasses, a wide brimmed straw hat and is looking up at the camera. The dog is just behind the man, sniffing around in the grass on a nature strip at the side of a road.
This is personal website of Nadia Niaz and Ameel Zia Khan. Here we document our lives in Melbourne, Australia.
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia