mycatsays

joined 2 years ago
[–] mycatsays@aussie.zone 3 points 2 weeks ago

My brother-in-law just got a new computer and was excited that he again has a device functional enough to play Stardew, so we just started a new farm. This is the third farm I've played with him and we've never yet made it to Winter year 1 (together) as differing schedules always eventually get in the way. Going back to the beginning is grindy, but also a nice change of pace.

[–] mycatsays@aussie.zone 7 points 3 weeks ago

If it's their original thought, or I'm including their comment on the thing they shared, then I include the username.

If they've just reposted an image with no extra commentary, I only share the image and not where I found it. Since "where I found it" is not the original source, no attribution is necessary imho.

[–] mycatsays@aussie.zone 5 points 1 month ago

I was having a similar problem with another game, and I had a similar desire to learn general troubleshooting rather than have someone give me a specific fix. That said, I don't know if I can help because for me it's basically butt my head against a wall until I poke something enough that it works - usually I don't know enough to understand why the thing works.

I was installing my games onto a secondary drive. The problem turned out to be that that drive had been formatted by Windows back when my computer was set up to dual-boot. Some games still ran fine in Linux, but this particular game nothing would happen when I clicked Play. On a whim I tried installing it on the primary drive with the OS, and it worked first time. So there was something about that game that didn't work with the drive formatting.

(I've since reformatted the second hard drive so that everything should now play nice with Linux, now that I no longer have Windows. Game is fine now.)

[–] mycatsays@aussie.zone 2 points 2 months ago

Thanks!

Speed and luck are definitely stats I often overlook. I'll try to make use of them.

[–] mycatsays@aussie.zone 3 points 2 months ago (4 children)

I just picked up my old farm on Switch, now that Switch has the 1.6 update. Always takes me a while to get back into the swing of a farm when I haven't looked at it for a while.

Need to grit my teeth and dive to the bottom of the Skull Cavern. I've never made it in any of my farms. Any tips?

[–] mycatsays@aussie.zone 6 points 9 months ago

Prequel to Wall-E.

[–] mycatsays@aussie.zone 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

So I'm an American expat living in Australia. Australia has had the option to file directly to ATO, electronically, longer than I've been here. (Google suggests since 1999? So, more than 20 years.) It's an easy process if you have a straightforward tax return.

It never ceases to amaze me how far behind the rest of the world USA is in some things that just seem like really obvious solutions. Like... Why wouldn't the IRS want to get tax returns filed directly from the tax payers, skipping the middleman? At least for simple returns. More simplicity, less confusion all around if they get everyone onto the same system. Less paper to wade through, by significantly reducing paper returns. Etc.

It just seems like such a no-brainer. But I guess that's why it doesn't work in the USA. >.<

[–] mycatsays@aussie.zone 4 points 1 year ago

It's not a huge change, and day-to-day the differences will be smaller things like words that are used differently. You get used to that without even realizing it. I remember feeling very pleased the first time I naturally used the word "jumper" the way Aussies do (meaning "sweater" or "sweatshirt").

Aussies are generally friendly toward Americans, and thanks to Hollywood they tend to feel like they know a little bit about the USA which makes them interested. (When we visit my family in the US, my Aussie husband says he feels like he is in a movie. 😆)

I have never had any problem with people here not accepting me at face value despite being a foreigner and my accent giving me away. If anything, it's a talking point when getting to know a person I haven't met before. They'll often ask because they are curious, but they aren't hostile. If anything, they tend to be intrigued that I chose to live in their country instead of my country of birth.

There are systemic differences that may or may not be difficult to get your head around. For example, I didn't find the health care system very strange, because I was young enough when I moved here that I hadn't really gotten my head around how it worked in the US. But when my parents come here, they won't consider going to a doctor if they need one because insurance, even when I tell them it's a flat fee and give them the amount the local practice charges. It's just not the system they know.

As noted by others, Australia has its own issues with racism. You won't escape that by coming here, though it is different. Here it's rooted in historical treatment of Aboriginals as sub-human, and "white Australia" policies from the early 20th century. Basically white people have a superiority complex wherever you go in the world of former European colonies.

I'm not sure whether any of that actually answers your question... Please feel free to ask more if need be.

[–] mycatsays@aussie.zone 2 points 1 year ago

There is a resentment of international students who get partway through a course and then cry poor. Our university (and probably others) held a big campaign during COVID lockdowns to donate money, clothing, groceries to international students who couldn’t work and couldn’t get back home...

Understandable. I wasn't aware of international students struggling when I was at uni (doubtless there were some, I just didn't see them). COVID lockdowns and border closures were an extreme situation, and I would think there were probably some students who would have been fine normally but didn't have the extra resources to deal with that large a curveball.

Generally, I think the rules around student visas are reasonable. You're here to earn a degree, and that needs to be your focus... Not holding down a full-time job to put a roof over your head. Studying abroad is a luxury. (Of course, universities like international students because $$$...)

[–] mycatsays@aussie.zone 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Happy to answer questions!

In Australia, the big difference between domestic and international students is that domestic students costs are subsidized by the government via a federal interest-free student loan scheme, whereas international students must pay each semester up front. That cost varies depending on what you're studying. (Every university should have info on their website about international student fees.)

The other limiting thing is that on a student visa, you aren't allowed to work more than 20hr/week during the semester. So you either need to arrive with a very healthy bank account or put a lot aside during summer and winter break, in order to cover cost of living in addition to tuition. I was only able to do it because my parents were covering my tuition and accommodation.

(A possible point of interest: my bachelor's degree as a full fee paying international student in Australia ended up being cheaper than my sister's degree from a private college in the USA. Go figure!)

[–] mycatsays@aussie.zone 16 points 1 year ago (8 children)

I moved from USA to Australia for university, then got permanent residency and later citizenship. I had a pathway because of (1) having completed my tertiary degree in Australia, and (2) having a close relative who was a citizen and could sponsor my application.

Without those things, my only viable option if I wanted to stay after uni would have been to go back to the USA to work for several years in my field of study, then apply for residency on the basis of being skilled in an in-demand industry. Australia maintains a list of in-demand skills, and if your field is on the list then that pathway is open to you - but you would also need to line up a job with an employer willing to sponsor your application ( I think this is mostly just about showing that you will have employment in the relevant field, not a financial burden on the employer, though I could be wrong about that).

My advice would be to make a short list of countries you would consider living in, and then look up their immigration websites and find out which ones you might have a pathway in to (each country is going to be different). If you have family with citizenship in any other countries, begin your search there.

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