silly old moo :)

an older she/her Aussie person not interested in whatever you were about to suggest 😎 also me: @reblogsbycow + @dreamlogbycow + @finchlog522

[yubermoo]

Straight up asking me for money gets you blocked.

I don't care how good the cause or how dire your situation, if you do this I block you on sight!

However, if you believe I've donated to you before and you still need help, dm me starting with "My paypal name is ____ and I think you gave me $__ before." (I only donate over paypal so if you don't use that, do not message me please!)

New pinned 😎 16/11/2025

🔹 I'm well into adulthood and I have a fully-grown kid (she/her), of whom I'm super proud.

🔹 Cows are my fav animal. If you need a name for me you can use ubermoo or just moo. Ich habe Deutsch in die Schule gelernt, seit zehn Jahren, so I've been aware of and using the word uber since long before ride sharing apps were a thing. Also, I've been using 'ubermoo' elsewhere online for over 20 years (I'm not claiming to be the only person to do so, ofc).

🔹 I've been online for nearly 30 years now. I worked with computers for many years and have freelanced as a website designer/coder/troubleshooter. I still dream about DOS prompts sometimes.

🔹 I made this account in April 2024 to follow one person, not thinking I'd use it for much else. I've been here a few times before over the years but never stuck with it. This time however I've found heaps that interests me, so while this lasts I'm on a lot (couple of times a day at least).

🔹 I reblog to @reblogsbycow, post dreams sometimes in @dreamlogbycow, and Finch Care related things go in @finchlog522

🔹 In case it's not clear from my bio or header pic, I'm Australian (also caucasian, Anglo & European heritage). I live in a part of the east coast which is GMT+1100 October through March.

[yubermoo]

I'm ashamed to admit that as a young adult there were certain things I didn't understand, and had no idea I was missing vital information.

The one that keeps popping up in memory lately is that I had Capitalism and Democracy so welded together in my perception that when a housemate invited me to a Socialist Alliance meeting I was genuinely afraid that such a thing was illegal.

*insert never-ending facepalm here*

[yubermoo]

I used to buy this cheese for my mum, 4+ years ago, as it was her favourite. Some years earlier it used to be sold in 500g blocks and while I don't remember how much I used to pay, I do remember we were both annoyed when the block got smaller and the price went above $6. Seeing it now at over $13 is horrifying.

[yubermoo]

Ugh. Just listed something on ebay for the first time in years and was thoroughly bamboozled by the process. ☹️

[yubermoo]

As part of the pain of switching to a new phone I've had to find a new scrobble client (old one is not supported). Trying a few, various frustrations inevitably encountered 😬

One tho gave me a nice little tag cloud for my last month's listening and I figured I'd share:

I'm not on Spotify and never will be, btw.

[yubermoo]

Going thru old files stored in ancient webmail and found this from (fluff)friends which used to be on fb. I still miss my darling bonsai cow (she is my pfp btw) and wish I'd kept more screenshots.

As the game evolved we were able to add mini pets and move our main pet around on various backgrounds (known as "habis" - short for habitats) and use decos (decorations) and food items to make art.

Some people were supremely talented in this and had seemingly infinite patience for managing the fiddly layers, producing extraordinary creations! I did have several of these saved but that was 3-4 computers ago and the backups either died or were corrupt last time I looked.

So here's a simple piece I made. bonsai cow (her name is always lower case, not that it matters much now) is crushing on the highland cow (Herry Koo, a pun of hairy cow) and has a lasoo attached to her tail so she can hopefully get him close enough for a cuddle. Two mini cowes (the cow pet was officially called a cowe) are on a hill in the background, observing. Herry wears trendy blue sunglasses and a halo (cos he can do no wrong, according to bonsai cow, haha). There's a pile of dirt immediately behind him (cow pat) and some heart-shaped bubbles (fragrant fart). Art caption reads "oh look, it's Herry Koo! ;)"

The info to the right is standard (fluff)friends profile data. I've blurred my pfp and the custom subdomain link (because afaik it's obsolete now, or possibly taken over by something irrelevant).

[yubermoo]

// ableist talk

One of my friends has a habit of randomly saying offensive things then denying they are homophobic/racist/ableist/whatever when challenged.

He hasn't done it in quite a while but yesterday remarked on having seen a wheelchair user using their feet for forward motion and his thoughts were along the lines of "at least try to look disabled."

I'm better educated now than I used to be* so I know a person doesn't have to be actually paralysed to need a wheelchair; I pointed out some people can't walk far or that being upright for more than a few minutes causes pain, and it doesn't invalidate their use of mobility aids.

"I was joking," he said.

Ugh. Like that makes it ok? Not with your track record, matey!

* I would never have challenged anyone as to why they might be using something they didn't look like they needed, and I've always tried to be considerate of anyone less able-bodied than I was at whichever time, but it's only in the last five or so years that I've come to understand that ableism is deeply internalised in Western culture especially and effort must be made to unlearn it.

Also I carry a cane these days (and regularly since about 2 years ago). I need it less and less as my health improves, but the effects of past back and knee injuries linger, not to mention getting older. Mainly I need it for stairs, getting on and off public transport, and as something to lean on when my back hurts and there's nowhere to sit.

I have noticed some odd looks from time to time and I did once have to explain to a scornful teenager that "it's better to have it and not need it rather than the other way round" (he stared blankly for a second then said, "Oh, like my nan has her umbrella!")

So I'll be leaning on it waiting for the lights to change but then I carry it when I cross (tho I might be limping).

[yubermoo]

A succession of screenshots showing how fast my battery drops over a four-hour period after charging to 95% then being idle overnight.

Wasn't doing anything intensive in the active time, either - no games, no instagram, no fb. Read a few articles in the paper, cropped & saved a few screenshots (in addition to the one shown), checked the weather, checked notifs in a few apps. I close apps after use except for a couple that run in the background during the day (eg Finch Care).

Phone is 3.5 years old tho I've only been using it intensively for about 2 years (since my last tablet stopped holding charge, and not having a laptop - everything is done on phone). Given it's a higher-end model I expected better longevity ☹️

I do have a new phone to switch to, it's just taking forever trying to export data from apps that aren't supported any more to replacement apps that don't do what they're supposed to (like if I have 3,800 individual text files of up to 500 characters each that I want to import and retain existing filenames but the new app groups them by creation date and lumps every month's worth of files into one big file and gives it an arbitrary filename and loses all the formatting including line breaks, and all this because it has embedded AI I can't switch off, then that's bloody useless and I have to start again).

Yes, I do need all those files. It's health and nutrition data going back to 2017 that I reference daily. I never know when I'm going to have to check something from 2020 or 2023 or 2018 so I need all the files available offline all the time, in plain text (with markdown) and in dark mode because white backgrounds hurt my eyes.

So yeah. It's taking forever.

(bluetooth is used primarily for my fitness tracker and hearing aids btw - necessities of existence)

[yubermoo]

// weight loss milestone

For the first time in almost six years I'm under 70kg!!! approx 150lb or 10st 12lb

[yubermoo]

Today is the first time in over a week that I've felt "normal" physical-health-wise. My health scare of the 21st took overnight emergency room treatment plus a week of more-vigilant-than-usual self-care to fully go away (I'm hesitant to say "resolve" because it could easily flare up again if I don't stay vigilant, exhausting tho that is).

I've done some overdue laundry (the smallest possible amount) and now I'm resting again because my back hurts.

After seeing a story on the news last night about Glasgow taking over the Commonwealth Games I dreamt about rabbits taking the place of traffic cones. Rabbits directing traffic is generally not a good idea imo, unless the traffic is other rabbits, heheh. None came to harm, tho.

I should put that in my dreamlog ( @dreamlogbycow ) but cba atp.

[yubermoo]

Unwell ☹️

Trying to distract myself by doomscrolling cos my body keeps scaring me and I really don't want to feel sick again like last week 😭 but I think this needs heavy-duty distraction so I'm off over to insta to immerse myself in cute little animals for a bit 🥺

[yubermoo]

50 posts!

Awww 😄

[yubermoo]

Had a little health scare on the weekend and had to go to the ER. Need to look after myself better - cow maintenance as I refer to it in my diary and Finch goals. 🤭

[yubermoo]

Yesterday I did something I haven't done in more than ten years - went into town (on my way home from an appointment, mind you, cos I never have the energy to go specially) and wandered around for a couple of hours.

Main reason I haven't done it for so long was the ghastly change made to bus routes in 2015 when they started constructing the light rail (aka trams). This completely screwed with all my travel routines and meant lots of annoying faffing about to get where I wanted to go, so I just stopped going.

I'm sad that so many things have changed so drastically and that many places I used to love are now unrecognisable to the point where some barely have any appeal now. Eh, "progress," I know. But it bugs me.

One of the things I've been meaning to do is go to Dymocks (bookshop & stationery chain) and browse the stationery at leisure.

Well. At least it was still there, but I was bitterly disappointed because it's nowhere near as good as it used to be. Like barely 25% of the floorspace and a pretty paltry range of products. Used to be a massive long section of pens and pencils - not there any more! Very few pens at all, in fact, apart from cheap novelty ones and crazy expensive ones.

I did get a small grid-line notebook and a cute glasses case, and was tempted by some of the Palm Pals, but I have so many plushies already I made myself put them back.

Sat outside for a while then went to a specialist stationers and splurged on a stone paper notebook and a decent cartridge pen (my last one died a while back and I miss the smoothness of writing with a calligraphy nib).

Then I staggered off to find a food court and had a sensible salad.

[yubermoo]

Something I say a lot (even when I'm alone) -- "Please do not annoy the cow, she's quite capable of doing it herself!"

New variation -- "Do not encrankenate the cow."

Cos why say something simply when you can be a lil creative? 🤭

[yubermoo]

Just love how I order something that delivers by Australia Post but the vendor won't accept a PO box address so I put a friend's address (cos I am going deaf and do not hear the alleged "knocks twice" they profess to do, resulting in my packages being taken not to my nearest post office but to one that's totally out of my way in a shopping centre that I hate) and then get a notification they couldn't deliver, meaning they couldn't be arsed going up three flights of stairs. So now I will have to wait til at least Saturday for my item (because friend won't be able to get to their post office til then).

[yubermoo]

After a few years without, yogurberry is back in my area. It's in competition with the very popular yo-chi tho, so I don't know how well it will do.