Y’know, you’d think people would provide a user’s manual for getting old. My manager has PVDs in both eyes. Shiro had one so bad he went to the hospital for it. It apparently affects 50% of all people over 50, and 86% of everyone who reaches 90.
But I’d never heard of it before. So… why aren’t common ailments of aging more commonly known?
Edit: clothed post.
Probably for the same reasons that the more unpleasant side effects of childbirth aren't really discussed, like the fact that it's going to sting and burn like the dickens every time you urinate for a couple of days afterwards.
i.e. It happens to almost everybody, and there really isn't much of a way to avoid it, so would it really help to know in advance?
Y’know, you’d think people would provide a user’s manual for getting old. My manager has PVDs in both eyes. Shiro had one so bad he went to the hospital for it. It apparently affects 50% of all people over 50, and 86% of everyone who reaches 90.
But I’d never heard of it before. So… why aren’t common ailments of aging more commonly known?
You just quantum-tunneled to an alternate universe where that happens. It wasn't so in the previous one.
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People search for/retain information they think is relevant to their lives.
If you don't think the information applies to you, you won't even notice it. Unless Shiro deliberately hid the information from you, it's likely that you just didn't register it in long-term memory.
In Shiro's case, he wouldn't have mentioned it. He is a classic raised-in-Detroit "man". He does not mention anything medical that ever happens to him. When he had his frigging cancer surgeries we didn't find out until after the fact, and even then only because we pressed him as to why he canceled the Sunday game.
And while you're correct in general, for specifics of getting older you tend to hear a lot about cataracts, arthritis, loss of bladder control, loss of male performance, loss of balance, loss of mobility, various forms of cancer, etc.
So, "At some point your eyes are going to explode but it's harmless," would be useful additional general information.
EDIT: More generally, our Puritan/corporate legacies have left many people too unwilling/embarrassed/ashamed to talk about things that should be open to public discussion. Talking about your salary with your co-workers forces companies to pay you fairly. Talking about your medical issues with your friends and younger generations not only helps them understand what you're going through, but lets them know what to expect. Talking about sex and drugs with your kids helps them make wiser decisions. And yet societally we've managed to make those "taboo" topics. It's incredibly gauche to mention your salary. Why? If you talk about your medical issues you're a whiner. Why? And most people are so abashed talking about sex and drugs with their kids that their gets get a better sex education from rumors on the streets.
I'd love to see a shift towards more open discussion of important life issues with friends and family members. I don't see it happening any time soon.
Wow...
As I've mentioned, years of living in the Central Valley taught me all the usual practices of living in an area with high heat: Open all the windows, doors, and curtains all night, then in the morning once the outside temperature hits the inside temperature close everything up.
That happened before 9:00 am this morning.
It's going to be a waaaaarm day...
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well, my vacation request was confirmed. i only had to chase down my level-skipped member of management after waiting almost a month after submitting the relevant paperwork in triplicate to get him to review it. but he's had quite a lot of stuff happening lately, so i'm not too disturbed, overall; it just would have been nice if i could have had it confirmed somewhat more than a day and a half before the requested timeframe began . . . .
but on with the adventure of homeownership and gamestorming!
the plan is to spend the days finishing the ongoing process of making the place as easy-maintenance as possible, and the evenings in collaboration with my primary fellow homebrewer on refining our respective gaming Frankensystems.
my current campaign has been serving as a "gamma test" of the material, and we're still having a great deal of fun seeing what the RNGs bring to our ongoing narrative. we just wrapped up the slightly anticlimactic finale of the first 'book' of our adventurers' tale, and only lack a brief bit of denouement to finish kicking off the training wheels and let the players more fully determine their own fates. i'm really looking forward to seeing what they choose to do with having a wider world to explore (i did, without truly intending it, manage to serve them up with a fairly hefty "STOP" sign at the outset, and it went more railroady than i liked).
but now i'm close to having a 'beta test document' in place with most of the critical revisions ready for implementation. the last two weeks have served for me to dig more deeply into the mathematical implications of my chosen "chassis", and to arrive at something i believe could be easily understood by experienced gamers and rookies alike. there's nothing truly revolutionary about it, i admit, but it has been a joy to work at paring down the bloat, hoop-jumping, and extraneous 'cheez' of the games with which i'm familiar.
i'm stealing from everywhere, bold-faced and plainly. that might mean that i'm making something too humdrum to be appealing, generally, but even the exercise alone has been rewarding for me. i might not ever publish what i'm developing, but i'll have something that i can run at a moment's notice with almost zero prep time for the rest of my life. i think that's going to be awesome.
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Yep. Our outdoor kitchen thermometer reads 97°F, which is always 3°F high in the afternoon because of the sun heating the stagnant air between houses. Wunderground says 93°F, so we're in pretty close agreement.
In Davis, our floor and walls would still be cool thanks to the excellent insulation of Central Valley houses. Here? The floor is warm to the touch, as are all the walls that have been touched by the sun. It's tolerable in the house right now (87°F), but once those toasty walls start radiating heat it's going to get awfully unpleasant awfully quickly. Our house'll break 100°F indoors if I don't watch for when the outside temp drops below the inside temp.
EDIT: LOL. Or, Impus Minor, in a fit of cluelessness, could open up the two bedrooms that are intentionally sealed off and have the portable AC unit. Those of us in the main house are grateful. It's back down to 81 in here. Impus Minor is not so grateful. His bedroom went from 70 to 81 in an alarmingly short amount of time...
We had a high of 56 today.
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Today I dealt with the worst part of having pets. I had to have my cat Pepi put to sleep. She was old (at least 17), wasting away, and losing strength so it was necessary, but it still hurts.
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Today I dealt with the worst part of having pets. I had to have my cat Pepi put to sleep. She was old (at least 17), wasting away, and losing strength so it was necessary, but it still hurts.
I am sorry. That will be us soon, and I am not looking forward to it. You're never ready.
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Damn. Sorry Feros.
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Awww :(
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I swear, the incompetence of government IT is truly the stuff of legends.
I'm paying my property tax bill online. I'm filling out the form. Required fields are marked with a big red asterisk and at the top of each section it says
*Required fields
Neither phone number nor email are marked as required, so I omit them.
ERROR: You must enter an email address.
OK. I do. I resubmit.
ERROR: You must enter a phone number.
In one form they managed to mess up which fields are actually required, AND provide error messages that only list the first field you missed instead of all of them.
Great 1980s-era IT, guys.
EDIT: And there we go. "Account holder's name (no hyphens)". Um... what if the account is under a legally-hyphenated name?
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Edit: clothed post.Y’know, you’d think people would provide a user’s manual for getting old. My manager has PVDs in both eyes. Shiro had one so bad he went to the hospital for it. It apparently affects 50% of all people over 50, and 86% of everyone who reaches 90.
But I’d never heard of it before. So… why aren’t common ailments of aging more commonly known?
no, be naked, the floaters and rings will censor anything you don't want seen
no, be naked, the floaters and rings will censor anything you don't want seenEdit: clothed post.Y’know, you’d think people would provide a user’s manual for getting old. My manager has PVDs in both eyes. Shiro had one so bad he went to the hospital for it. It apparently affects 50% of all people over 50, and 86% of everyone who reaches 90.
But I’d never heard of it before. So… why aren’t common ailments of aging more commonly known?
Seriously. As I've been telling people, I'm in no particular discomfort and I've had floaters my entire life so I don't notice them much, except...
...there's one huge floater running amok in my eye. It is VERY much like having a moth that every so often flies across your face and blocks your view, except this particular moth is in my eye.Such floaters are supposed to break up after about 6 months, but until then, that moth is going to be very, very annoying.
Well, I just learned an appalling data point in my whole "Dishwasher: Pre-rinse or not?" research.
I was reading yet another newspaper blogger, and she wrote, "Methodology: We assumed an average family of 4, doing the usual and running the dishwasher after every meal."
WTF?!?!??!?!
Maybe it's the Californian in me, trained to save water whenever possible. Maybe it's the environmentalist in me, trained not to run appliances unless they're full.
But OUR family of 4 runs the dishwasher perhaps once every 48 hours. Maybe less.
So sure, if your dishes are less than an hour old, it really don't matter what you leave on them because nothing's had a chance to dry on yet. Take those same dishes and let them sit there with the food on them drying for 40+ hours and do the same test. I'd bet you'd get different results.
(And yes, I've started my own experiments because now I'm curious.)
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Yep. Our outdoor kitchen thermometer reads 97°F, which is always 3°F high in the afternoon because of the sun heating the stagnant air between houses.
This is levels of dad so high, I would advise you check with GothBard for any unexpected surprises.
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Today I dealt with the worst part of having pets. I had to have my cat Pepi put to sleep. She was old (at least 17), wasting away, and losing strength so it was necessary, but it still hurts.
damn. I'm sorry. But 17 is a long, long life for a cat.
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I'm so sorry, Feros.
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My sympathies, Feros
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Posting this primarily for NH, but also for anyone who likes dark humor and punk references.
That is so awesome I am at a loss for words...
...kill the poor!EDIT: OK. I hadn't finished the article when I posted the reply. That is TOO terrifying... "How about this: we do a joint event with Coldstone Creamery and call it ‘Chill the Poor.’ Get it? Chill… like instead of kill? I’m just spitballin’ here."
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Posting this primarily for NH, but also for anyone who likes dark humor and punk references.
How did I know this was going to be a Hard Times article...
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Greetings from sunny Oswego, New York. And by sunny, I mean torrential rain, because this is New York.
Posting this primarily for NH, but also for anyone who likes dark humor and punk references.That is so awesome I am at a loss for words...
...kill the poor!EDIT: OK. I hadn't finished the article when I posted the reply. That is TOO terrifying... "How about this: we do a joint event with Coldstone Creamery and call it ‘Chill the Poor.’ Get it? Chill… like instead of kill? I’m just spitballin’ here."
Someday remind me to tell you my mother's East Bay Ray story.
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Greetings from sunny Oswego, New York. And by sunny, I mean torrential rain, because this is New York.
Because I walked around syracuse so much and got to see some of the odder things in the city, I based a white wolf/black dog campaign there. The perpetually cloudy weather once you hit albany was a plot point: Tremere (vampire wizards) were controlling the weather to be dull and dreary just in case you got stuck outside for some reason the sunlight wouldn't burn you nearly as bad. Safety first! (mortal mental health sec.. thir. fou.. 100th?)
they turned it off for college weekend so the new people would think they were moving to this bright sunny place with flowers and trees and green grass that. only lasts a week.
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Seriously? As we hadn't had enough of such shit?
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Mom used to IRON my clothes for elementary school.
At which point I would play hide and seek in the woods by the bus stop until the bus got there.
Followed by the AM cage match inside the domed jungle gym at school.
But as long as I looked good for the squirrels between here and the bus stop it was worth the time it took for some reason...even if the first thing the teacher saw was leaves burrs mud and blood.
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Checker at the grocery store this morning: "Getting' your supplies for the big game this evening?"
Me: "Naw, gettin' supplies for the big game this afternoon!"
Checker: "Who's playing this afternoon?"
Me: "Me. It's my D&D game. Why, who's playing this evening?:
Checker: "America's Team, honey. The Cowboys."
Me: "Oh, yeah, them."
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When death in fire doesn't actually stop a goblin from running around...
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I am the reigning queen of crit fumbles on Dex checks.
IRL this afternoon, we went over to the natural science museum where they have life-size animatronic dinosaur models on the hiking paths. There is a recumbent triceratops model you can climb on for photo ops. I tried to hop up on its back, slid right off onto the ground on the other side, did something painful to my bad rotator cuff and bruised my shin and my ego.
Fast forward a few hours to today's Icewind Dale game. We are fighting a hag in a cave. WW's character, a smurfneblin who flies a broom, decides to pick up my paladin and drop her on top of the hag. I decide to attempt a Cheetara-from-Thundercats style acrobatic move as I'm falling through the air, in full armor no less, with the intention of landing both feet squarely in her face... and roll a 1.
I am the reigning queen of crit fumbles on Dex checks.
IRL this afternoon, we went over to the natural science museum where they have life-size animatronic dinosaur models on the hiking paths. There is a recumbent triceratops model you can climb on for photo ops. I tried to hop up on its back, slid right off onto the ground on the other side, did something painful to my bad rotator cuff and bruised my shin and my ego.
Fast forward a few hours to today's Icewind Dale game. We are fighting a hag in a cave. WW's character, a ***fneblin who flies a broom, decides to pick up my paladin and drop her on top of the hag. I decide to attempt a Cheetara-from-Thundercats style acrobatic move as I'm falling through the air, in full armor no less, with the intention of landing both feet squarely in her face... and roll a 1.
Right in the face...
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Dishwasher...
Okay, so begin rant...
Most people who own dishwashers are blissfully ignorant of just how you are supposed to let alone the thoroughness or frequency of which you are intended to CLEAN a dishwasher. No, I'm not talking about putting it on without dishes, no, not that "auto/self clean" setting, what I mean is taking about an hour each month, taking all the racks out, dismantling whatever parts CAN be dismantled (any manual should have detailed instructions on this) and climbing in the sucker hand and knees with SERIOUS chemicals and solvents while wearing a mask and gloves to scrub the thing out and FULLY and PROPERLY drain the machine. After learning about this bit by bit and then having to order a good commercial one I learned quite well that these are not set it and forget it devices like a fridge or microwave that you hit with a bit o' cleaner and an old towel if you want it to work well, or, in fact remain SAFE to use in most places given the fact that almost no residential grade ones functionally warn your or stop working if the heating coils for the hot water start to act up and you're suddenly no longer sanitizing the dishes anything even approaching 150-200 degrees f that they SHOULD be operating at... not to mention, if they're not getting hot enough while NOT being properly cleaned plus gunk build-up... if you're not presoaking/rinsing dishes before putting them in then you are often putting yourself in more danger by eating off the stuff that comes out "a bit dirty/spotted still, oh well, that' probably just detergent rings..." than you would be eating out of your dogs food dish.
Long story short, soak or spray your dishes and take some time every month or at LEAST two months to actually get hands on with elbow grease and REAL cleaning agents, best practice should be to read the manual to figure out how best to do it and NEVER trust a second wash if something doesn't come out looking right the water is probably either not getting th pressure or heat it actually NEEDS to do a proper job. If you've never actually cleaned the appliance you already have installed and it is acting up would seriously consider calling a professional to have it hauled away because it is very likely within spitting distance of biohazard of grime, detergent residue, hard water buildup, and food waste/soil caked into places that, if the water isn't getting up to temp in, is an absolute biome of its own right.
Suffice it to say, I presoak my dishes in scalding hot water with detergent soap, then manually scrub them and then rinse in super hot (not scalding) hot water because I do NOT trust the pre-installed dishwasher the apartment complex has, I didn't install it, I don't use it, that is simply another storage cabinet for clean dishes and even then I still clean it out every couple months.
Okay, so begin rant...** spoiler omitted **...Dishwasher...
It's lovely to see a tirade that aligns with my viewpoint... or close enough.
For me, the dishes go in "clean except I didn't use soap" clean. All I expect the dishwasher to do is spray soap on them and then rinse it off.
I check the filter every month and it's empty, so I figure it's doing the minimal work I want it to.
But yeah, if you ever want to lose your appetite for pretty much anything, just work in a place that prepares/does that thing.
Okay, so begin rant...** spoiler omitted **...Dishwasher...
I use dishwasher tabs about once a week.
Noticed a SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE in about a month.
Wow... PayPal.
I just received an invoice for over $800 for a 75" TV from PayPal. And it's 100% a legitimate invoice, because PayPal goes ahead and lets any user bill any other user for anything.
Not opening their entire userbase to rampant fraud or anything, are they?
Yep. Deleting my PayPal account.
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I do wonder why anyone might need a TV that enormous. A more-or-less life size Peppa Pig is not something that needs to be seen.
Isn't that a request of paying directed at a specific e-mail, not different from anyone sending you a (fraudulent) bill via regular mail? Or getting a fraudulent phone messages asking you to pay a bill and helpfully linking a payment page.
You can send money or sent them a request to pay a bill via paypal just by only knowing their e-mail, that's the main point of paypal in the first place.
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Isn't that a request of paying directed at a specific e-mail, not different from anyone sending you a (fraudulent) bill via regular mail? Or getting a fraudulent phone messages asking you to pay a bill and helpfully linking a payment page.
You can send money or sent them a request to pay a bill via paypal just by only knowing their e-mail, that's the main point of paypal in the first place.
To me, the difference is the service being provided.
Your email, snail mail, or telephone services are providing you with communication, so you expect fraudulent communications because it is not their job to monitor all communications passing through their systems and analyze them.
PayPal is a payment service. In fact, they are legally registered as a bank. My bank does not blindly add bills to my account just because someone has my name and address. PayPal shouldn't be doing the same.
I work for a global megacorporation that has an entire division dedicated to order management and billing. You don't generate an invoice until you have some proof that the customer took some action to order the item.
Hence my condemnation of PayPal but not GMail. The only button available to me should have been "Confirm Invoice". Instead, I could have instantly paid the invoice without any research or confirmation. I am still displeased. I received an email that said, "So-and-so has generated an invoice for you" with a big blue button, "View and pay invoice." No option to confirm first.
EDIT: I think it's that we've all seen just how gullible the general populous is. Having a bank tell you, "You have a bill," is fundamentally different (and worse) than receiving a random email that says, "You have a bill."
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In fact, they are legally registered as a bank. My bank does not blindly add bills to my account just because someone has my name and address. PayPal shouldn't be doing the same.
That's uh not true, that's why they're able to get away with so freaking much.
I agree that they SHOULD be held to a higher standard but part of the reason they're not, other than regulatory capture, is that they are very much not themselves a banking institution despite partnering with them to make offers, hold money, and provide PayPay sponsored Credit services.
In fact, they are legally registered as a bank. My bank does not blindly add bills to my account just because someone has my name and address. PayPal shouldn't be doing the same.That's uh not true, that's why they're able to get away with so freaking much.
I agree that they SHOULD be held to a higher standard but part of the reason they're not, other than regulatory capture, is that they are very much not themselves a banking institution despite partnering with them to make offers, hold money, and provide PayPay sponsored Credit services.
Wow... I am *SO* old-school.
When they first came along, they were definitely NOT a bank. Then they were hit by regulators and I thought they became a bank. And now I suspect bribery deregulation has hit and they're no longer a bank. Thanks for the clarification!
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Yeah, it's quite *expletive* and I think that good old Peter Thiel and his billionaire vampire buddy-money has a lot to do with that, and no, I'm not kidding when I say he's a vampire, I don't care if puff pieces absolve him of it, if you EVER have to make a public declaration that you are in fact NOT a vampire despite investing in and using young blood harvesting anti-aging services that pretty much seals the deal for me.
Yep. I just Wikipedia'ed PayPal's entire history and I'm perplexed. They were licensed a a money transmitter by the time of their initial IPO in 2002 and I find no mention of any Congressional hearings regarding tightening regulations on PayPal.
But I'd swear back when they first came out there were cries for further regulation and I thought something was done, but that was obviously wishful thinking on my part.
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Try being on the crew that gets to fix the main break. Also, try doing it at 3:00 AM.
Nobody’s happy in that scenario.