Jun 7, 2023 21:57:03 GMT iron maiden said:

The causes are forest fires in Canada. What do you want them to do?

The ones here in Alberta were caused because of low snowfall and drier than usual conditions, but I don't know about Ontario. They had massive snow fall this winter and there was even flooding a month ago.

Massive fires have been increasing yearly as the temperature rises and droughts become more common.  They are direct result of climate change, but that is a topic that in America simply cannot be raised.  GOP here claims we should simply rake the forest better.

They are direct result over overpopulation. We are 5 BILLION and rising over homeostasis. Climate change, etc is just a symptom to a much larger problem. US.

US actively opposing most reasonable actions we could take to slow global warming. Despite the cold snaps from the destabilized jetstream, the fires from droughts, and the hurricanes from the warming of the ocean. Also tornados are on the rise due to the warmer air.

We are getting fucking wrecked, but our politicians are looking at punitive taxes for things like electric cars and solar panels. Our attitude appears to be until everyone does more than us, we will do nothing.

Some men just wanna watch the world burn.

Turns out you can't even do that without risking your health here...

The rich run the world and that's why they're testing out rockets because our goose is cooked.

And are collecting yachts to just not be here when the US burns.  Nothing like traveling on your yacht to your mega yacht in the deep ocean on a small island.

US sending firefighters into Canada and providing resources to stop the fires. Oddly enough this is something being actively opposed, claiming the smoke is no big deal and we should not be spending money on something that does not affect anyone.

Of course this only happened after the smoke hit DC itself causing lawmakers to flee the capital.

But hopefully the worst is over, and we can start to knock the fires out before they spread even more.

Isn't that how it always works? Never a problem until it affects someone that matters.

Then it is not the time to get political <.<

Jun 8, 2023 19:16:26 GMT @ness said:

Isn't that how it always works? Never a problem until it affects someone that matters.

A timeless human tradition that plays no favorites with borders nor ideologies.

I'd much rather be posting in the positivity thread, but I went for an ultrasound & Xray last week and got called in to my Dr's office. Looks like I have myself a set of nice juicy kidney stones (9mm & 11mm) again/still. According to my Dr. it's still the same batch as the small ones I passed Mother's Day weekend (mid May). These ones need to be lasered though as they are too large to pass apparently. Luckily, I am not in pain yet so hopefully they'll do something about them before they get to the ureters just waiting to hear from the Urologist. I guess the positive side would be that if it didn't take them a month to get me in for this, they might not have seen anything because the ultrasound only showed that the kidney was swollen. It was the X Ray that showed the stones as they have been released and just making their way to the party.

Pretty sure this is the last straw with regards to Ozempic. Nothing else has changed, but that. In fact I drink 2-3L of water a day plus drink apple cider vinegar twice daily. I've even made an effort to cull my salt intake and have been tracking what I eat so WTF? Am I'm back up the 5lbs I lost when I was on my liquide diet so why am I on it if it's just causing issues. A friend of mine has lost 40lbs on it but for 2 days after she takes her weekly shot, she's doubled over in pain and can't sleep. She says it's worth it, I'm not convinced. That sounds stupid if you ask me. 

Jun 28, 2023 20:40:32 GMT iron maiden said:

I'd much rather be posting in the positivity thread, but I went for an ultrasound & Xray last week and got called in to my Dr's office. Looks like I have myself a set of nice juicy kidney stones (9mm & 11mm) again/still. According to my Dr. it's still the same batch as the small ones I passed Mother's Day weekend (mid May). These ones need to be lasered though as they are too large to pass apparently. Luckily, I am not in pain yet so hopefully they'll do something about them before they get to the ureters just waiting to hear from the Urologist. I guess the positive side would be that if it didn't take them a month to get me in for this, they might not have seen anything because the ultrasound only showed that the kidney was swollen. It was the X Ray that showed the stones as they have been released and just making their way to the party.

Pretty sure this is the last straw with regards to Ozempic. Nothing else has changed, but that. In fact I drink 2-3L of water a day plus drink apple cider vinegar twice daily. I've even made an effort to cull my salt intake and have been tracking what I eat so WTF? Am I'm back up the 5lbs I lost when I was on my liquide diet so why am I on it if it's just causing issues. A friend of mine has lost 40lbs on it but for 2 days after she takes her weekly shot, she's doubled over in pain and can't sleep. She says it's worth it, I'm not convinced. That sounds stupid if you ask me. 

That's terrible, IM, I'm sorry to hear that. I hope there's not much pain when they're dealt with.

I read an article that Ozempic is just the first in a line of many diabetes/weight-loss drugs and the ones coming out soon are more effective and easier to use.

Jun 28, 2023 20:40:32 GMT iron maiden said:

I'd much rather be posting in the positivity thread, but I went for an ultrasound & Xray last week and got called in to my Dr's office. Looks like I have myself a set of nice juicy kidney stones (9mm & 11mm) again/still. According to my Dr. it's still the same batch as the small ones I passed Mother's Day weekend (mid May). These ones need to be lasered though as they are too large to pass apparently. Luckily, I am not in pain yet so hopefully they'll do something about them before they get to the ureters just waiting to hear from the Urologist. I guess the positive side would be that if it didn't take them a month to get me in for this, they might not have seen anything because the ultrasound only showed that the kidney was swollen. It was the X Ray that showed the stones as they have been released and just making their way to the party.

Pretty sure this is the last straw with regards to Ozempic. Nothing else has changed, but that. In fact I drink 2-3L of water a day plus drink apple cider vinegar twice daily. I've even made an effort to cull my salt intake and have been tracking what I eat so WTF? Am I'm back up the 5lbs I lost when I was on my liquide diet so why am I on it if it's just causing issues. A friend of mine has lost 40lbs on it but for 2 days after she takes her weekly shot, she's doubled over in pain and can't sleep. She says it's worth it, I'm not convinced. That sounds stupid if you ask me. 

That's awful...
In regards to the friend with the pain. Not sure, obesity is one of the leading causes of premature death. So if it's pain and improved health outcomes, I get the pain... But if it's just because someone wants to be skinny for vanity reasons then that's more dubious.

I'm a pretty extreme guy, so if I had pain but I could lose all my excess weight in a month, I would probably do it.

Ozempic I heard does not result in lasting weight loss. So even if it works the second you are off it the weight returns fast. Best way to lose weight to track calories obsessively and reduce from your base overtime. If you eat for depression reasons something like Naltrexone may be what to look into. Naltrexone and tracking is how my friend dropped 300 over three years. After skin reduction surgery, he went from 600 to 250.

Hopefully they zap those stones soons and that is the end of the stone saga. Stones are no fun at all. They still will likely hurt a little to pass post lasering but nowhere near as bad passing them whole. Stung for like a week after they zapped all of my gallstones when my stones shredded my gallbladder.

Oh God, just accidentally found my younger cousin on reddit, clicked her profile and learned she has a tickle fetish.

So glad now I have a shitposting alt I use to post in questionable posts as she likely also knows my reddit handle.

Christmas gonna be awkward this year. Have this and my cousin Annabelle who was known until very recently as Danny. Some will learn of her change at Christmas dinner. 

Hey iron maiden,

May be a long shot, but do you have PCOS? Or ovarian cysts? Was talking with someone on reddit who was overweight and just could not lose any weight no matter what they tried outside of pure starvation, and the cause in the end was the androgen from PCOS.

For them, and you are not gonna like this, ozempic was the answer that allowed them to finally lose weight. Can also try metformin. If you do extended release is a must. Since I swapped no side effects. May be other things to try as well. Treatment here is a very much evolving field.

But if your issues are androgen related, then your weight may be out of your control, as androgen leads to insulin resistance, which then causes weight gain as your body stores sugar as fat instead of actually using it. This makes it very hard to fix with diet and exercise.

If you want to get all detailed on all of this, here is a great journal article on it all. Tip for reading it, read what you can, skim what you cannot. Or just read the first few sentences of each section until they go into jargon to get the gist and the introduction and conclusion in full. Academia is not easy to read at all if you never really had to do it.

www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fendo.2021.741764/full

If I am totally wrong and you never had PCOS or cysts sorry for the mixup.

Thank you. I have had a long history of 'women' problems, but I don't believe I have PCOS. They actually left my ovaries when I had my hysterectomy in 2004 for my endometriosis. I've actually long suspected I have thyroid issues, but all the tests come back 'normal' except just recently my parathyroid. However, I had a radiologist feel my thyroid and say it was odd, because he feels it is enlarged but the nuc med scan and blood work came back 'normal' so 

I stopped taking the Ozempic this week. I've gained back the 5lbs I lost and gained another 5lbs so fuck that shit.  Keeping up with my water intake and starting to walk daily and I've introduced weights back in to my daily workout. My goal is if I can't lose the weight, at least I need to get my cardio/strength up so I'm able to walk long distances. 

PCOS is a hormonal thing with a very misleading name. They seemed to have named it without understanding what causes it or fully realizing the scope the conditioning as it can present without cysts and does not actually appear to be caused by the ovaries. Really not too much is known about it right now. One thing they notice in some cases is abnormality in the uterus and there is an insane overlap of symptoms with endometriosis.

You try fiber supplements? I started them recently and help with appetite. And fuck, I just do not see how you are supposed to hit daily fiber limits suggested for our age without them. Reminded of those old TV commercials for Total showing how many bowls of cereal you need to eat to hit the fiber limit, and it was like dozens.

Hope they figure out what is up with you. Been in the just throw medicines at things and hope they work and it sucks.

Sigh. Figured as much, but looks like they want 200 more a month in rent. Been here 5 yrs (1 yr/2 yr/2 yr) and they no longer offering a 2 yr option I assume because that means they can't increase it as often. And of course they got me by the balls because of the inconvenience of moving in what's likely to be the same bullshit with someone else. I truly love the place but fuck me since they're not allowing OT for me I'm probably gonna have to go from 20% to the 5% matching just to cover this. Just as well because it's not like I'd benefit from my retirement savings anyway as I'll probably croak before I get it so not a lot of sense in socking away funds just so my brother's kids (likely only living ones at the time) get it. Fuck outta here bruh this life.

If I moved back home for a year or two I could prob save for a house but I really don't want the extra work involved. Kinda just banking on inheriting the parents (assuming they don't have to sell it off for long term care). How does anyone live on their own without 50 roommates? To my Dad's credit he does ask randomly about my finances, but I'm too prideful to accept help.

Rents are crazy right now. My friend just moved a year ago and is moving again because they raised her rent $500 because the owner of the house had to re-mortgage and interest rates are up 3-5% from what most last mortgaged at. People make fun of me for living with my mom, but financially it makes sense for us both. I make what most consider a decent wage, but couldn't afford a house on my own which is crazy. 

Got to make sure that the owning class gets more profit now that inflation is up.  That is why rents when up 15% or so.  Pay for their rate increase, and help them pay for the rising costs of goods.

Surely everyone's pay went up 15% in the last two years to compensate.  

I mean if you ignore the decimal...

Guess I'm gonna have a nap for dinner. Might have to actually be proactive in grocery shopping instead of my give 0 fucks method.

Great, New England National Socialists (neo-nazis) just blanketed my town in recruitment materials. Same language Tucker used on Fox for two years that "they are trying to replace you." Looks like they drove the around town and were throwing ziplock bags with their information in them, and a few rocks to really get them into people's yards.

Some of reddit is spamming the nazis on Gab with Take back the Notch stuff demanding Mass gives CT back the the little blimp of land Mass during a bad land survey that for some reason could not be undone forever taunting us by removing our straight northern border.

Police already said nothing they can do.  These days recruiting to be a part of a violent group advocating genocide of multiple races is freedom of speech even in liberal America.

I called a work resource number. I dunno if I'll actually go through with therapy, but they do offer 6 free sessions and then assistance in finding an actual long term care person. Worst case they ghost and I'm in the same spot regardless of calling them. Recent actions and thoughts have been in a pretty bad place (though I'm seeing the bigger picture too) and I've been doing something pathetic lately. Like I almost see some good here and I'm just wondering if that's all it's ever been. Is it just me holding myself back and how do I stop?

Worth trying to do it now while someone else will pay.

Jul 16, 2023 2:20:51 GMT @ness said:

I called a work resource number. I dunno if I'll actually go through with therapy, but they do offer 6 free sessions and then assistance in finding an actual long term care person. Worst case they ghost and I'm in the same spot regardless of calling them. Recent actions and thoughts have been in a pretty bad place (though I'm seeing the bigger picture too) and I've been doing something pathetic lately. Like I almost see some good here and I'm just wondering if that's all it's ever been. Is it just me holding myself back and how do I stop?

I'm not a therapist and I would never pretend to be, but I can tell you from the bottom of my heart that I wish nothing but the very best for you, I am sure most people here feel the same way.
If you ever need someone to talk to, just reach out.

If I could share something that really helps me when I'm down, it's to do something for someone else. Sometimes we get really wrapped up in our own worlds and as a result they shrink and we can get ina spiral and the only thing that will help is something external to ourselves.

I know you have social anxieties but I encourage you to find something you can volunteer to do outside of your house that improves the life of other people...

I second iNCY 's suggestion. Might also help with social isolation and anxiety. My work with the Ukrainians hasn't been totally altruistic as I got more out of it than I gave likely. One of the things that it gave me was I had a hard time staying positive and grateful which would ultimately lead me to a cycle of depression I had a hard time getting out of. Helping others, helped me change my mindset and I haven't had a depressive episode (that lasted) for over a year now. 

I think the fact that you realized 'something isn't right' and sought some insight from an outside source is great. As someone who has done a great amount of therapy and self healing/help; remember change takes work and sometimes it can be long term, but often it's baby steps and celebrating the small victories. I hope you find what you are looking for.

Jul 16, 2023 2:20:51 GMT @ness said:

I called a work resource number. I dunno if I'll actually go through with therapy, but they do offer 6 free sessions and then assistance in finding an actual long term care person. Worst case they ghost and I'm in the same spot regardless of calling them. Recent actions and thoughts have been in a pretty bad place (though I'm seeing the bigger picture too) and I've been doing something pathetic lately. Like I almost see some good here and I'm just wondering if that's all it's ever been. Is it just me holding myself back and how do I stop?

Great, @ness. It’s going to likely be uncomfortable and you’re gonna want to tap out at some point but don’t quit.

Pretty sure the alternator in my car just went out.

Stop messing with the difficulty settings, life. Where's some damn slider adjustments when you need them?

Jul 21, 2023 14:10:18 GMT rad said:

Pretty sure the alternator in my car just went out.

Stop messing with the difficulty settings, life. Where's some damn slider adjustments when you need them?

We need an easy button for some levels.

Jul 21, 2023 17:13:37 GMT @ness said:

Jul 21, 2023 14:10:18 GMT rad said:

Pretty sure the alternator in my car just went out.

Stop messing with the difficulty settings, life. Where's some damn slider adjustments when you need them?

We need an easy button for some levels.

That's childhood (for most people)