Not much to report here. Watching Game of Thrones (season 2). Thinking about hitting the orchard tomorrow.
Whatever.
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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.
You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?
Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.
Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.
One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.
If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.
I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.
Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.
Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.
… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact
This really is a full service blog.
“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”
“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”
We can’t confuse what’s necessary to win elections with the policies that we want to implement when we do.
All hail the time of the bunny!
No Kings: Americans standing in the way of bad history saying “Oh, Fuck No!”
Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.
Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.
Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.
Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.
They punch you in the face and then start crying because their fist hurts.
Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.
We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.
Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.
J. Arthur Crank
The cat is making strange gurgling noises as she is sleeping in the box on my desk.
We will probably hit a local native plant nursery tomorrow morning.
Villago Delenda Est
Hitting the orchard sounds like a sweet plan to me.
BretH
Was a day here that seemed to go by in the blink of an eye – dark gray morning with some rain, dark all day and an early dusk. Went over to the Dark Side and played pickle ball for the first time. Fun and social but not nearly as satisfying as tennis. Maybe housecleaning tomorrow :(
CaseyL
I’m going to the art museum tomorrow with a friend.
One of the current exhibits is a collection of Calder pieces that a local couple spent 27 years collecting. Calder was a mid-century painter/sculptor famous for large, brightly-colored. geometric works often put in public plazas, so I’m thinking either their collection is mostly smaller or mid-sized, or they had an enormous house with about an acre of land around it.
Martin
Be sure to use a condom, dear.
Chigrl
Get extra cider. In addition to all the delicious things you can do with it (caramel, mulled non-alcoholic beverages, vinegar, soup base, oatmeal cooking liquid, cereal milk etc…….) and use it as a brining medium for your meats or veggies. You can freeze it for later!
Alison Rose
Still waiting to be able to watch Barbie and Oppenheimer. The former is available on Amazon and such but every platform is charging minimum $20 because you have to buy it, not rent it. It’ll supposedly be on HBO Max soon and I’m hoping I can watch it there as part of my subscription. Oppenheimer is supposed to be out on the 21st and will presumably also demand $20 or more. That feels a little more justified based on the length.
Nukular Biskits
In SAN for work.
I love SoCal. I think I’d like to live here but I don’t think I could ever afford to live here.
Villago Delenda Est
@Martin: “Wear your rubbers!”
cain
@Villago Delenda Est:
Hitting the orchard sounds like some kind of code word. I think he is out canoodling with Steve.
MomSense
Starting my new job next week and hopefully, if all projects go according to plan, will put my house on the market next week.
Tonight painting and putting art back on the walls.
Just Some Fuckhead
“Hitting the orchard”. Hmm, what is that a euphemism for?
BruceFromOhio
The Pitchbot gets quoted at LGM.
Studying for an exam on Tuesday, housecleaning in preparation for visitors Thanksgiving week, watching the Michigan-Penn State game out of curiosity now that the Michigan coach is in the doghouse for something he didn’t do.
@Chigrl: Caught a quick reel on Instagram showing how to boil it down and freeze it for many uses. We’ve been brining the turkeys for a number of years now, I may run an experiment with a cider reduction in the brine if I can convince MrsFromOhio it won’t irreparably harm the holiday meal.
Yutsano
I spent today being lazy although there were several productive things I should have accomplished. Oh well. I’ll be switching hotels* tomorrow and then debating if I’m going to go to Milwaukee or not. It depends on what happens with the rental car I have and whether my car makes it out of the body shop by Tuesday. Oh well. No matter what I only have seven more work days in my current office and I was already checking out on Friday. So I’m certain I’ll have a nasty e-mail from my boss when I get back on the 21st. And I really won’t care. I’m done with her. I’ve never talked about my relationship with my boss on here but it’s pretty bad. I will be done with her soon and back in Seattle.
*My parents’ house is getting renovated and I don’t have a functional bathroom right now.
Chetan Murthy
@Chigrl:
This time of year, I get cider (or unfiltered apple juice — what’s the difference?) and leave it in the fridge for a couple of weeks (or a month). It turns into delicious slightly-effervescent hard cider! Yum!
Just Some Fuckhead
@Chetan Murthy: Wait, what? I also ferment apple cider (celiac here) but I do it with champagne yeast. What’s the rotting thing about?
Chetan Murthy
OT, so I might as well ask. Getting old is new for all of us (when it comes). And so …. I haven’t worked out hard since before the pandemic.[1] My goal used to be to get to 1h30 or so for each workout, and I could do that and be able to think and do a little work afterwards, no problemo. But now, at age 59, I find that if I workout 1h30, I’m pretty much wiped for the rest of the day. I even get a little intestinal upset! By the next day I’m fine again, and can do it again. But geeez, it’d be nice if could get back the stamina to where I could do those 1h30 or 2h workouts without losing the rest of the day afterwards …..
Anybody got an experience with this sort of thing?
[1] during the pandemic I tried to exercise, but without the pool or weight room it was tough, and for about a year I did so little exercise that my legs got so weak I had to hold onto the banister walking down stairs, and when I got back into the weight room I promptly gave myself bursitis in both elbows from going back at it too hard too fast. Got really weak. The strength is coming back, but the stamina …..
Just Some Fuckhead
@BruceFromOhio: He also got called out on Keith Olbermann’s show. Not a big fan of DougJ from years ago when is chief role was trolling but he’s killing it. I will acknowledge greatness.
Chetan Murthy
@Just Some Fuckhead: Oh you use yeast? [I see AMZN sells the stuff] How do you do it? I’m [ETA: NOT] going to suggest that I have some sort of “plan” or something. Just, once I bought some unfiltered apple juice, and, well, after a few weeks it tasted real goooood, so I got in the habit of replicating that experiment, is all. But now you’re telling me that you can do it on purpose? I’ll have to look into that!
Googling just now, I see that most unpasteurized cider has yeast in it, so it’ll ferment if you just leave it sit in the fridge. But really, I don’t know diddly about all this — I was mostly making what I hoped would be a slightly-funny comment about cider! Though I’m hankerin’ for some of that stuff right now!
Redshift
Ms. Redshift had a conference in Philadelphia, and fortunately for us, the Halloween haunt at Eastern State Penitentiary was running through the two weekends after Halloween. ESP is a partially ruined 180 year old prison, so it’s the perfect place for a haunted house.
It was quite good, and much expanded since the one other time we went. They now have five separate haunted houses in different wings, along with food, drinks, and some other attractions.
BruceFromOhio
@Just Some Fuckhead: @Chetan Murthy:
OK, you have my attention on this fermenting of cider topic.
Yeast, how much, how long, and at what temperature? No yeast, same question?
I live in apple country, the pressing of local crop is underway and will continue for months. The fresh stuff is like a gift from Gaia, I have to ration my intake or bad things happen.
Ohio Mom
@Chetan Murthy: I have no advice for you except maybe google? Ask your doctor? And try not to injure yourself.
Chetan Murthy
@BruceFromOhio:
I spent 5yr in upstate NY in grad school: and learned within the first few weeks that I was somehow allergic to cider in large/large/large quantities: I’d get some sort of weird cramp in my upper back. Weird. Weird. But OTOH anything less than large quantities, and yeah, it was magic stuff. We’d go to Cornell Orchards weekly for gallons of the stuff. Sigh. Apple country.
BruceFromOhio
@Chetan Murthy:
Gotta slow the roll. If your workout is regularly blowing you out, I encourage re-evaluating your routine and goals, and adjusting accordingly. My experience is with bicycling, I can’t do lifting or machines anymore. In the winter I walk (treadmill or outside if it’s warm enough), and climb stairs if I can find them, to keep the hams and glutes toned. When I first ride in the spring, it’s short rides, no more than an hour, and at a slow pace. I gradually work up to longer rides as the season goes on until I can knock out 25 miles on a weekly basis, and recover with a good 30-mins stretch session. I’m supposed to be lifting for bone density, but these wrists and knees tell a different story.
Each year, I do a little less – the days of being out on the bike all day every weekend are over. I’ll keep riding until I can’t, and keep being pragmatic about it.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Just Some Fuckhead: @Chetan Murthy:
Let me start by saying I’m lazy and would prefer not to ferment my own apple cider but I’m a celiac and gluten-free beer (which I prefer) options are not always available and I can’t do commercial apple cider because it has too much sugar in it and sugar turns my stomach. (Also a diabetic.) However, I was up Wolf Trap’s Filene Center for the Performing Arts to see Sting in the summer and they had a cider called Lost Boy Comeback Kid which was hard apple cider without a hint of sugar. Usually, commercial apple cider producers ferment it with added yeast and when it’s sufficient alcoholic, they ADD BACK IN regular apple juice to sweeten it.
So my recommendation is find and buy Lost Boy Comeback kid apple cider.
When I fermented, I bought Martinelli’s apple cider in the cute little jugs. I got the champagne yeast off of Amazon, Red Star brand. I pour about half a packet into a jug (sorry, too lazy to do measurements) put the bubbler on top, also available on Amazon, and stick it in the cabinet for two weeks. Scrape off the scum periodically and test the product. Yeast eats sugar so I’m looking for a product that has absolutely no hint of sugar. Think the driest Apple Chardonnay imaginable.
When it’s as dry (read mouth puckering tart) as it can get, I drink it.
BruceFromOhio
@Chetan Murthy:
My bad things result from the rich source of carbohydrate provided by the stuff, if I do not regulate my intake my clothing no longer fits properly.
Ithaca is delightful, I envy you for your time there! I have a fantasy of retiring there, such a lovely hotbed of progressive liberal leftiness and local wines. And the beautiful landscapes of the Finger Lakes, endless rolling rides on two wheels.
Chetan Murthy
@BruceFromOhio: Oh yeah! Me too! Though now that the environs have turned red, it’s much less attractive. Sigh, a lakeside cottage on Cayuga Lake would be so sweeeet! In the late 80s I used to bike all around the area, and fondly remember getting up winter mornings for a 30-mile ride in the snow, before going into school. Good times!
Chetan Murthy
@BruceFromOhio:
Heh, y’know, I get you on that. I really do. But …. I see people my age in the pool, and they’re swimming faster than me, for longer times, and I think to myself: “I want to work to get there!” And sure, one has to be careful, but at least, in the pool it’s tough to injure yourself if you’re being careful with your stroke (and I focus most of my effort on keeping my stroke clean, b/c got two busted shoulders that needed surgery to work again, don’t want that again).
Maybe after a few more months of trying I’ll have to dial it back. Sigh. Sure hope not.
BruceFromOhio
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Wow. That sounds, um, well, sounds like something I’m probably not gonna do, but thanks for the very interesting description. I’ve tried sours many times throughout history, and never got the hang of it.
Cowgirl in the Sandi
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Can you suggest some dark gluten free beers? My daughter is gluten free and we want to do a short rib recipe that calls for dark beer.
BruceFromOhio
@Chetan Murthy:
This, exactly. I lived in the YMCA pool for years, and one summer of splitting wood and getting caught in the pit at Inkcarceration ended it for good. The only thing I can do in a pool now is drown, more than two or three of any stroke is just fire and knives.
patrick II
@Alison Rose:
I saw Oppenheimer a few weeks ago. The reviews are great — the movie is better—remarkable performances, particularly by Cillian Murphy.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Cowgirl in the Sandi: I am not aware of any “dark” gluten-free beers, at least that I can get around here. There are many regional varieties available from craft breweries – some may be “dark” – that aren’t sold nationwide. Google is your friend here.
The first thing to understand about gluten-free beer is that it’s basically going to be the worst beer in a taste test with regular beers. There are two kinds: gluten-free brewed from non-wheat sources like rice or sorghum (it’s what pigs eat!) and gluten-removed beer that is brewed from wheat but has the gluten removed scientifically down to 20 parts per million. I haven’t liked gluten-removed beers because they all seem to be ales and I don’t like ales, I prefer lagers. Ales to me are too thin and acidic.
My go-to gluten-free lager that I can get pretty consistently from Wegmans or the upscale Total Wine chain – which claims presence in 28 states – is Redbridge. It’s an Anheuser-Busch product brewed from sorghum (it’s what pigs eat!). It isn’t terrible which is the best thing you can say about gluten-free beer.
Chetan Murthy
@BruceFromOhio: Oh wow. I busted mine putting up too much weight (OK, OK, with really bad form) on the incline press. But a good orthopedic surgeon (Mike Dillingham) fixed ’em right up, and while I do a *ton* of back (and esp. scapular and rotator cuff stabilization) exercises, there’s almost nothing I can’t do now: ok, except dips, skullcrushers, military press, maybe a few other things.
My problem was the “AC joint” (a common problem, it would seem). I think people blow their AC joint in the pool doing fly a lot?
Just Some Fuckhead
@BruceFromOhio: Yeah, even when I drink wine which I try not to do because I end up drinking it like it’s beer and it’s magnitudes stronger, I go for the driest grapes available, chardonnay on the white side and cabernet on the red side. Riesling will make me hurl sure as the sun rises and sets.
Chetan Murthy
@BruceFromOhio:
I spent from 2001 thru 2009 like that with my right shoulder: stopped all upper-body exercise, only did biking. Then my ortho fixed it (“AC joint decompression”) and I proceeded to break the other (enthusiasm, wot!) and then he fixed that too.
Omnes Omnibus
It’s called a hangover.
Mike in NC
It was 80 degrees here today as I raked leaves. The high tomorrow will be 58 and a chilly week lies ahead.
Chetan Murthy
@Omnes Omnibus: Ha! No, it was fresh cider, not alcoholic, and it would happen within a couple of hours of drinking a bunch. Weird kind of spasm that felt like it was “inside my ribcage”. But now that I no longer live in Apple Country, I can’t get enough cider to make that happen, even if I were fool enough to drink it all.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Omnes Omnibus: Actually it’s most likely excess sugar that cannot be broken down by the digestive system.
Just Some Fuckhead
See how John can post an open thread without 17 pages of varied links, tweets and storylines? He makes it seem easy, doesn’t he?
Chetan Murthy
@Just Some Fuckhead:
To follow up on @BruceFromOhio: I wonder if you mean “tart” or “sour” ? I also don’t like sour beers, but if you just mean “really really dry but not sour”, well ….. that could be quite interesting …..
Googling “what makes sour beer sour”, I see that the fermentation process produces lactic acid, and that acid hangs around making the beer acidic. If that’s what’s happening with your cider, I guess (like Bruce) I wouldn’t like it much. But if the sugar was all turning into alcohol, and not lactic acid, then …. yeah, I’d like to try your method.
Though …. they don’t sell cider around here in jugs, sigh.
BruceFromOhio
@Just Some Fuckhead:
LOL I’ve been waiting for X to just die already to see what happens to the posts.
Thanks everyone for an interesting thread, rem sleep beckons. May your Saturdays be righteous.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Chetan Murthy: I’m probably not doing a good job with words. Omnes always creeps me out so I blame him.
Dry means little or no sugar. So in wine terms, if a grape is some combination of tart and sweet and you remove all the sweet you are left with tart or sour. That’s what I mean by tart. Obvs, you have less tart with apples than grapes but the same logic applies.
Just Some Fuckhead
@BruceFromOhio: I wouldn’t have even said anything but the vomit posts seem to be catching on with the frontpagers in general and no longer limited to the one.
Alison Rose
@patrick II: Yeah, everything I’ve heard makes it sound amazing. The lone negative review I saw came from some dude that just kind of seemed jealous that he didn’t make it or star in it or something. Cillian Murphy is one of my faves and he seems like he was the perfect choice for the role.
Chetan Murthy
@Just Some Fuckhead: sounds like I need to try your recipe!
NotMax
It’s been six months so today got the newest COVID booster.
Just Some Fuckhead
@NotMax: Good for you. I did the first three or four and then quit. All I got was a crazy sore arm while all my co-workers got massive paid time off with Covid. I want the time off.
NotMax
@Alison Rose
Top notch performance as Kitten in Breakfast on Pluto.
mrmoshpotato
But what of Olive and Mabel’s Game of Bones?
SectionH
@J. Arthur Crank: lol! The California Native Plant Society is pretty good, as you probably already know. Mr S and I did a lot of new-to-us native plant stuff up in North County San Diego a decade or so ago. They are a great resource, especially for ppl who are learning gardening here. (Yes, I caught a post from re you being in San Diego now, so I hope that’s ok. If I’m wrong I apologize.)
JaySinWA
@NotMax: I’ve been informed that the new COVID shot shouldn’t be called a booster since it is a new formulation for different strains than the original.
JaySinWA
@Just Some Fuckhead: I’m not sure you can get time off for bad behavior anymore, ’cause “COVID is over” doncha know?
Just Some Fuckhead
@JaySinWA: The first thing my agency does when you report a positive Covid test is give you five days off. After that, it’s a day by day thing. Not to be one of those resentful types but for three years my wife and I were in the breach, doing the jobs of several severals people, taking all the precautions, getting the vaccines, NOT getting Covid and not a getting a damned thing for it except more work.
Chetan Murthy
@Just Some Fuckhead: yeah but think of all the long covid that you skipped out on!
Just Some Fuckhead
@Chetan Murthy: Except none of those fuckers have long Covid either.
Hey, your exercise question/comment from earlier, we’re about the same age. Can I ask you a personal question?
Chetan Murthy
@Just Some Fuckhead: Sure, though I might not answer.
Re: Long Covid, from my understanding, the chance of getting it is pretty significant, and for people who get covid more than once, it’s cumulative. So, well, I feel lucky AF to have avoided the bug so far, and look forward to keeping that streak going long enough that they figure out how to treat long covid and I can avoid it altogether.
JaySinWA
@Just Some Fuckhead: I’m sorry for your loss. Given our risk factors my wife and I appreciate you and your wife’s sacrifices in avoiding spreading COVID
ETA Life isn’t fair.
Chetan Murthy
@JaySinWA:
I mean, TFG still lives in hope. How unfair is that?
Just Some Fuckhead
@Chetan Murthy: We never got Covid either. Or rather, we never tested positive for it. We got nailed with something horrible after going to a Who concert in fall 2022 but we both tested negative multiple times. And we’re currently coming off some hideous virus that we’ve been told might be RSV although my wife tested negative for Covid when she went to the doctor a few days ago.
My question: are you male or female?
Just Some Fuckhead
@JaySinWA: Well we aren’t conservatives so our whinging doesn’t matter anyway.
Chetan Murthy
@Just Some Fuckhead: male
Chetan Murthy
@Just Some Fuckhead:
there have been a lot of respiratory viruses going around this season. Every time I read about it I think to myself again: “huh, I guess I’ll keep wearing my mask.” for sure when I go into a restaurant to eat like I did today, I take the mask off. But anytime I don’t need to take the mask off it stays on — at least in foreign buildings and public transit. I’ve avoided getting any colds or flusSince the pandemic started. I guess we’ll see how long that streak lasts.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Chetan Murthy: Ok, I could have probably figured that out if I spent more time around here so my apologies.
Interested to know if you think it might be a testosterone deficiency thing? My buddy, in the last year, has gone to the male clinic and paid the exorbitant sums of money to get the testosterone treatment and absolutely swears by it and is hammering me to do it every time I see him, which is less and less because I’m horrified at the thought of administering a needle.
I’m not sleeping with him or involved in his day to day life so I don’t have any evidence of what testosterone supplement is doing for him other than when we see him and his wife socially, he talks very, very loudly.
Then I keep hearing the ads for the testosterone/male clinics on the radio “find out what all your friends are doing” and I wonder, is this something I should be doing?
What are your thoughts?
JaySinWA
@Just Some Fuckhead: There are a lot of nasty viruses going around as well as COVID. Flu, RSV, and some unidentified as well. We would all do well masking when indoors around crowds.
I understand the new RSV vaccine is available for infants and people over 60, but because of likely previous exposures, adults under 75 usually have natural immunity. YIMV (Your immunity may vary).
Just Some Fuckhead
I quit masking on a specific date in the summer. It was our yearly agency retreat and I made that date my goal to wean myself off of the mask which I was very militant about as I have a half a dozen autoimmune disorders/diseases. My main concern, as Jay noted above, was not my own personal health as it basically sucks but the fear of killing someone else. It became clear in 2023 that no one else gave a damn.
cain
@Chetan Murthy: I used to run about 4 miles or so and can’t seem to get back to that. I have not properly worked out in a long while.
I’m 54.
Chetan Murthy
@Just Some Fuckhead:
TL;DR oh hell no. *grin* I’d never do something like that, and truthfully, I think it’s kinda foolish. I might as well buy a flashy red sports car, yanno?
Several thoughts:
But really, I guess I don’t see the point in all these things, b/c I see lots of older folks working out hard, and I don’t see why I can’t do the same. I mean, I’m not gonna bench 200lb. Sure. But really, at age 59, I’m not trying to impress anybody else: just myself.
Hope that helps.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Chetan Murthy: But are those physical specimens you reference supplementing T? My buddy (and those damned radio commercials) make this sound like something everything is doing. To be fair, my buddy is a supplement junkie. It was ginger, then it was turmeric, then it was MSM powder, and now it’s T.
Chetan Murthy
@Just Some Fuckhead:
You’re right about that, and even here in SF I am reminded of that every time I go to the local Whole Paycheck. I make a point of thanking the checker whenever they’re wearing a mask. But I don’t wear my mask for others: I wear a P100 respirator for myself, to keep myself safe. Not gonna get covid, and esp. not long covid, if I can help it. I know a friend a little older than me — a brilliant, brilliant guy — who got covid early on, and he told me even a year later that it took him a week to read a paper. Blew my mind, but really, it broke my heart. He’s had the sort of career I’d have liked to have, but he’s just smarter than me. And for a year he couldn’t run without getting exhausted. It took him a year of grueling work to get back to where he could run. So that too. Stories like his, keep me masking. Though, sure, I’m trying to eat (unmasked) in restaurants: my current goal is to do so once a week. I think I’ve done it twice a month so far.
Chetan Murthy
@Just Some Fuckhead: I haven’t a clue, but then, the women in the pool …. look like women and all — just very healthy, energetic, swimmer women.
I take a bunch of pills my doctor prescribes. But the only “supplement” I take is potassium, b/c otherwise I get leg/foot cramps when I swim. But really, I could just eat a banana or two a day to get the same effect. [OK, so I’m just gonna say what I really think here, I hope this isn’t crossing a line] I think anybody who is that in thrall to the supplement industry, is an unreliable witness. And for sure, I’d be talking with my doctor — my regular, normal doctor — before I took testosterone, geeeeeez.
Also, I’ve read that men who take anabolic steroids have all sorts of other side-effects, and I wouldn’t want those side-effects. Sure, my testicles are pretty superfluous at this point, but I want to return all the equipment in as good shape as I can, when my time is up.
I’ve read that those side-effects can be pretty ferocious, eh?
ETA: I thought I should add: I’m borderline obese (5’8″, 205lb). I weighed a good bit more during the pandemic, too. The weight’s coming down, but it’s been decades since I was a svelte musclebound guy. So I’m not speaking as a 158lb specimen here. I’m a walking tub o’ lard and all.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Chetan Murthy: My wife and I don’t eat out but we go to a concert about once a month on average since the Who concert in Oct. 2022. We holed up for almost two years. Hell, we socially distanced FROM EACH OTHER in April 2020 because her rightwing boss forced all the employees into a little room for a meeting. She lived upstairs, I lived downstairs.
My mom died in March 2020 for other non-Covid reasons and I couldn’t even get a plane down there without fear of being quarantined for two weeks. (Not to worry, she’s still in a jar over the fireplace.)
Point is, we did our time. Much of the precautions we took seem foolish in hindsight. And after going through what we went through to not get Covid and not perpetuate Covid, while the grasshoppers did whatever they wanted and reaped benefits, I’m cool with our current trajectory
Resentment is a powerful drug.
Chetan Murthy
@Just Some Fuckhead: I can feel your anger, and …. I wish I could help you to feel the way I feel about it: that the work to not get Covid was for myself, and not for others, b/c at this point, avoiding long covid is perhaps more important than avoiding covid itself.
Do you know the name Bob Wachter? Head of medicine at UCSF: he would tweet about covid during the pandemic. He tweeted about when his wife got covid, and afterward, got long covid, and the struggle she had to get back to full performance (including mentally). I’ve just read too many stories, as well as actual articles about how many people with long covid have had brain impacts, and cardiovascular impacts, for me to be willing to risk all that.
I’ll end now, with just this: I wear a P100 respirator with an “exhale valve”. It filters air on the way in, but not on the way out. I figure, if nobody else is wearing a mask, I don’t see why I should bother filtering my exhalations: it’s no worse than if I also didn’t wear a mask. So my mask is *literally* just for me, and not for anybody else
ETA: and with an exhale valve, it’s a lot easier to lift weights — the heavy breathing is a lot easier *grin*. Of course, I also wear the P100 while lifting.
Chris T.
@Just Some Fuckhead: I think typically the first-line treatment is a topical one (AndroGel or similar). You do have to avoid physical contact with other people until it’s absorbed.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Chetan Murthy: First, not sure the women need to be taking T supplement. But your point about supplement junkies being unreliable witnesses is literally the argument my mind formulates when he’s extolling the virtues of T. (A google search reveals that it’s a tiny, tiny percentage of men which certainly isn’t the scenario the radio commercials push.)
He did it for the libido. He’s married to a woman twenty years younger than him and he wasn’t “getting it done.” I need the energy. With thyroid disease and diabetes, I’m always wiped out. Just completely wiped out. I only succeed at my job and life in general because I am a relentless taskmaster on myself. Death,to me, seems like a realized dream. That’s not to say I’m suicidal. I’m not. I’m just sick of being too tired to move and yet forcing myself to outwork everyone. That may play into my Covid fantasises. :)
BTW, interesting about potassium. Yes, potassium deficiency will cause cramps. But so will too much potassium. Your mission is to figure out which it is.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Chris T.: Thank you for weighing in. I wish other males would.
Chetan Murthy
@Just Some Fuckhead:
*grin* Good point. In my case, I started a good number of years ago, when I used to get cramps after biking. Literally, I’d be lying in bed slowing falling asleep, and my hamstring would cramp up. Awful. After I started taking potassium, it got better, and these days I never get cramps (at least, not like that).
Re: your situation, what does your doctor say? You’ve got an actual medical condition that might mean you could benefit from T. It wouldn’t surprise me if there’d been research into this question.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Chetan Murthy: Literally, this is what my doctor says about everything:
“Well, in men your age, this is fairly common..”
And then the one time I went in with what was clearly an upper respiratory infection (sinus, whatever), he decided I had the symptoms of a prostate infection, which (you probably already guessed) is “common in men your age.”
So I found myself bent over the examination table with his fingers up my ass. “Does this hurt?” Uh, yeah, you got your hand up my ass. (Who rolls their ass around and purrs, “nhh hh”?)
My wife keeps telling me to switch to her doctor
At any rate, knowing anything can result in anal defloration precludes me from consulting with my doctor.
Jay
@Just Some Fuckhead:
That’s not a T thing, that’s a skill, connection and understanding thing.
As males age, T drops, and the answer, is reps not weight.
Back in the day, I did 50lb curls, 3 sets of 10.
Now I do 20 lb curls, 15 sets of 15.
Ruckus
@Chetan Murthy:
I used to run a couple miles a day and before that work out in a gym every day and normally walk a lot faster than most. I’m over a decade older than you and still in pretty good shape but as I’ve gotten older there just isn’t the desire (or whatever it takes….) to do the same level. Now I try to walk a couple miles every other day, and do physical work regularly, but oldfartitus has set in. I like being it decent shape but that is different than great shape, something that oldfartitus really doesn’t seem to allow many to achieve. But my docs think I’m in great shape, very good BP, sleep great the vast majority of the time and eat OK. Stress is one thing that oldfartitus does not agree with, along with too much physical effort. So working out is not the same as you get into the older sect than it was when younger than 50-60 yrs old. Now for some 60 is not that old but then for others it is. I say don’t try quite so hard for a while and see how that works for you. You may be surprised.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Jay: He actually works out and is pretty physical. More so than me and I’m 6’2″, 175 lbs. Simultaneous to the T, he also got the male enhancement drug prescription. He’s the prototype for “better living through chemistry” which I thought was the provenance of a CEO I assisted in the aughts who carried a briefcase which had nothing in it except prescription drugs.
Chris T.
@Just Some Fuckhead: Male “enhancement”, that means making someone more like a woman, right? 😅
(Slightly more seriously, I wonder why there’s no testosterone-delivery equivalent of a Norplant insert.)
Anne Laurie
@Chetan Murthy:
The certified physical therapists who run our gym, for ‘women of all ages & men over 40’, say that it’s okay to do endurance bouts every day. But strength training is intended to push muscle fibers just hard enough to stress them into getting stronger, and it takes 48 hours of ‘rest’ between sessions for optimal effect… especially for those of us over 40.
Their advice on endurance training? Shorter bursts more often, rather than longer workouts once or twice a week. Harder to implement, given most peoples’ schedules, but there it is.
Also recommended: Check with your medical provider before pushing too rigorously!
satby
One of my sons (who is under 40) was put on Rx testosterone after his doctor tested for it, as low levels in men can be a factor in chronic depression which he was suffering from. If you’re considering it get tested for t levels first, because too much can feed prostate cancer years before that gets detected. The Dr. monitors his blood levels to make sure it stays within normal range for his age.
Mousebumples
Pharmacist (female) here – there is! May not be covered by your insurance, but I think Testopel is the brand name.
If you don’t see an endocrinology specialist, I’d suggest that (they can also look at whether T would benefit you), given the thyroid and diabetes issues. Might just be Getting Older. But might be something with your hormones (T3/T4/TSH or insulin or testosterone) instead.
Might be a dead thread. Idk if anyone will see this, but I felt the need to chime in.
BruceFromOhio
@Mousebumples: you are seen! And thank you for the perspective and counsel.
Mousebumples
Haha thanks! Hopefully it’s helpful. I try to not give too much unsolicited medical advice*, but I also know that I have a different perspective that might be useful.
* – Not your/anyone’s doctor, don’t know anyone’s full medical history, etc.
Chetan Murthy
@Just Some Fuckhead:
this thread might be dead, but just in case you come back, she might have a point there! It’s worth thinking about: doctors are just humans. I’ve read that if you want to survive to a ripe old age, a good strategy is to get a female doctor because they’ll actually listen to you. Which doesn’t mean that they’re going to agree with you on everything, just that they will actually listen!
Just Some Fuckhead
All read and noted. Thanks!
Gvg
@Just Some Fuckhead: I am also in favor of a different doctor. Mine did full blood work ups and I got some prescriptions for helping energy levels as well as monitoring vitamin levels that were low, diet recommendations etc. And he keeps checking up. It helped.