Life

[melmer]

congrats on the sex!

[Nachimir]

Congrats on forming babby Zeus!

[Justin Leego]

I hope that his middle and last names are the same: Nolan Zeus Zeus.

[subbes]

Congrats on successful cell division, Zeus.

[Zeusthecat]

Hey thanks again everyone!

 

We have been back home for a couple days now and everything is going really well. We are both getting lots of sleep which never happened with our daughter when she was a newborn and we are quickly falling into a nice routine with both kids. I honestly could not have asked for things to go better than they have. 

[dibs]

Hey thanks again everyone!

We have been back home for a couple days now and everything is going really well. We are both getting lots of sleep which never happened with our daughter when she was a newborn and we are quickly falling into a nice routine with both kids. I honestly could not have asked for things to go better than they have.

Rivers of poop incoming.

[Sententia]

I stepped on a long, thin, sharp, upright nail yesterday while working construction on a garage.  More accurately I hopped backwards off a ladder onto it, sliding easily through my thick-soled boot and into my heel.  I thought the fastest a human could react was half a second, but apparently my extensive focus on footwork through tennis, fencing, soccer, and tae kwon do has grown a ninja speed because the instant I felt the sharp pain in my left heel I shifted the weight onto the ball of the foot and lifted slightly, allowing the right foot to land and support me.  Upon removing my boot and sock the only damage to the heel was a very shallow cut through some of that callous skin with no bleeding at all, so I guess there are nerves there but no blood vessels?

 

The experience reminded me of that talk about thinking with words vs without words from the random thought thread, because within the few seconds as and after it happened I had this train of thought: the way we value what we do with our lives usually has to do with helping others or building our skills, and there are some things people believe have inherent value such as music.  I enjoy a lot of activities that have a physical skill aspect which improving at will increase my abilities in general.  Playing piano is one example, playing competitive video games like starcraft 2 or competitive games like tennis.  Among the things people consider most worthwhile are helping others, such as volunteering for local environmental cleanup, giving money to charities, working for charities like Water to help in other countries, and these are all things that give an immediate benefit, in other words what you're putting in has an output basically instantly.  In cases where we're building our skills we might never or very rarely use them in real situations.  Does using my abilities to avoid getting stabbed in the foot make those physical activities I've done more valuable?  In reverse, if I had never stepped on that nail does my time spent learning those physical skills become less valuable in contrast?  For example I practice martial arts and I'm very good at it, but it probably will never be put into use, does that make it less valuable as an activity to spend my time on?

 

There's no conclusion from me, but I did find out that threats to my personal being make me dourly contemplate philosophy.

[Nachimir]

Good reflex

 

A martial art I did teaches people to basically soften their body and flow around impacts. After doing it for a few years, now whenever I hit a part of myself on something, I've noticed I move around the point of impact to lessen the force without really thinking about it.

 

I don't think time spent on training becomes less valuable if we never need it in a crisis: As well as external consequences, any practice has internal effects, which in turn can change the way we approach situations and deal with others. Case in point: I took up Systema because some people tried to mug me, and while I bluffed my way out of it, I realised I had nothing backing me up if they got more aggressive. Since I started taking those classes, I've not been in a single confrontation, but the amount of shit I get from random people in the street has diminished to nothing, which is probably an effect of the increased confidence I got in relation to those kind of situations. I'd say learning to strike, grapple, ground fight, etc. in any martial art, is just the foundation of something much more complex.

 

As for the aspect of your thoughts that touch on altruism: It seems like you're hovering between the personal and social value of a thing. We can't live entirely selfless lives.

[subbes]

You went and got your tetanus booster, right?  They're only good for 6-10 years so if you can't remember when you last got one go and get one.

[Thrik]

Indeed, had to get one myself recently. It has to be within 48 hours or so. Tetanus is no laughing matter so don't risk it please.

[Twig]

That reminds me: my school nurse once told me I needed a tetanus shot because I burned my hand with hot cheese (from the pretzel cheese machine!! don't judge me).

 

Don't judge me.

 

(get yer shots, kids)

[Ucantalas]

Really? I didnt know you needed tetanus shots for anything other than nails and animal bites.

I once stepped on a nail in my backyard. Thinking back on it, I didnt get any shots, and was riding my bike later that day, so I guess it wasn't as bad as I remember it being?

[Twig]

(You don't need tetanus shots for burning yourself with hot cheese.)

[subbes]

One of our cats has a suspicious lump under the muscles in his shoulder.  The vet biopsied it today and said it seemed like a cancer, but we won't find out what sort until Saturday.  

 

He's only 6 years old.

 

UGH.

[Joewintergreen]

ugh that is the worst. i really need to take my cat for his checkup

 

also, your five year relationship disappearing the day you ship your video game sucks

[miffy495]

Man, I was coming in here to post a funny thing, but it no longer seems like the time. That really sucks for both of you. I hope it's not too serious with your cat, Subbes and Shammack. I'm a huge cat person myself (also dogs, but cats more) and having to figure out what to do with a sick pet is the worst. Not being able to get directly from them whether they're in pain and how much makes every decision feel shitty. Good luck to you both. And Lacabra, congrats on the game, but bummer about the relationship. I'm guessing the timing is due to he/she wanting to not distract you during crunch (assuming the split wasn't your idea), which is at least considerate of them, but doesn't make it feel any better. Now that you've shipped, I hope you have some time to get your shit together and recover. Raising a glass to all three of you tonight.

[Gormongous]

It makes me sound really sheltered to say so, but watching my cat fight FIV was the toughest thing I've ever had to do. People, they know what's going on, which is some comfort if cold, but animals are just doing the best they can. I'm so sorry it looks as though you guys have to go through that, Subbes. You have my thoughts.

 

And yeah, what Miffy said, Lacabra. Take care of yourself and know that we're all here for you.

[Nachimir]

ugh that is the worst. i really need to take my cat for his checkup

 

also, your five year relationship disappearing the day you ship your video game sucks

 

Aww, man. Really sorry to hear that. I wish I had some good advice beyond "find better people and things", but that's pretty much been it for me in a similar experience.

 

Someone I was falling for once told me "There's another man", days before I finished the most ambitious, public facing solo thing I've ever done. I had to just bury all of those feelings for the week, and if I think about it, still hate her. It's not much consolation I'm sure, but if it'd happened before you shipped it'd probably be doing a lot more damage to you. I hope you have time to heal now.

[Joewintergreen]

<3 you guys.

[Thrik]

Really? I didnt know you needed tetanus shots for anything other than nails and animal bites.

I once stepped on a nail in my backyard. Thinking back on it, I didnt get any shots, and was riding my bike later that day, so I guess it wasn't as bad as I remember it being?

 

As far as I'm aware any kind of cut that draws blood is a risk if you're outdoors. Tetanus is caused by some bacteria or something that's pretty much everywhere, although there's more of it in things like soil and rust. I cut my finger on a piece of glass on my balcony and when I phoned the NHS they said I urgently needed a tetanus shot due to the presence of potted plants on the same balcony. Once you've had a shot (which you're meant to routinely get anyway) they keep you safe for 10 years or so.

 

It's pretty much dumb luck if you do or don't get it if you've not had your shot. It's easy to prevent but not at all easy to deal with. If you do contract it you could very easily be heading for intensive care. Definitely something to take seriously, which is why nurses like Twig's can be a bit OTT about it.

[Nachimir]

Thanks for the reminder. Pretty sure it's around 16 years since I've had one! 

[subbes]

We won't know what sort of cancer it is until Saturday;  I booked an appointment so we can go in and meet the vet face to face rather than getting the news and making the necessary decisions over the phone.  The most common cancer in cats is lymphoma, but the placement of the tumour makes it very unlikely to be that.  Cancer in young, healthy (FIV-negative) cats is rare, but I guess it does happen.

 

He has a big line of stitches on his shoulder and is receiving an opiate painkiller every 8-12 hours (which he doesn't like, though it does cause euphoria during the come-up, which means he'll limp over to us and be very very affectionate before flopping over).  He's sat watching the bird feeder right now, and I heard him bark half an hour ago.

 

He's the orange one of the pair below.

 

[Joewintergreen]

he is gorgeous

[Thrik]

I think we can now safely conclude that Sententia has died of tetanus.

[Twig]

Seems legit.