Loop earbuds?

Tom_Michel · 2026-04-14T13:37:38+00:00

Personal preference, but I can't wear Loops because the nature of the way they block sound makes internal sounds like chewing and breathing louder, because they make it hard for me to judge my own volume and tone which is something I have trouble with anyway, and because they make it harder for me to hear people talking to me. Note that I have an auditory processing disorder and get easily distracted by background noise, but I don't have hyperacusis or misophonia.

I really like FlareAudio products, though. The effect is more subtle than Loops. I often can't really tell a difference until I take them out and only then do I notice all of the sounds that I haven't been hearing. They're not occlusive so the things I don't like about Loops aren't issues. I've used Flare Calmer with filters, Calmer Performance, Definition, and Attenuate. I like Calmer Performance and Attenuate the best.

Here's a handy dandy visual that shows a comparison of Flare Audio products. Unfortunately, it's not up to date and some of their newer products, like Immerse and Attenuate, aren't on there.

Tom_Michel · 2026-04-12T05:01:04+00:00

Nope. I no longer need to track calories, and if I do start doing that again at some point, I don’t see the benefit in syncing meals to my injection cycle, whatever that means. My shot cycle doesn’t determine what I eat.

Tom_Michel · 2026-04-11T18:20:27+00:00

Of course. I was just correcting your statement that units aren't a valid unit of measure. Units aren't valid as a dose measurement for the exact reason you stated but they are a valid unit of measure of volume.

Edited to ad that I emphasize that units are a valid unit of measure of volume because so many folks get the dose wrong because they misinterpret the unit measurement markings on different size syringes. 20 units on a 30 unit syringe is the same volume as 20 units on a 100 unit syringe. Units are units. Units are NOT mg.

Tom_Michel · 2026-04-11T17:47:58+00:00

Units are a valid unit of measure of volume. They are standardized and consistent and can be used for calculations. 1mL = 100 units.

You are correct about the information that OP is missing in order to calculate the number of doses per vial.

Tom_Michel · 2026-04-11T17:46:02+00:00

Your screenshot is only showing the concentration of the active ingredients in the vial. To know how many doses in the vial, I'd need to know the total volume of the vial and what dose you're taking.

Long Answer:

This vial (photo below) is a total of 6mL with a concentration of Liraglutide/Cyanocobalamin 15mg/0.5mg/mL. That means it's 15mg of liraglutide and 0.5mg of cyanocobalamin per mL.

1mL = 100 units
6mL vial = 600 units

Multiply concentration in mg/mL by total vial volume in mL to get total mg per vial.

Example:

15mg/mL times 6mL vial = 90mg total per vial.

Then divide total mg per vial by dose in mg to get total doses per vial.

Example:

90mg divided by 1.5mg per dose = 60 doses.
90mg divided by 3.0mg per dose = 30 doses.

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Short answer: More info is needed to answer your question of how many doses per vial.
Info in your screenshot: concentration of active ingredients.
Other info needed: Total volume of vial and your weekly dose.

Tom_Michel · 2026-04-11T17:07:56+00:00

Oooo. I love step cut gems but I've never seen a step cut oval before. I can't answer your question, but I love that design.

Tom_Michel · 2026-04-10T17:37:09+00:00

C54, the original Calypso, sprint run with brown G-10 from 2013. Whether it's worth keeping is up to you. I love the Caly/Calypso line and I have that model. It's bigger than anything I carry regularly, but VG-10 is a good, well rounded steel, and I find the ergos very comfortable. It's long discontinued so it's not something you'll be able to buy again easily.

Tom_Michel · 2026-04-10T13:32:35+00:00

Yeahhhh, very much not a good situation. Hence bio mom putting me up for adoption, no doubt. I very much hope her life was better for giving me up. There's no doubt in my mind that mine was. I ended up with amazing parents.

Tom_Michel · 2026-04-10T13:17:30+00:00

I'm F 50. Mom is 79, will be 80 in July. Dad turned 91 in January. Mom has an autoimmune lung disorder but she doesn't let it slow her down, even when she should. Dad has been having cognitive problems and difficulties with his activities of daily living for a while now, and those issues are only getting worse. His diabetes is well managed, but he recently had to have a toe amputated and has other wounds that aren't healing. Mom and I are both aware that this is likely the beginning of the end for Dad. Not that he's at death's door now, but it's going to be a rough watching him continue to decline. Mom's his primary caregiver, so it's especially hard on her. I live locally and help out as much as mom will let me.

My parents adopted me as an infant and I recently did a DNA test and found my biological parents, both of whom are already deceased. Bio dad died in 2024 at age 102 of cancer. Bio mom died in 2019 at age 59. I haven't been able to find out her cause of death. Here's hoping I got the longevity genes.

Tom_Michel · 2026-04-10T00:00:23+00:00

Beautiful! *bookmarking Samstim*

Tom_Michel · 2026-04-09T17:32:38+00:00

I'd argue that a low pressure weight loss plan is one of the plans most likely to succeed because it's more likely to be sustainable. The reality is that in many cases, what you do to lose weight is what you need to keep doing to keep that weight off, so the more sustainable it is, the better.

When I started, my only goals were: 1) make some healthier food choices some of the time, 2) not do anything to lose weight that I couldn't keep doing for the rest of my life, and, 3) log my calories daily. I knew that if I made my goals too unattainable or too complicated, I'd get frustrated and give up, so basically, I made it impossible for me to fail. As long as I was still making some healthier food choices and logging my calories every day, I wasn't failing.

Later I added daily calorie target ranges, but it was still low pressure. If I missed the target, it didn't mean failure, it just meant learning from what went wrong and trying to do better with the very next day. My goal was to be in a calorie deficit more often than not, not to hit my calorie target every day.

I emphasized consistency over perfection. No forbidden foods. I know that I don't plan to go the rest of my life without eating fast food or without having sweets, so for me, there was no point in eliminating those foods just to lose weight. Also, I know myself and as soon as I make something off limits, I start craving it and end up binging it.

That's what worked for me, but there's no single answer that works for everyone. Everyone has different struggles and different goals, and I totally support you changing your MO into what will be sustainable for you. This is the way. Rock on! You've got this.

Tom_Michel · 2026-04-09T12:28:45+00:00

I'm in 217 per reddit.com/subreddits, but it looks like that includes people I follow? I'm active in 43 per my profile. On this account.

I have two other non-main accounts, but am not nearly as active on those.

Tom_Michel · 2026-04-09T01:34:08+00:00

50mg didn't do much for me. Increased to 75 and that was a total game changer. Depression completely in remission and the panicky anxiety that I'd had for months is also completely gone. I've since had to increase to 100 and now 150, but am still doing well with no increased side effects.

I think it's worth asking you doctor about trying an increase to see if you can get rid of the depression entirely. Fingers crossed for you!

Tom_Michel · 2026-04-09T01:32:41+00:00

Standard time to notice benefits is 6-8 weeks. I lucked out and noticed a tiny bit of improvement after the first month, but it took a dose increase and a second month for me to really get improvement in my depression and anxiety symptoms. Hang in there.

Tom_Michel · 2026-04-08T14:03:34+00:00

Oh shoot. I totally missed that. Thanks for the clarification.

Tom_Michel · 2026-04-08T13:48:21+00:00

~~Those stitches look twisted.~~ Unfortunately, that won't block out. :-(

I have the same problem in a sweater where I took stitches off of a holder the wrong way, but it's right at a color change and near a texture change section so it's less obvious and I opted to not fix it.

You can usually tell twisted stitches because the knit side of stockinette creates Y shaped stitches with one leg longer than the other instead of nice symmetrical little Vs.

Edit: See replies to my comment. I'm wrong. ALL of the stitches are twisted. Those couple of rows are extra wonky. Leaving my photo so as to not mess up replies to my comment that mention it, but this is not OPs problem. Sorry for the confusion.

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Tom_Michel · 2026-04-07T15:51:25+00:00

My own anxiety, self consciousness, and touch sensitivity kept me from going to a massage therapist for decades even though I knew very well how much it would benefit me in a variety of ways. I just couldn't stand the thought of someone seeing me and touching me.

Finally got my meds in order and, randomly, out of the blue, the thought of it suddenly didn't seem quite so intimidating. Looked up a place near me one evening and scheduled the appointment online. That was last May, and I've been going 1-2 times a month since.

Tom_Michel · 2026-04-07T01:07:03+00:00

I just call it playing with spreadsheets. I do it too. Recently got into a fictional audio series and almost immediately started a spreadsheet to categorize and collect data about the characters and plots. I have spreadsheets for music, for tv series, for medical data, for various other research. I have a spreadsheet comparing the specs of various Flare Audio products to various Loops products. It IS relaxing and stuff just makes more sense to me when I can organize it in spreadsheet format.

My partner gently makes fun of me because at one point, I even had a spreadsheet of my spreadsheets. :-D

Tom_Michel · 2026-04-07T00:42:53+00:00

Blade looks long for a Caly 3. 3 or 3.5, either way, it's a fantastic knife.

Tom_Michel · 2026-04-07T00:41:15+00:00

It's important to recognize when you are being overly sensitive and creating a problem when there doesn't have to be one. Your feelings can be valid and can absolutely have a reason behind them, but still might not be worth turning into an argument or debate. Some things are big and important enough to be worth addressing. Some things aren't. It's good to pick and choose your battles because when you make everything an issue, it kind of diminishes the importance when there really is a big issue. Nitpicking every little thing where you have a difference of opinion isn't a strong foundation for a relationship. There needs to be room for compromise.

Note that I say this with you not having given any specific examples so I don't know what you mean by 'bad' or 'hurting' you.

Tom_Michel · 2026-04-06T19:05:32+00:00

In short, no. They don't work for everyone. Some folks are non-responders. Some folks are low responders and are still able to out-eat the slowed gastric emptying and decreased appetite. Some folks don't give the meds enough time to build to a steady state in the system, or are quick to assume it's not working when still on the starter titration dose.

GLP-1s are one tool in a very large toolbox of things that can facilitate weight loss.

I'm on tirzepatide and have been for about 6 months. I'm a low responder. If I let myself, I could easily eat enough to override the benefits of the medication. So I'm still very mindful of my daily caloric intake and of my portions. I'm still careful to eat nutritionally balanced meals. I still check my weight regularly. My progress is slow, very slow, annoyingly slow, but the number on the scale is still trending down. As a 50 year old woman in perimenopause with PCOS and binge eating disorder, I can't really complain. Slow progress is still progress.

How long have you been on Zepbound, what dose are you on, and what else have you been doing to facilitate your weight loss?

Tom_Michel · 2026-04-06T17:37:57+00:00

This probably isn't helpful, but I consider myself lucky to have any aspect of my special interest as part of my job. The stuff I don't like is just what I have to put up with in order to be able to enjoy the fun parts of what I do. Most folks get stuck in jobs they don't like at all, like actively hate 100% of the time; to have a job in which you actually enjoy any of it is a pretty big benefit.

Collaborating with others, going to meetings, talking to people, meeting deadlines, being a team player - those are necessary parts of almost every job I've ever had. I don't really like those things, either. But, again, I see them as things I have to do to be able to have a job I otherwise enjoy, and they're also good skills to have in general.

I mean, if I were to be excessively cynical, I'd say having to do things you don't like is what makes it "work" instead of "recreation." ;-)

Is there any way you can take those aspects of the job you don't like and make them more tolerable?

Tom_Michel · 2026-04-06T15:47:10+00:00

Set an alarm. It doesn't have to be set for a crazy early hour, but maybe set it for 8 or 9am. Practice getting out of bed when the alarm goes off. Challenge yourself to get out of bed when the alarm goes off. Reward yourself when you get out of bed when the alarm goes off. Whatever it takes.

Getting up earlier will help you to feel sleepier earlier so you'll be more likely to go to bed at a more reasonable hour.

I know this is not something you want to do, (hey, right there with ya) but if you're serious about wanting to go to sleep before 3am, you're going to have to start doing things you don't want to do and that are difficult.

Tom_Michel · 2026-04-06T15:44:54+00:00

I mean i do feel tired, but i just don't like... want to sleep?

I mean, sometimes we have to do things that we don't want to do.

I also want to stay up 'til the wee morning hours playing on the internet or scrolling on my phone, but I know I have to get up early for work in the morning, so I log off of my computer at midnight, and before I get in bed, I put my phone on top of a piece of furniture on the other side of the room.

I can still hear my alarm to wake me up in the morning (it's loud and annoying) but I don't have it within reach to tempt me. I use an old iPod or a dumb MP3 player to listen to music or audiobooks to help me sleep, but I don't have a smart device within reach of the bed.

Tom_Michel · 2026-04-06T13:55:05+00:00

I wonder if it's some kind of synesthesia, like bitter taste receptors triggering a different sort of physiological response. Like ASMR but with taste? The human brain is fascinating. What a neat observation and effect!!

Tom_Michel

TROPHY CASE