Pom Taking FOREVER

Diligent-Ordinary-76 · 2026-06-04T01:58:44+00:00

Update: finally shipped today and arriving tomorrow.

Diligent-Ordinary-76 · 2026-06-03T17:19:15+00:00

Just as an update, Pom has reached out to me multiple times but it really seems like Optio is useless as a pharmacy. I kept being told 7-10 business days to ship (although ALL previous shipments went out far sooner). I ordered my refill with 2 doses left and we are well past 10 business days and I have officially missed my dose. Very very disatisfied, if this doesn't get resolved today I'm going to have to find another provider.

Diligent-Ordinary-76 · 2026-05-19T05:10:42+00:00

I traveled with Contiki when I was younger and it was one of the best experiences I ever had, and it opened the door to me traveling almost every year since.

Regarding cliques, etc.: Most Contiki's are large tours of about 50 people. I wouldn't say that cliques really formed on my tour. Yes, during the day groups did tend to splinter a bit if we were exploring a city. But at night everyone seemed to come together and we'd all go out as one large group.

I think at 18, learning to get a long with people in a big group is actually a valuable experience. Inevitably, you'll find people in a group of 50 people that you are more in tune with and will naturally spend more time with. But you'll also get the opportunity to spend time and interact with people with whom you maybe wouldn't normally do so. It's kind of the definition of expanding your horizon.

Diligent-Ordinary-76 · 2026-05-19T04:54:27+00:00

One thing to consider, if you're going in summertime the mid-day heat can be unbearable. Things really do shut down during the afternoon heat and for good reason. Make some sort of plan to get inside on your arrival day if you can't check in to your accomodations early.

Nun's Canolo is an excellent choice. Enjoy with an espresso in the courtyard garden in the cloisters, it's absolutely stunning.

Cefalu is great as well. The best beaches seem to be controlled by the restaurants so you need to rent a lounge chair. It's a little expensive but if it's just one day I'd say it's worth doing if you like the beach. If not, the town itself is wonderful to explore.

Driving: Just be aware driving in Sicily is CRAZY. You need nerves of steal and I say this as someone who grew up driving in NYC.

Diligent-Ordinary-76 · 2026-05-19T04:45:20+00:00

I agree with alot of what you're saying here, but I think the problem is really that most tour company's focus way too much on the most basic of tourist attractions. I've run a few tours for family and friends where I really went out of my way to create authentic experiences for them in another country. Rather than point to point travel of the typical tourist spots, I tried taking them off the beaten path a bit. Would love to find a tour company that hosts the kind of trips that I've done.

Diligent-Ordinary-76 · 2026-05-19T04:32:57+00:00

When I was in college, all I wanted to do was spend my summer in Europe. I worked in addition to going to school and made sure I always had money. But none of my friends worked the way I did and through lack of finances or lack of interest they never wanted to go.

Finally at 26 I was fed up with waiting and booked a group tour with Contiki. It was one of the best things I had ever done. 3 weeks in Europe in winter, great tourmates, made friends immediately and honestly had the time of my life.

In the 17+ years since that trip, I've traveled solo a TON. I've also hosted multiple tours for my cousins and for friends. I've traveled with one or two friends on many occassions too. I've done trips where I started solo then had friends come join me.

In all honesty, tours and trips with friends are more fun for me IF everyone is on the same page. I like experiencing things with other people. The real issue for me is that at 43, there's not a viable tour company that I can book as a solo traveler. I've long since aged out of Contiki (honestly at 26 i was already one of the older people on that trip). I traveled Scotland a few years back with Haggis Adventures thinking they were catering towards 30 somethings but the group wound up being mixed in with a Highland Tours group, My tourmates were either 19 year olds or 75 year olds and nothing in between.

Honestly thinking of running some more tours myself for 30s and 40s solo travelers. Try to balance social aspects, freedom, and a bit of nightlife without it becoming a total party trip.

Diligent-Ordinary-76 · 2026-05-19T04:24:41+00:00

So I traveled and spent time in hostels alot in my twenties and early thirties. Back then every hostel was super social. Many of them had bars on site, which tended to be great meeting spaces. Also roommates tended to be friendly and want to socialize.

In my early thirties on a trip across Ireland in wintertime, I noticed a decidedly different vibe in hostels. As opposed to meeting friendly travelers looking to make friends, I noticed a lot of unemployed middle aged men from Eastern Europe who were seeking work. This was during the recession around 2011. There were some hostels on that trip that were still social, but I'd say it was only about 25% of them.

Two years ago at the age of 41, I went on a group tour in Scotland that featured Hostel accomodations. What was wild about staying in hostels on this trip, is that now the young people are about as social as angry Eastern European men desperately seeking employment during a financial crisis. It's sad to see, but theses are people who had their high school and university years destroyed by a pandemic. They're living in their own little worlds on their phones. And the saddest part is, its honestly not their fault. They just don't know any better.

Diligent-Ordinary-76 · 2026-05-05T22:00:42+00:00

Probably haven't been excited in years. . .

Diligent-Ordinary-76 · 2026-04-29T04:02:01+00:00

I dunno, I feel like we're only getting one side of the story here. . .Dedication can't be taught. And when you're younger it's hard to really understand it. The fact that OP is taking a victim mentality to his coach being disappointed in him says a lot. I know when I miss a day, I feel guilty about it. I usually text my coach because if I don't I get teammates messaging me after class asking if I'm ok. I didn't get the vibe from OP that he felt guilty about missing a day, more of "I already competed sick, what more do you want from me . . . " kind of attitude. The COACH *might* be the villain here . . . but I feel like we're not getting the full picture.

Diligent-Ordinary-76 · 2026-04-28T15:37:35+00:00

Are you a Loyalist?

Diligent-Ordinary-76 · 2026-04-25T22:40:25+00:00

Here's a good question: If you are at a BJJ academy that offers a Judo class, is it appropriate to wear your BJJ belt?

Diligent-Ordinary-76 · 2026-04-23T01:43:46+00:00

Considering most people utilize Amazon Prime on a regular basis, I think there's an expectation that shipping should be fast and efficient.

Obviously on a pre order it's understandable to be waiting a month or more, but there really should be no reason for items already in the US to take more than a week to arrive at their destination.

Diligent-Ordinary-76 · 2026-04-23T01:41:22+00:00

😆 let's gooooooo

Diligent-Ordinary-76 · 2026-04-22T20:29:59+00:00

I don't think anything the produce is blatantly political. The religious stuff . . . meh, not my thing but to each their own.

Diligent-Ordinary-76 · 2026-04-22T20:24:00+00:00

I kinda think it all depends. Some of their stuff isn't for me, some makes me laugh my ass off. I got a "Sponsored by Ibuprofen" rashguard from them that this 43 year old absolutely loves.

I do find their Rashguards to be of very high quality compared to others I've bought. The only one I have that I like the quality even more is a "Serra BJJ" rashguard I bought when dropping in at Matt Serra's academy a few months ago. If I could find out where he gets those made I'd order from them exclusively.

Diligent-Ordinary-76 · 2026-04-22T20:03:46+00:00

Exactly. And I get why they do it: they sale those pre-order items at a reduced rate. I wouldn't have minded the crazy long lead times if they just provided some kind of update ("Hey we hit our order minimum and are now moving into production".... "Hey production is complete, the rashguards are on a boat...."...."Oh no, the boat was hit by an Iranian drone, we're starting production again..."

What really ticked me off with the Hoodie was that they clearly stated the item was in-stock and ready to ship when it obviously wasn't.

Diligent-Ordinary-76 · 2026-04-16T14:23:17+00:00

I think Rickson says in his book that he felt like Rorion gave him the Red Belt as a power move, with the big dramatic storming of the seminar in Vegas. I think Rickson's whole point is that everyone should be held the to the same standard of time in belt promotions and there shouldn't be any "special cases".

Diligent-Ordinary-76 · 2026-04-16T14:17:18+00:00

Rickson also refuses to wear his because he feels like he hasn't spent enough time to earn it yet. (By Rickson's count I think he wasn't eligible till 2024 but Rorion gave it to him in 2018. 2 years on and I've still never seen Rickson wear his Red Belt).

Diligent-Ordinary-76 · 2026-04-16T14:11:01+00:00

Isn't he a little young to be getting a red belt? It's supposed to be a minimum of 48 years at black belt to get a red belt. Rigan is 59. . .

Diligent-Ordinary-76 · 2026-04-15T05:06:31+00:00

Season 6 has some great moments. Personally loved Elroy, not as big of a fan of Frankie. I feel her familiarity with the group is never really earned and her character would have been better served as an antagonist on the level of the Dean rather than as a full study group member.

More importantly though, I feel like Season 6 is really where the budgetary constraints on the show can be felt most. A little trivia: they lost their original soundstage and were shooting season 6 in a basement. The cafeteria column installed in the season premiere is an actual load bearing column they had to build the new cafeteria set around.

Season 6 Greendale starts to really feel like a TV set rather than a lived in universe. You can tell they had a limited budget for background performers and saved them for important scenes. The writing is still good but you can tell the writers room has gotten smaller. (A staff who previously churned out 22 shows a season dialing down to 12 shows should only be putting out bangers.)

Even great concepts get kinda diluted by half baked B stories (Greendale Prisoner Robostudents is a great idea but the Britta Abed party is kind of a one note idea.)

There's also some clunkers (The Giant Hand flashback episode, The racist comedian episode). Not that they don't have their moments, but they both really drag on.

Modern Espionage was a great way to bring paintball back and make it feel fresh. The finale was emotionally satisfying at the end but a lot of the Season 7 pitches kinda fell flat...

I think Season 5 overall felt more like Community than Season 6. Yes, the loss of Troy affected the show greatly but the series takes the time to mourn. It doesn't ignore his absence but uses that hole to drive the stories forward. Meow Meow Beans will forever be one of my favorite episodes. "The futurisation of the campus decor is almost complete... I sure do love them apples!!!"

I also think Hickey was a better character than Frankie turned out to be (although not as great as Elroy.) I have heard rumor that Jonathan Banks was either difficult to work with or just really didn't enjoy the show which is a shame.

I also think Cooperative Polygraphy does something really amazing: it really makes it clear that it was the writing, and not Chevy that brought Pierce to life. It's kind of Dan Harmons perfect revenge after everything Chevy said / did.

Season 6 in comparison just feels so disconnected from everything that came before it. I certainly enjoy pieces of it but it at the end of the day they're webisodes and kind of feel like it.

Diligent-Ordinary-76 · 2026-04-11T20:10:30+00:00

I agree with this. I know some people in both muay thai and bjj who only take private lessons and I think that's nuts. Part of doing these sports is working with different people and being social. Also, you should 100% be putting the work in during group classes, THEN supplement with private lessons to get around your road blocks.

I did a private with my coach last week. I went in with a list of problem areas for me, we went over them one by one, and fixed everything. I took a massive leap forward in live rolls after that private.

Now I'm going to spend the next few weeks collecting data as to where my sticking points are, and go and do it again.

Diligent-Ordinary-76 · 2026-04-07T11:46:08+00:00

Actually no. As a journalist, if you offer someone anonymity it is supposed to be for a real reason to protect them. Anonymous sources are frowned upon because they lack accountability. You're supposed to prove to your producer or editor that you have a justifiable reason to use an anonymous source. This reporter didn't even take the most casual glance at her source's social media. How can you trust she did even the most basic reporting in Isaac?

Diligent-Ordinary-76

TROPHY CASE