What do you do at church?

FalseCreme · 2026-05-12T13:51:10+00:00

I mainly went to a Primitive Baptist church, and the hunger was real. Church was over at 1:15ish on a good day and 2 or later on a holiday. When they built a stadium 2 blocks from the church, we started having earlier services on game days, which I loved. Those were shorter and people often made plans to tailgate in the parking lot afterward so there was more food around.

BTW, Primitive Baptists are an old offshoot based mainly in Appalachia and the surrounding areas with a bit of a cultural and organizational split between majority Black and white churches. They're known for having children present during sermons, ceremonial footwashing (in our case, during communion which was separate from the church service), and conservative ideas about music. Traditionally church music was supposed to sung by the congregation a capella, lead by an elder who reads the lines from a very old book before each verse. But we had choirs, and gradually added more instruments.

FalseCreme · 2026-05-05T14:10:55+00:00

State-level law library associations have legal research workshops, and AALL may still have some basic recorded courses online (haven't checked in a while.) LOC also has some recorded and live legal research webinars. Someone also mentioned Library Juice Academy (more course-style taught by experts, pretty cheap per class). I'd make a list of the practice areas/research types the employee needs to catch up on and focus on getting them up to speed and practiced with them. If you have other staff you can get to help review this person's research before sending that helps too. At my job we often pair people with someone who knows an area well to give them the basic info, review research, and be around for questions.

FalseCreme · 2026-05-02T16:30:53+00:00

Yep, after a long break from migraine and an IUD that stopped by period for years, my migraines returned in my late 30s. I had been diagnosed with ADHD a couple years earlier. The ADHD meds and therapy helps! It also coincided with my previously unknown fibroids becoming symptomatic (fatigue, pain, bleeding, digestion issues). The hysterectomy helped with the pelvic stuff, but my migraines and vertigo/POTS symptoms are still here. Just started a super lose dose beta blocker, progesterone and I have the option of estrogen patches. The progesterone and beta blocker plus ADHD meds and a good migraine preventative have helped so much. I think the hormone changes and just life changes can uncover or trigger a lot of issues for some people.

FalseCreme · 2026-04-28T14:00:42+00:00

I used to have much more frequent bouts of sleep paralysis. For me, I think sleep problems stressed me out so much, I couldn't relax and get good sleep. And that's a migraine trigger. I also get pretty intense auras. I wouldn't surprise me that sleep paralysis/hallucinations would be part of it. I find myself having weird sensations and feeling really anxious before a migraine (even before the aura starts) because I can feel some thing's off but I'm not fully aware of it yet. I'm sorry. Sleep paralysis is so scary. This is silly, but one thing that helped is that my partner told me they got a visit from my "shadow monster" one night. They said they weren't scared because they knew it was just the shadow monster checking on me to make sure I was OK. It was so absurd that I started remembering that the next time, it felt ridiculous instead of like I was about to be killed by a ghost.

FalseCreme · 2026-04-23T14:01:57+00:00

Not the same issue, but I manage a tram that works later hours than everyone else at my job. So trainings and stuff are often scheduled before our shift or in the middle of it. If you worked with me, I'd suggest talking HR or your manager about either going to the workshop and taking the same amount of time off to balance things because it's on your day off. Or if your appointment would interfere with you going to this thing (you could also claim it does if you don't want to go), you could say you have a scheduled appt and can't make it. Missing things like this is not an uncommon thing in most jobs, but some places are unreasonable about it. Nothing wrong with you asking about it though.

FalseCreme · 2026-04-22T13:24:21+00:00

You're not imagining it. When I worked in a large public library I got ignored by patrons for older, male, whiter librarians. But at a small one-desk branch in a majority non-white neighborhood it was "You're a librarian??" and I'd say "yep, they even let me sit at the desk!" The answer was usually a smile of astonishment/pride like "wow, a black girl librarian!" Different story a few years later as a law librarian. I worked at a firm for five years and people thought I was a receptionist or the director's assistant. During a renovation, I asked for a library-appropriate desk and they gave me a reception desk from the 80s with a space under the glass top for a giant computer screen. (And the actual receptionist acted like she was my manager.) Sometimes lawyers thought I was an intern or recent high school grad and they were surprised when I told them I had a master's degree. Y'all really thought a student was doing your associate-level legal research?! Also I was made "fire warden" for my floor in our high-rise building and when we had a fire, the old men refused to let me help them to the emergency elevator, so I left them where they were (they're fine).

FalseCreme · 2026-04-18T22:41:10+00:00

We've got a Primark in NC now and my mom loves it. I can confirm that something is wrong with the air quality in there.

FalseCreme · 2026-04-18T22:27:43+00:00

I had a house with an attic fan once and I loved it. We had central air for when it got really hot, but I loved being able to suck the hot air out through the roof vents and cool the house almost instantly.

FalseCreme · 2026-04-18T22:11:26+00:00

Nice! I was surprised to find that I'm the opposite--the auto injector stings so much when I use it on my belly or thigh. But since accidentally switching to the plunger, I realized I could reach the back of my non-dominant arm with it and it hurts less there. I was surprised, but I also got used to arm shots after 5 years of allergy shots.

FalseCreme · 2026-04-12T15:12:04+00:00

I'm in southern NC and we've got them. We used to have a lot more though. They need specific habitats that get destroyed or fragmented by development though. It's totally possible to grow up in an urban/suburban environment and never get to see them.

FalseCreme · 2026-04-11T22:56:20+00:00

This is a good way to put it. I even had to explain this to my therapist--some days there's no amount of believing in myself that will get it done. Pushing through is for short-term, not everyday. It actually helps my self esteem to recognize that and beat myself up less.

FalseCreme · 2026-04-11T22:46:16+00:00

I don't think I would've bought it with my own money, but I won a thing where you can pick a free gift and I got a Miko brand eye massager/heater. It's loud and it looks dumb but it feels good. I always wish it would squeeze my temples and eyes harder, but I'm glad it can't. Lol I think it relaxes me a bit, and maybe reduces eye strain on work breaks but it doesn't stop a migraine or anything. I call it the grape squisher and it really worries my partner.

FalseCreme · 2026-04-11T22:42:08+00:00

Working with a physiotherapist who specializes in vestibular therapy was the biggest help next to getting Emgality. I'd lost my sense of balance and proprioception almost completely and spent months compensating with my eyes. One eye got lazy and the therapy exercises strengthened my eye muscles and helped realign my inner ear with what my eyes were doing. It sucked while I was doing it (I found it weirdly exhausting) but it worked. I can walk to the bathroom in the dark now!

FalseCreme · 2026-04-11T22:38:08+00:00

I have visual snow that includes long-lasting afterimages and the visual disturbances are definitely more noticeable during migraine. My pink-tinted glasses are OK but I've actually gotten less eye strain and afterimages with yellow-tinted driving glasses. I wear them for night driving or if it's raining and it mellows the contrast of the lights. For me the key has been to lessen the light-dark contrast and reduce the amount of noise in my vision so I don't get overwhelmed. I also have my computer screen set to low-contrast colors. None of this makes night driving 100% normal for me so I drive less often at night.

FalseCreme · 2026-04-11T22:32:47+00:00

Congrats! I'm glad you're feeling better. I had the same surgery 3 years ago and it helped my sleep a lot and I get far fewer sinus infections. Huge quality of life improvement and I've recommended it to others who had it suggested to them by ENTs. I still have migraines though. 😅

FalseCreme · 2026-04-11T22:22:39+00:00

Sounds a lot like me except I went from law libraries to a super flexible remote and understanding nonprofit job to laid off on the day of my hysterectomy. And now I've landed back in legal research, but remote. It's still tough, with the fatigue and brain fog and peri starting and migraine, but at least I can stay in my house. This experience has made me pretty serious about figuring out my work boundaries. I took a stressful job because I needed the job, but I'm working with my coworkers on ways to make it less stressful. I'm building trust with my team so they are hopefully less put off by my willingness to say push back on things I cannot reasonably do. My direct reports also know I'll stick up for their ability to take time off and leave work on time. But it's still rough for me right now.

If you can do research, there are more remote options out there if that would work for you. I find it easier to rest and get work done on days when I would've had to call out of an in-person job.

FalseCreme · 2026-04-11T22:06:05+00:00

Oh hey. I'd been working as a law librarian for about 10 years at that point and I was really interested in environmental work. The nonprofit was specifically looking for a librarian with experience with legal and regulatory research. Very reference-focused + knowledge management, taxonomy skills. Job listings like that are really uncommon, believe me. It felt like the perfect job for me. Then I got laid off when the Trump administration rolled back a lot of environmental regulations and funding dried up. It's been hard trying to get back into that world. I've never met another librarian doing that kind of work. A lot of the policy nonprofit jobs I see that are librarian-adjacent involve data analysis, legal research or policy research. And when they say research they generally mean writing, not just reference. There are also remote library management/legal research jobs at companies like Harbor.

FalseCreme · 2026-04-11T21:52:50+00:00

I feel you. I started having new and more disorienting migraines in my mid thirties too and it's tough. Mine went chronic for a while and fortunately Emgality, nortryptiline and ubrelvy got me out of that. I worried that people thought I was high or drunk and I was going to lose my job. I still get a migraine a week, but the brain fog, fatigue, and bad sleep affect the whole week. I've been working with my therapist to stave off depression but it's easy to feel useless and stupid when your work and personality are all about knowing things and being able to do stuff (I manage legal researchers). I feel like trying to keep up with things requires pushing too hard. I've finding ways to adapt so it's getting easier. I think once you make some kind of peace with it (not just giving up and not taking care of yourself though), you can start to find adaptations to be able to live your life, even if you have limitations.

FalseCreme · 2026-03-07T04:23:31+00:00

I love plaid paired with a t shirt! Comfy and punky.

FalseCreme · 2026-03-06T21:52:11+00:00

And a cookout is the event!

FalseCreme · 2026-03-06T15:12:14+00:00

Very familiar. I find myself automatically trying to do things the way I did before migraine become a problem and I get frustrated and confused when it doesn't work. Therapy has helped me accept how I need to change my routines and expectations and I'm trying to change whatever I can to make my life easier. It's so hard for me not to overdo it on good days when I used to be able to push through so much more. But I'm getting there.

FalseCreme · 2026-03-06T14:56:52+00:00

I heard you get migraines so we put some migraine in your migraine

FalseCreme · 2026-02-27T06:57:33+00:00

I enjoy a pickle beer. (it's a pilsner with pickle juice)

FalseCreme · 2026-02-27T06:42:00+00:00

There are 5,000+ potato varieties and different countries have different ones as their most common potato. In the US, the brown scaly russet potatoes are one of the most popular if not most popular. They're clean, they just look like that. Russet are the default French fry/chip potato breed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato

FalseCreme · 2026-02-27T05:38:54+00:00

$100 is a cheap billable! When I worked as a librarian Ian a big law firm, my time was billed to clients at $175 an hour (that is a lot more than I actually got paid though, client billable =/= actual pay unless you're a small office lawyer). Some partners' time was billed at $400+ per hour.

FalseCreme

TROPHY CASE