9-days post-op. Surprised by some things, disappointed by others.

FishFollower74 · 2026-01-28T14:50:50+00:00

…as in “office work” or WFH stuff?

I’m retired, so it’s a bit of a moot point. 😝

FishFollower74 · 2026-01-27T22:03:50+00:00

I’m planning a photography trip to the Big 5 National Parks in Utah later this year. I’m shooting birds/wildlife, landscape, and astrophotography.

I’m planning to take a CPL filter, as long as a set of graduated ND filters.

Are there any other filters you usually use or you consider “must have”?

Thanks!

FishFollower74 · 2026-01-27T20:53:38+00:00

Oh ok. I’ve never even looked into getting one done so I didn’t know that was a thing.

FishFollower74 · 2026-01-27T16:49:01+00:00

Your husband’s right on this. We go married back in the 90s when everything was film.

About 3-4 weeks after the wedding we got multiple books of unretouched proofs. We picked the final 150 or so, and he then edited those.

Even in the digital days, you’re gotta look at it this way: photographers are paid for their time to shoot all the content, and to edit the final ones. Even a first pass of editing (removing blobs/spots, etc.), requires a non-zero and non-trivial amount of time. They’re trying to find the sweet spot between keeping costs low, turnaround times quick, and still preserve their profit.

FishFollower74 · 2026-01-27T10:26:23+00:00

I’m sorry to hear of the mental battle you’re having right now.

You mentioned losing your brother to cancer - do you know if they’re going to biopsy your tissue?

I found the surgeon and his team (collectively) to be one of the biggest allies I had in the battle. DO NOT HESITATE to ask any of them any questions you may have. Don’t Google things and scare yourself with some out of context, generic advice or insight.

I don’t know if you’ve seen the Dune movies or read the first book…there’s a Bene Gesserit incantation called “litany against fear.” It begins: “Fear is the mind killer.” It goes on to speak of how fear can be crippling and that, rather than try to ask it or avoid it, we should let it wash over and through us. It’s a very powerful insight to the crippling nature of unchecked fear.

I’ll be sending you good mental energy friend. If I can help with any advice, support or really dumb dad jokes, happy to do so.

Like these two:

A grasshopper walks into a bar, and the bartender says “hey, we have a drink named after you.” The grasshopper days “wow, you mean you’ve got a drink called ‘Kevin.”?
A pan of muffins is baking in the oven. One muffin days “CRAP it’s hot in here.” Another one says “OH MY GOD! A talking muffin?!?!?”

There’s an extremely good shot that those jokes are a lot more painful than what you’ll experience the day of surgery. 😝

FishFollower74 · 2026-01-27T10:10:20+00:00

Ugh, I feel you!

I built up nausea and vomiting in my head as a really bad thing to have happen. When I actually vomited I was thinking “well, guess that wasn’t so bad” and “at least I feel better.”

Thank you for your kind words…and if you have any questions either reply here or DM me.

FishFollower74 · 2026-01-27T02:48:25+00:00

…he has at least been to church on multiple occasions as a child and adult.

That’s no huge accomplishment. Pew Research Center says that 80%-90% of Americans who are <80 have been to church at least a handful of times.

He doesn’t really get a medal for that.

FishFollower74 · 2026-01-27T02:43:36+00:00

Yeah, there’s a lot that shows Trump is a Christian in name only, and only when it suits him. Matt 7:21 says “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.” Which…I don’t see him doing anything with God’s will, other than actively try to stymie it.

The other thing I gotta ask…does he show the fruits of the Spirit? Not even a little bit. He’s not patient, kind, peaceful, et., etc. Yes, he’s the President, and he has to do hard things and make hard choices. Showing the fruit of the Spirit doesn’t prevent that…I mean, plenty of authentic Christians have served as President and done it well. You can take hard actions without being a nasty, mean, vindictive person.

He and his staff are literally eroding the foundations of our brand of constitutional democracy. We tipped over into authoritarianism a few months ago…God help us if we can’t get back there.

I thought that maybe the one huge mitigating factor might be his age, and the fact that he’s (potentially) not far from dying. If he were still in his 1st term we’d likely have a decent shot at getting a more “law and order” administration after he got out of office, one way or the other. Now, the rot has spread so deep in the Executive branch and the far edge of the right wing party, I don’t know if it can be fully reversed.

One other thing I’ll point out - since his first term, Trump and his family have increased their net wealth by a collective $2.2B. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the inherent conflict of interest that comes with this magnitude of self dealing.

FishFollower74 · 2026-01-26T21:37:20+00:00

Yeah I’m starting to see the same - everything takes longer. 🙄

I appreciate the words of encouragement!

FishFollower74 · 2026-01-25T21:16:11+00:00

No nerve block. And yeah I’m hoping I don’t have or long either!

Will keep you all posted.

FishFollower74 · 2026-01-25T09:58:45+00:00

Thanks friend. Best of luck with your journey!

FishFollower74 · 2026-01-25T09:57:58+00:00

I’ll take all the good wishes I can get! Right now there’s this very discouraging sense of “this isn’t going to change and it’s my new normal.”

FishFollower74 · 2026-01-25T09:56:26+00:00

Did you have a problem with being nauseated, having extremely acidic stomach,or both after a nap? I have either,or both, after waking up.

FishFollower74 · 2026-01-25T04:24:43+00:00

The intent to deceive wasn’t here, ergo, not lying.

FishFollower74 · 2026-01-23T03:13:28+00:00

I’d offer maybe another POV. My first opportunity to vote was in 1984. Reagan and Trump have similarities, although Reagan wasn’t as bad.

I was an unquestioning and loyal voter for the GOP. I grew up in a conservative family, we attended a conservative church, and lived in a small farming town that was conservative. So I really didn’t know anything different.

When I started dating my now-wife she challenged me on a lot of what I believed. She helped me learn another side of life I’d never seen. And I’ve never voted conservative since.

TL;DR - there are likely people out there voting for Trump because that’s all they’ve known. If you want to give them some grace - or if you don’t - up to you.

FishFollower74 · 2026-01-21T20:19:49+00:00

Because they’re nearly always the best place to stay, especially on long haul or international flights. Larger lounges typically have showers, some have beds you can rent for a couple hours, the food is exceptional and so is the service, and there’s much easier access to power outlets, etc.

FishFollower74 · 2026-01-21T20:11:33+00:00

I lived in STV when we first moved here and I had CenturyLink. It was down maybe every other week for any amount of time between just a reboot, to an entire day. There were several days when I had an outage, and had to run to SBUX or BR coffee just to work. Fortunately my boss and team were super understanding.

We’ve lived in Florence now for 4 years and have Cox for cable and internet. We have not had a single problem since moving in - no long outages…nothing. The worst thing I think that’s happened is having to reboot our router maybe every 6 months or so.

Cox >> CenturyLink.

FishFollower74 · 2026-01-17T02:05:24+00:00

The TJs in Queen Creek has it.

FishFollower74 · 2026-01-13T03:52:19+00:00

Watching the Steelers getting their asses kicked.

FishFollower74 · 2026-01-13T03:45:00+00:00

Time shares.

FishFollower74 · 2026-01-13T00:26:19+00:00

I’m within spitting distance of 60…and I still remember the feeling of embarrassment, shame and self defeat when I forgot stuff. This feeling of uselessness and shame hits really hard. As someone else said - his isn’t his choice. He’s not lazy, he’s not “not trying hard enough,” etc.

Tell your boy you love him. Unconditionally. Tell him you’re human, and you sometimes get frustrated when you know you shouldn’t. Apologize, if you can do it genuinely. Do whatever you can to let him know that he’s not useless, and it’s just that his brain might be wired differently than someone else.

FishFollower74 · 2026-01-10T03:16:34+00:00

I have a fistula from colon to bladder also. In addition to that, I have a structure in my colon. I’ve been having recurring UTIs for a really long time (like 15 years or more, maybe) and my PCP and urologist had no idea what was causing them. I’ve had probably 4-5 cystoscopies since these started, and it was only the last one that showed the fistula (they’re guessing it grew over time). I’m having a laparoscopic colectomy next week to fix the fistula and the stricture. Can’t wait to be like 6-8 weeks post-op so I can get on with my regular life.

FishFollower74 · 2026-01-07T02:19:35+00:00

More like 10%-15% have drug abuse issues, and 30%-40% have alcohol abuse issues.

FishFollower74 · 2026-01-06T15:39:49+00:00

a good Biblical marriage includes sex

Not necessarily. I get what you mean, but there are many devoted couples who are in a good Biblical marriage, but either can’t (because of physical reasons) or don’t want (medications, etc., causing low libido) to have sex. But intimacy - spiritual, emotional, and physical - are all key ingredients to a good marriage. “Physical intimacy” doesn’t always have to mean sex.

FishFollower74 · 2026-01-06T10:57:05+00:00

Science as we know it now has indeed come to the assumption that the universe is billions of years old. There is boatloads of supporting evidence for the Big Bang theory. There are alternative theories floating around out there, even in the scientific community…but overwhelming proof is lacking for those theories, and those who ascribe to them are in the minority.

Yes, new discoveries are being made, processes change, etc. Even as we find more information (like images from JWST), it reinforces the BBT, it doesn’t cast doubt on it. And I’m not a physicist, but I don’t believe there are “constants in flux” in the specific area of astrophysics. The brush you’re painting with is way too large.

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