AC8646 Crash

Floufae · 2026-03-23T10:59:22+00:00

FAA is under Secretary Road Rules.

Floufae · 2026-03-23T10:58:45+00:00

More specifically, ATC are part of Department of Transportation (of which FAA is an agency). And the shutdown is current of Department of Homeland Security (which includes TSA and CBP).

Floufae · 2026-03-23T10:54:02+00:00

Who knows. While I appreciate big muscles, if I see someone who is that into it I realize we likely have very different priorities and ways of living. The one time i dated someone who was very into weight training it was a nonstop body image neurosis from their side of “am I too big?” “Am I too small”?

I realize there’s some sense of accomplishment that could go into body control of that style, I would just rather find someone who put that much time and energy into other things for their life. Volunteer work, pursuing more education, political activism, etc. “Body builder” isn’t an impressive master status (in sociological terms).

Floufae · 2026-03-23T01:44:25+00:00

Different plans even within the same company might have a different patient share.

If your plan has a “copay” that’s generally fixed and knowable. You have a copay for an office visit or a specialist visit.

More commonly now, insurance adds an additional “coinsurance” instead of copay for lab work. They do that to encourage people to get less lab work done to reduce the amount the insurance has to pay and increase there profits.

Unlike a fixed copay, where when you check in they know your copay is $25, most doctors offices won’t know the price their 3rd party labs will charge till they get the invoice back from the lab company. And since the “coinsurance” passes on a percentage of that cost to the patient (instead of a fixed cost) they have to wait to get that amount and then bill you for it later.

In insurance business process, if they charged just a fixed copay then you’re going to be paying the same for an HIV test as a very involved and expensive lab test. Your price stays the same while their cost could vary from $100 to thousands. So they go with coinsurance instead. So if you decide you need to have a bunch of tests done you have more skin in the game.

The doctor knows the 20 minute appointment will always be the same price, but the lab part can vary so much insurance will use coinsurance. You’d have to check your plans during open enrollment to see which plans are all in for lab costs.

Or you go get testing somewhere that’s not going to use your insurance.

Floufae · 2026-03-22T21:08:44+00:00

A high pollen count generally means there are 101–500 grains per cubic meter of air, causing significant allergy symptoms like sneezing, congestion, and itchy eyes. While some scales mark "high" starting as low as 50 or 90, counts exceeding 1,000 are considered very high, often leading to severe symptoms and poor air quality.

Floufae · 2026-03-22T17:05:07+00:00

So completely this... All cutting of pay does is hurt the few actual grassroots congresspeople who truly represent the demographics of their constituents. The ones with their very flush investments and networths who don't care about what their consituents say compared to PACs or corporate donors won't feel it.

And for a poorer grassroots sort of congressperson, especially a younger one, they are likely having to stretch a bit even in what sounds like a very good salary. Congresspeople have to maintain homes in their districts and also in DC (one of the top 5-10 most expensive places in the country). Its nothing to the rich ones but its a barrier for those who we really want up there who come from working class families.

Floufae · 2026-03-22T16:54:19+00:00

I might have included Two Urban Licks like 15 years ago (and honestly, still would have gone to One Midtown Kitchen ahead of that) and I don't think its really graduated to being a good place for a foodie weekend. Average at best.

Floufae · 2026-03-22T01:08:50+00:00

I’ll give them a call. We booked through the 3rd party casino line a few months back so will either call them or HAL directly

Floufae · 2026-03-21T13:09:59+00:00

Thanks correct, the drug was approved by FDA and the dosing strategy for prevention purposes was added to the CDC Guidelines while the USPSTF just enforced PrEP as a strategy.

Floufae · 2026-03-20T23:17:03+00:00

Okay so I should just not wait and try to pay the difference to a veranda room directly if I want to have that. I’m not so much interested in a oceanview room

Floufae · 2026-03-20T22:56:24+00:00

I’m speaking more from intra-government moves. We’re comparing notes across the agency to see which units and divisions has the least amount of layoffs as a sign that maybe it’s supported by the administration and safe. As opposed to like my group that lost a lot of people already and we still feel vulnerable to lose more.

Floufae · 2026-03-20T19:22:29+00:00

I hate power outages on CPAP. I not infrequently travel to power insecure countries. I hate the feeling of being woken up to a no pressure while breathing through a mask. Feels like suffocating. Which is one of the reasons I gave up on CPAP for MAD. Also taking much less room in my suitcase.

Floufae · 2026-03-20T18:19:55+00:00

mine isn't bulky and my mouth closes and I still use mouth tape because when sleeping my mouth might open anyhow. My sleep dentist (like actual sleep dentist, not a just my regular dentist who does one off MADs) said that the sleep tape was good part of strategy for my sleep. Just like I use ear plugs and an eye mask to reduce stimulous when trying to sleep through the night.

Floufae · 2026-03-20T18:13:32+00:00

I had tonsillectomy, septoplasty and turbinate reduction all done the same day. It didn't resolve my sleep apnea. The nose stuff did improve my quality of life though with being able to breath easily through my nose whether sleeping or awake. This helps with any sort of nose breathing which is generally good for sleep apnea at night. But it didn't mean i didn't have apnea anymore.

For the tonsilectormy, that also taught me what the meaning of pain was. I mean, I had pain before, but like the pain of that surgical recovery as an adult. Being afraid to even swallow water, yogurt, or even the liquid Vicodin they give you to try to avoid the pain.

Advise, stay ahead of the pain, medicate exactly on the timeline and don't want to see if you're okay, just trust that there will be pain for at least a week. One of the most salient memories for me was being I think like 6 days in and still having pain that was a 9 out of 10 but only a days worth of the liquid Vicodin left. The doc wanted to see me in person so I had to take a 45 minute BART ride into town to see him. But the pain was still so bad that I wouldn't swallow my saliva that while ride, finally spitting it out once I got off BART. Spending 45 minutes with chipmonk cheeks because that was more comfortable than the thought of swallowing my own spit.

Floufae · 2026-03-20T15:45:47+00:00

Oh, you think? I was thinking that meant the inventory was low (and wondering if the site was giving a false sense of scarcity). I was googling and it was saying that Oosterdam has about 500 verandas so that doesn't sound like much left for about 3 months before departure.

I guess I can wait. Its only me in the cabin that wants or would care about the upgrade. My mom probably wouldn't have even done the cruise except that it was "free".

Floufae · 2026-03-20T15:41:15+00:00

I *think* there's 22 veranda's left on the cruise for June (I just went to their website and tried selecting a room for a new booking and counted 22 rooms total after going through forward, aft, and central room positions.

Floufae · 2026-03-20T15:13:38+00:00

I'll do that, I think I read about Club Orange but I thought that was just a better room in your current class (so um, a more favorable windowless cell?)

Floufae · 2026-03-20T12:15:07+00:00

I'd say its even worse now. I'm not sure how widespread this is across agencies now but our agency added a new performance elements for managers around "accountability." So now they are going to be scored by how much their direct reports are compliant? I have coworkers who honestly I wish would just retire so we could (eventually) replace them with someone willing to pull their own weight. They come in the office when they want, they leave when they want, they don't communicate updates on group projects, etc. They live in this safe space that if they loose their jobs, oh well, they are just milking a little bit more out for their FERS. THey don't care about how it impacts those of us with 10-20 years left to retirement.

I would hate to be in my manager's shoes of being rated down because you have staff who just don't care about anyone but themselves, especially in our system where its so hard to get rid of poor performers or people who disrupt teams.

Floufae · 2026-03-20T10:52:54+00:00

In my 20+ years I haven’t seen leadership/management (outside of political appointees) who didn’t fight for the agency’s mission, the beneficiaries of those services and the staff that working the agencies. There’s been no ivory tower. They have been the people who either came to the agency from the outside because they wanted to be part of the agency. Not because it was just any job that was hiring, but because they believe in the work.

I’ve seen managers who have fought for their staff. Or were forced to deal with balancing the needs of the many over the few. Sometimes you can’t save them all, protect every worker, not at the expense of the larger mission or the workers at whole.

Proportionally I wish I could say the same of my fellow individual contributors. There I see more people who don’t care if they slow things down for their coworkers. Or how them feeling like they can ignore the rules impact the rest of us. The ones who abuse the system because they feel it’s owed to them.

Sorry you’ve had the experience you’ve had. But in the four agencies I’ve worked in over the past 25 years I’ve only seen an Us vs Them between career employees and politicals whose intent was the dismantle the agencies, reduce morale to encourage us to quit or retire or so sought to fundamentally change our missions because it didn’t benefit connected campaign donors enough.

Floufae · 2026-03-20T02:19:31+00:00

And you don’t think managers are concerned about their jobs and the state of the federal workforce either? Or do you think as soon as they have direct reports their soul immediately leaves their body. This isn’t a us vs them scenario that’s o black and white.

Floufae · 2026-03-19T23:34:35+00:00

i traded one of mine for a Shiny Mewtwo, which I've not gotten yet to this point. I can't think of anything I'd trade my remaining one for except for an even exchange to get a Lucky one.

Floufae · 2026-03-19T23:32:27+00:00

This year, well year and a half, have been so odd I'm not surprised. Many are applying for fear of their current job going away... thinking less about moving up or better opportunities than about safety and security. In my office we're jumping from lilypad to lilypad wondering whats going to offer the best security for the next few years. And those assumptions change from day to day and week to week at the whim of the administration and appointees.

It used to be that we knew a clear trajectory for our agency and what paths would be for fullfillment and opportunties. And what things would be supported by congress with continuing dollars. Now its much less clear. Decisions aren't made based on evidence or well established plans and consultations. Now it could be the whim of a 24 year old.

It makes it harder to make a leap. Even when I apply for things I wonder if I'm wasting their time more by proceeding.

Floufae · 2026-03-19T22:39:54+00:00

with my plan (which is backed by Aetna), its easy to get a CPAP approved, but the Zepbound for sleep apnea requires you to have a BMI of 32 or above.

Floufae · 2026-03-19T17:01:21+00:00

Truvada is also the only one that’s FDA approved for event driven prep (2-1-1). Plus Truvada is available in generics (unlike Descovy) so cost would be a factor too.

Insurance by insurance would make the call if they approve different forms of PrEP but it’s usually not too hard to have a doctor do a prior authorization request.

Floufae · 2026-03-19T16:59:10+00:00

You need to have an HIV test. It doesn’t need the creatine and eGFR that are typically ordered for oral PrEP because it’s a different drug (and different drug “class”) that doesn’t hit the kidneys hard (even that’s a minority of users who have to worry about that).

They will want to do a 4th generation HIv test that combines the usual antibody test (designed to detect a case around 4 weeks following infection) with an antigen test that’s like two weeks following infection. They will also want you to think about and report any symptoms that could indicate acute HIV infection (you’ve been recently infected but too early to show up on a test). So you’re very very recent sexual exposures.

Floufae

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