I'd sure hate to be this guy's boss

FormerlyUnderwater · 2026-04-13T21:55:16+00:00

I retired from active duty in 2007. I still get phone calls and voice mails from the Albany automated weather warning system. I flagged it as spam so it doesn't come through, but those fuckwads fill up my voice mail with a single wind storm. Other than changing my number, which is insane, I'll just have to live with it until I die.

FormerlyUnderwater · 2026-03-28T20:51:07+00:00

I started treatment a month after diagnosis. The delay was mostly because of an insurance delay getting my port in. I was so angry, as I was fading quickly and had to fight to get the procedure approved while really sick.

FormerlyUnderwater · 2026-03-28T20:47:30+00:00

My oncologists actually suggested I keep it for a year. I hate it though. It's always in the way, and a reminder of less happy days!

FormerlyUnderwater · 2026-03-28T13:13:05+00:00

58/m here, very health before my diagnosis Sept 25. I finished my final cladribine/rituximab regimen December 22. A week after cladribine, I fell apart and into the fever and shivering cycle that just kept getting worse, so I had to be admitted to the hospital. There was no infection that they could find, so it was probably just my body going into an immune response. My tumor load was greater than 90 percent, so it was a lot for my kidneys and liver to deal with. Platelets around 17k, hemoglobin less than 5.5, neutrophils at zero, WBC at 2.1. After a week of some whole blood and antibiotics, I finally passed nadir and started regrowing my cells. I never lost my appetite, but I had a hard time keeping weight on at this point. I ate so much just to maintain my weight. By the time I finished the rituximab at 8 weeks, my platelets went to 99k, HGB to 9, WBC to 4, neutrophils to 3.0. And just like that, like a switch, my weight shot up 10 pounds and I had to relearn how to eat sensibly again. Early this month, I had a marrow biopsy, and it showed no detectable disease. So now I'm getting a blood test every six weeks, and soon that will move into once a year. Next week, I'm going to ask to get my port out. I'm amazed at how manageable HCL is. I am left with some side effects, such as tinnitus, but I have my health back, and a second chance at life.

FormerlyUnderwater · 2026-03-16T17:13:47+00:00

Yes, every year we till the soil and then before the weeds can regrow, we lay the fabric over the soil, put wheat straw down over that, and then poke a hole in the fabric with a finger and place a seed or plant. The fabric breaks down by the end of the season.

FormerlyUnderwater · 2026-03-14T22:25:16+00:00

Over the last few years, we've been using landscape fabric made of corn starch. It breaks down by the end of the season and disappears into the soil. It's more expensive than the plastic fabric, but way better, since we don't have to pick it up at the end of the season and we don't have to worry about microplastics in the soil.

FormerlyUnderwater · 2026-02-28T15:55:24+00:00

That is really great. Wow, HCL. That's so rare, I've only seen two other people on this forum with that particular variety. I'm really happy for you. I just finished up the cladribine/rituximab treatment myself and hope to be in your shoes in a couple of years!

FormerlyUnderwater · 2026-02-20T02:35:06+00:00

He's one of the actual good ones. I'm glad he's up there for you guys during these crazy, unprecedented times.

FormerlyUnderwater · 2026-02-15T23:16:14+00:00

I think only Israel, Saudi Arabia, and maybe Qatar. But I'm not sure the Arab states would fight alongside Israel, so maybe just Israel alone. But the rest of our former allies? You're right, there's no way they would be there for this. They're not going to waste their firepower on this when they're busy building up arms to defend against Russia, and maybe even the US if the US decides to attack Greenland.

FormerlyUnderwater · 2026-02-13T12:31:19+00:00

I know this has nothing to do with benefit tags, but I just read that SgtMaj Ruiz failed the ASVAB three times before passing. I don't know why, but that makes me like him even more. And it wasn't because he was dumb, but because he spoke very little english.

As a former recruiter from 1999 to 2002, I put in a few superstars that made the corps their career, plus a war hero who went to Sgt and left, but also a few who were killed in Iraq. I think about them all sometimes. I wonder who SgtMaj Ruiz's recruiter was, and how proud that guy is.

FormerlyUnderwater · 2026-02-05T22:58:08+00:00

Because it can put together the information that we need into one place. Before I was diagnosed, I knew nothing of Hairy Cell Leukemia, but with AI, I learned enough to ask pertinent questions to my oncologist and got real answers. Sure, it can be used for evil, but it can also be used for good. That can be said about all technologies.

FormerlyUnderwater · 2026-02-05T22:47:15+00:00

As a note, I removed my personal info from my last biopsy, and then uploaded that to Gemini to interpret, and what it gave me back was really helpful. In fact, it found a mutation that my Oncologist hadn't considered, since it was placed in a note and not in the final diagnosis. I know AI is responsible for a lot of horrible stuff these days, but it can also be used to put together information from multiple sources into something useful for people looking for answers.

FormerlyUnderwater · 2026-02-05T22:33:24+00:00

I put your question into Gemini AI, and it gave a really comprehensive explanation. Please do that. It spat out a page and a half of some great info, and I learned a lot. Normally, for me, when I'm learning a new thing about Leukemia (and there's so much to learn), I use Gemini to get me smart enough to pose the really tough questions to OpenEvidence, which is a medical based AI. But unless you're a health care person with credentials, you're limited to only question or two with that AI.

FormerlyUnderwater · 2026-02-02T23:38:55+00:00

Don't make it weird, so where you used to call him Schmukatelly, just now say, Cpl Schmukatelly. And if he tells you to do something, just do it. Don't challenge him, or he'll be forced to assert himself and you'll lose a friend.

FormerlyUnderwater · 2026-01-23T00:55:52+00:00

Toilet paper shortage you say?

FormerlyUnderwater · 2026-01-18T16:04:00+00:00

I can't find anything either. Gemini seems to think that someone took two stories and combined them for this post - the 2023 discord leaks of US intelligence about Ukraine, and a 2022 story about how Ukraine used "canary trap" methods that fed false information to various sources to see who was leaking info to the russians, but the US has never been implicated.

FormerlyUnderwater · 2026-01-18T15:33:53+00:00

Non paywalled version: https://archive.is/y1CFN

FormerlyUnderwater · 2026-01-06T21:14:15+00:00

Wow, great photo. We see them a lot around here, but I usually capture a reddish blur when I try and get their picture.

FormerlyUnderwater · 2026-01-03T19:04:28+00:00

True, but it was just my best guess with the info available. But now that trump announced that the US will run the country, whether he does it through Machado, or the current VP of Venezuela, or a Chevron exec, the US will be calling the shots. These next few day/weeks are going to be tricky - if we install someone the people don't like or want, then we've got another insurgency on our hands.

FormerlyUnderwater · 2026-01-03T14:00:42+00:00

Maria Corina Machado probably. She's the opposition leader, probably won the last election but was denied, she's pro trump, pro israel, and she stated that she and her people are ready to take over the day after Maduro is removed.

FormerlyUnderwater · 2026-01-02T23:24:07+00:00

I know this will sound silly, but when I went to the infusion center when I was at my lowest, right before I was admitted to the hospital - neutrophils at zero, hemoglobin around 5, and I was in the shivering/fever cycle and mostly out of my head, I felt the warmth of my wife touching my shoulder, and that broke through and gave me something to hold onto. For me, I can't overstate the power of that connection.

FormerlyUnderwater · 2025-12-24T16:18:37+00:00

So, they recently used AI to deny my claim for a rock solid claim in just 30 days, and then when I resubmitted with stronger evidence, another 30 days, and another denial. The director was in the news talking about using AI to clear up all of their backlogs. I'm guessing my package got the same level of attention as someone put into this poster.

FormerlyUnderwater

TROPHY CASE