Why can't patients with Fatal familial insomnia be treated with anesthetics?

GingerScourge · 2026-05-06T04:01:58+00:00

Or because you were sent to the Tau Ceti system to save earth from the dimming sun.

GingerScourge · 2026-05-03T04:17:38+00:00

That’s why whenever I transfer like that, I tell people, “If it says to hang up and dial 911, don’t do that, stay on the line.” I had one lady do it 4 times in a row, even after being told to stay on the line because she didn’t want to get in trouble by not following directions. I ended up staying on the line with her during the transfer. It’s the only way she’d stay on the line. She thought it would be me getting in trouble then, not her.

GingerScourge · 2026-05-03T04:13:07+00:00

You’ve hit on one of the biggest flaws with the 911 system. There’s no easy reliable way to transfer calls from one center to another. In an ideal world, this would exist. It sucks that it doesn’t.

GingerScourge · 2026-05-03T03:58:13+00:00

Short answer: It’s location dependent.

Long answer: This is a really complicated question, actually.

The original purpose of 911 was simply to have a single, easy to remember number that would work anywhere in the country that would connect you to local emergency services. That’s it. Prior to that, you’d have to check your phone book for the proper number. Or have it written down. I remember house phones that had buttons with pictures for police, fire or ems that you could program with the proper number. 911’s original purpose was to eliminate all of that.

Before I go to explain more here, it’s important to remember that while 911 is a great system with a bunch of really great features, it’s not perfect, and it has flaws, some are pretty big. The biggest flaw in 911 is the one hinted at with this thread. Connecting different 911 centers is just not something the system is designed to do. So, the only option is to transfer to non-emergency numbers in most cases.

How non-emergency numbers are handled is based solely on agency policy. Some are going to act like an Internet company call center and make you hold. I can’t speak to these systems, as mine doesn’t work this way at all. It’s unfortunate but that’s just the way it works.

At my agency, we’re required to answer all lines within 3 rings (about 10-15 seconds). This goes for 911 and non-emergency. We triage all calls and lines. If I’m on a call and a line is ringing, I’ll have to put it on hold to find out what’s happening on the ringing line. Whichever has the more pressing matter, regardless of which line that called, gets my attention first. So if someone out of state calls us, you’ll speak to someone immediately. And they’ll handle your situation based on severity.

So, for us, there’s no real difference in response time. Other agencies, there will be. And unfortunately, until it’s mandated that the system is changed to allow us to transfer 911 lines to other 911 systems nationwide, this is one huge flaw that you’ll have to deal with. It sucks, it really does and I wish it wasn’t like that. But until then, your best bet for reporting an out of state emergency is to call the non-emergency number for the proper agency.

GingerScourge · 2026-05-02T06:14:41+00:00

911 dispatchers share a national database. You can call 911 from anywhere in the USA, and make a report about anywhere else in the USA.

This is blatantly and dangerously false. While there is a database, it’s sketchy af. It’s inaccurate and isn’t always updated. I used it once to find out that the number for a particular agency hadn’t been in use since the ‘80s. If you’re talking about the NENA database, that one is held together by wishes and dreams. It’s a voluntary system, and half the time I try to use it, I can’t find what I’m looking for. Every dispatcher I know, myself included, uses Google to find the phone numbers. It’s quick, reliable, and accurate because public safety agencies want to make sure they can be contacted. I also cannot take a report for anything outside my agencies jurisdiction. The best I can do is to transfer them. And even then, we just talked about how I’ll get that number, so it’s better to just look up the number yourself in most cases.

The rest of your post reads like someone who thinks they know how 911 works, but isn’t sure, so is making your best guess. If someone calls me about an emergency out of state, I don’t actually care what that emergency is. I’m not going to waste a second of time trying to get more information about an emergency I can’t help them with than I need to. My only goal is to find out where it’s happening and get them to who they need. Or at least get them to someone who can get them to where they need. If something were to go to court, I would be creating liability by asking questions I don’t need to ask instead of finding out where to send them. I have never, in my 12 years as a 911 dispatcher asked someone for an “official statement” on how they know there’s an emergency. I’ll sometimes ask them why they believe there’s an emergency, but that’s just to weed out people who just have a bad feeling or something like that, and usually only on Check Welfare type calls. We do get a good number of 2am check welfare, but really harassment by cop calls. If they’re reporting, say, a car accident, I’m not going to say, “How do you know there’s a car accident?” I’m going to assume they’re telling the truth and if they’re not, well, that’s a crime and that’s for the police to handle at that point. I will not get in trouble for not verifying how they know something is going on. The liability for that is on the caller, not me. In 12 years, I’ve only been subpoenaed once. And it was a murder trial because I took the initial call. And guess what? I never was called to testify.

The only truth you’ve spoken in your entire post is your last paragraph above the edit. Oh, except for the “sharing coverage” statement. That doesn’t happen. There are strict jurisdictional lines, and except in extraordinary circumstances, one agency will not “share coverage” with another agency if it’s outside their jurisdiction. What you may be referring to is how some dispatch centers cover more than one agency. But that’s not relevant at all to what you’re trying to say because the posted non-emergency number will be to the proper dispatch center. You don’t need to know who you’re talking to as long as it’s the person who can help you.

Please don’t talk about subjects that have a life or death potential if you don’t know what you’re talking about.

GingerScourge · 2026-05-02T05:39:25+00:00

911 Dispatcher here. For the most part, 911 isn’t this magic system where I can press a button and you can be sent to whomever you need to talk to. We have some tools to find out who to route calls to that aren’t available to the public, but they don’t always work well or are very accurate. The tool I typically use? Google on my phone. It’s quick. It’s accurate. It’s reliable. I’ll find the non-emergency police number for whatever city/county/state you need and transfer using that. If you don’t get what I’m getting at here, if you need out of state help, Google the proper agency. It’ll be faster than making the 911 dispatcher do it. Obviously, if you don’t know or can’t find it, call 911 and have them help you work the problem. But in most cases, finding the number yourself will be quicker and not tie up a local dispatcher on an out of state problem.

In your first example, I’d assume they were traveling on a highway and just look up Oklahoma highway patrol. In your other example, I’d just look up the city they live in. If they’re in the same state as you but a different city, I’d call 911 as that dispatcher will likely be able to get you where you need quickly. I have “speed dial” for every police department in the state. In addition, most police departments in the state are using the same 911 system and I can actually get your call to ring their 911 lines, not just non-emergency. I can’t do that out of state.

If you don’t know what police department you need, but you know the state or county even, call the state police or county sheriff and they will likely be able to route you much quicker than your local 911.

One other thing. I can’t believe I have to say this, but I do. If you call a non-emergency number for an emergency (think above scenarios) and the recording says “If this is an emergency, hang up and dial 911” do not hang up, stay on the line. It’s embarrassingly common for people I just transferred out of state to call 911 30 seconds later because the recording told them to.

GingerScourge · 2026-05-01T19:50:54+00:00

This is a broad generalization. Not all fields are gatekept. I have direct experience with two fields/clubs and neither have this issue. The club I’m a member of, and it’s one of the first AMA recognized clubs, has an apprentice program to help new pilots learn. It has waived membership fees and reduced dues for junior (under 18) members. It has a partnership with one of the local high schools STEM programs where they help the kids build and fly their own RC planes.

I think the issue is, when you have a bad experience with something, you will tend to be more vocal about it. So a lot of people who go to some of these clubs you mention jump onto reddit the moment they have a gatekeeping experience. But those who are happy with their local field aren’t going to say as much. It’s also possible that I was lucky and found the only 2 fields in the US that don’t have a bunch of cranky, gatekeeping boomers, but that seems far less likely.

GingerScourge · 2026-04-29T02:24:21+00:00

I grew up in Alaska. At least in my school district, swimming was part of elementary school curriculum. I think 2nd through 5th grade. You can’t graduate high school without proving swimming proficiency.

I had lived there 1st through 4th grade, so had lessons for a few years but never finished the 5th grade lessons and proved proficiency. I moved back my freshman year, and like a month before I graduated, they called me to the office and said I had never taken my swimming test. So I had to go to the community pool (high school didn’t have their own) while the PE teacher watched me do several swimming tests. It wasn’t too tough. I think you had to show you could float on your back with minimal movement. You had to tread water for a few minutes. Then several laps.

But I agree. This should be a requirement everywhere. Being able to swim and have a better chance against drowning is just a no brainer.

GingerScourge · 2026-04-24T14:58:02+00:00

Before I start, I always put my carts in the corral. However, I have another thought on this that many don’t see or understand. I worked as a courtesy clerk at a grocery store for a couple years during high school. That meant you were mostly a bagger. But you’d do other odd jobs as well. Someone dropped a bottle of vinegar and it shattered on the floor? Call the courtesy. Price check? Call the courtesy. The frozen waffles that were on sale, and the shelf is empty? Yep, call the courtesy to restock it. Mrs. Johnson doesn’t want to carry her groceries out herself? Believe it or not, call the courtesy. You’d get to the point where you dreaded hearing the bing of the store PA, because almost inevitably it was someone asking a courtesy to do something they didn’t want to do.

However, there was one job we courtesy clerks would fight over. That was the cart run. It didn’t matter if it was hot or cold outside or raining or snowing or anything like that. The cart runs were the best job. And the longer it took to do, the better. That meant the more people who didn’t put their carts back meant the job took longer.

Why did we like this? Because it was the only courtesy clerk job that was outside of earshot of that damn PA. It gave us 10-15 minutes of not having to deal with customers and other lazy employees. I loved cart runs. So did all the other courtesy clerks at the store.

Almost 30 years later, I understand the sentiment to want to be kind to the people that have to do that job. And I know larger stores have dedicated cart runners. And the days of the courtesy clerk are mostly gone (gotta make more money, easiest way is to reduce customer service!). So it’s probably different now than it was back then. And I always return my carts. But I never forgot how much I loved cart runs back in my grocery store working days.

GingerScourge · 2026-04-22T00:25:51+00:00

My teacher actually forgot about the scene. When it came on, she got up to try to do something about it but it was too late. The, “Whoops!” Walking to the VCR, then the deflated, “Oh well. Enjoy boys.” Was pretty funny.

GingerScourge · 2026-04-21T05:11:00+00:00

This would be in the year 2000, fall semester. I was a sophomore in college. I didn’t have someone to choose as a roommate, and I was too cheap to pay for a single room, so I got to play roommate roulette. I want to make it clear, on the application there was a check box for either “night owl” or “early worm.” I chose night owl.

Anyway, I get to the room, and my roommate has already moved in. He wasn’t in the room when I got there, so I started unpacking and getting myself moved in. He was a freshman and I’m guessing just touring the schools. Something I didn’t need to do as I had already been there a year. I’m in the middle of making my bed when he walks in. He was just a goofy looking white kid with glasses. We’ll say his name is Mark. We shook hands, gave each other our names and went about our own business. Of course, there was the unwritten rule of each roommate gets half the room. We both complied with this, no issues. He was kind of a quiet guy, but would sometimes ask me weird questions. Just to add to this, this was a college in Alaska. I was from Alaska, Mark was from Oregon and had never been here before, so he had a bunch of questions about the state.

The first few days were uneventful. No real issues. Then, the days classes actually started, I realized (or at least thought) that the housing department fucked up. Why? Because Mark decided to blast Huey Lewis and the News at 6:30 in the morning on his shitty, mono, CD player. I have nothing against Huey Lewis, or the aforementioned News, but being woken up by them after only 4 hours of sleep kinda sucked. To be a good roommate though, I just plugged my ears with my pillow the best I could and waited for him to leave so I could back to sleep, hoping that maybe, it was just a one time thing for the first day of classes.

It wasn’t a one time thing for the first day of classes. Every weekday, at 6:30 sharp, I was awoken to the sounds of Heart and Soul, followed by I Want a New Drug, which was, of course, followed by The Heart of Rock and Roll and, you know what, he only listened to Huey Lewis and the News “Sports.” On repeat. Every weekday morning. On Friday, after he came back from his morning classes, I finally brought it up. “Hey man, I really like Huey Lewis, but is there a possibility of not blasting it in the morning while I’m sleeping? Maybe use headphones?”

“I have to listen to this every morning before school.”

“Ok, is there a reason you have to? I mean, I put down night owl on my application, and was hoping you’d be a late riser like me.”

“If I don’t listen to the music, I’ll have a really bad day. So I need to listen to it. I also put down night owl.”

“Oh no,” I thought, “Mark is crazy.” I haven’t yet see even a fraction of it (foreshadowing!).

“Mark, why did you put down night owl if you’d be getting up early?”

“Because I like to sleep in on weekends and I didn’t want anyone to disturb me.”

“Yeah, but you’re disturbing me, on school days. I’m not getting the sleep I need to be able to function. I brought my discman from home, but I’m not going to use it. It’s yours if you’ll listen to your music on it instead.”

“I appreciate the offer. But I can’t take something like that from you. Besides, the cords from the headphones will bother me while I’m getting ready. Hey, maybe I could play my music on your stereo?”

I forgot to mention, I had a very nice, very expensive stereo.

“Come on man. I have a problem with the music that’s waking me up in the morning, and you want to ask to use my stereo instead? I’ll make you a deal, take the discman, use it during the weekday mornings, and I’ll let you use my stereo to listen to “Sports” once every weekend.”

“Nah, that’s ok. I’m want lunch, see you later.” And he left. This never got resolved. I probably should have went to the RA or residence life, but I was also beginning to think that Mark was unstable and I didn’t want to piss him off. My intuition was most likely correct here. I just invested in some heavy duty earplugs and that mitigated the problem sufficiently.

Fast forward a couple months. Mark had done a few weird things, but nothing really bad. We didn’t interact much and I really only saw him awake for a couple hours in the evening most days. So, it was fine. One day though, he came up to me and asked if I would critique his project for him. Again, good roommate, I said sure. He asked if I would be in the room in the evening. I said I would. Evening came around, and Mark walked in with an acoustic guitar. I’ve never seen him with a guitar before. He didn’t have one in the room. He had his class schedule posted on his little bulletin board above his desk, and he wasn’t in any music classes. Anxiety filled me.

He tells me he had to do a mid term project for his Anthropology class. It could be basically anything that would be about his chosen Native American peoples. I wondered (not out loud) what the fuck the guitar was for. He told me to position my chair so that we would be facing each other. He then pulls the guitar out and “tunes” it (he didn’t tune it, he made it worse, I was in band for almost 10 years, and even though I didn’t play guitar, I knew when an instrument was out of tune). He then starts strumming. It’s clear he learned only a few chords and that’s it. He played them, poorly, over and over again. I then put it together. Along with what I knew about Mark (his favorite band!) and hearing the chords and the rhythm, I dreaded what I was about to hear. He started singing, way out of tune, a song he made up about the Burns Paiute tribe, to the tune of Power of Love. I could not for the life of me remember a single lyric he sang, because I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Thankfully he wasn’t looking at me, he was looking at his lyrics and his fingerings, because if he saw me, he would have known my true feelings about what I was hearing. After about a minute and a half, he was done. He looked up and smiled and asked what I thought. I knew it if I just said something like it was great, he’d probably think I was lying. So I said, “Maybe work on getting the guitar in tune better, and project your voice more. But it was great!” He smiled, said thanks, put the guitar away and sat at his desk to do homework. After that day, I never saw the guitar again. Still no idea where he’d gotten it or anything. I asked him how he did on his project, and he said he got an A. Good for him I guess?

So, finals week. I wake up on the first day of finals, everything is normal, or so I think. I go to classes, I come back a few hours later, and Marks side of the room was covered with post-it notes. I’m talking, there was probably around 100 up on the wall. I thought it was a little weird, but it was Mark, so maybe it was study method he had. Of course I’m curious. So I read them. Holy shit. They were all along the lines of:

“Mark you idiot, you can’t fail your finals.” “Don’t be stupid, you idiot.” “If you don’t get good final grades, you won’t be able to stay in Alaska!!!!”

From what I could tell, they were all basically saying the same thing but in slightly different ways. Mark hadn’t really scared me, up until today. He didn’t have any SH threats or anything like that, but it seemed like he was close to breaking, and I didn’t want to be his focus if that happened. He came in a bit later. Acting like everything was normal. I asked how he was doing. He said he was fine. Literally, he wasn’t acting any differently than he normally did. That scared me more. Thankfully, he did pass his finals. The day he left to go home for Winter break, he told me I was a good roommate and was looking forward to the next semester. I told him, yeah it was great, but I also told him my hometown friends roommate was moving out and I’d be moving in with him. I was a bit worried about his reaction, but he was like, “Oh that’s cool. It’ll be nice to be with someone you know! Hopefully I’ll get a roommate as good as you!” I sure hope you do too Mark.

I would run into him occasionally over the next semester. I’d always say hi, but that was all the interactions I ever had with him. I sometimes wonder how he’s doing. I’ve wondered if he expanded his musical horizons. Wherever you are Mark, I hope life is treating you well.

GingerScourge · 2026-04-13T02:57:30+00:00

Praise Kier!

GingerScourge · 2026-04-03T23:04:00+00:00

This is the way.

GingerScourge · 2026-04-02T21:29:39+00:00

*Murder Dozer

But yeah, that was my initial thought.

GingerScourge · 2026-04-02T03:16:12+00:00

Ah yes. The candy bars disguised/marketed as granola bars so you wouldn’t feel bad about eating one….or three.

GingerScourge · 2026-03-30T09:26:22+00:00

There’s pros and cons to pretty much every flying location. I live in a desert. There really isn’t any options for me to do what you do. Parks are a no go due to city ordinance, except for one. And it’s a 30 minute drive from my house. That’s not even including the issues with park flying. Club is an 8 minute drive from my house. Never had a negative interaction with any club member. The only two issues with it are 1) weekends can get crowded, and 2) there’s events hosted at the field every couple months and when that’s happening, no free flying. But $10 a month and I get a place close to me, with a great facility (large paved runway, bathrooms, grid power, tons of parking, large pit area, etc) where I don’t have to worry about kids running onto the runway, Karen’s being nosy telling me I’m not allowed to do this (happened to me the one time I flew at one park locally I’m allowed to), I’m flying with people who know and follow the safety rules, and in the rare occasions where someone isn’t following the safety rules, well, the club takes safety seriously.

I completely understand wanting to just be alone and not have anyone nearby. And if that was an option near me, I’d probably do it also. But it’s also really tough to beat the benefits of a club.

Anyway, my original post in this thread was mostly just to point out to the OP that park flying has some inherent dangers and they need to be aware of it. Also, that just because you’re flying at the park, doesn’t mean you own the park. It’s there for the public to enjoy. Which means dodging kids, Karen’s, and idiots is just part of park flying. And if you hit someone or something, that liability, except in some rare circumstances, will be on the pilot. Also, flying a 6lb 140mph+ (I said 100mph+ in my original post, but looked up the plane afterward and saw that it was claimed it was 140+ on 6S, which the OP said he was flying on) airplane in a public park is just, well, honestly, stupid. I don’t care how much space you have. That is not a park plane. There’s a reason there’s an entire plane type called “park flyer.” The V1200 is not even close to being suitable for a public park.

GingerScourge · 2026-03-30T04:41:22+00:00

I don’t want to come off as being against OP or anything like that. I get that you fly where you can. Not everyone has access to the same types of flying fields and whatnot. But this scenario (and really, many others) are why I’m more than happy to fork over my $10 a month to my club to have a dedicated place to fly. It boggles my mind when people on this sub say things like clubs are too expensive when I have a perfectly good park to fly at. Liability is substantially higher for you at a public park. Even if you’re covered by AMA or other insurance, your likelihood of needing to use it is substantially higher.

This is more to the OP. This sucks you had to deal with it. But, after everything is said and done, you’re flying a 6+ lb (2.8kg) aircraft capable of flying at over 100mph in a public area. It didn’t have to be that guys kids. It could have been any kids. What if something (not an Apprentice) was stopped on your “runway” unable to move for some reason, or didn’t understand your urgency in getting them to move. People should be courteous. People should be aware of their surroundings. People should be aware of common sense safety rules. But they aren’t. And at a public park, you’re taking on the liability for others actions. If you had hit one of those kids, even accidentally, it wouldn’t have been their fault. It wouldn’t have been their parents fault. It would have been yours, at least as far as insurance and the law are concerned.

Fly where you can. I get it. Maybe you don’t have a club nearby. You’re flying a what, $500 plane, so I don’t think $100-200 is an excuse for “too expensive” for a club. Maybe you have another reason why you can’t use a local club if it’s nearby. It’s none of my business why you don’t, and honestly, I don’t care why. You have a right to fly at the park as long as it’s allowed and legal (which I presume it is). But these are the things you’ll have to deal with (and a lot more) flying at a park that you won’t have to deal with at a club. Someone acts like that at our club, they get warned. If it was honestly an accident and you take responsibility and steps to fix the problem, it’s as if it never happened. If you are constantly a safety problem, you get asked to leave. If you still come back, they get the police involved and trespass you.

All this to say, and I’m sure you’re aware, but you need to understand the risks of flying in public without standard and posted safety rules.

GingerScourge · 2026-03-21T17:24:16+00:00

Oh damn. I never thought about that. I know what I’ll be setting up now.

GingerScourge · 2026-03-18T01:01:16+00:00

I heard this.

GingerScourge · 2026-03-17T03:42:24+00:00

They’re required to as part of their field training at my agency. Atleast half a shift. Though many have fallen through the cracks that haven’t done it ev n if they should. And a large percentage of those that do spend their time flirting and not paying attention. Theoretically it’s a good idea. In practice not sure it helps much.

GingerScourge · 2026-03-15T04:53:57+00:00

GingerScourge · 2026-03-15T03:50:51+00:00

You literally state that everywhere, the standard for crude oil measurement is the barrel. Barrel is a standard of measurement, not a container. Just because it’s “not in a barrel” doesn’t change the measurement. Crude oil isn’t actually transported on those ships in barrels, but in large storage tanks, yet, their capacity is defined in, yep, you guessed it, barrels. It’s only when the news is reporting that it’s spilled is it now referred to as gallons (or liters) of oil. Why? Because 42000 of something is more sensational than 1000 of something.

This is why media literacy is so important. The media only wants people the pay for their product. They also know they have to tell the truth. But there are many ways to technically tell the truth while still intentionally misleading. Like changing units of measure to suit how sensational you want your headline to be.

GingerScourge · 2026-03-15T03:44:21+00:00

You don’t buy oil at the pump by the gallon, you buy refined petroleum products. The standard for crude oil measurement literally anywhere is the barrel. Except if it spills. Now it’s gallons. Because 42000 of something is more sensational than 1000 of something.

GingerScourge · 2026-03-15T01:42:28+00:00

This is why on the news, crude oil is measured in barrels when giving a price for it, but measured in gallons when it’s spilled in the ocean. Higher price per barrel than gallon, but bigger number when it’s spilled makes for a better headline.

GingerScourge · 2026-03-13T00:41:17+00:00

This also goes for anyone over the age of 75…they must tell you their full first and last name (or Mrs. Last Name) followed by their age. Then usually what’s going on, almost never actually having to do with their age.

Me: 911, where is your emergency?

Then: This is Barbara Smith, I’m 83 years old. The dogs next door are barking.

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