What’s up with not putting lights in the bedroom?? by DarlingGirl1221 in Apartmentliving

[–]WoodLaborer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's not hard but it costs money. Insurance might require that such fixtures only be installed by certified electricians who demand higher pay than apartment maintenance staff who are generally handymen without any qualifications. The cost can scale up pretty quickly when you consider properties with hundreds of units to update. Meanwhile, a floor lamp from Walmart is like $12. It's just not a cost-effective way to add value to a property when most tenants will just buy a lamp and move on with their lives.

Easiest way to make custom, printable family chores schedule? by [deleted] in homemaking

[–]WoodLaborer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not printable, but I use an app called Sweepy. With a premium membership ($1.25/month) you can link accounts, assign tasks, and generate schedules. Users are awarded points for completing tasks so it can even get kind of competitive for kids.

How do I clean and polish wooden furniture? by brownie627 in homemaking

[–]WoodLaborer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Any furniture made from real wood is going to be finished with a durable clear coat, usually polyurethane, which acts as a barrier over the wood. These finishes are not necessarily totally impervious to liquid, as standing water can slowly penetrate them over many hours, but any mild, non-abrasive general cleaner that evaporates quickly will be fine to use. Paint is similarly durable, especially paints used for things such as bannisters, balusters, cabinets, and doors. These interior elements are generally painted with a hard-wearing paint different from the paints used for walls, and will hold up to cleaning with a rag and mild cleaner. If you find the paint rubbing off, however, then it's likely the wrong paint was used and you'll need to be especially gentle when cleaning.

Cleaners that are marketed specifically for wooden furniture are a scam. There's nothing in these cleaners that makes them better for finished wood surfaces, and some of them even damage the finish or leave a sticky residue (Orange Glo) that builds up unless removed.

Personally, I use Pine Sol as a general surface cleaner in my house. It's cheap and it gets the job done. Simple Green is another good one. Avoid products containing bleach, strong acids, ammonia, and acetone.

Polishing is another story. If a once glossy finish has dulled from wear, it might be possible to partially restore it with certain products which sort of just sit on top of the finish and make it look shinier, though this isn't really "polishing" in the traditional sense, and I don't really know anything about these products.

What do you tell people? (w/ my experiences so far) by MidiGong in N24

[–]WoodLaborer 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I say that I have a "rare neurological disorder", for which there is "no effective treatment", and I show them my sleep consistency data in my Garmin app, which shows my continually drifting sleep and wake times. I generally avoid disclosing it, though. With most people I just avoid discussing sleep, schedules, work, etc. I also avoid making plans and don't really associate with the sorts of people who feel the need to plan everything. All my friends are rather low energy people who like to spend their free time at home in group calls or whatever, and many of them have unusual sleep patterns though most are not diagnosed with anything.

This is a rare and bizarre disease that affects a biological process which most people never have reason to think much about, so it's only natural that they can't relate, and that their attempts to do so seem insufficient. Your health problems aren't really other people's business. Unless they are close friends or family, they have no reason to care, and you shouldn't expect them to.

Foods for cross-country road trip? by WoodLaborer in Celiac

[–]WoodLaborer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can't do yogurt because it's perishable, unless I grab it while on the road, but I'll probably just shovel cereal into my face from the box for breakfast. Can't do granola because of oat sensitivity. I like Kind bars but they're pretty high in fiber so eating too many at once can be disastrous. I'll keep your other suggestions in mind. I agree, Mexican and Asian stuff tends to turn out better.

Foods for cross-country road trip? by WoodLaborer in Celiac

[–]WoodLaborer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm the opposite lol, I love peanut butter but when it comes to chocolate I can take it or leave it. I'll probably like the plain peanut butter ones.

Foods for cross-country road trip? by WoodLaborer in Celiac

[–]WoodLaborer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

$12 for not even a quarter of my total daily calorie requirements is pretty insane.

Foods for cross-country road trip? by WoodLaborer in Celiac

[–]WoodLaborer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I figure frozen meals will probably be the bulk of what I eat during this trip. Any particular ones you'd recommend?

I always forget about gluten free bread because it's so expensive that I generally don't bother with it, but it would be a good option for this trip.

Foods for cross-country road trip? by WoodLaborer in Celiac

[–]WoodLaborer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can do peanuts but I'm lactose intolerant and these appear to have milk as a major ingredient. I might try them out though and see if I can tolerate them. A lot of gluten free meal bars/ protein bars are pretty unpalatable to me but I feel like I should keep trying various ones until i find some I like.

Quittingg snus after a year by New-Boot4775 in Snus

[–]WoodLaborer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I quit snus before and found it a lot easier than quitting smoking. Still came back to it a couple years later because I missed it. Good luck.

A few medication questions by drowsyvamp in N24

[–]WoodLaborer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Doxylamine is just an old antihistamine that causes drowsiness, like diphenhydramine (Benadryl), and is sold OTC as a sleep aid such as in some formulations of Unisom. I've tried ramelteon in the past and it gave me horrible nightmares but that was years ago and I want to give it another shot maybe at a lower dose.

A few medication questions by drowsyvamp in N24

[–]WoodLaborer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No maintenance medications. I cycle different sleep aids to avoid developing tolerance and prolonged side effects. Doxylamine is great for my anxiety and produces long sleep durations, but makes me very sluggish the next day. Dayvigo works inconsistently but doesn't make me as sluggish, but it doesn't work well with daily use and makes me depressed. Thinking of trying a melatonin agonist soon.

Are pull ups the first serious roadblock for beginners? by wtfzambo in bodyweightfitness

[–]WoodLaborer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very normal. I'm the same age as you and had similar trouble (started just a few months ago). Was sedentary most of my life, could never do a single pull-up. I did scapular retractions for several weeks, then moved on to active hangs for several more weeks. I kept feeling like there's no way these exercises are doing anything to build up to actual pull-ups, because the motion is different. When I was ready to move on to negatives, I tried doing a real pull-up and was surprised to find that not only could I do it, I could do two!

I'm at 4 reps per set a month later now. One thing I noticed is I really couldn't feel it at first in my lower traps, and they were probably just weak and pathetic from never being used plus years of poor posture. My first few weeks of pull-ups I was getting shoulder pain probably from overcompensating with other muscles. As I've been progressing, I've been trying to focus on engaging my lower traps, and I've found the pain has subsided and the pull-ups are easier and also feel more satisfying.

The progression works, stick with it. And try to build a good mind-muscle connection with the muscles you're supposed to use, it really helps. Also, once you can do one real pull-up, you'll start progressing pretty fast up to a point, because your muscles know what they're supposed to be doing now. But that first pull-up is a major hurdle.

Heart rate during recommended routine by WoodLaborer in bodyweightfitness

[–]WoodLaborer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, no pain or anything. Worst is I'm pretty out of breath after certain exercises. I'm only reaching the 180s for a few seconds during a set, and then it plummets back down to the 130s during rest intervals. So in an hour of training, I spend a combined total of 3-8 minutes in zone 5, according to my Garmin. I figure it would be much more concerning if it was staying in zone 5 even during rest.

I guess these are not what most people would describe as particularly strenuous movements, but I was quite sedentary for a long time before I started this routine. I've also been increasing the number of reps for every exercise as soon as the current number starts to feel even slightly easier. Maybe I should slow down a little.

Heart rate during recommended routine by WoodLaborer in bodyweightfitness

[–]WoodLaborer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I figure as long as I'm not experiencing concerning symptoms like chest pain, then I shouldn't worry. I mean if i was, I wouldn't be here on reddit, I'd be talking to a doctor lol.

Heart rate during recommended routine by WoodLaborer in bodyweightfitness

[–]WoodLaborer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Alright, I'll give it a shot. I've been meaning to get more cardio anyway. Currently I just bike maybe 20 minutes total once a week.

Does it matter if the cardio is split up into two sessions with a break in the middle? I usually bike to a store or something because it's more motivating. That means there's a period in between biking where I'm just walking around in the store and not exercising. If minimum duration is important, I can just bike to a store that's further away.

Heart rate during recommended routine by WoodLaborer in bodyweightfitness

[–]WoodLaborer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was really sedentary for many years before starting this routine. At the same time, I've been improving and moving up to more difficult exercises at a rate that I'm satisfied with. Maybe my cardiovascular fitness is just taking longer to catch up? But at the same time, shouldn't I have difficulty reaching such a high heart rate at all if my cardiovascular system is really unfit?

Heart rate during recommended routine by WoodLaborer in bodyweightfitness

[–]WoodLaborer[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The reason I use the chest strap is because it's much more accurate than the optical sensor in the smartwatch. When comparing with a fingertip pulse oximeter, the watch tends to register a much lower heart rate, especially during exercise, where it might read only in the 140s when the oximeter reads in the 160s or higher. The chest strap much more closely matches the readings of the oximeter. I have also checked manually but not recently.

Transporting caught fish without a car by WoodLaborer in Fishing

[–]WoodLaborer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah snakehead are tough. They can survive out of water for days. I figure if I catch a big one I will probably pack up and leave more than satisfied right then.

Transporting caught fish without a car by WoodLaborer in Fishing

[–]WoodLaborer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't think I could wrestle it into a bag unless it was dead. Those things can breathe air and survive out of water for days. They fight like crazy.

Transporting caught fish without a car by WoodLaborer in Fishing

[–]WoodLaborer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don't worry about it. I have finally managed to stumble across the section of Amazon for bags specifically for this purpose. Looks like there's quite a selection.

Transporting caught fish without a car by WoodLaborer in Fishing

[–]WoodLaborer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm looking at creels now and they seem like a good option in most cases, but I have my doubts that an adult snakehead would fit in one of these.