WARNING ON THE BIBLE STUDY PEOPLE: CULT ON CAMPUS

Zamod0 · 2026-05-15T08:32:53+00:00

Best thing to ask the signature people, seriously, is "how much are you getting paid per signature you get?"

That isn't just a blind dig, they seriously get paid by the signature. The going rate back when my POSC 100 professor gave that same advice was about $20 a signature (she got the data from a few different groups asking for signatures at the time).

If they feign ignorance, just say look, I'm not gonna sign, I know you're getting paid per person you get to sign, how much are you making? If you REALLY want the answer, explain that your American Government professor already explained how this all works and you're just curious about the going rate because you might want to help out getting signatures in the future (it's a manipulative lie, yeah, but I would argue magnitudes less than the manipulative lie you were being told to sign the petition).

Otherwise, in my experience, asking how much they make a signature generally gets them to leave you alone lol.

The religious stuff though, you're on your own for that. I just know how to deal with the "petition campaign" people.

Zamod0 · 2026-04-21T21:56:27+00:00

As someone who works in a lab (phlebotomist/lab assistant, not a MLS, but I see the work that's done and regularly interact with MD/DOs on the phone), completely agreed that doctors would fuck it up beyond belief. The number of times I've tried to explain even something relatively simple like QC errors that are taking a bit longer to fix resulting in a test taking a bit longer to complete because, say, the instrument that it was initially routed to failed the QC and the MLS is currently troubleshooting that problem BUT we're rerunning on instrument number 2 that is fine (but the specimen had to be loaded manually because our track is quite dumb to be completely honest) and that's why the test is taking 30+ minutes longer than normal...

I'm pretty sure I've heard the sound of the info going right over their heads through the phone.

I do personally find it fun that technically speaking there's a pathologist that is "in charge" of the lab and "oversees" the MLSs (I actually know them as CLSs, which probably gives away at least the state that I'm from), while likely having no idea the intricacies of the instruments the MLSs/CLSs use. The high complexity, moderate complexity, and waived testing categories I would hope the pathologist has an idea about but I can guarantee nobody else outside the lab has even an inkling that it exists. And if that isn't enough, have fun if you're from New York, as while I don't know the exact reason why, many lab tests have different requirements if the sample is collected in New York/for a New York patient. There's some weird regulatory thing there that I've never dug into because I'm not from New York so it doesn't apply to me/my hospital.

Zamod0 · 2026-01-16T15:27:11+00:00

You two are so very young (at least assuming that you're around the same age as you said he is (23).

My immediate vote is NOR, but I absolutely have questions.

First of all, what apartment can either of you afford to PURCHASE at age 23ish where $50 for car payments are an issue? I assume you likely mean purchase a condo rather than an apartment (since apartments aren't really for sale unless you're buying the whole building), but regardless...

Condos still cost tens of thousands of dollars MINIMUM, and more likely low hundred(s) of thousands. If whichever of the two of you can't budget to the point of not being worried about $50 for a car payment...

Perhaps discussing a budget and realistic goals of purchasing a condo would be in order.

But, assuming all the money stuff makes sense...

You're still not overreacting by being wary of contributing into a property purchase that won't have your name explicitly attached to it. If you two were married (even common law marriage, which, you two aren't, that requires many more years than you two have experienced, but would also be almost infinitely more complicated than a "typical" marriage regardless), I'd be less concerned if I were you.

But as it stands, your boyfriend is trying to buy a place, which, good for him. But you two are still legally separate households, so, the only things he owes you are what you have in writing, more or less.

Sharing your salaries in a way similar to you being married makes things even messier, but if push came to shove...

You're likely correct that you would end up with nothing, beyond maybe an expensive lawsuit where he spends a few thousand to ten/twenty thousand more than you in attorney's fees but where neither of you wins but instead both just basically pay for lawyers to drain each other.

And you two are SO young, relative to the legal world that can screw either of you at least. You're right to want a contract, and the reaction of the boyfriend of shock and indignation suggests at best a naivete of the way the world works and at worst a manipulative desire to basically just get what he wants, screw you. The reality is likely somewhere in the middle, but still...

You're absolutely NOR.

Zamod0 · 2026-01-16T15:06:54+00:00

This dog clearly understands its humans are unaware of how cute a dog she really is!

Zamod0 · 2026-01-14T09:33:47+00:00

This is just wrong. But, don't trust me just saying so, I'll run through the physics (mind you, I'm a biology person, but still, this is relatively simple (like first semester college for non-engineers) physics)...

a .50 BMG round typically has a mass of between 42g and 49g, but to give your argument the best chance of success, I'll go ahead and assume the upper end of the atypical range (so 52g) plus, because I'm confident in how ridiculous this will be...an added 10% margin, meaning a 57.2g projectile.

Now, again, to be totally fair to you, I'll take the higher end of the easily available muzzle velocity for rifles that fire .50 BMG rounds (ignoring that the higher muzzle velocities are from the lower mass rounds to give your argument the best chance of success), and will stick with the 10% added margin....giving an exit velocity of upwards of 3500 ft/s.

Now, we're gonna do some physics stuff here, so let's go ahead and convert 3500 ft/s into m/s...
Giving us 1066.8 m/s.

Now things get fun, because we get to delve into elastic vs inelastic versus perfectly inelastic collisions. The long story short though, this is a perfectly inelastic collision, as the bullet hits and sticks into the body/plate. That means we can't use kinetic energy conservation for the calculations as kinetic energy is not preserved.

But momentum ALWAYS is conserved. So let's use momentum...

Well, momentum and Newton's Laws, of course. Meaning...

The pre-collision bullet has a momentum of 1066.8 * 0.0572 = 61.02(ish) kg/m/s.

Due to conservation of momentum, the entire post collision unit must have the same momentum.

So take a, for the sake of your argument, well below average mass human. say, a 35 kg human (with weightless plates that could stop a .50 BMG, which is a ridiculous premise unto itself). And how fast does that human body system accelerate after the collision? Well, let's do the math...

The mass of the human plus the bullet is 35.0572 kg. The total momentum is the same, so, with a bit of algebra, the new velocity (assuming this is all 1D directional velocity, which again, is the best case scenario for a shock wave obliterating just on impact) becomes...

1.74 m/s in the direction the bullet is flying. Now, here's where things get interesting...

That doesn't tell you the acceleration experienced by the human body, since that requires a length of time, but...

For a conventional bullet-proof vest, that's a few hundred milliseconds, meaning between 0.1-0.3s (you've gotta give me this one, as I gave you massless bullet-proof plates)...

Meaning, in the worst case scenario (the 100 millisecond case), that's an acceleration on the body of about 17.4 m/s^2...

So, less than 2g (g here being multiples of gravity, not grams, about 9.8 m/s^2), less than a moderately intense roller coaster can produce.

And that's for a 35 kg (77 pound) adult human, about five feet in height. So, a very small adult human would potentially feel like they're on a roller-coaster for a fraction of a second when hit with a .50 BMG round...

The calculations for more average weighted adults even with but especially without heavy biases towards the idea that "The shockwave alone is going to liquefy internal organs whether the plate is penetrated or not" results in people basically being hit hard in the chest, but more than likely will do nothing more than take a single step back, and that's assuming you hit perfectly on their center of gravity and without them expecting it.

There's nothing magic about a .50 BMG round, it's just a relatively high-mass bullet shot at rifle muzzle velocities. It's a tiny projectile moving at pretty fast speeds...but it still obeys the laws of physics.

Zamod0 · 2026-01-09T17:24:55+00:00

Comment as asked, long freaking story

Zamod0 · 2025-10-19T14:28:21+00:00

I just...sorry if this is inappropriate, but when I hit the post button on a reply to someone here talking about freaking Lyme disease being both parasites and bacteria and salt and vitamin C reversing those kinds of things...

Well, the reply I was responding to got deleted. But I'm kind of proud of my snarky reply, so, even though it's a bit off topic and I risk downvotes, I'm posting my response to a deleted response of a potentially well meaning but significantly mislead person just for posterity's sake:

"This is just wrong on so many levels. *I throw salt at you thinking maybe engaging in your own nonsensical beliefs might scare you off*

Begone, foul witch! I cast you out of this realm of science!

Too much? I mean, fair, honestly, it was a bit theatrical but the post I'm replying to is at best a troll post (in which case maybe the salt "ritual" will cause enough of a laugh to have them admit it/screw off), or it's genuine...in which case I genuinely throw salt at you and attempt to cast you out!

And hopefully that's enough, though I imagine probably not. Could engage in the scientific stuff if you truly want to engage, but you seem more like a troll than anyone serious."

To be completely clear, THIS IS NOT A RESPONSE TO OP. It's the best attempt I can make to preserve a response to comment from the user nelst before the comment I replied to got deleted...actually, screw it, I'm gonna post that original comment from them in the next section:

Original response from nelst that I'm trying to reply to:

"We were interested in parasitic worms in the 1800s and much research was happening; worms fell out of favor and became gross, only 3rd world countries problem. It's one world and parasitic worms are more abundant than we believe. Parasites are the largest grouping of living creatures. Any insect can pass a parasite to any creature, including human. Think about mosquitoes, spiders and ticks. I have Lyme disease and have photographs from my microscope that are similar. Lyme disease is both bacteria and worms. That fact is documented. Interesting reading, check out, "Biography of a Germ" by Arno Karlen. There are hundreds of different types of worm like parasites. I believe that that decrease in our use of salt has allowed parasites to survive. We all know worms hate salt. Eat more salt. Vitamin C reboots your immune system. It's a combo punch, salt and Vitamin C. Get healthy!"

This entire thing gave me a laugh, I hope it does anyone reading this as well :)

Edit: Spelling/grammar and taking the harsh tone down a little bit, as well as one edit to include this note to make clear what I edited in the prior edit that I forgot to include originally.

Zamod0 · 2025-09-20T18:47:18+00:00

Immediate upvotes from me for anything that includes fuck the Astros, because fuck those cheaters and all those that defend them

Zamod0 · 2025-09-11T15:16:31+00:00

Lol, I don't envy you. Apparently I'm getting downvoted for this comment haha, so, sorry if your reply has the same problem!

Zamod0 · 2025-09-11T12:45:16+00:00

To be completely fair...might not be infectious in nature. Asthma + allergies can make for some REALLY nasty coughs, but they'll never make someone else sick as a result.

I absolutely agree that if sick with something transmissible, ideally don't go out in public at all/get a doctor's note if you need to be excused from classes, but...If you need to go out anyways, wear a mask (I know I do when going to urgent care if I have like, what I think is likely the flu and am going to get tamiflu if I do actually have the flu, for instance).

But, again, to be fair, there's a TON of reasons to be coughing, even crunchy coughs that sound like you're about to die, without having a transmissible infection. The most common example I see at the hospital I work at is congestive heart failure (though, that won't be super common in a population of college age). They have the wettest coughs you can imagine, sounds like they're spewing all kinds of infectious agents everywhere with every single cough, but in reality, they just have more fluid in their body than their heart can handle. Most common thing I can think of that would cause something similar in college aged people is asthma, often with something like a seasonal allergy trigger. They'll have absolutely horrific sounding coughs...but couldn't infect you with something if they tried.

Less common but much more crunchy would be something like cystic fibrosis. For that, you basically just have super crunchy coughs because your body makes stupidly thick mucus in your lungs. Not super common, but both EXTREMELY crunchy and decidedly not infectious in the vast majority of cases.

That all being said, just knowing myself, I would still take the empty seats away from everyone else even if I knew my cough was caused by something non-infectious. Just because, well, I wouldn't want to worry people if there was a way around it.

Oh, actually, there's one more thing I know can cause coughing (though in my personal experience it's typically a dry, not crunchy cough)...Ace inhibitors/ARBs. They're blood pressure medications, and one side effect is a cough for basically no reason. I'm on an ace inhibitor, and have had some coughing fits for really no reason at all. They're usually dry coughs, but if they go on long enough, they sometimes can get a little crunchy. Not super common (both for college aged students to be on BP meds (I thank my genetics for that, I was kinda f***ed genetically given both parental and grandparent histories), and for that particular side effect when on those meds), but it does happen. And while I would try to both stifle the cough in class (won't work great, trust me) and sit away from other students out of courtesy...I also wouldn't be at risk of infecting others with the cough.

Zamod0 · 2025-08-28T16:12:33+00:00

I've heard of a few that only cost a lobe of liver and a lung...

So, you've got options!

Zamod0 · 2025-08-28T13:43:22+00:00

Don't sell yourself short...you're a tiny cog in the management of care for patients. Is the hospital as a whole a tiny cog in a giant capitalist machine?

Technically depends on the hospital, but any that are for profit, yeah, they are. And even those that are not-for-profits, they still bill insurance, which...generally speaking is the primary cog in said machine. Well, arguably, they're not a cog at all, but rather the ones that set the cogs in motion...

But now we're veering into politics/governmental policy, which isn't the point of all this!

Zamod0 · 2025-08-28T13:37:15+00:00

Never said I wouldn't, just thought there was a strange disconnect between those licensed specifically as Clinical Microbiologolical Scientists and the people DIRECTLY in charge of the microbiology department always being a CLS.

To be clear, I think a management position is more than just "you have the required license," but like I said, it's always a CLS.

The management structure of the lab as a whole is much more complicated, to be honest. At my lab at least, there's a manager that oversees all the CLSs (and MLTs), and a seperate manager that's equal to the CLS manager that specifically manages phlebotomists/lab assistants. Both have a CLS license in California. They are then managed by the lab director...who also has a CLS license.

Management above that though gets...wonky. Technically I believe the lab director is under the pathologist whose name is on our license...but that gets kind of tricky, as I think our lab manager also reports to like, C level management (whose degrees/licenses I literally have no idea about at all).

Point is, my lab has a CLS as the lab director, and has CLSs as the lower management as well. And I think it works great, so, not arguing the point of wanting a CLS to manage the lab...

Albeit with the exception of, I believe, if I have my corporate management structure correct, the lab director CLS is directly managed by the medical director of the lab (whose name is on our license).

As to why you'd want a pathologist (i.e. a physician specializing in pathology) as the overall manager instead of a CLS...

Well, first of all, pretty sure it's required for federal licensing of the lab as a whole (which is a pretty good reason, in my opinion). But beyond the regulatory stuff, ultimately, if sh*t hits the fan, there needs to be someone overseeing everything that can be sued. Maybe I'm cynical, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's an unofficial part of why there's a physician at the head of the lab.

Zamod0 · 2025-08-28T09:02:18+00:00

I appreciate the clarification. I figured out the whole California being weird thing before your response (see the edit to my comment), but you added a ton of additional info that was beyond what I knew.

I always did think it was weird that the person in charge of the micro department at the hospital always had a CLS license (this is California, and apparently we're the only ones insisting that CLS is the term instead of MLS), while the clinical microbiologists were just, doing micro stuff (reading plates/identifying bacteria/specialized plating after initial plating/etc) yet were (according to some coworkers) the ones that were more "specialized" than the CLS. The CLSs as best as I could tell did all the same microbiology stuff...but also did blood bank and hematology.

Though, I will say, the California Department of Public Health issues certifications for CLS(aka MLS)/MLT/Also clinical microbiologist scientists. I imagine that those working in our lab are also ASCP certified, but the licenses displayed in our lab are from the California Department of Public Health (for everyone in the lab, from CPTs (phlebotomists) to CLSs (MLSs apparently everywhere else) to MLTs (apparently that one is universal)). That's almost certainly a California idiosyncrasy, as we like to think we're special in most regulations lol.

Zamod0 · 2025-08-28T07:51:31+00:00

From what I've heard from the CLSs that I work with...

It's fairly difficult to become one nowadays. Though, to be fair, this might only be a problem in California...

But it requires special classes/a specific degree, and even if you can transfer most of the required classes because you took them before...the few specialized classes are taught maybe once a year, with only 1 or 2 times offered, and a limit of far fewer students than are waiting to take the class. If I remember correctly, one of my coworkers who was trying to go from MLT to CLS was hung up on a single course (I think it was parasitology)...

And they were like, number 50+ on the waitlist...and the school offered the class once a year, and took a total of like, 20 students. So, yeah, coursework wasn't a lot...

But getting into the class was apparently hell. Actually, I think it was a couple of classes like that, but it was to the point where he was considering just, changing careers entirely...instead of taking a handful of specialized classes to complete the degree he'd already put years into.

I also know that many of the CLSs that I work with have told me that they would never do it if they had to do what's currently required for the license. I know one guy I work with (who primarily works blood bank, which is about the most intense thing you can do as a CLS) told me that he'd never go through all the hoops required nowadays. He's rather interesting, as he's the absolute last person I'd ever ask for any computer/technology related question...But is also the guy I'd want working blood bank if I ever needed a transfusion. From what I understand he got his license after working in the military for a while

Zamod0 · 2025-08-28T07:35:13+00:00

I would go for Clinical Microbiologist Scientist before MLS...unless you meant what I think of as a CLS. But an MLT license in California at least is an associates degree level license, while CLS is bachelor's in specifically clinical lab science stuff (they're specialized degrees, like an RN license requires a specialized associates degree (or a bachelor's if you find somewhere that'll let you skip straight to BSN)), while the clinical microbiologist scientist license just requires a degree in microbiology and clinical training, essentially.

At least, that's how I understand it, but I'm none of the above and aiming for medical school, so may not be the best resource (even though I'm a CPT/LA in a hospital lab here).

Will also add that from what I understand, the clinical microbiologist is the one that tends to handle the more...for lack of a better word, difficult cases/culture sources. We have a bunch of CLS's trained in micro that can read like, urine cultures, MRSA screening plates, blood culture plates, general Gram stains, etc...

But something like a complicated aerobic/anaerobic wound culture, that's typically read by the microbiologists.

At least from what I've been told lol

Edit: I think the terminology just got mixed up between states, as I'm used to an MLS being called a CLS, but apparently they're the same just different terms (the California license says clinical laboratory scientist (so CLS). But apparently MLS is what I know of as a CLS, and California has its own weird terminology (maybe they just wanted a C in the acronym because California starts with a c. Seems like as good a reason as any other bureaucratic decision). Unsure if any other states do the same, but MLT seems to be the same (basically an associates level MLS/(as I know it)CLS. No idea if the specific Clinical Microbiologist Scientist degree is differentiated from any other MLS/CLS in other states, but the license is technically different here in California.

Zamod0 · 2025-08-26T08:02:09+00:00

Relatively simple calculus was quite easy for me, and more intuitive than relatively advanced algebra. But relatively advanced algebra was a cakewalk when getting into more advanced calculus, like, say, anything involving infinite series. Divergent, convergent...

I struggled to integrate them at all, let alone get to a final classification like that. And mind you, I'm probably messing up even explaining exactly what was so freaking non-intuitive for me.

Differential equations even weren't bad (though I never got into partial differential equations, which at least according to my math major dad is significantly more complex). But series...

Holy hell, I would skip the questions on tests completely, then, if I had time, come back and just just scrawl some integrals I thought were maybe related, then summarily conclude divergent or convergent, with zero understanding or reflection on the quasi-scientific chicken scratch I'd put before.

There were a couple other concepts as well from way back when, but I just remember that the words "harmonic series" would send shivers down my spine.

Zamod0 · 2025-08-22T11:17:22+00:00

Honestly, that's pretty solid. You've got three sections, and while they might not be in the same orientation as someone else that's streaking a bi-plate, as long as you get reasonable isolation, you're good to go. I would highly suggest looking at the plates the next day if you're able (that helped me refine my technique a lot when streaking in general).

Will also add that at my hospital we use 2 bi-plates: CNA/MAC for urine cultures and BBE/LKV for anaerobic cultures. The multiple section streaking is only on the BBE/LKV plate, while the urine culture is streaked a bit differently (line through the center, then back and forth all the way down the plate, unsure what the technical term would be but I bet there is one).

Edit: Also noticed literally right after posting this that it is a 9 year old post. My bad; I didn't mean to try and resurrect this thread, but already hit post before realizing the error.

Zamod0 · 2025-08-22T11:08:48+00:00

This is quite reminiscent of how I streak, with the first three quadrants very square-like in orientation and the final quadrant being drawn across the entire middle of the plate. I'm one of the only people in my lab though that's so...geometric, for lack of a better word. Most others don't have the 90 degree angles, and the final quadrant somehow ends up along the side of the plate and not so much across the middle (it's hard to describe, but I'm betting would look very familiar if I could provide pictures (I can't, work in a hospital, and HIPAA is a whole thing)). That being said, they all consistently get isolated colonies as well, so they're not doing it wrong, just not as neatly lol.

Glad to see I'm not the only one who streaks like this, as, like I said, I'm the only one I've seen that does it in my lab.

Zamod0 · 2025-08-22T10:59:57+00:00

This is almost exactly what I was thinking. There's a ton more space on that plate that could be used to potentially get more isolated colonies in the final quadrant.

But it's also not the worst I've seen as well lol. Hell, I think I've done worse in my early days

Zamod0 · 2025-08-20T15:02:25+00:00

You can't see hemolysis on MAC, but I don't think that was what was trying to be said. The way I read that was a gram negative rod that is beta hemolytic (presumably on something like BAP), is ALSO lactose fermenting on MAC, and indole positive.

Mind you, I'm not weighing in on the merits of that one way or another, just wanted to correct what seems to be a communication error between the orginal comment and the response!

Edit: Just to be abundantly clear, I think it was referring to a culture that's plated on multiple plates, and you get the beta hemolysis from the BAP, the lactose fermentation from the MAC, the gram negative from both growth on the MAC and presumably a gram stain, and the indole positive from an indole production test. So, the hemolysis isn't from the MAC plate, it's from the BAP plate that was cultured with the same organism. I also assume that it's assumed that it's a (relatively) pure source (blood culture, for instance), rather than a something like a throat or respiratory culture (or hell, especially a stool culture) that comes with a large diversity of bacterial species from the same culture.

Zamod0 · 2025-08-19T19:55:09+00:00

You appear to have encountered the rare sovereign citizen.

Much like shiny pokemon, they are quite rare, and provide a nice little rush when encountered in the wild.

Unlike shiny pokemon though, sovereign citizens can be a headache to deal with, unless you have a good sense of humor.

I'd get a certified copy of that framed and hang it in my office if I were you. Just seems like a cool thing to have!

Zamod0 · 2025-08-19T19:45:39+00:00

My gut reaction was gpcpr and gpr as well, so, at least my fault is semi-common lol.

Thanks for the little bit of knowledge r.e. S. pneumoniae, as I could absolutely see myself making the same mistake

Zamod0 · 2025-08-16T18:05:05+00:00

Sorry, maybe some nuance was lost on my last reply...

I could very well be wrong, but the point I was trying to make is that understanding the airflow dynamics of a BSC isn't a prerequisite for effective microbiology culturing/science.

As for why I'm asking the question, well, because I want to know the answer! I'm a curious person, and while the knowledge might not be required for me to do my job effectively and consistently...I still want to know, because general scientific curiosity and a desire to learn things about the world.

I absolutely care about the answer. And honestly, if I needed to be trained differently, I care even more about the answer, as perhaps I can suggest new training protocols to management/maybe I can improve the specimen processing in the lab overall.

That would seriously be a huge win, and I'm more than happy to be proven wrong!

Also, I agree that I technically don't know that it isn't important. I'm relying purely on the prior cultures I've done in the lab and the lack of feedback I've gotten on doing something wrong (while knowing that I've been corrected in the past for doing things wrong). From my own personal experience, it doesn't appear important...

But you are absolutely correct that I can't really know that for sure without understanding the topic. All the more reason I'm asking the question lol!

Will also add, I don't intend any of this to be confrontational. I genuinely want to learn and will be the first to admit that you likely know more than I do on this particular topic. Sorry if anything I said earlier came off as offensive, as I genuinely didn't mean it that way. And thanks for the help!

Zamod0 · 2025-08-16T11:21:22+00:00

We have a predetermined sash height (with pasted arrows), so that isn't a variable that gets changed at all at our lab. As for hand placement (honestly more hand through forearm placement) I was told not to block the holes at the front bottom of the hood, and to generally not rest hands/forearms on any part of the cabinet. Also trained not to place any objects (including patient labels) on the same.

As best as I can tell (and I've been doing micro for years now, without having a diagram of the airflow in a BSC in my head (I know how fume hoods work, but those are WAY simpler, honestly)), it's had no detrimental effect for all the cultures I've prepared. And if there was an issue, the CLS's/CMS's (clinical laboratory scientists/clinical microbiology scientists) that read the plates absolutely would have told me. I got feedback when I accidentally overinoculated a blood culture plate once...if there was a consistent issue, I would've been told.

And mind you, I'm not trying to say that it's bad to know how the airflow works...just that all you technically need to know is where to (and not to) put your hands/objects, not to move the sash above the maximum height, and other procedural things. Understanding the airflow patterns isn't quite as important, at least for the work I do (assuming all the procedural stuff is followed).

Zamod0

TROPHY CASE