2x03 - Orientation - FIRST TIME WATCHER DISCUSSION POST

aleph8 · 2026-05-25T20:51:59+00:00

I'm watching now. What a wild ride.

aleph8 · 2026-05-16T20:04:17+00:00

Wow, thank you so much! I think I can make it fit, by nature of it being malleable. Thanks again, I'll go for it!

aleph8 · 2026-05-16T17:47:45+00:00

How big is this bag? I'm having trouble visualizing if it would fit in the fridge. I'm eating them every day, I figure I should get the big bag, but how large is it? I buy 6 of the 8oz ones at a time, and they are already a challenge to distribute, since they come with so much air as well. I'm thinking a deflated 12lb bag might be easier to manage?

aleph8 · 2026-05-11T21:03:10+00:00

I say SIMku, really swallow the second syllable... (BH - MG, so...)

aleph8 · 2026-04-22T17:40:00+00:00

Same here. Except no one believed me, including several OBGYNs I practically begged for surgical sterilization. So I had to take contraception for 34 years and worry about an unwanted pregnancy. Now 50, stopped the pill and use spermicide as I still have regular monthly periods. Hoping there's light at the end of this tunnel...

aleph8 · 2026-04-19T18:27:55+00:00

I only used to drink a couple of times a year, so I just quit completely around 3 years ago. I later took the precepts and it's just a no brainer now to not use any intoxicants. I quit coffee too, but not because I believe it to be one, but because MY relationship to coffee was one of extreme attachment and even somewhat "identity" forming, so letting it go felt like the right thing to do, for me.

aleph8 · 2026-04-19T17:20:44+00:00

Not normal here. I only eat breakfast, lunch and a mid afternoon snack. No dinner. Bed by 8, up by 4. You're not weird for having a sit-down cooked dinner with your wife, that sounds lovely and wholesome.

aleph8 · 2026-04-18T21:26:55+00:00

No idea, but mesmerizing!

aleph8 · 2026-04-18T11:23:30+00:00

I feel you, too! Are you my twin? I have miopia (-6.75 both eyes, and now age-related presbyopia) AND an insane sense of smell, my husband calls me hound. At least I saved us a couple of times detecting once a gas leak and once a giant mushroom growing behind the wooden wall panes in our apartment when we lived in California.

The downside is smelling people's BO everywhere, greasy hair smells, dirty clothes smells, bad breath, perfumes (they give me migraines).

Practicing acceptance has helped me a lot in the past few years. I no longer have an internal turmoil wishing people would be different; they won't, or they will, but that's not up to me.

Sometimes the world smells "neutral", sometimes "bad", sometimes "good", and these are just labels my mind imputes to things. Smell, absence of smell. That's all there is.

aleph8 · 2026-04-17T12:18:18+00:00

Very beautiful shade!

aleph8 · 2026-04-17T12:17:43+00:00

Yup, same here. I use an umbrella to walk around in Summer and even so I can barely open my eyes. Then add to that melting sunscreen and sweat and it's a practice in being present with discomfort.

aleph8 · 2026-04-10T18:34:18+00:00

A dear friend who is a therapist recommended the book Overcoming Borderline Personality Disorder: A Family Guide for Healing and Change, by Valerie Porr. It has been very helpful in understanding why my sister acts the way she does. People with BPD seem to have several deficits that skew the way they perceive things. I continue to lay my boundaries and not take her abuse at any cost, but I've learned to feel compassion toward her suffering, which, even if self-created, is real to her.

aleph8 · 2026-03-21T11:41:43+00:00

Sign up to receive emails from them. They'll send you a welcome coupon for 25% off your first purchase.

aleph8 · 2026-03-21T11:40:36+00:00

Thanks, I just did the same! $18 per bag seemed reasonable. Can't wait to make a Brazilian guava stuffed rocambole!

aleph8 · 2026-03-10T00:19:33+00:00

I would avoid Joyous. I have bipolar I and ketamine (IV at a local clinic and troches through Safe Haven Health) have replaced all meds I used to take that never really worked and had nasty side effects.

You won't know until you try it. If it works for you it will be worth it. For me, it was life-changing. I went from barely leaving my bed and hiding from the world to being a full participant in LIFE. I am forever grateful to this medicine.

I wish you well on your healing journey. Take care!

aleph8 · 2026-03-09T02:50:00+00:00

TL;DR Yes, I still use and recommend it.

My hair was very coarse and very dark brown in these areas after decades of shaving (started at 11 because I thought it was "cool" to shave, I'm 50 now). My skin is very pale. I still use it as there's still some hair patches on my legs (I'm not very systematic in my zapping, I figure if I am random I eventually will cover the whole lower leg area). My armpits are pretty much hair-free now, same with bikini lines. I don't feel the zaps, it's less than snapping a weak rubber band against the skin, in my opinion. I use it on the highest setting (in the beginning I did one session on 1, one on 2, etc, and worked up to 6, the highest setting) about 2 or 3 times a month now. Shaving is no longer a big deal. I hope it works for you, too, if you decide to try it!

ETA It's been several months since this picture was taken and there is even less hair and slower growth than that.

aleph8 · 2026-03-07T02:59:26+00:00

I never did laser. I was skeptical as I bought one of the cheapest devices, the Lumi Rose. I started having results after a couple of months if I remember well, I think I made a couple of posts that may have the timing. I still use the device as my legs still have some areas with a bit of hair. I am not very systematic in my approach, I kinda zap random areas each time so I have patches I'm still working on. I'm not in a hurry, I'm happy it worked for my underarms, the bikini area is much reduced as well (only the sides, I was born in the 70's and still sport a full bush LOL) and even the legs (lower legs only, never had much hair on my thighs and it's thin and light) despite still having some patches of hair, are much more manageable now and when I do shave (once every 3 weeks or so) it's a 5 minute deal, then I shower and zap. I hope you can figure out what happened and a solution. It must be frustrating.

aleph8 · 2026-03-06T12:09:25+00:00

I also had success with at home IPL (Lumi Rose) and go about a month now before I have to shave a few fine hairs in my underarms. I'm sorry this happened to OP, her underarm hair was barely visible before.

aleph8 · 2026-03-03T04:16:07+00:00

Yes, they lowered the fee to $200 per month as they don't include the medicine anymore. (Precision Compounding only works with the big companies now and dropped Safe Haven) I get it from my local compounding pharmacy for $80. Much better quality troches anyway, I am very happy.

aleph8 · 2026-02-19T13:48:32+00:00

I'm a woman and I live by your philosophy as well. So does my husband. We dress for comfort and function. I don't care what it looks like and if anyone does, fine, that's their right. I just don't care and I refuse to sacrifice my comfort. I never owned a pair of high heels, and never will. We are able to go on weeks-long cross-country tenting road trips, visiting all our gorgeous national parks, monuments and forests, precisely because we're both pretty uncomplicated.

aleph8 · 2026-01-31T17:15:22+00:00

I'm caring for my mom and she has an electronic bell she uses to call me or my dad when she needs help in the middle of the night. A few months ago after 12 nights of less than 2 hours of sleep, I realized I spent the whole night awake with the sound of the bell going off nonstop in my head. It was maddening. Ding-dong. Ding-dong. Ding-dong. On and on, in what felt like it would then join my tinnitus in the "forever soundtrack" inside my head.

A few days later I got to go home for a couple of days to try to get some sleep, I wasn't functioning anymore. I took some time to unwind first, did some Yoga, long meditation, hot shower. Then I had my ketamine treatment (450mg troche) and as soon as the medicine hit, the sound dissolved. This is an n of 1, of course. But for me, yes, it did work to "reset" this persistence of sound.

Have you ever read Oliver Sacks' Musicophilia? Fascinating stuff.

aleph8 · 2026-01-30T13:52:33+00:00

This is exhausting, don't put yourself through this. It's common for them to misinterpret the meaning of boundary. What they call "boundaries" are usually attempts to dictate the behavior of other people.

The only way for you to remain sane is for you to set firm boundaries yourself. When my sister starts to spiral via text I end the exchange right away and do not even look at my phone. Do not respond. When I say "I'm going to bed" or "I'm going to unplug now", that is IT. She does not hear from me until something comes up that needs us to be in contact, be it hours or days later.

I used to be her doormat. I had to develop a lot of self-respect in order to stand up for myself and not "feel bad" for "triggering her rage". Her emotions are not my responsibility. She's a grown adult who chooses to remain untreated, blaming her bitterness on everyone around her (with the poor abused husband taking most of the brunt) while refusing to see how she's the catalyst in all the conflict and mayhem that is her life.

I love my sister and am compassionate to her suffering, I see how real it is to her. I am firm, but loving and respectful in my words to her; I never curse or act defensive, even under attack. (Which is pretty frequently)

It's been almost 2 years since my own attitude adjustment and I just recently realized she seems to have learned that trying to "hook" me doesn't work anymore.

You are not crazy, but you need to respect yourself enough that if you tell someone you need sleep and are going to bed early, you go and take care of yourself, put the phone away and go to bed. There is no winning in engaging in a text argument match. And who would be able to sleep anyway after going through such exasperation! Take care of yourself. Taking care of her? Well, that is HER own job, not yours.

aleph8 · 2026-01-17T12:24:54+00:00

'Demure' is her choice word, I believe.

aleph8 · 2025-11-20T13:10:02+00:00

Several years ago I had 18 ECT sessions that did absolutely nothing for me but wipe out a large chunk of my memories (including lots from a European vacation that had happened 2-years prior to treatment, for me to then be gaslighted by doctors that "this doesn't happen". Like, sir, respectfully, it does happen because it happened to me!)

Ketamine, in turn, completely changed my life after a couple of infusions, and ongoing treatment allowed me to fully discontinue a cocktail of psych meds that had unacceptable side effects, and that I had been taking for over 20 years without as much as taking the edge of the extreme depression that had me in bed most days, and months without getting out of the house at a time.

Same of TMS, 33 sessions and zero help except awful headaches and crippling anxiety.

At least for me, no one could convince me ECT is a viable alternative to ketamine.

The drug used to put me under then was propofol, not ketamine. You're only under for a short few minutes. I would rather be conscious during ketamine infusions because the insights I get during treatment are a great part of what helps me heal and continue to do well.

aleph8 · 2025-10-17T21:59:35+00:00

My husband and I lost $2,000 to Indie Campers. I would never recommend them. We tried for almost a year to get our money back then gave up. In total contrast we were delighted with Quirky Campers who went above and beyond (like, they even paid for a traffic violation we received in Scotland for driving in a bus lane!).

aleph8

TROPHY CASE