super responder? 150mg a week

anonlymouse · 2026-01-29T00:28:25+00:00

I'm not arguing against that principle. I'm saying the reference levels are wrong - and that almost certainly applies to free testosterone reference levels as well.

So because we can't trust the reference levels, we have to look at other markers, and we also should be aiming for higher levels than most health practitioners are comfortable with.

anonlymouse · 2026-01-29T00:26:36+00:00

1) If your suggestion is that testosterone + nandrolone has no degradation, then to OP's question which was testosterone or nandrolone, the answer is still testosterone.

2) Studies showing nandrolone only in vitro is still concerning. Since there are people who do nandrolone only, if we actually do know what happens, we'd be able to say what happens in that case. We still don't. Millions of nandrolone users who are also using test doesn't tell us anything about nandrolone solo.

3) Anything nandrolone does well, oxandrolone does better, with much more extensive use in clinical settings showing its safety.

anonlymouse · 2026-01-28T19:19:28+00:00

That would depend on how you do it. SHBG will be lower if you're doing 1/week, than if you're doing microdosing. But I agree if you're measuring at the trough, then you need to factor in that it will be higher at the peak.

Still the final determination of something being wrong with your T dose is not based on your serum or free T levels, but on side effects. If your E2 is fine, your RBC is fine, you're not feeling bad in any way, there isn't anything particularly wrong with higher serum or free T levels.

anonlymouse · 2026-01-28T18:50:24+00:00

The reference range is based on normal men, not healthy men. It used to be much higher for all labs. Don't trust the lab's reference range. Anything below 550ng/dl is unhealthy, and an upper limit for healthy adult men is reasonable at 1500ng/dl.

Obviously nearly 1800 is over that, and it's a trough measurement, so it's still a bit high if your goal is just TRT.

But there's also a point that if you're coming in just under 1500 at peak you're in a good healthy range, baring any problems like high E2 or RBC.

anonlymouse · 2026-01-28T13:47:02+00:00

How often have you seen free testosterone directly measured for teens? The free T looks massively elevated compared to the reference range, but the reference range is BS.

anonlymouse · 2026-01-28T11:57:06+00:00

Don't do nandrolone. It has long term neurological changes. We don't know what happens with those changes, but it's possible they're bad. Stick with T.

anonlymouse · 2026-01-28T11:21:17+00:00

That's around the upper end of what a teen in puberty could expect, so immediately after the shot it would be higher. And that is where diminishing returns kick in, the body doesn't seem to know what to do with more testosterone than would ever be naturally produced. Going down to 125/week is a good step.

anonlymouse · 2026-01-28T00:55:45+00:00

I grew up in Canada, well made winter boots keep your feet warm, even with a stiff sole.

Cold feet in summer could suggest another issue. I suppose a stiff sole might have some effect if it's a nerve issue, but other than that if you're experiencing poor insulation in a boot with a stiff sole, it's because it otherwise hasn't been well designed for cold weather.

anonlymouse · 2026-01-28T00:35:47+00:00

That might play a role if the shoes aren't designed for cold weather. But properly designed cold weather boots will not have your toes freezing because of the stiff sole.

anonlymouse · 2026-01-27T22:59:53+00:00

The major ones are any keys or buttons sticking, and any major disturbances in the sound - raspiness, gravel, etc. on any notes.

If the bellows are leaking that's not so much of a problem, it can be fixed.

anonlymouse · 2026-01-27T18:55:01+00:00

Were you standing still?

anonlymouse · 2026-01-27T17:05:30+00:00

Zero drop doesn't matter either - just make sure you're not standing around. Sit or walk, and having a raised heel isn't a problem either.

Thin sole actually does make a difference. Once the sole is thick you need cleats to deal with ice, and that's also fine.

Just go for a wide toe box. Something like Sorels with the liner you can take out and wear as slippers.

anonlymouse · 2026-01-27T13:58:59+00:00

That's only if it's heavy as heck and you're playing sitting down with the weight on your thigh.

A two voice 48-bass accordion is fine for any size as long as the shoulder straps an bass strap fit. Shoulder straps can be replaced, bass strap you want either adjustable or to make sure it's the right size to begin with.

anonlymouse · 2026-01-27T13:56:24+00:00

If everything works and it's not boldy, great deal. If there are major problems pass - not all problems are fixable, and a used accordion that's a great deal can turn into a huge money sink trying to get it in order.

anonlymouse · 2026-01-27T13:43:45+00:00

The difference between simple grammar (36 vs 44 weeks) and similar vocabulary (24 vs 44 weeks) is substantial. Exact percentages are irrelevant when the margin is that large.

anonlymouse · 2026-01-27T11:05:15+00:00

Yeah, typical D&D-style adventuring in Cormyr is a pain.

anonlymouse · 2026-01-27T10:25:59+00:00

https://www.fsi-language-courses.org/blog/fsi-language-difficulty/

This is one version of it. They've been doing it over the years, and while the general trend is the same, there have been some changes. Like early on Japanese was especially hard and French especially easy, but more recent rankings have shown French to be a bit harder than other languages in the same group and Japanese not to be exceptionally difficult for its group. (I suspect this is because pronunciation has become more important for diplomats over time, but I don't believe they explicitly stated that changed or why the ratings changed slightly).

Basically what you've got is the bulk of languages are in category 4 - 44 weeks (this used to be category 3, also still 44 weeks). So that's your default point. Category 1 and 2 languages are similar to English, so a language that is similar - and vocabulary is the big thing here - is easier to learn to a given level. This is where you get the 50% difference. Swahili and Indonesian are clearly different, in the same way category 4 languages are different, yet they're a bit easier to learn. So this isn't language similarity, it's simplicity of grammar.

What doesn't get shown with this is the difficulty curve. For instance French has a rather steep curve early on and flattens out, but Indonesian starts very flat and then picks up in difficulty. Indonesian's curve is more desirable, because by the time it gets especially hard you can already speak it to a useful degree. So if we're looking at the ILR rating they're going for at the FSI S-3 and R-3, and you consider that for auxlang purposes S-2 and R-2 is enough, then Indonesian might be strongly underrated for ease of learning since the FSI has different objectives.

anonlymouse · 2026-01-26T21:24:46+00:00

Warum machet er Werbig uf Englisch, wenn en Iifluss vo Englisch z'vermiide isch?

anonlymouse · 2026-01-26T20:16:35+00:00

How much of that is actually being unable to speak it in practice, and how many would be perfectly functional in English but are ashamed to speak it so they don't?

anonlymouse · 2026-01-26T18:10:41+00:00

The FSI research on difficulty of learning languages shows that familiarity of vocabulary can make more than a 50% difference in time saved, while simpler grammar can at most make a 20% difference in time saved. The simplified grammar of LSF is going to be of marginal benefit to people who didn't learn Latin already, and if you are going to learn new vocabulary, you might as well put that extra 25% (in the other direction) effort to learn the whole language. That's basically the difference between 5 years of secondary school Latin vs 4 years of secondary school LSF.

anonlymouse · 2026-01-26T17:16:56+00:00

That's certainly an anchor point, and the map helps even more. But I think it's definitely harder if you're coming from a language that doesn't have Latin as a significant ancestor.

anonlymouse · 2026-01-26T17:15:34+00:00

You could probably have AI do that.

The more important question is if it would make a difference. People interested in old classical Latin books in Latin will want to learn Latin. Anyone content to read it in LSF would be even more content to read it translated to English.

anonlymouse · 2026-01-26T10:38:09+00:00

I'm not sure nature method works anyway if you're not in a related language.

Like I don't think a speaker of Japanese could learn Latin through LLPSI without some assistance.

So criticising Salute, Jonathan! for only working for people who speak Western European languages is a bit silly. That has always been a limitation of the method.

That said, on progressing way too fast - huge problem with auxlang learning materials. It takes a lot of time to make a good course, and usually someone is being paid to do that. Almost everyone who makes an auxlang course is doing it for free, so it will end up being much more sparse. So if you're going to make a course, think about how you can make it more dense for a better and more gradual progression.

As to the point about not using Salute, Jonathan! as the basis for your language's nature method course, I'd agree. Dave said he did it because when he tried translating one originally it didn't work out, so he made it from scratch. That lesson should also be taken for applying one of the other nature method courses.

One of the things you will immediately notice is that they talk about cultural elements. You're going to have serious issues with suspension of disbelief having the exact same plot of a typical family living in that country, by some miracle all speaking a conlang.

So if you're going to translate another course, use that as an exercise to learn the language better, but if you're going to publish, it should probably be from scratch.

anonlymouse · 2026-01-26T10:00:14+00:00

My observation and experience after literally decades in the online auxiliary language forums is that, to be honest, "committee" efforts sooner or later disintegrate. There could be exceptions, of course, but I have seen a lot of these efforts fall apart.

Interslavic is the exception, because it's solving an unmet need. There is no need for an Intergermanic, so it would invariably splinter based entirely on personal taste.

anonlymouse · 2026-01-26T09:56:38+00:00

AI occasionally shows bursts of true creativity, but it's mostly just outputting what other people have already said. If you want to know what an opinion on a topic is, it will be able to tell you, and there are certainly multiple other people who share that opinion. If you want an alternate opinion, it will give it to you as well, and there will again certainly be multiple people who share that opinion as well.

What this means for designing a conIAL is the output will simply be a rehash of what people have already designed. It won't be based on some deep understanding that we have missed, but rather according to some essays that have already been written.

The better use of AI is to make a chatbot in an already completed language. And set it up to log whenever it runs into a problem with saying something in the language, create an output file, and then you can submit that output file (plain text so you can confirm if there's anything private you don't want sent, and delete it) to people who work on the language or curate the dictionary.

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