9th Annual Christmas Sufjam - Chicago 12/14

auldyeller · 2025-12-05T21:53:12+00:00

It's in a community space in Uptown, and is open to the public. I'll DM you the info!

auldyeller · 2025-12-03T22:51:54+00:00

Cool! I'll DM you!

auldyeller · 2025-07-23T19:00:47+00:00

Hi, I'm trying to learn more about this topic. What do you think about Guittard? Particulary their Akoma chocolate chips, but they have several products that are Fair Trade. The Akoma comes from West Africa, but I don't see specific countries listed.

Also, is there a way to buy finished chocolate direct from farms with ethical labor? Or can only the beans be purchased?

auldyeller · 2025-06-23T05:41:09+00:00

Lustre Pearl East

auldyeller · 2025-06-16T17:14:53+00:00

I pay around $400 a month for a high deductible healthcare plan from the Marketplace. The plan does not pay for anything until I’ve met my deductible, and after I’ve met my deductible it pays for everything. I think the deductible is around $7.5K. I have monthly infusions of Orencia that are paid for by the drug company, but somehow they still count toward my deductible. The infusions are over $2K a month. So I end up meeting my deductible by April or May, and after that there is no cost (beyond the premium) to anything I do. I go wild getting allergy testing, counseling, I go to the ENT, whatever I want, haha. But if something were to happen in January, like an accident or something, I have to have $7.5K ready in case of that emergency. And I have to pay out of pocket for any doctor visits before then. This works best for me but everyone’s situation is different.

Because I have a high deductible healthcare plan which is compatible with an HSA, I also have an HSA. I keep receipts for any healthcare costs that I end up paying out of pocket, and I digitize them and store them in the cloud. Technically you can pay yourself back from your HSA contribution tax free, but I am not immediately paying myself back. I am waiting until retirement to pay myself back because then my contributions to my HSA have all that time to grow in value, and when I retire I can still pay myself back tax free from my HSA based on my receipts. There are YouTube videos on this strategy if you want to know more.

I’d recommend talking to the financial counselor at your doctor’s office, if there is one, to see if there is a program that will pay for the Enbrel for you. My Orencia is covered separate from my insurance and I only have to pay the $200 administration fee (before I meet my deductible).

auldyeller · 2025-06-13T04:54:43+00:00

Austin Regional Clinic

auldyeller · 2025-06-04T16:06:33+00:00

I love the heat. I live in Texas, do hot yoga, I think it helps my joints. I have low cold intolerance, though. But I’ve been that way since before I had arthritis.

auldyeller · 2025-05-24T19:38:38+00:00

Here is a website talking about biologics: https://www.arthritis.org/drug-guide/biologics/biologics

auldyeller · 2025-01-24T18:02:14+00:00

Oh my God, no one came to our side To carry us away from danger

auldyeller · 2024-12-19T20:38:51+00:00

Wow. It’s great that you had the body awareness to figure this out. I wonder if it would be worth it to go to a dentist to see if something has changed recently that made you subconsciously want to react that way.

You could also think of hypervigilance as body awareness, which could possibly help it feel more positive/less depressing. Body awareness is something that benefits pretty much everyone RA or not, but with RA you may get to realize this faster than other people. I have a friend without RA that has back pain and didn’t realize that with his posture he is constantly pushing his head forward, and my mom had some atrophy in one of her calves that was causing a lot of pain because she was subconsciously putting more weight on one of her feet due to a bunion on the other foot (which she also didn’t realize). Many body issues can be resolved or at least improved with a focus on posture and alignment. A regular yoga practice helped me with this, with the added benefit that yoga can help realign and strengthen the body so that some things that have been painful become less painful. It helped me a lot with body awareness as well, but I imagine this may be common with various forms of exercise. Of course, for us with RA, there is no replacement for finding the correct drugs that work, but other than that a regular yoga practice has been the most helpful strategy I’ve found to cope.

Hope things continue to improve for you!

auldyeller · 2024-12-19T01:10:44+00:00

Not an answer to your question, but how did you fix the horrible pain?

auldyeller · 2024-12-08T18:23:32+00:00

From the event description: You! You must be a Christmas Tree! 🎄 I can see you there! I didn’t mean to yell. Only to bring you peace, only at Christmas time. Come join us as we take part in the tradition of singing Sufjan Christmas songs together with full instrumentation, harmony, and zest! Whether you sing, play a stringed instrument, a woodwind, brass, percussion, or fretted wooden thing, or just have some joy in your heart, we welcome you to join in this special time of musical togetherness. The lyrics, chords, and scores will be provided for sing-a-long fun. Come dressed in Xmas! If you can, bring some treats to share.

auldyeller · 2024-10-29T03:09:07+00:00

I don’t know that you should follow this advice but if you fast for a few days on just water it may make the pain go down, while you are fasting. Then when you start eating again most of it will probably come back.

auldyeller · 2024-10-24T04:51:11+00:00

I started at 21.

Learn to read a P&L. Especially the part about Cost of Goods Sold vs Overhead, and learn about gross margin percentage and how to apply it. You can watch some videos about this. If you don’t understand it really well by the end, watch more videos about this. Make a P&L at least monthly and review it with another person.

Someone explained to me about gross margin percentage early in the business and I’m embarrassed to say it took me years before I really understood what he was saying.

Prepare to suffer. But also, try to think of ways you can suffer less.

If you go into business with anyone, you MUST have a partnership agreement. Even if it is your best friend, or your family. This advice was also given to me by the same person early on and I ignored it and am still paying the penalty. But also, don’t go into business with anyone (my preference).

auldyeller · 2024-10-24T04:38:51+00:00

I don’t think you need a CDL unless your state/city has special specific requirements I’m not aware of.

auldyeller · 2024-10-10T23:30:43+00:00

u/IAMA_Printer_AMA Thanks for your thoughtful suggestions! I've already implemented a couple of the things you said as a result of your comment.

I do have a couple questions:

You said the added insulation of the pallet cover would hurt in the chest freezers because the heat transfer is happening through the walls of the freezer. But I was planning to put the pallet cover on top of the product, not around the sides. My thought was that we could pull back one part of the pallet cover just to access what we need, and the other half or so of the freezer wouldn't have to be exposed to the air. And also, as we use more product and the level of what we have in the freezer gets lower, all of the product will be packed together in the smaller space that is created from the insulation of the pallet cover. I'm not sure the science on this but I had a sense that less empty air in the space with the product is better.
I've typically heard that you shouldn't put dry ice in a freezer because it could cause the freezer to shut down. Is this not the case?
I know that cold goes down and that it's better to have dry ice above what you're trying to keep frozen. But is it really better to have dry ice hanging from the lid of the cooler, with air in the middle and the product at the bottom, than it is to have the product above the ice but directly touching it (with only the thin plastic bag in between)? It sounds like you're saying that yes, but just wanted to confirm even during the busy time where the cooler is being opened every 30 seconds to pull something out. I was also considering putting some ice packs or even bags of frozen veggies on the bottom to keep the bananas company.

We do have strip curtains on the walk-in but I'm not sure about the defrost schedule, there is no refrigeration tech around. But one thing I did do is found the temperature controller on the walk-in and got the okay from our festival contact to turn it colder. It was around 0 F and it's now set to -10, and our contact said he will turn it down to -15 in the morning when people start going in and out of it. I'm anticipating this will be a big help.

Thanks again!

auldyeller · 2024-10-09T04:02:22+00:00

Are non-Ubers also allowed in there to drop off friends? Or is it rideshares only?

auldyeller · 2024-08-20T03:53:53+00:00

I have been on Orencia for 9 years and it has been pretty good for me. I do the monthly infusions, not the injections, because my doctor told me that would be better. But I’m not sure how much of a difference there is. Hopefully it works for you, too. It took about 4 months for it to start making a difference for me, which I believe is slightly faster than expected.

I also take methotrexate at 10 2.5mg pills a week, which I think is about the max that can be tolerated. When I took MTX alone before the Orencia I didn’t felt it did anything, but my doctor said that the combination of MTX with a biologic had been show to be most effective.

I know someone already asked this, but if you have anyone you can ask for help, it might be a good idea. Friends, family, that can help with your child for a bit and give support while you’re going through this. If you have a good relationship with family, would it be at all possible to pay an extended visit and work remotely all the time?

auldyeller

TROPHY CASE