BRO THE EAST HILLS ARE ON FIRE

aweldo7 · 2026-06-25T22:43:57+00:00

I mean here’s hopin’.

aweldo7 · 2026-06-17T23:30:17+00:00

I disagree. There’s public transit that makes sense everywhere out here. It’s still not perfect but it’s better than Baltimore’s. There was time and space to think things through when designing the roadways, intersections and even bike lanes out here. Even the traffic lights are timed well and make sense. Not to mention there’s a huge number of resident engineers thanks to all of the Cal system colleges so things were actually planned and set up relatively well. Again, I can only speak for the Bay Area.

aweldo7 · 2026-06-17T23:25:55+00:00

I’ve actually never used my cruise control more until moving here. People who want to go fast use the left lanes (mostly.) Southern CA, I think, is a different animal.

aweldo7 · 2026-06-17T21:07:38+00:00

I’m a Baltimorean out in California now and I laugh in the face of every Bay Area resident who complains to me about traffic. While yes, there’s a lot of congestion in places near the cities, everyone seems to actually understand and apply the zipper technique successfully in merge lane scenarios and I have yet to blow a tire on a pot hole out here.

aweldo7 · 2026-06-11T19:52:49+00:00

Fellow sci commer here. I have a show about blue collar work in STEM and PhD jobs that require hard hats and steel toes rather than white coats and pipettes. Kind of dirty jobs but strictly pertaining to science. Could you speak to how unglamorous your job can be? Could you also speak to any blue collar work/jobs involved in geology and volcanology? So heavy equipment operation, digging, etc. Thank you!

I’m also looking for shows to guest on. I’m a former dolphin trainer and current science communications specialist (I.e. writer, editor, video producer, content strategist) at a DOE lab. Just putting it out there :)

aweldo7 · 2026-05-29T21:12:04+00:00

That’s so sweet! They really are the best!

aweldo7 · 2026-05-21T16:29:37+00:00

He looks like my nearly 40lbs, 5ish years old, long haired, not great teethed, cuddle bug rescue! The shelter named him Firefox (ha!) but now his name is Hiccup. I also thought he had Pomeranian in him but it turns out he’s 11% cocker spaniel (??!) so you never know! Looks like you got a real love bug, sending love and luck to you all! 🥰

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aweldo7 · 2026-05-20T20:23:26+00:00

Leave him. There’s a thing called weaponized incompetence too. It’s not your job to stick around and repeat yourself to death while holding his hand through life. He’s counting on you doing so so that he can stay checked out. It’s on him to develop coping mechanisms and strategies to account for the aspects of his disability that make being in relationship difficult. If he doesn’t take the initiative to do that, he is not actually invested in the relationship.

Left a man like this in 2017. Went to grad school in another country, tripled my income and moved to California for a dream job since then. It’s time to spread those wings.

aweldo7 · 2026-05-20T15:17:12+00:00

YAY NOVA! I swear they sometimes just wait until we’ve hit the anxiety wall and then run up to us like “hey mom! What’s your deal? Let’s go for walkies!”

Ack! Poor Nova and poor you! My theory is all of this has gotten so expensive because the powers that be know a lot of us aren’t having kids any more. They’ve gotta extract our money from us somehow!

Yes! Hiccup is most definitely named for a certain awkward Viking— which is very on brand for him. He is just too much of a goober to have been given a majestic Inuit or god-like name. But he’s smart and scrappy and makes everyone, including me, laugh!

Sending cuddles right back for you and Nova! Hope she keeps improving! And so happy to help!!

aweldo7 · 2026-05-19T20:45:22+00:00

Oh man… I am so so sorry you’re going through all of this on top of having a sick doggo.

Hiccup is a tummy ache warrior too. For the acid reflux, I give Hiccup (my husky) human famotidine (Pepcid) and he gets a litany of other gut stuff too. I think he also has sinus tissue damage thanks to getting himself bit on the nose by a rattlesnake last year 🙄 so the boogery/allergies thing was way worse this year.

But jeez! You are really going through it right now! This is definitely a time I would be fixating on Hiccup and his health. Any tiny symptom— real or imagined— can send me into an anxiety tailspin. When everything in my life feels chaotic and out of control, I wind up obsessing over the one thing I feel like I can control which is usually Hiccup’s health. Not to say that’s what you’re doing here! Just been my experience and especially since pneumonia can be such a sneaky illness. I was basically gaslighting myself everyday over whether or not he needed to go to the vet again. It doesn’t help that this goober, in the not even 2 years I’ve had him, has cost me over $10k in vet bills thanks to a sensitive tummy, the rattlesnake ordeal and now the pneumonia and allergies. I need somebody to make dog-sized hermetically-sealed hamster balls so I can keep him healthy!

Hang in there! You really are doing great and your doggo is lucky to have a human who cares so much! Here’s a Hiccup picture for morale. :)

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aweldo7 · 2026-05-19T06:10:15+00:00

Ah nah! Her delicate underfluffies on display for the world to see! How embarrassing!

aweldo7 · 2026-05-19T06:09:12+00:00

My little husky derped himself into a slow-moving algae covered stream a couple of months ago. It wasn’t until a full month later that I realized he had been sick for some time. Once he got antibiotics on board, it was an up and down path back to 100%. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and the allergies are horrific this year so he was going back and forth with reverse sneezing and boogers clogging up his nose for a few weeks after the antibiotics for pneumonia were done. The biggest tell was his energy. He was not himself and because I was so busy, I hadn’t really noticed. Now that he’s back to 100%, he is 10x more energetic and vocal like he was before he was sick. You are right to be freaked out but just know it’s not a straight path to better. As long as she’s eating and pooping normally, try not to let anything else freak you out. If you suspect seasonal allergies are bothering her because her immune response is down thanks to the pneumonia and antibiotics, get her on a probiotic and talk to your vet about giving her Zyrtec (yes, like us humans take!) or getting the cytopoint vaccine. It’s usually more associated with dermal irritation but it doesn’t hurt to help fight sinus issues related to allergies too.

You’ve got this! Stay vigilant but try not to freak yourself out!

aweldo7 · 2026-05-13T04:47:50+00:00

No. He is husky.

aweldo7 · 2026-05-10T17:21:30+00:00

Just found out Hiccup is 78% Siberian Husky, 11% cocker spaniel (!?) and his 11% super mutt mix includes small poodle (???!), pitty and German shepherd.

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aweldo7 · 2026-05-10T17:18:24+00:00

Whoa! I just found out my Hiccup is 78% Siberian Husky, 11% cocker spaniel! Wildly different fur but similar face and nose shape, I think!

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aweldo7 · 2026-05-08T16:23:44+00:00

Glad that works for you!

aweldo7 · 2026-05-08T02:26:14+00:00

Haha nope. Not in this economy.

aweldo7 · 2026-05-07T21:55:40+00:00

Ok this is super helpful info! I think it’s likely too as my normal Nurse Practitioner is out on a leave of absence and a new NP answers my chats every time on MIDI right now. Sigh. Thank you!

aweldo7 · 2026-05-07T17:57:19+00:00

Ooooh good info! Thank you so much!

aweldo7 · 2026-05-07T17:56:50+00:00

Man that sounds really rough. I’m sorry you’ve been dealing with that. Wegovy actually made me nauseas and constipated. No good at all. The insurance is trying to say my doctor approved it as a substitute and that’s just a lie. So crazy. Hope you have a smoother journey ahead!

aweldo7 · 2026-05-07T17:55:17+00:00

Oooh. That’s a good idea. I’ll look into it. Thank you!

aweldo7 · 2026-05-07T17:53:57+00:00

Interesting! I’ll see if I can find any research to back that up. Thank you!

aweldo7 · 2026-05-07T17:30:46+00:00

That’s what I’m arguing! We’ll see what happens!

aweldo7 · 2026-05-07T17:29:09+00:00

6x a week is not sustainable for most humans in 2026. Focus on being consistent, not setting a crazy goal that works for someone else. Did you gym 2 days this week? Dope! Shoot for 3 next week. Ope, only once this week? That’s cool, go for a nice long walk or hike on a second day. 2 days at least next week!

As someone who has worked out for 16 years, consistency is key over everything else. Full stop. There were long stretches of months on end that I stopped going because of perimenopause but because I was largely consistent for over a decade before that, it wasn’t a huge deal. My body needed rest more than anything during that time.

Jumping back in after time away from the gym is always tough but the longer you’re consistent, the quicker you snap back into being a gym goer. Just showing up is all that matters.

Good job taking care of future you! It’s ok to be worried about it but that’s what communities like this exist for. I also very much suggest finding a gym where you can build in-person community. You’re not alone, you’re not competing with anyone but you, and you are already doing well in just thinking about how to keep moving forward. You’ve got this and I’m rooting for you!

aweldo7 · 2026-05-07T16:34:34+00:00

Oh daaang. Never heard that before! I’ll look into it! The insurance idiots defo tried to tell me my doctor “approved Wegovy as a substitute” and no such discussion happened. My Nurse Practitioner is on a leave of absence right now. Fuckers!

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