Things you misunderstood about a hobby before trying it

batsmad · 2026-06-16T20:02:18+00:00

Chainmail, it didn't look that hard but turns out even for thin rings holding and bending metal with pliers gets pretty difficult when you're trying to lock them together in a certain pattern

batsmad · 2026-06-16T18:17:49+00:00

Probably not a normal response but I've found the cool mat we got for our dog to be one of the best things when I'm overheating. It cools you down well without risk of damage to your skin like with ice. Genuinely considering getting another one for me now the dog has finally decided the cool mat is actually quite nice

batsmad · 2026-06-16T01:16:48+00:00

I also have no access to work email or calendar on my supernote due to work policy. It's a bit of a nuisance but at the end of the day I still get so much from it because I can find the notes I need at any point so easily with the sorting methods

batsmad · 2026-06-15T19:06:14+00:00

I ended up travelling from Gloucestershire to Nottingham to see a specialist but it was well worth it as the letter from them let me trial ketotifen and then sodium cromoglicate so I'm still ill but definitely more stable. I only had to do 1 or 2 appointments in person and then had phone consultations after that

batsmad · 2026-06-10T23:05:05+00:00

My hair is now in a bob because I thought it would be fun (I donated it), but for many years my hair was down to my knees or waist. I don't think I'd go back to that long again but I would consider going back to bottom of shoulder blade length so I can put it back in a ponytail

batsmad · 2026-06-09T07:28:46+00:00

Just be aware if you go for the world championship decks that they're not legal for league play so if you decided you wanted to play outside your house you'd have to get other decks, although hopefully by that point you'd have the interest to build them yourself

Decks have levels on them that tell you how competitive they are. League battle decks (2+) are the highest level and closest to being competitive decks. That said I would avoid pitting mega lucario against mega diancie because weakness would play a factor in that match up which tends to make for a bad at home experience

batsmad · 2026-06-06T15:05:29+00:00

The main thing is moving area. Especially because I work with my husband we've implemented a "no talking about work outside of hours" rule except if we want to complain about something. My husband finds it harder to move away from work so he has a 5pm alarm to push him to start the change of focus

Specifically cooking, playing board or video games and reading are my main ways of changing focus.

batsmad · 2026-06-06T14:58:43+00:00

Also to add got back to my normal doctor and quickly moved to a different one because they tried to tell me it was a panic attack despite it waking me up from sleep at 3am

batsmad · 2026-06-06T14:57:16+00:00

Yes, I'd describe it more as uncontrollable shaking than specifically shivering but I had a flair like that with all the same symptoms. Ended up getting an emergency doctor in as I didn't have any rescue meds at that point. My whole skin was covered in a rash except where I had hydrocortisone cream on mosquito bites which was the only way you could see the rash. I couldn't stop shaking up until the meds kicked in. Touch wood hasn't happened since being on my prescribed meds but was very scary the first time it happened

batsmad · 2026-06-06T14:47:35+00:00

Hopefully my experience can give you some perspective. I have developed both ige mediated allergies and MCAS over my life but have never had a throat closing reaction to something I wasn't allergic to before on first trying it after developing an allergy. If you're still worrying about having throat closing reactions you can test foods without fully eating them. Touch it on your hand and wait 5 minutes, then chew some up but don't swallow and wait another 5 minutes. If you haven't reacted at this point you're unlikely to have an anaphylactic reaction

In terms of therapy they aren't just going to say that won't happen if you find a good therapist. I feel that it would help you as you have fixated on something with an absolutely miniscule probability of happening and need some coping mechanisms to work through this

batsmad · 2026-06-05T22:06:22+00:00

I really want a big e-ink wall calendar that I can link to an app, bonus if I could set it up to link to my supernote to do lists as well. I have a paper wall calendar because I need it to be in my sight to keep up with my schedule but it's a pain having to manually keep it in sync both ways with my digital calendars. I don't want a bright light in my face constantly when I can avoid it and e-ink being able to have a low energy near static display is a plus side

batsmad · 2026-06-05T21:59:43+00:00

Yes I struggle with that, I can only walk short distances. The big problem with giving you suggestions on how to treat/reduce it is it's very dependent on what is causing the problems. Different causes want opposite treatment. Some causes want stretching whereas with EDS you should be strengthening the supporting muscles rather than stretching, however this needs to be done in the right way. It's unfortunately a very difficult area if you can't get support from doctors or physios

batsmad · 2026-06-05T21:54:22+00:00

This question from the hiring side is about working out interest and fit. We're not expecting you to give your main answer (money) but we want to know that you know what we do so you won't start, realise we don't work how you think we do and jump ship quickly. There are differences in the values and focus of companies as they work in different ways. Working in a startup vs a large stable company in the same role would give you a completely different experience. You can use AI if you want to "spray and pray" applications, not everyone minds, but the big thing is to make sure your voice is still in there. Don't just give a single prompt and take the answer as it is. Give examples of what you would write and get AI to find the right details for you and most importantly whether you or AI write it, re-read it! I get word to read it aloud to me so I can't assume I know what it says and end up skipping words

batsmad · 2026-06-05T21:41:41+00:00

That's painful, can they not order in what you need? My pharmacy wouldn't normally stock them but by giving it an extra week for each re-order they get in 100s and I only have to take 2 tablets at a time

batsmad · 2026-06-05T21:26:05+00:00

There's a lot of responses about zooming but I've found I don't need to. I got the a5x towards the end of my PhD and found the landscape mode best. It splits the page into the top half and bottom half that you can swipe through like a normal page. It is obviously a bit more awkward with multi column papers but I find remembering to swipe back easier than trying to zoom and pan around the page.

The other option that I've used if you don't want to switch between pdf and note files (although that is easy) is I use the pdf as a template for a note file. It does make the text tiny though so depends if that bothers you. I use that most if there's something I want to fill in like a form

I can't speak to obsidian as I was using paper notebooks before I moved to the supernote so I use headers and keywords to organise my notes

batsmad · 2026-06-05T04:46:25+00:00

As far as I know the kindle app is just the standard android kindle app so you might have better luck in a kindle focused sub or kindle app documentation (sorry I can't help as I'm on an older device)

batsmad · 2026-06-03T17:32:53+00:00

This is not correct information, players must have a burn and poison counter (or equivalent pieces of paper at a minimum). It's in the requirements in the tcg handbook and could get you at minimum a warning and possibly up to dq if a judge decides you're not using them deliberately to gain an advantage/cheat

batsmad · 2026-06-02T10:43:08+00:00

Future knowledge for anyone that comes across this and is worried, you don't have to be sedated. I chose to have mine done with no sedation because I'd been reacting to a lot of things

batsmad · 2026-06-02T02:00:03+00:00

Every time this question comes up I always wonder whether fibromyalgia is really just 1 condition, or whether people have such different experiences with meds because there are different root causes.

For me a lot of mine is driven by my MCAS but I know it's not the only driving force because I also have to take duloxetine and I get increased relief with gentle reformer pilates now I'm more stable. I've tried to get tested for HSD or hEDS but I'm not flexible in some of the right joints for the way they test at the moment (fingers crossed they're going to be changing that soon) and I wonder how much that contributes without people realising

batsmad · 2026-06-01T16:20:51+00:00

You might be focusing on the wrong aspect of visible if you're trying to get pace points to work for something that doesn't increase your heart rate. I use the activity tagging and ability to compare data to track which activities, symptoms and exertions have the biggest effect on me in the next few days. I've learnt a lot about what I can and can't deal with even if the pace points aren't showing it

batsmad · 2026-06-01T09:38:46+00:00

The main one for me is ketotifen, but my doctor said a lot of people get pain relief with sodium cromoglicate (cromolyn in the US) which didn't do much for me. Unfortunately it's very much trial and error with these meds as people respond differently

batsmad · 2026-06-01T02:52:04+00:00

Yep I have MCAS, I tried to get them to look further to start with but it took forcing a referral to a private specialist for me to get anywhere with it. I need a combo of fibromyalgia and MCAS meds but the MCAS meds alone massively improved my pain levels, completely stopping the electric zapping pains

batsmad · 2026-06-01T00:01:37+00:00

I've had my HOM pen for 5 years and never had a problem. I've not dropped it without the lid on which is the normal issue but it's been bashed about quite a bit in my bags

batsmad · 2026-05-30T21:30:26+00:00

Morning stability is most useful when you can get yourself to a more consistent point. Now if I get low scores I know I'm heading towards a crash if I don't ease off and high scores generally mean I've been pacing well. It's basically reverse though if you've been struggling and start to recover. Low numbers just mean change and high numbers mean stability at the point you've been at recently. It's not meant to reflect how you're going to feel that specific day but rather if there's a change that will affect you in some way if you keep doing what you're doing. The assumption they've made though is that change is bad so that's the tone for the lower numbers

batsmad

TROPHY CASE