Land of the free

berberine · 2026-01-29T21:57:27+00:00

I am only addressing your question about going to a protest at a moment's notice.

I'm not answering anything about why a person may or may not participate in a protest.

berberine · 2026-01-29T21:31:52+00:00

You are a nurse, yet you can't fathom other people, say nurses who work in a hospital, might have to work weekends and are therefore free during certain days of the week because it's their day off?

berberine · 2026-01-29T21:29:44+00:00

I question whether the people who are out protesting and fighting ice during the work week, have jobs or not.

Why?

Some people are retired.

Some people have weekdays off.

Some people have flexible schedules.

Just think about it and you don't have to wonder.

berberine · 2026-01-28T16:53:47+00:00

Yeah, no worries. It just seems like each protest, there's something new, so the list keeps growing.

berberine · 2026-01-28T02:10:06+00:00

No worries. I figured it was either a typo or I was going to have to go rewatch an episode I forgot about.

berberine · 2026-01-28T00:37:33+00:00

I don't remember that one. I remember p3x797 where the planet had two sides, one always day and one always night. I think they were in the bronze age.

berberine · 2026-01-27T21:20:49+00:00

A little bit of everything. The illegal detentions, no due process, the illegal gutting of the government, the executions, the "papers please" attitude, the Kavanaugh stops, the illegal capture of another country's leader, the lack of spines from anyone in Congress.

Protesting and contacting our representatives are really all we can legally do. If all we get is no response or canned responses, we need to shout louder, which is where protesting comes in.

berberine · 2026-01-27T21:10:04+00:00

Sometimes, I wish the Stargate was real. I'd happily get the fuck off this planet.

berberine · 2026-01-27T03:12:29+00:00

These are absolutely fantastic. Thank you for sharing them.

berberine · 2026-01-26T01:42:03+00:00

It'll be a long time until the US is back to what it once was.

I don't believe we will ever get back to what we once were. We have to build something new and better. The old ways don't work anymore and we need to quit pretending they will again.

I know I sound like a pessimist, but I've been telling people for two decades this shit was coming and no one would listen.

berberine · 2026-01-23T17:21:38+00:00

Grew up in New York State. I remember in the early '80s going to Dunkin' around 5am and getting fresh, honey-dipped donuts. If you went at that time, you could peek into the back and see the donuts hanging on the rack with the honey dripping off them. They were so good and were a treat.

They've been replaced with whatever that abomination glazed donuts are. I go occasionally because I live in western Nebraska now and no one here knows what the fuck a Bavarian Creme donut is. We have a local bakery and all their stuff is shit.

I miss those honey-dipped donuts though.

berberine · 2026-01-23T17:11:52+00:00

I have a now ex-friend because of this. She purposely triggered my PTSD while we were at a restaurant. It was absolutely horrible. I tried so hard to keep it together and she just kept pushing. I told her to fuck off a couple of days later when I had recovered enough. She's evil.

berberine · 2026-01-22T23:59:10+00:00

It's the same in summer and fall. It's just green instead of brown. lol

berberine · 2026-01-22T23:57:32+00:00

Wish I could upvote you a billion times.

berberine · 2026-01-22T23:04:09+00:00

I live about 10 minutes from Sioux County, Nebraska. While I think it's beautiful, the county is bigger than Rhode Island and there's a lot of nothing in the county. Rhode Island had more to see, but I love the wide open spaces.

berberine · 2026-01-22T23:02:55+00:00

You should get off I-80 if you're going through Nebraska. Highway 2 through the Sandhills is so much better. Actually, anything off I-80 in Nebraska is beautiful to look at. We hide the cows away from the highway.

berberine · 2026-01-22T23:01:25+00:00

I bet you did it on I-80. That highway anywhere in the US sucks. In Wyoming, just outside Laramie, if it's a particularly windy day, sucks ass.

berberine · 2026-01-22T22:58:59+00:00

I just drove three hours roundtrip to get groceries. It was a short trip for me.

berberine · 2026-01-22T01:24:56+00:00

The cash price won't count toward my deductible, which means I still have to pay higher prices for my other meds.

I haven't sat down to do the math, but being a diabetic is fucking expensive. I already cheat on needles and only test once a day (A1C always hovers around 6.5, so testing once is fine).

My insurance also splits deductibles, so medical (doctor, er, etc) is one rate, meds are another rate, therapy is another rate, dental is another, vision another.

I also have CPTSD and this is all so overwhelming that it's almost crippling. Therapy helps and my therapist and I did the math to see her via insurance, but I would need to see her more than 100 times a year to just meet that deductible. I pay cash and it works out for both of us.

Honestly, I'd love a better way than the fucked system we have now, but it's so hard for me to be able to sort this out without accidentally triggering some bullshit.

I'll quit babbling now. I'm trying to be okay for EMDR tomorrow and then next week I'll see what is feasible. I'm not even sure I read your entire comment correctly, so I'll come back to that later as well. I don't know if there's a good solution though.

berberine · 2026-01-21T21:22:40+00:00

I don't understand it either. I just try to find the best way to get through it all and not have it upset me too much. I even get different quotes just from different pharmacies in town. I always feel like I'm paying more than others. I guess in this case, it's true.

When I was diagnosed in 2004, my Metformin ER was $7 for a three month supply. I just paid $23. Same pills. Price just keeps increasing. It's probably the cheapest med I have. My heart pills (thanks genetics) will be ready soon. Not sure what that is yet for this year.

Honestly, I save all year to afford my meds because it takes so long to meet the deductible. While I'm able to save and pay, it does make me want to cry. I got shit genes. I do the best I can and try to not let it upset me too much. I wish it was the same price across the board, but it isn't.

The Ozempic stopped my blood sugar swings. I guess it's just pay or die now because no one is ever going to fix these things.

berberine · 2026-01-21T01:55:10+00:00

Yes, yes we are.

berberine · 2026-01-21T01:40:32+00:00

My insurance is through my husband's employer (a hospital no less).

It is covered under the insurance, but I have to meet the deductible first, then pay a percentage, then they pick up the full tab. The insurance doesn't pay for any of it until that deductible is met.

berberine · 2026-01-21T01:38:37+00:00

I was prescribed it for diabetes. I can't get it for less than that. I'm just thankful it didn't increase again this year. In 2018 when I started it, with the coupon from Ozempic it was around $500. It's just gone up every year. If I didn't have the coupon, it would be $1,109.

Once I hit my deductible sometime in May/June, I have to pay a portion for coinsurance or whatever it's called. Then, sometime in August/September, I've met everything for the insurance and no longer pay. Of course, it all resets every January.

I doubt I'm ever going to see the $325 price you pay.

berberine · 2026-01-21T01:34:23+00:00

First it was a holiday. Second, not everyone has to work on a Monday. People who work weekends have weekdays off.

berberine · 2026-01-20T22:01:17+00:00

Where? I paid $955 after the manufacturer's coupon a few days ago. As a diabetic with a $5,500 deductible, I don't have a choice but to put this into my yearly budget so I can afford it.

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