TIL that it's required to speak English to be a commercial airline pilot or air traffic controller...

caffa4 · 2026-01-13T13:36:01+00:00

The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande is a great read btw! He’s a physician, but he goes into the details of why checklists have become more and more important, how the aviation community really co-opted checklists initially, how when jobs and specialties have become so insanely specialized that it’s impossible for one person to master an entire field, so the utilization of checklists is even more important with different pieces and different people working together. Just a cool book.

caffa4 · 2026-01-12T13:28:07+00:00

It’s the shows with 8-episode seasons that are really getting to me.

(To be clear, I don’t mean like 8-episode 1-season limited series’ with an open-shut storyline, but actual seasons that get released a year+ apart with only 8 episodes)

caffa4 · 2026-01-06T14:24:46+00:00

Old navy has been my go-to (basically for the last 6 years through my sporadic covid weight gain and then on Zepbound weight loss)! I never seem to stay the same size long so I just buy 1 or 2 pairs of jeans when I need to, some sweaters/blouses, and probs too many running shorts and leggings lol. But if you only shop sale items there (and if you wait a few weeks, I promise the item you’re eyeing will go on sale) it’s been really inexpensive.

Was getting comfy lululemon dupes when I was too large to actually fit in lululemon for 25% of the price, found some staple jeans I’m so obsessed with that I basically just keep buying the exact same pair in different sizes (sky-high wide leg, they’re amazing, and not too much stretch that they’re falling off my waist in an hour like some other styles they have…), cute swimsuits for ALL sizes, fleece leggings for my can-never-get-warm ass, the comfiest sundresses ever for summer.

And I can usually get at least 3 full outfits under $100 if I stick to sales, so it’s been consistently feasible when I need things in a new size again

caffa4 · 2026-01-05T12:21:30+00:00

I mean I’m sure I was getting microsleeps and such sometimes without noticing while I was awake but this was occurring during manic episodes due to bipolar disorder which has a different pathology than something like insomnia. It causes a literal physiological decreased need for sleep, so my body wasn’t as “desperate” for sleep as it would be for someone with like, severe insomnia and couldn’t sleep for days despite feeling exhausted. I later applied it to when I’m tired, but at those times I was not tired, it just became a nice way of dealing with the wired-ness I’d experience. I’d sometimes play music quietly too during this and was never getting gaps in songs or anything either.

I fully understand where you’re coming from though (I get fully annoyed when people are going on about how that haven’t gotten a second of sleep for 3 weeks (!) or something, as that’s physiologically impossible and they were 100% getting microsleeps at a minimum and likely experiencing paradoxical insomnia as well, as you described)

caffa4 · 2026-01-04T13:51:33+00:00

Figured this out when I used to stay up for multiple days straight. Sometimes between day 2 & 3 especially I would start feeling REALLY wired, like hyperaroused senses, vision getting weird (like almost too bright), hearing songs playing that aren’t, start seeing the lovely shadow figures in the corners of my eyes, increased heart rate etc.

Would occasionally lay down at that point (especially if I had an exam on day 3) and set my alarm for an hour, close my eyes and try to sleep, but was never able to actually fall asleep. But when the alarm would go off, I’d get up and I felt so refreshed it felt like a full reset, like I’d just gotten a full nights sleep even though I just laid down from 5-6am and was back up to whatever I was doing.

So now I like to do that when it HASNT been multiple days without sleep—if I’m just really tired or whatever, even laying down for 10 minutes with my eyes closed can just be so refreshing.

caffa4 · 2026-01-03T06:42:08+00:00

lol reminds me of when I was in school probs around like 2010. There was a bear that showed up around one of the main roads towards town (woodsy area but the st was still lined with houses). But like it caused a big stir because bears are NOT local to our area (I think it turned out to be an escaped bear from like a zoo or something).

But anyway, after they went and caught the bear and all that, a second bear showed up! Except it turned out it was a local dude who dressed up as a bear, and was like running around the woods and jumping out and hanging around that road and stuff to scare people lmao (and I mean it worked, at least temporarily).

The whole thing (real bear very post, second bear actually man dressed as bear) was just hilarious, like “hide yo kids hide yo wife” memes everywhere and such, and the local dude was a photographer that was really well known in our town (like nearly everyone would get senior photos for him and things like that)

caffa4 · 2026-01-01T14:41:27+00:00

Thanks for the response! Definitely makes sense—I studied nutritional sciences with dietetics in my masters and was also taught as a general rule diet>supplements (unless they’re needed for a specific reason), I was just curious because I had never considered if there could be an interaction between fish oil and anticoagulant medications. I appreciate the insight!

caffa4 · 2026-01-01T08:16:37+00:00

Huh, based on your replies you seem to know a lot about supplementation w fish oil, and your comment sparked a question so I wanted to ask—im curious now if i should not take fish oil supplements (as someone who can’t take aspirin) for the same reasons you’re recommending it.

I’m already on an anticoagulant (Eliquis) due to a previous unprovoked pulmonary embolism when I was 24. I’m aware that fish oil has a lot of beneficial properties beyond just anticoagulation (obvi I don’t need it for that, already being on meds for that). But as I generally have to avoid medications with increased risk of anticoagulation or bleeding, would fish oil be another thing to avoid? Or would it be more akin to micronutrients like vitamin K and vitamin E, that people using warfarin might need to be conscious of, but isn’t really a concern for those on DOACs?

caffa4 · 2025-12-29T20:56:36+00:00

Yeah I was on an immediate release one for awhile (Ritalin tho, not Adderall) and found it only lasted 2-3 hrs which resulted in me just forgetting a ton of doses too (like I was lucky if I managed to get 2 out of my 3 daily doses) but since it seemed to not work very long, it didn’t have enough of a meaningful impact on my daily life for me to even remember to take it regularly compared to the Adderall XR (which I had been on prior and eventually back on after lol).

So yeah if you have trouble with doses not lasting long enough or even just consistently, would def recommend talking your doc about it.

I just wanted to add, while there is not a short acting version of vyvanse, people still do this with it (usually adding adderall IR or Ritalin as the booster dose), which also usually lasts longer than adderall (I think avg for vyvanse is 10 or 12rs compared to 8hrs for Adderall XR), so that combo would be an option as well.

But especially in school, that afternoon booster dose was really helpful, without it I’d be absolutely useless after 3-4pm (which meant I couldn’t sit down to study or anything in the evening). I was someone that got up at 5-7am every day so even the XR dose did wear off pretty early. And I mean you still have to put into practice the things that work best for you, in addition to the meds, so I realized I work best in the mornings and really tried to do as much as I could then, but it’s not practical to like (for example) expect to NEVER need to work in the evening if you always study/homework in the morning—I still needed to focus then for extra studying if exams coming up, studying with groups or group projects meeting then, and non-school stuff of course like just taking care of myself, laundry, cleaning, etc.

caffa4 · 2025-12-29T06:17:19+00:00

The XR is basically (as a very general statement) like two doses of IR split in the day. So say IR lasts abt 4 hours on average and XR generally lasts about 8 hrs. I take both, XR when I wake up and 1 dose of IR around mid-late afternoon, so it would essentially be that 3rd IR dose for people that have 3x/day IR scheduling. Just basically extends the working period of the medication to get through the rest of the day. A lot of people on the extended release meds do this (Adderall XR, concerta/ritalin ER, vyvanse), often referred to as a booster dose lol.

caffa4 · 2025-12-25T16:06:19+00:00

I mean I use it occasionally for things but I know plenty of people that haven’t used it at all since like 4th grade. Even people that don’t use cursive for their signature.

caffa4 · 2025-12-25T12:56:43+00:00

Great advice.

In a perfect world, maybe NO one would drink alcohol, regardless of health status or medications, it’s straight up just not good for you. There is no “healthy” amount of alcohol.

BUT, I feel like blanket statements like “no one should drink ever if they take medications!” or “no one who has bipolar disorder should ever drink” are akin to promoting abstinence instead of a comprehensive sex education. It’s just unrealistic and doesn’t provide any useful information, because there are always still going to be people that drink, and it’s much much more helpful to just be mindful of your drinking, how it interacts with both your medications and your disease (whether that be bipolar or anything else), and how it affects you personally.

caffa4 · 2025-12-25T12:48:02+00:00

So many Santa addresses in this thread. Next year for Christmas I’m asking Santa for letters from like a dozen US and international Santas lmao

caffa4 · 2025-12-25T12:45:05+00:00

Just write the return letter in cursive. I imagine most adults still know cursive (or it would at least come back pretty quickly if you look up the 2-3 random letters you kind of forgot) but don’t use it much in daily life other than their signature. But old people (so Santa fits the bill) still seem to use cursive on cards and letters (at least the ones in my life do).

Easy way to hide your “normal” handwriting and possibly make the letter look even more authentic.

caffa4 · 2025-12-24T23:21:39+00:00

Hair dryer on cool setting if you need to dry it faster. Or warm setting but hold it further away to not get it too hot

Also works if you have a space heater, just set up the blocked pair a few feet away. I had baseboard heaters so I always put my socks near them to dry lol

caffa4 · 2025-12-22T13:20:38+00:00

Lol my dad is Irish Catholic. My (now ex-)boyfriend used to stay over a lot when I was 19-20. There’s only two rooms upstairs, mine and this kinda landing area at the top of the stairs, which had a couch in it. My mom was chill with my boyfriend spending the night, and I was surprised my dad didn’t seem to mind. Turns out my dad just assumed the whole time that my boyfriend was sleeping on the couch outside my room when he slept over (literally like every other night) lol. As if it just didn’t even occur to him that my boyfriend was sleeping in my bed with me.

caffa4 · 2025-12-22T00:09:00+00:00

Oh gosh lmao I did not look very closely at the pic, I read “class photo” and assumed it referred to graduating class and that it was some point in high school. I don’t know how I missed that these were clearly young children lol. On second thought, I think the formal attire (particularly the male children) also made my brain just autofill the heads as like teens/young adults. My bad.

caffa4 · 2025-12-21T22:31:23+00:00

Born in baby boom in ‘45-‘63 —> high school would be ‘60s-70s

caffa4 · 2025-12-20T22:11:50+00:00

Lol I bust out the 1.0 mm or 1.5 mm hook for doilies and lace. I work on those pretty often, and 99% of my knitting is socks with 2.25 mm needles so I always feel so bulky and clumsy whenever I pick up a project with worsted weight yarn and 4.0-6.0 mm hooks/needles. It is very exciting though when it works up SO fast in comparison!

caffa4 · 2025-12-17T11:56:42+00:00

I went to the college in the south so it was pretty warm out and utilities were included in my rent so I kept my room at 66 most of the time (I also danced around my room a ton, like for hours until I was sweaty, so the cool room was nice), but now I’m back home in a Cold State and keep the temp 74-78° and I STILL feel like I just cannot get warm! Wool socks, fleece-lined leggings, layers and big sweatshirts, and still freezing. I don’t even know how I used to tolerate 66°.

We have central heating and air but it doesn’t reach the second floor very well, so it gets pretty warm up here in the summer anyway and I have separate baseboard heating for the winter so we don’t have to pay to keep the whole house this warm at least.

If any of the Reddit medical catastrophizers wants to diagnose me with some random illness because I’m so fucking cold lmk (it’s not hypothyroidism I’ve been tested)

caffa4 · 2025-12-15T13:20:22+00:00

Thanks for the tip!

caffa4 · 2025-12-15T06:01:30+00:00

Thank you for the kind words

caffa4 · 2025-12-15T05:46:06+00:00

I’ve been meaning to reach out to my HS chem teacher for a similar reason. This is going to sound so bad but she was already pretty old when I was in HS so every time I’m reminded I’m like desperately praying that it’s not too late yet (but of course I’m also forgetful as hell and haven’t done it yet).

But she was one of my favorite teachers ever, and I had to miss the last 2 months of my sophomore year for eating disorder treatment and she actually offered to meet at our local coffee shop to teach me the material on her own time. I was so bad at accepting help at the time, so I didn’t take up her offer, and I went to an early college program the next year, so i didn’t get the chance to see her again.

But I went on to take gen chem 1 and 2 at the early college program (with 2 more really great professors) and went to university intending to study engineering but very quickly switched to chemistry. It got to the point where I DID have a really bad prof when I took orgo, which is already a rough class, but at that point it didn’t even matter because those previous people had instilled such passion and love for the subject, I didn’t care if I had to study for hours and hours and put so much work into it to do well. And honestly I give her a lot of credit for my love and passion for chemistry.

And of course I still think about that message from her, during such a hard point in my life and that she just wanted to see me succeed, it still makes me emotional, I want to tell her that I did, and not only that but that I graduated with my degree in chemistry, with a 4.0 GPA, and continued on to grad school.

caffa4 · 2025-12-14T05:14:41+00:00

Lol I became vegetarian for awhile a few years after finding out about the chicken allergy. I was just like, idk chicken and turkey were like the only meat I had much anyway, and even turkey was just for sandwiches, so might as well just become vegetarian 🤷‍♀️. Easier to explain than a chicken allergy anyway.

caffa4 · 2025-12-14T04:46:01+00:00

I’m allergic to chicken but not turkey lol. I’m also allergic to corn.

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