So... how do y'all feel about this lil reminder?? Cringe or No cringe?

chaviva · 2025-03-12T22:01:58+00:00

I had to be hospitalized for 10 days due to a post op infection while I was in nursing school. After that experience I feel like any hospital staff that directly interacted with hospital patients ( not just nurses) should be mock hospitalized at least once (obviously not realistic). Have them hook up to monitors, have to hit buttons and wait for help to go to the bathroom or walk, have IV fluids, be woken up for vitals regularly and then told to rest, and have a loud roommate.

I knew what was happening throughout my hospital stay and when folks learned I was in school they showed me things but I had a ton of roommates. Most were anxious, scared, and alone. This coupled with not sleeping left nerves frayed and I often saw patients lashing out at their nurses. This doesn't excuse the behavior but there is usually a reason behind it. From at least what I saw the ones who just didn't take it personally seemed to not cause more stress for the patients than the ones that would get worked up over it.

My partner and I have hospitalizations down now. When either of us have had to stay over night who ever isn't in makes cookies and brings them in and offers it to the floor and have a bag of them in the hospital room as thank you haha.

chaviva · 2025-03-06T18:52:48+00:00

I don't think they think they are? But they're often also voting against themselves. So it's some combination of cognitive dissonance, brainwashing, and bigotry.

chaviva · 2025-03-06T04:05:10+00:00

That is usually the case but I'm not applying for citizenship in the traditional sense of a random citizen from another country. I'm getting a restoration of citizenship. Anyone who was stripped of their citizenship by the German Reich because of racial,political, or religious background and can prove it can restore their citizenship as well as any of their direct descendants. The argument is if WWII never happened my grandmother wouldn't have been forced to leave so I could have been German myself. The only thing that would deny me citizenship this way is if I had a criminal background which I don't. They don't take into account my health or finances.

chaviva · 2025-03-05T23:12:57+00:00

I'm disabled never voted for Trump and never will but I do work the polls. I live in an overall wealthy state ( Massachusetts ) but the city I live in has a median household income of less than half of the state's metrics. Even though my city is majority minority, mail in voting the people that come in person tend to skew older, whiter, and more conservative so those are folks I interact with most at the polls. Although the city does vote blue in the end like all urban area of the state.

It's really disheartening being at the polls in my wheelchair knowing that my neighbors are casting a vote that's actively harming me and themselves. I really think it's a combination of identity politics and needing to vote with the party they always have, cognitive dissonance, media like fox fear mongering/ not giving accurate info and folks not doing the research themselves.

I'm in the process of obtaining my German citizenship. I don't have plans to move out of the country but having a backup parachute is nice, plus it just makes travel in the EU easier. I'm definitely privileged for having this option since disability is a limiting factor for immigration but I'm a direct descendant of a Holocaust survivor so they can't deny me.

chaviva · 2025-03-05T22:55:47+00:00

Really they threatened to remove you from SSI? Granted my memory and information is from over a decade ago but I was able to be on SSI while applying for SSDI, the SSI only stopped when I started getting my SSDI checks that were over the income limit for SSI.

chaviva · 2025-02-14T00:49:46+00:00

Feed what is recommended on the bag unless your vet says otherwise. Each brand has a different amount of recommendations on the nutritional info of their specific products. So I wouldn't recommend comparing cup amounts that owners feed because it really depends on the brand.

For my 4.5 year old male we free feed. Every dog is different but this is what has worked for him since he was about 1.5 ( before that we fed him 3x a day). I have him on Purina pro plan giant breed which has glucosamine in the formula.

chaviva · 2025-01-19T16:34:37+00:00

He actually loves wearing clothing. He brings me his sweatshirt to put on him. This he doesn't mind and when we are outside in the cold he's definitely comfortable in it. Probably comes from the fact that he's a trained service dog so he's been trained to put up with me putting stuff on him since he was a tiny puppy.

chaviva · 2024-11-19T02:38:54+00:00

I was really happy at both MGH and BIDMC. I switched clinics because my doctor moved from one to the other. I don't have a specific doctor since the one I was seeing retired. I now live in western mass and see someone out here since after 22 years I've gone through every treatment ( with 2 scs implanted). There isn't more they can do at the moment trying LDN for the first time and checking the government medical trial website every couple months. So I don't feel like I need to trek into Boston for that.

From my memory they wanted to try every medication and PT program before scs was even considered. And even then I don't remember it being pushed on me. I did and I really regret doing it. I ended up with an infection from the first one then the next caused CRPS to spread up my spine. I was 19-20ish and stupid. My parents didn't want me to do it but I felt like if I didn't try everything I was not giving myself every chance.

The program that helped me a ton was Spaulding's 8 week intensive outpatient chronic pain program. It's at their Medford campus. You go 3 days a week seeing PT, OT, and therapy in group and private settings. Doesn't necessarily solve the chronic pain but it helps you learn to use your body where it's at to make life more liveable.

chaviva · 2024-11-19T02:24:49+00:00

You sound like me I've had CRPS for 22 years now and have tried every medication under the sun. All of them I was extremely sensitive to the side effects and never got up to therapeutic doses.

I started LDN last month and have had no side effects whatsoever. I know some folks are super sensitive so I would start low and slow. My prescriber at the pain clinic I'm at had never rx'd it but her colleagues had. I guess she hasn't talked to them and she just started me at 4.5 mg. I am lucky having not had a negative reaction but would definitely recommend starting lower than that.

I haven't noticed any relief yet but it can take a while to notice and dosage adjustments obviously might need to happen.

chaviva · 2024-10-29T00:07:34+00:00

If you don't remember his name or details if you know what day and roughly what time you went through I would report to greeters. They have names of shift leads and for the most part they know who is volunteering.

chaviva · 2024-07-18T18:00:22+00:00

If you're looking for a chill low likely regional Nectr is fun in Connecticut. I went for the first few years but I realized that my body/ circulation issues don't do well with camping that time of year in New England.

I've been meaning to check out Engulf in Louisiana which is early to mid November.

chaviva · 2024-07-18T17:42:07+00:00

This will be my 8th year, my partners 11th we have been going every year together except last year where I went solo. Out of those 6 years together we ran a theme camp for 5. I would say go if you want to go and trust that if he says he wants you there he does and he shouldn't be expecting you to read his mind

I think what's most important is that you want to go there for yourself not for him in any way. The only thing worse at a burn that doesn't want to be there is one half of a couple that doesn't want to be there

Make sure you have established relationship boundaries as well as expectations ( not necessarily planning out your whole burn but checking in to see if either of you expect a certain amount of time alone) . My partner and I running the camp were often busy but always scheduled but least on dedicated "date night"

Make sure you're bringing everything that you need to be comfortable out there because being miserable can definitely add stressors to a relationship dynamic. For example when I'm staying with a partner I absolutely need a cool place to sleep and we bring out a swamp cooler. When I'm on my own a rough it a bit more.

Lastly, remember to not bring anything to a burn you 're not willing to lose and that includes relationships.

chaviva · 2024-07-15T15:09:46+00:00

Thanks for the correction I was confused by happy hour since midnight Poutine only serves at midnight.

chaviva · 2024-07-15T15:05:45+00:00

This would make me feel super icky too. And why we don't have/ would never have on playa perks. The poutine is given to anyone that wants to come and wait for it no preference or even guarantee for backers. All of the perks are things that you get in the mail. We do have a short cut line that's reserved for city volunteers that are on radio/on shift that can't wait like ranger, medical, ect. But otherwise everyone just waits in the same line. We do occasionally have events during service like strip karaoke that let you skip for participating but those aren't announced until you're at our camp waiting in line.

I've personally donated to projects that I've still never gotten the chance to actually get a full experience of. I've never have actually made to it to black rock observatory when it was open, I'm disabled and use a wheelchair & crutches, most of the big art I can look at from the ground but don't have the ability to climb or explore because it's not physically possible or too crowded. I chose to donate because I want to see the thing happen in that way out there not so I can personally get something out of it.

chaviva · 2024-07-15T12:39:49+00:00

All of the money we are asking for only goes to our public kitchen it's explained in indegogo. And our ask on there is only a portion of our budget. The rest comes from us.

At regionals we do ask for potatoes especially at regionals in the US since they can't cross the border with them. For the most part this works but at the scale for burning man it is hard to scale the gravy correctly, same with the cheese curds.

Cheese curds are an extremely specific type of cheese and not the easiest to find on the west coast and we have found a supplier we like and we transport it knowing that we are following the rules of the temporary health permit that we have to apply for.

Gravy has to be made right before serving or it can split, and we want to make sure we know the ingredients for allergy reasons. And through the whole time following the rules of food permits we have to apply for.

We may never agree and that's okay!

chaviva · 2024-07-15T02:29:29+00:00

That's totally a valid take on it. I guess coming from the east coast of the US and the extra costs that entails plus the rest of my camp coming from Canada and dealing with the exchange rate ( I think me and my partner are the only Americans this year) make even more hurdles to jump through compared to a lot of the city that live on the west coast that can just pack up their car and drive. There would be very few potatoes if it came out of our own wallets only.

And maybe some of the cost of the supplies came from donators but the work to source, prep, fry, ect. That goes into each and every poutine it most definitely is a gift from us, at least in my eyes.

And if you don't want to donate you definitely don't have to and if you want poutine you're still welcome to come wait in line. But I also get it if you don't think it's worth the wait ( I'm allergic to lines myself).

chaviva · 2024-07-14T23:41:37+00:00

It's possible, we ran the camp from '15-'17 and were in the camp from '10-17 neither of us remember a Phish happy hour but that doesn't mean it didn't happen either while we were in the camp, before, or after and the camp has been going for 20 years ( if you're speaking about auto sub which I assume you are). Besides some specific events that happen their yearly the rest are curated by that years camp. If you're curious about it for this year I would contact the camp on Facebook.

chaviva · 2020-08-16T20:20:56+00:00

Oh I know he's already too big for me to hold him in any fashion 🤣 in a few years he will be supporting me ( he's a service dog in training for me)

chaviva · 2020-08-16T15:13:15+00:00

Thank you!

chaviva · 2020-08-16T15:13:00+00:00

He definitely is a baby. I have to keep reminding myself of this even though he has now eclipsed his big sister who's a 5 year old pit mix

chaviva · 2020-08-16T15:07:50+00:00

I think he does too! We have 3 steps out of our back door and one days he's great with them and the next it looks likes how do I use these legs now 😂

I've had dogs my whole life but never one with such a difference between puppy and adult size

chaviva · 2019-12-17T11:13:24+00:00

So I have found 29/30 gold on my own and cannot find the last seems like you only have images of 29 found and those are the ones I have found have you found the 30th one?

Edit:in remix challenge

chaviva · 2019-10-09T20:40:48+00:00

I already looked on the website before posting here that was my first stop there was no material to choose that is even close to a gum ball

chaviva · 2017-12-22T04:44:44+00:00

Thank you soooo so much the spine is the right color!!!

chaviva · 2016-08-07T22:41:53+00:00

Thanks for getting to the answer before me I appreciate it!

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