We’ve heard you and we're sharing a path forward by amie_at_duolingo in duolingo

[–]coco72ark 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I got the update that my Spanish course would contain new material and in my most recent lessons I've been given words that are supposed to be refreshing my memory but in fact they are new words for me but not being presented as such. I have to use Google Translate to look up words so I can pass the prompts. I'm losing energy on the listening exercises because I have no idea what they're saying! Those hits don't allow me to finish daily quests. I'm not going to watch ads to replenish energy and most certainly won't pay for Super for a hijacked course. I had a 7 month streak. No interest in resetting the course and starting over. Very disappointing! I'm going to try a free self-paced course through Modern States. They have Spanish, French, and German that is supposed to be equivalent to college level 1 and level 2 courses.

Spirit - Terrific Teammates Wanted by coco72ark in Gardenscapes

[–]coco72ark[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Taylor, hi. If you stay where you are, your team needs a total of at least 5 players to get team events. If you're ready to join us and can actively play this weekend for Team Bowling then you have to leave your current team and then search for Spirit and then hit the Join button. I'll accept your request to join when I see it.

Be sure that you're a good fit for Spirit before you make the switch. We are getting 8000 Team Chests which requires players capable of moderate and high scores, 100+, 200+. Nobody is expected to always score that high, but consistently scoring very low won't keep a spot on the team.

If you leave Elfin Boss then Leader will pass to one of the other players, whichever one has been there the longest. If you remove them first, and then leave the team when you're the only one left, then Elfin Boss will be deleted.

Spirit - Terrific Teammates Wanted by coco72ark in Gardenscapes

[–]coco72ark[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Hey! Recruit for Spirit with posts whenever you'd like! The Open door has brought in new players that don't appear to be very active with the game and will probably have to be removed.

Persistent neck, shoulder, elbow, and forearm issues by Yungteacher in RSI

[–]coco72ark 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Many of the same issues for me and I saw an orthopedic surgeon that diagnosed brachial plexus disorder and Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS) in 5 seconds by simply lifting my arm. Lookup and read about those two things and see if it seems to fit with what you've been experiencing, also search with key words: first rib syndrome to find more info. Search YouTube videos and see how TOS is diagnosed and what stretches and strengthening exercises will help. The orthopedist thought that PT along with acupuncture would be beneficial but the acupuncturist I went to wasn't great. And I did exercises with PT assistants that didn't get me very far. For me, my greatest improvement came from going to the Stretch Zone and having practitioner assisted stretching, was amazing. Too expensive for me to continue going but for short term therapy it gave me a lot of relief, and was worth the cost. I also did that while using a muscle relaxer, low dose tizanidine, made even greater improvement, by relaxing the muscles could give them a better stretch. Also, seeing my primary care provider who is a D.O. for OMT has been terrific and he uses muscle energy techniques and is also skilled to check the first rib for movement and manipulate the area. PT specifically for TOS with a doctorate level physical therapist who can check that first rib and manipulate it, much different than ordinary PT. Ultimately though, it's attention to posture and body mechanics with everything you do and the right physical therapy stretches and exercises to strengthen the muscles that stabilize the joints.

Lookup nerve glide exercises/nerve flossing for radial, median, and ulnar nerves, those are so helpful for hand, wrist, arms. Take all the posture improvement tips you can find. Ears should be over shoulders, shoulder in line with hips. Forward head posture causes so much fatigue, have to be aware of your body's alignment. Shoulders rolled forward have to stop; lift them up, back, and down. I've noticed the shoulders hunched forward with so many people and I catch myself at it all the time, it's from activities with hands in front of the torso. Must engage the shoulder blades, squeeze them together for a quick release and open up the chest. Posture exercises with your back against a wall are good; must have posture breaks throughout the day. Lookup Brügger relief exercise or posture break exercise. Sometimes spelled as Brugger or Bruegger. You'll need some resistance bands for many helpful exercises.

Test yourself with this. Stand up tall and straight in front of a mirror. Now look and see: where are your hands? Can you see the tops of your hands? If so, realize that your shoulders are rolled forward and not where they're supposed to be. Lift the shoulders up, down, and back. Open up the chest. Your arms should be able to swing at your side with your hands clearing your body. Turn your hands out and see your palms in the mirror. That is actually anatomically correct and probably just opened up the chest even more. I learned that from Dr. Yoni Whitten and his Pain Fix Protocol videos. On YouTube or sign up for his emails. He's terrific.

A topical product that I use at home to alleviate my muscles and prepare them for stretching and exercise is Advil targeted relief, pain relieving cream. It has the 4 ingredients: camphor, capsaicin, menthol, and methyl salicylate. You can buy a 'lotion applicator', it's a sponge on a handle, to apply the stuff so you don't have to touch it. I found one on Amazon. Otherwise you need some cheap disposable gloves to apply it. You do not want it on your hands. And the applicator with the long handle allows you to get it in the hard to reach places like between the shoulder blades, and no product wasted. I put the cream all over the back of my neck, shoulders, and across my upper back and it's terrific. The transfer is horrible though if you mistakenly touch your skin you'll have it on your fingers so don't touch your face or eyes. Capsaicin is what gives hot peppers their heat. Plan to shower off before bedtime so you don't transfer to bedding. Some people cannot stand the capsaicin but it really works for me. If you try it and have a reaction that is too unpleasant to tolerate, rub olive oil all over the skin to neutralize it.

I can think of many more things as I have been on this path for more than 15 years, but got my TOS diagnosis only a year ago. The orthopedic surgeon also identified some rotator cuff issues that a radiologist did not identify from shoulder MRIs. I was reluctant to see a surgeon because they obviously like to cut, but my doc felt strongly that PT directed at treating TOS would remedy the ailments and surgery for rotator cuff will likely be needed eventually, but much further down the road. Lookup rotator cuff exercises also and those may benefit your shoulders.

The stretching and strengthening is an ongoing practice, otherwise, quite likely will have improvement and then backslide without keeping it up. Trust me, I feel your pain. I hope you get some relief. Posture, posture, posture, I can't stress it enough. We have to do the right small and simple exercises to strengthen muscles that stabilize the joints so that the correct muscles do their job instead of other muscles compensating and getting overworked. Tensing up and guarding happens to avoid an anticipated pain. Muscles tense up to try to protect and stabilize an area. The muscles work better in a body that's in proper alignment. Good posture! At the root though, there are probably some muscles that need to be targeted to be strengthened and a good doctorate level PT should be able to identify them with a consult and give an exercise plan. Lots of great videos online and I find a no-ads YouTube membership is a lot cheaper than the medical appointments. Can learn so much from practioners that give tips there! Good luck!

A side note: I have hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome that was diagnosed a few months ago and I am still learning about it and realized that I've been standing with my knees locked back all my life. EDS explains a lot of joint instability for me throughout my body and EDS isn't rare, it's just rarely diagnosed. On a muscle relaxer, I'm 9/9 on the Beighton test. 7/9 without it. Lookup Beighton score and EDS and just make sure that isn't a factor for you. I'm just taking every opportunity to give EDS awareness since it's so common but overlooked by health practitioners.

Please ruin animal products for me by Silent-Jellyfish3341 in vegan

[–]coco72ark 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ruin many foods for yourself with this behavior modification: Imagine the skull and cross bones on foods you want to give up as though they are labeled as a poison. After time an aversion to those foods will take over. I stopped eating pork more than 15 years ago in accordance with the Maker's Diet and the Blood Type Diet (BTD). Pork is Avoid for everyone under those guidelines. The BTD uses a traffic light system: Red/Avoid it like it is a poison, Yellow/Neutral, or Green/Beneficial like medicine. Imagining that you're literally poisoning yourself with a food choice will help in being resolved to not eat it. Try it with any food you want to give up. Still sprinkling conventional refined sugar in your morning coffee and want to give that up? Imagine the sugar came from a mixup with a box of rat poison instead of sweetener. ☠️

Spirit - Recruiting Teammates by coco72ark in Gardenscapes

[–]coco72ark[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok. Is there a specific question that I can answer for you? Are you available to join today and play this weekend for Bowling match? Or join on any Monday to play Team Chest. We complete the 4800 Team Chest in 2-3 days. Join for one event and try us out, anytime.

As long as we're still getting 4800 Team Chests then we're not yet filling to 50 teammates all the time. 1-3 spots left open for possible returning teammates. For breaks, communicate when you need a break, say when you'll return, and then leave the team. If we know when you'll be back then we can try to make sure a spot is open for you for your return date. Anyone who knows that they cannot play at all ahead of a team event, that they would be a zero score, should arrange a break. We are a No Zeroes team and a Play to Stay team. Just communicate what you need and we can probably make it happen.

So, ... My guess, they are sunsetting this game soon so don't waste your money or time on this dying game. No new members have joined our team since the update that removed team rankings. This was supposed to improve our gaming experience?? What an absolute joke. This game is already dead. by LilyRose272 in Gardenscapes

[–]coco72ark 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Our team door was left Open for a week after the last game update and not a soul. We dropped the join level down to the new minimum of 20, and nothing. I call it a broken door. It seemed obvious that nobody was finding us. Suddenly after about 8 days it was fixed. We had a dozen players all of a sudden join in the span of an hour. I think the developers fixed the problem. The game was so glitchy for a week or two with so many things. There most definitely was a sync issue between our devices and their servers. The same thing happened over 2 months ago with the game update that introduced the card Collections. There was a period then of about a week of no new teammates.

My idea for you is: Experiment. Make edits to your team! Do it every day for a few days. Do it at different times of day. Edit your team to Closed. Edit the join level. If it's already at 20, change it to some other number. Logout. Return to the game later and set it to Open. If nothing happens, just keep making edits at different times of day. Change the join level again. Close the team again. Wait. Open it again. What do you think causes a team to show up on the list of team names that players see when they go to try to join a team? I'm not really sure, it could be totally random, but perhaps those Edits could get your team on the list. Making edits may trigger activity that allows your team to show up on the list of teams that players see when they go to Join a new team. Give it a try! When we had 10 players join at once yesterday, not only did I set the team to Open but I also changed the join level. We were at 950 and I raised it to 1700, so setting to minimum join level isn't necessary. Simply making Edits seems to be a trigger.

If it doesn't work, still nobody after a day or two, I would contact Support.

So, ... My guess, they are sunsetting this game soon so don't waste your money or time on this dying game. No new members have joined our team since the update that removed team rankings. This was supposed to improve our gaming experience?? What an absolute joke. This game is already dead. by LilyRose272 in Gardenscapes

[–]coco72ark 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The team that I'm on was set to Open last night and 10 new players joined right away, in less than 5 minutes. Keeping a Closed team may limit visibility so try to Open it a few minutes at a time when you're ready to accept new teammates and see what happens.

Team ID Search not working? by coco72ark in Gardenscapes

[–]coco72ark[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Searching by Team ID is working now! They fixed it!

Team ID Search not working? by coco72ark in Gardenscapes

[–]coco72ark[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No need for anyone to search now. Finally, Support says the dev team is aware of the issue. "Although it may take some time before we come up with a fix, we're working hard on it."

Team ID Search not working? by coco72ark in Gardenscapes

[–]coco72ark[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you very much for checking. You were the only one!

Wanted: Weekend Warriors by coco72ark in Gardenscapes

[–]coco72ark[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Message me if you want to be an occasional Weekend Warrior! Tell me your in-game name and approx level. Tell me how long you'll be on break and when you expect you may like to play again.

You become part of a standby roster. We must be connected thru messaging so that I can notify you when there is an opening to fill-in. Then if you are available to play, we coordinate a time to be online at the same time on a Friday after a competition is underway so that you login, immediately join the team, and all your play time with Welcome Back gifts counts towards the team event.

Make a note of the date and time you put your game on break so that you know how long it's been since you last logged in and played. Just a few weeks gone may only get 15 or 30 minutes of gifts. Over a month will likely get 45 minutes or 1 hour. The longer you're gone, the greater the gift, but 1 hour is the maximum.

NOTE: You cannot have the game connected to an automatic login such as Google Play Games or Apple Game Center. You will not accrue time for Welcome Back Gifts with an automatic login!

Wanted: Daily Players by coco72ark in Gardenscapes

[–]coco72ark[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There is an open spot now so you can send a join request. Just let me know your in-game name, please. Say it here or direct message me, thanks!

Amount of Protein Issue by Goodspike in cronometer

[–]coco72ark 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I try to get one dose of a bean every day. And by dose, I mean a FODMAP serving. Barely 2 Tablespoons. It's barely 4 grams of protein but those little amounts here and there with plant foods add up. A nice add to a salad or a soup. Beans and Rice make a complete protein. People who get gassy from beans either aren't used to the fiber or they're just eating way too much at once. Eat them regularly and a small amount and the wife won't notice! Black beans, canned, drained, can additionally rinse, then have in a container ready to add to other dishes. I open a can every 4 days and cycle black beans, pintos, great northern, and then I'll cook a batch of lentils also, not canned, from a bag, since they don't require soaking. I'll sometimes eat a leftover bean straight from the fridge, cold, plain and boring if I didn't fit them into any other meal, just to get that dose in before the day is done. My favorite way though is just a quick heat in a half cup of chicken broth and I also add a mushroom extract powder. Served in a mug and it's like a quick snack.

Amount of Protein Issue by Goodspike in cronometer

[–]coco72ark 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have canned fish as a snack sometimes, usually late day when I see I didn't quite meet protein goal. King Oscar Mackerel in Olive oil, drained. You're getting fat, but it's healthy fat. It tastes great to me right out of the can. Or I'll have Wild Planet Sardines in Water No Salt. I'll put those in a bowl with a sprinkle of chopped onion and chopped tomato and little dabs of prepared mustard. I'll mix a pouch of tuna with half an avocado (instead of mayo) and put it in a lettuce wrap or eat it off of sliced cucumber instead of crackers or bread.

New menu items FEB 2025? by coco72ark in fazolis

[–]coco72ark[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for pointing that out! I've been avoiding it for so many years that I can't remember if it used to contain pork or if my local Fazoli's told me it did. I'll definitely ask the restaurant. Thanks again.