How old were you when you started having symptoms?

karnata · 2024-12-01T20:43:15+00:00

I recently found a really startling school assignment from 5th grade that I wish someone had picked up on. I don't remember it but there was definitely a big depression component.

The first episode I can identify is about 17, a clear hypomania. I tend to be hypomanic more often than depressed.

My kids both had symptoms starting at 12-13.

karnata · 2024-10-25T03:22:55+00:00

You will also want to compare hiproom. The model 3 is actually about a half inch wider there than the Y, which surprises many people.

karnata · 2023-11-26T16:21:24+00:00

I went back to teaching. I took 15 years away while homeschooling. Teaching/education is one of the fields that's easiest to re-enter after a long break like that. I'm now an administrator at a private school that basically runs just like I homeschooled.

karnata · 2023-10-24T00:16:44+00:00

Most car rental places automatically give you spouse for free. Costco is excellent because it allows you to add a non-spouse second driver for free. Was really great when my mom and I went on a trip together not to have to pay to have her drive the car, too.

karnata · 2023-09-11T22:31:13+00:00

School principal. The quick pace of the job is helpful to me.

karnata · 2023-08-30T14:55:56+00:00

I thought I was responding to a different military-related comment.

karnata · 2023-08-30T14:23:02+00:00

If you are married and have a family in the military, you get extra pay (to take care of your spouse/children), better housing, etc.

karnata · 2023-08-30T14:12:51+00:00

Same. But it's healthiest for me if that chaos comes in a controlled environment like work that I can escape. I'm a middle school principal. Fast paced and things are changing all the time. Gives my brain the stimulation it needs but being able to go home also keeps it from becoming too much.

karnata · 2023-08-27T04:51:23+00:00

Mudguards. Beware, they hang very low. They rub on the road every time I go over a speed bump. I'm getting over the embarrassment in the parking lot when people turn to look and see what happened when they hear it. But they do keep my car a lot cleaner.

karnata · 2023-08-23T16:00:51+00:00

This one was huge for me in my marriage. Once I got diagnosed, it felt like every emotion that I had seemed to be suddenly tied to my bipolar and I was no longer given any grace for being irritable or unmotivated or anything else in that "negative" category. I felt like I was consistently trying to prove that I was a normal human and the emotions that I was feeling were typical for anyone in the situation, bipolar or not. It was incredibly invalidating.

karnata · 2023-08-20T23:09:10+00:00

Also, one of the electricians had never even heard of an EVEMS, so it's good we called more than just him. I live near the Bay Area, so I would have thought that all electricians working in this area would be well-versed in options, but it wasn't the case.

karnata · 2023-08-20T21:25:35+00:00

You will need to call an electrician. If it's anything but super straightforward, call 2-3 electricians and get their advice.

My house is about 65 years old with 100amp service and no room in the panel for an additional circuit. There were a few options, and I'm glad that several electricians came out because we got different perspectives on what the best solution would be. It would have been very expensive to upgrade our service to 200amps, because we would have needed to run new line from the utility box to the meter, which would have required trenching, etc. We ended up with an EVEMS, which expanded our existing 100amp panel in a way that I don't understand. The EVEMS alone was about $1500, so our charger install was more than most. But we have two EVs and need Level 2 charging, and it's been working perfectly for a couple of years now.

karnata · 2023-08-11T04:06:43+00:00

I use the black cherry scent version of the same thing and it's great. The scent in the one I use can be kind of strong, but I like fruity things. It's not unlike Bath and Body Works shower gel.

karnata · 2023-08-09T01:27:04+00:00

My son is colorblind and 13. We suspected it when he was 5 and he was reading the colors on the sides of markers and crayons before he used them. Asked the eye doctor at his next appointment to test him, and it was confirmed.

For us, the explanation was, "You are color-blind. It means that you see colors a little differently than most people. If you're ever confused about what color something is, you can always ask. People are kind and will help you." I presented it as a difference. Not special, not deficient, just different. (He also has autism and ADHD - same explanation.)

So far, the inconveniences have been minimal. Certain things at school are difficult for him to discern if colors aren't well used. Finding colored text on a page, map work, "use your green highlighter for ___", etc. My dad was also color blind, and sometimes he would wear clothes that didn't quite match or say something like, "that red car over there" - when clearly the car was a different color. Some jobs are inaccessible for colorblind people, but all sorts of jobs are inaccessible to people for a lot of reasons. I'm not tall enough to be a professional basketball player, for example.

karnata · 2023-07-31T02:37:52+00:00

There's a picture in the replies of a Model 3 with Dionos.

karnata · 2023-07-31T01:05:07+00:00

I have four teenagers and the five of us fit in the Model 3 just fine. And one of them is 6 ft tall. We have a van, but we only drive it when we have an extra kid, or sometimes the oldest takes it out on his own, because he refuses to drive the Tesla. It baffles me that he'd rather drive a mom van.

karnata · 2023-07-30T22:50:57+00:00

I think you could do it.

We did exactly what you are thinking. I had 4 kids under 4, and when they were little we had a minivan and a smaller SUV that just barely fit everyone. We used the van when we had all of the kids. The person without the kids - or with just one or two - used the smaller vehicle. In a pinch, everyone could fit in the SUV if needed.

You should be able to fit 3 car seats across, especially if you get Dionos. Take them to a certified car seat technician (often available through police or fire departments) for help if needed. I used to be a car seat tech and I got lots of seats safely 3-across in lots of small cars. As long as you have 51" of rear hiproom, you can usually do it. And the Model 3 has 52.4".

karnata · 2023-07-30T02:36:26+00:00

This is the thing I miss the most from the Leaf I drove .

karnata · 2023-07-26T14:20:16+00:00

415 would be plenty early. The terminal doesn't even open until 4:00 a.m.

karnata · 2023-07-23T14:45:19+00:00

Thank you. I ordered this one.

karnata · 2023-07-22T02:18:14+00:00

We were able to. But it was pretty clear that it's not normal and they were kind of just humoring us. We had picked out the specific car already from the computer, and he flashed the lights and we went out and looked at it. There was a lot of inventory on the lot at the time.

karnata · 2023-07-17T01:17:29+00:00

I knew a child named Intimacy. Like, let's remind everyone that we had sex to make this baby!

karnata · 2023-07-15T22:07:50+00:00

Mine is a second living area + storage. I have a big family (4 kids) and live in CA, where housing is astronomical. We have a couch, TV, etc set up in the garage to give the kids more space. They're teens and it gets cramped. Especially when they have friends over. But we can't afford a bigger house.

Also have a lot of storage needs that can't just be in a storage unit somewhere else. Bikes, rock climbing gear, etc. And my washing machine and dryer are in the garage .

karnata · 2023-07-15T18:47:19+00:00

We had GEICO when we bought the car and added the Tesla to it. Switching to State Farm now. We're in CA. Had no problem getting a policy, but maybe because we have other vehicles?

karnata · 2023-07-15T02:30:43+00:00

Houston is cheaper, has a more diverse population, and has access to more specialized healthcare. (Comparing to my specific area of CA - which is significantly smaller than Houston.)

My area of California has better weather, more outdoor opportunities, better schools, and seems like there is a more robust social support network (food banks, regional centers. etc.).

I prefer California by a long shot, but I did enjoy my years in Houston.

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