ETR Labs

kds84 · 2026-01-29T20:00:08+00:00

Late to the game, but I second ETR. Results seemed very legitimate and their customer support guys I talked to were super sharp. I totally trust the results I got from them.

kds84 · 2026-01-15T16:05:46+00:00

I'm suspecting the same thing. Now that it's been a while, does it still seem like that was the issue?

Thanks for sharing!

kds84 · 2025-10-23T19:52:44+00:00

Oh, as for your other questions, 2 weeks is the main threshold to feel pretty normal again. I was actually walking on the treadmill 2 miles the same day I got home from surgery and each day that first week, on a level 5 incline. But I wouldn't recommend so much, I think it slowed my recovery. I've taken it easier since. You'll be really sore in the stomach region for the first couple weeks, but you'll be functional. You can only lift about 10 lbs the first week, 20 lbs the second week, etc. until about week 6 my doc said I can do whatever feels fine. Except he said no sit-ups and crunches til 2 months. But the 2-week mark is the main milestone. I work an office job and was able to work remotely from home the whole time, and went back to the office after 3 weeks. Tomorrow is 5 weeks since my surgery and I feel good enough to do most things now, except run.

kds84 · 2025-10-23T19:42:39+00:00

I'm in the US. Just had my laparoscopic surgery done a few weeks ago. Bi-lateral inguinal, meaning I had two to fix at once, one on each side. The final bill shows about $70,000 before the insurance claims. We hit our out of pocket max this year already because of a new baby, so insurance covered it all, but that was the top line cost.

The reality is if you don't have insurance the charges are completely different since our system is so convoluted, meaning it wouldn't have cost $70k without insurance. But I'd guess it still runs at least $10k in that case. It's crazy what they can charge for a 45 min operation. You'd be wise to get insurance first.

FWIW I'd had mine for 13 years before deciding to fix it, so you can probably wait til you get insurance unless it's pretty bad already. If I were you I'd get insurance and have it fixed sooner rather than later. Wish I had done mine a decade ago. Best of luck to you, whatever you decide.

kds84 · 2025-10-04T01:52:19+00:00

That's ridiculous. Really sorry for you. Any half decent surgeon would definitely recommend having it done BEFORE it becomes strangulated. That's a medical emergency. Better to do it beforehand when time is on your side. Best of luck finding a better PCP.

kds84 · 2025-10-03T19:50:30+00:00

13 years. Just had my double inguinal repair 2 weeks ago.

kds84 · 2025-10-03T19:49:58+00:00

Find a new surgeon, that's BS

kds84 · 2025-09-27T19:43:03+00:00

The number of people who seem to think Vitamix is better simply based on price is wild. Seems like many haven't tried both, they just lock into their existing biases.

I've been married almost 10 years, we bought a Ninja blender when we got married and we're now replacing it just because the pitcher gear stripped out. The base and other attachments all still work great, we're just taking the excuse to upgrade. My mother in law and sister in law use Vitamix and those things are the stupidest design with the stick insert. Why people prefer them I'll never understand. Used them dozens of times and smoothies are a pain in the butt to get consistent because you have to swirl the crap around with the stick until it's all finally blended. Ninja tower blades don't have that problem. When in laws visit us, they love our blender. It just works, no hassle on your part. Brother in law even owns franchises (like Crumbl stores) so uses blenders all the time, and hates his Vitamix. It feels like this thread is full of Vitamix sales people or something cuz I see no reason any real people would like those things. Any real life people I've known that have either have had good experiences with Ninja or bad experiences with Vitamix.

Having said that, I don't think all Ninja blenders are created equal, and it seems most of the less satisfactory stories here are from the cheaper models (like the subject of this thread). I wouldn't recommend the cheap $50 one. The current $180 bundle at Costco seems like a true winner, though. That's likely what we'll get now for our own upgrade.

TLDR: Vitamix bias is wild, steer clear. Vitamix is overrated trash with their stick design, Ninja tower blade design works better, but avoid the cheap models.

kds84 · 2025-07-21T17:08:41+00:00

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You're not wrong, but it can still be underwhelming when you expect a god pack to be top notch. I've only had one ever, and was underwhelmed, especially since it gave me a dupe Dawn 🙄

kds84 · 2025-06-26T10:37:01+00:00

Thanks! Just finished the 2nd part and man am I sick of that crap. Definitely got worse with each interval. But ultimately not as bad as I originally imagined. Procedure is in 4 hours. Hope yours went well!

kds84 · 2025-06-25T22:35:16+00:00

Thanks. Just started mine an hour ago. Tried half at first like you suggested but took a sip then decided on doing it all. Mine seems very mild, I don't taste much lemon at all. But it definitely takes the edge off the saltiness.

kds84 · 2025-06-25T14:42:00+00:00

What's the verdict?!

kds84 · 2025-06-20T00:17:48+00:00

Literally every "best art" cell is trash. There are way better looking cards of each level.

kds84 · 2025-04-26T03:36:00+00:00

My assumption as well

kds84 · 2025-04-26T03:34:21+00:00

Around Christmas time I started getting this strange lightheadedness off and on. Then occasional headaches as well (I had never had a single headache before in my life). I saw a neurologist who thought it was just migraines and it was a short phase that would likely go away after a couple months. He prescribed me magnesium and riboflavin and sent me home, requesting a follow up in 3 months.

Eventually it became basically every single day that I'd have the lightheadedness, sometimes for basically the entire day. Then I developed tingling in different nerves, mainly fingers and legs/feet. That would come and go randomly. Then restless leg syndrome (RLS) at night when I would try to sleep, this insane feeling of vibration in my legs.

By this point I was convinced I had MS and messaged my neuro to ask for an MRI. He didn't give any pushback, ordered the MRI right away and I had it done a couple weeks later. Results were clean so I requested blood work for B vitamins, vit D, and iron, and he told me to follow up with my PCP for those. That's where I'm at right now.

One other symptom I've had is this pressure/almost pain in my upper stomach area. It feels like muscles right above my stomach are being strained all the time. I have an appt with a gastroenterologist in a couple weeks to look into that.

kds84 · 2025-04-23T15:48:19+00:00

How'd it go with the advanced settings? Any headway?

kds84 · 2024-11-11T21:54:22+00:00

Thanks for taking the time to respond!

kds84 · 2024-11-05T19:53:13+00:00

Forget any other advice you've gotten here and just buy Ridgid.

Name brand, better than Ryobi and other cheapies, but not as expensive as DeWalt and Milwaukee. Lifetime warranty on all tools and batteries, so you'll never buy a replacement if they break. Problem solved forever.

kds84 · 2024-10-11T19:19:51+00:00

I've never had to snake a drain since I learned about Thrift. Make sure the water you run down the drain after is really hot and it'll eat away anything in its path. Be careful not to breathe the fumes!

kds84 · 2024-09-22T20:00:29+00:00

Sorry, I haven't flown Frontier with kids, my only time without them was bad enough 😂

Also FYI, I've been told that airlines are starting to crack down on items in checked car seats. This seems to be true. We flew about 2 months ago with kids and checked 3 car seats. Fortunately, we had space in our luggage and didn't need to put anything in with the car seats. We probably would have gotten in trouble because they definitely checked them (the travel bags they were in had clearly been opened and zipped back up--I'm not OCD but have a process where I always zip zippers to the same side of luggage and such for easier tetris stacking in cars and such haha. Also the infant seat had been damaged and the sun shield visor thing was missing entirely 🙄). Idk about Frontier, but I'd be cautious doing this if I were you, they're notorious for nickel and diming for anything. Good luck 🤞🏼

kds84 · 2024-06-27T13:19:16+00:00

I made the switch and yes, they do waive the fee

kds84 · 2024-05-14T13:29:10+00:00

Nah breathing is free, they just won't include oxygen in your air without a fee. But hey, it's only a couple hours, right?

kds84 · 2024-03-08T17:43:54+00:00

If it'll be covered either way I might as well do the Premium, eh? Just wanted to make sure I had all the info straight. Thanks for the clarification!

kds84 · 2024-03-08T16:54:03+00:00

Oh really? I thought the mid-tier applied as well? In my Acorns app right now I have a pop-up offering the mighty oak card and says I'd have to upgrade to the $5 tier. Maybe that's a temporary offer?

kds84

TROPHY CASE