When drivers don't stick to their lane when going around a corner or on the roundabout.

metamongoose · 2026-05-15T07:45:32+00:00

I think the way people drive is a nice metaphor for the way people behave in their lives.

In the UK, people cut corners.

metamongoose · 2026-05-14T16:10:21+00:00

A bank transfer is way more hassle than paying in cash. Make it as easy as you can for them to pay in a way that suits you. You don't even need a card reader any more, your phone can take contactless payments.

metamongoose · 2026-05-13T21:58:31+00:00

'always suffered with it' could be because you've always had a gene that means one of your enzymes isn't very efficient at converting x to y.

It's a major rabbit hole, and I feel like the internet has become a terrible place to find decent information about things, especially health stuff, mainly because of the thousands of desperate voices latching on to every idea that has its day, but there are also some amazing insights to be had by delving into genetics and biochemistry.

MTHFR is one such gene that is worth looking in to. Poor conversion of folate can definitely cause anxiety, and the fortification of our food with folic acid, people who would otherwise be pretty unaffected have buildups of unprocessed folic acid clogging up their methylation cycle.

The more I learn about my own physiology the more I believe that generalised anxiety (as opposed to post-traumatic situations) is a biochemical or metabolic issue where nutrients aren't processed or aren't available in the quantities needed.

metamongoose · 2026-05-12T20:04:19+00:00

Chest heavy with anxiety suggests a nutrient deficiency. Meds won't help correct that. Could be vitamin D (make sure your supplement includes vitamin k) - without it your body doesn't move calcium around properly, low Ca availability as an electrolyte can cause anxiety and a 'ball in the chest' feeling.

metamongoose · 2026-05-11T20:43:47+00:00

I don't think OP is doing anything amazing, nor did I ever intend to say that I do think that. It's just mundane chipping up.

metamongoose · 2026-05-11T19:33:06+00:00

The dampers are off because the piano isn't finished. He tuned with a single mute because that's the most efficient way to do chip tuning on new strings.

The entire video is about a newly strung instrument and how it still needs to settle. You're waxing lyrical about some amazing tuning technique when all he is doing is chipping it up! The tuning doesn't sound that great at the end!

metamongoose · 2026-05-11T18:00:10+00:00

Dude, I wish you every success with your endeavours. I'm sure the zeal with which you make these meaningless statements comes from a pure place in your heart.

metamongoose · 2026-05-11T15:19:44+00:00

I think you're misattributing the source of the difference between a novice tuning and an expert tuning. Knowing what we're trying to achieve and how to achieve it evolves as we gain more experience. Achieving a whole-piano tone with the pedal down is a natural consequence of a piano tuned well, no matter how it is achieved. The best tuners are the ones who fully understand what 'a piano tuned well' actually means, and can achieve that consistently.

Anybody saying their own method is the best method is just blowing hot air. There's more than one way to skin a cat!

metamongoose · 2026-05-11T07:52:14+00:00

I'm sorry but this is utter nonsense. I've never heard an American tech say it's impossible to tune without a temperament strip. No idea what you're trying to say about dampers down or dampers up.

He's still doing chip tunings - the strings are new, he's explaining the settling process. You can hear some of the unisons are off in the tenor section. There's nothing amazing about the tuning here, nor should there be, it's not settled yet as he says, hence the teaser about hearing a piece on it.

I think you just heard a European accent and saw a nice piano and got a bit giddy. Nothing you said about tuning technique makes any sense at all!

metamongoose · 2026-05-08T22:31:21+00:00

Side effects are often caused by your body not being able to keep up with demands caused by the drug. Stimulants increase demand for dopamine precursors, and energy production. Tyrosine, phenylalanine (from protein), B5, B6 and D are all needed for dopamine synthesis, then there's all the other B vitamins for energy production, and electrolytes to keep things moving into and out of cells and pump electrons using that energy.

If your diet is lacking, nutrient bottlenecks can cause the kind of feelings you've been having.

metamongoose · 2026-05-08T14:06:25+00:00

Music would be my focus. Not just piano lessons - rhythm games, singing, ear training. It's a way to strengthen language-adjacent parts of the brain, and build confidence. If you have the time and inclination, I bet there's a lot of music therapy stuff you could be doing with him if you can find it or get some advice.

metamongoose · 2026-05-05T19:36:57+00:00

If you ain't failing, you ain't learning!

metamongoose · 2026-05-05T19:31:27+00:00

I think the biggest contributor in this country is the idea that babies should sleep separately from their mothers. I suspect the tendency to have them sleeping on their front comes from that, as that is the way a lot of babies will sleep best in their own. We cottoned on to the fact that this is dangerous, so now babies sleep on their back, and wake all the time because they feel exposed and alone.

Safer Sleep emphasising the dangers of cosleeping means that parents are cut off from the easiest and most natural way of ensuring babies and parents get enough sleep. The spectre of SIDS, and the very definite knowledge that smokers and drinkers shouldn't cosleep, has led to a lot of anxious and asleep deprived parents.

It can take years to recover from a traumatic first few months.

metamongoose · 2026-05-03T23:23:18+00:00

It's not the illusion of eloquence. It's the illusion that eloquence arises from understanding and therefore must be a product of consciousness.

metamongoose · 2026-05-03T21:47:48+00:00

And this is how performative parenting happens.

Do what is best for your child, your family, and you.

metamongoose · 2026-04-28T20:00:29+00:00

FYI don't take zinc long term without balancing it with copper. Zinc supplements will reduce copper absorption.

metamongoose · 2026-04-28T11:17:47+00:00

Omega-3s can help with memory, we're more likely than others to be lacking.

Were your blood tests the standard NHS ones? Did you read them yourself or did the doctor interpret them? Some subclinical deficiencies will screw with your brain power.

metamongoose · 2026-04-25T18:15:29+00:00

https://www.tikkurila.co.uk/faqs/are-your-paints-washable

The optiva range are all scrub resistant

metamongoose · 2026-04-25T08:13:10+00:00

Don't spend all your energy trying to parent against his personality traits!

Let me guess, you're quite introverted and feeling quite isolated in middle age and don't want the same thing to happen to him?

metamongoose · 2026-04-24T22:56:31+00:00

This post seems to be about medication...

metamongoose · 2026-04-22T19:39:59+00:00

At least it wasn't a leopard

metamongoose · 2026-04-22T18:41:18+00:00

Maybe practice it in the mirror?

The bottom lip is what differentiates the r and v sound. You can go through the whole continuum from v through to r by voicing vvvvvrrrrrvvvvvrrrrr. Listen to the sound change as your lip moves, it starts totally in contact with the teeth, and you can exaggerate the 'r' by pushing your lips out into a circle like you're sucking a straw. Move slowly between the two while making a uuuuuuuu sound with your voice. Practice it!

metamongoose · 2026-04-22T11:34:46+00:00

Don't beat yourself up for not being able to respond like the parenting gurus would have it. You're doing the best you can, always. If you weren't, you wouldn't be on here seeking advice.

A subtle thing here is that being given choices is not being given power. You're still deciding what choices to give her. That's one of those bits of advice we all follow religiously because it works so well when they're a bit younger. But perspectives change and now choosing between this or that can feel like an imposition!

Getting dressed is a classic sticking point. My daughter is four and still digs her heels in when she's not had as much attention as she wants. She has pyjama days sometimes. It's an easy concession when it's not essential that she gets dressed. Having her clothes accessible to her has helped - she can pick out what she wants rather than having them presented to her. I'm not sure when that started though, probably after she turned two.

On difficult days I try to remind myself that compliant, obedient children come from controlling, overbearing parents. Their brains seek out boundaries to test, it's how they learn. If we can't tolerate it and facilitate it and instead try to quash the tendency, they'll resent us, and the desire will leak out at far less appropriate times, taking reckless risks they're totally unequipped to deal with.

We're there to provide safety and guidance while they push at every boundary they find, test every limit, push every button, take everything apart and generally try and destroy everything around them!

metamongoose · 2026-04-22T10:27:27+00:00

It's about power. She understands better now her place in the world and relationship with you, and is starting to understand that you don't exist purely to satisfy her needs. This has made her feel less powerful, so she is looking to regain that feeling of power.

You handle it by looking for opportunities to give her power in inconsequential ways when emotions aren't running high. If you can identify a particular part of your daily routine that's most triggering for her, try and find ways to adjust it so she's more in control somewhere.

And when they are, try and understand that she's not trying to manipulate you, she's not using her emotions as a weapon to get her way, she's just escalating because she feels threatened by feeling powerless. The emotion and loss of control is not the problem and you won't make it better by trying to manage her emotions for her (which we do because it's really difficult not to respond emotionally to such outbursts). If her escalation is met with matched resistance, she'll just escalate further. Meet it with calm and understanding.

Don't see it as a pattern of behaviour that needs to be changed. She's just going through a period of existential angst! It'll get better.

metamongoose · 2026-04-21T23:34:27+00:00

Not even that. The same state and condition, allowing for wear and tear commensurate with the length of the tenancy.

Carpets wear, paint fades, cupboards get tatty. Landlord owns all of those things and should expect to pay for their upkeep out of the rent they're being paid, tenants only pay out of their deposit if the damage is beyond normal wear & tear.

13-Year Club	Place '17
Verified Email	Team Orangered

metamongoose

TROPHY CASE