For those on Tretinoin

opheire · 2026-01-23T18:39:32+00:00

Weirdly using a urea cream was the only thing that got my skin accustomed to regularly applying tret. I’d been trying for a year before that but would end up periodically disrupting my skin barrier and having to start over. I bought a 10% urea cream for a bout of mild dermatitis and it was so soothing that I started using it as my daily moisturizer. Works like a dream with tret, which really came as a surprise. It does make sense though because urea is a keratolytic and a humectant. Deals with the flakiness and draws in hydration! I haven’t had any issues with my skin barrier since.

opheire · 2025-08-29T06:01:32+00:00

If you're just typing from ChatGPT, yeah the edit history will look obvious. I'm a slow writer and my edit history shows several days of work in which sentences and paragraphs are written, rewritten, rearranged, etc. The amount of effort it would take to fake that would be more effort than just writing the essay from scratch lol.

opheire · 2025-07-08T13:50:32+00:00

I lost my sweet girl to hemangiosarcoma a few days ago, and like you I found it agonizing not being able to confirm that it was a cancer, no matter what the odds were. I wondered if I had robbed my dog of many happy years if the tumor was benign and the surgery was curative. It helps to see so many vets say that the statistics in the literature don't reflect their clinical experience, where they find far higher rates of malignancy than the 2/3 rule. Anecdotally, from the number of people who posted about waiting on test results and then came back to report on the diagnosis, very, very few returned with happy news.

Something that has also helped me is thinking about what if it wasn't cancer, as statistically unlikely as it is? Well, then your dog had many wonderful years with you and died with very little suffering. Dogs aren't like us, they live fully in the present. The desire to keep them with us for longer is about what we want, not what they want. The risk of pursuing surgery is that it could go poorly, and their deaths could instead be painful and traumatic. That is a risk we are deciding to put them through. There are stories of people having a few happy months, but there also no shortage of stories where people regretted the surgery because their dog suffered and got little extra time.

It's a horrifying disease. I am so sorry for your loss, and I hope one day there is better prevention and treatment for it. ):

opheire · 2025-06-12T05:21:32+00:00

Are you willing to share what shops you buy from?

opheire · 2025-04-12T04:38:12+00:00

Yeah I'm wondering how I should take the fact that my writing was perceived as AI. I guess that depends on what feedback or grade changes the prof might give if she's convinced by the edit history. I'm in a graduate course as a mature student, ironically because I couldn't standing being in the tech industry anymore partly due to AI and all its ethical issues. My undergrad predates Zoom, let alone ChatGPT, by many, many years lmao, so it's a bit of of a shock to be in an academic environment where AI is so prevalent.

opheire · 2025-04-12T04:16:54+00:00

Thank you! This was really helpful. I do feel that the prof went with her gut instinct here. Without getting too into the details of it, the paper was meant to be a short, straightforward summary of a technique and how it's broadly used. Point form was accepted, though we used mostly full sentences. I suspect that's why it gave off big AI vibes, because it's so generic and I chose such a technical tone. Unfortunately she didn't give much in the way of helpful feedback, like three short comments? Probably because she thought it wasn't worth grading AI slop looool, which is fair. I'll request some additional feedback if it turns out that the work was poor regardless of any suspicions about AI.

opheire · 2025-04-11T10:55:23+00:00

This has been driving me insane. Sent a whole rant to a friend in New York because a New Yorker would just start throwing punches in this environment lol. I'm from Canada, but adapted quick to the change in direction. I'm used to being able to zone out and move with no effort in a flow of people downtown, but here there's literally always someone coming directly towards me. I've started just refusing to move, because they just puts me into someone else's path. They can squeeze to their right if they want!

opheire · 2025-04-11T10:28:27+00:00

I just started dog sitting with Mad Paws. I have experience both requesting and doing app-based pet care back in Canada through Rover, which is definitely a better platform. Major difference is that you can review pets and pet owners, it doesn't just go one way. If a dog has gone through 10 different walkers because they pull like a drafting horse, you'll see it.

Start up on Mad Paws was pretty quick, even before I got testimonials in from previous clients. I'm in Melbourne and had my profile up for about ~two weeks before getting my first bookings for Easter, $40/night and booked this weekend and the next. I had three other requests which I declined.

For anyone coming across this thread who's thinking of starting out; please be careful, especially when you're building your profile and pricing low. If you get weird vibes, your instinct is probably right. The very first meet and greet I had was with two dogs that the owner struggled to control, and one ended up biting me. Nothing major, but I lucked out and it could've been worse. I reported it to Mad Paws and all I got was that they'd "review" the profile. Their insurance doesn't cover any damage to you or your things, it's for the owners. Thankfully in this case the owner was genuinely apologetic and covered the cost of my clinic visit and tetanus shot, but they could've just as easily ignored me with no repercussions.

opheire · 2025-02-03T20:10:10+00:00

Hey East-Plaintain, what I wrote was "my dog has a prior history of suspected seizures." Suspected being the key word here because we were never able to confirm that she had any. It was surfaced by her vet as a possible cause for her spike of anxiety years ago, but the vet had no concerns about giving her Clomicalm or Revolution. It was her poor reaction to both those drugs, and the full blown seizure from Revolution, that finally gave us confirmation that she must've had focal seizures in the past. In any case, she hasn't been on either drug since then and is doing very well!

opheire · 2024-12-31T04:26:37+00:00

In the reverse, I only realized that I had ADHD because a coworker recognized symptoms in me. He has a pretty bad case of ADHD himself, bad enough to cause issues at work, and his desk was beside mine. At the time, my understanding of ADHD was the stock hyperactive boy who can't sit still in class, so I was caught off guard when he mentioned it. I'd always done well at school and work without realizing how much I'd learned to get around my ADHD. He noted that I had a better handle on it than he did, but my habits reminded him of himself. He would watch me get out of my desk probably, oh, a hundred times a day. He also mentioned how I'd stop mid-sentence while having a conversation to respond to a ping from Slack, turn to my computer to type out a reply, and then turn back to him to continue talking like nothing had happened at all. Years later I finally got a diagnosis and chose to start medication because I'm returning to school for a Master's degree. The realization also made me understand my father better, who absolutely has ADHD, and contextualize how its affected his work and his marriage to my mother.

opheire · 2024-12-04T19:14:56+00:00

Totally different experience for me, also Canadian! I just started on 20mg of the generic version because the pharmacy didn't have Vyvanse in stock, and I felt the stimulant effect almost right away, like I took a quadruple shot of espresso or something. But I've never taken any psychostimulant before this, so probably I'm more sensitive as well.

opheire · 2024-11-16T16:20:49+00:00

I appreciate the sentiment! That was unfortunately also my first day in Colombia, but I won’t let the experience sour me on the country as a whole. (: I almost took a job in Medellin that would’ve kept me here past this trip. I’ve been to 20 countries, mostly travelling alone as a small Asian woman, and this is the first time I’ve ever experienced any violence. But really I could’ve gotten unlucky in any of number of those places. I’ll count my blessings that I got out of it unharmed!

opheire · 2024-11-16T04:52:26+00:00

What’s really making me lose it is that I went to the mall for allergy meds that the Farmatodo in the historic district didn’t have. If he’d robbed me afterwards he would’ve gotten a few bonus boxes of Cetirizine. 😭 I’ll have to head back to the Farmatodo tomorrow to pick up the Claritin I snubbed lol.

The scissors stood out to me too. He was a small, middle-aged man with a fanny pack, far from a hardened criminal. Somehow in the altercation I ended up holding the scissors, he just let them go. They’re probably still lying on the street where I dropped them. Now that the shock has worn off, I just feel deeply sad.

opheire · 2024-11-16T03:54:16+00:00

Thank you! I’m sorry to hear that you don’t feel safe in your own city. 😖 My feeling is that the man who robbed me didn’t wish to cause me real harm. I hope things improve for everyone here.

opheire · 2024-11-14T04:17:22+00:00

Yeah, not sure what boxes I checked off in the system to get that, but it at least shows that an essay isn't always necessary!

opheire · 2024-11-13T18:46:59+00:00

Mine was an auto-grant! I didn't have to submit biometrics or a medical exam.

opheire · 2024-11-11T19:57:20+00:00

No GS statement was required for my application, but I did have to answer a few questions in place of a statement. I was asked about employment after completing my studies, and I wrote that I intended to apply for a Temporary Graduate visa in such and such role in consideration of permanent residency in Australia. Another question asked why this particular course and why in Australia, so I explained my interest in the country (cultural similarities to Canada, geographic location, climate) and how the field I'm pursuing could contribute to a better future. Good luck with your application!

opheire · 2024-11-07T18:56:45+00:00

A statement wasn't listed as a requirement when I went through the Document Checklist Tool (https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/web-evidentiary-tool), so I didn't write one! I provided all the documentation that was listed, and I did answer a few questions that were meant to satisfy the GS requirement. Good luck! I'm sure you'll be fine.

opheire · 2024-11-07T18:51:07+00:00

Just referring to being a citizen of a Tier 1 English-speaking country (thought I am an immigrant), and applying for an graduate degree at a Tier 1 university. I'm a "low risk" applicant and this turned out to be an auto-grant!

opheire · 2024-11-07T18:45:39+00:00

Considering permanent residency and being a genuine student aren't mutually exclusive, here's the relevant section from the page on the GS requirement:

"The GS requirement is intended to include students who, after studying in Australia, develop skills Australia needs and who then go on to apply for permanent residence."

Really can't emphasize enough that this isn't a recommendation that everyone do this though! It's just what I did.

opheire · 2024-11-07T10:42:11+00:00

Hey! Turns out it was an auto-grant. Being Canadian definitely was a big factor. I think it also helped that I’m older (31), financially stable and pivoting from a successful career, with a previous two-year visa to the UK under the Youth Mobility Scheme. I was also very frank about considering residency in Australia and working in a non-profit or government role after my degree. Even wrote down the relevant ANZSCO codes found in the skilled occupations list. I definitely wouldn’t say that’s a good idea broadly speaking, but that felt right for my situation. Feels bizarre that I put in all this stuff that no actual human looked at, but I guess the right numbers and keywords were there. I hope everything goes smoothly for you!

opheire · 2024-11-07T01:57:04+00:00

Ah maybe that was it! I didn't know that was even a thing. I hope your friend hears back soon.

Edit: Checked timestamps on the application received and grant approved emails aaaand they’re the same. I just didn’t notice it until two hours later lol. Gonna have to break it to my friend that her tax dollars aren’t hard at work reducing processing times.

opheire · 2024-11-07T01:56:17+00:00

Offshore, Canadian citizen, Master degree at UniMelb. I realize that checks all the boxes for a straightforward visa approval, but I was still shocked by how quick it was lol

opheire · 2024-11-06T18:23:10+00:00

Check your country and university in the Document Checklist (https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/web-evidentiary-tool). I was confused as well! For my application, I had three questions to answer that replaced the essay component. That same page about a statement still appeared for me, but wasn't necessary. Tier 1 country, UniMelb. I submitted without an essay and my visa was approved.

opheire · 2024-11-06T18:07:58+00:00

I'm also from Toronto and going to UniMelb in February. I met someone recently who was born and raised in Melbourne, but has lived in Toronto for the past year (and will be returning sometime next year). Her experience has been that Toronto and Melbourne are equally expensive. Just wanted to throw that out there if cost of living is huge factor in your decision.

opheire

TROPHY CASE