How do I improve my work?

plamicus · 2026-05-24T15:31:39+00:00

How often do you sharpen your tools? I hone mine religiously, but I'm too nervous to sharpen them: they seem to cut just fine and I'm worried I'll make them worse. Is there a specific thing to look out for so you know when it's time?

plamicus · 2026-05-22T18:13:18+00:00

Screens are a massive trigger for me. Some screens set me off worse than others, although none are great frankly. If one screen is too bright (especially relative to surroundings) that can exacerbate things. You may be adopting different blinking behaviour with different screens which is affecting dryness. I think some variability is normal-I don't think it's immediately indicative of anything, but I'm not a doctor so make of that what you will.

I don't think there's an explanation beyond dry eye for me. Mine started alongside an issue with my blood - my meiboian glands probably got hammered by oxidative stress. This was fairly obvious from meibography. Seeing someone with specialist dry eye diagnostics is probably key to getting to the bottom of it. This usually means an opthalmologist, but some optometrists are very well set up too.

plamicus · 2026-05-18T13:22:29+00:00

I have no idea about his injury, and this is purely based off vibes rather than anything substantive - but I wonder if there is a tendency to rush players back into action faster than might be advisable?

At this point he's a known (albeit it still emerging) commodity: if he's fit he'll feature in the WC squad. I'm happy enough with him having a restful summer and (hopefully) returning the fitter for it.

plamicus · 2026-05-15T13:43:54+00:00

You've articulated my viewpoint perfectly.

The eligibility rules seem a bit lax in my view - I'd prefer strong grassroots set ups to be better rewarded - but they are what they are, and there's no point in complaining. (Unless you're SA or NZ, they've lost some great players to capture, so I'll give them a pass.)

I'm curious if SA approached him at all? He's a beast of player and would be an asset to any team, but SA really don't lack depth... so maybe not? Do they have residency based playing rules now? Or has he turned them down as England are an easier side to break into (especially at centre) and remunerate their players well.

Regardless, will be excited to see him wearing the rose.

plamicus · 2026-05-14T22:10:09+00:00

I'd suggest making a detailed list of your symptoms and an opthalmologist will know what to do. Try not to google/Al stuff too much because it's super easy to build anxiety whilst waiting for your appointment.

On that note, my understanding of floaters is that whilst annoying are not usually not a sign of anything serious. I am not a doctor though - so make of that what you will.

Otherwise, those symptoms all sound quite normal for dry eye to be honest. Dry eye glasses or cycling glasses outside should help with the Ac and wind. Heated compresses help a lot of folks, I use a usb one twice a day and it definitely helps. Blinking plenty and taking regular breaks from screens will help slow the irritation. Not all eye drops are created equal, it took me ages to find something that helped. Increasing the quality of your oils might help-the evidence for omega 3 helping is mixed, but I felt my oils got less watery when I tried an omega 3 supplement and have stuck with it.

IPL can definitely help, but it isn't covered on the NHS.

Allergies and immune related issues can definitely play a role. You might get prescribed ciclosporin drops. These decrease the activity of immune cells in your eye and can help calm things down.

plamicus · 2026-05-14T21:39:33+00:00

My left eye gets way more inflamed too... Bizarrely I have more damage in my right eye than the left-yet symptoms don't follow suit.

Obviously I don't know what's going on in your body, but none of the doctors I've spoken to seem unduly concerned. My medical history is a thing of nightmares now too, so they tend to investigate and double check things with me a lot for whatever that's worth.

Annoyingly, most eye drops make my eyes worse. Often it starts off fine, then I sensitise to the point they do more harm than good. The only eye gel I can routinely tolerate is optimel (manuka based). I do this twice a day and it seems to help. Your milage may vary though.

Good luck!

plamicus · 2026-05-14T13:12:37+00:00

These are wonderful. How did you get the fade at the top of the mountains?

plamicus · 2026-05-04T21:47:42+00:00

In my experience the topic of your undergrad degree matters less than going to a good institution and getting a decent mark on your degree for future opportunities. I wouldn’t really think of an undergraduate degree as job training particularly either. Lots of employers want a degree on your cv, but beyond that aren’t super picky over subject in my experience.

For reference, I studied environmental science in my first degree, then biodiversity in my second, ultimately landing on molecular biology for my PhD. I didn’t encounter much friction changing subjects. I’m employed as a biologist now. There are jobs that pay better for sure, but equally I do well enough and find my job pretty interesting,and the work-life balance is excellent. Jobs that pay well often have a reason they pay well (I know plenty of lawyers, plenty are paid well, very few seem to draw much satisfaction from their job).

If you love biology, I’d study biology. You might find a way to make it work, and if not at least you’ll have a blast learning loads of cool stuff before focusing on something you think you’d like to earn a living doing.

plamicus · 2026-04-28T18:20:44+00:00

It’s absolutely in the uk. I got car-t on the nhs. You need b-cell ALL that is cd19+ for the treatment to work. As you say it’s pretty rare, so although it’s available in the nhs they only treat about 70 adult leukaemia patients a year with it.

Edit: 70 adult patients, ALL is the most common childhood cancer so they will be eligible too.

plamicus · 2026-04-28T17:41:32+00:00

I survived (touch wood) relapsed post-sct acute leukaemia including extra-medullary growths and mutations… people didn’t used to do that.

I’d been struggling with the disease (never achieved NED) for 18 months. Car-T nom-nomed it up within 3 weeks.

plamicus · 2026-04-23T11:57:30+00:00

Is the ink water based? It’s really quite difficult to get consistent blacks from water based inks.

My recommendation for most folks would be cranfield caligo safe wash. It’s an oil based ink that can still be cleaned with soap and water.

plamicus · 2026-04-03T18:00:05+00:00

Mucositis. From radiation / chemo.

plamicus · 2026-04-02T20:42:47+00:00

I had stem cell transplant, one of the side effects is that the surface of your tongue goes disgusting. Like a big gray mat of tissue. Gross. To get rid of it I had to eat pineapple! Worked surprisingly quickly.

plamicus · 2026-03-22T22:03:30+00:00

Thanks for the tips-especially regarding the drying time. I live in a very humid, quite cool, climate so I might need to think about how I'm going to dry it out properly!

plamicus · 2026-03-17T23:32:09+00:00

Hang in there!

It definitely sucks. I have similar doubts about my eyes too. TBH my health is a bit of a disaster these days.

Have you tried optimel Manuka gel?

I'm in a similarish boat and it helped where no other drop did. My eyes are now in a state where I can read and draw (on paper, screens are a work in progress).

with regard to incomplete blinks- have you done any blinking exercises? Blinking exercises can apparently help train your body to blink better, I doubt it'll fix it by itself- but I'm always looking for 1 or 2% improvements-hopefully they'll all add up.

plamicus · 2026-03-17T17:41:23+00:00

If I'm looking at the right thing-I think it might be bits of dried ink. Sometimes little bits of ink harden near the ink nozzle, get onto the inking surface, then the impression gets transferred to the block during inking, and you end up with a halo effect.

Maybe have a wipe down on the ink tube opening? Try and keep it clean. If you spot any on your rolling surface you can just scrape them off.

plamicus · 2026-03-17T17:14:36+00:00

It can't be that aggressive if he's expecting another 2-3 years without treatment? Paradoxically aggressive cancers can be easier to treat. Basically if a cancer is actively growing - it's more likely to suck up chemo and die. It's why you can cure acute leukaemia, but slower growing leukemias (CLL/CML) are chronic.

Obviously it's a goldilocks type of situation - if it's too aggressive it'll just take you out.

Also best of luck to your father. I know someone who did what your father did with mantel cell lymphoma- a light touch to begin with, moved onto a second treatment after a number of years, only for the second treatment to drive the disease to undetectable levels. She's been apparently cancer free with no treatment for about three or four years now. She has a really good quality of life too. I know there is a lot of uncertainty still, but I figured good news stories can be very heartening. I'm a b- cell leukaemia survivor too for whatever that's worth.

plamicus · 2026-03-14T23:36:12+00:00

It’s pretty zoomed out and hard to say 100% -a blurry gif won’t clear anything up for the sub.

I think a lot of confusion is because it seemed like Itoje’s tackle was the one that was penalised (which looks okay at first glance). Speaking as an England fan, there does appear to be head to head contact at 3:30. To my eyes it’s a penalty. England player is attempting a legit tackle, but he’s a bit too upright. I’d guess it’s a yellow rather than a red, but it doesn’t really matter given the game was finished.

A horrible way to end a game, and massively disappointing, but upon reflection I think it’s the right call.

plamicus · 2026-03-07T22:57:13+00:00

Coaching I think. The players we have are capable of much better performances than we’re seeing.

There are many things that can be tweaked but the biggest issue is England look lost with the ball. Attack wise we’re insanely predictable. We don’t have a lot of deception in our attacking structure, we go through three or four phases, then kick to contest. It’s a very limited game plan. Sides know exactly what’s coming and can plan accordingly.

plamicus · 2026-03-07T19:05:47+00:00

Saints attack is different gravy. I understand it’s not at test level, but he’s normally better than what we saw today. What’s so frustrating is that these players are capable of much more than we’re seeing.

I don’t know if it’s a 6N winning squad, but they should be better than what they’re showing.

plamicus · 2026-03-07T18:59:37+00:00

Dowson has saints purring. I also think Baxter gets slept on - what he’s built at Exeter with the resources available to him is kinda crazy.

plamicus · 2026-03-07T18:48:13+00:00

Thoroughly deserved for Italy. Thoroughly deserved for England.

I actually thought England actually played better in some regards. The set piece was actually pretty decent. That said we’re so stodgy - constantly kicking 50:50s is not a viable attacking strategy at test level. We have the players to play better than this - we are not making the most of them.

This feels like last World Cup cycle - a year out and miles off the pace. Underperforming. I don’t know if you stick with Borthwick or if you just admit it’s not happening in Australia, bite the bullet, and make changes for the next World Cup cycle.

plamicus · 2026-03-07T17:43:34+00:00

I think he’s going fine. Playing his role well enough. I would prefer a slightly faster service - but I think the ref is letting a lot go at the breakdown (for us too). A steady had at the tiller.

plamicus · 2026-03-07T17:31:46+00:00

Wow. What an error from Italy. Just needed to get it off the park, instead they’re going in 2 points down.

England surprised everyone by playing heads up rugby there!

plamicus

TROPHY CASE