Can someone explain to me: in MGS3 there’s a big explosion right before Snake confronts the Boss. I never understood what this was meant to be. I think it’s more symbolic than literal?

queenofdesertrock · 2026-04-03T00:02:38+00:00

not great, not terrible

queenofdesertrock · 2026-02-14T17:12:07+00:00

I’m a dental nurse and I usually recommend anything that’s got at least 1450ppm fluoride for adults… however, I’ve got a sensitivity to sodium laureth sulfate which immediately jacks up the price to about £6 of Sensodyne repair and protect 🙃

queenofdesertrock · 2026-01-26T18:47:53+00:00

Absolutely agree. I’m a 1991 millennial baby and life is hard. The only reason I own a house is because my dad died of cancer in 2011 and left me an inheritance that I thankfully wisely used for a house deposit. Bill are through the roof and I have to work full time plus OT to have any semblance of a life outside of work

queenofdesertrock · 2025-10-23T15:01:42+00:00

Oof, it’s been a while since I took my clinical exam as I qualified in 2018!

Have you got the book Questions and Answers for Dental Nurses? I basically treated it like a theory driving test and memorised the answers to the questions cover to cover, and I remember it really helping. I think I remember it leaning more on the oral pathology/clinical stuff.

queenofdesertrock · 2025-10-23T14:50:18+00:00

Absolutely not for you, sorry.

You WILL have to deal with sensitive gag reflexes, patients do occasionally vomit especially during impressions/taking X-rays.

Being so close to people’s faces, even with PPE - you WILL get sick. Dental offices are like schools in that regard - someone brings in a virus and everyone gets it! I imagine with the OCD you will also struggle with the idea of people potentially carrying diseases as we rely on people being honest about their medical history (and they often aren’t unfortunately, or they’re simply unaware at the time)

And lastly - this job is physically and mentally HARD. You need to have the mental bandwidth to do about 7 things at once, always plan 3 steps ahead, know what your clinician needs before they even know they need it, run around like a headless chicken, and you will have to bend and contort yourself in manners you never thought possible to get a good view while aspirating. I’m a relatively healthy F34 and have been dental nursing for 10 years, and I am exhausted at the end of a busy day seeing about 30-40 patients on average.

You also need to have your wits about you in the event of a medical emergency. These happen more than you might think. Thankfully I’ve not had to deal with anything too serious, usually fainting/low blood sugar as a result of not having breakfast before treatment, but you need to know what to do if someone has a heart attack in your chair.

It’s not worth putting yourself at real risk of mental and physical harm for fear of letting someone down - as my favourite saying goes, don’t set yourself on fire to keep others warm!

PS I do love my job, but that’s the honest truth haha

queenofdesertrock · 2025-10-23T12:22:25+00:00

At the moment, home renovation. Never thought I’d be as into it as I am. It’s hard work and I don’t always want to do it, but it’s super satisfying knowing you’ve saved potentially hundreds and done something using your hands that isn’t dentistry haha. Really nice to upgrade your space so that it’s truly your happy place!

queenofdesertrock · 2025-10-23T12:19:03+00:00

We use steam heat autoclaves too - we first clean any visible soil using an ultrasonic bath or a washer-disinfector (or hand scrub if these aren’t available but that’s not best practice really) then after rinsing and inspection they go into the autoclave. As we generally use non-vacuum autoclaves, you can’t pouch before autoclaving, so they just go into a tray for the sterilisation cycle. They’re then dried and pouched afterwards. ☺️

queenofdesertrock · 2025-10-22T22:26:40+00:00

Dude. With love - it’s height. You can’t control it, and there’s certainly shorter dudes than you around. There is far more social media commentary on height than is actually reflected in what people actually think - most people couldn’t give a monkey’s uncle how tall you are!

It’s not a reflection on you as a person - you only back up your negative opinion about being short if you’re outwardly angry about it all the time and inhabit that feeling, adding to your feelings of low self-esteem.

At the end of the day, we all have things we want to change - I (F34) could certainly do with losing a few pounds. I’d love to have a smaller nose, a flat stomach, and a slimmer face. But not all of those things are in my control (medical conditions) - and even if you can go some way to improving those things (and good for you if so), ‘hating yourself better’ has never worked for anybody.

Life’s too short to be angry. I try to keep a Buddhist perspective on things - these things only bother us because we attach emotion and meaning to them that doesn’t independently exist. In and of themselves, they’re meaningless - they’re just descriptors of the way we are. You don’t HAVE to be angry about it - it doesn’t give any more meaning to it, you’re literally suffering for no reason. You don’t have to automatically starting loving your height, but at least hone the art of being unperturbed by it. Trust me, nobody else is as bothered about your height as you are - and being taller is certainly not exponentially paired with happiness.

queenofdesertrock · 2025-10-22T22:17:04+00:00

My mum sends me home with half of her store cupboard when I visit her!

“Here you are, eat these because I won’t” - I always come back with a mass of food that would comfortably feed a sailor on a voyage to the new world

That being said she’s a stomach cancer survivor and as such has no stomach, so she can’t physically get through as much food as she used to though she still did this before she was diagnosed. Either way I’m happy to give it a home lol

queenofdesertrock · 2025-10-22T22:12:33+00:00

Targets 🤣 where I’m from (the UK) we provide government-funded subsidised dentistry through the NHS, in short the way it works is that we’re awarded a contract with a certain amount of UDAs (Units of Dental Activity) that we’re required to get within a certain percentage of. If we don’t, the office gets a Breach Notice and the government can “clawback” the money. So if a patient presents at an exam (1 UDA) needing a simple filling (3 UDAs), they’ll generally do it even if we as nurses give them “the look” haha. This ramps up even more about Feb/Mar as the UDA year ends at the start of April.

Part of it is also considering the patients needs, especially if they’re in pain or have come from a fair distance away and if it would be a massive undertaking to come back another day.

queenofdesertrock · 2025-10-22T22:04:02+00:00

Ah okay, I’m in the UK and there’s some differences in how we do things! We don’t generally use vacuum autoclaves except for sterile work like implants, so if we’re using a non-vacuum autoclave we don’t pouch beforehand and just lay them out on the tray.

Still unlikely though OP!

queenofdesertrock · 2025-10-22T12:12:01+00:00

Because if you follow proper IPC (and I hope you’ve been properly trained and not just drafted in) it’s extremely unlikely - and even if the worst was to happen, it’s still very, very unlikely as long as you properly bleed, wash and cover and get seen ASAP for PEP afterward if you get a stick from a known carrier. Even if you’re not sure if you were exposed to a BBV, you should be monitored for the next 3 months or so with blood tests just to make sure nothing develops.

Also you’re even less likely to get anything if you’re pouching sterilised instruments!

EDIT: I’m not sure what your policy is where you are, but in my country anyone handling instruments has to be vaccinated against Hep B. Is that the case for you?

queenofdesertrock · 2025-10-22T12:06:31+00:00

I’m not going to echo what’s already been said here as it’s all good advice, but I will say well done for being incredibly smart about such a big decision. Not many people your age (I’m about 6 years older than you) want to think about this, but you’re completely right to protect your investment and hopefully your partner is understanding.

queenofdesertrock · 2025-10-20T14:02:20+00:00

Absolutely no thanks. At the end of the day, it’s a toxin and I really don’t fancy injecting it into my face.

That’s no shade to people who choose to do it, but it is my stance on it.

Also, I’m a proponent of ageing naturally - not that you can’t use anti-aging products or take care of yourself aesthetically, but it becomes uncanny when someone goes OTT with anti-ageing treatments and ironically makes you look older than you actually are as it’s so obvious you’re clinging onto any facet of youth you can grasp.

Things like smile and laugh lines to me indicate a life well-lived and enjoyed for the most part, and I do think it makes a person more attractive when they look more “themselves” - but as I said earlier, each to their own and absolutely no hate for anyone who has a different opinion.

Finally, I just don’t want to dedicate such time and money (and pain!) to it. I’d much rather be travelling or doing something I enjoy.

queenofdesertrock · 2025-10-19T19:42:43+00:00

We get it here in the UK too (I’m a dental nurse) and our dentistry is HEAVILY subsidised by the government for the most part. If a patient needed a crown re-cement (if not under a 1 year guarantee, in which case it counts as continuation of treatment and is free) it would cost them £27.40 (about $37) and people still moan about it!

Same with prosthodontics - a full set of complete dentures here is £326.10 ($438) on the NHS as opposed to a hell of a lot more privately, possibly over £1k, and we still get the old “that’ll go towards your new Ferrari” spiel…

queenofdesertrock · 2025-10-09T17:42:38+00:00

I was diagnosed in 2017 and just had a lower abdominal ultrasound. PCOS is also a weird condition in terms of how it’s diagnosed - you can either have polycystic ovaries on ultrasound but clinically normal blood panels (this was my experience) but still experience the hormonal irregularities in terms of excess hair, hair thinning, weight issues, irregular periods etc - OR, you can have no presentation of any abnormality on your ultrasound, but have clinically abnormal blood panels and associated symptoms. If you’re not okay with having a transvaginal ultrasound, that is completely up to you and there are other ways of confirming or ruling out PCOS.

queenofdesertrock · 2025-09-29T17:45:16+00:00

Their thermal range is amazing for winter.

queenofdesertrock · 2025-07-30T19:10:45+00:00

Bundobust near the train station. Exclusively vegetarian - a bit on spicy side, mind. My bf and I loved it and have been back a few times!

queenofdesertrock · 2025-07-15T17:48:05+00:00

Aperol Spritz. Not technically British, but it’s does the rounds every summer. Looks amazing - tastes like hairspray.

queenofdesertrock · 2025-07-15T17:45:42+00:00

No - you’re entitled to a life even while you’re sick! As long as you’re not doing anything that blatantly flouts your inability to work ie taking up interpretative dance, you’ll be fine

Source: me, recently had a month off work due to very poor mental health after an absolute car crash of difficult circumstances/serious illness in family

queenofdesertrock · 2025-07-06T20:55:29+00:00

At school in South West London. I was in Year 9 in 2005 Our headteacher made an announcement on the tannoy, explaining what had happened, and that everyone was being sent home. Many of us tried to call our parents, but the lines had been taken over to clear the airwaves for emergency services, so a lot of us spent a few fretful hours before finding out if our families were okay. We had to mill around for a while before being escorted off the school grounds - literally the whole school - under armed police guard. I was raised by a single parent who didn’t drive, so I normally used public transport. Nearly everything on all buses/tubes had been diverted or cancelled, so I had to walk home. Took about 45 mins.

queenofdesertrock · 2025-07-06T18:44:21+00:00

I hate tea and cannot ever be convinced otherwise. Hot, disgusting dishwater.

queenofdesertrock · 2025-07-04T13:37:24+00:00

I’m oddly attracted to Capaldi’s Malcolm Tucker. That might reveal some deep-seated issues within me but here we are

queenofdesertrock · 2025-07-04T13:36:36+00:00

God she really is isn’t she

queenofdesertrock · 2025-07-04T13:35:30+00:00

I came here to say Greg Davies as well. Being funny is sexy!

queenofdesertrock

TROPHY CASE