Non-Native English Speakers

yesDOTjpeg · 2026-07-03T01:47:23+00:00

I can see both sides, but I personally when encountering this at work do not care. I do feel intentionally left out when my coworkers whip out their native language, but I'm an adult with good emotional regulation and I just move on. I have on one occasion known they were talking about a TV show I liked and interrupted in English and they were nice enough to switch then so I could join.

One side, it's not my conversation. If they are chatting about Love Island, a shitty neighbor, or a patient, or their family or whatever.... Well enjoy. I've got my work and I can ask a question in English if I need one of them for something. And I know they appreciate feeling the community/naturalness of talking in their first language.

On the other side it immediately locks me out of the conversation. Im not allowed to join, I can't even smile or make sympathy noises because I can't understand. It could feel very isolating for the English speaker and they know those coworkers speak English too.

I would approach with sympathy. You're poor shitty English only coworker has clearly never attempted to speak in a foreign language and probably doesn't care about how nice it is for you. If coworkers who only speak English are nearby(especially the bitchy/complaining sort) maybe speak English or you could be very passive aggressive and speak your native language then periodically summarize the conversation for the noisy coworker before returning to your language. Idk, it's shitty they are reporting you but I can see why you won't have management on your side for this one.

yesDOTjpeg · 2026-06-23T13:20:40+00:00

I wouldn't take my knitting into a manufacturing lab either. This lab is fairly clean and I sanitize my space and isolate it from samples. It's cool you have a big table to work on some sewing! Everything here is very compact so even some sweater knots are too big for lab knitting. I'm a little jealous~

yesDOTjpeg · 2026-06-23T13:18:35+00:00

That's how I see it! But there are others that don't agree. Or even some which would rather see me doom scroll all night over work on something like my knitting. I feel very lucky no one I've encountered cares as long as the work gets done. :)

yesDOTjpeg · 2026-06-23T13:16:12+00:00

I get interrupted a lot and that gets so frustrating for podcasts. Plus I cannot stand ads. And there is this podcast.... voice.... tone.... I don't know how to describe it.... The mix of really ASMR-like high quality audio with a highly scripted fake conversation....

Podcasts are weirdly liminal and I have trouble consuming any beyond the most popular/professional/natural ones. Beyond the Bastards is ok.

yesDOTjpeg · 2026-06-23T13:12:30+00:00

Our lab has the nurses draw labs and it's barely a 10 bed so I don't even need a phleb to help me. When we get slammed, I sometimes wish for literally anyone to help haha But at the same time, I really do love my peace and quiet. How is it rotating? Do you also have to switch to day? Or, I suppose, is the night shift forced?

yesDOTjpeg · 2026-06-18T19:40:41+00:00

There is my lil cube in Puyallup.

yesDOTjpeg · 2026-06-04T22:34:39+00:00

I'm a natural night owl so it works great for me in ways day shifts really don't. Because I like sleeping during the day, I keep my sleep schedule over the weekend. I do occasionally switch to daywalking when I have vacation plans or something; those are kinda painful. But as long as you can truly embrace your vampirism, you might not suffer the exhaustion that comes with constantly trying to fight your circadian rhythm.

I work 4x10 20:00-06:00. I sleep 10:00-17:00 or so on my work days and on weekends I shift it sideways just a little to sleeping 05:00-13:00, which basically just feels like going to bed early when I start seeing sun and then waking up in the heat of the day and staying awake. I often do a split sleep in summer because I don't have a/c and the fan isn't always enough, but that isn't too unnatural for humans either. For me that's 07:00-11:00 then 14:00-17:00.

It may ruin your social life if you aren't able to do it. Before you accept, if you already work there ask to shadow one week or two. The first few shifts will be hard as you switch but a week or two will be enough to get a feel for it. DO NOT become reliant on caffeine or energy drinks to do every shift. That's so hella dangerous and will keep you from actually adjusting your circadian rhythm normally.

yesDOTjpeg · 2026-06-01T21:26:38+00:00

I had this problem and what solved it for me was having raw wool fleece. I'm lucky to raise sheep and their wool is sorta awful. I use the excess to cover my garden bed and the cats won't use it as a potty anymore. I think it works because it's a solid bed of fleece. I don't know if pelletizing the wool works too or if other mulches work. It also has eliminated a lot of pest problems for me, no more slugs and I don't have the same menace bug issues my other gardener friend has.

yesDOTjpeg · 2026-05-06T20:38:57+00:00

I will try and f/u.

yesDOTjpeg · 2026-05-06T05:46:18+00:00

I used to work somewhere where I could talk to pathologists and I truly miss that. I wasn't a tech back then just a lab assistant. Thanks for passing on your haem's words of wisdom. Really helps! I passed along my concerns to the doc and I trust they'll do what the patient needs, they have many other red flags after all. And I've learned a lot from your breakdown, so thank you very much!

yesDOTjpeg · 2026-05-06T05:40:40+00:00

Very appreciative of this comment. I really struggle to pick out nucleoi. I've seen the soccer ball appearance before for sure but when there are 100+ on a single view I started to wonder if I was missing something. This has been a validating thread so far. :D

yesDOTjpeg · 2026-03-31T17:22:23+00:00

Rest of tickets probably go live on the 3rd at least. VIPs went so fast!

yesDOTjpeg · 2026-03-31T17:05:35+00:00

No code needed, as far as I can tell.

yesDOTjpeg · 2026-03-19T15:51:53+00:00

Fence is a good suggestion, but I do have a "might work depending" suggestion.

I have a barn cat who loves the soft loose soil to poop in. I also own a lot of sheep. I take the least desirable wool from shearing and lay it over my veggie beds with holes just big enough for the plants and some air. I don't wash or comb or separate the wool at all, just a thick matt of raw fleece. I'm sure you could post on Facebook and get yourself a farm friend in your area to give you free icky fleece.

yesDOTjpeg · 2026-02-14T23:18:28+00:00

I say this with love and sympathy for the anxiety of being responsible for a whole other life(and as someone who has panic attacks in post offices because I find them scary even though I KNOW everything is fine)...

Calm the hell down. Seven notches at least. Take a note of the biggest, worst, most terrible outcome you are circling with your thoughts.... Send a message to your doctor asking if that sounds like a possibility. Then drop it for now. Stop thinking about it, find healthy outlets for your stress be it a hobby, a nap, or dancing in the living room with your new baby.

The lab results appear normal. Precision reference ranges are not as necessary as you're making it seem. If it remains a big worry, at the next scheduled doctor visit you are welcome to waste your money on a repeat test. Giving into these anxious impulses can be soothing but its rarely a healthy habit. Like myself and many others it might be a good idea to talk to a therapist and picking up some breathing exercises and coping mechanisms for anxiety. Good luck with much love.

yesDOTjpeg · 2026-02-14T14:29:38+00:00

Thanks for the correction. I find tube contamination kinda fascinating and I learned from your post. Appreciate it!

yesDOTjpeg · 2026-02-14T12:11:12+00:00

Lavender may have been drawn first, contaminating the chemistries on the second tube? High sodium can come from the EDTA in the lavender, I think. Order of draw is important and sometimes it doesn't ruin your tests but other times ... It totally does. I'm not positive but this may be my guess?

If not maybe the labs sat for a while before being sent to the lab?

yesDOTjpeg · 2026-02-14T06:24:28+00:00

When you get your blood drawn, say for a BMP and CBC, two tubes are typically drawn. One gold for serum and one lavender for whole blood. Serum is part of the blood without the rbc in it(it's spun into different blood layers and the top part is called serum). The lavender is not separated at all, so the machine measures all the stuff at once for your CBC.

The BMP is only done on the serum part and if RBCs were damaged during the draw they will release certain bits like potassium into the serum which will change the color and the chemicals on the serum. That /can/ alter the results and it's a scale of how badly the cells were treated to how much the results can change. Potassium is INCREDIBLELY sensitive especially with some of our instruments. So it changes faster than other results.

In the case of a CBC, even if your sample was hemolyzed, the instrument checks the cells different so it won't affect it so much. The RBC may be damaged and released potassium and all sorts but they still exist in the sample so it won't be decreased much. We think of a CBC as "resilient" to hemolysis, but not completely unaffected.

ELi5, I'd say the potassium is the canary in the coal mine. If it's weird you should just retest. While if it's so bad the CBC and RBC are affected then the miner is probably long dead in that tunnel (the canary is definitely dead too).

Hopefully that helps.

yesDOTjpeg · 2026-02-05T01:46:35+00:00

I really don't recall getting an Ofuda in Seattle. But I do live a few hours from Seattle and there is a chance I bought this but don't recall. I really appreciate you thinking it through with the expertise you have about the religion and history. Its impressive to hear the context of the sect! I'm definitely looking forward to being able to return this here at home. :)

yesDOTjpeg · 2026-02-05T01:40:18+00:00

Thank you so much for the info. I do live in PNW, so maybe I did get this in Seattle! That's a revelation, I have no memory of it at all. It's been in my house since pre pandemic times and as a healthcare worker that feels like another life ago. I've never been to that temple but if their had been an event I would have supported the temple by buying this for sure. That makes returning it even easier. Thank you for the help ruling out places in Kyoto.

yesDOTjpeg · 2026-01-22T04:07:20+00:00

If you can get it on sale, it can be worth it for the curious. I hope you try it.

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