Uofl physicians primary care

So I’m a primary care physician and last week we did away with mandatory masking.
Today one of my young female front office girls approached me and said “People are so much nicer to me when I tell them they don’t have to mask anymore!”
I said “Thats great!”
She said “yeah, it’s like when I tell a guy he doesn’t need to use a condom!”
I’m speechless.

Our doctor for about 10 years recently retired and sold the practice. Customer service has gone downhill. We live on the south side of Cary and we're mid-forties. Who do you guys like? Thanks.

I’m a 20 y/o female on my dads employer-sponsored health insurance, empire bcbs. I got a physical done in December with my regular primary care doctor, but I hadn’t been to a gynecologist in like over two years. I just went to the gyno this week for an annual gyn exam and also to address an issue I had at the same time - does the plan cover both of these annually/is there a distinction between the two, or is the gynecologist visit going to get rejected?

Last week I did physical therapy in the pool. I was in so much pain afterwards and I still am, I canceled for tomorrow. I feel like a wimp but I’m hurting really bad. All I did was walk in a 3.6 foot deep pool. I came home I showered and once I was sitting on the bath bench it all hit me. My husband did get suddenly sick that day and he ended up in the ER. I don’t think anything I did made the pain worse when he got sick. He passed out from dehydration and I had to call emergency services. I was careful of what I did while making sure he was alert and they took him to the hospital and his son took me to the hospital.
Since then I wake up in severe pain and I know my painkillers are working on it even though I’m still in pain after taking them. I have other pain conditions the painkillers are helping as well. I told my husband I felt like a wimp. He said,”the way you live everyday your a beast.” I love him. I haven’t given up completely and do stubbornly try to do things I shouldn’t. I’m learning my limits. I know if I go to PT tomorrow how much pain I’m going to be in and that type of pain scares me. My pt guy knows all this. I have to do five sessions of pt in the pool before they can refer the next specialist.
I have been to pain management and they said my lumbar was normal but the radiologist report says I have a bulging disc cause subarticular stenosis. My primary and my physical therapist are going with the report as my diagnosis. I don’t know if either of them have seen the images I haven’t seen images. Pt says I should see some spine Dr and I asked for a referral to him but I’m sure I have to get through this pt first. He may say I failed pt which is fine with me.

We have a 1 year old. My wife, since becoming pregnant, has completely neglected her health. She became depressed when pregnant and refused meds until our child was 3 months old. Even then it was a battle to get her to actually go to her doctor visits or fill the prescriptions. Her depression manifested as sleeping all day, binge eating, and being incredibly irritable, screaming, etc.
She is a bit better since starting the meds but the way she (doesn’t) take care of herself on a daily basis is ruining the relationship.
First off, I work full time, and because she is chronically tired I have become the default parent, so I’m exhausted too. She doesn’t acknowledge this and actually claims to be the primary caretaker. She hasn’t gotten our baby a toy, scheduled a doctor visit, or even driven him anywhere ever.
That I could take, if it were temporary, but she actively sabotages any effort I make to get us to live healthier. For reference, prior to being married we ran 2 marathons together, went to the gym together, ate healthy homemade food, traveled, etc. being active is very important to me and I don’t want our son to be a couch potato who watches tv and eats doughnuts all day. The fact is, someone who lives a complete couch potato life will never have the energy to be productive so that means… I will never get a break from doing 80% of childcare because she will never do the things that actually make people healthy, active and energized (physical activity, mental activity, eating well).
My wife talks about how important being fit is, how much body image matters to her, etc, but is destroying herself with food. She had a normal pregnancy but gained 70 pounds. She stress ate massive quantities of food and I would buy her snacks because it seemed like the only way she could self soothe. But it’s carried over into our day to day life. She refuses to walk with me and the baby half the time. She orders massive quantities of fried food for delivery. I bought a peloton (which she asked for) and she hasn’t used it once. I also cook breakfast lunch and dinner almost everyday and do the grocery shopping but she will just eat a few bites of what I make and then get a few bags of chips and a pint of ice cream delivered and eat that instead.
Meanwhile I am walking on eggshells with her extreme irritability. I have been a doormat due to her depression but damn it is frustrating feeling like she has just forgotten any sort of obligation to herself or the relationship. We are in couples counseling but it is a joke and just turns into the counselor suggesting she does ANYTHING healthy (go out with friends, get her nails done, WALK) and she just makes excuses.
I feel like I’ve been really patient but a life sitting on the couch and eating is not the life I want for me or my son and it’s the only life that she seems interested in at this point. Rant over.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a warm golden hue across the waters, the bustling port of Trieste welcomed an unexpected and illustrious visitor. King Ferdinand II of Aragon, the sovereign ruler of Aragon and all its territories, had arrived on the sun-kissed shores of Italy with a dual purpose in mind.
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The primary objective of his visit was to take his grandson and heir, Charles, into his custody. As part of an agreement forged several years prior, Charles would be placed under the care of Ferdinand for the next six years. The young heir would be educated by esteemed tutors from Castile, Aragon, and Burgundy, and would embark on a grand tour of the vast territories he was set to inherit from his mother and grandfather. These formative years would prove to be some of the most crucial in young Charles' life, as they would lay the foundation for his future reign.
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The second objective of King Ferdinand's journey was a matter of great import, enshrouded in a veil of secrecy. Ferdinand II was to meet with none other than Maximilian I, the Holy Roman Emperor, in the secluded and snow-capped Slovenian Alps. This clandestine rendezvous had been meticulously planned and was known only to the inner circles of both monarchs. As the King of Aragon disembarked from his ship, his thoughts were preoccupied with the upcoming meeting.
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In the serene, snow-laden peaks of the Slovenian Alps, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I would come together, exchanging ideas and deliberating on the future of Europe and their respective domains. The conversation would center around how the young Charles would be prepared to carry on the great legacies of both his grandfather and the Holy Roman Emperor, shaping the continent for years to come.
Tldr: Ferdinand arrives in Trieste to meet with Maximilian and take Charles under his care.

During debates, I often mention that pro-life policies do not result in a decrease in abortion rates, but it seems that many pro-life advocates are indifferent to this fact; they do not care.
PLers are not genuinely concerned about bringing down the rate of abortions.
They are more concerned about the symbolism of making abortion illegal.
Pro-lifer find comfort in the knowledge that abortion is illegal over reducing the number of abortions.
The consequences of illegalizing abortion are of little importance to them, as their main focus is on the illegality itself.
They don't care if these laws don't work, they only care about them exisiting in the first place.
Thus, it appears that their primary objective is not to implement policies that have been proven to lower abortion rates. (This evidenced by their opposition to such policies.)
Instead, their focus is on winning a moral victory that holds no practical value.
They want their personal belief that abortion is wrong to be verified in law, even though that does nothing to actually lower the rate.
In essence, the primary objective of pro-life policies is just to say "haha, in your face, we won" to pro-choicers.
Despite the claims made by pro-lifers about abortion being a form of genocide, these policies are not created with the intention of reducing the abortion rate.
PSA: I do have links to these discussions I've been having, so don't go accusing me of using a red-herring fallacy by saying you've never heard a PLer say this. I'd link them here, but I'm fairly certain that would be against the rules, so I'll send them to whoever asks instead.

I have been struggling with what I think is depression for the better part of a year. Constant feelings of impending doom, like my family would be better off without me.
My primary care doc gave me Xanax and I take it as needed but I don’t think it treats the issue well, it just gives me momentary relief but the next day I’m back in my funk.
I don’t know where to go look for mental health providers.
Does anyone have any recommendations? I have good insurance and make a very nice income so I’m not worried about cheap, I want the best.

So, over the weekend, starting on Saturday my hemorrhoid got huge, and eventually a dull aching pain began, which got progressively worse, to the point that I couldn't sleep at all, that Sunday I went to the Urgent Care, and was seen by a doctor there, she confirmed that I had an external hemorrhoid, but it was thrombosed, but I sort of disagreed with that assessment, because from the pain and myself feeling it , definitely didn't feel right, so fast forward today after having a BM I began to bleed heavily and from what I could tell it had burst, so I called my primary care doctor and was able to get in for an appointment, he took a look at it and confirmed that it was indeed thrombosed, but obviously he couldn't do much about it, so he sent a referral to a colorectal surgeon, and it was already one I was looking at. I called the office and the receptionist said that a Nurse will review my referral since it's an external thrombosis and evaluate how urgent it is, so they can get me in ASAP. I believe it's pretty urgent, my doctor said not to be too worried about it ATM. He said it's definitely serious, but for the time being I should be okay, but will I be? Lol I don't want to go to the ER, but I also don't want to wait too long and get sick or infected.

Hello all, using a throwaway account and looking for some insight.
I am 54f and my husband 56m passed away about six months ago. We were married for 35 years. He was ill for the past several years, gradually declining, and I was his primary in home caretaker for that time. We have one child, a daughter, 32f who is married with children and lives an hour or so away.
We have always been a very close family. My daughter calls at least once a day, texts frequently, and we have always been very involved with our grandchildren. She absolutely adored her father and is horribly devastated at the loss, as am I.
However she is also angry with me. Over the last two months I have started to go out more with friends, and do activities that make me happy again. Taking art classes, going to concerts, going out for wine with friends. I didn’t have time for any of my hobbies or friends while I was taking care of my husband. She has been giving me a lot of attitude when I share happy news or seem more upbeat. Things have gotten worse though. I have started to date someone in the past few weeks, very casually and tentatively. I didn’t share this news with my daughter but I also didn’t lie to her when she pieced it together. She is absolutely gutted and will not speak to me. I know it is soon, but I dealt with my grief for years as I watched my husband slip away. For me it is not replacing him in my heart (nothing could), but giving me something new to look forward to and allowing me to feel some semblance of normal life after so many years. I try to explain this but she calls me selfish and said I betrayed her father. I am not sure what would be an acceptable amount of time to wait. I found someone I liked quite naturally, it was not like I was out looking for it or even on dating websites. However I am starting to wonder if I did the wrong thing. AITA?

I was nicer sincere and more caring in the past I wasnt perfect far from it and was likely an attention seeker last time but comparing to who I am now Im overall worse I may not be posting some sad stuff to get people's attention like in the past but when people reach out to me from my own posts to befriend me I shut them down no matter how nice they were and sometimes it was me who even started talking to them first
I always want things that I cant have and neglect the things that I can have I wish I can be forgotten and start over as a silent person never talking unless spoken to the only decent thing in my life right now is my family but I cant tell if Im faking with them ornot seems like no matter how honest I try to be Im usually faking being nice since Im good at using words to compliment sometimes its true sometimes I just say for saying
If I could I want to start over from secondary school I never should have tried to befriend everyone I shouldve kept to myself and music unfortunately I knew of the best music in my life thanks to secondary school but with how much Im into it now I should be able to still know about it in secondary school by myself
I was toxic ever since primary school Ive prob been faking all things nice since primary school I shouldn't exist I have no right to live the good life that I have but if I kill myself Im also saving myself from this living hell that I see of life but I can never do that I cant bare the consequences of killing myself I dont wish to see anyone upset cus they shouldn't be from someone whos so evil worthless useless they shouldn't know me they are too good people to have met me my family deserves someone better than me we may be happy and laughing sometimes but I never in my life know when I am truly myself can my existence be forgotten please

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Mr Edgar Joseph Meyer was born in San Francisco, California on January 13th 1884.
He was the son of Eugene Marc Meyer (1842-1925), a dry goods merchant and later a banker, and Harriett Newmark (1852-1922). His father was born in Alsace, Germany (now in modern-day France) whilst his mother was born in New York and was of mixed German and English heritage. They were married in Los Angeles on November 20th 1867.
Edgar's known siblings were: Rosalie (1869-1956, later Mrs Sigmund Stern), Elise (1872-1953, later Mrs Abraham Stern), Florence (1873-1930, later, Mrs George Blumenthal), Eugene Isaac (1875-1959), Bertha Ruth (1877-1967, later Mrs Alfred Cook), Aline (1879-1966, later Mrs Charles Liebman) and Walter Eugene (1881-1957).
Edgar and his family later moved east and appear on the 1900 census as residents of Ocean Avenue, Monmouth, New Jersey and he was then described as a bank clerk.
Edgar was married in 1909 to Leila Saks (born 1886), a native of Baltimore, Maryland and the daughter German parents. The couple had one daughter, Jane (born May 19th 1911, later Stern).
Residents of Manhattan, Mr and Mrs Meyer boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg as first class passengers (ticket number PC 17604, which cost £82, 3s, 5d). Leila's father had died two days before sailing on April 8th 1912 following a protracted illness and the decision to travel on Titanic was a hastily arranged affair following notification of his death.
Mrs Meyer later recalled:

"I tried and tried to get Edgar to come into the lifeboat with me, and pleaded to be allowed to stay behind and wait until he could leave, he not caring to leave before all the women had been saved. Mr. Meyer finally persuaded me to leave, reminding me of our one-year-old child at home. I entered the lifeboat and watched until the Titanic sank, but only for a short time did I see my husband standing beside the rail and assisting other women into boats in which he might have been saved."

Leila was rescued in lifeboat 6 but her husband perished in the disaster. His body, if recovered, was never identified.
His parents later resided in Manhattan; his mother died in 1922 and his father in 1925. His widow Leila later remarried before her death in 1957. His daughter Jane (later Mrs George A. Stern) died in 1984.
Primary Source: Encyclopedia Titanica

To preface, Pokémon violet has been my first Pokémon game in recent years and have decided to look into vgc. Having read and watched as many videos as I could, I have designed my first team however I feel I have issues in iv spread, natures, items and even moves. I don’t particularly understand how to best use teras.
Grimmsnarl @ Light Clay Ability: Prankster Tera Type: Steel EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD Careful Nature - Reflect - Light Screen - Spirit Break - Misty Terrain
Bulky support to help keep the damage dealers alive and setting misty terrain to ensure annihilape doesn’t get burned
Arcanine @ Assault Vest Ability: Intimidate Tera Type: Grass EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Snarl - Flare Blitz - Psychic Fangs - Extreme Speed
Quick Arcanine with intimidate to help lower the pressure from ad attackers
Corviknight @ Safety Goggles Ability: Mirror Armor Tera Type: Dragon EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD Impish Nature - Iron Head - Brave Bird - Bulk Up - Roost
I know dragon Tera will be weak into misty terrain but it’s more just to help with bad matchups for corviknight who also allows for a bulky build
Sylveon @ Throat Spray Ability: Pixilate Tera Type: Ground EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD Calm Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Hyper Voice - Tera Blast - Yawn - Protect
Pixelate sylveon I’m unsure on the Tera for this one but I feel like it compliments the team with a tanky special attacker
Gastrodon @ Covert Cloak Ability: Storm Drain Tera Type: Ghost EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD Calm Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Earth Power - Muddy Water - Recover - Protect
Don’t really have any answers to ice bundle so decided to run gastro
Annihilape @ Leftovers Ability: Vital Spirit Tera Type: Fire EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD Adamant Nature - Bulk Up - Rest - Drain Punch - Rage Fist
Primary damage carry for the team using team support to ramp up rage fist and using rest with vital spirit to stay bulky and drain punching
Apologies if these are horrible understandings of the Pokémon and their moves but I’m trying to build a team using Pokémon I have enjoyed playing with and would really appreciate any help with my team

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For a time, I remain silent and unfocused, simply processing the stress and reminding myself to breathe. Not that I have any lungs to do that with, but the idea’s the same. You know, as a dungeon, I didn’t really expect the first major threat to me to be a bunch of tall birds. More than ever before now, I’m desperate to find out more about the outside world. Today showed quite clearly the price that comes with ignorance.
The big question though, is how? How can I prepare for the world, when everything beyond me is blurred out like looking through a shower door? Heck, the only reason I know it’s night right now is that the ground in my domain is dark and shadowy.
Perhaps feeling my dour mood, I catch Jackie casting her eyes around in thought, before both her ears stand straight at attention and she waves at me fervently. I guess she’s thought of an idea and wants me to pay attention? Now that she can feel me watching, she begins miming at her eyes, and across our bond, I get vague wisps of emotion. I can’t really explain it, but it feels like she saying to me, “Oh, oh! Use me, use me!”
I’m about to softly thank her for the thought and gently let her down, I can’t exactly risk sending my strongest scion out to scout after all, when the protest dies in my throat. I shouldn’t forget, this is a world of magic after all, maybe she’s suggesting I can literally use her eyes for myself? At that Jackie nods so emphatically that I worry her kneck might break. That’s, well…huh. I guess I won’t really know if it’s possible or not until I try.
At first, I feel like a bit of a fool trying to blindly invoke a spell or unknown ritual, but as I let my preconceptions fall away and just focus solely on Jackie, I begin to feel it. That intangible thread connecting her and me, dungeon and scion, it’s like a path of golden silk swaying ephemerally in the breeze. And now that I know it’s there and can concretely perceive it, it’s suddenly not the only one. A similar thread binds me to Giorno, and more spindly ones stretch out to each of my spawned denizens in turn and connect back to their spawner’s own scions as well. I even see a new one weaving itself into existence as it connects to my fish spawner, where my newest scion is awaiting the last few minutes till their own birth into the world. It’s a spiderweb of gilded strands, and only one word comes to mind to describe it:
Magical
All I have to do is follow that path to Jackie, and I’m treated to what it’s like to see the world, literally, through her eyes. Behind us is the tree, stretching high and wide into the night like a majestic pillar supporting the sky itself. With a few hops, Jackie climbs up onto the biggest root nearby, and I can now see that the tree itself takes up almost half of a small island resting within the same lake I had expanded out into. Beyond that lies a rim of short snow-capped peaks, completely encircling the lake, placing us in a breathtaking valley between mountains. No wait, those mountains are too close, and too short to be frosted over like that in this weather. Rather, it must be that we’re in a caldera! Those are no peaks, but the jagged rim of an ancient, collapsed, super-volcano!
My excitement and awe must be coming through quite clearly to Jackie because she’s practically vibrating with enthusiasm as well. Like a tour guide waiting to show me the best for last, she patiently waits for the wind to die down before turning her attention to the now glossy still surface of the lake. To say the sight stole my breath away would be a grave understatement. There the tapestry of stars has become perfectly recreated in all its majesty; a mirror that leaves me momentarily confused as to which side held the heavens, and which the imitation. I’d never seen so many stars and colors so clearly before. Back on earth, I could drive for miles and miles from home, yet the light pollution would leave only a few bright specks even that far from the cities. Here, it felt like I’d truly gotten to see the night for the first time in either of my lives. Somewhere in my mind, I idly note that there’s a moon for this world as well, just like in my last, if not a bit bigger.
We stay like that for a while yet, just admiring the view together. I’m awash with feelings of peace and contentment, while I can feel Jackie herself beaming with pride and joy that she’s managed to do so much to improve my mood. Though I lack the physical arms for it, I focus on our bond and try to impart the feeling of my biggest and warmest of hugs. It's not much, but it's all I can do to show my appreciation for such a sweet and kindhearted scion.
We’re interrupted by the ding of my UI, it seems the time has come to greet the newest members of our group, so I part from Jackie’s point of view with a final thank you. Breaching the surface of the water with nary a ripple, rise a pair of bewitching betta fish with bodies the size of a person's head, and large flowing fins gently extending away from them. One is a pure glossy white with ebony accents around the eyes and fins, with a large crescent symbol of the same color on her forehead. The other fish exactly mirrors their twin detail for detail, with only their colors being reversed.
Considering this clear night that they were born under, the perfect name comes to mind for both of them. For the ivory fish, I name her Selene, after the goddess representing the moon and ever-lasting change. For her twin, I name her Hecate as her inky scales remind me of the goddess associated with the new moon, witchcraft, and the boundary between places. Taking a closer look at their stat sheet now, I do indeed find that they are jointly treated as my fish scion.
[Selene, lvl 1
Special Abilities: Entwined Fate
Magical Affinities: Life, Water, Lunar, Light
Titles: None]
[Hecate, lvl 1
Special Abilities: Entwined Fate
Magical Affinities: Life, Water, Lunar, Dark
Titles: None]
[Entwined Fate: The fates of the twin scions are bound together. Any damage dealt to one is halved and then shared with the other.]
Wow, talk about twin power, born with quite a lot of magical affinities and a huge MP pool each, plus that amazing ability. It may seem like a detriment at first, but the ability to spread out damage could actually be very strong if my hopes about healing magic are correct. Speaking of, I wonder if they know any magic already since I’d designated them the support role. Selene and Hecate just glance at each other, and then back in the direction of my core simultaneously, both giving off a distinct “Don’t ask us, we just got here” vibe. Heh, fair enough I’d say. In that case, your primary task will be to figure it out! Figure out how to access and utilize your mana to the desired effects, and once you’ve got it all worked out I’ll need you to help teach the others as well.
I hope that’s not too unreasonable an ask, considering I don’t know the first thing about magic myself. Though, if it’s anything like how I move around mana to do things based on what I’m imagining, then maybe it won’t be too hard for them. In any case, I go ahead and upgrade Selene and Hecate to the same lvl as my other scions while I’m here. Even though it costs double the usual per fish and I have to upgrade them both at the same time or not at all, for a total of 4x more expensive than Jackie or Giorno was. Note to self, be careful of looking for loopholes next time, cause this universe does not seem to be happy with me bending the rules this way. I’m sure the twins will be worth the extra effort this time though, so I look forward to what they might be able to do someday.
With the Twins now properly named and given their duty, it’s time I focus on rectifying the scouting situation. Jackie was an immense help already in that field, but I still don’t want to send her out directly either. I’d barely begun to think on the issue before I noticed a certain frog was already lining up rabbits by the lakeside to pick up their own poison dart frog passengers. It seems the ever-capable Giorno was already anticipating my desire to scout with the denizens, and had already come up with a pairing plan to help them deal with whatever dangers would await them.
Honestly, what did I do to deserve such dependable scions? Making sure my pride and appreciation shone through the bond, I asked him to also coordinate with Selene and Hecate to get their fish scouting out the rest of the lake. With Giorno managing things I’m suddenly rather confident that we’ll have all the information we need for future expansions. Technically, since I got so much from the horde of herons, I’m fairly certain I had enough to immediately expand out to cover the rest of this island, but there’s no way I’m willing to jump right into that so soon after the lake incident.
Instead, what I could really use is some kind of map room, so that all the scouting information could be properly recorded, not that I have the ink or paper for such a thing anyways, it’s not like life would be so easy as to give me something like that for fr– *ding*
[Create War Room?]
Huh…, okay. Well, I guess I am a dungeon after all, so perhaps specialty rooms are a given. I wonder idly what other rooms I could build, and the resulting list is surprisingly large, with a description for each one’s specialty beside it. Most seem to be spaces for different types of crafting, though I make a particular note of the Alchemy Lab and Enchanter’s workshop. I’m sure those will really come in handy later. For now though, since I don’t intend to set up permanent residence here in a hole in the ground, I’ll build some temporary rooms just for what I need at the moment. Namely, the afore-mentioned War Room to get its mapping function, and a Library so I can start gathering everything I learn into one place. It doesn’t take too long for my rabbits to dig out some small rabbit-sized room extensions from my Sanctum, and with each one designated, I now have a dirt hole with a small piece of blank leather in it, and a similar hole with a similarly small piece of parchment. Humorously, the parchment in my so-called “Library” has some writing on it that reflects my immediate thoughts on the matter.
“Well, this is disappointing.”
Yeah, no kidding, I guess like everything else, I’m gonna have to spend some mana to upgrade the facilities around here. For now, I’ll leave them as they are, since I don’t want to upgrade them too much just to find out I’ll have to start from scratch again when I move to their more permanent placements. On second thought, I’ll likely need the war room upgraded some to handle mapping the island anyways, so I’ll use that room to test how transferable they are and leave the library as a control. As annoying as it is sometimes to not have any idea of what the rules are for this world, I must say there is a certain kind of fun in figuring everything out myself like this.
Speaking of figuring stuff out, I’ve realized that my dungeon is, shall we say, a bit lacking in some areas. If I want to build all sorts of things, what I need most are the resources to get started, and I’m utterly lacking in that department. However, considering everything else has only popped up in my mental UI once I became conscious of it…yep! There it is! A whole list of resource nodes that I can add! I daresay I’m starting to get the hang of this dungeon business.
A few hours later, and well, suffice to say I no longer have the mana to expand anywhere anymore. I uh, may have gone just a smidge overboard on placing resource nodes. But can you really blame me? I’ve got all kinds of weird medicinal and magical plants growing out of every available spot of land in me, from basic healing herbs, to what I’m pretty sure might be mandrakes. I’ve even got some of the roots around designated as ‘wood’ resource nodes so that they’ll regrow quickly when harvested for materials, and a couple of clay nodes by the lakefront. Just think of all the fun stuff I can do with clay!
The weirdest option though was the firefly and lightning bug resource nodes. First of all, what the heck makes them a resource, I do not know, but I’ve got them now. Secondly, while it seemed pedantic to me at first that they were separated out, turns out the naming is much more literal than the nicknames for the same bug I was used to from Earth. Though they do indeed look the same, one bug actually produces heat from its butt, and the other has little zaps of electricity coming from theirs, and these effects only strengthened when I upgraded their respective nodes too. Still, no idea what they’re used for to be considered a resource, but I’m sure I’ll figure something out.
As for the lake itself, I’ve Giorno positioning the poison dart frogs not going out to scout upon the pads of my greatest, and by far most expensive resource node of them all. Costing almost as much as an entire expansion, I’m now the proud owner of a large patch of Lunar Lilies. These flowers are downright gorgeous and also apparently highly magical. The description simply listed that they only bloom at night and that their petals are said to catch the moonlight as it falls. Indeed, I already see a progress bar above each of the flowers now, so I’m guessing I’ll need to keep them protected while they fill up with moonlight. Considering their mystical nature, and the sheer cost of obtaining and upgrading them, I’ve decided each one needs a dedicated team of dart frogs to keep them safe from predators.
Looking around at my now full-of-life domain, I proudly ask Giorno what he thinks of all my upgrades, wanting to share my excitement with him. He chuffs softly in amusement at my antics as one would for a foolish but adorably naive family member, and then hardens his vigil, clearly tensed. A little miffed at his treatment, I gently prod him to ask why he seems to be grimly enjoying the calm before the storm. I get my answer instead as the droning of thousands of bug wings beat the air above the lake, and from the tree I see a rolling mass of fur as hundreds of squirrels descend upon me.
…Ah. With new resources, come new invaders too it would seem. I guess I really should have seen this coming at this point.
“Riiibbbiiit”
Oh hush, you.
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I have Hashimoto's and going through menopause. If I was any more exhausted, I'd be asleep rn. My endocrinologist refused to sign paperwork for a reasonable accommodation for me to work a hybrid-remote schedule. WHY? He said I should ask my primary care. I'm actually asking my ob/gyn since I don't have a primary care (I use Minute Clinic if I get a sinus infection or something)

I posted last night but deleted it. But basically I have been working with the same 2 boys all year long, all day, for the past 2 years. I’m a para. I’ve asked to switch & work with other students due to me losing my patience but my requests continue to be ignored. The reason that I am getting so frustrated is because one of the boys that I work with “A”, makes it his mission to upset me. I’m able to handle behaviors & I actually prefer working with EBD children, however breaks from each student are a MUST to prevent burn out. I work in an ASD elementary school classroom with a handful of kids in the program.
The main objective is to get these kids assimilated into the gen Ed classroom. The two boys I work with are in 5th grade & will move into middle school next year with significantly less assistance. I was told to try to work on independence with them. However, anything that I do I get told I’m doing wrong. I will literally follow the sped teacher’s instructions & then get told what I did was a bad idea… for instance, I was told to take ipad minutes away from A when he refuses to cooperate. Then I got told it upsets him too much so I need to stop. (The teacher uses this method as the primary way to redirect another student, which I will go into depth about later). Then I got told to keep track of the amount of time that A refuses to cooperate, not mentioning to A that this time cuts into free time & the sped teacher will use free time to catch up on school work with A (which never ends up happening).
A is very defiant, very rude, inappropriate, but very very smart & capable. The problem is he is extremely enabled. He invades personal space (especially with women & girls) to an extreme. He tries to kiss girls in his class, he lifted up my shirt asking to see what’s underneath, asked me what color underwear I’m wearing, tells me to wears skirts to school, aggressively shook a younger 4th grade girl because she was “in his way”. He is physical with his mom & is destroying her house (broke a door & part of the ceiling). He calls people ugly, fat, smelly, tells them they need to take a shower, a lady was missing her front tooth & told her he hates her mouth. All day long is a fight, I’m told no basically anytime I open my mouth, I get yelled at & told that I’m fired, I’m hated, I should die, etc. he runs out of the classroom screaming, he will jump up & down & throw tantrums & cry bc it’s math time or time to work. (I get told that I need to basically do his work for him, we had this issue about a math test. The sped teachers idea was just to help him with the entire thing, even though it’s a test to see what he knows & this would never fly with some of the other students! This kid is super smart too) A gets in my face & intimidates me. He takes his time every single morning sitting at breakfast not eating & then is late to class & misses free time & it is a huge fiasco.
The issue isn’t his behaviors, it’s the lack of support I get from the sped teacher. I’m supposed to ignore everything & enable & baby him. He was taking off his shirt multiple times a day & the teacher told me to treat it as a sensory issue & he would bring him shirts to school & tell mom to change the laundry soap. But when it was a sensory issue with the tags A informed me, I cut them off & problem was solved. This was not the case, he told me he likes to hide in his shirt but teacher wouldn’t listen to me. A also went though a phase where he wouldn’t open his eyes. Sped teacher said to give him the benefit of the doubt with behaviors because he just really may be miserable. No, it was a behavior to get out of doing work. I’m supposed to pull him out of the gen Ed class when he acts out & work with him one on one in a separate setting while leaving my other student alone. Student A is very smart & capable of exceeding grade level if he applied himself so I don’t want to resort to taking him out. Social skills & learning to be in the classroom should be the goal or he will struggle next year. I’m so frustrated.
Meanwhile, we’ll call him student C, is a year younger, less competent, struggles to communicate effectively & with fine motor skills, has had an extremely rough year with domestic violence in his home, dad awaiting prison sentence just passed on Friday. You’d think the teacher would give this kid the same grace he gives student A about something so minute as a pimple on his stomach (told me to take it easy on him bc the smallest red dot on his stomach was bothering him). No, this teacher id say was even harder on student C yesterday. Made him stay with him while the other kids got to go to class & took away all of his free time to work on math which he struggles with. Was punished for being emotional by getting more free time & his ipad time taken away AND SNACK. while he was struggling to handle this the teacher aggressively threw a pen at him (missed) not sure if he meant to hit him or not but the look on his face was pure evil. Then at the end of the day he refused to help the kid zip up his jacket & backpack, even after I told him he needs help getting his jacket started. But helped the 5th grade boy zip up his snow pants happily.
There is more favoritism that goes on with student A & another younger student. & then there is the awful treatment of the kids who actually struggle. Student C & another little student that comes to school with bruises & lice everyday. The teacher talks poorly about him right in front of him! Told me “he only cares about himself. When it comes to other people he could care less” which is UNTRUE. But student A gets taken to the book fair & the sped teacher buys him books even though he is spoiled & has a great home life, while the other kids that were adopted families for Christmas didn’t get anything bought for them. I could go on but I’d write a novel. I need some advice on how I should navigate this situation. How I can enforce boundaries with the student I work with, how I can advocate for these kids who need more support, & what I should do about the treatment of them. Thanks! Also, I am not coming back next year because of this. I’m completely switching gears & going to nursing school instead of going for teaching. This ruined my experience! I’m just trying to finish this year out but it’s becoming progressively harder.

Recently my grandfather passed, and that left me and my mother as caregivers for my FTD grandmother (stage 5-6.) We knew that this was more or less going to happen if something ever happened to him, but neither of us were expecting it to happen so suddenly, so there is a lot on our end that we need to button up in order to provide her with the best care we can manage. We don't want to take her from her house, as it's literally the only thing she knows plus it allows her to have her cats, so we've moved in.
I work part-time, which allows me to take care of my grandmother until my mother gets home to help out, which so far has been working well, as by the time I get home, my grandmother is just rolling out of bed. I was recently given notice that I'd be getting laid off from my job, which in itself is a double edged sword. On one hand, I'm glad to be laid off, as it affords me more time to focus on her and her well-being, on the other hand, I know how strenuous the whole being home 24/7 thing is going to be.
My mother is hesitant to make me 'primary caregiver,' for her mother, but really... I am, especially when it comes to her personal well-being. It's just been more convenient for me to take her to appointments, or take her shopping, or make sure she eats, as I'm there and around her more. This isn't to say that Mom doesn't pull her weight, because she more than does, all I'm saying is that in terms of 'caregiver,' I bear that title a bit more when it comes to my grandmother.
Due to my lay-off, we've been looking into possible Family Caregiver programs, though I'm not sure how far we'll go with the whole ordeal.