tyrannicalrex said:

So amazing they named a car after it. The Corvette Stingray.

---

pirate-blues said:

Luckily it hasn't been much of an issue since I've been locked down. I was supposed to get in to see a neurologist on a regular basis after several tests(and fuck tons of new medical debt now. No deductible my ass) but that's been put off. My last one was in early March and I ended up in urgent care - they gave me a big fat shot in the buttcheek of toradol and anti-nausea meds and it really worked well.


UNfortunately it also caused extreme stomach pain for me(it's basically a supercharged NSAID) which I'd rather take than a migraine, but it's not a good long term solution. I've also been on a few different meds for migraines in the past - one was an anti-seizure that turned me into a zombie, the other was a blood pressure medication but I have low blood pressure as is and I ended up in the hospital after passing out in a CVS, the other was a fast acting nasal spray but it's effectiveness was limited if I didn't sense that I was getting a migraine and administer it like right away.

But so far I'm alright lately . Which is good because I was getting lots of headaches and some concerning neurological symptoms repeatedly over the winter.




So far it seems like it was almost completely related to stress. But since I've been under stay at home orders, and work is a little bit more chill at the moment..nothin' .

---

I get anisocoria too. The different dilation thing. Though one eye has always been more dilated than the other. I imagined it was from my face eating a steel pole when I was young (I mean an eye doc also asked when I broke my socket) but also prone to migraines.

A little dose of mushroom magic clears them up. But doesn't exactly improve my functioning.


I got alot less when I quit smoking herb and started eating better.

Didn't do the long dance of medical trial and error though. I'd been through that with my gut issues and wasn't eager to go through that again. Always perplexed me how doctors are willing to throw shit at the wall to see if something sticks when they don't even really know what's wrong.


Just makes me think of when medical knowledge was so lacking that people had smoke blown up their ass and were bled to near death.

Probably not a comforting thought.


But yeah identifying your triggers is huge.

gopher said:

Ive never had a strong migraine but maybe 4 times a year I get mini ones, where I have to lay in the dark and do nothing, I cant even play on my laptop cause the light fucks with me, its just barely bearable though, if it was any worse id call it a full blown migraine, it goes away if I sleep though

---

pirate-blues said:

That's amazing! I've encountered a lot of rays, but never a Manta. They seem larger than life, and I totally don't blame you for being startled . What an experience, though.



There is a lot of really interesting stuff in the bahamas - a huge Barrier reef, a massive blue hole(Dean's Blue Hole), lots of sharks! The coral down there has taken a bit of a beating - and I think even more so now after Hurricanes last year, but unfortunately I think that can be said for most places. I think there's supposed to be some pretty amazing cave systems there too, but that's not really my jam. The Caribbean is very easy to get to in general from the East Coast and there are just endless islands to explore all with some very unique colonial history to boot.


And yeah, the Yucatan is a special, special place. The food, the people, the diving, the scenery - all world class.




Anyway y'all, I'm going go try and fit in a good 5 mile hike with the pup now that the sun has come out and I'm officially off the clock. I've been sitting on my ass infront of a laptop all day and have to get the blood pumping a bit.

---

If I ever did go diving I would do it for the sharks. The first apex predator ever evolved one of the oldest living creatures in the world and yet so graceful and docile when they're not feeding.







Love them so much


Hope you and your pup enjoy the hike. Think I'm gonna wait till near dark.

CookieCrumbs said:

pirate-blues said:

Luckily it hasn't been much of an issue since I've been locked down. I was supposed to get in to see a neurologist on a regular basis after several tests(and fuck tons of new medical debt now. No deductible my ass) but that's been put off. My last one was in early March and I ended up in urgent care - they gave me a big fat shot in the buttcheek of toradol and anti-nausea meds and it really worked well.


UNfortunately it also caused extreme stomach pain for me(it's basically a supercharged NSAID) which I'd rather take than a migraine, but it's not a good long term solution. I've also been on a few different meds for migraines in the past - one was an anti-seizure that turned me into a zombie, the other was a blood pressure medication but I have low blood pressure as is and I ended up in the hospital after passing out in a CVS, the other was a fast acting nasal spray but it's effectiveness was limited if I didn't sense that I was getting a migraine and administer it like right away.

But so far I'm alright lately . Which is good because I was getting lots of headaches and some concerning neurological symptoms repeatedly over the winter.




So far it seems like it was almost completely related to stress. But since I've been under stay at home orders, and work is a little bit more chill at the moment..nothin' .

---

I get anisocoria too. The different dilation thing. Though one eye has always been more dilated than the other. I imagined it was from my face eating a steel pole when I was young (I mean an eye doc also asked when I broke my socket) but also prone to migraines.

A little dose of mushroom magic clears them up. But doesn't exactly improve my functioning.


I got alot less when I quit smoking herb and started eating better.

Didn't do the long dance of medical trial and error though. I'd been through that with my gut issues and wasn't eager to go through that again. Always perplexed me how doctors are willing to throw shit at the wall to see if something sticks when they don't even really know what's wrong.


Just makes me think of when medical knowledge was so lacking that people had smoke blown up their ass and were bled to near death.

Probably not a comforting thought.


But yeah identifying your triggers is huge.

---

lol man where were you a couple months ago?! Jk, but that would've been nice to hear, the way the doctor reacted had me thinking I had a brain tumor. I remember Logical_Chaos did a little google-fu and found that it was most common in young women who were prone to migraines


Come to think of it, my diet was absolute trash at the time - mostly because I was so stressed and tired that I was chugging like 3 redbulls or some other crappy energy drink a day, staying at work late and not really doing much cooking at home. I mean, I've had problems with caffeine addiction and have been known to chug an energy drink in my day(which I have now given up and I'm down to a cup of coffee and an occasional cup of caffeinated tea), but never quite like that.



And it was a damn good hike, got some post jogging afterglow going on. I also finally figured out what's been growling at me in the woods lately, and what the dog has been going crazy over at this one section, and it's cute little baby fox pups!

pirate-blues said:

Aaaaaand now it's snowing.

---

Niffla said:

pirate-blues said:

Aaaaaand now it's snowing.

---

Spring hasn't reached Pennsylvania yet?

So hey pirate how much would it cost round about for a rookie to get into scuba diving?

---

This is Spring in Pennsylvania

I'm a little further North than usual, but it's supposed to get down to 22 degrees in a good portion of the Northeast - all the way down to like MD. It's been a very chilly April though, for sure.

So PADI does dive discovery courses that you can do to decide if it's a good fit, before you go for your first baseline certification which is the Open Water cert - if you're sure you're into it, I'd just bite the bullet and enroll in an open water course. I'd recommend contacting a local dive shop and asking about prices. Usually it's a couple hundred dollars give or take. Everything you could possibly need can be rented for very reasonable rates - but I'd recommend at least getting your own mask and fins to start, and your own wetsuit is always nice, how thick it is depends on how warm the water gets where you'll be diving - 3mm-5mm will cover a lot of ground. The initial investment in your own gear can be steep, but ebay is a freaking godsend. Do not turn up your nose at used stuff - literally everything I use is a hand-me-down or bought used except for my mask and fins.

Eventually you'll want to get stuff like a BCD, weights, a regulator, dive computer(https://www.theadventurejunkies.com/best-budget-dive-computer/), and even tanks(those are easily rented, and would be the last thing I would worry about).


TLDR: I'd start with the bare basics(mask and fins, maybe suit if you don't want to use a rental - but talk to folks at your dive shop before to figure out what would be best for the water temp around you, rentals are totally fine too), and invest in the initial certification and start out renting, and then buy.

You're probably going to want to go for your advanced open water as soon as you're able to, which requires logging dives(edit; nvm I don't think the advanced open water requires a certain number of logged dives anymore, but whatevs), and eventually you'll hit a point where it just makes more sense to buy than rent. But seriously, ebay.

edit:

also cannot stress the importance of vetting the dive shop you choose enough. Safety is so important, and these people will literally have your life in their hands as you're just getting the ropes down, so google, google, google.

pirate-blues said:

So PADI does dive discovery courses that you can do to decide if it's a good fit, before you go for your first baseline certification which is the Open Water cert - if you're sure you're into it, I'd just bite the bullet and enroll in an open water course. I'd recommend contacting a local dive shop and asking about prices. Usually it's a couple hundred dollars give or take. Everything you could possibly need can be rented for very reasonable rates - but I'd recommend at least getting your own mask and fins to start, and your own wetsuit is always nice, how thick it is depends on how warm the water gets where you'll be diving - 3mm-5mm will cover a lot of ground. The initial investment in your own gear can be steep, but ebay is a freaking godsend. Do not turn up your nose at used stuff - literally everything I use is a hand-me-down or bought used except for my mask and fins.

Eventually you'll want to get stuff like a BCD, weights, a regulator, dive computer(https://www.theadventurejunkies.com/best-budget-dive-computer/), and even tanks(those are easily rented, and would be the last thing I would worry about).


TLDR: I'd start with the bare basics(mask and fins, maybe suit if you don't want to use a rental - but talk to folks at your dive shop before to figure out what would be best for the water temp around you, rentals are totally fine too), and invest in the initial certification and start out renting, and then buy.

You're probably going to want to go for your advanced open water as soon as you're able to, which requires logging dives(edit; nvm I don't think the advanced open water requires a certain number of logged dives anymore, but whatevs), and eventually you'll hit a point where it just makes more sense to buy than rent. But seriously, ebay.

edit:

also cannot stress the importance of vetting the dive shop you choose enough. Safety is so important, and these people will literally have your life in their hands as you're just getting the ropes down, so google, google, google.

---

GREAT stuff, pirate. Thank you!



it's always been on my bucket list to one day do some real scuba diving. And not just a little day trip either.

pirate-blues said:

After your first dive in salt water, eat some fresh fruit right after you get out of the water. It's even better than eating fresh cold fruit while tripping or rolling. I can't even explain it

---