They made it so much worse. Essentially any person you encounter (the language says “occupant” of a public or private space iirc) can legally require you to remove your mask.

It’s really fascinating to me that this is what people make when the barrier to artistic creation disappears. It reminds me of some Youtuber books - they’re written by people with no literary skill or experience, but they produce them because they’ve gotten popular enough that the books are a profitable endeavor regardless of quality. Until you read a Youtuber book you don’t consciously realize what is necessary to write a book, because usually, mostly, only people who have that ineffable something do write novels. And here: you don’t realize what is needed to actually create art and not just images, until you see people with no artistic literacy or skill produce what they think of as art.

Visual art and literature are windows to the soul, and normally only a certain type of person goes through the effort to open that window for us. Here, and in Youtuber books, you can see inside a completely different type of person. And their soul looks like waifus and cowboys.

I’m sure it will be fine. It’s not like we let every single human on the planet get infected multiple times with a disease that directly damages the immune system.

I pulled a muscle again moving my weighted blanket around so that’s kinda like working out, right? hashtag just long covid things

Options I’ve seen that are best for not compromising fit:

• loose crochet masks

• jeweled/sequined meshes that hang down over the mask

• single chain with beads or jewels attaching to the straps and lying across the nose bridge

• sheer chiffon fabric masks, sometimes with embroidery - some versions sold as UV protection/sun masks

• rub-on transfer stickers - people say these don’t compromise the electrostatic filtration, unlike other decorations, but I can’t verify

Ooblets. It is the game equivalent of a warm hug. Charming, polished, anti-capitalist.

I don’t know about Temu but I use AliExpress frequently in lieu of getting the same item from a reseller on Amazon. Over the years I’ve had a couple of things just not show up ever, but that’s rare - most of the time everything goes as expected. I tend to pick items that have photos from reviewers, and I don’t buy stuff that goes into my mouth/otherwise enters my body.

And for every one set of parents that is willing to believe their kids over the doctors’ dismissal, there are - let’s say - five more sets who have caved under the pressure and are busy gaslighting their children and making them sicker. Five more kids with lifelong medical trauma, chronic illness, and broken trust in the people who are supposed to protect them.

The Forest for sure, assuming that magical deep rest works even on my ME/CFS. Can’t do any of the others without my health anyway

If I wasn’t sick, though, I’d pick the shop. For stress relief sometimes I enjoy making massive wishlists of items I never actually buy, and this is like the upgraded version of that. Just seems like it’d be fun to wander and marvel and gather and choose… Plus it’s the one that is most likely to be helpful to your outside life and other people you care about.

It’s truly strange. Hard to believe sometimes that it’s 2024 and I’m bedbound from the plague and looking into bloodletting

There’s a weird thing that some people with LC have where large blood draws lead to symptom relief for hours/days/weeks. Probably something something microclots or inflammatory something being removed temporarily, or maybe the body’s response to injury…? No one knows, we’re all just speculating. But it happened to me personally after a big blood test and then I was seriously looking into donating blood regularly, or, alternatively, nurturing a crop of medicinal leeches at home.

I am STRESSED about the potential mask ban in North Carolina and I am trying NOT to think about it but it is NOT WORKING

Waking up and feeling exhausted could be caused by sleep disordered breathing (apnea, UARS) or it could be an early sign of ME/CFS, which is a variety of long covid and can present in a delayed fashion from your last infection. Probably it’s something simple like vitamin deficiency or anemia, but these conditions are both mild at first but very bad long term if left unidentified so I thought I’d throw them out there

The single best thing you can do to ensure you’re protecting yourself is to do a home fit test. Surgical masks, KN95s, N95s have generally the same kind of filtration layer; the essential difference is the fit. Is it sealing on your face with <10% leakage, even when worn for long periods and while you speak and make facial expressions? You can’t really know this for sure unless you do a fit test.

It is pretty cheap and easy to do a DIY fit test.

Here’s a video that explains how to do it with a trash bag, some Splenda, and a $7 nebulizer.

Here is a written guide.

There’s a source control version of the Eclipse with no exhalation valve. One could also just cover the exhalation valve with either something impermeable or the electrostatic filtration layer scavenged from a medical mask or respirator if needed.

Other elastomerics that are popular these days:

MSA Advantage (speech diaphragm, with source control)

3M Secure Click (speech diaphragm, great feature where it auto-seal checks for you, no source control)

Honeywell RU8500 (speech diaphragm, no source control)

FloMask (low profile, good speech audibility, source control)

EnvoMask (low profile, source control)

Yeah I think the gut dysbiosis from artificial sweeteners is something that happens on a longer timescale of continuous consumption. I second the tea suggestion - tea’s got l-theanine in it naturally

The sucralose is probably bad for your gut microbiome. If you want caffeine to feel smoother, you could experiment with taking it with l-theanine, and/or with the taurine that’s in that energy drink.

It’s got screws so I could technically open it up, but unfortunately I have very little experience with this sort of thing and wouldn’t be comfortable replacing a lithium battery without any sort of guide.

My Bluetooth speaker died today. Was faltering for a few months, but now it just won’t charge anymore. Shut down last night for the final time. I’ve used it on a daily basis for seven or eight years. It was present for some really important memories. And now it’s just trash, I guess. I know it’s odd of me but I do feel sad.

I’m sorry. It sounds like your ex is saying they can’t love anyone who isn’t numb to being treated cruelly on a routine basis, which is pretty fucked up and pathetic for them. And it’s good for you that you were so sensitive because you recognized what wasn’t safe love before it became even worse, or before it wore you down to a point you thought you deserved it. I’m glad you got out.