Random Rants LXXII - What is wrong with us?

[rah]

Yeah what he said.
Dance classes and cooking classes were always great places to meet nice women. I took a cooking class in school (many many years ago) and I was the only guy in the class.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I woke up with a lump the rough size and shape of a kiwi fruit in my neck. It hurts a lot but the swelling has come down quite a bit. I am going to give it a few days before I do anything about it as it may resolve itself. The only reason I'm worried is if I look in the mirror I can still see the frankenstein-eque scar from when doctors cut open my throat to extract half a tumorous thyroid a decade ago. This new lump is on the side where the rest of the thyroid is at.

A bunch of other crap happened today that made it lame but compared to the above it's all first world problems:

Spoiler First World Problems :

The fix-a-flat didn't fix the leak in my front bike tire and today I found the back tire was flat too. Of course I left the fix-a-flat five stories up and had to go back for it.

There's a locked section of the parking garage for motorcycles and bicycles. Well, at least I thought it was for bicycles - it has the racks for them and is filled with over 20 bikes - including my own. There's only one motorcycle using it. But anyways I went to unlock the gate and found out that my key no longer worked. The landlord decided to revoke access to the locked section and reserve it only for people who rent a motorcycle parking spot inside. Except they didn't tell any of the bike riders who had till now had free and open access to the shelter and were using. None of us were told before or after they changed the locks that the shelter was reserved for paid motorcycle parking spots.

I have to switch over to a temporary overnight shift and I tried to stay up late last night but ended up passing out on the couch and waking up with a ton of cramps, in addition to the lump in my neck.

 

[Lexicus]

Painful lumps generally aren't going to be tumors, right? At least, that's what I've heard for lumps in the armpit. I get bruises there that feel like lumps, but they're quite painful to the touch so I don't get worried they're cancerous lymph nodes or anything.

 

[Synobun]

Painful lumps generally aren't going to be tumors, right? At least, that's what I've heard for lumps in the armpit. I get bruises there that feel like lumps, but they're quite painful to the touch so I don't get worried they're cancerous lymph nodes or anything.

Lumps on sensitive parts of the body can cause secondary swelling, and the swelling can hurt. Thyroid lumps can hurt by themselves, though. Armpit and breast lumps generally don't (if they're cancerous), although that's not a good rule to live by IMO.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Painful lumps generally aren't going to be tumors, right? At least, that's what I've heard for lumps in the armpit. I get bruises there that feel like lumps, but they're quite painful to the touch so I don't get worried they're cancerous lymph nodes or anything.

Lumps on sensitive parts of the body can cause secondary swelling, and the swelling can hurt. Thyroid lumps can hurt by themselves, though. Armpit and breast lumps generally don't (if they're cancerous), although that's not a good rule to live by IMO.

Yeah the previous tumor didn't hurt at all and was squishy. This one's kind of hard and very sore. Like I said not super concerned about it, I just have a history with this kind of problem that does raise a bit of alarm.

 

[Synobun]

Yeah the previous tumor didn't hurt at all and was squishy. This one's kind of hard and very sore. Like I said not super concerned about it, I just have a history with this kind of problem that does raise a bit of alarm.

Might just be a muscle knot or cyst. Here's hoping, anyways.

 

[Lexicus]

Lumps on sensitive parts of the body can cause secondary swelling, and the swelling can hurt. Thyroid lumps can hurt by themselves, though. Armpit and breast lumps generally don't (if they're cancerous), although that's not a good rule to live by IMO.

Yeah, I mostly don't take the painful/not painful thing as Gospel...I figured out the armit lumps were bruises by looking at them in the mirror, seeing they looked like bruises, and noting that they went away after a few days.

My thyroid worries me, I don't think it's got anything wrong with it now but my dad had to have his removed due to cancer, so I think I'll probably have problems with it at some point.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Yeah, I mostly don't take the painful/not painful thing as Gospel...I figured out the armit lumps were bruises by looking at them in the mirror, seeing they looked like bruises, and noting that they went away after a few days.

My thyroid worries me, I don't think it's got anything wrong with it now but my dad had to have his removed due to cancer, so I think I'll probably have problems with it at some point.

One benefit of the scar (if you have it removed) is it does kind of look badass.

 

[Lohrenswald]

Go and do classes in your free time.
Sports, dancing, cooking, whatever.
You'll meet people there, including pretty girls ^^.
This is obviously a long term plan, and will not get you.... into a romance... tomorrow evening.

I don't really know how to find Things like that, but I'll try to remember and see if I can't find anything despite it all

 

[Lexicus]

I don't really know how to find Things like that, but I'll try to remember and see if I can't find anything despite it all

Internet is your friend. Pick an interest then google "_____ classes in [city name]" and you should get some actionable stuff.

 

[Synobun]

Universities also have community boards. You can find stuff not mentioned at all online on them.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I don't really know how to find Things like that, but I'll try to remember and see if I can't find anything despite it all

Most cities have a recreation department that offers various classes and activities. Some will be free, but there will be a cost associated with others. My own city publishes a guide twice a year, with activities ranging from sports to healthy living, classes like cooking, dancing, photography, lots of computer/internet classes, and an assortment of other hobbies. I took a couple of classes that way - one was calligraphy, to supplement the class I took in the Society for Creative Anachronism.

Hm... are you interested in medieval history? If there's an SCA branch near you, that's a great way to meet people. Some people met in the '70s' or '80s at an event, and now they're introducing their grandchildren to tournaments and feasts.

And the neat thing about the SCA is that many, if not most people involved in that, are also into things like science fiction/fantasy, computers, and gaming.

 

[JohannaK]

Lymphatic nodes, which iirc are clustered around the neck, armpit, and crotch, can often swell and form lumps, but those dont tend to last. I also dont have medical knowledge. This comes from a mix of high school biology and experience. I sometimes get a lump where the leg joins the crotch , which is bothersome but not really painful and go away after a couple days. Cant remember the last time it happened.

 

[Takhisis]

I hate to say it, but I was right about YouTube when I said their ultimate goal was to push out independent content creators. YouTube just announced they are officially partnering with established media organizations in order to "create a better news experience" on YouTube. To cement this partnership, YouTube has invested $25 million into helping traditional media organizations like CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News increase their presence on YouTube.

I said back when YouTube Red was created that it was the first step to slowly pushing out independent content creators and becoming more like a traditional media organization. The next step was the demonetization of small content creators earlier this year, and now they are partnering with large media organizations. Now there are a lot of conspiracy types out there who think this is some evil plot to control the flow of information and brainwash people, but I think the motive is much simpler than that. YouTube as we know it has never been a profitable business model. Even before Google bought it, it was operating at a loss and has continued to operate at a loss under Google. Google obviously wants that to change since they have to keep sinking more and more money and resources into something that's not even making them any money. So they now want to transform YouTube into a more traditional media platform and push out the content creators in a bid to both reduce the amount of resources they have to commit to YouTube and draw in more advertisers, sponsors, and investors.

So, do you oppose capitalism yet?

*michaelkelsoburn.jpg*

 

[Commodore]

So, do you oppose capitalism yet?

No because it's not like independent content creators have nowhere else to go. Especially with both Twitch and Facebook trying to muscle in on YouTube's territory now. Also, I happen to think there is a lot of unnecessary garbage on YouTube anyway, so maybe putting an end to the "anybody can upload anything" business model isn't such a bad idea. I mean, demonetizing small channels has already made a lot of progress in getting rid of all the idiots just trying to get a quick buck instead of being dedicated to putting out quality content so it seems like limiting who can access the platform is good for both Google's bottom line and for the viewer since it means only the quality content creators are going to be able to survive.

 

[Arakhor]

That depends on your definition of 'quality'.

 

[Commodore]

That depends on your definition of 'quality'.

"Quality" is whatever the majority says it is when it comes to entertainment. So while you may not think someone like PewDiePie is quality entertainment, the fact that he is the most popular YouTuber out there means he is the "gold standard" of what is considered quality content on the platform.

Rant: Congratulations gun control crowd. You've finally found a way to ban guns without actually banning guns and it's 100% Constitutional. In Piscataway, New Jersey they are considering an ordinance that will pretty much make it impossible for a gun shop to open up in the town and force existing ones to shut down. Basically it says a gun shop cannot exist within 1000 feet of a school, place of worship, courthouse, park, bar, or "other facilities" they will define later. If this passes in Piscataway, I guarantee this crap will spread throughout the entire country and there won't be a single gun shop left. And manufacturers can't sell to people directly so that will essentially kill the private firearm industry and kill gun ownership without actually having to ban guns.

I guess you anti-gun idiots had to get smart eventually...

 

[rah]

There's always out in the middle of the desert or farmland where nothing else is. I"m sure gun lovers will make the trip.
I've seen similar tricks used on liquor stores and it hasn't stopped the sale of that.

 

[Arakhor]

Quality has never equalled quantity. They just sometimes co-exist.

Moderator Action: The gun control thread is here.

 

[Lexicus]

In Piscataway, New Jersey

Hey, right next to my hometown!

If this passes in Piscataway, I guarantee this crap will spread throughout the entire country and there won't be a single gun shop left.

Somehow...I doubt this. Laws like this won't pass in red towns and counties. And Trump controls the judiciary, and is filling it with judges who don't care how many people are shot as long as gun industry profits stay high. There's a good chance if these laws become too inconvenient they'll be struck down.