Rubbing alcohol diluted down with water and a few pinches of borax to help break up surface tension, that was my coach’s homebrew version of “swim ear” drops.
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I’m maybe a little too serious about coffee grinders; I use one of these at home. Your Bodum had decent burrs for a home grinder, but commercial or semicommercial is better; you might look for something used on an auction site (or, given that you’re in the PNW, on Craigslist).
((unrelated))
On the subject of Fuck Today, my wife’s dog - the same one that was very sick last April and we were told had a few days, maybe a week, to live (see upthread) - is still alive and kicking, but she decided to wait until my wife was gone for a few weeks to have diarrhea all over the Persian rug today. Not exactly what I was looking forward to coming home to after a fairly busy day.
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30 hours later and extensive attempts to clean it up and the stench is worse than ever, permeating our open-plan house. Problem is, I’m enjoined from using strong detergents or brushes (the rug has been in my wife’s family a very long time) and all the enzymes are doing so far is releasing the deep inner essence of the foulness. I should be heading off to bed, but I might dig out the gas mask first so I can actually get to sleep.
The dog meanwhile seems puzzled at why I’m giving her the cold shoulder. Oh, you know, Gytha, you know full well.
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I don’t know much about rug care, but it sounds like you need to just hose the fuck out of it with water.
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Saw my awesome ENT today. He said that what’s happening is likely weeping from eczema in my ear, and that’s causing the water-logged sensation. He did some clean-up in my ears and gave me some steroid drops saying I should feel better within a week. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
To go off on a tangent, I’m super sensitive about my hearing. I will almost always wear earplugs when I’m anywhere loud (concert, loud room, etc) because I desperately want to avoid hearing loss later in life. I just like music too damn much. My last hearing test from a few years ago indicated that I had basically “superhuman” hearing in my right ear (as opposed to normal in my left ear) so the reduced hearing in that ear is extremely bothersome at best.
As an aside, I’ve also had a life-long problem with tinnitus in both ears despite having basically perfect hearing. This tends to baffle the doctors I’ve gone to about it, “tinnitus means you’re suffering from hearing loss… but your hearing is basically perfect! wtf! oh well, your bill will be in the mail.” *sigh*
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Me too me too. Just like I’ve never been a smoker because I got to watch my emphysemic grandmother hobbled by it the entire 10 years I have memory of her; my aunt has always had hearing issues, and once I got past my teens finally got it through my head that I need to protect my hearing. My hearing is fine, but the ringing has been there since early teens.
I’ve been using etymotics ER20s since my 20s for concerts and train rides. What do you use? I’ve never gotten the molded custom plugs.
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Ooh, fancy. I typically keep a pack of 3M disposable roll down foamies close by (I typically just get a pack of the highest dB rating I can find). I don’t go to loud places much these days but if I ever foresaw that changing, those ER20s look awesome.
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I like them because:
They are relatively inexpensive
They are washable and durable for reuse
They really do provide a different sound profile and live music is much more enjoyable compared to foam plugs and on a loud train I can still hear conversations.
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I have tinnitus with hearing loss and I too, love music. They never figured out the cause, either!
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People who haven’t experienced ‘pure tone’ mild tinnitus (I have some in the high frequencies) don’t seem to understand that you can still hear those frequencies, it’s just that the threshold for detecting them has increased.
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I avoid loud places most of the time, but haven’t done anything apart from that to protect my hearing. Still, it seems to be pretty good and I can still hear up to 18,000 Hz (just about). Here’s a test you can take with samples at 1000 Hz intervals. It used to be higher, but not much. Volume is a bit more difficult to test at home.
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The “new” 2003 Volvo station wagon we got this spring didn’t want to rev or accelerate this morning. Taking it to the shop after a doctor appointment.
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This is really a “first world problems” kind of thing, but…
This is just cruel. Having a package get almost all the way to me before the weekend is bad enough, but telling me that it’s physically on a delivery truck but won’t move until Monday??? Aaaarrrrgggghhhhh!
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It was only bronchitis and not pneumonia, but it just won’t go away whatever we do. Looks like this isn’t going to be our first holiday without a visit to the doctor…
Also, after all the costs of the last month (moving fees, making the new house suitable to live in (it was missing a number of things, like a kitchen sink and appliances), the first month’s rent + 3 months’ deposit, extra amounts for utilities etc.), we’re completely broke. Most of these costs were a surprise because they’re related to the move, and I’ve also lost a few weeks of work because I’m the only one who can do a lot of the work on the house. We’d booked and paid for the bulk of our holiday before we knew all of this too, so there was nothing for it but to go, and for me to take my work with me. Our previous landlord can’t return the deposit for our old house until December too, so it’s going to be an interesting couple of months.
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I’ve had that happen when what was in the package was frozen, and it was a 3-day holiday weekend.
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This was me yesterday.
“Well, guess it won’t be until Monday that I’ll see it. But what the heck, let’s watch it move.”
“Wow, it’s in transit already!”
“Hey, it’s just inside my state now. That was fast!”
“Woah, that’s, like, an hour away, and they’re sending it on. Don’t they do Saturday deliveries? Surely they wouldn’t take it almost all the way to my door and then just stop?”
(this morning) “10-15 minutes away, and… AAARRRGGLLEEBARGLE!!!”’
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Our previous landlord can’t return the deposit for our old house until December
Why not?
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WHO PUT THAT CAR WHERE I WAS BACKING UP THE VAN!!!
Worse yet, the kids were in the car (hence part of the distraction, still no excuse) - and they’ve never let me forget the building I backed into 2 years ago. (My wife reminding them of that fact periodically hasn’t helped, either.)
I’ll never get a job in livery, will I?
Or is this just the sort of qualifications they look for?
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I’m glad yesterday was a hoot, because today most certainly is not. Screw you, universe, and your damned dynamic balance!
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