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 I am so damned tired of people harassing me about pregnancy. My medical history shows a hysterectomy/bilateral oovectomy in 2007. LEAVE ME ALONE.

I am not, and have not been since 2007, physically, physiologically, chemically, biologically, or scientifically capable of gestating. It never matters how often I fill out the paperwork, update my profile, verify my medical passport, whatever. The reproduction section ALWAYS mystically omits answers indicating my inability to reproduce.

Unless I missed one hell of a breakthrough, removing the uterus and both ovaries is not a reversible procedure. 

I am not available for your damned breeding schemes, Musk/Trump/whoever. If we are entering The Handmaid's Tale, at best I'd be a whore. More likely, y'all would execute me right at the start because I am fat and over 18. Now that Trump has conned the nation a 2nd time, every nasty "Man" with a chip on his shoulder is going to get real aggressive about his entitlement to a supermodel, or at least a "sexy" young girl.

Swear To Godzilla I'm going to start putting my sex down as Male. Nobody reads all the documentation anyway. No one asks my spouse about his reproductive capabilities. Ever.

My favorite WTF story is when I was in the hospital the morning after my hysterectomy and the duty nurse, making conversation while flipping through my chart, asked if I had children. When I replied in the negative, she followed up brightly with "Oh, just wait, you will!"

I managed to stammered out a "I hope not, I just had a complete hysterectomy?"
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Alive, doing pretty well considering the state of the nation. Just finished a flute practicing session, working really hard on intonation and articulation. My embouchure is sore from tonight's work. The next flute choir performance is Saturday, Dec 14th, followed by our annual holiday concert on the 15th. I have a tiny solo and I'm STOKED because it's a bit from Ave Maria that I have always loved so. much. Also playing my C flute in a trio on Greensleeves. Tomorrow, I need to practice C flute and continue my work on the upper register doodle-doodle-doo that's kicking my ass.

I'm feeling flattered because I got popped over onto C flute for some pieces to add support to sections in need; typically I'm 100% alto these days (which I adore!!). It's a wonderful feeling that I'm "good" enough to switch in and help out at the 11th hour. And helps me improve my sight-reading skills!

Anyway, wanted to log this in since it's been far too long between updates. We had extenuating circumstances. Orrin nearly fell through the ceiling in the kitchen! Fortunately, just one leg went through, and he wasn't seriously injured. Shook, scraped, splinters, sore af, and spinal alignment totally janked, but otherwise ok. (A board broke underneath him when he was in the attic getting christmas decorations.) The chiropractor has set his spine to rights, time will mend the rest. I'm so thankful he's ok, I could've cried. I teased him that he picked the perfect spot to fall through - missed all the lights and electrical stuff, was right over an open spot on the floor instead of appliances or the island, very considerate of him! 

Then it was Thanksgiving week, which was busy as heck and went beautifully (we hosted our 2nd family for the day, yummy food, good company, overall a smashing success!). Rested up quite a bit that weekend, then it's.... wait, this week? TIME. WHAT IS.
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Where to  begin? First, I am exasperated by the election results. Much smarter people than me have better perspectives and advice. I'm feeling very AWOL Nation (Burn it Down). The USA isn't a country I recognize anymore. I wonder if this is similar to how people felt during the ages-long Vietnam war? I was fortunate enough to be deathly ill that week, so I slept through most of it.

For me, I will focus on a micro-local level, my immediate neighborhood. The Buy Nothing Project groups are dialed down pretty finely, so that'll be my theoretical boundary. I'll endeavor to know my neighbors, and be the person they can come to if they need a hand. I'll keep an eye out for them, and hope they do the same. Orrin says he might explore getting involved in some kind of local governance, like the Library Board of Directors or something. We both submitted applications to attend the Citizen's Academy in the spring. If we're accepted, we'll get a boot camp on local city departments and government. which will be invaluable in deciding where to go next.

I was very sick. Viral gastroenteritis, apparently a nasty variant has been "going around." I don't believe I've ever had that before. It was gadawful. The opening act was shitting myself as I walked in the door after getting home from work. No warning at all, not a gurgle or an urge, just blorp. That's never happened before.

I puked about halfway through, which has only happened twice in the past 10+ years; once when my gallbladder went kablooie, and more recently when I took colonoscopy prep too fast. I'm not a puker. Never have been. The other shocking thing was I got a clinical fever. My normal body temp is 96.8-97.3F. Reliably. If I'm at 98.6 for me it's a fever, but not a "clinical" fever so nobody gives a shit. This time, though, I flirted with triple digits. (For perspective, my last fever was in college, 20+ years ago.)

Went to the Dr, bloodwork came back consistent with the diagnosis. Stool sample clear of parasites/bacteriological causes. So that's good I guess. I lost 8lbs and missed 4 days of work, blew through remaining PTO like I was on the Indy500. I never want to do that again. I wish nobody ever had to do that ever.

Orrin was a fuckin' saint, as always. He's like some kind of magical freshwater spring that never runs dry. 

I've spent the weekend gently playing catch-up with some household things, honey-dos, mostly. Flute choir rehearsal today improved my mood (woke up in the wrong part of my sleep cycle this morning and had lots of feels about the election on top of a tirade of negative self-talk). Hopefully, we can keep gaining ground on things that piled up while I was out of commission. 

I'm hosting Thanksgiving for our found family this year. Looking forward to it! Our house is great for entertaining, which is ironic af since we are disinclined to entertain.

Works been good. Cats are good. Lizard is beginning her brumination, I think. My mom is increasingly daft and child-like. It's very frustrating. My dad has fully regressed back to his worst self. My grama, who lives with him, has COPD and wasn't doing well so they missed the last flute choir concert - when I asked him how worried I shoud be about her, he replied "Grama's just living in her victim mindset." [headdesk] Shit that reminds me, I should ask one of my aunts how grama is. :(

Maybe next time I'll talk about recent house-related stuff! 
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Missed an update due to both colleagues out of office the same week, then an ER visit the Friday of said week (which naturally took 5hours and I wasn't home till after midnight). Then, the next week, tangled with poison ivy, got bit by a green lacewing larvae while IN BED, those little fuckers have a wicked bite, tell you what, and I about lost the entire nights' sleep afterward. Peppered throughout the last couple weeks has been skyrocketing stress and strain and panic over my IFMLA coverage at work because The Hartford decided to be complete shits about the entire process.* 

Crushing, debilitating fatigue hit last weekend, got in to see Dr (allergist's office) again, bless them for having same-day appointments!! No flu, no covid, still just loads of white blood cells indicating infection. Likely it's the same infection I had recently that we hoped was viral only - it moved deeper into my sinuses and is bacterial now, again we hope, so I'm on antibiotics. 

Due to the ER visit I have colonoscopy this coming Friday that I am NOT looking forward to, more time off work, and the prep is going to make Thursday miserable. And the food intake requirements add another complication into my already stressful FODMAP world (it's going great, really, but adding another goddamned set of restrictions is just not fair!!). 

The Sucraid is helping! I'm logging one bowl movement a day now, instead of 3+.  It's a little hard to adjust to taking before every meal. FODMAP: Today, I started reintroducing fructose in the form of honey. I might be experiencing some mild bloating, but that could also be from eating large meals. Experiment continues tomrorow.

Yesterday, I rallied enough to get outside and play in rockpiles at a local construction site. Orrin was wonderful and talked with the property owner to get permission for us to take some of the limestone. I really needed that direct contact with sun and dirt. I like the version of me who wears steel-toed workboots and jeans, sweating and doing physical things. I felt pretty lucky to have enough energy yesterday, given all that's been happening. Today, I've mostly dozed. Completely understandable, after the past 2 weeks! 

Stress reduction needs to happen, STAT.

*Among the very frustrating aspects of this is each time they fuck me over, my boss gets an email with the ACTUAL LETTER before I do! I get an email telling me there's a new letter in my account, which takes several minutes to log into and locate. So my boss and HR are getting inundated with letters because The Hartford gargles sewage, it looks like I am the problem but I am NOT. First, Hartford cancelled my IFLMA out of nowhere, blamed me for not renewing my paperwork on time (my HR is supposed to remind me, which they did not). First time around, Dr office failed to submit paperwork on time, second attempt my doctor's office fucked up the paperwork then said they just copied from last year, and it was denied so now I'm on claim 3 or 4 I don't even know and it's a nightmare. Taking so much work time, energy, and stress that's causing me measurable harm. My corporate is like "don't make this a habit of missing work" and I'm like, well, if you didn't FORCE ME to jump through all these hoops I wouldn't HAVE to miss work for the appointments! I am so angry and tired and depressed and rage-y and oh yeah also sick again, or still, with a sinus infection.
subtlegrey: tiger's eye and bronze tortoise sculpture (tortoise)
Rather than talk about my anxiety over the recent shooting at a presidential rally, I will talk about food. 

Food is frustrating to me. I like food, I love to cook and really enjoy cooking for others, but I resent that I HAVE to eat. It's  exasperating, confusing, feels very hopeless, and many foods I like are on the "no" list for me. Eating food is expensive and time-consuming, especially with dietary restrictions. I am not gifted with nutritious meal-planning, that takes time and effort that I'd rather be spending in my garage workshop. 
 
When I was in my 20s and early 30s, I did not have emotional complications with food that I was aware of, or that were impactful to my life. Late 20s early 30s I successfully did the Whole30 twice; in 2009 I was on a very strict laryngeal reflux dietary protocol for 3 or 4 months and had no issues. Sometime in my 30s I started noticing more emotional eating (celebrate/reward/comfort), binge eating (stress), and shame around my body size. Things got even harder after gallbladder removal, and now I've had chronic diarrhea for years along with often conflicting food advice for assorted theoretical conditions. Last year, I was so discouraged I gave up and ate like crap. It feels like everything I like to eat is "BAD!" and all the "good" foods leave me even more hungry. Example: handful of almonds or an apple - I am more ravenous after eating either of these than if I'd just not eaten at all.
 
I have tried mindful eating techniques, which spike my anxiety and make me intensely uncomfortable - I am a very slow eater, so normally I will read or work on a to-do list or play a game while I eat. I do NOT like people watching me eat. Ever.  It takes conscious effort for me to stay seated at my meal until I am finished; I get up, wander around, do things, start to clean up while still chewing. I'm working on this; trying to remember to tell myself it's ok to sit down, there is not a hurry, I can and should finish chewing my food before I leave the table.
 
I've met with nutritionists in the past twice and had one psychiatrist who was coaching me on improving my relationship with food (dude was WEIRD AF). Only once have I experienced intentional weight loss, which didn't "stick." None of the techniques or tools from past efforts have proven sustainable. I always end up being hungry. 
 
Nearly everyone in my family on both sides is obese, probably morbidly obese since BMI is dumb. A maternal uncle lost a bunch of weight several years ago, and he said the way to lose weight was just to be hungry all the time. I really felt that! He later gained it all back and more. 
 
My chronic illness(es) add a very depressing flavor into the mix as I can't exercise/be as physically active as I would like to be, work a full-time job, and take care of myself and my family / house. I like fishing and hiking. I want to weightlift and start jogging again. All that shit takes energy and time. When I need to sleep 10+hrs a day, I don't have as much time as I need for the rest of being alive. Often, I get by on 7-8hrs - for me, that's like an average person getting by on 5hrs? My new wakefulness medication has enabled this to work better than it otherwise would, for which I am grateful! Of late, I will have the time but not the energy, and then I get depressed because I have time, damnit, why can't I MOVE? 

2 weeks ago, I started FODMAP for breakfast and snacks. Last week, I was FODMAP for all meals. That's been going well, already found some great recipes! There's one I'm eager to try tomorrow, too. All very positive. I wanted to start this before I start seeing the dietitian to get me more in the habit of tracking food, planning, grocery shopping, and navigating the basic decision points so once I do start working with them, I have some guardrails and training wheels in place.

My first appointment is about a week from now.  The idea is they will guide me through the FDMAP and CSID minefield I've landed in and help me develop a sense of what will work for me as lifetime nutrition. Here's hoping! 
subtlegrey: tiger's eye and bronze tortoise sculpture (tortoise)
Setback: viral headcold, but caught early enough I was able to get through the work week & slept all day Saturday. I think I'm back to about normal as of today, tho I will be taking drugs a few more days to be cautious.

Progress - I made 3 foods for the week, a breakfast muffin, protein/energy balls, and pumpkin bread. All using FODMAP recipes.  The muffins aren't great, I got corn meal instead of corn flour, so they are dry af. Lesson learned, add more liquid! Picked out some recipes for main and side dishes to try. There's a few groceries I'll want to stock back up on. I bought most of the staples last Wednesday before the cold knocked me on my ass.

Health progress - set up a formal intake with a local dietician who knows FODMAP and CISD. I see my GI Friday morning to talk through some of this mess in person. Which reminds me, I need to call insurance and see if I have any coverage for the dietitian.

No plans for the holiday that involve travel. Happy to have the day off work. I'll either sleep or do housework. Fell behind last week. Farther behind than usual, that is. 

Played Exalted this afternoon. It was kind of boring because of interruptions (the GM's 2yr old demands attention!!!) and me not being quite prepared still. Much better prepared than last time, though! I got hit by a meteor, sort of on purpose, and took no damage bc I was in War Form as a giant walrus-person, like, kaiju-sized (we're Lunars). 

More Progress: The beautiful weather today prompted some work in the garage. I sanded a few panels to knock off rough edges, using my "new" palm sander for the first time. That baby is SWEET.  Then after the game, I painted.  It's reclaimed OSB, so like the crappiest of plywoods. I've put 2 thick layers of Kilz. next time i'm in the ReStore I'll look for a wall enamel or something similar to further mitigate the roughness of the panels.  Most of the lumber for the south wall was free (someone else's trash). I sketched out a blueprint of what I want along that wall.

The concrete is gadawful, the contractors didn't smooth it at all; it's so rough I can barely use my shop vac. (I actually used the floor as sandpaper once to shave off some overage on a board.) I will need some kind of surface to mitigate the uneven/roughness. Currently planning to find some cheap sheet vinyl. I have vinyl cove base & adhesive I found cheap at the ReStore already, to cover the gap between the wall panels and the uneven flooring. 

I'm getting excited about my workshop coming together! I have so many projects waiting! 

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My beloved kissmate has posted publicly about the recent Scott Allie debacle on his website. The piece, titled The Way Forward, is truth. Brutal, painful, pure truth. He could have chosen to stay quiet (no, he couldn't have because I would've eventually lit him on fire), but he didn't. He rightfully recognized his responsibility as a life-long consumer and admirer of Mignolaverse materials; to be silent is to be complicit. Silence is taking a side. He presented his thoughts in a respectful, thoughtful way. He's caught a little flaq for it, hurt butts and all, so if you read and happen to feel so inclined, words of support for him would be welcome.
subtlegrey: tiger's eye and bronze tortoise sculpture (tortoise)
Woke up this morning to find my betta, Truffle, had died. 

He got his name from his iridescent brownish colouring that reminded me of fancy chocolate truffles, the kind that look more like jewelry than food. 

We've had him several years, he was a nice fish. I'd tap on his bowl twice and he'd come up for food. He wasn't aggressive with other fish, in fact, our rainbow shark bullied him so much I separated him into his own nice big bowl a few years ago. He had a plant, a floating log, a heater, and snails for company.

Truffle was alert and ok yesterday, no signs of disease or distress, eating like normal. I'd noticed he was less active than usual the past week or so, but it's winter so I didn't think much of it. He most likely died of old age, which is comforting.

RIP, wonderful fishy. 
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What a year. What a decade! My own personal new year isn't till my birthday, which is good because I have time to reflect and write up a more proper end-of-year / end-of-decade post later.

I'm TIRED. Didn't feel well yesterday, couldn't sleep for shit last night, finally fell asleep around 3am? Felt like hot garbage this morning so I called in to work and rested (grouchily. can you rest grouchily? because i sure did). Some friends came over this evening and we played a game of Shadowrun (TOTALLY AWESOME) but I'm still feeling sick, so I'm not planning to stay up till midnight. 

Going to eat some food, read a book, and HOPEFULLY go to sleep at a reasonable hour tonight. I'm off work tomorrow for the holiday; with any luck, I'll be recuperated enough to dive back in Thursday. If not, well, fair enough. The last few months have sorely taxed my mental and physical health. I'm grateful my body didn't get sick before this!


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In light of election predictions/results, I'm taking a break from Twitter for my mental health.

Today, I got my new car VIN-inspected, registered, and tagged! (And paid the $1500 sales tax, since I purchased out-of-state. Ooooof. Yeah, sorry everyone, not gonna be a very stacked Christmas from this household in terms of gifts.)

2 lovely things have happened already and it's not even Noon:

1. My new tag number is 073. I LOVE 7's and 3's, prime numbers in general, and particularly like 73! Yet another Sign from the Universe that buying this car was the Right Thing for me. <3

2. A few months ago, I sent a die to a person in the Dice Maniac's Club group. Chessex Borealis Aquerple d10, at the time, worth around $40ish. The DMC person was going through Some Shit and being very conscientious and responsible with their money (in my opinion). I wanted to give them some joy, something positive and happy, so I sent the die to them free.

At the time, I received a tearful thank you in FB Messenger, and I was just so glad I could brighten their day!

This morning, I check the mail, and there's an unexpected package. Inside is a note "You gave me an unexpected gift, now here's one from me. Thank you so much. Happy Holidays!" :3

It's a set of Archanist's Armory Smokey Night Aurora Borealis d10s from their super-limited-no-plans-to-stock-more 10d10 offerings!

I AM SO HAPPY! And so touched!!!!! Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!
subtlegrey: d20 kittens (d20)
1. I'm gonna go rake leaves this morning! (I love raking leaves and have been trying to find a chunk of time to go rake for Mom2; kept not working out then I woke up about 2hrs earlier than planned today and I'm'ma DO EET!)

2. Flute choir Christmas/Holiday concert this afternoon! Yeay! I think this will be our best, most musical concert ever and I'm looking forward to it.

3. After 17 years, *I have a new car*! A PURPLE 2016 Honda H-RV. It is amazing! It is everything I ever wanted, and so much more, and there's such a story behind it and SQUEEEEEEEE happiness! (Details later.)

4. The audit this week is Wed-Thurs, so I have 2 days to get some actual normal QA work done beforehand (last several have been Tues-Wed). Oh! And there isn't another audit scheduled through the end of the year!

5. Orrin is coughing less! I can sleep with him in the bedroom without being woken up by the coughing. Wonderful news since the weather is supposed to turn cold tomorrow. Snuggling up with him keeps me much warmer than a heating pad.
subtlegrey: tiger's eye and bronze tortoise sculpture (tortoise)
This will be my first time performing in a concert with basically no home practice.

Flute choir concert this afternoon, I'm on alto flute for all pieces. The little bit practice I got in was 3 or 4 weeks ago on C flute (prior to being reassigned alto). I've attended 2 rehearsals the past 2 Sundays, and today's concert is going to be recorded for submission for next years' National Flute Association Convention.

No pressure.

Life and life choices got me here. Hopefully, talent and luck will get me through!

I'll be fine. The pieces we're performing are lyrical, many are variations on folk songs. Pretty harmonies, nothing particularly technically challenging (there is always tremendous challenge in those subtle aspects of music that even international award winners strive to improve). I'll know I needed more practice and *I* can tell I'm out of shape, but thankfully this is flute choir work, not solo work! My fellow players will help cover me!

Rin has been sick, coughing up both lungs and his liver. OTC meds didn't help, Rx meds didn't help. Even with us sleeping on different floors of the house and me wearing earplugs, his coughing keeps me awake. I am TIRED. And he's so exhausted and sore it defies description. :(

He's not coming to the concert for fear of a coughing fit during the recording. My dad and grama are planning to come, though. I didn't bother telling my mom; they have enough going on with her post-op healing. No one else ever comes, but it is a long drive.
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full set natural lighting




d4


d6


d8 flat/elliptical bubble?


d%


d10


d12


d20 sprue mark


full set LED lighting

subtlegrey: d20 kittens (kittens)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!
I HAVE A KIT-TY!
SHE'S BLACK AND SHE'S TINY
AND SHE LOVES ONLY ME!

Meeting a friend for my free birthday coffee at Starbucks, then home for Decisions. How much Responsible Adult work do I want to do before driving down to my mom's for FISHING.

My dad bought me a 5-yr state license as a birthday present, and come rain or flood, I'm gonna start putting some miles on it today!

Mom invited me down for fishing, and they've got some choice fishing spots, so I'm GOING. The only question is how much of the housework gets done beforehand... Probably at least a load of laundry (already in the washer!) and dishes (tiny amount, mostly cat dishes). Should clean bathroom counter tops, range top, and do some fish maintenance (tank cleaning/water change). That's it, though. I want to get on the road so I can get on the river!

Poor kitties, they'll STARVE TO DEATH because I won't be here to feed them at 8pm or tomorrow at 8am. (They'll have plenty of dry food and I'll give them gooshy food before I leave today.) But HERE FISHY FISHY FISHY!!!
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My brain keeps insisting that I haven't done anything, i'll never do anything, my life is useless trash, WOE UNTO ME. So, for the record, today I have:

*Done about an hour of work
*Fed the cats
*Scooped litter boxes twice
*Gone to help a friend sort beads in her studio for a few hours
*Watched Ant Man & The Wasp
*Arranged to visit my Mom2 and do yard work for her next Saturday
*Vacuumed the entire house
*Mopped the entire house
*Done some general tidying up
*Practiced flute for 60-90min
*Taken a shower
*Made this list

TAKE THAT, BRAIN.
subtlegrey: d20 kittens (kittens)
This is just to log that tonight I experienced a Sir James Galway flute concert for the first time (and probably the only time, seeing as how he's 80). I am so, SO glad I went to this concert. I didn't know it was happening (or I didn't remember/realize) until yesterday afternoon. Thank Menoth there were seats still available! I also went to the pre-concert lecture, it was kinda flute 101 but great for me. My flute teacher and several KC Flute Choir members were there. (I had no idea! We could've made it a party or something!)

All the adjectives in Snake, Rattle N' Roll that scroll when you beat a level? ALL OF THEM.

OUTSTANDING.
AMAZING.
INCREDIBLE.
PHENOMENAL.
SPECTACULAR.

He did things I could scarcely believe my ears were possible on flute. It was classical repertoire, with some Irish folk arrangements. The accompanist was also all those adjectives - it was like he and Sir Galway had a mind-meld they were so precisely together!

He closed the concert with two duets with his wife, who I'm ashamed to say I didn't know played at all, let alone at the virtuoso level of her Living Legend husband. They were so in sync sound-wise I could barely tell when one picked up a phrase and the other left off!

He played on a platinum flute for all but the duets; then he played on a gold flute (probably to match Lady Jeanne, who had a gold flute). The flutes were NOT miked, yet I could hear everything crystal clear.

The recordings of his I've heard led me to think I didn't like his sound but I think that platinum flute gave it a sweeter tone than the gold because I enjoyed it much, much more than I was expecting.

Dude is 80. EIGHTY. He's got a splendid sense of humor, very witty on the microphone, great "dad" jokes. That is the kind of human I aspire to be.

Flute practicing motivation: full up!
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I decided, somewhat arbitrarily, to spend the day sorting through my photos. In 2017, I dumped all photos/videos into a single folder titled "Pix Purge 2017" with the intention of getting them sorted and organized. I was off to a fairly good start early in the year. Fall of 2017 through... well... basically the present was wracked with medical disasters, so the project juuuuuuuuust *sat* there being sullen and vaguely accusatory.

Today, I started out with about 3000 items in the folder. I am down to 758.

I deleted blurry, bad, and duplicate/triplicate images, put movies into a separate folder, and dumped "keepers" into loosely organized folders to organize in greater detail later (give descriptive titles, choose ones to print!).

I still have 8 sub-folders and 750 photos to get through.

I have learned that A) I TAKE TOO MANY DAMNED PHOTOS and B) I like cats C) I really like fishing, and D) I've basically looked the same my entire life, so stop the pity-party about being fat. GEEZE....

I've got too many pictures, even with culling the bad ones out, but one step at a time is the only way to get anywhere. Maybe I'll see the culmination of this now 2-year project in 2019?
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After hearing about this documentary from a friend of a friend, I wanted to watch it myself since it's one of the few topics I might have a prayer of an informed opinion on given my employment in clinical research. I started hijacking the OPs threads, but fortunately they have comments on a screen process, so I was able to dodge that faux paux and bring my yammerings here.

ETA Credentials: I worked for a contract manufacturer of Class I Medical Devices for 5 years as Quality Control before moving to a contract research organization performing Phase I and early Phase II Clinical Research (in-human trials) in 2016. I transitioned from Quality Control into Quality Assurance in 2018. Both industries are heavily and intimately regulated by multiple bodies, including the FDA and the European Union. Paperwork is my life.

The documentary itself was very much in line with any documentary - skating the edge of sensationalist exploitation of personal tragedies by way of Serious Faces and some text-on-screen data. Near as I can tell, that's what good documentaries do, so fair enough?

I took issue with a couple points, but overall I'm glad I watched it. I learned some interesting and depressing things. I will definitely pay closer attention to any Class III devices being foisted upon me, and I will thoroughly vet my surgeon's qualifications using any devices should that situation come up.

Under the cut is a very extensive breakdown of my take on a few of the movie’s points, including links to FDA websites specific to issues at hand.

ExpandI do go on. )
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In November, I did a rundown of some chocolate chips in my yammering sessions. There are lots of those in the world, so...

I tested 3 more varieties of chocolate baking chips today. For SCIENCE.

(By "tested" I mean "ate." I did not test these in baked goods.)

ExpandRead on )
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Instead of NaNoWriMo, I'm going to aim for a short essay every day on a topic I feel like yammering about.

Today is the last day of the month! I did a yammer most days, and probably made up for missed days with the length of some of the posts. I wasn't sure what I'd write about today, and now that I'm here, I think I'll post some of my favorite "treat" recipes instead of a normal yammering session because I'm feeling nostalgic for the days I could make and eat and share lots of these kinds of things without any worries or fears.

Recipes presented here in their original forms (some with notes). FWIW, I've used substitutes in all my recipes to make them dairy free (usually coconut oil) and gluten-free or reduced gluten (almond flour, most usually since coconut flour makes it too dry and oat flour is a little too distinct-tasting) and they generally turn out fine. Coconut oil and clarified butter (NOT ghee!) are my friends!

ExpandRead on... )

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