I’ve put the ice cream back in the cupboard instead of the freezer.
More than once.
And I didn’t even have kids.
11 Likes
Updating an XML file that does “stuff”
Notepad++ is my tool of choice for this mostly
I have a process to add the new entries so I’m not prone to screwing up something trivial.
Of course it uses Excel for part of it as I think it does what I need it to do faster and with less chance of mistake.
So I go through the routine, and this is a big addition of data. Takes it from 2500 lines to over 4000.
Everything seems to check out, but the updated XML isn’t working. I can tell there is some syntax jacked up.
All my Open and Close Brackets are there.
Same number opening and closing bits.
No extraneous characters, but screw it, we’ll replace some tabs that came in on the blank lines.
So I end up basically removing a section I added. Saving. Testing. NOPE. Remove. Test. Nope.
This goes on for far too long before I see that the Text I’d imported way back at the excel stage where I’m molesting this data has an Ampersand that .xml is not fond of.
Sure, NotePad++ flagged it in BLUE as being “something you should be aware of”, but in the middle of the line I just kept glazing over it.
Bleh.
6 Likes
Doctors who think that their job is to check out the signs and symptoms and then scribble something on a pad.
I’ve been having chest pains the past few weeks. Don’t be concerned; I knew even before the doctor confirmed it that it was musculoskeletal, not cardiac or pulmonary (although hearing that confirmed did take a load off my chest). It got worse last night, so I went to have it looked at.
So, the doctor makes his diagnosis (he was talking to himself, not to me, so I think he said “acortical dendritis” (which I can’t find online, but it sounds like an inflammation of peripheral nerve cells) in the cartilage where my ribs meet my collarbone. Which could be the case. I would have guessed a defect in the cartilage itself rather in the nerve cells, but, you know, sure.
So he told me to take some advil, gave me a prescription for naproxen if I need something stronger, and sent me home.
Now, this was a walk-in clinic, and busy, and they didn’t see me until past closing time. I get that he was in a hurry. I’m not expecting a lecture on the underlying biology of dendrites. What I do expect is basic information about what I have (in layman’s terms; I’m still not sure that “acortical” is the word I heard), a description of how it might have happened so that I can possibly avoid it in future or prevent it from getting worse, prognosis of how likely it is to go away on its own, and a description of what the medication is going to do to change that (Will it fix it? Alleviate the symptoms so that it’ll go away in its own time? Or just dull the pain for a while, and I’m stuck with nothing being done for the underlying problem?).
That sounds like a lot, but seriously: “You’ve got some swelling of the nerve cells in your chest. It’s probably nothing you did; it just happens sometimes. It will probably go away on its own, in a week or two, but you’ll be a lot more comfortable if you take a painkiller for it.” I reeled that off, out loud, in under ten seconds. Is that what I have? Hell if I know, and that’s the problem.
I’m going to take the advil (plus something to help me sleep), and see if that helps. I expect it will; I don’t like taking painkillers because pain is generally a useful warning to tell me that I’m doing something to injure myself, but if it’s just inflamed nerve cells, that’s a problem with the warning mechanism, not with what I’m doing. I’d just feel a lot better if I knew what to expect as a result.
18 Likes
I would add one more thing – if the patient has done some research on their own, or expresses fears which turn out to be unfounded (“I don’t think it’s my heart, but it’s in the same general area, so I came here to figure out what’s going on”), don’t shame them for misdiagnosing themselves.
Don’t reinforce that a visit to a clinic is an exercise in being shamed while you are ill/in pain.
15 Likes
And if you misdiagnose and your patient’s hunch turns out to be right, don’t try and make excuses as to why your diagnosis was wrong. Yes, tendonitis is a lot more common than cancer of the knee, but you should have done the blood work to make sure anyway.
12 Likes
Fuck Civility. Hugboxing nazis - or garden variety white supremacists - does not work. And I know this because I spent the past year and a half trying to act as a moderating influence on a nazi yoof in my general gaming circles.
15 Likes
Yeah, the point everyone misses in the redemption through kindness stories is the first step of ostracism.
The individual is separated from the Nazi¹ surroundings (going to school in a different geographical location, new job, etc.) and then not welcomed by the new community due to their Nazi ways.
Humans are social animals, and we will change to fit in a group if we have none. That’s why cults have success recruiting from the disaffected. But without that isolation step, there’s not usually an impetus to change.
¹Using as shorthand, because I am tired and about to go to sleep.
13 Likes
The suffix “itis” in general just means inflammation, and Advil can possibly relieve that. So I would take it for a day or two and see what happens. What caused the inflammation is another matter. “Acortical” sounds to me like “not bone” but dendritis? If it’s nerve related, why not neuritis? Weird.
Clinicians really need to explain what they’re talking about, and take the time to do it properly, and at the level of the patient.
6 Likes
Yeah, I got that much. There’s a lot of -itis in my family. Mostly of the arthr- variety, but also some tendon- and a couple other kinds.
That’s the kind of thing that I would have liked the doctor to expound upon.
It sounds to me like “not of the (cerebral?) cortex.” But again, I may have misheard that word, or improperly distinguished where it was divided with the next. “Acor-” I’m sure I heard (like “acorn” without the end"), and “-itis,” but the rest was all spoken very quickly and only said once.
Askin’ the wrong person.
Agreed.
With that out of the way:
Barbers.
What is the difference between a “barber” and a “men’s hairstylist?”
If you were to ask me, it would be that a “stylist” only works cuts scalp hair, whereas a barber offers both a shave and haircut1. You put up a barber’s pole, the red and white stripes represent bandages and blood. I’ve been to several barbers who still offer “scrapes,” so it’s not entirely a thing of the past.
However, when I went to get groomed for a family occasion, I went to a barber and asked for a shave and a haircut1… and the barber not only didn’t offer the former service, he seemed incredulous that anyone still did. I couldn’t find another barber on such short notice, so I got my haircut, stopped by the local pharmacy to get supplies, and did the rest of the job myself.
Now, if someone isn’t comfortable putting a literal razor’s blade to my throat, I’m quite happy for them to not do so. I’m quite partial to my throat, thank you very much, and I’d prefer it as un-sliced as possible. But, if you’re going to advertise yourself as a “barber,” and going to put up your “bandages and blood” spiral outside of your door… well, call me a traditionalist, but I think that you’re explicitly advertising that service. If you’re not willing to take a razor to someone’s face (and, again, better not to do it if you’re not comfortable), you should call yourself something else: men’s hairstylist, men’s hairdresser, men’s haircutter, or whatnot.
Because sometimes, I’m going to want a shave and a haircut1, and I need a way to distinguish who is offering that service and who isn’t. And, generally, the word for someone who does offer that service is “barber.”
1Two bits!
13 Likes
I love you to bits! 
8 Likes
To be entirely too pedantic, you go to an entirely different place for that service nowadays. Should your barber still be offering limb removal, I suggest you consider changing.
14 Likes
Cortex just means the outer hull of something. It usually gets used for the cerebrum, but people also talk about a layer of cortical bone. There are also dendritic cells produced in bone marrow. So it could be you heard correctly, and it has something to do with them, for the little my definitely-not-a-doctor guess is worth.
9 Likes
Hair removal, beard removal, limb removal… what’s the difference?
11 Likes
Yeah that dude’s a stylist.
Real barbers still give the traditional warm lather shave.
10 Likes
Diameter?
7 Likes
Tools
Scissors, razor, bone saw.
9 Likes
…rum, leather straps to hold down the patient, a stick to bite…
9 Likes
…wheelbarrow to dispose of body…
9 Likes
Ah, I see you plan ahead. The mark of a true professional.
10 Likes
I’m concerned that your black bile may be out of balance. You’re looking for a barber surgeon (or barber chirurgeon if you will), who will take care of your bloodletting and amputation needs, as well as basic dentistry.
My barber still has a straight razor handy, but he has only used it on me to even up the hair on the back of my neck. That’s enough to make me inadvertently flinch as the blade touches skin. I don’t know if I have the nerve to ask for a straight-razor shave, if that is even on offer.
12 Likes