Kids, they are a cruel mistress. And not the kind of stiletto wearing mistress old me might be referencing. They are more of an existential crisis everyday because you are afraid and also weirdly proud they are turning into you. It’s wonderful, truly awe inspiring, and tragicly poetic. You see that they are going to grow up exactly as you allow them to grow up. All your mistakes and weaknesses, but also strengths are amplified in a pattern recognition machine. Especially the way you react to things.
It’s amazing to watch as a project. When I’m in my lab programming this AniBot thing I often incorporate things I see in my kids. Feels a bit mad scientisty.
One of them is what I call the “empathy wave”. People always mirror each other’s faces and emotions when interacting and there is always a sender and receiver. This lasts as long as you have empathy for the sender. Babies have basically 100% empathy, they mirror you exactly, which is why people love babies, because you smile and are happy and you bounce that empathy wave back and forth and it’s all smiles. And genuine smiles because empathy is so high.
As you go down to zero in the empathy rating, it reverses. When you have 0% empathy for someone (say someone you hate) then it reverses. In other words if they smile, you frown. If they frown, you smile.
So that formula is helpful in automatic character animations. Especially in animating crowds and their reactions to things and events. All because it’s so fun to smile at babies.
I started taking that stuff four years ago. When I was 40. Because it was so bad they wanted to send me to the emergency room. Had no idea. Now I take two pills for that, and two pills for their side effects. It’s not so bad man. ;)
Dang. Yeah, that’ll get your attention. A buddy of mine did a stint as a HS biology teacher, and he told a vivid story once about doing a “here’s how we measure blood pressure!” demonstration on one of his students, and gradually realizing that no, there was no mistake, this kid’s diastolic pressure really was pushing 110.
I’m closing in on pre-hypertension, and last week my doc told me “Pills, or lose 20 pounds.” So I have to drop 5 lbs a month until March. I really should have done this last summer…
When I was younger, I had a bit of an issue with low blood pressure. Even got turned away from blood donation once because of it. But it never caused me any serious grief, and now as I’m getting older it’s a significant blessing.
I’m 56 now. On a routine check-up about 10 years ago, the doctor took my BP and freaked out. It was 212 over 188. He gave me a pill which he said “would bring it down quickly” and had me lie down in a darkened room for 20 minutes.
Came back and took the BP again in 20 minutes, and it hadn’t moved a bit. So he freaked again, and gave me another dose of the same medicine, and had me lie down again.
Came back in about 20 minutes ,and it still was way too high. So he gave me a prescription, told me to get it filled, go home, take some of that, and if the BP wasn’t down by that evening, to go to the emergency room (though he didn’t specify what they could do that he hadn’t).
The medication he prescribed was Valsartan HCL, what I guess is a max dose of it (100/25). I’ve been taking it ever since, and that stuff is amazing. I’m rock-solid low 120s over low 80s. Almost no variance.
The next time I visited that guy, he also diagnosed me with high blood sugar, as well as an aberrant protein in my blood, which they’ve been monitoring ever since.
I figure the guy probably saved my life. Certainly the best GP I’ve ever had. But the sad part is, at that visit he also told me he was fed up with the medical system and was leaving. I never saw him again.
Yeah, high BP = panic, send to ER, I have seen that. He was not overreacting.
We definitely have a goddamn i’m old thread.
So the wonder years debuted in 1988. It was set in the 60s. If they were to reboot the series, it would be set to 1997. Ok. That can’t be right. I’m not old. I’m not as old as Arnold’s father right?
The best part about blood pressure medication is the frequent urge to pee. Of course, you just peed an hour ago, so you know you don’t really have to pee. But your bladder says otherwise. But you know it’s wrong, you know if you go to the bathroom all of two ounces will come out.
Makes road trips and even long commutes a fucking blast.
Not to mention waking up three or four times a night. I have trouble sleeping as it is. Sometimes the first trip to the bathroom means staying awake all night.
So I’m on my front porch, taking a break from POE, as I do. There’s a T junction a few houses down. I hear a guy cursing and then a large white dog comes running down the street, dragging its leash. Doggie runs across the street, into someone’s yard. Behind said dog comes a guy, running, trying to catch doggie. They disappear to my left. I thought, ‘that’s funny.’ Then two cars come down the street going both ways. Too damn fast as usual. And suddenly it’s not so funny. The dog or the guy could have been hit, maybe killed. Strange how your viewpoint can change so quickly.
And they still won’t put in a speed bump. Speed bumps all over. Just not on my street.
Every year I see new pictures of Harbin Ice Festival - sometime, somehow I’m going to go visit this, but for now I’ll be satisfied with more pictures of this magnificent ice festival.
GERi™ has an elderly appearance with skin wrinkles and folds. Complete lifelike range of motion, realistic patient positioning, and non-pinching joints - moves like a person.
• Lightweight - approximately 28 lbs.
• Full-size adult manikin - measures 58"
• Overall female appearance
• Converts to male with removal of wig and attachment of male genitals
Visual Inspection:
• Normal and Cancerous Mole
• Stage 1 Sacral Ulcer
• Dilated and constricted pupils
• Reddened Skin Folds
I guess you get the sagging breasts whether you convert it to male or female.
