Tell us what's happened to you recently (that's interesting)

Everything else
14971

Sorry, yeah. I was joking. But those are the exact irrational thoughts I have when I’m in the same position you are currently in.
Because that’s generally how I deal with things: I ignore any symptoms until it’s too late.
That’s how I ended up with my heart problem from a few years ago.

If I’m being serious, I’d say of course you’re doing the right thing.
And my best wishes to you.
Apologies for my poor humor. As I wrote it, I was aware that it might not go over well.

14972

I hit a forum milestone I want to crow about. Sure, there are plenty of people here who have been here longer, or posted more posts, or lived through more trips around the sun, but this is mine: exactly ten years ago, I finally activated my account here. I had been lurking for years beforehand, when the “Bananas and Nuts” thread was frequently updated and The Narrator stalked through threads. But eventually I got tired of always reading the forum anonymously. Especially when I was reading it on both my laptop and desktop and forgot which threads I had already read.

My first attempt at joining the forum was in 2006. I still have Tom’s responding email in my Hotmail account where he politely asked me to give an accounting of myself, to make sure that I wasn’t a bot or a jerk or something. But I was too shy and never responded and kept on lurking for three more years. Eventually, there was a change in forum policy. Any schmoe from the internet could waltz on in, no interview required. So I waltzed on in. And now ten years have passed.

I’d like to switch from patting myself on the back and start patting myself on the front; here are some of my own favorite posts in the last ten years:

  • One of my favorite things here was a D&D 4th edition thread. xahlt started it as a one-shot, then Rob O’Boston turned it into a weekly/occasional thing where we’d meet on Fantasy Grounds and Skype and run through a fun campaign. It was the longest campaign I’d played in at that point, and I loved having Rob as a DM and playing with those guys. Eventually I started writing up each session as an after-action report. I wrote them from the point of view of my character, which was so heavily biased it sometimes led to lack of readability. In this session, my guy killed a goblin king, which was fun.
  • In a P&R thread about absurd bigotry, we got to riffing on the idea of Trump as James Earl Jones’ character in Conan the Barbarian, Thulsa Doom. I imagined that scene where Doom convinces a young woman to jump to her death with Trump speaking instead.
  • I enjoy writing up posts for 3x3 entries for Tom, Kelly, and Christien’s podcast feature. Christien had once mentioned that he enjoyed posts where we didn’t just spew out three movie titles but went into why we thought those were such great picks. I thought this was inspiring. Some of my favorites are Worst Dead Pets, Prayers, and Cancer In Movies.
  • speaking of movies, I always love chances to defend the Star Wars prequels, and so I relished the chance to Djscmansplain some of George Lucas’s decisions to Jpinard.

Anyway, I like the people here (probably including you, too. Yeah, you!), I like the conversations we have, and I like the topics we have them about. One of these days, when my financial outlook brightens, I really really ought to contribute to that Patreon thing…

14973

Congrats for taking the plunge! It was kinda cool when we had to ask Tom to let us in.

14974

I have always loved your posts about movies. I particularly loved your pick of the Iron Giant as a pet. Inspired. And it makes me think of a quote from a related Vin performance:

The Collector: “That’s your pet?”

I’m really happy you’ve been here so long. You have added so much.

-xtien

14975

So say we all :)

14976

Awesome, and great post!

14977

Today is the 30th anniversary of the first date with my wife.

14978

Congrats. It aint easy or even normal these days to stick together. Good job!

14979

Excellent! That’s always awesome to hear.

14980

Today me and my son (6) watched and listened to a live performance of Dvorak’s 9th in its entire 45 minute length. Only by the 4th movement did the boy grow restless and did he need quieting down.

It was a glorious thing. I’m so proud of the little fucker’s stamina and appreciation of the music.

14981

If Dvorak’s 9th had more Transformers in it kids would like it better.

14982

You are not Hollywood actors, are you?

(Oh, and Congrats!)

14983

So, true believers, news. All of my organs are fine and normal. But, while there is a something in my kidney, they couldn’t determine exactly what. This CT was done without contrast. Bottom line, I’ll probably need another scan this time with contrast.

Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.

14984

Ok, that sounds like decent enough news. Or at least not bad news.

Did they offer any further explanation on potential causes? Does this rule out any potential outcomes?

Here’s hoping for some real good news soon.

14985

I’d consider it pretty decent. So next is a doctor visit with the new blood workup. I’m guessing that if my creatinine continues to get lower I may not go for another scan, yet.

On the other hand my liver and lungs are clean. All working fine, so I got that going for me. :)

14986

Yup, lungs are pretty important.

14987

Great news, Rich! I’d buy you a beer if you weren’t on the other side of the country.

14988

God damn, dude. All the best. The uncertainty is the worst.

14989

Heh. The full result were rather specific.

Along with everything else I found out, and I quote:

Abdominal aorta: No aneurysm. Mild vascular calcification. So, a bit of the 'ol hardening of the arteries. But. Mild. At my age? Shit.

Seriously. If I thought they were gonna look at my liver… well I expected much worse. If I say I am surprised by that?

14990

You’re probably healthier than I am. ;)