Just a reminder (yet again) that the world is bigger than the US. I live in the UK, we don’t water our lawns here. Grass will grow literally anywhere with no human involvement. Letting your lawn grow a little longer is great for wildlife - the bees love the clover! In you live in the countryside get a sheep/cow/goat/donkey/llama and you’ll feed livestock without having to mow it either.

That said, fuck leaf blowers. There is absolutely no need for that noise.

I’m in the UK so didn’t see the last one but during the previous one I found looking around at the darkness and observing how all the birds went quiet was a bigger deal than the actual eclipse of the sun. I mean that was still really cool, but the dark and stillness was uncanny.

Yeah, I thought the same when I wrote the comment. I’ve read a bit more about him and what he was charged with. In the UK he wasn’t convicted of grooming - they prosecuted him for it but he was found not guilty. I think it was a consensual relationship, but of course a 19 year old having sex with a 12 year old is rape regardless of consent in the UK and he was (rightly) convicted of that. In the Netherlands however the law is different, it wasn’t considered rape but something like “morally offensive actions”. So from the Dutch pov he’s not actually a rapist, which might explain why the Dutch Olympic committee don’t seem to think it’s that big a deal. Despite that, I still think a convicted pedophile rapist should not be allowed to compete in the games, but that needs to be made clear in the eligibility requirements by the IOC, rather than the wishy-washy “role model” contract.

All Olympic athletes sign a declaration saying they’ll strive to be a role model or something similar. I’d say a convicted rapist shouldn’t be considered a role model and therefore shouldn’t be allowed to compete.

I’ve never heard it called “bad tension” but I have POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) which fits your symptoms. I can’t maintain my blood pressure when I stand still (or if I get too hot, bend down, lift my arms over my head, eat a big meal…) my heart rate skyrockets to try to compensate and I ultimately faint.

I was diagnosed in 2012 and they’re still tweaking my medication to try and get it right. For most people it starts in their teenage years and they “outgrow” it within 5 years. For me it’s second to moderately severe Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, there’s no outgrowing it. I can’t go anywhere that requires more than a short walk from the car to a seat - queues are literally my enemy - so I use a wheelchair. The amount of dirty looks I get when I get out of my wheelchair to move to a more comfortable seat, or to go to the toilet etc are awful! Not only are a lot of disabilities invisible but not everyone who uses a wheelchair can’t walk at all. Grrrr!

Still shows as donations disabled to me. No doubt that $400k will be sorely needed despite the boys getting the drugs covered.

Go fund me is paused as they got the insurers to change their minds (with pressure from Missouri lawmakers I believe). The kiddos will get the drug they need.

!leopardsatemyface@lemmy.world

When I was very little, maybe 2, my mum had sat me down in front of Sesame Street while she did some chores. Not long after I came running into the kitchen “mummy mummy there’s a birdie in the front room!” She said yes, that was big bird and to go back in and watch it. I kept running back to her increasingly more upset about the birdie until she came into the living room to find a pigeon had come down the chimney and was irately trying to escape. I know I was too young to remember it, but I swear I can recall the feeling of vindication!

My partner is newly diagnosed at 40 and while on the surface it seems like he’s a just “shrug it off” guy, he’s not able to fully ignore it - there’s so much inner turmoil. He always feels bad for not doing XYZ and he’s never truly able to enjoy doing something else instead. He can be temporarily distracted by an enjoyable/relaxing activity, but he does care. He always cares. And he never feels like he deserves to enjoy anything when there’s so much to do at home/work/his life. It’s unbelievably distressing. ADHD is a spectrum. I’m so glad that you are able to shrug it off and enjoy other things, but that’s not the reality for all ADHD sufferers.

Or move the pedals to the touch screen. So convenient!

I get the sentiment but you’re glossing over two important things; 48.11% of people voted to remain and there hasn’t been a second referendum.

Half the country wanted to remain, the other half are racists and/or idiots that believed the outright lies peddled by the leave campaign. Latest polls suggest 60% would vote to remain today but we’re not being offered the chance to vote on that. Voting labour in general elections doesn’t mean we get to rejoin the EU.

I’m high risk as I’m immunosuppressed. I’ve had 8 vaccines, shielded for well over a year and always wore a mask. I finally caught COVID last week. There’s not a doubt in my mind that I would have died already if I hadn’t been vaccinated. My oxygen saturation levels just keep dropping - 90% today. I’m going to have to go to hospital ☹️

“Expelled” doesn’t just mean “from the body” or “expelled from school”. Synonyms are exiled, banned, barred, driven/thrown/cast out, transported, ostracised etc. In the UK we still occasionally expel people from towns using antisocial behaviour orders. Can they still sneak back in? Sure. But if they’re caught they can be fined, arrested and even jailed. If you have an electronic tag you don’t even need to be caught in person.

I genuinely had to check Wikipedia to remind myself which civil war we call the civil war. It’s the Roundheads apparently, and even that’s split into the civil war I, II and III. Ridiculous.

Exactly as it sounds then! Thanks for spelling it out for me!

Cool cool cool cool cool… what’s photovoltaic?

This is similar to my situation in that my mum is not dying right now. She keeps saying she wants to die and we have made the doctors aware of that and that we don’t want heroic life saving measures. But there’s a grey area around things like NG tubes and IV electrolytes. Should my mum be allowed to slowly starve herself to death, even though she could go on to lead a full and healthy life for at least 5 years if she just ate? Yes, if she truly understands that’s the choice she’s making. But there’s no way she would choose a slow undignified death in hospital if she was in her right mind. I just know she wouldn’t. If she gets through this though, if she gets home and regains her senses, I will fully accept her decision if she decides to take her life before the cancer finishes her off. I’ll help her procure whatever she needs even.

With regards to your situation, based on my experiences right now, I don’t think I’d force them to be committed. It doesn’t sound like something that can be functionally cured, like it is in my mums case. It doesn’t sound like a psychotic break, more like long standing psychological issues. And if they can’t be cured, what’s the point in causing yourself and your loved one further distress? Mental health care usually requires ongoing treatment and patient compliance. Can you envision them ever sticking to the medication regime they require?

Sorry, I know I’m being a bit blunt, I’m just so exhausted from this I don’t have the bandwidth to phrase it more kindly. Only you can make the decision (which sucks) only you will have to deal with the fall out (which sucks more). If they’re not hurting themselves or others I’d follow another commentators advice and write a reassuring but encouraging letter to your loved one, urging them to seek help in order to live a happier life. Beyond that I don’t think there’s a way to get them help against their will without them hating you. And them hating you when you’re only trying to do what’s best for them is truly one of the worst feelings in the world. Best of luck, and I’m sorry for what you’re going through.

Thank you, I appreciate it. I’m sorry for dumping that on you, it was a bit cathartic after a horrible day!

Luckily (?) we’re pretty close to the bread line so there’s nothing to argue about RE her will. We had a weirdly similar situation with an extended family member inserting themselves into the discussions around my mums care with a completely different opinion than everyone else and they caused nothing but more upset and angst. I guess situations like this really can bring out the best and worst in people.

Thank you for the advice about listening to my conscience. When everything is so uncertain and confusing I guess it’s the only thing I can rely on. And I know in my heart that I’m doing everything that I can to help my mum and that if she were well she’d be grateful not hurtful.

Thank you again for the kind wishes and advice 💕

We kinda assumed my dad would be her proxy as he’s her next of kin (they’ve been married 42 years) but we don’t have the system here. My dad in particular was upset that a third party stranger would make the medical decisions for mum if it came to it, not him. The only thing they did let us decide was whether they’d employ “heroic measures” on the two occasions when she very nearly died. They accepted our request that she not go to intensive care or be resuscitated - that’s something we had spoken about before and we were certain it was mum’s wish.

I’ve made my dad promise to write his advanced directive when this is over. Speaking as a daughter going through this nightmare right now, I would implore anyone over 50 or with serious health issues to write your advanced directive now or whatever the equivalent is in your country - or just have a conversation with your nearest and dearest about what medical interventions you want to have if you’re too ill to speak for yourself, if nothing else. This would have been an awful awful experience either way, but if she’d written an advanced directive or arranged power of attorney before this happened, at least we wouldn’t have this agonising “are we doing the right thing” question hanging over us too.

ETA: the Terri Schiavo case from the US is an example of why I think the court of protection/independent third party system is better than the automatic next of kin/proxy system you guys have. Although it’s been awful and initially insulting to experience, I completely understand why “take my word for it” isn’t considered adequate for medical decision making here. Before things deteriorated so suddenly, mum was saying wildly different things to my brother, then me and then my dad. Save your family this heartache - write your intentions out now while you’re well enough to do so.