RRRRRAAAAARRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!

[RVR II]

I've never done Door Dash but I would have to think you have to show proof of delivery (photo, GPS located, etc) to cover yourself in case your dealing with a shady customer, porch pirate after delivery, etc.

[Pastor of Muppets]

I've never done Door Dash but I would have to think you have to show proof of delivery (photo, GPS located, etc) to cover yourself in case your dealing with a shady customer, porch pirate after delivery, etc.

That's what people say you should do to cover your ass.  Photo proof isn't required unless it's a contactless delivery.  If you hand the order to a customer, it becomes your word against the customer.

I think what happened is that the order was supposed to be contactless, which would have required a photo.  Except the customer came out to meet me so I just handed it to him then clicked the button that said "handed order directly to customer".  DD supposedly contacts the customer to verify this, and it's possible that the customer never verified.  In other words, this is caused by a passive customer, not an actively malicious and lying one.

[Cyrusso]

I've never done Door Dash but I would have to think you have to show proof of delivery (photo, GPS located, etc) to cover yourself in case your dealing with a shady customer, porch pirate after delivery, etc.

A good friend of mine had a very bad experience with Uber eats last year, so ever since then I've tried to either just walk, or exclusively just use Lyft. I don't like using those kinds of services unless I ABSOLUTELY have to.

Back in October, I went to a party, and the smoke machine triggered my asthma. I walked, and I walked to get back to my car(which was unfortunately... on the other fucking side of town), so I had no option but to use a Lyft. Took fucking FOREVER though, because the first car I booked canceled, then I had to book another... and another. FFS.

I NEEDED to use a Lyft because I found out about a week later that I had bronchitis, and fortunately I have insurance... which is good, because going into a hospital for emergency care will get you minimum a four or five figure bill.

I take advantage of my medical insurance, but only when I need to. Still though, I'm pretty sure my insurance company might be thinking of trying to take out a contract on my life. If I end up dead, tell the cops to investigate my insurance company.

[Pastor of Muppets]

Looks like the contract violations are gone now, so my appeal was accepted.

[MartyS (Gromit)]

I think what happened is that the order was supposed to be contactless, which would have required a photo.  Except the customer came out to meet me so I just handed it to him then clicked the button that said "handed order directly to customer".  DD supposedly contacts the customer to verify this, and it's possible that the customer never verified.  In other words, this is caused by a passive customer, not an actively malicious and lying one.

I've heard of this being a scam pulled on various delivery platforms, intercepting a contactless delivery so the photo never gets taken.  I think the advise was to put it on the ground and take a photo anyway even if the customer is standing right there.

[Pastor of Muppets]

I have intermittent problems in my left eye.  I get this feeling of grittiness, like there's something in there.  It used to be rare, and would go away after a good night's sleep.  Now it's getting more common and longer lasting.  I looked real close last time and saw something that looked kind of like a tiny pimple on the eyelid.  I looked this up and it turns out it's something called a "sty".  They say that keeping the eye clean, by swabbing it with special alcohol solution pads, will help prevent these.  I ordered some up and hope it works.

The last few days have been worse than usual.  It's all red so and it feels, like, sore and dry.  I guess maybe I have pinkeye again.

[Cyrusso]

I have intermittent problems in my left eye.  I get this feeling of grittiness, like there's something in there.  It used to be rare, and would go away after a good night's sleep.  Now it's getting more common and longer lasting.  I looked real close last time and saw something that looked kind of like a tiny pimple on the eyelid.  I looked this up and it turns out it's something called a "sty".  They say that keeping the eye clean, by swabbing it with special alcohol solution pads, will help prevent these.  I ordered some up and hope it works.

The last few days have been worse than usual.  It's all red so and it feels, like, sore and dry.  I guess maybe I have pinkeye again.

Don't be afraid to go to the doctor if you need to. A friend of mine is actually getting cataract surgery next week, and even though I know it's necessary for her to have a good quality of life, I get freaked the hell out by ANY damn thing having to do with eye surgery. Pretty sure that's a very common thing.

Please make sure and take care of yourself Pastor.

[Pastor of Muppets]

I brought this up 2 years ago when I was getting an eye exam for new glasses, but the doctor just recommended over the counter eye drops.  Eye drops work about 0.5% of the time.  But at the time I hadn't noticed the styes, or known the name for it.

[Pastor of Muppets]

My driver's license expired.  I went to the Illinois DMV to get it renewed.  They gave me a printout temporary license and said the real one would arrive in 15 business days.  About 10 business days later, I get a letter saying basically "we fucked up at scanning something, please come back to the DMV to start all over again".  So I did that.  Now my plastic license is expired but I keep the temporary one in my car

None of this would be a problem if not for the fact that I went traveling yesterday.  I flew out to Philadelphia and I'm going to meet a friend and drive to Ohio for the eclipse.  Except that I forgot my temporary license and I cannot rent a car on an expired license.  The TSA is totally cool letting you fly on a license that's expired less than 1 year.  But Enterprise is a little more hardline about it.

So I asked my roommate back in Illinois to help get me a copy of my temporary license.  It's an ordinary black and white piece of paper so she should be able to scan it and send it to me.  Problem is she is terrible with technology and really forgetful.  The first problem can be solved with the assistance of the staff at FedEx-Kinko's.  I think.  But if she cannot get me that license by today, I could be outta luck for my plans.

[Pastor of Muppets]

I realized shortly after the last post that scanning and emailing might be needlessly difficult.  So I signed up for eFax so that she can just fax it to me.  I had to pay $5 for the service and need to remember to cancel before next month.  How strange that a technology from the 80s is the best solution to a 2024 problem.

I'm gonna be pissed if I miss this eclipse.  But screw it, I'll go to the next one in 2 years in Spain.

[LucasM]

I'm gonna be pissed if I miss this eclipse.  But screw it, I'll go to the next one in 2 years in Spain.

It is funny... when going to a concert, we try our best to NOT get 'obstructed view' seats! 

[Cyrusso]

Le sigh(as Anais.Butterfly used to say to me all the time), this past Saturday I had back surgery on my L3-L4 lumbar vertebrae, because of a herniated disc. They initially thought it was sciatica, but an MRI performed the day that I was admitted showed otherwise... The thing they took out of my back was gross, disgusting, resembling something somewhat like what I imagine a prolapsed urinary canal would look like.

The operation was a success, my 15/10 pain(NOT EVEN KIDDING ABOUT THAT) is mostly gone and handled with pain meds, but I've still got healing up to do. It's also kind of sad because now? Now... I've kind of got to learn to walk again, because I have still got weakness in my right lower leg. I'm able to use a walker though, so that's good, and in a couple weeks, I should be(mostly) back to normal. I've still got to be careful about how long I sit down everyday, I got to be careful not to bend at the waist for a while, or twist my back.

So, I'm at least 2-3 weeks from getting back to normal... but at least I'm alive. Nothing like almost dying(or feeling like I am dying) to appreciate life again.

But... I can walk, I can perform all my normal bodily functions without assistance. All in all, despite a ridiculously fast-tracked back surgery, and a depressing hospital stay... I'm doing okay.

Glad to be back in the land of the vertical... lol.

[LucasM]

Cyrusso, I'm so sorry things got so bad you needed surgery.

I had a slipped C6-C7 disc for which I ultimately had surgery.  So I get the "15 out of 10" pain.  When my disc was herniated I used a TENS unit (electric current to stimulate the nerves to interfere with pain), and I would routinely have the electrical current up so high in order to get the slightest relief, that each night I'd peel off the contacts and my skin would be blistered underneath - I basically boiled my skin trying to get the tiniest relief from the pinched spinal nerve pain.

I hope that your back heals rapidly, the physical rehab goes smoothly, and you're up and comfortably moving around soon.  I'm glad that at least the pain is down to a manageable point now.  It is amazing how quickly one's mood can crash with that level of unavoidable pain.

[Pastor of Muppets]

I realized shortly after the last post that scanning and emailing might be needlessly difficult.  So I signed up for eFax so that she can just fax it to me.  I had to pay $5 for the service and need to remember to cancel before next month.  How strange that a technology from the 80s is the best solution to a 2024 problem.

I'm gonna be pissed if I miss this eclipse.  But screw it, I'll go to the next one in 2 years in Spain.

I ended up borrowing a car from my sister.  The situation turned out better because I saved $400

[Cyrusso]

Cyrusso, I'm so sorry things got so bad you needed surgery.

I had a slipped C6-C7 disc for which I ultimately had surgery.  So I get the "15 out of 10" pain.  When my disc was herniated I used a TENS unit (electric current to stimulate the nerves to interfere with pain), and I would routinely have the electrical current up so high in order to get the slightest relief, that each night I'd peel off the contacts and my skin would be blistered underneath - I basically boiled my skin trying to get the tiniest relief from the pinched spinal nerve pain.

I hope that your back heals rapidly, the physical rehab goes smoothly, and you're up and comfortably moving around soon.  I'm glad that at least the pain is down to a manageable point now.  It is amazing how quickly one's mood can crash with that level of unavoidable pain.

Ick, I'm sorry to hear that Lucas. I can't even begin to imagine how horrible that was. I did a little bit of research on my own and found that as long as I'm careful about avoiding bending, lifting, and twisting, I won't have a recurrence. This is one of those things that mostly only happens within five weeks of the initial surgery.

So, I did go to PT, mostly to do paperwork, but they did an assessment of me, and I've still got a little bit of weakness in my right leg, but I'm able to walk fairly well, and I'm proud of myself for making sure all this stuff would be taken care of and not give my poor folks a huge hospital bill.

I also keep trying to remind myself of how lucky I am, because things could have been SO much worse for me.