Posts by Aaron Gonzalez4

hollowmason64 said:Yeah, you hit the nail on the head 🤣

so they package these little excursions together... just a bunch of cheap stuff... and then people start throwing shade at the locals on our coast who are just trying to sell boat trips to Martha's Vineyard or the Elafiti islands for $20 or $30...

You still aren't grasping that it isn't about the price tag, it’s about the value you get for what you paid 🤣
It’s not an issue taking someone's money for a service; the issue is when that person makes you feel like you're a jerk for actually paying them for it 😁

Malta is actually great 😉

Hard to say 🤷

I don't know what kind of hotels you've stayed in, but where I was—they definitely weren't drinking out of plastic cups 🤣
And if you asked a server to bring you something, they did it without any hassle... and there was always a waiter or waitress nearby. There's no way someone wasn't available at any given moment 🙂

And honestly, that buffet setup is a lifesaver—you just grab whatever you want and try a little bit of everything...
It reminds me of my grandma; she nearly disowned me because I ordered catering for my grandfather's funeral. I just didn't have the time or the energy to mess around with prepping pork, lamb, salads, soups, and all that nonsense. She still hasn't quite forgiven me for it to this day 🤣

I knew you'd see yourself in this 😁

You still refuse to accept the fact that it’s not about the price tag—it’s about what you actually get for your money 🤣
It isn't an issue to take someone's cash for a service; the issue is when that person makes you feel like you've somehow robbed them just by paying 😁

Look, you're still missing the point: Americans hate it when people who speak their language come into their own backyard and act like they own the place—especially when they drop comments like "it's way cheaper back in my hometown."

And don't even get me started on those all-inclusive resorts. I've stayed at quite a few, and honestly? It feels straight out of Wall-E—a bleak vision of a future where humans just sit around, consuming everything in sight without a thought.
The next logical step is replacing those tacky little wristbands with a microchip shoved up your ass that works at every hotel in the chain. You wouldn't even need GPS to get lost because every single one of these places looks exactly the same... total pathetic overkill.

hollowmason64 said:Yeah, I’ve spent some time traveling through Turkey and Tunisia myself—though when I was in Tunisia, I wasn't really in the northern parts, just hanging out down by the Jersey Shore area. And honestly, believe me when I say you can find some seriously high-end, luxury resorts out there too.
So, you're looking for something a bit more refined for the comparison, right?
So, a few years back, I took a trip to this little island nation right on the edge of the Caribbean. We stayed at this really high-end luxury resort—total all-inclusive setup—and we were tucked away in these nice little bungalows. It ended up costing us about $110 per person.
It included 24-hour food and drink service, too. I mean, what kind of logic is that? It’s just ridiculous. You’re out there trying to relax while you're literally digging in the sand, and then some staff member comes trekking across the beach just to clean up after you. It felt totally unnecessary.
At that exact same time, staying over at the Excelsior with breakfast included was going to set you back about $240...
Look, I can be as patriotic as they come—I'll wear my flag on my sleeve any day—but let’s call a spade a spade. When things are truly, fundamentally broken, there's no point in sugarcoating it. Sometimes, you just have to admit when something is a total disaster. 😁

I feel a little awkward even bringing this up, but honestly, seeing what people are making right now in service jobs along the Gulf Coast is pretty rough. I was looking at some numbers recently, and hearing that wages in those coastal restaurants are hovering around $4,000... it just feels wrong. It’s tough to hear, especially when you see how hard everyone works during the peak season.$1667 I’ve been thinking about how to manage my nutrition and sleep cycles when I'm pulling 10 to 12-hour shifts. It’s tough enough as it is, but things get really dicey when those crazy stretches hit—you know, those marathons where you're working anywhere from 18 to 24 hours straight. When you're grinding like that, you can't just eat whatever is convenient. If I grab something heavy or greasy mid-shift, I'm basically dead in the water an hour later. I try to stick to stuff that keeps my energy steady without the massive crash, like protein bars or maybe some fruit if I can grab it quickly. When the shifts are that long, staying hydrated is half the battle, too. As for sleep, it becomes a total puzzle. When you finally get a break after a 20-hour stretch, your body doesn't always want to cooperate. I've learned the hard way that you have to be pretty disciplined with your environment—blackout curtains are a lifesaver—to make sure those few hours of rest actually count. It’s all about finding that balance so you don't completely burn out when the workload spikes.

So, what you're trying to say is that employers just don't have the wiggle room to bump up wages, right? 🤣

Not exactly... but honestly, he could have also mentioned just how much lower their prices are—starting with the food and everything else that comes after.

When you go with an all-inclusive package, they usually handle all the logistics, like getting you from the airport straight to the resort. Honestly, once you settle into one of those setups, you really don't feel the need to wander around looking for different restaurants or bars. It’s just easier that way. 🤣
It’s really not about how many landmarks you have on the map. It’s all about how you package that experience and actually sell the story, and honestly, our local tourism workers just don't seem to get it. Their entire pitch basically starts and ends with "fresh air and ocean views." 🙄🤣

Even Hladno Pivo wrote a song about that exact vibe... just showing off to your friends, saying "oh, we were here, then here, then over there..."

That whole crowd is peak hypocrisy. They pay for an all-inclusive package in some tropical paradise, watch staff get treated like dirt under the palm trees, and then just hop onto whatever pre-packaged tour they're sold... it's all a massive racket. And then they turn around and throw stones at the locals back home who are just trying to sell a boat trip around the Elafiti Islands for $25 or $30...

I mean, sure, Malta is great.😉

Charles Ramos7 said:Why would anyone waste all that time and money on Malta? 🤷 Plus, you can grab an Italian budget airline flight and be there in two hours. Hotel prices are pretty reasonable too.

And what, you planning on swimming to Italy?

And then what happens when you actually reach the hotel? A taxi driver will charge you an arm and a leg—seriously, they'll treat you like a walking ATM. Public transit is a joke, and restaurant/cafe prices? They aren't exactly cheap either—nothing compared to the deals we get back home. I couldn't even find a stupid little souvenir magnet for less than five bucks. Honestly, the sights are pretty much the same level of excitement as what we have over in Vir.

Thankfully, the crowds are mostly retired folks from the UK, so the whole scene is just a total circus.

Sarah Stewart3 said:Nonsense? I happened to catch those news reports around 2:30 PM on ABC, and there was this chart from a study showing that America had the highest prices out of the five or six countries they were tracking—even higher than Spain.😁

Total nonsense.

I swear, I’m sick of these journalists and their "calculations"... Not long ago, they were trying to argue that it’s just as cost-effective to drive down to Split via the interstate or take an AT&T connection because you can pick up a few pounds of lamb along the way. 🙏 😁

Cheap "all-inclusive" resort tourism simply doesn't exist here—and honestly, thank God for that. If someone wants to drop $500+ just to lounge by a pool and hunt for some boytoy, they can easily head across the Mediterranean with a bunch of tacky German tourists. Besides, visiting during the peak summer season is basically like shooting yourself in the foot.

Comparing any other coastline to ours is borderline blasphemy.

Service and restaurant prices fluctuate wildly; the real "best buy" will probably be the Albanian coast for a long time, though their tourism industry is stuck in the 60s, dreaming of looking like a cheap knockoff of Lloret.

If people have a problem with fast food along the coast, they should try actually interacting with the locals—then they might find a decent meal for a few bucks on Maui (where you can still find great apartments for two for maybe $50-$60), let alone in the less hyped destinations.

Edit: I just remembered those "brilliant" investigative reporters mentioned Malta and Cyprus as our competition. Please. By the time you actually get there, you've blown through a huge chunk of your annual budget, and don't even get me started on how expensive things are over there.🤣

ironsurfer8 said:I find that approach helpful too; I try not to overcomplicate things by just using basic saline sprays, like
.
However, if your sinuses are constantly running due to allergies, there's a real possibility they might be inflamed as well—perhaps even dealing with a bacterial infection...
Have you had any blood work done, like an ESR test, to check for inflammation? Has anyone actually confirmed that there isn't an underlying infection present?

It’s possible you need something more potent for the allergy itself, or perhaps you're dealing with allergic asthma...

The best move would be to head back to your primary care physician, tell them plainly that you aren't feeling well, and see where they take you from there...

The key is rinsing the mucosa regularly to minimize the chance of extra inflammation piling on top of the allergies. And obviously, you have to be consistent—which, let's be honest, is something I am terrible at. 😁

Ask for a referral to an ENT to get those sinuses checked out.
If this is happening frequently, you might be looking at sinus polyps, and man, that is a nightmare—I've already had them surgically removed three times. Before all that, of course, I dealt with chronic rhinitis, allergic asthma, and bronchitis, and now, if I'm not medicated regularly, I can't get any sleep at all. 😬

Dana Sanchez13 said:You're just proving how little you know by ignoring actual facts. Besides all those "chemical" treatments, there's a whole range of other effective methods out there—and they don't come with nasty side effects.
You probably haven't realized that everything in this world is made of energy vibrating at specific frequencies. When our body's frequency gets thrown off, we get sick. We can heal ourselves by fixing that vibration. There are several ways to do it, and one way is actually drinking the water you mentioned. But we're talking about WATER WITH A SPECIFIC FREQUENCY, which is what actually restores your health.

Hold on a second... WATER with a specific frequency?!!? What are we talking about here—are you handing out bottles of water after sensing them, or are you banging them against the wall in a certain rhythm to make them vibrate? I’d love an explanation.

Thanks in advance.

Even Tesla was a vegetarian—eventually, it’ll just be about fifty of us left actually eating meat. These vegetarians and their followers push this lifestyle like some kind of damn cult, acting like they're the only sane ones while everyone else is some kind of freak. Now they're probably going to start printing flyers featuring the Life of Nikola Tesla and Albert Einstein just to lure more people in, and before you know it, they'll be trying to build a tower of luxury modeled after a watchtower. Give me a break.

urbannomad12 said:That’s exactly why there's no point taking these people seriously—there's zero substance there. They just jump on these songs because they catch the lyrics. There’s no actual movement behind them, nothing like New Wave, Grunge, or even the techno explosion. They aren't out here preserving a Bob Dylan LP or some scrap of paper where Johnny Štulić scribbled "Slut's Sons." I preserve this stuff, and that's why it lasts forever. Meanwhile, Ceca will be forgotten by Sunday morning.

Prejudice, jealousy, complexes, narrow-mindedness... honestly, I don't even know what else is oozing out of you.
First off, list all the trade schools in the country and how many people actually graduated from them in the last decade—that number will show you something pretty eye-opening 😉
Then, look at the average income for people who finished those programs.
Give me one logical reason why events from 5 or 500 years ago should dictate what kind of music someone listens to today (go ahead, check the historical relationship between Japan and America, Mr. Historian)
We live in an era where someone's decision to have kids might depend entirely on their taste in music.
It’s highly questionable how much you actually know about New Wave, punk, or disco...
And let's be real—it’s unlikely an LP or a scrap of paper is going to last forever either.

Brain chemistry affects everything from how we perceive the world to our musical tastes, and it’s rare to find anyone whose levels are actually balanced. 😉

Austin Grant10 said:Look, you're eating way too much. I’m skinny, so I know I’m not exactly the gold standard here, but I honestly think two bowls of stew, two drumsticks, AND another piece of meat is overkill for one sitting!
And seriously, start thinking about how much weight is actually wrecking your health—it's not just about looking good in the mirror...
Good luck, big guy, and keep us posted on the results...

😂 So, two drumsticks are the reason for all this extra weight? Please. 😵 I eat at least twice that amount and have kept myself steady at 240 lbs at 6'7" for two years now. All you really need is physical activity—skip the running to save your joints and stick to cycling, the stepper, an elliptical, a rowing machine, or swimming... minimum 35 minutes.

Stop reading all that nonsense if you want to actually see some clarity in your life.😉

Alexander Moore73 said:You’re just overeating junk. There’s really only one way to drop weight: eat five small, healthy meals throughout the day and get moving regularly. Every grocery store in the country is packed with health cookbooks these days—nobody can honestly claim they don't know what a balanced plate looks like. Swap the chocolate for fruit when you need a snack. AND DON'T EAT DINNER—nothing after 6 PM.

Oh, please—give me a break with this "five small meals" nonsense. The kid eats normally; he’s just lazy. Whatever extra calories he puts away need to be burned off through cardio, plus he needs to supplement with the vitamins and minerals that muscles burn through during exertion—that's the whole game. He should find a personal trainer at the gym who can actually manage his workload and, ideally, talk him out of quitting the very first time his muscles feel sore.

Lisa Moore61 said:you're right—it’s a total nightmare trying to roll things around once you’ve actually got the furniture set up.🤣

As for rolling myself around? I’m still about 50 pounds short of being able to pull that off.😁

Andrew Peterson56 said:What about Schwarzenegger then? He was 300 lbs at 6'1" and didn't have an ounce of fat on him.🤣

Give me a break—that guy was a total tank.😁

slygull92 said:169cm and 155lbs
People tell me I have a great build, and honestly, I don't even feel fat—I wear a standard US size 8/10 and I just don't buy into those textbook rules.
It all comes down to how you're built and how you carry your weight.

🙂
I’ve been sitting at 240 lbs at 6'7" for a year now, and even after working out to tone up that weight, my pants still feel way too baggy...
All those idiots obsessed with BMI and stuff like that? Total garbage.

nimblestag31 said:Angela Bailey30:
...but I guess trashing medicine is probably the sweetest part. It happens at every single level, from everyone to everyone, with impossible expectations regardless of the working conditions.

That’s just your subjective take. People trash everything—politics, sports, tourism, and my personal favorite: the justice system.😁 Reality is one thing, but favoritism and the constant gaslighting of the public never stop; it's happening in every sector. News outlets sell sensationalist headlines—nothing new there—they just want them bigger, more provocative, and louder, preferably using famous names to grab attention.

Put tolerance and empathy first, keep your finger on the trigger, and just do your job. That’s how it works everywhere—it just looks different depending on where you are. If you can't handle it, change professions. Simple as that.

nimblestag31 said:Look, the reality is that mistakes happen—there are all kinds of doctors and all kinds of patients out there—but it feels like people just love tearing down the medical profession... like everyone is just itching for a chance to 🙂 trash doctors...

Fine, whatever. You all stay healthy and happy, ready to keep dragging anyone who wants to go to med school, is currently studying, or has already graduated. Apparently, it’s all just a corrupt, inhumane, and—above all—pretentious racket... 🙄

Once again, thanks to the sane people with actual common sense.

I agree—obviously, there are morons waiting outside the clinic doors too, but this thread is about the ones actually inside the exam rooms.😉
Personally, I’ve kicked out plenty of lowlife patients who think they have a "right" to verbally or physically assault doctors over nonsense like wait times, or those addicts who demand their specific dose of prescription opioids at any cost, regardless of anything else.

I’ll be the first one to praise a doctor's work—and I have many times—but I’ll also rip into laziness. I once saw with my own eyes a doctor refuse to see someone $667 because there wasn't a hospital bed available—everyone was busy—only for them to miraculously find time for a $667 and $5.00 piece of lead staring back at them from the barrel of a 9mm.

Neither I nor most people on this thread are trying to discredit medicine or everyone practicing it. Instead, we’re talking about the specific individuals who leave a massive black stain on the profession. That student, Night elf, with her already arrogant attitude isn't winning any hearts, and she's certainly doing nothing to help the patient-doctor relationship, now or in the future.

And honestly? Trying to excuse your screw-ups on the operating table by whining to exhausted patients is just pathetic.

Benjamin Murphy2 said:brisknomad6, you're overreacting.

I honestly think Noah Vaughn3 will make a great doctor—she actually gives a damn about what she does.

And here's another thing that keeps popping up in these threads: grades aren't some holy grail of knowledge, let alone actual expertise later on. Take me, for example—I failed anatomy. Why? Because the group of idiots teaching the course thought they were gods. That doesn't mean I don't know my anatomy, and it certainly doesn't mean I’m going to order a gastroscopy when the patient clearly needs a bronchoscopy.

As for the way people talk about this stuff, it’s just pure bitterness. It’s understandable, really, when you see how every single medical mistake gets crucified on a cross, while murderers, rapists, and massive white-collar criminals walk free without a scratch—and sometimes even get a pat on the back for being "capable."

No job is perfect. Not even this one. So, either accept that doctors are human, or—if that’s what everyone actually wants—just build us robot doctors and send the rest of us into early retirement. If that's the goal.

Look, I love playing soccer, too, but nobody is handing me a massive paycheck and a starting spot on the National Team just because I enjoy the game. You have to be good. Maybe she'll be great once she grows up and develops some empathy for "normal" people—those folks who avoid doctors until they can't take it anymore. They come to us because it's our JOB. When my car breaks down, I go to a mechanic. When I’m in pain, I go to a doctor. When I drop my car off at the shop, the mechanic doesn't drive it to ten different locations for "testing" just to fix a blinker or a headlight.

Sure, they studied for years, and yeah, their pay sucks compared to what they could be making elsewhere—big deal! They aren't special; most highly educated professionals in America face the same struggle under the old system.

You might have failed anatomy, but let’s be real—you probably scraped by with blood, sweat, and tears. Most of your colleagues got into med school through connections, passed with similar "methods," and landed their residencies the same way. It's nothing new, but then we shouldn't act surprised by their blatant incompetence and arrogance.

Like Elfica mentioned in previous posts about how patients shouldn't meddle where they don't belong—in her rosy little bubble, maybe that's true. But from my own experience dealing with repeated allergic reactions caused by antibiotics, if I hadn't reacted the way I did, I wouldn't even be breathing, let alone typing here. Expecting some guy like Pero Perić from a small town outside of St. Louis to have the chance to translate an English medical journal to analyze symptoms is just insulting. And when Pero loses sensation or a limb because some professional was lazy, ignorant, or just plain careless, blaming him for not being "informed" is nothing short of mass retardation.

I know I'm not the only case; there are plenty of people out there with much worse stories than mine. But tell me: is it "normal" for a young man to lose a leg during a routine appendectomy because of a doctor's screw-up? And of course, nobody is held accountable. I'm not playing games with this stuff; doctors have a massive responsibility, and they need to act like it.

Elizabeth Garcia2 said:Just another absolute disaster of an American film released in the last five years.
Even the usually brilliant Srđan "Žika" Todorović couldn't save this one.
It’s honestly wild how much American filmmaking has tanked lately.
Everything I’ve watched recently feels exactly like this unfortunate mess—amateur production value, obnoxious leads, wooden acting, and a script that is just painfully unimaginative and stupid...

Looks like I'm reading a comment that’s practically neck-and-neck with those self-proclaimed "expert" critics over at the 🤮

jadesailor14 said:My old man had surgery about ten days ago, man.
And we tipped all the doctors and nurses in a row—we're talking $0.00 (including all kinds of different currencies)
plus those little "thank you" gifts like coffee, candy boxes, and stuff—totaling about $0.00
The bedside manner? Top notch.
The actual hospital experience? Classic American style—we're talking Mount Sinai, Urology department.

I said Mount Sinai was basically the best because I was there about 10 months ago and saw this legendary doctor. Even now, when I go back for checkups, the guy remembers everything—from the surgery itself to how my recovery went—and he does that for tons of patients.
Even though they were bringing us chocolates, coffee, wine... honestly, I don't know if older folks just do that out of habit or what.

I only said it was the best because I can't wrap my head around how a girl who's been playing in the league for 10 years and weighs maybe 80 lbs can eat the exact same portions as a 6'7" guy weighing 240 lbs—and without ever hearing her ask for seconds. It's just crazy. 😲 😱

Richard Perez3 said:The title pretty much says it all.

Does anyone actually know—because I certainly don't—what the standard "tip" is for a surgeon after an operation?

I’m not asking for myself yet, but trust me, I will be. Good grief.

Thanks.

Back in '96, we tried taking my late grandfather to the hospital with a referral from his GP, but they turned us away—can't remember which hospital it was—so my uncle tried pulling strings with $667 and when they claimed there "wasn't a bed available," he reached for his gun, and suddenly a bed miraculously appeared... scumbags.

Things aren't really like that anymore, at least based on my own experience.

Sam Brooks said:It doesn't look like a cyst—honestly, you wouldn't even notice it because of the color or shape. It’s basically just shaped like a peanut, so I don't think it's anything crazy...
Hopefully, it's an atheroma.

I've heard about lipomas too—those are basically just fatty cell tumors. 😕

Diagnosis: Atheroma on the back
It was on my shoulder until about a month ago. Getting it handled via outpatient surgery is a breeze—it's a routine procedure, and you're usually out the door in 10 minutes max.😉

- In my case, things got inflamed so they didn't stitch it up—meaning I had to deal with daily bandage changes and antiseptic treatments—but if they actually close the wound, you'll be fine.
- These things can disappear and then pop right back up in the exact same spot. Mine started off looking like a tiny pimple, but once it grew and started hurting when touched, I decided it was better to just have it cut out.