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Posts by Andrew Hernandez

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The absolute worst IMF-backed fascist auntie in Close to Politics ·
granitepuma3 said:The women at the IMF—seemingly more delicate, yet somehow deeply traditional—fully embrace patriarchal roles. At the same time, they aggressively push for ultra-conservative values, seemingly targeting the rights of established leaders, advocating for segregation among children, opposing abortion, and rejecting any progressivism...

Who are they, and which one truly deserves the title of the ultimate IMF conservative matriarch?


Losses never stick, even when people talk trash. 😁
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Contact lenses in Health ·
Frank Lee6 said:Soft lenses can actually tear because they're made from such lightweight, delicate material. One way this happens is if you're handling them with sharp fingernails, even if they aren't particularly long.

They can definitely tear, though they usually need to be dry first. 😉


Yeah, a lens actually did tear on me once. Maybe it was just bad handling? Or my nails.
I tend to pull them out of the case with my fingers, so maybe I'm catching the edge on something sharp?
Honestly, God knows—I have no idea how it happened, but it did.
My eye was fine, though, since it was a soft lens.

Anyway, I'm not giving up on them. I'll just be more careful. And I should probably grab a backup pair so I'm not stuck waiting for a shipment like I am now.
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Contact lenses in Health ·
I REALLY NEED TO SHARE THIS WITH YOU ALL!

My contact lens actually snapped in half this morning! Right inside my eye!
I've been wearing soft lenses for years now. I honestly never thought this could happen.

See, my left lens had been feeling a little irritating for a few days. I figured it was just some buildup, so I popped it in the case with a cleaning tablet. It seemed a bit better after that. I put it in normally yesterday, but while I was out in the evening, it started bothering me so much that I took it out and wrapped it in a paper napkin. When I got home, I soaked it and used it again this morning. After a few minutes, things felt... strange. Like something was fluttering against my eye.

When I finally took it out, I was in shock. There was only a tiny fragment on my finger???

I tried again and, luckily, managed to get the second piece out.
Unknown

I had no idea anything like this was even possible. This is a first for me.
I wear these soft ones that are rated for 12 months.

These were at the 11-month mark. I was planning to switch them out soon, but I never dreamed they could just crack.
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Glasses or contacts? in Health ·
Laura Green8 said:Yeah, my doctor gave me Cortisone-Neomycin drops too, which seems fine, but she also suggested iodine since it's an antiseptic. That's what she explained when I asked (and yeah, it definitely stings 😢 )... I followed everything strictly for a week, but now she wants me to go another week because it hasn't cleared up yet. I'm starting to get worried. Isn't conjunctivitis supposed to be a minor thing?

The trouble with being on medication is that you get so used to it, so when something like this happens, wearing glasses feels incredibly annoying... I can't wait until Monday so I can get back to my little sweet meds. 😛 🙂


It's strange to me that it hasn't cleared up for you yet either. Just stick to the treatment or ask if they can switch out the Cortisone-Neomycin for something else.

I once ended up with a nasty infection in one eye myself. I didn't start treating it for a few days because I was traveling—it ended up lasting about a week or two. My ophthalmologist prescribed some other kind of drops instead of the Cortisone-Neomycin, because that wasn't working, but I honestly can't remember the names anymore.

Maybe try asking.

And that iodine thing still sounds weird to me, but don't listen to me, I'm not a doctor.🙂
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Glasses or contacts? in Health ·
Iodine?
I'm not sure about that. I've never heard of anyone using it.

I personally use Dexamethasone-Neomycin drops whenever I notice redness or tearing starting. I use them very sparingly, though—only when absolutely necessary.
I once had a case of conjunctivitis that I waited too long to treat, and by the time I did, the inflammation was already out of control. Now, I'm being very cautious.
It doesn't hurt at all when I use them. Any potential irritation seems to clear up quickly before it can turn into serious redness or pain.
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Glasses or contacts? in Health ·
Casey Palmer5 said:It’s just a bit tricky getting them in. They either fold, won't release from your finger, or end up overlapping on the eye. But I managed. Hopefully, taking the protectors off goes just as smoothly. 😁


Just be careful. At first, when you're putting them in and taking them out, I found it way too easy to lose them. 😁
I actually lost two—one from each pair—during my first few months of wearing them.
I've practiced enough now that I don't lose them anymore.

Those soft lenses are so incredibly light that sometimes you can't even feel if they're actually on your eye or not.

I was certain I had put one in, but it turned out I only put in one. I didn't realize until I went to take them out at night that the other one was nowhere to be found. 🙂

I lost the second one while taking it out. I eventually found it the next morning on the floor, all crumpled and dried out. 😛 I thought I had placed it in the case, but it must have stayed stuck to my finger and fallen onto the floor. I managed to save it by putting it back in the solution. 🙂

Anyway, after that, I learned to always lay a towel under my lens case. I make sure to gently press my fingers against it. That way, if a lens is still invisibly stuck to my finger, I have a chance to find it on the towel.
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Dealing with Herpes? in Health ·
From Healthline:

Oral herpes (herpes labialis) is caused by the Herpes Simplex type 1 virus. A related strain, Herpes Simplex type 2, causes genital herpes. While type 2 can occasionally cause symptoms around the mouth, type 1 is usually the culprit.

Almost everyone carries this virus. Most people are first exposed during childhood, often through contact with someone showing active oral symptoms or someone who is an asymptomatic carrier.

Once the virus takes hold in the body, it stays there indefinitely; there is currently no cure or vaccine. However, being infected doesn't always mean you'll actually experience symptoms.

In fact, many people never develop any clinical symptoms at all. Studies suggest that about 40% of people deal with occasional or frequent outbreaks—some experiencing them as often as once a month, while others might go five to ten years between episodes.
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Glasses or contacts? in Health ·
I've been wearing soft contact lenses for about two years now. I only take them out at night. No real issues so far.
I make sure to go for my regular eye exams with my optometrist, and everything looks great.

Before this, I used rigid gas permeable lenses for a year, but I eventually switched to these because they're just much more comfortable.

With soft lenses, you can pretty much get through an entire day or even a couple of nights if you're traveling or stuck somewhere unexpectedly without any trouble. It’s just not possible with hard or RGP lenses.

Compared to glasses, which definitely limit your field of vision, lenses are just better. You just have to follow the instructions and make sure to disinfect them daily.
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Dealing with Herpes? in Health ·
Frank Lee6 said:If someone can't be bothered to move a muscle—though really, a single mouse click and typing a few letters should suffice—and actually look for what they need (that's what the 'search' button in the top right corner is for), then honestly, such a lazy person isn't worth my time helping.


Thanks, Frank Lee6, for taking the effort to provide a link that helps me find exactly what I was looking for.
The link just leads back to this same thread from way back when—December 12, 2002!!! So, I don't quite get why you were so impatient, but...

At least you pointed out the search function to me; I've never actually used it before.
As for medication, I picked up some Virolex, which has been incredibly effective for the three outbreaks I've had popping up one after another lately.
I think I'll try taking a dose of B-Complex as a preventative measure.
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Dealing with Herpes? in Health ·
Thanks for the replies.

Martine, by starting this thread on a topic I’m interested in, I clearly missed that one already exists.
If you're pointing this out to be helpful, maybe you could just drop a link?🙂
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Dealing with Herpes? in Health ·
Is there such a thing as a fever triggered by kissing among young people? Is it viral? Like Herpes?
If my memory serves me right—though it’s a bit foggy—I feel like I read something about this once, but I can't quite recall.
How does it typically manifest, and what are the treatment options?
Thanks for any help.
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Dealing with Herpes? in Health ·
I've heard that outbreaks like cold sores on the mouth are caused by things like a weakened immune system, stress, or vitamin deficiencies...

Which of those is actually true?
How should one treat it? And what should I be careful to avoid?
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Why is the Uber market still basically a monopoly in America? in Economy ·
A situation in San Diego

Taxi services are overpriced, the cars are junk, and the drivers... well...

About a year ago, a new service called City Car started operating in town
with much lower rates and newer vehicles.

Ever since then, things have turned into a total Wild West scenario out there.
The local taxi drivers basically declared open warfare on this new service.

It’s gotten so extreme that City Car vehicles get intercepted on the street, where passengers are actually pulled out of the cars and forced into taxis. 😁
There were even instances where a taxi driver’s wife would book a City Car just to drive it to a secluded street where several taxis were waiting to "convince" them.

All of this happens while traffic inspectors look the other way, essentially playing favorites with the taxi drivers,
and the police seem only interested in handing out parking tickets to City Car drivers when they get cornered by the taxis. 😛

Just recently, while they were trying to pull a woman out of a vehicle at the airport, she fought back, shouting that she wouldn't go in a taxi because it was far too expensive.

It was a complete circus... all happening right in front of the police, the airport director, travelers, and the usual traffic inspectors, while onlookers watched in disbelief. 🙄
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Freezing cold in Philosophy ·
Endure insults calmly, refuse to react to hate or aggression, and don't fear death—these are just expressions of tolerance.

As we work toward building a functional personality amidst all the different things life throws at us, tolerance becomes essential.

That is one way to handle aggression.

The other is to simply view those acting out as either children or mentally ill (and really, can we be angry at people like that?)

If we find ourselves getting angry at someone, it usually means we are expecting them to be something they simply aren't.
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Freezing cold in Philosophy ·
Listen, love and hate—they both live inside us.

The thing is, hatred feels so repulsive that most people find it easier to just pretend it isn't there.
If I call it aggression instead, maybe it becomes a little easier to stomach.

Aggression takes many different shapes.
It’s vital to recognize its existence. Within all of us.
And how quickly it can turn inward, becoming self-aggression.

How do we make peace with that? Truthfully, it isn't easy.
But it can be mastered.

Understanding self-aggression is crucial. You might be able to dodge someone else's aggression, but what happens when you don't even recognize your own?

Just realizing that self-aggression exists is perhaps the BIGGEST blow
to the saboteur living within us.

In our subconscious—that hidden part of our psyche—different rules apply.
One of those rules is the constant presence of opposites: illogicality, love versus hate, happiness versus suffering.

But this must be conquered. Aggression, whether directed outward or inward, needs to be mastered; logic won't help you here.

Love—pure biology—is the guide.

We have to learn to love ourselves as human beings.
To embrace our ignorance, our mortality, and even our hate.

Those things can coexist peacefully alongside life, love, and wisdom.

That requires a great deal of love.
Assimilation—accepting everything we encounter on this journey—is the only way to dissolve fear.

Only then can we truly know ourselves and build a resilient personality.
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Freezing cold in Philosophy ·
Solaris said:But how can one live a relatively normal life while dealing with that aggressive impulse?


How do we master the arsenal of hate that lives inside all of us
though for some, it becomes obvious?

Through love.
The path and the solution to this eternal puzzle: how to exist within a life of both love and hate, of both existence and death.

It’s impossible to cast off or ignore death and hatred, because they are part of us—part of our nature, our very existence.

And if we can't reject them (since rejection itself is an act of aggression—aggression being any form of division), then our only option is to assimilate them.

Merging love with hate, life with death—it is possible through love
(because it is the only thing that unifies us).

No matter how much we love others, there is always enough love left for ourselves.
It’s a matter of primary narcissism that keeps us alive—a fine-tuned regulator that kicks in automatically when life is threatened.

In that same way, alongside self-love, exists primary self-aggression. Ancient cultures understood this well, developing stories about original sin. It is essentially guilt without cause.

There is simply an impulse within us that seeks to destroy the bearer itself. How? Why?
There is no need for a reason; just as we cannot answer why we live. We live because life exists.
We die because death exists.
If we have found love in the psyche as a reflection of life, then hate is the reflection of death, and it exists in the psyche as well.

From the most innocent examples of self-aggression (self-hatred):
I drive too fast, taking a sharp turn without braking...
I drink black coffee... this is my fifth cup... I'll order another.
I smoke... this is my second pack... I'm lighting the next one.
I'm exhausted... I know how wonderful it would be to sleep, but instead, I turn on the PC.
I eat... I know my blood pressure is high... yet I eat more.
I write, crafting sentences beautifully... then I write faster... losing my thread... writing even faster... getting angry at myself...
I face a choice regarding my own life... I've submitted all my paperwork... I only have one left to hand in... days pass... I wait until the last second... racing to the post office...
I pick up fruit with unwashed hands.
I dress lightly even though it's freezing out.
I insult a friend for no reason...

These and many other "innocent" acts of hate clearly point toward self-hatred.
Why?

There is no answer...

Within us, there is often a saboteur, preventing us from rising above the mud of our own lives.

As if there were a fear of change, or of success...

Avoiding change...

And aggression (hate) toward oneself and toward one's surroundings is so often intertwined...
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Freezing cold in Philosophy ·
Anya said:Basically, most people just feel anger, fury, or hurt back then.
I don't think it turns into hatred that often.
Usually, once the feeling of being hurt fades, all those other negative emotions go with it.

I can't accept that so easily because... aggression is visible at every turn throughout human history.

Every biological imperative carries an inherent "must."
Action has to follow.
It's the same with aggression (which is just a visible form of hate).
It exists within us like hunger, and it has to be satisfied just like any other biological drive.

If we don't find a person, a phenomenon, or a behavior to direct our hate toward,
or if we were raised with a strict taboo against hating,
then aggression finds its only available target—ourselves.
Aggression becomes self-aggression.
Suicide is nothing more than "firing" that aggressive impulse at oneself.
The solution would be finding another object; then the hatred shifts outward, and there's relief.

Many well-meaning attempts to avoid conflict in places where it’s common simply fail.

The same mechanism drives international conflicts.
When collective aggression rises past a certain threshold, wars break out.
War theorists distinguish between the cause of a war and its pretext.

However, conflict happens when aggression goes unchecked, or when someone gives the green light to treat killing (the product of hate)
as an honor or a duty rather than a crime.

And suddenly, a mass of peaceful, decent bureaucrats, engineers, and workers—all acting in the name of some "higher" cause—become bloodthirsty killers fueled by hate.

It's easy to lead a person toward evil
once they've been given PERMISSION to offload their aggressive baggage.

We, as neighbors, first rush out with pale faces and a bit of confusion,
but soon we're enraged, wanting to kill as many so-called enemies as possible.

The absurdity of warfare is obvious to everyone—yet who will admit that the essence of war is venting one's own aggression rather than actually killing the enemy?

Because let's not forget—peace always returns eventually. Enemy becomes friend again.

In the meantime, the impulse for love has grown unbearably high, and the drive to build, unite, and progress pushes us toward peace and love.

Only for us to tear it all down again when the next opportunity arises.
Not for some grand purpose, but because of an internal need, an internal tension.
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Freezing cold in Philosophy ·
Strider says:

What’s the point of holding onto hate, other than just wasting energy? Not to mention how much unnecessary drama it drags along, making everything even more complicated... honestly, you just have to move past that person and let life go on.


I agree. But life doesn't usually work out that way.

Love feels more like an impulse toward fusion—a desire to become one.

Hatred is just a natural impulse. Its only goal is to divide, destroy, and kill.
She is the complete opposite of love.

Hate is just a negative reaction to its opposite—love.

Hatred exists on its own. It’s like a gift we're handed at birth. You don't even need a target for it to surface.
Hatred comes first. It seeks out an object only after the fact, just to have somewhere to land.
Most people assume it works the other way around. I suppose I'm wrong about that.

It’s much the same when it comes to love.
No one planted love within us. It just grew there on its own. Eventually, it simply overflowed toward the most fitting target.
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Body image issues in Spirituality ·
rowdydriver52 said:p.s.

hmm, I think I should probably mention that other internal point of ours... the one that helps guide our world through celestial navigation...

please 🙂
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Spiritual practices in Spirituality ·
Lovely topic 🙂

I practice daily maintenance.

My primary way to recharge is through nature—just walking. I choose between the woods or a walk along the coast depending on what I need. There’s a sense of closeness I find while moving. I trigger that feeling through memory. It's something I learned through experience,

though I suppose I could call them meditation or relaxation techniques—back in the day. I don't really "practice" them anymore; they've just become part of who I am. Since I'm not exactly a disciplined person, those techniques don't even require discipline to live within my consciousness.

The memory of warmth, peace, and internal closeness is always there whenever I need it. A warmth deep in my gut.
A sense of comfort rising from the source.

No special techniques required.
Thinking about it brings a smile to my face and peace to my heart.
Because I know it's there, and I know I can return to it. It works best when I'm alone. Certain people and situations still manage to knock me off center sometimes.

During stressful moments, I try to do my maintenance on the go. I focus a little more on my thoughts and my breathing then. I observe negative thoughts and watch them be replaced. I watch my breathing rhythm and try to steady it or speed it up, depending on which feeling I want to change
first.

When I fail, I try not to be too hard on myself. I'm just trying to break those old patterns that still wake up when certain triggers hit.

And so, life goes on.🙂
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