Posts by Brandon Newman95

Robin Rodriguez5 said:You know, I had two Deans from the MIT Business School teaching me social sciences during my junior year, and one of them is actually the current Dean. Honestly? I wouldn't trust them to watch a single sheep in a pasture. 😁No results coming out of there could ever surprise me.

I’m with you on Tipurić, but I actually had pretty good experiences with Lovrinović. That first guy is a fund manager, does international summer schools and all that—it's a whole debate. He's trying to turn the business school into an MIT-style powerhouse, but he's just not quite pulling it off.

Just give the local Medicare office a call and ask them where they tucked your file away.

dustyscout36 said:Thanks, Dr. Smith! Honestly, I can say for a fact I was never sick a day in my life... and then I just started messing around with my diet—I’m super picky, don't eat much variety, constantly jumping from one fad diet to another... and now, here we are with all these problems.😢
So, I’m on this ridiculous diet for the next seven days—no Vitamin C and absolutely no red meat. Great. Just great. I'm currently trying to hit that three-stool-a-day goal just so they'll actually take my samples for the lab. Once I get those results back, hopefully the doctors will check my iron levels. Fingers crossed everything comes back normal, because honestly, I have a mountain of studying to do and I can't deal with any more setbacks. I am constantly exhausted. Like, bone-tired. My focus is completely shot compared to how it used to be; I feel so foggy and just... stupid? It's frustrating as hell. 🙂

It was the exact same thing with me—caught some nasty virus back in November, and then I went in to get my bloodwork done. Everything on the panel came back totally low, especially my red blood cell count.
Two months ago, I was a total wreck. Just constantly exhausted, couldn't focus on anything, and my appetite was all over the place—I was being so incredibly picky. It was nothing but greasy, heavy, sugary junk food for me. But today? Everything's changed. I’m actually eating right now. I'll eat just about anything—fruit, veggies, meat, you name it. A complete 180.
My iron levels were an absolute disaster—just completely trashed—even though my UIBC and TIBC came back looking totally normal. My doctor put me on some iron therapy, and I went back for more blood work just a week later after seeing the hematologist. Honestly? The results were already starting to look better.
It’s obviously a gynecological issue. Period.
If I hadn't come down with that nasty virus, I probably wouldn't have even realized my iron levels were bottoming out.

We used to play Border Patrol, but I can't even remember how you did the field subtractions—was it something like that math game Schoolhouse or what? And man, those Hershey bars we never actually had here, they were always imported from Austria, so when those old guys would bring home a whole pack, you were only allowed to grab one single piece.
We actually respected our parents and teachers back then, but now you hear professors complaining that every new generation just gets progressively worse. They say they’re genuinely relieved when they get a decent class instead of a total circus where everything and anything goes (I mean, things weren't perfect before either, but it felt less extreme). Everything feels so much more depleted now, and there's more poverty among the students too. Honestly, I think my generation, born between '95 and '99, was actually one of the wealthier ones compared to kids today, even though we dealt with all that war chaos and students being displaced or fleeing... we still managed to pull it together.

amberfox4 said:I find myself in complete agreement with you. I recall those same childhood rituals—playing games like tag or playing with dolls right out in front of our house. My memories of that era are quite vivid; I remember specifically how we would sit down for cartoons at 7:15 in the morning, just before the local news started, and once that was over, it was straight to bed. There were no cartoons on Thursdays, though, because that was when the cooking show hosted by some celebrity chef would air. I used to try and negotiate my way out of bedtime by insisting that I absolutely had to watch that program. As for toys, I can still recall most of them and even remember their specific names. Whenever we took a trip down to Chicago, my father would tell me, "Since we are in this Target, you can pick out three toys." It sounds simple, but I would agonize over the decision for ages. It always ended up being some accessory for a Barbie doll and then something else entirely. I never once had the foresight to ask if I could have more. Regarding clothes, my parents usually handled all the shopping without my input; I honestly never gave it a second thought, nor did I possess any concept of designer brands versus generic labels. Once they had me, they simply adapted their entire lifestyle to accommodate a child. You can't just go out hitting the bars whenever you feel like it once you have a kid; certain sacrifices are inevitable. That wasn't really the norm back then either, as most social gatherings with friends happened right at our house. Of course, children aren't to blame for the state of things today. Those kids are truly unfortunate. A child simply doesn't have the agency to choose.

Man, the nostalgia... playing tag, schoolyard games, that whole "if you love them, let them go" vibe, needing someone to hold the rubber band for you because there weren't enough kids around, all those plays and board games like Monopoly that you could never actually finish. Going to the movies was a bigger deal since it didn't happen often, but honestly, if you had a VCR at home, you felt like you hit the jackpot. Then there were those Friday night movies, that famous Thursday cooking show, and that disco show on TV that the whole family would sit down and watch together, testing our knowledge and geeking out over celebrities.
I still remember getting my first Barbie when my parents took a trip across the border to go shopping; I was so happy. It was the same feeling whenever we’d take a trip to Denver or San Francisco—it was like a little field trip where you got to pick out one or two things you liked. There was way less hype, you know? Fewer commercials on TV, and the ones that did air were actually cool rather than being as annoying and constant as they are now.
And I still remember playing "library"—back then it was huge to trade things with five friends, like neighborhood swaps or trading animal picture books.
All this just brings me right back to being a kid.🙂

Donna Wood52 said:I had a chance to talk to her today—just the two of us. Everything seemed fine, relatively speaking, though it was brief.
Some people were whispering about scars on her arm, things they noticed while she wasn't around,
and I actually spotted them myself today—scars on one of her arms, just like

how she used to hurt herself. But honestly, I just don't get what she's going through. From what I
managed to gather from one of her old friends—someone who isn't even in our class now,

her friend told me that she lives in this gorgeous, massive house, that her parents are great,
she’s an only child, there's this beautiful green yard surrounding the place, her parents get along perfectly, they never fight,
and she gets really good...

If all that is true—and if this friend has known her for years, then it probably is—then I truly don't understand
why she is the way she is.

Man, reading this feels like looking at a mirror of myself from 10 or 15 years ago. I’ve changed so much (people barely recognize me now—I went from this super withdrawn, quiet girl to someone who talks constantly, is open, and actually friendly). Honestly, these days, the people who stay silent just drive me crazy.🙂
Maybe she was talkative in elementary school and then flipped to being quiet and withdrawn in high school, or maybe it was the other way around.
But look, the main thing is she's an only child, has that nice green yard, and her parents are totally fine together.
Maybe the girl thinks you guys won't accept her. Maybe she's terrified of communicating or making friends. Maybe she's just shy or embarrassed, or maybe she's dealing with her own internal demons. Maybe she had a best friend who did something truly horrible to her, or maybe puberty is just hitting her hard. It could be a million things. You have to be really careful with her; maybe she got bullied at her old school, or maybe she's just scared of being rejected.
Back in school, I remember this one classmate who kept trying to get close to me, but I just pushed her away every single time. I wouldn't let her in.

Paul White9 said:I actually started school at the same time you did. First off, it wasn't nearly as scorching hot back then, and as far as AC goes, almost no buildings had it... or rather, you couldn't even afford it if you wanted to. Air conditioning showed up sometime in the 90s and was insanely expensive, but now it's much more affordable. If you're thirsty, you drink a glass of water; if you're hot, you turn on the AC. My grandfather had absolutely miserable conditions at school compared to what I had, so progress has definitely been made. Why should we halt that progress just because we don't want to look like fools by "spoiling" kids with AC in classrooms?

Our generation definitely had computers—we had the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amiga 500, and Nintendo consoles long before the PlayStation arrived... so it's not true that we didn't have tech. Cell phones started popping up around '92 or '93. By '94, when we were starting high school, you were a total legend if you owned a phone because they cost like a thousand bucks back then. In elementary school, you were the big man on campus if your friends could come over to play "Commodore." It’s exactly the same dynamic as it is today.

Oh, I would absolutely not agree with you.
My generation didn't have computers (not like everyone has them now—basically everyone has one nowadays), I didn't have access to the internet (my folks finally got it when I was maybe a freshman or sophomore in college—they realized paying for postage was costing more than e-banking). I got a computer around '95—most things I learned through IT class (there were a few of us in class with a computer where we practiced, we studied for tests on the machines at school, explaining things to each other—that was the charm of high school life.
There were 37 of us in my high school class, and out of that, 3 or 4 girls didn't even have a basic phone at home (around the age of 15 to 19), mostly because they lived outside the city limits of Washington, D.C., like in a small town in USA, or some suburb.
I don't remember us taking cell phones on graduation trips (phone cards, landlines, doing homework via phone, etc.).
In an earlier post, I mentioned that AC used to be a luxury, but today it's a necessity.
So yeah, there are massive differences between our generation and the one growing up now.
We played in the yard, out in the street, playing standard games: tag, jump rope, hula hoop, hide and seek, snowball fights, etc.—going to the park, riding bikes, ice skating... whereas today, I'm scared to even walk down the street without getting hit in the head by something (thrown by kids).
I didn't get satellite TV until high school so I could better learn foreign languages since I was studying three of them; I didn't even have a TV in my room, but kids today have TVs in their rooms. We weren't allowed to talk back to our parents; we might have gotten a beating or not, but today those kids report it. And that's how we end up in this endless loop.

feralhound55 said:You’ve probably seen the headlines lately about parents complaining because their kids have to sit in classrooms hitting 90 degrees without any AC.

WTF???

I won't even get started on what it was like for me back in the early '90s—walking into crumbling schools with basically nothing. We all know how rough our school conditions used to be.

The real question is: Have we gone overboard with coddling kids? Do they have too much freedom and way too little responsibility? Or am I just starting to sound like my own parents with the whole "back in my day" routine?

More importantly, does this kind of "pampering" have anything to do with the rise in drug use, promiscuity, or even school shootings?

And why is there so little supervision these days? I’m not advocating for physical or psychological abuse, or locking kids in their rooms—I’m just wondering if, as a society, we haven't let things slide a bit too far.

Here's my take: I finished high school about nine years ago. Is it progress or just pure entitlement? It's hard to say.
As for sitting in a classroom at 90 degrees without air conditioning—yeah, that sucks. Kids can't focus, they're overheated, it's stuffy, and everything else. Opening a window doesn't do much when it's a heatwave. Back in the day, AC was a luxury, but nowadays it's a necessity. I remember traveling across the state once and I was literally drenched in sweat. So yeah, I don't think it's easy for the kids either.
Regarding technology and being spoiled, honestly, it's a bit of both.
Tech is getting insane, and parents who are constantly working try to make up for their lack of time by buying their kids material stuff.
I was born in '81, so I started school around '87 or '88. The gap between us and kids today wasn't massive (there were rich kids and poor kids, but we looked out for each other) until things shifted around '91 when the war hit. That's when the divide really started showing, though still nothing compared to today.
When I talk to teachers now, they all say the same thing: every generation gets worse, kids have no respect for authority, they call their parents for every tiny little thing, and it's just not what it used to be.
We were basically the generation where computers were rare, cell phones didn't exist yet—just payphones, PlayStations, and stuff like that.
And yeah, I'm with hannah3 on this one.

Figured I’d jump into this thread too (even though my confirmation was like, ten years ago... ugh, I feel old) 😬 and honestly, by next year, I’ll probably be the godmother for someone who told me ages ago they wanted me to be.

For my own confirmation, I got a ring from my godmother and a little cross necklace from my parents—I’ve always been big on jewelry, so those are pieces I actually still wear today because I love them. As for the other guests who showed up to my service, if I remember right, I got a photo album—back then we weren't all about digital everything—and some books in English. My whole family reads in English, so it was pretty straightforward, nothing over-the-top. Though, I guess it really depends on the person, since some people just aren't readers.

Jose Lewis69 said:Yeah, she’s still heading over to see her doctor—it’s kind of an ongoing thing at this point—but honestly, the doc is... well, you know. 👎
You really have to pray for everything these days—honestly. When she came down with that atypical pneumonia, she was out on medical leave for months, and all they gave her was like, ten little antibiotic pills. They basically just left her to fight off the lung infection on her own, which is wild. I wouldn’t say anything if my mom wasn't basically a rock, but at 45kg, she's a long way from being indestructible. 🙄
Now my mom is getting on my case too—insisting I explain why my temperature is acting up. She’s sitting there with her thermometer reading 99 degrees, acting like she's some kind of medical expert, when she knows damn well I'm feeling sick. Honestly, she keeps telling me it feels like I just got run over by a John Deere tractor or something... seriously, can a person get a break?
So, she finally went ahead and let him take a look at that mouthguard... we'll just have to wait and see how that plays out.

It’s obvious it all comes down to which doctor you end up with, but yeah, she should definitely get that thyroid checked. But seriously, only ten pills of antibiotics👎 is just wrong.

Jose Lewis69 said:My mom actually dealt with atypical pneumonia before this, and it eventually cleared up... you think maybe this is still lingering from that? She already did the blood work and the lung scans, and they told her everything looks totally fine...

I don't know, honestly—I'm no doctor. But she should probably head back to the clinic and ask if that could still be playing a part, because let's face it, your immune system takes a massive hit after dealing with pneumonia.

About ten years ago, the advice I got was to steer clear of anyone with a cold or the flu right after recovering from pneumonia.

That’s just how it went for me.

Look, if you’ve got a low-grade fever that just won't quit—and I'm not talking about mono—do yourself a favor and get your lungs checked out. Get some imaging done, get bloodwork drawn, just don't ignore it. This isn't even news to me; way back when, like 15 years ago, I went through this exact thing. Someone actually had the sense to tell me to head over to Silver City for some tests, and they were right. Turns out it was atypical pneumonia. My temperature was just hovering there, never quite hitting 99.5, but it wouldn't budge. Just stay on top of it.

Angela Wright said:What do you guys think is actually driving this expansion?
Warfare (stress levels, those depleted uranium rounds scattered all over Canada and likely here too—that infamous fallout), junk food (GMOs and just generally terrible diets), genetics, or maybe the aftermath of Chernobyl hitting its twenty-year mark...?
Does anyone have a pulse on what’s happening in the rest of Europe or globally?
And what's the situation looking like in Canada, Mexico, and the rest of the old region?

The cause behind this surge is definitely Chernobyl—that whole "curse" that kicks in after 20 years—just like that famous Dr. Alice-forgetful's surname once mentioned. And honestly, it’s even worse because the Russians tried to cover up the explosion at Chernobyl, and it was some Norwegian guy who actually brought it to light. I personally know about 5 or 6 people who got sick from it, if not more.

velvetcanyon9 said:Don't state the obvious (because that just makes us look like high school tourists). 🙄

I mean, obviously I’d ask my doctor if I got vaccinated by them. 🙄

Anyway, why would I even be scared of running into a doctor?? I have a clinic I go to that’s awesome regardless.

Besides, I already got my answer to the question.

Just pick up a book and get over this whole marketing thing once and for all (my absolute favorite subject ever).👍

Oh, I am just so glad I hit a nerve there. Why do you feel so called out because I told you to ask someone who actually knows what they're talking about? You're asking on a forum instead of going to an actual professional. 😛

You're basically tripping over your own words here, admitting you didn't even get vaccinated by him, and then claiming your clinic is "super."

And where did you get the idea that I have a problem with marketing? 😕 As if I'm telling you to grab a textbook and start asking smarter questions to people who actually understand the field—like doctors.

What does a flu shot have to do with marketing anyway? Stop stating the obvious.😛

velvetcanyon9 said:I NEED HELP HERE!

So, I got my flu shot about three weeks ago, right? And then two days ago, I caught this bladder infection thing and I've been chugging cranberry juice like it's water. Honestly, I feel like I probably need a round of antibiotics too. Anyway, I have to head to the doctor.

Question: can antibiotics mess up the vaccine? Like, will they kill off the immunity I just built up from the shot?
I’d be pretty bummed if the vaccine went to waste.

And look, since you're already heading to the clinic, just ask the doc. You know how some doctors get all judgmental if you didn't get your shots done through their specific office or whatever. Whatever. At the end of the day, you're a person and you get to make your own choices, so just ask them. 😛

I mean, I haven't yet, but I think I might this year. It’s not even about the bird flu or whatever—it's more that I'm constantly on the move, hitting up crowded spots all the time, and honestly, I deal with enough stress as it is.

Hey Anthony Wood54!

I saw what you sent me in that private message. Honestly, doctors are just the way they are, and the nurses at Mayo Clinic? Total nightmare. They’re easily the rudest staff you'll find anywhere. In my experience, if you want actual kindness, you have to head over to the infectious disease ward. That's just how it is, IMO.

And about your boyfriend—you're saying he hasn't even called or texted in two weeks after six years together? Seriously? You really need to ask yourself if he actually gives a damn about you. He isn't the only guy on this planet. There are plenty of others out there.
Like, a massive amount. Who’s actually going to sit there and deal with your drama or truly care about what you're going through?

I'm glad you're finally getting out of the house. Right now, just put your head down and focus on college. Once you get your academics sorted, everything else usually falls into place.

You mentioned you haven't eaten anything and you're planning to hit up aerobics and the gym. Look, since those workouts are pretty intense, you really should start eating again. You won't have the stamina to finish a single session. It's a shame you didn't realize sooner that eating properly is actually a much better "diet." You can eat normal meals and still lose weight just by sweating it out.
It’s like they say: "A healthy body leads to a healthy mind." If you fuel yourself, you'll actually have the energy and the drive to study.

Also, regarding anorexia and bulimia—they aren't the same thing. They're different, even if they seem similar on the surface. Let's not lump them together as if they're identical.

Hang in there, Anthony Wood54. 👋

So, Anthony Wood54 hasn't said a single word to us. Not a peep. It’s been two whole weeks now. I’m honestly just wondering if there’s any news at all—like, did she actually end up talking to her doctors or what? Or maybe she finally got her life back on track and things are actually clicking for her. Seriously, Anthony Wood54, give us a sign.

Anthony Wood54 hasn't even checked in since Thursday. Not a single word about how she's doing or how that trip to NYC went and everything else.

Anthony Wood54, look, the main thing is that you actually took that first step. Honestly, everything I was going to say to you has already been covered by silvermason16, nimbledriver81, and Rachel Walker56. You’re going to get through this—it’s doable. Plus, your doctor is great. At the end of the day, they're just people, just like I mentioned earlier.
Hang in there and good luck. 👍