#medical

“The denial of age in America culminates in the prolongevity movement, which hopes to abolish old age altogether. But the dread of age originates not in the "cult of youth" but in a cult of the self. Not only in its narcissistic indifference to future generations but in its grandiose vision of a technological utopia without old age, the prolongevity movement exemplifies the fantasy of "absolute, sadistic power" which, according to Kohut, so deeply colors the narcissistic outlook. Pathological in its psychological origins and inspiration, superstitious in its faith in medical deliverance, the prolongevity movement expresses in characteristic form the anxieties of a culture that believes it has no future.”

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― Christopher Lasch, The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in An Age of Diminishing Expectations

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He was a total liability during the pandemic, £8.7 BILLION of sub-par PPE wasted and had to be destroyed, much of it bought from companies set up by his mates that left medical staff having to wear bin liners.
He’s a disgrace.
If it wasn’t for the NHS properly managing the vaccine roll-out that he claimed credit for, he’d have been looked at like he was another Failing-Chris-Grayling. (If you recall, Grayling was another minister around the same time who destroyed everything he touched - e.g. the procurement of a post-Brexit ferry system from a company with no ships and no shipping experience and using the website of a pizza takeaway.)
If it wasn’t for Hancock’s political shiteshow that caused people real harm, I’d just write him off as a hapless wazzock.
His latest stunt of trying to participate in a reality tv series based in Australia while he’s still a sitting MP saw him lose the Conservative Party whip given he was basically intending to desert his constituents while still being paid to represent them as their MP.
An absolute twat.

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🕺🏻 In the late 1980s and very early 1990s a pre-internet viral rumour went round my local nightclubs about organ legging operations.
🍹 A friend would approach you (as they did me) and let you know quietly that there were attractive people going round offering to buy clubgoers a drink.
🔪 However these were spiked, and the clubber would the following morning wake up in an alley and find themselves in a medical mess and without a kidney or whatever, with no memory of the previous night.
👮 The friend would tell you that the police were close to catching the criminals, so not to say anything publicly that might tip them off, just not to accept drinks from a stranger, however sexy.
💊 Although it was untrue (at least in the UK) it’s interesting to me how this fake scare actually preceded a future era of the very real threat of rohypnol and date r*ape.

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in the city. I can't really explain it. I just love that there's always something going on in a big city. I love the ambiance. and I love watching city skylines at night. my ex boyfriend used to live in downtown Toronto and his apartment had such a beautiful view at night.
Moved from city to country 2 years ago and I'll never go back. No traffic, less ppl so stores are never busy. Stars and wildlife instead of noise and pollution
I grew up in the countryside; most of my childhood memories revolve around climbing up trees, getting lost in the mountain side, stealing my dad's car to speed down dirt roads and having no swimming skills whatsoever. I'm in my mid twenties now; I have been living in my country's capital for half a decade; I adapted to the city life quite easily. I am however faced with deciding whether to settle in this city or move back to the countryside. The city offers every needed service, proximity to the sea and a variety of personalities to explore and befriend. But knowing and remembering the countryside (despite its lack of commodities), it offers a level of serenity I could not find elsewhere anywhere else. But, on a day-to-day basis, more of my practical needs are satisfied in an urban environment. I have more greater variety of employers, food sources, and housing choices. I have more reliable utilities and communication. I have a shorter commute to work, school, errands, family, friends, library, post office, museums, entertainment venues, etc. I have better and faster access to emergency services (police, fire, hospitals). Literally everything I need is available, closer and easier, in an urban area. Overtime, if and when you have kids, when you age and need more medical attention and services, there is more available in an urban area.
I've since settled in the suburbs after meetingy wife. Im not sure your familiarity with suburbs but they are essentially town surrounding city with easy public transport access to the city yet just a short drive to the country side. I love being so close to both, and because of that I wouldn't change where I live, but I frankly hate the actual suburbs. Every house in every neighborhood looks the same, and the roads are packed like city roads but the scenery is nothing but Walmarts and Pep Boys. That last paragraph was probably more American centric, but if you have the option to rent and it is easier to do in the city, I would recommend renting and living the city life for a few years. At some point you will either decide to stick with it or settle in the country.
Country for sure. But somewhere near a large city for swifter access to hospitals and similar in case of an emergency. After having lived in both environments I've found I hate traffic, I'm not fond of having too many neighbors, and I like having acreage to grow a large garden and work on my other outdoor projects.

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That reminds me of a story about microwaves. The invention of microwave in itself is pretty interesting. It was in 1947 when an engineer was working with military radars and he found out that the electromagnetic radiation from the magnetron was capable of melting a chocolate bar in his pocket and could be used to heat stuff up. They called it "diathermic heating". It wasn't until later though that these things were commercially introduced as what we use in our kitchen today, largely due to magnetron technology developing a bit and becoming more compact. That was in the 1960s.
But before finding their place in the kitchen of an average household, these little boxes were used in something a bit crazier than warming food. In the 1950s, a team of scientists were doing some experiments in the lab of a medical institute where they would freeze hamsters and then try to wake them up by applying heat in different methods. The whole thing wasn't very successful as you would expect but then one of them had this idea of using the same diathermic heating from a magnetron. They actually put frozen hamsters in microwaves and the little guys would start walking after some time. Now of course it doesn't work with larger animals for a few reasons, it's still fascinating.
In conclusion, before their current purpose of heating up your coffee for the third time after you forget to drink it, microwaves were being used to reanimate hamsters. Just a little thing to remember next time you go to the kitchen

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Aw Abs, is there anyone in person you can talk to to alleviate some of your worries? Would chatting to your family help in any way?

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You’re incredibly talented, wonderfully kind and have so much to offer, you may just need a bit of a break to regroup really! Is it possible for you to book a couple of days off work, if you don’t have much holiday? Trust me, it will help so much just to get a change of scenery - I can only imagine how immensely stressful it must be in your profession. Things that have helped me is doing meditation - it doesn’t have to be anything that woo woo, but just taking the time to sit or lay still, even if it’s just listening to peaceful music, and focusing on your breathing, deep inhales and longer exhales. It does help calm your body down a little, which in turn may help things feel a tad more manageable at that moment in time.

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If it’s really bad though, is it possible for you to seek any advice from a medical professional?

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I hope you feel better soon bud, I’m sending lots of hugs your way 🤗💛

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The pain comes and goes depending upon how I bend, twist, sit down, etc. I just talked with my doctor and am taking an 8 week medical leave so the rib can heal properly. Thank you for your concern. I don't know about how you feel about being sick or injured, but I do not like it one bit, but unfortunately these accidents, sicknesses, disease seem to be an integral part of our life hear on earth. So the best thing is to accept it, fight back and hopefully overcome the condition/ailment, right?

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I see you recently got paid for work? Better late than never, right? btw... I liked the manner in which you handled that guy yesterday that was making insinuations and falsehoods out of thin air. You showed great patience, something that I must admit I am quite deficient in. God blessed me with many blessings but patience was not amongst the attributes baked into my DNA. 😂

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