I Am A Potato

If you are a socially anxious person, you have to socialize. Your panic/anxiety attacks will only get worse and trigger more frequently if you constantly avoid contact with The Public. Not saying that you need to be a social butterfly- but there is a genuine problem with not being able to order your own meal at a restaurant. And it cannot be solved by always having someone else do it for you.

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And I also wanted to mention that humanitarian organisations have free courses too, like the Red Cross on international humanitarian law.

I personally have a specific phobia that, when triggered, used to make me spasm and hyperventilate and cry, and it was super embarrassing because I was fully aware that there was nothing really wrong. You can experience the effects of a phobia while objectively knowing you're safe! And STILL I would get people telling me to chill out cause I was fine.

I've gotten better at managing it. I can thing straight and control my breathing and not feel *emotional* fear, but my body still locks up and my heart still goes crazy and I still have to focus on breathing.

When IM experiencing the effects of an irrational fear, imagine putting whatever awful or dangerous or nasty thing disgusts you in your mouth. Imagine experiencing a RATIONAL fear. Because it doesn't matter what I know is true, the effects of rational fear and irrational fear make your body do the same things.

Nausea, locking up, inability to make yourself move, panic, denial, refusal, shaking, disgust, revulsion, anger, fear, outrage, humiliation, vulnerability.

If my phobia is, say, walking past a 2002 Toyota Prius, then making myself do that FEELS just as difficult and horrific to me as licking broken glass off a gas station bathroom floor does to YOU. The only difference is *I* might have to do the thing ANYWAYS, while people make fun of me an I know that I look ridiculous, whereas YOU would at least know that your feelings are normal and your experience will be taken seriously.

But anyhow, today I encountered one of my phobias and was able to react to it calmly and rationally while my brain screamed instead of physically locking up and doing the screaming out loud, so here's to gradual progress

Also, figured out a better analogy over the years:

If Fear is like disgust, think of a Phobia as an allergy

If it is hot, you will need to drink more than normally because you are sweating. You can drink too much, though usually your body knows how to regulate it.

Yes, if it is liquid and not alcoholic it counts to your drinking intake. Yes, drinking lemonades, coke and whatever counts. All of it is still mostly water with some sugar and flavors added. It is fine. Be careful about taking in too much caffeine though, as it is a mild diuretic (means it makes you pee more and hence lose more water).

Yes, you also need electrolytes as you sweat them out. But you do not need to drink sports drinks. Eat some yoghurt with fruits, or some watermelon with salt, or maybe cold soup. It will refill your electrolytes.

No, it is not dangerous for you to sleep in front of a ventilator. This is a complete myth that has absolutely no basis in science whatsoever and literally originates with an Urban Legend. Especially with the recent heat wave in Europe for a lot of people the alternative is the possibility of heat stroke. It is fine. Sleep in front of that ventilator. Just make sure you are not getting too cold.

No, using sunscreen does not stop you from taking in Vitamin D, unless you are permanently using super high standard sun screen and are reapplying it every 6 hours as intended. And let's face it: you are not. Your skin gets enough UVB to make Vitamin D, don't worry about it. Skin cancer is worse.

Yes, switching between a very hot outside and a very cold context (be it super high AC or just jumping into cold water) can be a danger for your cardiovascular system, though unless the weather is very hot or the water very cold making the contrast very extreme, it is normally not a danger to people who do not have otherwise issues with their cardiovascular system. Though being a bit careful and allowing yourself to acclimatize is not a bad idea in general.

Yes, you should definitely not leave any living thing in a car while it is hot. Just don't. Cars heat up while standing very quickly and will become a death trap. If you leave an animal or a child alone in the car for even just 5 to 10 minutes, they might die. Don't do that shit.

Yes, you need to be extra careful about your medications. For once, most medications are not meant to be stored at above 25°C (don't ask me what this is in American units). But also a bunch of medications - especially psychoactive medications - will make your body worth at temperature regulation. So be careful.

Yes, you need shadow. Ideally the shadow of trees, because there is indeed a difference between that and the shadow of a building. But any shadow is good, especially during extreme heat.

In the same vein: be also careful about drugs during heat waves - like, the recreational type. Some of them work differently when your body is warmed up like that. Just... ideally read up online on possible side effects that might occur/be worse if taken during the heat.

But the entire "you otherwise do not get enough electrolytes" thing is a lie told to you to put money in the pockets of the people selling you the stuff. Sports drinks were not a widespread thing until fairly recently - historically speaking - and people did fine before them. In fact, a bunch of areas that are way hotter than Europe or the US do not really have sports drinks that are widely available, and the people are doing fine.

Use just a tad-bit of critical thinking skills, I beg you.

Yes, you need to be careful about electrolytes in the heat. But you can refill those in a number of ways.

Here's a recipe to make a standard electrolyte drink. You don't have to buy from a brand.

All of this assuming healthy adult not on any medications, and not suffering malnutrition

If you are just doing your thing in 75/24 degree weather...you don't need electrolytes.

If you are exercising for a short period of time at room temperature, you probably still don't need electrolytes

If you are in hot temperatures for a short period of time, you probably still don't need electrolytes.

When you start to enter conditions where you sweat or lose fluids--heat, sun, intense/extended physical exertion, vomiting or diarrhea--you lose a meaningful amount of sodium and other electrolytes as well. That is obviously on a scale from a sweaty yoga session to farmworkers to people suffering tropical/enteric diseases.

You can replenish the water, but if you don't also replenish the sodium, your body will not be able to retain the fluids. You'll just osmose more sodium out.

Electrolytes are called electrolytes because they impact the electrical functioning of your body. When your potassium goes low, your muscles can become very weak, or start spasming to the point it can tear muscles, dislocate joints, break bones. It also impacts electrical activity in your heart and can push you into abnormal-to-fatal heart rhythms.

It is simply not true. Humans who are not excessively exercising in the heat and are otherwise healthy are not in danger of electrolyte related health issues. Because most modern humans already take in more electrolytes than basically any generation of humans before... well, at least before the World Wars. Sodium, Chlorid, and Potassium are in a lot of foods we are already taking in in high amounts. People with very restrictive diets rarely might experience a lack of Potassium, but even that is rare.

The people experience electrolyte related health emergencies are generally people who work out too much, or have another underlying health issue that relates to how their body absorbs electrolytes or can hang onto them. Or they are losing electrolytes due to health reasons (vomiting, diarrhea, but in some cases a really bad flu can do it too).

The people outside of these specific circumstances that run into problems, have one of two causes for this:

a. They are food insecure and due to this experience malnourishment (this is why in the US we actually see most cases of hyponatremia without underlying heallth issues in food deserts).

b. They have drunken too much liquid.

The second one is a big blind spot for many - and especially in the context of exercise is happening more than traditional electrolyte loss. People have (largely due to advertisements by beverage companies throughout the 70s, 80s, and 90s) internalized that they should drink a truly absurd amount of water, and that you should - to quote one gatorade ad - "drink before you even get thirsty". Which is not the actual medical advice. So what happens is that people do drink a lot. Which normally would not be a problem, because our body is technically quite good at just getting rid of too much liquid. But if you are in a situation in which your body is trying to preserve liquid (which happens when you work out, but also in extreme heat) it will hold onto the liquid you add, which obviously thins out liquids already in the body, and hence can create electrolyte imbalances. Especially hyponatremia, as natrium levels are very prone to unbalanced due to overhydration. In fact one of the biggest studies on this found that even athletes more commonly ran into problems due to drinking too much sports drinks, rather than too little.

And again, this is basic critical thinking: if our body was so bad at retaining those things, the entire homo sapiens thing would never have become big. We would have just died out after like three generations. Because not only did humans prior to the 1960s not have sports drinks, the usually were accessing less electrolytes in their normal diets.

The reason you, and many others, believe that this is a big problem is because companies realized that they can make a lot of money by fearmongering you about this. And mind you: we have the data for this. We know how gatorade paid of sports magazines, and studies on this, to make sure people believe that they absolutely have to drink gatorade to survive the heat. Because, you know, gatorade realized they could make more money like this.

Sports drinks were developed for just that: sports. They were developed to explicitly help someone who is actively working out to get the nutrients. And yes, if you are working out, adding potassium and magnesium is a somewhat good idea, because those are used up by your body during your workout. And originally that was all gatorade was there for. And then they realized that there was money to be made if they gaslighted everyone into thinking they needed gatorade. And mind you: this is stuff we have documentation on.

But otherwise: if you are healthy and eating somewhat normally you will be fine.

The entire supplement market is an unregulated wild west. Those people are not interested in your health, just in their bottom line. They will sell you rat poison while telling you it is healthy if they think they can make a quick buck from it.

You do not need, and should not take, supplements, unless they were prescribed to you by a doctor and came from a place where you actually know what is inside of those tablets or drops or whatever. This goes especially true if you are in the US, where the regulatory standards for supplements are insanely low, meaning that you often do not get what is actually said on the package. In both directions. You might take a supplement and do not even get half of what the description says. Or you get double the amount. Which also is not good for you.

1) The need to replace electrolytes is true

2) The fact that you can replace them with food is also true BUT people lose their appetite as they overheat

3) The need to replace electrolytes specifically with sports drinks is FALSE.

4) The need to replace every glass of water with a sports or “hydration drink” is FALSE.

A good rule of thumb is to drink 8 oz of liquid every hour while in the heat. Start with water. After 2 glasses of water, if you aren’t also eating, drink something with an additive for electrolytes.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BUY SOMETHING FANCY OR COMMERCIAL FOR THE ADDITIVE.

Humanity has been dealing with heat & hydration issues for a long, long time. Long before the words “electrolyte” and “hydration” and “Gatorade” existed.

Search for recipes for:

- shrub

- switchel

- posca

- agua pepino

- sekanjabin

Notice that Every. Single. One. of them is essentially “add an acid, a sweetener, and a flavoring to your water; it’ll make you feel better.”

Don’t buy Gatorade, buy lemonade. Make lemonade, it’s easy!

ONE LEMON LEMONADE

Put 2 tablespoons of sugar in a tea cup.

Add 3 tablespoons of water and put in microwave for 30-50 seconds. Stir a few seconds until the water looks clear and the sugar is dissolved.

Drop in an ice cube or put the cup in the refrigerator while you juice the lemon. Put the juice in the cup.

Full the tea cup with cold water, stir, drink.

If you’re using a mug, it’s add 7 oz of water (6 if you used an ice cube), stir, drink.

There. Cheap delicious electrolytes.

Drink water again the next hour.

1. The FBI's Famous Cases & Criminals archive (fbi.gov/history/famous-cases) has detailed breakdowns of real fraud cases, Ponzi schemes, and confidence operations. The language they use is clinical and precise, which is perfect for getting the procedural details right.

2. The FTC Consumer Sentinel Network publishes annual reports on the most common fraud tactics in the US. Great for understanding how modern scams actually work and what makes people fall for them.

3. The Smithsonian's American Art Museum has a free digital collection of forgery case studies. If your character forges documents or art, this is gold.

4. Court Listener (courtlistener.com) is a free legal database where you can read actual court transcripts from fraud trials. Want to know how a real con artist talks under oath? This is where you find out.

5. The Internet Archive's collection of old newspaper crime sections. Search for "confidence man" or "swindle" in papers from the 1920s through 1960s and you'll find incredible real stories that would feel too dramatic for fiction.

Bonus: The Psychology of Fraud section on the Association for Psychological Science website has accessible articles about why people trust, how deception works cognitively, and what makes someone a convincing liar. Essential reading if you want your con artist characters to feel psychologically real.

my mom is in fact aware that dandelions exist. she temporarily forgot the name and there was some miscommunication.

the truth is actually weirder

she’s aware dandelions look like this

she is familiar with this flower. she knows the name of this flower. she declines to believe, however, that these are also dandelions

she does not believe these are the same plant. I tried to explain, and she thought I was either misinformed or lying. so I asked her what exactly did she think the yellow ones were called?

gosh I enjoy this website

There are two great problems with what happened to Margaret (and that her parents are trying to do to Juliet). One is easy for modern people to spot (but was also a common response back in her own day). And that’s the moral implications of what was done to her. She was too young to be married, and it was horrifying that she was forced into it so young. Every one of the adults around her either acted immorally or failed to protect her. They were wrong. This is what modern people see, and it’s important to remember that people back in her day mostly agreed with it. You’re supposed to think it’s fucked up! When girls were married that young (and it didn’t happen often!) it was a formality 99% of the time. It was for dynastic or financial reasons (the girl has lots of money and/or land and/or a title that her husband wants), but the “couple” don’t consummate their marriage for years. And it’s not just that they would have separate bedrooms. They might not even live in the same country until the girl was in her late teens and physically and mentally mature enough to bear and raise kids. Hell, a lot of times they didn’t even meet until the girl was older! They had this thing called “proxy marriage” where you would have two separate ceremonies, in two separate places, with each party saying their vows separately, one in one city and the other in a different one. So, yeah, sure, the girl was technically married at 12, but she didn’t actually meet her “husband” in person until she was 17 and they didn’t start sleeping together until she was 20. That was a thing they did.

The other problem, the one that modern people don’t notice, is dynastic. See, marriage wasn’t generally because you loved someone. It was because you had the resources to support a family, and you or your family wanted to pool those resources with someone. It’s about “our family has these resources, and we want that to continue.” It’s about continuity across generations. It’s about making sure that your children and grandchildren have the best possible resources to survive and thrive, whether those resources are land or a trade or a title or money or whatever. In order for this to work, you have to have kids! The family and the family’s resources depend on the married couple having children. If the couple doesn’t have children, the marriage is a failure. And that failure affects not only the couple, but both families. This is a really big problem. And you can’t have just one kid to pass on the family name, because half of all kids die in early childhood. If you want to be safe, you need several kids, to be sure at least one will survive to adulthood (when they can marry and pass on the family name and resources.

You know what happens when a girl has her first pregnancy too young? She is very likely to either die in childbirth, or have complications that destroy her future fertility. Just like Margaret Beaufort. Just like Juliet’s mother. In other words, the marriage is a failure, not just for her, but also for her family, and her husband (who can’t divorce her, it’s not allowed except in extremely rare circumstances), and her husband’s family. So even the people who didn’t have a moral problem with adult men having sex with pubescent girls had a practical problem with girls married too young because you are very likely to destroy the entire purpose of the marriage by doing it. As Shakespeare reminds us in the play through Juliet’s mother having been married too young and only having one child.

another thing i noticed, the year my local community shakespeare theater did r&j, and i made the costumes so i got to watch the show every night: part of why capulet is telling paris, take your time, get to know each other, no rush, is that he still has his nephew tybalt as his heir. as long as tybalt is in the picture, there is no pressure on juliet to go further with paris, than get acquainted. once tybalt is killed, then suddenly capulet needs an heir, he needs a husband for juliet, now, this week. (the role of capulet is best given to the actor in the company that can do over the top apoplexy, you need to believe his urgency comes at least in part by how clearly he could drop dead any moment from giving himself a stroke)

i feel like this play is often taught in middle schools as if it was somehow relevant to, or about, teen hormone storms. really it's got more to do with the social structures around family and inheritance. leaving that context out makes it confusing, why is capulet suddenly flipping from nice dad to evil dad?

And for those people who have access to mobility devices but might benefit from a second chair they can abuse without risking expensive damage…

Erik Kondo has made a website, Open Source Innovations, that details plans for DIY wheelchairs. These wheelchairs can be made from common materials like wood, plastic, and pvc. They are lightweight and can be custom fit to the user allowing from the same degree of movement you would get from a custom chair. And they are durable and easily repairable. (he has been stress testing his latest design by dropping it down stairs, dropping it out of a car, launching it across a driveway, and throwing it off a deck). Its 12lbs and I think he said its was in the $200 ish range for parts.