teaching network

Other tips for cheaper books is checking amazon and scrolling down to the “buy used” or “other sellers” section and then checking to see if those sellers have storerfonts off of amazon.

There is also a good chance that you might have a local, indie book store that likely also has a used book section! Indiebound might help you find those book stores!

Also, check out your local library, sometimes, they have a for sale section or might have certain times of the year where they do massive used book (dvd, cd, etc) sales to fundraise!

Accept that terrible things happen in the world. That sounds weird, right? But I found that, at least for me, the explosive indignation that this could've happened at all and like, fighting back against the reality and how much I didn't want to believe that something like this could happen - that just caused me to take on secondhand trauma. You cannot change horrors that have already happened.

Let me repeat that: You cannot change horrors that have already happened.

None of us can go back in time and undo the traumatic event. It's done. It happened. I once had a client whose abuser ran over her legs with his truck trying to kill her. I saw her wounds up close and personal. I still remember the smell of the wounds and how there was still a faint but nauseating scent of rubber. Nothing I could do could turn back the hands of time to before that nightmarish event.

But here's the thing - you can decide what you are going to do about it moving forward.

Sometimes you're in a realistic position to help. Sometimes you're not. But asking yourself the question, hey what practical good can I do in this situation? How can I help here? Is a million times more productive and comforting than wallowing in rage. The key is that finding a useful way to help or even just asking the question restores a sense of agency to you in a moment when you feel powerless against the deep cruelties of this world. And it often also empowers the victim(s) knowing that there are good, motivated people who are there to support and advocate for them.

Some of this shit is going to haunt you no matter what you do. Cutting through the haze of rage to take stock of the reality on the ground and what you can do to improve it is easier said than done. But if you try, it will help you and the people directly affected.

Accept that we currently live in a world of horrors, and then resolve to do what you can about it. And when you've done what you can? Accept that the rest is out of your hands now and that now the rest of it is in G-d's hands.

לֹא עָלֶיךָ הַמְּלָאכָה לִגְמֹר, וְלֹא אַתָּה בֶן חוֹרִין לִבָּטֵל מִמֶּנָּה.

while i am by no means a real audiophile or vinyl expert here are some tips that have worked for me over my almost two decades of collecting!

turntables + speakers

do not buy suitcase players. i cannot overstate this enough. do not buy suitcase players. the all-in-one players are generally cheaper, but there isn't enough support from the platter because they are smaller than 12 inch LPs. this can lead to shitty sound quality, the needle can fall out of the groove, and you can actually break your records. save up and pay a little more and get a proper turntable

there is a lot of debate about belt vs. direct drive turntables (belt drive turntables use a belt to spin the turntable while direct drive turntables have the motor directly under the platter) and which is better. very generally speaking if you want better sound quality, belt drive is the way to go; if you want a player that's a little easier to use that's also a little more durable, direct drive is a better option (most DJ turntables are also direct drive, as a side note)

i currently have three turntables and they are all audio-technica, which is a well respected brand (especially for beginners)—i have an AT-LP60X ($149) which is a belt driven player, as well as two AT-LP120XUSB ($349 each) which i use for practicing DJing/selecting. i also have a stanton M.203 mixer (insane to me that it's listed for $350 on amazon, i paid eighty bucks for mine on ebay), audio-technica ATH-M20x headphones (they were a gift but are listed for $49 on amazon) and a set of edifier R1280DB bluetooth speakers ($149). the speakers are hooked up directly into my mixer, but because both the speakers and the AT-LP60X are bluetooth, i can also play records on that turntable too

change your needle! general rule of thumb is to replace your needle every thousand hours of listening; for the average person if you change it once a year you should be good, i'm on the cautious side and change them every six months

i really like my setup; it's on the cheaper side when it comes to "grownup" gear but true audiophiles would probably scoff at my basics. regardless of what you end up getting, a decent turntable that doesn't have the speakers built in that fits within your budget and a good set of speaker or headphones is all you need

buying records

any time that you can, i recommend buying vinyl directly from the artist! whether it's through bandcamp their website or at a show i think it's better to buy direct when you can (and often times it's cheaper than buying through a third party)

when you can, buy local. not only is it good to support independently owned shops, developing a relationship with local music people is great and if they're good they'll start to know you/your tastes. it also allows you to get good at crate digging, because you never know what you're going to find in a dollar section

utilize listening stations if the store has them! people can be pretty fast and loose with grading used records, so it's better to listen to it and see if the audio quality corresponds with the price (i don't always buy mint/nearly mint records and can tolerate a fair amount of noise but not if i'm being ripped off lmfao)

look things up on discogs to see if you're getting ripped off. not only is discogs great for keeping track of your collection (also you can friend me here!), the online marketplace is great for checking average sale prices for a given release. also handy for seeing how rare a release is!

buying records on discogs can be a crapshoot, ebay even more so. read seller's reviews; if there's feedback that they generally grade conservatively, that's a good thing

i have such a large collection that maintaining a record of what i have is really necessary; discogs is really fantastic for this. you can even scan barcodes on specific releases to find them through the discogs app! it's super handy for me as sometimes i forget that i have certain albums already and end up buying multiple copies and having to get rid of them (i need to get better at cataloguing immediately after i get new stuff, i currently have about forty five records i still need to add lmfao)

storing + maintaining records

keep your records clean! get a good cleaning kit and have microfiber cloths on hand to keep your vinyl as dust free as possible. also use those storage sleeves, it makes a different in keeping your records cleaner longer

a general rule of vinyl storage that i learned from the owner of the shop that i've been going to since i was nine years old is to store them in less than 70 degrees F environments with less than 70% humidity (funnily enough this is apparently the same rule for cigars)

i recommend those ikea square storage bookcases, as they're generally study, aren't too expensive, are pretty easy to put together, and hold a lot of records (do not store your records in milk crates long term)

So it's going to depend on the dentist!

The dentist I went to who placed my gold crowns worked solo in his office and didn't even have a hygienist; he usually took between one and two hours with a return visit to seat the crown.

The last root canals I had took quite a bit longer and I'm now seeing a dentist who calls in a visiting endodontist for root canals; in that office it's 2-3 people involved, but usually two, the dentist doing the drilling and filling and an assistant who helps with suction and cleanup during the procedure.

The process is basically:

Dentist drills out the center of the tooth and around the outside of the tooth, making it into a smaller shape than before and making it hollow

Dentist drills/files out the nerves (the roots) and removes infected tissue

Dentist cleans and fills the nerves with an inert material

Dentist seals the hole in the tooth with epoxy and seats a crown (may be permanent but more likely is a temporary)

If it's a temporary, it's in your mouth for a few weeks while the dentist waits for your permanent crown to arrive; then you go back and they remove the temporary crown and there is some minor filing/drilling/testing as they seat the crown and adjust the bite, then they will cement the crown in place with an epoxy that binds it to the tooth stump

They will use a lot of anesthetic for this because it's a procedure that is extremely painful without anesthetic. If they start drilling and it is painful, let them know right away. If it starts hurting after they have been drilling, let them know right away.

If everything goes well I generally don't find root canals to be as horrifying as a lot of people do. There are a few ways they can go wrong, most of which involve the roots being more complicated than expected or having adverse reactions to anesthetic. If the roots are complicated it's usually just going to take longer than anticipated. Sometimes it also means the roots are deeper than where a typical anesthetic shot will be helpful, but as discussed in the other post your dentist should have multiple levels of anesthetic to help you get through it.

But since you are worried about it you should definitely call your dentist's office ahead of time! Let them know that this is your first root canal and you want to know about the procedure before you're actually in the chair and ask them what the process will look like at their office.

If you are working with your dentist and they are managing your pain during the procedure it may be a *long* process but it shouldn't be a horrible process.

On the day of the worst root canal I had, I took a nap for two hours after and then was back at work. There was functionally no recovery time because I just didn't hurt after the root canal.

If you're worried or sensitive, I'd say plan to leave the rest of the day clear and possibly the day after, but I've had cleanings that left my mouth in pain longer than any root canal I've every had.

Every root canal’s pain will be different. I had both done in adjacent teeth, both molars, done by the same doctor at the same endodontist (asker I see you are seeing an endodontist for this, which is good. I’d always always recommend an endodontist for a root canal.) One I was MISERABLE when the anesthetic wore off and was bad the second day, the other I was mostly pain-free after the anesthetic wore off and went back to work the next day (although I didn’t push myself super hard.)

The most important thing you can do is stay on top of the pain. After my first root canal, I had THREE staff members at the  endodontist look me in the eyes and go, “Listen to me. Listen to me. You NEED to take ibuprofen as soon as you can after you leave here. You will feel fine and forget and you will regret it.” 

As long as you aren’t sedated and process dental anesthetic normally, you get at LEAST 3 hours of being pain-free, though will you burn up at least an hour of that getting the actual root canal (both of mine took about 45 mins). I didn't have an issue talking or smiling since the shots were all in the palate, so you can run errands afterwards if you have to (like picking up ibuprofen). I got one done and drove an hour home with zero issues and was still numb when I got home.

Assume you won’t feel up to solid food when you get home and assume you will need the day after off, most people do.

fresh, clean no-terf version for reblogs!

I am a Family Doctor and I want to keep a promise made to a patient. 

Julie was a healthy, post-menopausal woman in my care who came in for a periodic health examination. One of my routine questions, in what is called the “Review of Systems”, was to ask if she had experienced any vaginal bleeding. 

She said “No” but then laughed and added, “Other than when my period came back for a few months last year”. 

All health care professional are taught early on that ‘vaginal bleeding in a post-menopausal woman is Cancer of the Uterus until proven otherwise’. This comment by Julie was, therefore, a red flag (no pun intended) prompting further questions, an examination and an ultrasound of her pelvis. 

Julie was surprised to see me so concerned, especially since the symptoms had not recurred over many months. 

Sure enough, a pelvic ultrasound and tissue sampling confirmed Cancer of the Uterus. 

Julie underwent a hysterectomy and radiation therapy. She is now healthy, cancer-free and is expected to stay that way. 

After all this was done, Julie sat ME down for a talk. She told me she’d had no idea a ‘short return’ of her period after menopause was a danger signal. Furthermore, she addressed the topic with friends over coffee and discovered that, out of 20 women, NONE of them knew this symptom was abnormal! She admonished me to “Tell women this! Don’t assume we know it!”

From that day on, I have kept Julie’s advice in mind when talking with post-menopausal patients. But recently my wife suggested that I should take this to a wider audience. 

So, Julie, this is for you: 

If you are a post-menopausal woman and your period ‘comes back’ or you have even one episode of vaginal bleeding, TELL A HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL and insist on having it investigated! 

Ingredients Yield: One 9-inch loaf ½ cup/115 grams unsalted butter 2 tablespoons/6 grams chamomile tea (from 4 to 6 tea bags), crushed fine if coarse 1 cup/240 milliliters whole milk Nonstick cooking spray 1 cup/200 grams granulated sugar ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt 2 large eggs 1 large lemon 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1½ cups/192 grams all-purpose flour 1 cup/124 grams confectioners’ sugar ½ cup/8 grams freeze-dried strawberries

My food aversions are relatively mild, and I still have episodes where I start gagging while eating a food I like because my body just decided to violently reject it.

Personally I've found that grain salads are awesome because you can chop up vegetables really fine and mix them with some chewy rice or whatever and its great and not repulsive at all. Or really any kind of stir-fry with rice or farro or other grain in it