# Ho Fucking Ho - December Mini-Rants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 1, 2023, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-december-mini-rants/993961 "2023-12-01T13:55:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 23
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-december-mini-rants/993961/441 "2023-12-21T18:05:14Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > My friends and I joyously abused ephedrine in our youth. It was an over the counter drug that even young, wasted kids could buy. A woman I know asked me why her 15 year old daughter would have 6 bottles of cough syrup under her bed. She was afraid her daughter was smoking cigarettes and had the cough syrup to hide her smoker’s cough. I had to explain to her about dextromethorphan. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-december-mini-rants/993961/442 "2023-12-21T18:05:59Z")
Never done DXM but I know it exists. That made me laugh. I should not, seeing as I have both an extensive career with drugs, often the more obscure psychedelics, and two children heading fast towards their teens, but yes. I laughed. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-december-mini-rants/993961/443 "2023-12-21T18:36:13Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Insurance companies seem all to quick to total a car if it’s more than just a few years old, even if the damage seems relatively minor. Same situation, and the car was sitting at the body shop, with body damage but nothing structural. A “Total Loss”. But it was a '90s Corolla. I knew that thing would bore me to death for another decade or two, so I asked the insurance guy “Okay, how much would it cost me if you wrote it off, and then I bought the car back from you?” They were very generous and I had a good chunk of change left over. Then I asked the body guy “What’s the bare minimum to get this drivable?” (That was a third of what getting it back to original condition would’ve been). And I continued to have my creative soul crushed every time I drove it, for many years… ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-december-mini-rants/993961/444 "2023-12-21T19:22:27Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > Pseudo-ephedrine (as in Sudafed) and nor-pseudo-ephedrine can also be used to make meth but the chemical reactions are more complex. I just ordered some from Amazon, no questions asked. I paid for same day shipping. I’m freaking desperate, man. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-december-mini-rants/993961/445 "2023-12-21T19:26:30Z")
Don’t take too much, the hangover warning I mentioned above is real. I mean we were taking ten times the normal dose, but my god, that hangover. And I’ve taken speed (amphetamine, not meth) so I have a reasonable idea of what hangovers are. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-december-mini-rants/993961/446 "2023-12-21T19:42:35Z")
Golly, thanks! I had no idea that your beliefs would be so easily tarnished by my well wishes. ( If you need soap and a sponge, just let me know. ) ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-december-mini-rants/993961/447 "2023-12-21T19:48:06Z")
> [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](#): > > I had no idea that your beliefs would be so easily tarnished by my well wishes. I was joking about my sinus headache. I for one am glad to see the winter solstice. I hate when it gets dark early. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-december-mini-rants/993961/448 "2023-12-21T19:50:34Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > Don’t take too much, the hangover warning I mentioned above is real. I mean we were taking ten times the normal dose, but my god, that hangover. So what I just bought has a different active ingredient which I think the FDA recently declared ineffective. I’ll settle for the placebo effect at this point. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-december-mini-rants/993961/449 "2023-12-21T20:03:56Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I was joking about my sinus headache. I for one am glad to see the winter solstice. I hate when it gets dark early. I am sorry about your sinus issues; I have them too. I honestly hope that you feel better. I never meant to turn anger or snark here; I like the people here. The people here don’t try to screw over my family with shitty MAGA laws or try to harass my family or try to steal from us. The people who do are scum and deserve worse than a 1 week vacation swimming in a hot place in Iceland. I’m so very glad that you aren’t one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-december-mini-rants/993961/450 "2023-12-21T20:07:05Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Pseudoephedrine HCl, and yes that is prescription-only because it is a common ingredient in the creation of methamphetamines. My understanding (which may be mistaken, out of date, or location-dependent) is that you don’t need a prescription, but you do need to talk to a pharmacist and sign for it and convince them you’re not going to use it to make meth. > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > So what I just bought has a different active ingredient which I think the FDA recently declared ineffective. What the FDA declared ineffective is phenylephrine. (Specifically, according to the article @Atamasama linked to, “when phenylephrine is taken orally, a very small amount of the drug actually reaches the nose to relieve congestion.”) I just now did a quick search on Amazon for decongestant tablets with pseudoephedrine, and everything that came up at least on the first couple pages had phenylephrine instead. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-december-mini-rants/993961/451 "2023-12-21T20:09:11Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > My understanding (which may be mistaken, out of date, or location-dependent) is that you don’t need a prescription, but you do need to talk to a pharmacist and sign for it and convince them you’re not going to use it to make meth. I have not been able to find it available online or in a store near where I live (Western Washington) without a prescription. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-december-mini-rants/993961/452 "2023-12-21T20:18:34Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > It always amazes me the blasé attitude many businesses have to keeping their website synced with their reality. Public safety agencies, too. It’s fairly easy to set it up so that when you put out a message it goes multiple places, FB, ~~twitter~~ X, _your own website_. When there is an emergency & you’re putting out messages like, ‘shelter in place’, ‘evacuate’, ‘stay away from \_\_\_’, or just "lookout for this bad dude’ the general public should be able to get them w/o having to agree to terms & conditions of some third-party crap that they don’t want to use for whatever reason. You can’t even search FB unless you’re logged in. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > Of course if you’re talking to a cashier at anything bigger than a Mom’n’Pop store, that person has shit to do with the website, and probably no effective way to even communicate to anyone in the company who could give a hoot, much less cause it to be fixed. Nope, single store, & I noticed he even looked over at another employee when he said that to me, almost like that’s the guy who does it, but of course he didn’t say anything, & then another customer came up after me which means he got involved with someone else which means he probably forgot all about it. Because I was buying beer I can’t even buy it online. I should just set myself a calendar reminder for late summer to go talk to the local distributor to signup with the only US importer who handles this & (hopefully) have them get some for next year. When I called the importer two (?)years ago; they weren’t sophisticated enough to help me; they could only tell me some distributors that they deal with in my area but couldn’t drill down enough to see where they sold this particular brand near me. I had to make a bunch of fruitless phone calls - do you carry \_\_\_? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-december-mini-rants/993961/453 "2023-12-21T20:22:34Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I just now did a quick search on Amazon for decongestant tablets with pseudoephedrine, and everything that came up at least on the first couple pages had phenylephrine instead. Yes, I ordered one with phenylephrine because the other wasn’t available on Amazon. I finally decided to crawl to the drugstore and get the good stuff. Pseudoephedrine. They just verified my ID and I honestly forgot my zip code but I got it right somehow. And I got some Coconut Dreams. I feel like I earned them. > [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](#): > > The people here don’t try to screw over my family with shitty MAGA laws or try to harass my family or try to steal from us. I get it. I live in a red county. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-december-mini-rants/993961/454 "2023-12-21T20:30:50Z")
Make sure it’s pseudoephedrine and not phenylephrine (the stuff that doesn’t work). I’ve looked for pseudoephedrine on Amazon before and I’ve never been able to find it. I just checked and I can’t find any now, either. It’s all phenylephrine. It’s also not available mail order from CVS. It’s the only reason I ever go to a brick and mortar drugstore, I have to go in and show my ID and they register the purchase. ETA— ninjaed sort of ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-december-mini-rants/993961/455 "2023-12-21T20:34:27Z")
Ref this: > [@kayaker](#): > > When I pick it up for her I have to show ID and explain why it is needed. One time after I paid I jokingly said that after all that it would be a waste not to make meth out of it. The pharmacy tech glared at me. And all the other references below this opener to methamphetamine, the good effectiveness of pseudoephedrine as a decongestant, and the near uselessness of phenylephrine as anything but a crappy placebo … Here’s a fun article accessible to the interested layman: **[Better Living Through Chemistry: Making Sudafed from Meth - Scientific American Blog Network](https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/better-living-through-chemistry-making-sudafed-from-meth/)**. The author’s point being that it’s easy to get meth from a street corner drugdealer and hard to get working decongestant from a street corner drugstore. So why not just go buy some meth and make your own decongestant? After all, the meth labs do the same thing in reverse and that doesn’t take much skill or equipment. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-december-mini-rants/993961/456 "2023-12-21T20:40:27Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Here’s a fun article accessible to the interested layman: **[Better Living Through Chemistry: Making Sudafed from Meth - Scientific American Blog Network](https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/better-living-through-chemistry-making-sudafed-from-meth/)**. > > The author’s point being that it’s easy to get meth from a street corner drugdealer and hard to get working decongestant from a street corner drugstore. So why not just go buy some meth and make your own decongestant? After all, the meth labs do the same thing in reverse and that doesn’t take much skill or equipment. 😁 This pleases me. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-december-mini-rants/993961/457 "2023-12-21T21:02:00Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The author’s point being that it’s easy to get meth from a street corner drugdealer and hard to get working decongestant from a street corner drugstore. So why not just go buy some meth and make your own decongestant? After all, the meth labs do the same thing in reverse and that doesn’t take much skill or equipment. 😁 That sounds like the premise to a new A&E drama series, _Breaking Good_. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-december-mini-rants/993961/458 "2023-12-21T21:17:08Z")
Or maybe _Breaking Sinus_. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-december-mini-rants/993961/459 "2023-12-21T21:49:22Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Pseudoephedrine HCl, and yes that is prescription-only because it is a common ingredient in the creation of methamphetamines. Not in California, it’s not. I have some in my medicine cabinet. Did have to request it from a pharmacy tech, show photo ID, and sign off some legalese regarding things like quantity limits, but no prescription was needed. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-december-mini-rants/993961/460 "2023-12-21T21:51:05Z")
I just got mine without a prescription. ID only. It probably varies by state. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-december-mini-rants/993961.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-december-mini-rants/993961.md?page=24)