OMG! I hope the victim is going to be OK, and that your friend gets whatever help he needs (treatment, someone watching him to prevent a recurrence, etc.).
The victim is doing ok. I sent him a text and he said he has a helluva headache and is having an MRI later today. He’s actually worried about my friend (the attacker).
TIL that:
Recurrent episodes with interictal affective aggression are a rare but well-recognized problem in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. They are referred to as episodic dyscontrol or, more precisely, as intermittent explosive disorder (IED).
I need to text my buddy’s wife but don’t know what to say.
”Is there anything I can do for you and/or [buddy]? Text or call me if you need ANYTHING.”
Thanks. I removed “or call” and sent that. His wife is a sweet, quiet woman who we love. Damn.
Insurance has now denied generic lansoprazole (the predecessor to Dexilant / dexlansoprazole. Doc is putting me on generic Protonix.
Apparently they were not getting a big enough kickback from the pharmaceutical companies, which is one reason drugs are dropped from their formularies. A handful of states have passed laws against mid-year changes like this, since people might well choose an insurance plan based on its coverage of something they need.
That is just all kinds of fucked up. 
Oooooh yeah.
A few years back, a mid-year formulary change caused me to basically become diabetic - my steroid inhaler was suddenly not covered, so they switched me to a different one - which kept me breathing, but caused my blood sugar to go in a bad direction. I was the one who figured out the temporal relationship between the inhaler change, and my blood sugar going wonky; given my weight, it wasn’t a surprise that I developed diabetes, bur just then I was eating quite well, and walking a lot more, and it just didn’t make sense. I asked them to switch me to yet a different one, and the problem resolved.
Then they added it back in, 6 months later, and did not tell anyone.
Decades ago, I was working as a programmer at a major pharmaceutical company. I actually worked on reports and forms to support the marketing of a specific hot new medication - basically rebates to pharmaceutical distributors based on shipping x amounts of this medication. Kind of the predecessor to the current PBM clusterfuck.
Since this is a mini rants thread, and we’re on the subject of prescriptions, it irritates me so much that we have all of these prescription medicine commercials. Medicine should be prescribed to a patient because it is the best remedy for the patient’s diagnosis. Not because the patient saw a commercial with a smiling person walking their dog and later having fun at a campfire and pestered their doctor for it. These aren’t consumer goods and it doesn’t seem at all appropriate. If a drug isn’t available over the counter, ads shouldn’t be allowed.
I also think doctors shouldn’t be prescribing things because they’re being wined and dined by pharmaceutical representatives either, but that’s another subject.
So, last month, my wife died suddenly. She owned her home, but didn’t leave it to me (wouldn’t have mattered, anyway), and I have about a week and a half to go elsewhere. Rents are way too high, so I asked the USPS to reassign me to Portland, Oregon, Grand Rapids, or NYC (places where I have family living). This does not appear to be a process that moves quickly, but today, I received an invitation to apply for a custodian position in Portland.
If my time in service still forces me to go to the bottom step in pay, it means about a 51% pay cut. If I can keep my seniority, pay-wise, it means the pay cut would only be about 16%, which, while not great, is doable, and I’ll take the transfer. But I’m still trying to find out what my pay would be, and it’s stressing me out.
When I thought the process could take up to a year, I made preliminary plans to rent a local apartment with my nephew (still expensive, but just barely doable). He’s currently in a 1BR in the same complex we’re looking at. But with the possible timeframe of a reassignment suddenly becoming more short term, I’m not really in a position to commit to a one-year lease. Of course, if circumstances mean I have to turn the transfer down, leasing an apartment is suddenly back on the table. I feel like I’m jerking my nephew around, and even if he’s not my FAVORITE nephew, it’s a horrible feeling.
Crap, really hope this works out!
I’d ask the nephew how he’d feel about you sleeping on his couch or living room floor for a week or so… with you paying him some rent… and making him coffee and a healthy breakfast every morning, of course!
Dueling headlines from CNN:
This afternoon: “Stocks tumble after Fed takes historic action on inflation”
24 hours ago: “Stocks rise after the Fed takes historic action on inflation”
Make up your minds, fellas.
Stocks $ADJECTIVE after $LATEST_ECONOMIC_EVENT
Inflation makes things bouncy, of course.
And tomorrow: “Correlation does not imply causation.”
Well, piss. I realize in the great scheme of things this isn’t a big problem, but I am very annoyed to discover that Watkins 1868, is no longer making laundry detergent. I’ve literally been using this detergent for DECADES. I loved it because it was biodegradable, phosphate, fragrance, and dye free, very concentrated and did one hell of a good job.
ETA: and it was good for sensitive skin.
Now what do I use when I run out of the Watkins detergent?
When you find a product you like, buy a lifetime supply immediately because they will stop making it.
I use Tide Free. If the labeling is to be believed, it meets all your requirements.
Oh yeah. I bought the Best. Shoes. Ever. in 2006, from Merrell. They were promptly discontinued. I’m still wearing them.
It’s easy to buy a lifetime supply of a product if it’s free.
I joke that theres a Committee that keeps track of what people like, so it can stop being made.
I joke that the reason something’s no longer made is because it was too good.