I Can't Believe It's Not An Index CCXXXIII - Jasdoif's Random Banter #233

[Anonymouswizard]

So I went to the Opticians. The verdict?

My vision is blurs. In fact my vision is so blurs my glasses purchasing rights been suspended until I've been to the hospital.

[Rater202]

So I went to the Opticians. The verdict?

My vision is blurs. In fact my vision is so blurs my glasses purchasing rights been suspended until I've been to the hospital.

That's not good.

Would you like a hug?

[LaZodiac]

So I went to the Opticians. The verdict?

My vision is blurs. In fact my vision is so blurs my glasses purchasing rights been suspended until I've been to the hospital.

Sorry about stealing your eyesight cause my eyes have improved recently. Feel better soon AnonWizard, and I hope you get the prescription you need.

[Anonymouswizard]

That's not good.

Would you like a hug?

I'd like to know what's going on, but hugs are appreciated.


What really made the hospital visit happen was it changing so drastically in six months, which means I'm just happy it's being caught? Do I wish I didn't have to go to hospital over it? Yes but my hospital visit is hopefully going to be the nice one on this thread, and I also wish I had a copy of BESM. You learn to live with what you have to, whether that's a current lack of clear vision or a lack of anime themed RPGs.

[Peelee]

So I went to the Opticians. The verdict?

My vision is blurs. In fact my vision is so blurs my glasses purchasing rights been suspended until I've been to the hospital.

Are there no ophthalmologists outside of hospitals?

[Bartmanhomer]

Well it might be a Samsung, but do you have licence?

No I don't have one.

Yeah make sure you have the license. Last thing you want is an inspector showing up at your door asking to see your TV license and having nothing to show.

This reminds me of the time I got busted by the TV inspectors. It was back when I just had my TV learners permit, 9 or 10 years ago. I knew the rules said that I couldn’t operate one without someone liscenced present, but PBS was showing a documentary on aglets that night and my parents were working late that day. I didn’t want to be the only kid at school the next day who hadn’t seen it, the embarrassment would have been colossal. I would have to kiss my social life goodbye.

I had barely turned it on when I heard the tear gas canisters crash through the windows followed by the SWAT team breaking down the door. I remember there was some controversy about sentencing a 16 year old in an adult prison for as long as they did, but it wasn’t too bad. By year 5 they let me have 20 minutes of internet access per day and I’m looking forward to getting finally my TV license if my meeting with the parole board goes well tomorrow.

Does that even exist?

[Anonymouswizard]

Does that even exist?

They're being silly, but a TV licence is a real thing. It's not an American thing, but it is in the UK, and maybe some other countries. It's explained upthread. And yes, they have inspectors.

The actual penalties for not having one are relatively minor, a fine of I believe £1000 and having to get one of the things, but they're still something you don't want.

As for why the UK has the TV licence system and doesn't fund the BBC via general taxation? There are reasons, but I'm not sure I can go into them here.

[Bartmanhomer]

They're being silly, but a TV license is a real thing. It's not an American thing, but it is in the UK, and maybe some other countries. It's explained upthread. And yes, they have inspectors.

The actual penalties for not having one are relatively minor, a fine of I believe £1000 and having to get one of the things, but they're still something you don't want.

As for why the UK has the TV license system and doesn't fund the BBC via general taxation? There are reasons, but I'm not sure I can go into them here.

Well, I live in the USA so this doesn't apply to me.

[halfeye]

I lived!

Anyway hey hello I've returned from my week long stay in the hospital. Hope y'all are well.

Hi!

Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb.

[Rater202]

In commemoration of Zodi's recovery, and becuase it was my pass-the-time-while-waiting-during-a-doctor's-appointment reading material yesterday, the TV Tropes Page for Cursed World is now updated through chapter 2 and cross-referenced across the site for every trope-page it would let me edit.

[factotum]

Are there no ophthalmologists outside of hospitals?

Usually, in the UK we have opticians who do basic medical checks and figure out what prescription you need for glasses etc. If you need anything seriously investigated, you go to hospital or possibly specialist eye clinic. Same applies to dentists--while regular dentists can happily fill holes and extract teeth, if something more serious happens (e.g. the impacted wisdom tooth I had to have out 20-odd years ago) you get sent to hospital as well. I guess it's because NHS hospitals can get more specialist equipment than high street places?

[Peelee]

Usually, in the UK we have opticians who do basic medical checks and figure out what prescription you need for glasses etc. If you need anything seriously investigated, you go to hospital or possibly specialist eye clinic. Same applies to dentists--while regular dentists can happily fill holes and extract teeth, if something more serious happens (e.g. the impacted wisdom tooth I had to have out 20-odd years ago) you get sent to hospital as well. I guess it's because NHS hospitals can get more specialist equipment than high street places?

So the US terms are optician, who deals with ordering and checking glasses, optometrist (called a doctor but did not go to medical school) who can do basic medical checks and prescribe glasses and eye drops, and ophthalmologist (called a doctor and did go to medical school) who do much deeper medical checks. The MDs usually specialize into cornea, retina, or surgeon (such as the one I work for) most commonly, and usually operate out of their own practices though some are affiliated with hospitals.

One of my best friends for about a decade now is a prosthodontist, who runs his own practice not affiliated with any hospital. I don't know any dentists who have offices in hospitals. And I don't know how the equipment is handled for most of these, other than the one I work for.

[factotum]

It's pretty much the same here, but you won't find a full-blown opthalmologist in their own practice, in my experience--they're always in hospitals. That's the case for all specialist doctors here, AFAIK.

[LaZodiac]

In commemoration of Zodi's recovery, and becuase it was my pass-the-time-while-waiting-during-a-doctor's-appointment reading material yesterday, the TV Tropes Page for Cursed World is now updated through chapter 2 and cross-referenced across the site for every trope-page it would let me edit.

Ooh, cool! I hope your doctor appointment went well.

[Form]

I'd like to know what's going on, but hugs are appreciated.


What really made the hospital visit happen was it changing so drastically in six months, which means I'm just happy it's being caught? Do I wish I didn't have to go to hospital over it? Yes but my hospital visit is hopefully going to be the nice one on this thread, and I also wish I had a copy of BESM. You learn to live with what you have to, whether that's a current lack of clear vision or a lack of anime themed RPGs.

At least now they can hopefully do something about it. Here's to keeping our fingers crossed.

Ooh, cool! I hope your doctor appointment went well.

Good to have you back, Zodi!

They're being silly, but a TV licence is a real thing. It's not an American thing, but it is in the UK, and maybe some other countries. It's explained upthread. And yes, they have inspectors.

I want a Law and Order series about this now. I wouldn't watch it, but I need it to exist.

[Rater202]

Ooh, cool! I hope your doctor appointment went well.

It was an appointment to get my second covid vaccine.

The appointment proper went well, but about four hours later I evacuated the entire contents of my stomach due to a sudden burst of nausea, which is apparently a potential side effect of the vaccine.

[Anonymouswizard]

It's pretty much the same here, but you won't find a full-blown opthalmologist in their own practice, in my experience--they're always in hospitals. That's the case for all specialist doctors here, AFAIK.

To be fair, I suspect this is just down to the different ways medicine works in the US and UK, as I remember a lot of private medicine staff are shared with the NHS. While I'm sure there's practices out there with specialists I know if I was running the system I'd keep the expensive stuff in one place.

Earlier today I basically realised that I'm essentially remaking BESM in an anime game I'm writing, just probably a lot less well balanced and with powers worded strangely to avoid any kind of Extras/Flaws system. Maybe I should just cough up the squids for the game.

[Jasdoif]

So the US terms are optician, who deals with ordering and checking glasses, optometrist (called a doctor but did not go to medical school) who can do basic medical checks and prescribe glasses and eye drops, and ophthalmologist (called a doctor and did go to medical school) who do much deeper medical checks. The MDs usually specialize into cornea, retina, or surgeon (such as the one I work for) most commonly, and usually operate out of their own practices though some are affiliated with hospitals.

One of my best friends for about a decade now is a prosthodontist, who runs his own practice not affiliated with any hospital. I don't know any dentists who have offices in hospitals. And I don't know how the equipment is handled for most of these, other than the one I work for.

The arrangement I'm most familiar with is doctors with outpatient-capable focuses banding together to form groups that share equipment at the same location(s). The doctor I saw for ADHD as a child was part of a small group specializing in pediatrics within a single building, while the ophthalmologist I saw last week (to have rogue blood vessels in my eye cauterized with a laser) is part of a multispecialty group with locations across three cities.

[Rater202]

Sandwich experiment: white bread, dijon mustard, provolone, hard salami, roast beef fried in soybean oil.

Layers: bread, thin coat of mustard, provolone, salami, beef, provolone, mustard, bread.

Results: Yum. Mustard stands out a bit more than in previous experiments, but it's also a different brand of mustard so it might be a recipe difference.

[Razade]

The actual penalties for not having one are relatively minor, a fine of I believe £1000 and having to get one of the things, but they're still something you don't want.

A one thousand dollar (or Pound) fine is not minor. Just by a google search of the average monthly income of someone living in the UK that's half a month's income. That's a substantial fine. That's literally a month's rent for me.

[TaiLiu]

A one thousand dollar (or Pound) fine is not minor. Just by a google search of the average monthly income of someone living in the UK that's half a month's income. That's a substantial fine. That's literally a month's rent for me.

They did say "relatively minor." So I guess they were comparing it to, like, incarceration or execution.

[Anonymouswizard]

A one thousand dollar (or Pound) fine is not minor. Just by a google search of the average monthly income of someone living in the UK that's half a month's income. That's a substantial fine. That's literally a month's rent for me.

Compared to a five/ten year prison sentence, as in the post BMH quoted? Relatively minor.

I'm the grand scheme of things? Probably most of the monthly income of the kind of person who wouldn't get one. It's not a slap on the wrist, and it's more than the £40 fine I got when the bus's payment system broke down, but your not being locked up.

[Fyraltari]

Well, I've put my face on a dating website. Don't really know what to expect.

[Peelee]

Well, I've put my face on a dating website. Don't really know what to expect.

Met my wife through one of those, so I can be an anecdotal data point in the "result: hooray" column. Good luck!

[Rater202]

Well, I've put my face on a dating website. Don't really know what to expect.

I've heard a lot of stories about dating websites, the general consensus seems to be that they work great if you know how to avoid the crazies.

Rule of Thumb: If someone's profile says some variant of the Marylin Monroe Quote "I make mistakes, I'm out of control, and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you don't deserve me at my best" then there's a high chance that their best is not worth their worst.

Especially if they only have the last part, omitting the first sentence that frames her "worst" as a negative.

(Also, considering Monroe is known to have suffered from periods of severe depression and irrational fear which is believed to have led to her suicide, her 'worst' may, in fact, have been referring to what nowadays would be considered a legitimate medical issue)

Another rule of thumb: If you message or get messaged by someone and they immediately want to know your height and weight but get offended when you ask either of them, they're not worth it. You don't want someone that shallow and hypocritical.

And then it's just things like searching images to make sure it's not a stock photo to avoid being catfished and general "online safety stuff" like don't meet for the first time at your house or their house, meet somewhere public with lots of people, don't give away personal information, and if they refuse to meet you in public or keep demanding personal information block them.

[Form]

Well, I've put my face on a dating website. Don't really know what to expect.

Speaking from personal experience I've found the whole process to be disappointing, though in a few months I'll probably make another attempt myself as well. For me as a straight guy I've often felt like it was howling into the void and I noticed that in both online as well as real life dating a lot of women still implicitly expect men to conform to a traditional gender role which dictates that men are to take pretty much all of the initiative and be very assertive. Maybe that won't be problem for you and I hope it works out. Just try to keep your expectations fairly low.

Edit: Make sure to have good photo's. It's the most decisive part with respect to whether people will decide to message you back or not.

[Tvtyrant]

Well, I've put my face on a dating website. Don't really know what to expect.

Depends on the dating application. Generally the more free they are the worse, skin the game is important. Either look for totally filled out profiles or go on a paid for app if you want a response rate large enough to see.

[Fyraltari]

Met my wife through one of those, so I can be an anecdotal data point in the "result: hooray" column. Good luck!

Thanks!

I've heard a lot of stories about dating websites, the general consensus seems to be that they work great if you know how to avoid the crazies.

Rule of Thumb: If someone's profile says some variant of the Marylin Monroe Quote "I make mistakes, I'm out of control, and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you don't deserve me at my best" then there's a high chance that their best is not worth their worst.

Especially if they only have the last part, omitting the first sentence that frames her "worst" as a negative.

(Also, considering Monroe is known to have suffered from periods of severe depression and irrational fear which is believed to have led to her suicide, her 'worst' may, in fact, have been referring to what nowadays would be considered a legitimate medical issue)

Another rule of thumb: If you message or get messaged by someone and they immediately want to know your height and weight but get offended when you ask either of them, they're not worth it. You don't want someone that shallow and hypocritical.

And then it's just things like searching images to make sure it's not a stock photo to avoid being catfished and general "online safety stuff" like don't meet for the first time at your house or their house, meet somewhere public with lots of people, don't give away personal information, and if they refuse to meet you in public or keep demanding personal information block them.

Thanks for the advice.

Speaking from personal experience I've found the whole process to be disappointing, though in a few months I'll probably make another attempt myself as well. For me as a straight guy I've often felt like it was howling into the void and I noticed that in both online as well as real life dating a lot of women still implicitly expect men to conform to a traditional gender role which dictates that men are to take pretty much all of the initiative and be very assertive. Maybe that won't be problem for you and I hope it works out. Just try to keep your expectations fairly low.

Allright, I'll keep that in mind.

Edit: Make sure to have good photo's. It's the most decisive part with respect to whether people will decide to message you back or not.

Spent a bit of the morning with my sister taking pictures/skimming old pictures of me doing stuff to show me under a good light.
Not an easy task, I've liked the way I look on pictures (and any smile I make on command end up looking creepy).

Depends on the dating application. Generally the more free they are the worse, skin the game is important. Either look for totally filled out profiles or go on a paid for app if you want a response rate large enough to see.

What does "skin the game" mean?
And thanks for the advice.

[Form]

Spent a bit of the morning with my sister taking pictures/skimming old pictures of me doing stuff to show me under a good light.
Not an easy task, I've liked the way I look on pictures (and any smile I make on command end up looking creepy).

You might want to consider going so far as to have a professional make photo's specifically for the dating website if you can afford it.

[Fyraltari]

You might want to consider going so far as to have a professional make photo's specifically for the dating website if you can afford it.

While she's not a professional photographer, she's an artist by trade and knows how to take some good pictures.