jhunter_d's Gelatinous Jamborie of a Random Banter: #209

[EmeraldRose]

So, since one of my antidepressants is slowly eating my kidneys, I shall now quit. All at once.

This should be interesting*.

*actually not. It's not likely to cause any trouble. We think.

You would do well to clear that with your prescribing physician first. Depending on the medication, stopping at once without tapering off can have harmful side effects.

What's your master's in?

Social Work.

[Solse]

Pfft, don't be ridiculous. Injecting the nanobots is completely unnecessary. They're everywhere already - you breathe a couple in every few seconds.

Every year, a human being eats 6*10³⁰ nanobots in their sleep.

[Asta Kask]

You would do well to clear that with your prescribing physician first. Depending on the medication, stopping at once without tapering off can have harmful side effects.

Way ahead of you. It was the result of my last blood test that made the physician pull the brakes. But yes, that's pretty much always good advice.

Social Work.

Makes me wonder if there's Anti-Social Work. :)

Good luck. It's always good to have "I am competent to do this" written down somewhere.

[AtlanteanTroll]

*munchmunchmunch*

I dunno, they do smile when you eat them.

... *munchmunchmunch*

Heh. This reminds me of when I was in England, and we were doing a little "sharing exercise." The question was what is your favorite snack, and I said goldfish. The other Americans understood right away, but evidently they don't have the crackers in the UK and my English friends were momentarily horrified.

So I can graduate with my master's.

I must say that's a pretty good reason.

I don't think I announced it yet, but I've gotten into two entrance exams for unis in Finland. And one of them is just the place where I want to get into, so I feel super lucky. Now I just need to step up my game and ace the entrance exam - my starting points aren't too good thanks to average and slightly below average grades from back in school, but I still have the chance to ace the entrance exam. Or at least I hope so.

Good luck, Finn! Is there some sort of Finnish qualification process for entrance exams/not a generalized test?

Don't sell yourself short, LaZ. Wings be delicious. If only Bdubs still had their margarita sauce wings. *drools*

Truth. Favorite Bdubs sauce? Mine's probably the habanero mango. Can't beat sweet and spicy.

Might be the margarita, but I only had it a couple of times and now it is gone forever. Alas. Otherwise I stick to some variety of BBQ, 'cause I'm simple like that.

Also, I see what you did there.

Social Work.

What exactly does one do with a Master's in Social Work? Assuming it's board friendly to say.

[HalfTangible]

Makes me wonder if there's Anti-Social Work. :)

Professional criminal?

[Amidus Drexel]

Makes me wonder if there's Anti-Social Work. :)

Computer science?

Heh. This reminds me of when I was in England, and we were doing a little "sharing exercise." The question was what is your favorite snack, and I said goldfish. The other Americans understood right away, but evidently they don't have the crackers in the UK and my English friends were momentarily horrified.

Might be the margarita, but I only had it a couple of times and now it is gone forever. Alas. Otherwise I stick to some variety of BBQ, 'cause I'm simple like that.

Also, I see what you did there.

Heheheh

*nod* BBQ is good. Honestly, I'm not very picky as far as wing sauces go. I tend to pick the hotter ones, though. At some point I may do the blazing wings challenge.

>implying I did anything whatsoever
It's all automated, man.

Every year, a human being eats 6*10³⁰ nanobots in their sleep.

I may have to sig this.

[AtlanteanTroll]

*nod* BBQ is good. Honestly, I'm not very picky as far as wing sauces go. I tend to pick the hotter ones, though. At some point I may do the blazing wings challenge.

I wouldn't. I had some friends who did it a while back. They, unlike me, genuinely enjoy the hotter range of sauces. When they did it, all they said was that it was too hot for flavor and just ... nasty, I guess.

>implying I did anything whatsoever
It's all automated, man.

Automated it may be, but you're the one responsible for automating it.

[EmeraldRose]

Way ahead of you. It was the result of my last blood test that made the physician pull the brakes. But yes, that's pretty much always good advice.

Good. I always wince a little when people tell me "I took myself off X drug." Just not a good idea to do unless you're working with whoever prescribed it...

Makes me wonder if there's Anti-Social Work. :)

Good luck. It's always good to have "I am competent to do this" written down somewhere.

Thanks! It's been many years in coming and it will be very good to be done. Of course...I still need to do my independent study project. In my copious free time.

I must say that's a pretty good reason.

What exactly does one do with a Master's in Social Work? Assuming it's board friendly to say.

Yeah, it's more or less board friendly. The nice thing about it is I can do pretty much anything within the field that I want. Clinical work is where I'd like to go with it, providing individual or group therapy. My background is in medical social work, so I will probably stay more or less in that area, but really...social work itself is a huge area of expertise.

School social work
Community social work
Mental health
Medical
Hospice
Child/adult protection (this is the one most people think of when they hear "social worker" but trust me, we don't all take kids away)
Adoption social work
Chemical dependency treatment
on and on

Professional criminal?

Are you calling me an unprofessional criminal?

Computer science?

Or maths expert.

[enderlord99]

So, regarding that equation from earlier: What if you replaced the terrestrial days with an equal number of martian ones?

EDIT: And perhaps convert to base-seventeen instead of dozenal...

[HalfTangible]

Are you calling me an unprofessional criminal?

No, but given:
1) Everyone has broken some law at some point by accident or otherwise due to the fact that many laws are simply unknown by the general public (and are also pretty minor minutia)
2) Most crime does not provide regular monetary compensation
3) Those that do are generally committed by career criminals who are not going to tell a bunch of people online that fact

You probably are

[EmeraldRose]

No, but given:
1) Everyone has broken some law at some point by accident or otherwise due to the fact that many laws are simply unknown by the general public (and are also pretty minor minutia)
2) Most crime does not provide regular monetary compensation
3) Those that do are generally committed by career criminals who are not going to tell a bunch of people online that fact

You probably are

Heh...

[LaZodiac]

Back from work. Nobodies dead or sick, but the back of my right hand's pointer and middle finger are burning and I don't know why.

[Taet]

I don't think I announced it yet, but I've gotten into two entrance exams for unis in Finland. And one of them is just the place where I want to get into, so I feel super lucky. Now I just need to step up my game and ace the entrance exam - my starting points aren't too good thanks to average and slightly below average grades from back in school, but I still have the chance to ace the entrance exam. Or at least I hope so.

What wonderful news! This is months earlier than I expected to hear such good news from you. I am curious, is this an exam you have to pay to take?

[Feytalist]

Pfft, don't be ridiculous. Injecting the nanobots is completely unnecessary. They're everywhere already - you breathe a couple in every few seconds.

Every year, a human being eats 6*10³⁰ nanobots in their sleep.

Great, now I have to find a tinfoil facemask.


I just realised I have (1) a bachelor's this weekend; (2) a Halloween party next weekend; (3) a beerfest the weekend after that; and (4) a birthday party the weekend after that. With the possibility of another beerfest after that.

My social calender is exhausting.

[SiuiS]

Anyone here ever have to deal with tonsil stones? A workplace shift resulted in a diet change resulted in a whole hay of a lot of the things (relatively) and it actually has me in traction due to infection now. Just curious how much icky stuff others have.

Makes me wonder if there's Anti-Social Work.

4chan.

[enderlord99]

Anyone here ever have to deal with tonsil stones? A workplace shift resulted in a diet change resulted in a whole hay of a lot of the things (relatively) and it actually has me in traction due to infection now. Just curious how much icky stuff others have.

Mine were removed. No matter how much you like ice cream before the surgery, you get sick of it after a while.

[Cuthalion]

I don't think I announced it yet, but I've gotten into two entrance exams for unis in Finland. And one of them is just the place where I want to get into, so I feel super lucky. Now I just need to step up my game and ace the entrance exam - my starting points aren't too good thanks to average and slightly below average grades from back in school, but I still have the chance to ace the entrance exam. Or at least I hope so.

Yay! I hope that goes well for you!

[Asta Kask]

Child/adult protection (this is the one most people think of when they hear "social worker" but trust me, we don't all take kids away)

All I know about CPS I learned from the Sims. It all starts when you kiss someone you're married to in a special way. That makes a baby fall from the sky. If you leave the kid for more than 30 minutes, CPS turns out and confiscate the kid. But you're just as happy.

(I may misremember details, but the main story should be correct).

ETA: And apparently, EmeraldRose prefers apples to watermelons.

[AtlanteanTroll]

I just realised I have (1) a bachelor's this weekend; (2) a Halloween party next weekend; (3) a beerfest the weekend after that; and (4) a birthday party the weekend after that. With the possibility of another beerfest after that.

My social calender is exhausting.

Oh you poor, poor man.

[Razanir]

Oh you poor, poor man.

Whereas my social calendar involves Sunday brunches and weekly movie nights. Although it'll take a bit of a hit this weekend. Beyond Earth comes out.

[FinnLassie]

Good luck, Finn! Is there some sort of Finnish qualification process for entrance exams/not a generalized test?

Uhm... Let's see how to explain this. I'm just gonna run through the whole application process to make some sense.

Well, there are two times in the year you apply through a national system for programmes starting either in August (everything available) or January (limited places and not every programme participates). The system basically asks you for personal information and if you have any disability that might inferere with the studies (for example crippling anxiety and depression, you'd then be required to get a doctor's certificate that you're in well enough condition to study. seems to only apply for stuff like social work and nursing). You then enter your previous qualifications, and depending on the university and programme they either ask you only for your matriculation exam results (they will get it from the database if you did your exams after 2006 I think, otherwise you have to type everything down) or both the exam results and your upper secondary school certificate.

When all this is finished, you choose six different degree programmes you wish to study. After submitting the waiting game begins. Basically, each study programme from every university has the exact same entrance exam apart from a couple of special cases, and you will take your entrance exam to the nearest place you have applied to and you have received an invitation for. As an example, I applied to two different programmes - social work and community pedagogy. Out of the six universities, two were for community pedagogy (in the same place, just different form of degree) and four were for social work. However, one of the universities I applied to is one of these special cases (I applied for 2 different locations), and it seems like I didn't get enough "starter" points for a nearer location, as my exam is near where my grandparents live instead of a short train ride away. Eh, such is life.

Basically: your upper secondary / vocational school diplomas and such will give you a certain amount of points that will be added to your entrance exam results. The higher your grade, the more points you receive, as simple as that. You might also get an extra point for a relevant field of study, and different degrees put more emphasis on different subjects (for example, engineering degrees usually give extra points if you have done maths, physics and chemistry in your matriculation exams). Five extra points are given to the applicant if the degree they have applied to has been their first choice.

After this you make a pact with Satan and sell your soul to the overlord's eternity.

What exactly does one do with a Master's in Social Work? Assuming it's board friendly to say.

THEY BECOME ULTIMATE MASTERS OF SOCIAL WORK. NOTHING CAN STOP THEM. HEIL SOCIAL WORKERS.

What wonderful news! This is months earlier than I expected to hear such good news from you. I am curious, is this an exam you have to pay to take?

It will only cost me to travel to the city where the university is, so it's a rather... grim thing at the moment, as I have no student card to get any discounts with. Applying, taking exams or attending university costs absolutely nada.

[EmeraldRose]

Back from work. Nobodies dead or sick, but the back of my right hand's pointer and middle finger are burning and I don't know why.

I am not sure why, but I totally read this as Noobies are dead or sick...which was rather hilarious to me.

ETA: And apparently, EmeraldRose prefers apples to watermelons.

Huh?

THEY BECOME ULTIMATE MASTERS OF SOCIAL WORK. NOTHING CAN STOP THEM. HEIL SOCIAL WORKERS.

This. Is. Awesome.

[Asta Kask]

Huh?

Apparently in Sims, you can determine the child's sex by eating certain things - apples for boys, watermelons for girls. Now watermelons for girls... I can understand*. Apples? Why no cucumbers? Or carrots? Or bananas?

*setting aside realities of physiology for a moment - few women actually have watermelons

[EmeraldRose]

Ok gotcha. Of course, it isn't the female who has the "power" over chromosome types.

[HalfTangible]

Ok gotcha. Of course, it isn't the female who has the "power" over chromosome types.

Neither does the male, not really.

[EmeraldRose]

Neither does the male, not really.

Just speaking strictly from the view that the female (XX) doesn't (generally) have the Y chromosome to pass on to offspring, whereas the male (XY) generally does. Other than that I'd say it's actually a crap shoot.

[Asta Kask]

And here's why.

TL;DR - in evolutionary terms, it pays for a parent to invest the most resources in the less-numerous sex, and this drives the population to a state where the two sexes* are equally common. There's a famous counterexample to this - the eusocial insects, like ants and bees. They have an unusual chromosomal arrangement which makes the equilibrium state different.

*I'm limiting myself to vertebrates, although the reasoning only requires sexual procreation

[AtlanteanTroll]

After this you make a pact with Satan and sell your soul to the overlord's eternity.

So it is similar to the American system!

In all honesty, it sounds even more needlessly complicated, but again, good luck. Is this for a post-grad education?

[Mx.Silver]

Apparently in Sims, you can determine the child's sex by eating certain things - apples for boys, watermelons for girls. Now watermelons for girls... I can understand*. Apples? Why no cucumbers? Or carrots? Or bananas?

I'd imagine it's a reference to the Adam's Apple.

[FinnLassie]

So it is similar to the American system!

In all honesty, it sounds even more needlessly complicated, but again, good luck. Is this for a post-grad education?

I think every university around the globe shares the same pact making.

Well, personally I don't see the system complicated at all, I was raised with the knowledge of it - I myself found the UK system unnecessarily complicated. There are less chances for kids with poor grades to show they have the guts to go in for a degree. Sure, we have the starter points, but they won't make a crippling difference. Like, there's still a purely perfect chance someone who got Laudaturs in all of their exams still fails to get into the course, because they didn't get the minimum entrance exam score even if their overall would exceed the limit. I find the system fair. And no need to write a brown tongueing essay about why you're the best.

Nah, undergrad. Never finished one. It feels weird, because I have friends my age finishing up their bachelor's and some have already started their masters...