Annoying Questions I'd Like Answered...

shadzar · Post by **shadzar** » Sun Feb 24, 2013 11:49 am

well i wonder with the nicotine part. i have seen hundreds of videos on youtube, but it looks mostly like vape-ing rather than smoking. they hold the fog in their mouth to play with rather than inhale. i wonder if these studies show people actually inhaling like they would a real cigarette. some even show expansive kits to making more smoke.

not in it for the toy or social aspect or the blowing smoke rings and such. though a good cigar i would always do a roll with to enjoy the flavors of. so to really slow down smoking or remove the tar and such while trying to kick the nicotine addiction is my goal. not like the vape-ers trying to be, hey i am cool like boggie!

just wondering if anyone here has actually tried it as a substitute for tobacco, either cigarettes or cigars, even dips/chaws or pipes.

Meikle641 · Post by **Meikle641** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 6:26 am

If you're wanting to use tobacco and don't want the smoke, have you considered using a vapourizer? They're not just for pot.

shadzar · Post by **shadzar** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 10:39 pm

Meikle641 wrote:If you're wanting to use tobacco and don't want the smoke, have you considered using a vapourizer? They're not just for pot.

that is what the ecig is. nicotine and propylene glycol/vegetable glycerin + nicotine + flavor that vaporizes when turned on. its just portable.

i am trying to get AWAY from tobacco, only not easy with the nicotine addiction. i could get tobacco without smoke with snuff, dip, chaw, etc.

tussock · Post by **tussock** » Tue Feb 26, 2013 1:34 am

The people I know who've quit smoking long-term, the main trick seems to be getting away from other smokers (well, after clearing the house of cigs, getting the smell out, etc). Not just when they're smoking, but the smell of them in general. Someone lights up, you leave. Smokers on a corner, you cross the street. There's a part of the addiction that never completely goes away, so you need to keep the triggers out of your life.

Rather like crack addicts need to get away from other crack addicts. Srs bzns. Tricky if you're close to other smokers, unless you can quit together.

hyzmarca · Post by **hyzmarca** » Tue Feb 26, 2013 4:31 am

shadzar wrote:
Meikle641 wrote:If you're wanting to use tobacco and don't want the smoke, have you considered using a vapourizer? They're not just for pot.
that is what the ecig is. nicotine and propylene glycol/vegetable glycerin + nicotine + flavor that vaporizes when turned on. its just portable.

i am trying to get AWAY from tobacco, only not easy with the nicotine addiction. i could get tobacco without smoke with snuff, dip, chaw, etc.

Patches might help.

shadzar · Post by **shadzar** » Tue Feb 26, 2013 7:28 am

Not sure how Red Buttons in Hatari would be of any use since he didnt even smoke to begin with.

the idea behind candy, gum, etc is to give the hands and mouth something to do in lieu of having a cigarette in them. the patch fails for many because it is a constant stream of nicotine but doesnt involve the routine of lighting, holding, and puffing on the cigarette.

also i wouldnt try a constant stream of nicotine absorbed from a band-aid as it would probably work as pathetically as the nitrogen patches my grandfather was told would save his life from the heart attacks, but they didnt even make it to his blood stream to do shit.

so, not wanting to totally diminish you attempt to help, but for ME, those things just seem like money grabbing gimmicks like being hypnotized to not smoke anymore.

there is a lot involved besides the nicotine itself that a patch or the gum or candy just dont replace after a lifetime routine of smoking. just hope you NEVER fully understand that routine and having to get rid of it and the problems involved with it.

so the effort doesnt go unappreciated, and if the patch works for someone good for them. just too gimmicky for me.

two weeks and the brand i am trying has prevented the smoking of half the normal amount of cigarettes save for waking up, bathroom needs, and excess tress where a real one if needed, and the electric cigar is lasting a lot longer than i expected and tasting less bad the longer it is used. cigarettes have nearly lost their taste and worse than the old apple cider trick to stop smoking, but still the nicotine wins over the bad taste, otherwise people wouldnt smoke to begin with if the nicotine wasnt strong enough to force you to do it with such a terrible taste.

also the smoking/reward system or whatever the brain does like with any drugs, the constant stream of nicotine from a patch doesnt seem likely to fulfill that reward system. maybe someone can explain that better than i remember since it was years ago i last really looked into ANY drug/substance addictions and effects on the brain chemistry. ?

fectin · Post by **fectin** » Tue Feb 26, 2013 6:20 pm

Many / most drugs make there be more seratonin or dopamine in your brain.

That's not very weird though, because basically any novelty or success triggers dopamine release. That occurs at the the same time you start building pathways between neurons (Pavlovian conditioning, though it's hideously complex). I don't know if the two are related (I don't even know if anyone knows that for sure), but they do happen at the same time.

That little rush you get from solving puzzles is almost entirely a dopamine release.

I don't remember seratonin real well, and both my textbooks that describe it are currently holding my monitor. Wikipedia suggests that it your gut releases seratonin to indicate it has enough food. That makes sense with the little I do recall.

If you want an easy way to remember them, which is only mostly wrong, dopamine rewards your higher order needs (learning, chatting, fidgeting), and low seratonin drives your lower order needs (food, sleep, etc).

There are also a couple different factors weighing on their function as neurotransmitters: roughly, several pathways are dumping each, several other pathways are scavenging or binding them, and there is also a constant background "reuptake" which picks up free neurotransmitters and loads them back into the dumping pathways.

There are also a hojillion other systems in the rest of your body, which work completely different from your brain. Rather than fumble through an explanation, I'm going to send you to wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrenergic_receptor . Look at the picture. Many drugs either push (agonists) the green, red, or blue buttons, or prevent them from being pushed (antagonists). See all the stuff listed at the bottom? That's all stuff your adrenergic system does.

So nicotine (roughly) dumps a bunch of adrenalin (pushing all three buttons) and also floods your brain with dopamine.

Oh yeah, IIRC, it also messes with acetylcholine, which is a whole separate weird topic: there's a chemical which tells your muscles when to fire, decays into something that makes you sleepy, [edit: had it confused with adenosine. everything else is still accurate] and also is a neurotransmitter. That's an even more complex system, which I understand even less well though, and I think nicotine's effects on it are less pronounced. That system is probably why smoking keeps you awake.

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Wed Feb 27, 2013 12:45 am

I would really like to know what sort of internet search I did to cause targeted advertising to start proclaiming the greatness of a company's industrial-sized bottles of caramel color?!

Count Arioch the 28th · Thu Feb 28, 2013 8:51 pm

A coupe questions for those with medical knowledge.

I was diagnosed with a Right Bundle Branch Block back in January. I am on the waiting list to see a welfare cardiologist, but I question whether or not I'm going to drop dead before actually seeing him.

Other than reading the wikipedia article, I don't know a lot about it. So I have questions:

1. Is there anything I can do to help it while I'm waiting to see a doctor? When I was in the emergency room, they checked and found that it's not caused by blood clots in my lungs, nor is it due to a defect in my heart. Also, the doc at the hospital said I wasn't considered overweight enough for it to be a factor.

2. How do I write a diet plan? I'm afraid I'm going to get all fat and shit now that I've been told not to do any heavy cardio (and to be honest, I was relying on a very high level of activity to counteract that my diet was a bit high on the fats and sugars already). I know myself, and if I say "I'll cut down on the carbs and fats" I won't do it, but if I plan out my meals a week in advance I can stick to it with greater accuracy. I don't know if losing weight will help but I would honestly rather be dead than be too fat to do things.

3. Thirdly, is this going to kill me? It's not that I really have a lot going on, but if I'm dead who would tell overprivileged brats to eat all the dicks? The world needs me too much to give up and die.

tussock · Post by **tussock** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 11:14 am

I have not medical knowledge, but google says BBB either L or R don't kill anyone. They happen in healthy people quite a lot, and in unhealthy people with bad heart disease even more. But because of math, there's going to be far more healthy people with them than people who drop dead of heart attacks with them. Risk? Meh, follow advice and shit, but your odds are probably super good that it's just random and harmless.

Note: no heavy cardio does not mean no cardio at all. If you're already fit your heart won't stress with a little exercise. Walk if you got to.

Diets are where you eat food with all three colours that makes you feel full despite not having large numbers of calories. Whole grain everything with extra bran on it makes you feel full (and also prevents constipation). Fat makes you feel full, for reals. Reds/Yellows and Greens provide the rest of the crap your body needs to stay healthy. Herbs and Spices make any food taste good, in moderation. Avoid the usual white food substitutes, but try not to radically change things overnight to give your gut a chance to catch up.

Ted the Flayer · Post by **Ted the Flayer** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 3:24 pm

Alright, so twice in a row my boss called me the day before going to work and told me that they didn't need me and to not show up.

Other than finding a new job (which I confess to have been doing for the past two months), is there anything I can do legally? Can I file unemployment? Because I'm working hard on getting a new job, but I have bills NOW that need to be paid.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 9:18 am

Not really annoying, but here fits:

I know that the Denizens come from a pretty diverse array of backgrounds, so I wonder, have any of you spent time busking/street performing/doing Living Statue type stuff? Listening to a steampunk band with a friend a month or so ago gave me an idea for a street act, and seeing Amanda Palmer's TED Talk reminded me of it, and got me to start putting a bit of work into the act. Anyone with experience and advice?

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 10:21 am

Having a bundle branch block gives you a wide QRS complex that is still associated with P waves. They are therefore easy to spot on an ECG. What they mean is that you have aberrant and retarded conduction in your heart. The normal electrical conduction pathway is blocked, so the electrical energy goes around it, and this takes more time.

A normal electrical conduction should take about .1 seconds. A bundle branch block pushes this conduction time above .12 seconds. This puts a limitation on how fast your heart is capable of beating, but as long as you keep your heart rate to about 100 or less, you should be fine. You're only going to be losing a few seconds per minute to prolonged electrical conduction. Do not stress test your heart, as your maximum pulse rate is less and if you get up to very high numbers the fact that your electrical conduction is taking a non-standard route could cause you to get circular conduction and that's bad.

You can and should continue to do strenuous activity, just take it slower than you think you are absolutely capable of. As for diet: I suggest that instead of trying to convince yourself to eat less fat and sugar, that you try to eat more of things that don't have fat and sugar. Celery or spinach or whatever. Greens are very filling for the amount of calories they provide, and a diet high in them can be weight losing without forcing yourself to not eat meals.

-Username17

Count Arioch the 28th · Sat Mar 02, 2013 4:14 pm

Alright, that doesn't sound as bad as I had thought.

I wonder if the fact it makes my heart beat too slow explains why I get very strong physical symptoms when I'm very stressed or upset? Getting into emotional arguments is literally painful to me, and I start feeling light-headed, dizzy, I start getting chest and arm pains, and all I can think of is getting the source of whatever's stressing me to stop. I've capitulated on arguments where I was 100% in the right and gone along with really stupid things because it felt like if I didn't get this shrill little bitch to stop screaming at me, slapping me, and alternating between cutting the power so I was sitting in the dark or hounding my sleep every couple of hours I would literally have a heart attack and die.

I used to think I had a panic disorder, but any drugs the psychiatrist gave me never seemed to work. Maybe it's a physical problem and not a mental one?

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 5:06 pm

probably.
high stress facor like that can send your heart into overdrive, and if your heart does not like that sort of thing, then it can cause these symptoms, if i am not mistaken.
the chest and arm thing sound like stuff reported by people who suffered from cardiac arrest or however that is called . .

hyzmarca · Post by **hyzmarca** » Mon Mar 04, 2013 3:36 am

So, I live out in the middle of nowhere near a hunting plantation and my dog recently had puppies a couple months ago. Now she's running out into the woods and bringing back pieces of dead rabbits and squirrels and dropping them right by my bed where her puppies sleep. Obviously, I don't like waking up to slightly ripe half-eaten fur-covered meat. What's the best way to deal with this?

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Mon Mar 04, 2013 7:48 am

relocate the puppies somewhere else?

Sir Neil · Post by **Sir Neil** » Mon Mar 04, 2013 6:21 pm

Prak_Anima wrote:Anyone with experience and advice?

Find out the laws about busking in your town, and make friends with the managers of the stores you're going to be performing near. Doing strange things in public will get the police called, but if the shopkeeper wants you there, you're mostly golden. That's if you're doing things in a Wal-Mart parking lot, etc. You may want to talk with the local arts council, find out if the city requires performance permits -- not sure how elaborate a production you have in mind.

A quick search turned up this site that might help.

Blasted · Post by **Blasted** » Mon Mar 04, 2013 11:55 pm

So I last did philosophy subjects at university many decades ago and it's become clear to me that some opinions have changed and I should know what people are talking about. Is there a decent book or website or something for bringing me up to speed on what's hip and exciting in the world of philosophers?

Kaelik · Post by **Kaelik** » Tue Mar 05, 2013 12:59 am

Blasted wrote:So I last did philosophy subjects at university many decades ago and it's become clear to me that some opinions have changed and I should know what people are talking about. Is there a decent book or website or something for bringing me up to speed on what's hip and exciting in the world of philosophers?

http://commons.pacificu.edu/cgi/viewcon ... ontext=eip

Shrapnel · Post by **Shrapnel** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 11:16 pm

I want to know something: Why do trolls exist? Is it because their real, non-internet lives suck so much, that by trolling they get a sense of power? Or is it that out of forums, they're nice and friendly, and they only troll because it's an outlet for their darker sides? Does the fact that there is no retaliation due to the anonymous nature of the Internet make them feel entitled and empowered?

What I really want to know, though, is what part of human nature compels these dickbags, and why.

Just something I was thinkin' 'bout.

Kaelik · Post by **Kaelik** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 11:18 pm

Shrapnel wrote:I want to know something: Why do trolls exist? Is it because their real, non-internet lives suck so much, that by trolling they get a sense of power? Or is it that out of forums, they're nice and friendly, and they only troll because it's an outlet for their darker sides? Does the fact that there is no retaliation due to the anonymous nature of the Internet make them feel entitled and empowered?

What I really want to know, though, is what part of human nature compels these dickbags, and why.

Just something I was thinkin' 'bout.

Do you really think that people who are mean and criticize other people have no friends? Have you ever been to high school?

Shrapnel · Post by **Shrapnel** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 12:32 am

Yes, I've been to high school. And yes, most of the mean assholes at my school did not have many friends, and the ones that they did have were either their friend out of fear, or because they were a fellow mean asshole. I've never seen a mean asshole have or hold a meaningful friendship, ever.

So, yes Kaelik, I do really think that mean assholes who criticize other people for no apparent reason other than to make themselves hard have no friends.

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 12:51 am

You know, Shrapnel... I don't get it, either.

My husband was talking to me today about one of his clients - the guy's website was taken out via SQL injection. Apparently, while trying to help someone else, Ess discovered that people compile lists of websites that are vulnerable to attacks like that so that others can just come along and take them out. Why? No idea.

I seriously just don't get it. To me behavior like that and trolling are so petty. If you're going to be a douchebag, go big or go home.

Ted the Flayer · Post by **Ted the Flayer** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 2:19 am

I can understand being pissed about vandalism or theft or other such act.

I don't know the huge problem with people saying words on the internet? I don't know about anyone else, but I am bombarded on all sides by people with power who do nothing but use that power to make everyone else's lives miserable. And they think it's their god-given right to do so. Saying words on the internet does not bother me compared to the assholes I have to deal with on a regular basis.