Useless Conversation

[Yegolev]

I want to give more than one thumbs-up to You Spin Me Round.

[Samwise]

Do you weld?

That's an interesting one.  Do welders have a tendency to unknowingly implant metal into their bodies?  

(edit) I googled it.  Apparently inhaling the gases emitted from welding can result in metal deposits in your lungs.   

[MuffinMan]

Hmm does this mean that they make metal penis implants too? I'm learning so much today.

[Samwise]

Hmm does this mean that they make metal penis implants too? I'm learning so much today.

I'll let you be the one to google that question.  Good luck.

[Minvaren]

Hmm does this mean that they make metal penis implants too? I'm learning so much today.

I'll let you be the one to google that question.  Good luck.

Gives a whole new meaning to "fucking metal."   

[ghost]

Aye, it's all fun and games until you walk in there with a pacemaker you don't declare.

 

The penile implant could be more disastrous, in the grand scheme of things.

[MuffinMan]

I'm no doctor but I don't think your penis would do you much good without your heart.

Well, it could still do someone else good. Rigor mortis and all that.

[ghost]

I'm no doctor but I don't think your penis would do you much good without your heart.

Well, it could still do someone else good. Rigor mortis and all that.

Do you want to live without your penis?

[Chimpy]

On a different note. Realized yesterday when I grabbed my license plate sticker renewal form that my last name had a typo in it.

Grab the title which I just got back as my final payment was at the beginning of the month. Sure enough, someone at the State of Illinois spelled it wrong when they entered it.

Went into the DMV to get new sticker and see about getting the title corrected, was told because it was past 6 months from the date of title, it would cost me 95 bucks to get it fixed. The guy was sympathetic and told me "if you want you can keep it this way and when you sell the car, just sign your name with this spelling and no one will know the difference."

I find it mind-boggling that a title for a car (which you have to have a valid drivers' license to apply for in Illinois) tied to my driver's license could have this happen.

In another fun bit of State shenanigans, they say on the form "the fee has been raised 20 dollars for tags expiring after Jan 1 2010" in big type. But the amount used to be 78 dollars. The amount due on mine: $99.

[Morat20]

The screening sheet for an MRI should include a "WARNING: MOST BORING 40 MINUTES YOU WILL EVER SPEND" disclaimer.

I had my first MRI when I was 14. I read over the release my mom signed. Try being 14, having had seizures for no apparent reason (for the first time just a few weeks prior) and reading a long list of "possible side effects from the contrast dye" that included things like "complete organ failure" and things like "your heart stopping".

It was a fucking terrifying 40 minutes.

The ones after that? It's just too damn loud, even with the earplugs, they don't let you take a book, and the dye frankly always makes me feel a bit sick to my stomach for hours later.

[Ironwood]

Laila Rouass.

[WayAbvPar]

I never thought I was claustrophobic until my MRI last summer. I took 2 Xanax and could barely get through it. They wanted to repeat the procedure for my other shoulder and I declined. If/when I have to do it again I will have them knock me the fuck out.

[Johny Cee]

Having email addresses would be just as good and not cost anything, but they'd need to not be giant technophobes for that to work.

But then, their quote would be in writing.  Fuck that.

[Samwise]

Having email addresses would be just as good and not cost anything, but they'd need to not be giant technophobes for that to work.

But then, their quote would be in writing.  Fuck that.

Not just their quote but anything they tell you about what the job will entail or what they'll be able to do.  I've been working with a structural engineer for the past several months and I've been scrupulous about having everything recorded in email (even when we talk on the phone, which he prefers, I take notes and email him a recap to make sure I got everything right).  On multiple occasions he's tried to conveniently forget something that he told me back before I'd written him a fat check, only to have me dredge it up from an old email and say "but you said...".  I don't really care if things end up costing more money or take longer, but I do expect him to be able to deliver the final result that he said he'd be able to.

[Lantyssa]

Someone needs to invent better tasting contrast dye.  I had to get an MRI when my abscess developed.  I got maybe a quarter of it down.  After fifteen minutes of waiting I tried to get a bit more....  Yeah, I'm not sure how they saw anything of use.

Intravenous Iodine really does feel funny.  Afterwards I found out both my parents are allergic.  Really hoping I don't forget if I have to ever get another.

[Yegolev]

In another fun bit of State shenanigans, they say on the form "the fee has been raised 20 dollars for tags expiring after Jan 1 2010" in big type. But the amount used to be 78 dollars. The amount due on mine: $99.

They round up to the next whole dollar.

For my rebuild of a screened porch, I found a builder through my electrician who I found through my pool builder who I found via my landscaper (at the time) who is a friend of my wife's family.  Each of these people turned out to be pretty decent and listening to each's recommendation has paid off.  So the two guys who rebuilt my porch are meticulous retired brothers that made $5780 off of me for three days of hard work.  The quality is fantastic, also.

The other builders I had tried to drag quotes from did not seem interested in such a small job.  Which is fine.

[Ingmar]

You guys are making me glad one doesn't have to drink contrast dye for a shoulder MRI.  

They did ask me if I had any shrapnel or old bullets.

[Ironwood]

And, had you been Nerf, that might have been a relevant question.
 

[Cyrrex]

Hell, were Broughden still around here, he'd be telling us all about the time where he got stuck against the side of the MRI machine, due to the massive amounts of ass shrapnel being sucked in by all the ridiculous magnetic forces, causing him to be stuck to the inside of the machine for three hours.

[Der Helm]

And, had you been Nerf, that might have been a relevant question.
 

Because of  angry ex-girlfriends ? 

[Morat20]

In another fun bit of State shenanigans, they say on the form "the fee has been raised 20 dollars for tags expiring after Jan 1 2010" in big type. But the amount used to be 78 dollars. The amount due on mine: $99.

They round up to the next whole dollar.

For my rebuild of a screened porch, I found a builder through my electrician who I found through my pool builder who I found via my landscaper (at the time) who is a friend of my wife's family.  Each of these people turned out to be pretty decent and listening to each's recommendation has paid off.  So the two guys who rebuilt my porch are meticulous retired brothers that made $5780 off of me for three days of hard work.  The quality is fantastic, also.

The other builders I had tried to drag quotes from did not seem interested in such a small job.  Which is fine.

Gotta watch them like a hawk anyways. One of my coworkers had a licensed electritician and general contracter come move some electrical sockets around in her bedroom. He was a friend of the family's, did this for a living, and gave her maybe a 10% discount on the work -- if that. So it wasn't like popped around to do it for free.

Then, of course, her house got ruined in Ike. So when they were repairing it, they called her into the bedroom and asked "Who the hell did this?".

She wanted one wall socket moved 15 feet. The contracter -- I fucking kid you not, she brought it in to show -- pulled the socket into the wall, plugged a regular (not even a heavy-duty) extension cord into it, ran the extension cord to where the new socket was going to go, cut off the end and wired it into the new socket.

Her "wiring" was a fucking extension cord plugged into the old wall socket, now drywalled into her wall. "Not up to code" was a bit of an understatement.

[Der Helm]

He was a friend of the family's

I see..

[Merusk]

Hiring a contractor to do some minor landscaping (that I have no time or equipment to do properly) seems to mostly be an exercise in getting someone to pick up the phone or return my call.  I think the first person to give me a price that doesn't make me cringe gets the job.

It's Landscaping.. the nursery doesn't have their own crew to do the minor stuff?

[rattran]

In another fun bit of State shenanigans, they say on the form "the fee has been raised 20 dollars for tags expiring after Jan 1 2010" in big type. But the amount used to be 78 dollars. The amount due on mine: $99.

Weird, renewed mine in September, it was $98. Call Jesse White and complain!

[K9]

Someone needs to invent better tasting contrast dye.  I had to get an MRI when my abscess developed.  I got maybe a quarter of it down.  After fifteen minutes of waiting I tried to get a bit more....  Yeah, I'm not sure how they saw anything of use.

The worst thing I find with contrast dye is how heavy it tastes. It is very think and solid, the only saving grace is that they let you have it with fruit squash over here in the UK, which takes the edge of the actual taste, but does nothing for the texture. I generally find the laxatives you have to take before having an endoscopy worse, but they have been getting better. The worst one I ever had to take was garlic flavoured for NO FUCKING LOGICAL REASON. That was a horrible, horrible day.

[Morat20]

He was a friend of the family's

I see..

Operative word being 'was' once they sorted this out. And the guy was licensed and did this for a living. It makes me wonder how many other houses he 'rewired' like that.

[Selby]

That's an interesting one.  Do welders have a tendency to unknowingly implant metal into their bodies?  

(edit) I googled it.  Apparently inhaling the gases emitted from welding can result in metal deposits in your lungs.   

Yup.  The gas can get in your lungs with very fine metal particles and deposits.  It can also get embedded in your skin if you don't cover up well (I always wore leather gloves and long sleeves\pants).  Basically it's bad news if you are exposed to it on a daily basis.  Add an MRI in and you can get all sorts of hell.

[Chimpy]

Even with a welding gas half-mask respirator and wearing protective clothing, I always had black soot in my nose and a thin layer of black dust on my skin when I was welding all the time.

of course, I had a beard and they were the disposable glorified dust-mask style so they were not a perfect fit, but I am sure I inhaled large amounts of iron, carbon, manganese, and copper during those days.

You want to read something fun, read the section of a MIG wire MSDS regarding the exposure to manganese.

[Trippy]

Do you weld?

That's an interesting one.  Do welders have a tendency to unknowingly implant metal into their bodies?  

(edit) I googled it.  Apparently inhaling the gases emitted from welding can result in metal deposits in your lungs.   

You also need to be careful if you've used a Dremel on metal as it's easy to get tiny metal shavings embedded in your skin which might get sucked through your body on a scan.

[Strazos]

An actual decent story.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89164759

[Nebu]

An actual decent story.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89164759

That's the kind of story that the media should be spreading.  Thanks for sharing that link.

[Merusk]

As Trippy has pointed out, the media spreads news that gets eyeballs.  Much like voting, the collective gets the news it deserves because it voted for the shit.

[Ironwood]

I'm cynical, I guess, but that story just sounded made up from whole cloth.

[Khaldun]

Someone needs to invent better tasting contrast dye.  I had to get an MRI when my abscess developed.  I got maybe a quarter of it down.  After fifteen minutes of waiting I tried to get a bit more....  Yeah, I'm not sure how they saw anything of use.

Intravenous Iodine really does feel funny.  Afterwards I found out both my parents are allergic.  Really hoping I don't forget if I have to ever get another.

I hate that weird feeling with the IV one, the unnatural warmth as it moves through you and then, it's almost like you're breathing contrast-dye fumes out of your mouth, it's not quite a taste but something close to it.

[Chimpy]

I'm cynical, I guess, but that story just sounded made up from whole cloth.

You guess?

Man that made me laugh. :-D