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[Delightful]

.....what's a chigger?

Gosh I feel sorry for complaining. Kas, where do you live?

[Orlion Blight he/him]

Try here. Got a mosquito bite? Oh oops, it could be malaria or dengue fever. If it's the latter, you could be dead. Congratulations and try not to be too worried! Mosquitoes are a major disease-spreading vector here, unfortunately. Even if you don't get dengue fever developing into dengue hemorrhagic fever, you're not out of the woods, because a second infection could complicate things and then you die of the second one.

(For context, we actually have government officers whose job it is to go into people's houses and to make sure people aren't leaving breeding spaces for mosquitoes. That's how problematic dengue fever is.)

Welcome to life in the tropics.

Ah, dengue clasíco...the "break bone fever"... I'm glad I never got any of it's variations. Even though it seems that survival rate is high if you are treated at a hospital, it always sounded like an incredibly painful condition.

I knew someone who caught malaria and dengue within the year. I asked him which one was worse, and he said malaria was, for him, worse.

An interesting factoid: malaria and dengue are carried by different mosquitoes. The dengue mosquitoes are mostly found in a city landscape whereas malaria mosquitoes tend to be found in the country.

[Kaymyth she/her]

.....what's a chigger?

Gosh I feel sorry for complaining. Kas, where do you live?

 

A chigger is a tiny mite that lives in the grass.  In its larval stage, it's practically invisible to the naked eye, and it likes to, er...

...feast on mammalian skin.  They attach to you and liquefy a tiny portion of your skin, which reacts by hardening around the wound into a straw-like shape.  So the thing just slurps your skin up through the straw.

 

It generally takes 1-3 days for the bites to show up; by the time you itch, the chiggers are long gone.

[Kasimir he/him]

Ah, dengue clasíco...the "break bone fever"... I'm glad I never got any of it's variations. Even though it seems that survival rate is high if you are treated at a hospital, it always sounded like an incredibly painful condition.

I knew someone who caught malaria and dengue within the year. I asked him which one was worse, and he said malaria was, for him, worse.

An interesting factoid: malaria and dengue are carried by different mosquitoes. The dengue mosquitoes are mostly found in a city landscape whereas malaria mosquitoes tend to be found in the country.

Apparently, it's worse for children, but that was years ago when I was in primary school, so the public health education might've changed in the intervening years.

We definitely have both kinds here. It's more or less picking and choosing your poison. Especially if you're male, since compulsory military service is done near the jungle, so you got to get all your shots at once. Bright side is, everyone is suffering together, so if you're terrified of needles, well, try not to show it...

 

Edit: Should note that the malaria shot itself is a recent development; I'm hearing rumours that they're looking into that to replace the pill after a serviceman died because of complications with the pill. Otherwise, you're just doing the usual tetanus-type stuff.

Edited November 17, 2015 by Kasimir

[Left he/him]

Mosquitos avoid me really. At scout camp I've always been the lone person who doesn't dowse himself in spray, and usually I end up better off. Other insects do target me, specially my legs, but it could be worse.

[The Honor Spren she/her]

I'd say mosquitoes are mildly interested in me. Unless, of course, I'm trapped in a tent with them. They just give me so many kisses.

Two summers ago, we had a foreign exchange student from Spain stay with my family for a month. I felt awful for her. Her legs were completely red. But over in Spain, the bugs stay far away.

[STINK he/him]

Some days I just get really frustrated with everyone, and it's not that I don't have my reasons, but it's just the way that all my friends talk about their parents and complain and I just want to tell them that you should love them and appreciate them instead because you never know if they will be gone and it's even worse if you have to watch them slowly just stop to function as well as they could do and have to help them do normal everyday things but instead they are out there supporting you and all you do is complain and it just frustrates me endlessly. 

[Kaymyth she/her]

Stupid small rant:

 

My favorite work pen just ran out of ink.  It was the BEST pen.  The ink flowed out of it so smoothly!  And now, alas, it is empty. 

[+Slowswift]

Stupid small rant:

 

My favorite work pen just ran out of ink.  It was the BEST pen.  The ink flowed out of it so smoothly!  And now, alas, it is empty. 

 

Can't you just buy another inkwell for it, or even just a new pen?

 

Also, what kind of pen was it?

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

My mom is making arguments (flawed ones) against allowing the Syrian refugees into the US. I've found three different articles articulating points of view I share, articles that I would like very much to post to Facebook. But I can't share the stupid things, because someone doesn't think her twenty-five year old daughter has any right to disagree with her.

[+Slowswift]

My mom is making arguments (flawed ones) against allowing the Syrian refugees into the US. I've found three different articles articulating points of view I share, articles that I would like very much to post to Facebook. But I can't share the stupid things, because someone doesn't think her twenty-five year old daughter has any right to disagree with her.

 

What would happen if you did share the articles? Nothing good, I would imagine.

[Elbereth she/her]

Some days I just get really frustrated with everyone, and it's not that I don't have my reasons, but it's just the way that all my friends talk about their parents and complain and I just want to tell them that you should love them and appreciate them instead because you never know if they will be gone and it's even worse if you have to watch them slowly just stop to function as well as they could do and have to help them do normal everyday things but instead they are out there supporting you and all you do is complain and it just frustrates me endlessly.

THIS. This happens to me all the time, and I sit there thinking, I never have problems with my mom. And also, I've met your parents. They seemed really nice. Why are you complaining about them? It's different if you have a legitimate complaint like Twi, but if you're just saying "Ugh. I hate my dad because he's so strict!" No. You do not have my pity, person. Appreciate your parents. Edited November 17, 2015 by Elbereth

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

What would happen if you did share the articles? Nothing good, I would imagine.

Definitely not. See, she posted her opinion publicly, so if I posted those articles, she'd see it as me purposely disagreeing with her in public, where my little sister can see, which undermines her authority and sets a bad example. According to her.

Seriously, this morning I agreed that it wasn't cold (it was) and that pugs are cuter as adults than puppies (both are freaking adorable) because I didn't want to start an argument.

[Kaymyth she/her]

Can't you just buy another inkwell for it, or even just a new pen?

 

Also, what kind of pen was it?

 

It's a BIC brand, but I don't know what kind/size of inkwell it takes.  It was a freebie pen that was being given out by clients.  I should've known that a free pen that wrote so beautifully would have a tiny ink reservoir and run out in the space of a few months.

 

My mom is making arguments (flawed ones) against allowing the Syrian refugees into the US. I've found three different articles articulating points of view I share, articles that I would like very much to post to Facebook. But I can't share the stupid things, because someone doesn't think her twenty-five year old daughter has any right to disagree with her.

 

I've been stoically ignoring the branch of my family that agrees with this nonsense.  Come on, people, the terrorists are the thing that these people are running away from.  "Oh, no, these people are a different color from us!  We can't possibly have compassion for them!" 

[azninvasion99 he/him]

My mom is making arguments (flawed ones) against allowing the Syrian refugees into the US. I've found three different articles articulating points of view I share, articles that I would like very much to post to Facebook. But I can't share the stupid things, because someone doesn't think her twenty-five year old daughter has any right to disagree with her.

Things like this is why I've hid certain family members from my FB feed. We are on completely opposite sides of the political spectrum when it comes to religion and international politics that it just isn't worth the effort. And my very conservative, political arguing Dad wonders why I don't call him often these days.

I know it is harder to ignore when you live with them, but you'll get through it! Unfortunately, arguing about things like this is futile, just have to stay positive about your views and not let anyone bring those down.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

I've been stoically ignoring the branch of my family that agrees with this nonsense. Come on, people, the terrorists are the thing that these people are running away from. "Oh, no, these people are a different color from us! We can't possibly have compassion for them!"

Her argument was more that allowing the refugees in wont do anything to stop the terrorists, and by bringing the refugees here, we'd be giving Daesh free reign of Syria. Okay, but, what about the people who have already fled Syria and have no place to go? Maybe they want to go back (as she claims) but they can't. That's the whole point. I agree Daesh has to be defeated, but war won't help the people who need a place to live right NOW.

And really, guys, the chances we'll let in a terrorist along with the refugees aren't THAT big. Isn't the risk worth helping millions of people who lost everything?

[Kaymyth she/her]

Her argument was more that allowing the refugees in wont do anything to stop the terrorists, and by bringing the refugees here, we'd be giving Daesh free reign of Syria. Okay, but, what about the people who have already fled Syria and have no place to go? Maybe they want to go back (as she claims) but they can't. That's the whole point. I agree Daesh has to be defeated, but war won't help the people who need a place to live right NOW.

And really, guys, the chances we'll let in a terrorist along with the refugees aren't THAT big. Isn't the risk worth helping millions of people who lost everything?

 

What your mother doesn't seem to get is that these people fled because their lives were in danger.  Does she really think that sending them back would actually fix things?  No!  It would just get innocent people killed!

 

These aren't poverty-stricken third world people - these are well-educated, middle class folks who took their families and ran away from the people trying to kill them.  They left for a rusting good reason!

[azninvasion99 he/him]

What your mother doesn't seem to get is that these people fled because their lives were in danger. Does she really think that sending them back would actually fix things? No! It would just get innocent people killed!

These aren't poverty-stricken third world people - these are well-educated, middle class folks who took their families and ran away from the people trying to kill them. They left for a rusting good reason!

This. IS already rules Syria with an iron fist, sending them back will do nothing. Refugees are already flooding Europe, and I doubt Europe can handle them all. We have been welcoming to refugees for decades, I don't really understand why this would stop now.

[Delightful]

Her argument was more that allowing the refugees in wont do anything to stop the terrorists, and by bringing the refugees here, we'd be giving Daesh free reign of Syria. Okay, but, what about the people who have already fled Syria and have no place to go? Maybe they want to go back (as she claims) but they can't. That's the whole point. I agree Daesh has to be defeated, but war won't help the people who need a place to live right NOW.

And really, guys, the chances we'll let in a terrorist along with the refugees aren't THAT big. Isn't the risk worth helping millions of people who lost everything?

-can you just block your mum from seeing those individual posts? Or block her from seeing anything you post?

Your mum.....well yes her logic make sense if we totally ignore the fact that human lives are on the line.

Plus Daesh doesn't have free range over Syria because there's also Assads forces and the rebels and Al-Nusra, and last I heard they're being strongly opposed by the Kurds in Iraq.

And oh my goodness when people are trying to kill you, you don't hang around for political reasons you go save your storming life and run!

and yeah, maybe you'll let in a terrorist or two among millions, G-D forbid. So you should leave tons of people out to die on a possibility? Because clearly pretending to be a refugee is Daesh's only possibly strategy?

Sigh.

I saw a very interesting analysis that Daesh is trying to set things up so non-Muslims in the west turn against Muslims who then feel they have nowhere to go but to Daesh. If that holds true, despite being generally terrible, racism is playing right into their hands.

I think I'm done ranting for now. This is the rant thread after all.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

-can you just block your mum from seeing those individual posts? Or block her from seeing anything you post?

Your mum.....well yes her logic make sense if we totally ignore the fact that human lives are on the line.

Plus Daesh doesn't have free range over Syria because there's also Assads forces and the rebels and Al-Nusra, and last I heard they're being strongly opposed by the Kurds in Iraq.

And oh my goodness when people are trying to kill you, you don't hang around for political reasons you go save your storming life and run!

and yeah, maybe you'll let in a terrorist or two among millions, G-D forbid. So you should leave tons of people out to die on a possibility? Because clearly pretending to be a refugee is Daesh's only possibly strategy?

Sigh.

I saw a very interesting analysis that Daesh is trying to set things up so non-Muslims in the west turn against Muslims who then feel they have nowhere to go but to Daesh. If that holds true, despite being generally terrible, racism is playing right into their hands.

I think I'm done ranting for now. This is the rant thread after all.

Once I'm out of the house, I'll try it. I have no idea if she'd even know what I'd done, since I don't post that much to begin with, but if she found out, the consequences wouldn't be good. I'll stand up for my opinions when she's far away and can't punish me for them.

Yeah, the situation is a lot more complex than she seems to think. Plus, like you pointed out, there's one very simple reason for letting them in: they are people whose lives are in danger. So what if they want to return to Syria deep down? Let them in, get them where it's safe, and when the war is over, let them return to a country that's free of conflict if they want. But for Harmony's sake, let them live long enough to make that choice.

[azninvasion99 he/him]

Once I'm out of the house, I'll try it. I have no idea if she'd even know what I'd done, since I don't post that much to begin with, but if she found out, the consequences wouldn't be good. I'll stand up for my opinions when she's far away and can't punish me for them.

This part saddens me greatly. No one should be punished for their views, especially from family. I'm sorry you have to deal with this fear.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

This part saddens me greatly. No one should be punished for their views, especially from family. I'm sorry you have to deal with this fear.

Thanks. She and my dad see themselves as always right about everything, and they see one of their jobs as parents being to correct error where they see it. Ergo, if I disagree with them, I'm wrong; and if I stand by my opinion, I'm being stubborn for the sake of being stubborn. I don't expect any of that to make them sound better, but it does explain why they do what they do.

Edited November 17, 2015 by TwiLyghtSansSparkles

[Delightful]

I guess in a way, at least you understand their mentality. It has a certain logic to it. Predictable is better than random I think.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

I guess in a way, at least you understand their mentality. It has a certain logic to it. Predictable is better than random I think.

Yeah, it at least means I can avoid earning an outburst to some degree. I mean, she still freaks out over random things that don't make any sense, but I know how to placate her, for the most part.

[azninvasion99 he/him]

Yeah, it at least means I can avoid earning an outburst to some degree. I mean, she still freaks out over random things that don't make any sense, but I know how to placate her, for the most part.

Least you're able to placate her once in awhile, that's the most important survival technique living with parents! I've yet to learn that ability lol