houseoflivingwords

[knightlybutch]

“sir” not as in a man, but as in a knight

[natalieironside]

I figured out the secret life hack that the ableds don’t want you to know about.

My fellow chronic pain and limited mobility bitches, if you’re looking for ways stay active and get some exercise while working around your issues instead of against them, look up “[Thing you want to do] for seniors.”

[ash-and-art]

Before i learned i have fight or flight bones i always said i had old people bones and yknow somehow i never thought of this

[natalieironside]

I’ve been trying to keep my core muscles toned enough to stop my skeleton from completely falling apart for years and I only figured this one out like yesterday

[grison-in-space]

Bonus: the local YMCA often has gentle fitness courses designed for seniors to keep fit, and my experience is that if you are the one young person gamely showing up and being friendly, you will immediately be adopted and get to give advice on what the Youngs think even if you are like thirty two.

Plus water aerobics is literally the most fun physical exercise I’ve ever done and the coaches give you instructions tailored to your body’s actual abilities, not the abilities of some way more athletic kid, and no one gives a shit if you show up in wildly gender variant swim shit.

[star-anise]

Going to a “gentle water exercise” course was a major part of my journey towards exercise that actually benefited me. I find that instructors who came from the “fitness” world and just added it as an additional class on their schedule were not nearly as useful as ones who came from the “rehab” world and were very aware of how exercises could injure people with different conditions.

The other early stepping stone for me was Restorative Yoga, in a studio that actively discouraged competition and pushing your body too far. It was a shock to go to Restorative classes elsewhere and be asked to do a headstand or back bridge with no alternatives. At the studio I learned the most at, sometimes I would just fall asleep during class, and the instructor would gently wake me up when it was time to go. She understood it wasn’t lack of respect, it was me giving my body what it needed.

[warlockglock72]

I should absolutely sign up for gentle exercise courses

But this is also absolutely true for accommodation devices. Especially ones that don’t have a “name”

They will often have something to make things easier for you

[toastbutteregg]

[featheredwinchester]

i am fucking manifesting

[laskulohi]

[reba-loger]

[oneheadtoanother]

[byecolonizer]

Did the math, Bezos has donated about 0.0006272727% of his net-worth while Metallica has donated 0.0914634146% of their net-worth. When compared to the average net-worth of an american ($257,581.86) the difference in percentage becomes Metallica donating $253.50 and Bezos $1.62 

Tax the rich so we don’t have to rely on their fake philanthropy. Vote #BernieSanders

[dancinbutterfly]

The Average American is Not worth 250k. Where did you get that number wtf, are you high?

I agree tax the fucking rich to the bone and back.

But.

In defense of Metallica? A $250 donation from the average American who has MAYBE $1000 liquid if they’re lucky at any given time? Is a good give. It is. I work a respectable 5 figure job and can’t afford a $250 donation. Neither can most folks I know. So like, perspective? A personal donation equivalent of $250 actually is good. Seriously. I have no idea what their liquidity is and with a music group you have to remember there’s 4 members involved and an agreement has to be reached. But seriously if you’re bringing it down to our level? The equivalent of a normal American giving $250 is reasonable philanthropy.

Not enough to replace taxation by any means and never will be. They deserve to be redistributed just like all the rest. But it is a decent proportional give for one thing at one time. It’s the same proportion I’d like to be able to do but can’t.

Bezos tho…he’s fucking indefensible. Call me when he gives the equivalent of $250. Oh right he never will.

[prismatic-bell]

To put it into different numbers that folks who did middle school math and not much more might be more comfortable with:

Metallica donated almost 10% of their liquid assets (and as noted above, all four members had to get together on this—it’s not a decision only one could make). What’s 10% to you? For me, going on a single paycheck, it’s about $80.

Jeff Bezos—who, mind you, is the sole owner of his own assets, no collaboration required—donated so little that his donation cannot be measured as a percentage. For me this would be (as per my phone calculator) fifty cents.

For Jeff Bezos’ donation to be the “same size” as Metallica’s in terms of percentages, his donation would have to be $155.4 BILLION dollars. Which, correct me if I’m wrong, Aussies, would easily be enough to not just fight this successfully, but also VERY handily fund your fire service for the rest of the year.

So how much is $155.4 billion dollars?

Based on a fun website I found online, if you have one pound of $100 bills, there’s about $227k in that pound. Jeff Bezos donated three pounds of $100 bills. He would have to donate THREE QUARTERS OF A MILLION POUNDS OF $100 BILLS.

A fully loaded school bus weighs about 42,700 pounds.

He would have to donate so many $100 bills they would equal the weight of SIXTEEN SCHOOL BUSES. And as ludicrous as this comparison is, it was the only way I could think of to bring the numbers down low enough for the human brain to comprehend.

[prismatic-bell]

And after I read this post I looked this up online, IT’S NOT EVEN BEZOS DONATING. IT’S AMAZON.

WHICH HAS A NET WORTH TEN TIMES THE SIZE OF BEZOS HIMSELF.

[lagonegirl]

[guerrillatech]

[funnytwittertweets]

[rockets-obscure-omnibus]

The feminine urge to be the man my father never was

[theconcealedweapon]

Using taxpayer money to house the homeless is considered tyranny.

Using taxpayer money to terrorize the homeless is considered freedom.

It clearly has nothing to do with taxpayer money or freedom.

[ceruleangold]

“Faith, what was the hardest part of your journey to getting housed?”

From this excellent webinar I attended a few months back on the challenges unhoused people face in their struggles to become permanently housed.

[ceruleangold]

Sorry, and the reason I thought of this webinar was because of Frank here:

[ninenine-brooklyn]

[thefingerfuckingfemalefury]

RODRIGO NO

[woefully-undercaffeinated]

So I’m currently enslaved employed by a cable company, and I can offer a few pointers:

Find a copy of the customer agreement online. Read it. Have the “big cats in boxes” YouTube video on standby so that you can renew your will to live periodically while reading it.

Focus on the sections about cancellation

Examine any terms regarding early termination fees, notice required, proration of the time between cancellation and the end of the billing period, and equipment return policies.

Send a letter requesting cancellation to your carrier via certified mail. Include the date you wish for it to be cancelled. If you are not the account holder but have power of attorney, or the account holder has died and you are managing their estate, send copies of the relevant documentation with the letter. 

The day after, when it isn’t cancelled, call back. Ask for “retention” or “loyalty” and when asked why, state that you wish to cancel. 

They’ll ask you why you want to cancel. Say “I don’t want to discuss it, I just want to cancel my service.” (note: there are times when it pays to disclose your reasons; my company will waive all early termination fees and penalties if the account holder is being entering military deployment or a nursing home. Check their policies.)

They’ll offer something nice. Bundles, discounts, free channels, etc. Say “as nice as that sounds, and as much as I appreciate the offer, I just need to cancel my service.”

When they deflect again, ask how to return any leased equipment. They’ll launch into another spiel about that, thankful that you aren’t making them process the cancellation. Write down the process – they’ll either tell you to bring the equipment to a local office, or they’ll state that they are sending recovery kits. If it’s the latter, ask for the address that the recovery kits return to and write it down (you want to use the recovery kit if you get one, since it’s prepaid, but if they aren’t sent you’ll want to be able to return the equipment yourself.) 

After all of this has transpired, state “As I stated in the letter sent via certified mail on [date], I am ending our contractual relationship and terminating this subscription. Has my cancellation order been processed?”

If the cancellation order has not been processed, tell them to process it. Listen to their spiel. Ask for the date that it will be terminated.

Hang up, wait thirty minutes. Call back, ask if your account is pending cancellation or not. If not, ask to be transferred to retention and ask for a supervisor. Demand that your cancellation be processed and advise them that a complaint will be filed with the FCC if it is not. 

If more than an hour has been spent on the phone, file a complaint at FCC.gov. Forcing a customer to continue a service outside of the terms stipulated by the contract is illegal and the FCC hates it. 

[smitethestate]

This went from really funny to “holy fuck what kind of nightmare dystopia do we live in that we need to be educated on how to get a company to actually cancel an account with a company that bills you monthly” really fast.

[zachbiller]

[ruffboi-mags]

I was gonna say “what you think he had insurance???” but 1) at least in the early aughts to mid-teens, NY was one of the less excruciating states to get medicaid in, and 2) he was a minor and it’s a LOT easier to get medicaid for a minor, especially when said minor’s legal guardians are retirees on fixed incomes I’d wager.

So yeah they’re all just fuckin dumbasses! I love them.

[absolxguardian]

This is why I think it would be peak comedy for the radioactive spider to be of a non-venomous species and for there to be a scene of a new Peter Parker/Spiderperson looking up the spider’s features or posting a photo to an identification subbredit before being informed of the fact that nothing will happen

[ruffboi-mags]

entemologist reddit: oh yeah, that one’s venom isn’t strong enough to cause anything other than a bit of localized pain at the bite site, no worries.

Peter Parker the next morning, stuck to his ceiling: Well someone fucking LIED!!!!

[steampunktendencies]

An Electric Toaster circa 1920

[wifehaver103947]

these are the flavor of inventions we are missing out on by making cocaine illegal just fyi

[vitariesocks]

Comic on having long-COVID as a young person. Sending love to others who may be similarly suffering.

Ko-Fi

(ID under the cut)

Keep reading

[vitariesocks]

This is getting traction again as cases surge. I want to repeat what I’ve said on Twitter: In the 4 months since I’ve posted this, none of my symptoms have improved. I’m nearing 2 years post-COVID with zero improvement, no answers, and little hope. Take this seriously.

[doggirlpaws]

The spirit of Diogenes is alive and well

[rowark]

This is funny, obviously, but even if you don't go to the extreme of the example above, this is a separate seat for one person, with a back and 4 legs:

But it's not a chair. It's a bar stool.

This, however, are all chairs:

Each one is missing at least one component of the chair definition above.

So like... it's almost like strict definitions are exclusionary.

[lizluvscupcakes]

Reblog to hit a transphobe with a separate seat for one person

[shineyfish]

[ID: A series of tweets, followed by eight images. The Twitter thread reads as follows:

Graham Limeham (@/glinner) (in response to a post that says "There is no meaningful definition of 'woman'. The only people who want it strictly defined seem to want to do so in order to exclude people") says

"Women might like to know that there are a significant number of woke dudes who think this is true. "There is no definition of 'woman'" fuck-ing hell."

Avery Edison (@/aedison) responds "Graham, could you define "chair" for me in a way that includes all things that are chairs and excludes all things which aren't?"

Graham replies (in two tweets) "a separate seat for one person, typically with a back and four legs." And "happy to help, but try Google next time. The definition of 'woman' is there too."

MickeyDee #FBPE (@/MickeyDee43) replies

"Chair."

Attached is a picture of a horse.

The first image is a painting, showing Diogenes and the chicken. Featured are ten people, one standing by the doorway, six crowded around the centre of the room, one sat at the side, Diogenes himself releasing a featherless chicken into the room, and Plato, looking on with shock.

The second image is a picture of two bar stools, both with four black metal legs, black seat cushions, and a wooden back.

The third to eighth images are all various chairs.

The first one is a grey beanbag chair with a handle at the top.

The second is a purple inflatable chair that is slightly see-through.

The third is a white egg chair with purple cushioning.

The fourth is two chairs which appear to have a wooden pattern, and is comprised of one continuous shape much like a more square 'S'

The fifth is two round chairs, one in black and one in white and green, which rest on only two legs which join into one stand.

The sixth is a wire framed chair with insertable hexagon cushions. End ID]

[deactivated-blog]

'We don't think this is a healthy therapeutic relationship': Therapist exposes BetterHelp's problems in viral TikTok

The therapist behind @therapyden posted a viral TikTok listing the reasons why BetterHelp shortchanges professional therapists and clients

I’m loathe to link to the Daily Dot, but this article (and the TikTok content) gives a good overview of why BetterHelp is a hot mess in so many ways.

I used the service for a while myself, and during that, saw three different “therapists.” The first therapist seemed to think that therapy meant just having a chat an allowing me to vent, which was largely unhelpful.

She was a Christian, but kept bringing that up, which also irked me because I’d rather not have religion part of my therapy goals. She wasn’t overly pushy, but it did bother me when she said, “As a therapist I have to say that this witchcraft stuff is your choice, but as a Christian I don’t approve.”

I cancelled and requested a new person after that.The second therapist seemed alright at first, but would regularly go on tangents about politics and her own life. I cancelled and requested a new therapist after a disturbing incident where she did the entire session (on cam, as usual) while loudly and angrily doing dishes in her kitchen.

In both of those cases, it felt like these people thought “therapist” means “online friend” or something, and never seemed to have real treatment plans or much to offer.

The third therapist I saw via BetterHelp was just for a single session. Despite consistently telling them, “I would prefer a non-religious therapist,” I was matched with someone who incessantly quoted the Bible. She kept repeatedly asking me if I was a “Bible believer” or had “accepted Jesus.” She also praised me to not standing up for myself, weirdly. She said it was best to let my husband take the lead because submission is a good quality or something like that.

It was ridiculous, and at that point I requested a full refund for that month. Around that time, I learned that BetterHelp doesn’t actually vet their “therapists.” In fact, scrolling their list of offerings, I came across “therapists” with such dubious credentials as graduating from Liberty University with a degree in “marriage” and specializing in “maladaptive sexual behaviors.”

I had to call their offices to get the refund. I’ll be honest; I wasn’t exactly polite during that call, and essentially said, “What you are doing is sick - some people do actually need help, y’know. You’ve wasted my time and money.”

If you want online therapy, I recommend looking for therapists who are semi-local and offer online sessions. Many do these days, and it’s much better than rolling the dice with BetterHelp. That and, y’know, they won’t sell your data.

[replicantgrl]

If you are having trouble finding a therapist, I highly recommend using the Psychology Today database (from personal experience).

It features:

Information about the therapist's credentials, where they went to school, when they graduated, any other certifications, etc.

Where the therapist practices - often you can also look up their practice either in the database or on google.

Pay information - how much they cost, whether they take insurance and what types, if they use a sliding scale, and what types of payment they accept.

A list of specialties and areas of focus the therapist has interest and experience with.

In addition! A list of methods with which the therapist has experience or focuses on employing - this is good if you are looking to try something specific or know a particular method of therapy works for you! The database also has a dictionary linked to each method explaining what it is.

A personal blurb about the therapist, where they are located, contact info, and whether they take online appointments. Also included are age groups, races, or religions the therapist works with if they specialize in one of these groups, and support such as body positivity, LGBT+ friendly, and even sex positive.

An extensive filtering system, from location to specialty to pricing. It also shows what areas easily access the location of the therapist or practice.

The database also has sections for telehealth, psychiatrists, support groups, and treatment centers with similarly detailed information. In addition to the USA and Canada, the database also has entries for Mexico, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, a well as parts of South America, Pacific Asia, and Europe.

Because Psych Today is a relatively respected magazine publication, they actually vet their therapists. The database also won't ask any personal info; it just provides information and contacts.

I really can't recommend this database enough to anyone looking for a therapist.

[replicantgrl]

Browse our extensive directory of the best Therapists, Psychologists and Counselors near you.