Our OSDD Journey

April ~ Michael ~ Kiara (Kia) ~ Asher ~ Meera ~ Becca ~ Annabeth (Abby)

[thelatestkate]

July 2019 Illustrations  ヽ(• ‿•)ノ

[studyquill]

Notetaking

Sound Note - take notes while you record audio

Evernote - notetaking that syncs across platforms

Paper 53 - minimal notetaking that syncs

Microsoft OneNote - collaboration and syncing, best for Office users

Google Keep - jot things down, best for Google suite users

Notability - take notes and annotate PDFs

Mindly - create mind maps

Day One - a digital journal

Flash Cards

Quizlet - the quintessential flash card app

StudyBlue - another commonly used app

Cram - best for its “cram mode”

Eidetic - uses spaced repetition for effective memorization

Planner 

My Study Life - schedules, tasks, reminders, and more

StudyCal - keeps track of tasks, exams, and grades

24me - automated reminders and event planning

iStudiez - schedule and prioritized task list

Google Calendar - a calendar, best for Google users

Glass Planner - a calendar and to do list with incredible functionality

To Do List

Clear - organized to-do and reminders

MinimaList - simple to-do and focus timer

Trello - collaborative project organizer

Todoist - clean and functional task manager

Default notes app on your phone

Time Management

Forest - plant trees by staying focused

Pomotodo - pomodoro timer with to-do list

Timeglass - custom timers

Tide - pomodoro with white noise

Alarmy - forces you out of bed 

Pillow - smart alarm that tracks sleep cycles

Productivity

Workflow - automate tasks

Habitica - turn your habits into an RPG

Continuo - simple, colorful activity tracking

Freedom - block distracting apps

Free Learning

Coursera - free MOOCs

TED - listen to Ted Talks

Duolingo - language learning

Memrise - spaced repetition language vocabulary

Khan Academy - free video lessons

Ambient Noise

8tracks - curated playlists

Spotify - online music streaming

Coffitivity - cafe ambience

Noisli - background sound generator

Rain Rain - rain sounds

Binaural - binaural beats

Health

Rockin Ramen - recipes based on ramen

MealBoard - meal planning

Lifesum - healthy eating

Stop Breath And Think - mindfulness meditation

Pacifica - mental health management

Sworkit - personalized video workouts

Waterlogged - hydration tracker

Reference

WolframAlpha - Google on steroids

Oxford Dictionary - all of English at your fingertips

RefMe - citation generator

PhotoMath - solve math problems by taking a photo

Mathway - step by step math help

Desmos - free graphing calculator

Wikipedia - not the best source, but it’s handy

Miscellaneous 

Companion - stay safe when walking alone

Mint - money management

Toshl - finance manager

Tiny Scanner - scan documents

[majesticwatermagic]

Too bad that Eidetic app is Apple only. I could really use that this upcoming semester

[citizenshipandsocialjustice]

[theosddgrovesystem]

First triathlon

I did my first triathlon today! It was a short one, just 55 minutes and go as far as you can in that time (all indoors) and I finished last but I met my personal goals of both finishing it and not ever stopping moving, no matter how much I wanted to on the bike portion.

This wasn't really a planned thing. I had just started considering a race in August and had only had one real training session before I saw this one posted two days before the event. But I figured since it was by time and not distance it wouldn't matter as much as long as I kept moving, so that's what I did.

I haven't really done anything in over 10 years and only did one 5k back then, so I'm definitely not an athlete. Seriously overweight and out of shape but I'm SO glad I did this!

I tried to highlight next to my score but kind of got several. But mines the lowest distance lol.

[iminato]

Reblog if you have mourned the death of a fictional character.

[ianoshea]

If you do not reblog this, you are in fact lying.

[sludgebat]

i swear to fucking god i had this innate primordial urge today to learn how to make a cloak for myself and i was nearly sweating and shaking with the effort to not immediately bust out of my work and go learn so i could have just a

really

fucking

good

CLOAK

[vaguelyelven]

You’re welcome

[sludgebat]

i would literally die for you and in your hour of greatest need i will protect you

[thefibrofiles]

I am a person who wants to do a lot of things trapped in a body that’s constantly exhausted and likes naps.

[anxietyproblem]

[graceking]

I love these comics by Nathan W. Pyle.

[seatrench]

[jame7t]

“cats can’t do any tricks” well wrong.

cats can:

sniff

fall off things

Lick plastic (BAD trick)

[un-petit-papillon]

• 10ft vertical leap

[lynati]

* Find your bladder with all four feet at once

[imsoofuckingsad-deactivated2018]

life with mental illness is actually so fucking exhausting

honestly, i can’t explain the kind of tiredness that’s caused by being mentally unwell

it’s like your veins are tired. your bones are tired. your hair is tired. your actual soul is tired

never feel guilty for resting.

[chronicdharma]

[cervinelich]

this is why its depressing to work in a pharmacy.

[iatrogenic]

I was definitely a profit killer when I worked in a pharmacy (which honestly was my favorite job in the entire world, but it was short-lived and nowadays you can’t work at a pharmacy like that, it’s all tied in with corporate retail and no one should ever trust me with a cash register ever). It was not, however, actually a profit killer for the pharmacy, just for the drug companies, so no one cared. These days I do medical billing, which means I actually bill OUT from hospitals so I’m mostly spending my professional time taking money away from insurance companies. 

I will now impart all of my profit killing resources onto you, in case you don’t know them. I think most of you know them, now. But just in case you don’t.

THIS IS US-CENTRIC. I’M SORRY. 

1. GoodRx - this thing has an app now, so you can look up the best places to get your expensive medicines at the lowest possible prices without insurance on the go, and you no longer have to print coupons because you can just hand over your phone or tablet. Times have changed for the better with GoodRx. Definitely use it before trying to fill your scrip, because it will tell you the best place to go. (You can do that on the website, too.)

2. NeedyMeds - Needymeds is basically the clearinghouse of drug payment assistance. They have their own discount cards, but also connections to many patient assistance programs run by drug companies themselves. They are good assistance programs, too.

3. Ask your county - This is not a link. This is a pro tip. Most county social services will have pharmacy discount programs for people with no and/or shitty pharmaceutical coverage. You can often just find them hanging around at social services offices; you can just pick one up and walk off with it. 

4. Ordering online - There are a few safe online pharmacies. I keep a little database in a text file on my computer. Most of them are courtesy of CFS forums, my mother or voidbat, so a lot of that is a hat tip to other people, but if you’re in need of a place to get a drug without a prescription … first I’ll make sure you 100% know what you’re doing for safety reasons and then I’m happy to turn over a link. 

5. Healthfinder - A government resource that helps find patient assistance programs in your area. This might also point out the convenient county card thing. RxHope is something a lot of people get pointed to via Healthfinder that’s a good program.

6. Mental Health America - Keeps a list of their best PAPs for psychiatric medications, which can be some of the most expensive and a lot of pharmacy plans don’t cover them at all. 

[forevrdreamingofbetterthings]

This is so important ppl.

Signal boost the shit out of it!

[dynastylnoire]

Booooooooooooooooooost

[dysfunctionalqueer]

Good Rx Saved my family a hundred dollars a month while I was getting signed up for CHIP seriously it’s a life savor especially for ridiculously expensive drugs like abilify

[motivation-gems]

Useful info, friends! ;)

[quietborderlineinfo]

Since many of our followers are on medications, I feel like this would be an important resource. -Luna

[will-work-for-spoons]

Also! Some drug companies have patient assistance programs where they send you the drug for FREE if you are uninsured, or if your insurance doesn’t cover that drug.

Do a Google search for “patient assistant programs” + (your med), or search the manufacturers website. Sometimes the info is online; other times you have to call.

Even some of the big name pharma companies have this. It’s certainly not all companies, or all meds, but it is worth a shot.

Before Obamacare, I lost insurance and couldn’t pay for my mood stabilizers (kiiiiinda important to have those when you’re bipolar.) I was on generic Lamictal, but I went to the official Lamictal website, filled out a form with a valid prescription, and they mailed my meds to me every month for free.

If you know anything about bipolar disease, you know that that was a literal life saver. Patient assistance programs ftw!

[comtessedebussy]

This is so important given the recent vote to repeal Obamacare. And the cartoon above is so on point They’re literally voting to kill people. Literally.

[thebibliosphere]

Some of my meds are no longer going to be partially covered by my ridiculously expensive private insurance. I just used the GoodRX website to look it up, and I can either spend $40 at Target to pay for one of them out of pocket–per month–, or I can get it at Sams Club for $4. No that is not a typo. The drug I need to take every single day to keep my allergies from spiraling out of control (yay auto-immune bullshit) is literally ten times cheaper at Sams Club. Holy shit.

[fancyladssnacks]

Signal boost for my US buds

[godfearingwomanist]

Prescription hope is another good one. Any medication you can for 50 dollars a month. My diabetic med cost 475 dollar at most pharmacies….I use prescription hope and it has been a life saver!

[polytheisticnyctophiliac-deacti]

Reblogging for people from US who follow me.

[petalsoftie-blog]

side effects of being numb due to mental illness:

not crying for weeks and weeks on end til one day breaking down over something not actually worth getting upset for

not being able to tell if your feelings for people are platonic or romantic or if you’re just lonely 

instead of caring too much not caring at all about anything 

not being able to process anything going on in your life and when you try your brain stalling out

losing your train of thought every five seconds so when you try to have a conversation having to pause and remember what you were trying to say 

word vomiting 

mind ‘STATIC’

[supermegahijabi]

Know their names and their stories.

[supermegahijabi]

[supermegahijabi]

If mainstream media won’t share their stories, we will.

[quasi-normalcy]

Ordinary Kid™ falls into fantasy realm.

Ordinary Kid™ gets told by local fairies he’s the chosen one.

Ordinary Kid™ told he needs to defeat the evil wizard.

Ordinary Kid™ immediately gets his ass killed.

1st Fairy to the 2nd Fairy: “You’ve really got to stop telling them that.”

2nd Fairy to the 1st Fairy: “Well sooner or later, it’s bound to be true for one of the little fuckers.”

[imaginationover-load]

Yes good thank you please write for tv

[quasi-normalcy]

The rest of the series turns out to be about the amoral adventures of these two fairies.

[brainstatic]

Not saying the GOP is nothing more than a Trump cult at this point, but

[all-that-feminist-drama]

The second coming is in the house folks!

[kata-chthonia]

[workingasawaitressinacocktailbar]

Even as an atheist this feels extremely disrespectful

[f1m2pete]

Heretical as can be.

[kittyknowsthings]

I‘m a pagan heathen with some SERIOUS issues with christianity and even I am uncomfortable with this on several levels.