Serious Questions [NOT 14/6/21]

14/6/21 brightersideoflife 72

Hi, friends!

What questions have you been ruminating over recently?

Inane or serious, doesn’t matter. Hypothetical or real, also doesn’t matter.

I have enjoyed the Marvel movies and TV shows a lot, and I’m currently watching Thor: Ragnarok for the umpteenth time.

I have no clue what the appeal is of the upcoming Black Widow movie. Her character arc is over. There’s no where for the story to go. This movie should have been made 5 or 8 years ago. I’d be way excited then. What’s the point? Why make this movie now?

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72 Comments

  1. Also I have grumpy thoughts about the ziploc commercial tie-in where it’s like oh no this thin woman could lose her salad due to an emergency hard brake, but woohoo ziploc to the rescue and she can continue her laughing-with-salad lifestyle

    • Single women laughing with salad reference! +1 circa-2005 Approved Gawker Commenter gold star awarded to you! 

      This is kind of a serious question: does anyone know what to do about numbness and tingling in their hands? I have a dr. appt. on Wednesday so I’m going to bring this up. I’m pretty sure I have given myself a form of carpal tunnel. For about five weeks I was in a hospital/rehab center with my phone, much of it spent flat on my back, as my sole source of entertainment (when I could get a signal out of their shitty wi-fi.) Now at home I’m spending a lot of time at my desktop keyboard, in between bouts of at-home therapy exercises. A physical therapist and a visiting nurse have suggested an array of exercises but they don’t seem to be helping much. One of the exercises is kind of fun: you make that Vulcan greeting, like a peace sign but with two fingers on each side of a V, and open and close them. I do this to the dog and it’s mildly hypnotic to him but not especially helpful to me. Just wondering if anyone had any insights.

      • So in ye olde call center job days, I definitely had a fuckton of inflammation in my right wrist from all the frantic mouse and keyboard work.

        Do you have a hard wrist brace? I had to sleep in the wrist brace to help hold everything correctly to help it calm down at night.

        Eventually I had to get some cortisol shots in my wrist. That was super helpful and then I quit that job so I haven’t inflamed it to that extent again. 

        • Thanks! I don’t have wrist braces (not yet anyway) and I think a shot of something like cortisol might be good. We’ll see what my new Sawbones says about all this.

          For a couple of decades I went to a doctor (since retired) I loved but he was a little bit of a Dr. Feelgood. I once mentioned to him that I had the opportunity to go to Sydney but I didn’t think I’d survive the flight because I’m a very tall guy and was kind of heavy and I used to smoke a pack a day. I’d be flying coach. He knew all of this of course and while I was telling him this he was writing out a prescription for sleeping pills. “So here’s what you do. Do a little pre-flight test on yourself weeks before your trip. Take 2 on a Saturday afternoon and you should be fine by Sunday afternoon. If it lasts through until Monday we can try something else.”

          Now it’s more exercise and diet somewhat, fine with me, except for this setback. I filled out my mail-in ballot and in NY you have to sign the interior envelope. My pinky is the numbest part so my signature in no way resembles the signature the Board of Elections has on file. Not that they would check, really, and despite the plethora of candidates for a half-dozen positions I was so unenthusiastic I wanted to put myself in as the write-in candidate but of course, since my handwriting is currently unintelligible… 

      • I wish I had answers, but all I have is commiseration. Or like… commiseration by proxy? My husband has all sorts of numbness and tingling issues. Only one of them has a cause figured out – he had an injury on the inside of his elbow that damaged a nerve. That one happened long enough ago that he actually saw a doctor for it (his doctor phobia has gotten significantly worse in recent years) and was basically told the only thing they could do was a risky surgery that probably wasn’t worth it. So he just deals with the occasional numbness/tingling/nerve pain down his forearm and pinky finger. Then there’s other hand and foot numbness and tingling with no assigned causes. 
         
        I hope between doctors and PT, you can figure yours out. You have a leg up on my husband because you’re actually seeking out answers.

        • I wish your husband the best of luck. As someone with little need of medical attention for over 5 decades these last 6 months have taught me that this is as much art as science, with a LOT of best guessing thrown in. 

          As with everything in my very strange marriage there are some comic episodes. Better Half borders on hypochondria and he likes nothing more than getting a clean bill of health from his doctor, whom he sees 2 or 3 times a year. We sometimes watch cable TV, which is single-handedly supported by pharmaceutical ads. 

          “Maybe you should ask your doctor about Xenophophilaxis.”

          “My hands are tingling and numb sometimes. That’s an IBS drug. Notice how the woman is holding a champagne glass but has to race away from her conversation partners?”

          “Do you know what Cretopalomenticon is? That guy in the ad is playing cards.”

          “That paid actor is depicted in some kind of senior living situation and that drug is supposed to help with cognitive decline.” 

          “Well, excuse me, I didn’t graduate top of my class at Harvard Medical School in 1938.”

           

        • As a diabetic, push him to get a physical and or have his blood glucose checked (or a CBC!). 
           
          Numbness & tingling in one’s extremities can be a sign of the ‘beetus… 
           
          It can be a bajillion *other* things, too! But the ‘beetus is an EASY one to get checked or ruled out.😉

          • This is late but something I just remembered. When I was admitted to the hospital they did a whole battery of tests and took many blood samples and diabetes was high on the list of things they were checking for. No diabetes for me although I have family members who developed it post-chidhood. I also got multiple daily temperature checks and swabbed every three or four days, covid-19 reasons. Since I was in a hospital and everyone was masked and gowned and I had been through the double-dose vaccination process I’m not sure where I was supposed to be contracting covid-19. Both the hospital and the rehab facility had covid-19 treatment floors but they were strictly segregated and employees weren’t allowed to have contact with the gen pop, as they say in prisons.

            What I was a little surprised about was that my husband was visiting me almost every day for lunch and I was straightforward (pardon the unintentional pun) about being a non-straight/gay man. I’m old enough to have lived through the worst of the AIDS plague and, though HIV-negative myself, knew lots of guys who died and more than a few who have been living with HIV for years, decades now. Not once was HIV testing offered or even brought up. I was, however, tested for TB, polio, and rickets (!)

            The TB test was interesting. They give you a shot of something and draw a circle around the area using just an ordinary ink pen. If you get inflammation that exceeds the boundary of that circle that is a cause for concern.

            • Yeah, I had to have TB tests for some of the jobs I’ve had. I thought it was a funny test, very old school.
               
              I will say, vaccination is not 100% and the more exposure you get (like if you’re a health care worker), the more likely it is that you might get sick anyway. I imagine hospitals are still a relatively high risk place to be, especially if there is a covid ward. There are going to be tons of precautions, but sometimes stuff is going to happen, and if it does, they need to know asap and contain it.
               
              And with the HIV stuff – did they know you had a long term partner? Because at that point, you’re really not at more risk than most people. 

          • Yeah I’ve thought about that one too, there’s plenty of diabetes in my family. Last time he had blood tests, which was probably 2-3 years ago, his glucose was normal. They were running tests for ankylosing spondylitis (which they didn’t find indications of, but there were some inflammatory markers that have remained unexplained). 

      • It could be a pinched nerve in your neck, that often causes hand numbness.  Sleeping in weird positions or just being in bed a bunch can mess up your neck or back

      • Just one hand or both? I thought you had some sort of walker thing for a while, you might have pinched a nerve or strained something?

  2. I only like Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy anyway – haven’t watched Wanda/Vision or Falcon/Winter Soldier – I might watch Loki but only after all the episodes have been released. 
     
    My question is – did you find someone to do the NOT you needed? If not – I will volunteer as tribute. 

    • The 21st still has no takers, so if you’re game, it’s all yours!


      • Are there any rules I need to know? And, what time to schedule?

        • 19:00 hours or later if you run late like I often do. 🙂

          Just make sure to include [NOT 21/6/21] in the title and categorize it as a NOT. 

          Thank you!!!

        • On behalf of EVERYONE, thank you for sparing them an incoherent myo rant.

          • I’m not promising that I’m not going to do an incoherent myo rant –  just so you know.

            • Do it!!!

  3. Chicken of fish?

    • chicken or fish…and more importantly…why can’t we have the edit function back?
       

      • short answer…security and speed reasons.

      • I went on YouTube to hunt for the famous Jessica Simpson quote about Chicken of the Sea tuna fish but just came up with interminable clips of her reality show with Nick Lachey. A tragic missed opportunity. I had forgotten how pretty Nick Lachey was, so all was not lost.

      • I’ve seen to many other sites where editing was used to retroactively change arguments, gaslight people, and assorted other bullshit.  I’m not terribly bothered by typos and misspellings, and if it an ad some promise of integrity to posts, I think that’s a valid trade-off.
         
        Note: I am not in any way trying to insinuate there is dishonest/deceptive editing going on by anyone here, just mentioning an argument against editing comments that has come up in other corners of the internet I’ve wandered through…

    • Well as someone in the Midwest, it’s almost always chicken because salt water fish are never truly fresh and catfish, crappie, walleye, and carp are generally kinda shitty unless fried in nuggies. 

      • I was never a fan of fish but I know a lot of people who’d disagree with the pickerel bit. Perhaps it’s a Canadian thing? People here LOVE their pickerel.

        • Well, I’m totally willing to believe that local climate changes flavor. 

          For all that I don’t like catfish, farmed catfish don’t taste as good as the ones that live their lives wallowing in river mud. 

          Pickerel is different than walleye though, maybe walleye just tastes crappier?

          • walleye and pickerel are the same fish…

            ?

          • Naaaah, crappies taste crappier😉
            Walleye are simply overrated, is all!
             
             
            Sorry, Brighter, for the terrible pun!!! but growing up up here, in a family where sunnies, crappies, perch and bass were ALWAYS preferred over the bigger bonier, “fishier” tasting walleye, I HAD to take the swing you set up *so* perfectly!😄💖

          • Halibut is definitely in my top 5 fish w/ ahi, ono, opah, & opakapaka.

      • Trout. Trout is the way to go. There’s also some kind of freshwater salmon but I don’t think I’ve ever had that, have you?

      • People can eat the hell out of that invasive carp trying to get into Lake Michigan. I’m not going to because I don’t eat sea things, so, chicken.
        But other people can.

        • Missouri Department of Conservation got tons and tons of stupid invasive carp from a lake near my office last year. And then proceeded to dump the dead fish in the landfill close enough to my office to see from the windows.

          It was not a fun few days for us. Diaper Mountain smelled worse than usual. 

    • If I’m honest, I’ve always been chicken of fish.

  4. I believe the answer you’re not looking for is $$$.

    • I don’t think it’s gonna get shit-all for revenue though. 

      • I think it’ll kill.  It’s been put off for over a year now, so all that much more time to build the hype.  I’ll watch it–but not in the theater.  I like Johannson and she did a great job with the character.  My guess–not knowing anything about the film–is that they’re probably going to do some kind of origin story.  That’s the easiest way to resurrect a dead character.

      • But that’s due to the pandemic. I’m pretty sure the movie was set to be released last summer…I follow Milla Jovovich on IG and her daughter plays young Black Widow.

        • Thanks, Hammer, now I feel super old. ahahahhahahahaha

  5. How many lurkers readers without an account do you think DS has? Any interest in coaxing them out to play? If so, how?
     
    *Waves at you*

      • Wait really? That’s very strange to me. Why not comment? It’s such a small community and very non-intimidating.

        • There are a lot of people who have accounts and don’t login…a significant proportion of them like to pay attention without partaking I think because Kinja is still a thing. We get quite a few people bouncing between The Root and DS. We have a loyal friend at The Takeout who inconspicuously directs people to the FYCE posts. We have a lot of “guests” who preferred the Discord  over WordPress that check us out.

          Sometimes people with a lot of followers on Twitter like @emmerdoesnotrepresentme @ us which leads to a lot of hits. So feel free to share DS on FB and Twitter.

          but I think mostly because you lot are too awesome to refrain from checking out.

          • OOOF, I forgot about the Discord. “Intruding” is how I feel about over there. 

        • I lurked for a long while until I got an email to remind me that I had created an account that I never used. I don’t usually participate actively in comment forums or on social media. So it was a tad bit intimidating to jump into your threads. Especially since you have such a great rapport going, I felt like I would be intruding. In the end, I’m happy I did ☺️

    • Myo might have an answer for that, if he’s willing to share.  The numbers, part–not the coaxing part.

  6. Actual question I’ve pondered recently: how the fuck do some people function in life with no inner curiosity or considerations beyond what they want in that moment. That’s less emotional and intellectual growth than a fucking dog! What the fuck! Is the word “why” somehow not wired properly in your synapses? Like seriously! How do you manage to chew solid food?

    • That’s called Being A Republican.  They reproduce asexually.  Their envy of those of us who can have sex is what drives their hate.

    • My ex would ask what I was thinking (usually I’m quite expressionless.)

      I wish I was always in deep though, but most of the time my brain is doing this.

      • Yeah it’s pretty empty in my skull if I’m not actively engaged with work or a book or here. 

    • I don’t get it either…
      You’ve seen the recent clips where people were like, going on the news and in court and such, and claiming the vaccine made them “magnetic”, because they could get a (non-ferrous) key to stick to their greasy-ass skin…
      I can’t imagine what sort of thought train goes from “stuff is sticking to me” to “I need to permanently document this, on camera, for everyone to see, forever and evermore”, without considering “maybe I should take a shower” or “huh, wonder what happens if I do <x>”

    • Depends…are you a Nigerian Prince?

    • Not that I have that capital, but still curious as to your secret plans.

        • That’s a shitty problem!  Sorry, I couldn’t resist 

        • I cannot help you $$$-wise but as with all things I have a story.

          There are a lot of suburban and exurban people in my large, extended family, pretty much everyone. At one of our summertime family confabs a cousin was talking about having your problem. 

          “I don’t understand. You literally have a cesspool? I thought that was an allusion, something from the pre-Victorian era. ‘Albany is a cesspool of corruption.’ How do they work? Why don’t you just have sewers?”

          I was in my early 30s and was told that the suburban house I grew up in had a cesspool. 

  8. I imagine a lot of people will be hoping for some sort of teaser hinting at a way for her to return to the MCU. (I’d be lying if I claimed I wasn’t hoping for this…)
    And, even if it is an out-of-place backstory, it will still have a bunch of cool action/fight scenes.
    .
    .
    I’m kinda tired, and could use some time off.  What should I consider for a vacation? 
     
    Current limitations are: not a lot of money, no current passport (and probably won’t try to get one until I loose my awesome mask tan…), no personal automobile.
     
    Current ideas are:
    an Amtrak/Greyhound accessible backpacking trip, but we are coming up on fire season here in CA, so I may not be able to even go into some wilderness places, and may not be allowed to have/use a stove, which does make backpacking quite a bit less appealing…
    Piggybacking off of an in-state work trip, and doing a bicycle credit-card touring (staying in motels and such) to get back home over a few days or so…
    Taking some time off with the intent to declutter and clean my apartment, and otherwise tie up some loose ends, but instead just drink and fuck around on the internet excessively.

    • @Lochaber – if you’re in CA – are there still places you can camp at the beach or one of the lakes that you could get to? I haven’t done it in a very long time so I don’t even know if you can still do it(on the beach) – but being around the water is so relaxing. We were somewhere between LA and Santa Barbara. 

      • thanks for the recommendation.
        I don’t know the rules off hand, but I’m sure there are.  just, generally, I tend to prefer primitive/backcountry/dispersed camping, and just getting the hell away from other people, and most ocean beaches are too close to people for my tastes (might be some options up in the Northern California/Oregon area, but haven’t really looked into it much).
        I figure if I go with the backpacking via Amtrak, I’ll just have to tag on an extra day on either end for hiking through the non-wilderness on either end, and do some “stealth” camping…

        • Totally get not being around people. I have huge social anxiety issues.  I remember the first time I went to Zuma beach back in the early 90’s. There were sooo many people – you couldn’t walk to the water without stepping on someone’s towel. Needless to say – did not stay long and never went back. I’m used to southern east coast beaches where if anyone sets up their stuff with in 20 feet of you – you’re giving them the stink eye. 

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