OT: The Avalounge (mod warning - No Politics)

[dahrougem2]

I get a real kick out of people suddenly claiming everything in the sky is weird drones. Even things that are super common like starlink and commercial aircraft. There's always weird stuff going on that we can't explain... mostly because we are not nearly as smart of a species as we think we are.

On a personal note (feel free to not read, I'm just typing for my own sanity and grief. Not the happiest of topics here)... my wife and I had to put our dog down last week. A few months ago, we noticed that she was walking a bit weird and favoring a back leg. At first we didn't think much of it. She was chasing chipmunks in the wood pile and thought she just tweaked something. When it didn't clear up after a few days we took her into a local vet. That vet thought it was a ligament issue and suggested we try some shots. So we did and things didn't get better, in fact they got worse. Really to the point of her not using her back leg at all. So we sought out a specialist. And upon the first x-ray it was very clear. Bone cancer in the leg near the pelvis. This was just prior to Thanksgiving. None of the options were good, but it looked to be contained. So we elected to amputate and then try to setup chemo/other options down the road. Sadly given the holidays, it took us about 10 days to get scheduled for the surgery. Which lead to things only getting worse and worse. On the day of surgery, there was relief that there was light at the end of the tunnel. About half way through, the surgeon called and said things were more extensive than previously thought. Much more of the pelvis had to be taken out. Which sucked, but we were assured she could recover. So we proceeded. After that was the recovery. It was to be a couple weeks and the first few days pretty difficult. Which it was, though by the day, you could see her getting better. She was eating, moving around better, bullying our other dog, etc. One thing kept cropping up though. Her incision wouldn't stay closed. So many moments of blood everywhere and rushing to stop it. We had to return multiple times to get more staples, and the obvious worry was infection. On our last visit, the vet confirmed my worst fear. The tissue had gone necrotic. I actually had this happen on a surgery of mine and it took months for it to heal and be fixed. Even after debrinement. I have a nasty collarbone scar to prove it. I knew this probably meant extensive wound care on top of everything else. Another surgery was needed, but the hope was we could get rid of the dead tissue and that it hadn't extended into the abdomen and muscle tissue. My wife and I agreed the chance was worth it, but if the tissue underneath was bad, that we'd pull the plug. The reasoning for that is that she'd have to undergo 2-3 more surgeries and have a mesh implanted, plus extensive wound care. Basically the next 3-4 months would be surgery, recover, wound care, surgery, recovery, wound care, etc along with cancer treatment. Given that bone cancer is basically a 6-12 month diagnosis even with amputation, we couldn't put her through that. Still if only the outer tissue was necrotic, we could avoid that. So it was worth the shot. We scheduled that for the next morning and said our goodbyes... knowing in our hearts it was likely over. That next morning we got the call we feared. The abdomen muscle tissue was in really bad shape. There was no way around a mesh and a lot of future surgery. At that point we elected to euthanize her while she was still under. So she wouldn't have to wake up in pain for our own selfish reasons. In a matter of 7-8 weeks, she went from a perfectly normal, healthy dog (if a tad overweight)... to being gone. She was 10, which for her breed (heeler) isn't old. She should have had at least 4-6 more years in her, but that wasn't the way life went. I've had and lost a number of dog in my life, this one has probably hit the worst.

Sorry to hear that my friend. I rue the day we lose our cat, she is the life of the family. Tough call to make but at least she's no longer in pain. You guys did what you could and I'm sure she understood that.

 

[UncleRisto]

Do you guys think any of the cops that rushed to the McCallister house at the end of Home Alone got cought in any of the traps? At the very least, the hot door knob, ice steps, and tar steps with nails would have still been active.

Edit: Nevermind. I just realized the cops rushed to the neighbors house because that's where they got knocked out. They just left the kid alone in his own tap house.

 

[KiwiGriff]

Sabres fan here (yes pity me). I came here asking for Denver advice when I visit next year and you guys were chatting about Christopher Lee.

Thought I'd drop this masterpiece here.

 

[PAZ]

Skated around and played some stick and puck with the nephew for the first time in almost 20 years, I forgot how much fun it was being on the ice.

 

[The Moops]

Skated around and played some stick and puck with the nephew for the first time in almost 20 years, I forgot how much fun it was being on the ice.

Played some street hockey with my son today before it got too cold this afternoon. Busted the shooting trainer so I need to get him a new one

 

[Balthazar]

Those who don't speak English as their first language should enjoy this...

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

Those who don't speak English as their first language should enjoy this...

Reminds me of this:

 

[dahrougem2]

Wife just got all four wisdom teeth surgically removed. I hope she recovers quickly but if I know my wife, she'll be fainting and out of commission for at least a week.

 

[The Moops]

Wife just got all four wisdom teeth surgically removed. I hope she recovers quickly but if I know my wife, she'll be fainting and out of commission for at least a week.

Wisdom teeth are miserable for a few days but shouldn't be a terrible after that. I was trying to drive to the rec center to play pickup basketball like 2 hours after mine were removed. Of course like 15 minutes after that I was crying in bed

 

[dahrougem2]

Wisdom teeth are miserable for a few days but shouldn't be a terrible after that. I was trying to drive to the rec center to play pickup basketball like 2 hours after mine were removed. Of course like 15 minutes after that I was crying in bed

I think the surgery is where they are a pain in the ass. I had mine removed but it wasn't surgical putting me under, and I was playing hockey in my garage 5 hours later lol.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

When I enlisted, my dad made sure to get my wisdom teeth pulled while I was still under his insurance (prior to boot-camp). Dude had the largest forearms I'd ever seen. Asked me to count to ten, I remember hitting 2. Everything else for the next 24 hours was just a rosey faded happy memory because they screwed up the label on the pain drugs and my mom was waking me up every two hours to push another percosette down my throat. *LOL* It was supposed to be one every six hours as needed for pain.

 

[dahrougem2]

Update: she fainted lol

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Hey everyone.

I hope this is the right spot to ask but I am flying to Denver and Salt Lake City in a few weeks to see the Rangers.

Is it possible to watch the warm-ups at ice level? Or do you need a ticket to those sections to get access there for warm-ups?

 

[McMetal]

Hey everyone.

I hope this is the right spot to ask but I am flying to Denver and Salt Lake City in a few weeks to see the Rangers.

Is it possible to watch the warm-ups at ice level? Or do you need a ticket to those sections to get access there for warm-ups?

Anybody can go down there for warmups, with or without a lower bowl ticket.

I'm pretty sure they don't even check your tickets any other time either. The times I've splurged on club level seats nobody has screened me for access to the second level or checked my tickets. I assume the lower bowl is similar, although I haven't had tickets there for years. If I'm going to pay top dollar for seats, the 200s are the better value IMO.

 

[Bonzai12]

Hey everyone.

I hope this is the right spot to ask but I am flying to Denver and Salt Lake City in a few weeks to see the Rangers.

Is it possible to watch the warm-ups at ice level? Or do you need a ticket to those sections to get access there for warm-ups?

Make sure you hit up the Red Iguana in SLC. You can thank me later.

 

[famicommander]

Been watching Dune Prophecy on HBO.

Between this and the two movies, like 90% of people in the Dune universe are absurdly hot. Even compared to other TV shows and movies.

 

[The Moops]

Been watching Dune Prophecy on HBO.

Between this and the two movies, like 90% of people in the Dune universe are absurdly hot. Even compared to other TV shows and movies.

Is Prophecy good? Tempted to watch since I love Dune.

Just finished up season 2 of Squid Games. Hate where they ended it, hopefully don't have to wait long for season 3

 

[famicommander]

Is Prophecy good? Tempted to watch since I love Dune.

It's decent.

It's based on concepts and ideas from the Brian Herbert novels, which is more straight up space opera sci fi and palace intrigue rather than the deeper moral/philosophical/allegorical writing of Frank Herbert in the much better original six Dune novels.

If you keep that in mind you'll probably enjoy it. If you can't get past it, you won't. Just like the actual Brian Herbert novels themselves. They're just bog standard sci fi, which pisses off a lot of people who (correctly) identify the original six novels as seminal works in the genre.

 

[The Moops]

It's decent.

It's based on concepts and ideas from the Brian Herbert novels, which is more straight up space opera sci fi and palace intrigue rather than the deeper moral/philosophical/allegorical writing of Frank Herbert in the much better original six Dune novels.

If you keep that in mind you'll probably enjoy it. If you can't get past it, you won't. Just like the actual Brian Herbert novels themselves. They're just bog standard sci fi, which pisses off a lot of people who (correctly) identify the original six novels as seminal works in the genre.

Yeah I just finished up going through all the Brian Herbert prequels, so I was interested to see they had Valya, but I'm guessing no Vorian.

 

[famicommander]

Yeah I just finished up going through all the Brian Herbert prequels, so I was interested to see they had Valya, but I'm guessing no Vorian.

I haven't finished the series quite yet and Vorian hasn't appeared, but he has been mentioned several times.

It's not directly based on any one of Brian's novels and some characters/events/themes have been sort of mashed up and moved around the timeline but the broad strokes are there.

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

Anyone help a spouse going through loss? Trying to figure out ways to help my wife as her dad passes away and her mom recently. Besides all the little things, not sure if there's any suggestions since I've never gone through this myself.

 

[famicommander]

Anyone help a spouse going through loss? Trying to figure out ways to help my wife as her dad passes away and her mom recently. Besides all the little things, not sure if there's any suggestions since I've never gone through this myself.

Try to find photos of them together, get fresh prints of them and put them in a nice frame.

When my mom's mom died it took us forever to find good photos of her because my grandma would murder you for taking her photograph. I actually unearthed a forgotten photo album a couple years after the fact that had some good ones in it, and my mom was incredibly thankful to have them.

 

[PAZ]

Anyone help a spouse going through loss? Trying to figure out ways to help my wife as her dad passes away and her mom recently. Besides all the little things, not sure if there's any suggestions since I've never gone through this myself.

Not sure where her emotional state is at and this might not be an actionable suggestion right away, but if you don't already see a couples counsellor i'd highly recommend it.

Outside of that, if you're asking the question I imagine you're doing everything you can. It's a hard question to answer since every deals with trauma differently.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Anyone help a spouse going through loss? Trying to figure out ways to help my wife as her dad passes away and her mom recently. Besides all the little things, not sure if there's any suggestions since I've never gone through this myself.

Talk.
Talk some more.
Hug her.
Hug her again.
Tell her you love her and are there to listen.
Ask her to tell you stories about her folks. Encourage her to speak about her parents and ask her direct questions making her think about them. The sadness is never going to go away, but ignoring who her parents are/were and not talking about them is a sure-fire way to get into some bad mental ju-ju.
Also, ribald humor. During the memorial for my grandfather, my grandma told a WWII story about my pap that sent the preacher out the door blushing and the rest of us just absolutely rolling in tears of laughter. I can't recommend just talking enough. Allow/encourage her to ramble on and talk about everything because for many... that's how we process things.

The biggest thing though is just to be present for her and help her keep centered as the waves of emotions rush over her.

Just be the rock in her storm: unmovable and unwaivering in your support.

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

Try to find photos of them together, get fresh prints of them and put them in a nice frame.

When my mom's mom died it took us forever to find good photos of her because my grandma would murder you for taking her photograph. I actually unearthed a forgotten photo album a couple years after the fact that had some good ones in it, and my mom was incredibly thankful to have them.

Thanks! I like the new photo album suggestion, I have access to a good photo scanner and can try that. He's got a box of photos in an attic somewhere I can dig up.

Not sure where her emotional state is at and this might not be an actionable suggestion right away, but if you don't already see a couples counsellor i'd highly recommend it.

Outside of that, if you're asking the question I imagine you're doing everything you can. It's a hard question to answer since every deals with trauma differently.

Trying, but it's not easy to understand whst helps and doesn't when it's a new experience. Have you tried couples counseling? I wasnt sure if couples made more sense than trying to encourage her to get her own therapist if needed.

Talk.
Talk some more.
Hug her.
Hug her again.
Tell her you love her and are there to listen.
Ask her to tell you stories about her folks. Encourage her to speak about her parents and ask her direct questions making her think about them. The sadness is never going to go away, but ignoring who her parents are/were and not talking about them is a sure-fire way to get into some bad mental ju-ju.
Also, ribald humor. During the memorial for my grandfather, my grandma told a WWII story about my pap that sent the preacher out the door blushing and the rest of us just absolutely rolling in tears of laughter. I can't recommend just talking enough. Allow/encourage her to ramble on and talk about everything because for many... that's how we process things.

The biggest thing though is just to be present for her and help her keep centered as the waves of emotions rush over her.

Just be the rock in her storm: unmovable and unwaivering in your support.

Thanks man, this helps to hear. I try to cut through the tension with humor the most, but it's quite a ride with her being pregnant too.

Really helpful hearing all this guys, it's appreciated. Have a couple action times now I can work on, been just trying to take the little things off her plate for now.