Super General Advice (the thread for advice without making a thread)

went ahead and ordered a different pair, will review once i get them i guess :D

 

Came in today! So far I've only been able to test around the house, can hear videos perfectly clear with them in, while muffled barks and car noises across the house are at whisper level! Will update with more info from work experiences tomorrow.

Product purchased was Vibes High Fidelity Earplugs, cost was about 24$ and besides advertising for concerts, plays, and other crowded places, it was also one of the only ones advertised for autistics and people with spd! I have the feeling they'd make for great convention noise reducers as well, instead of bulky and possibly uncomfy over ears

 

Calling any/all rat owners!

I have three. They're brothers, around four months old, and I'd probably die for them. Their names are Casper, Professor Ratigan, and Egg.

They play-wrestle with each other all the time, but until yesterday, they've never injured each other. Last night Casper bit Egg hard on the nose during what I thought was a play-wrestle. He left a puncture wound, which I rinsed with a homemade saline solution.

1. Is there a better way to clean the wound? Internet articles/reddit/quora give conflicting advice, and the vet's closed on weekends.

2. This seems to be part of a hierarchy battle that's only going to get worse as they come of age. What's the best way to help them keep the peace? (I know I could get them neutered, but that costs a ton and comes with some risks. I'd prefer to experiment with other strategies first.)

 

I’m not a rat owner, but I do have a friend who used to breed and sell rats. It was a small hobbyist passion project more than any kind of business, but she was extremely serious about ethics and the welfare of her animals. I asked her if she had any suggestions.

For wounds that aren’t too terrible but did break skin, she used water and a chlorhexidine 1% salve, but she thought a gentle saline solution was a very good idea and probably just fine. She says keep checking for abscesses while it heals.

She wasn’t sure about the territory issue, but she did say you could try washing and redoing the whole interior of the cage, which should reset the territory. If it doesn’t work, at least you haven’t invested in anything more drastic than a clean cage.

 

Work and a bonus, crowded restaurant tested:

1. Sat in a crowded and loud Whataburger dining room, with one bud in for the less sensitive ear for a bit, then the more sensitive ear, and then both
2. Walked through an even more crowded activity/cafeteria room to get my money bag (2 minutes in and out), both ears in
3. Did the one ear switch then both at my workstation which was almost no customers today but the other end of the parking lot was directly across from a much used freeway and booth blasts music right on the head of being Almost Audible But Not Quite
4. Sat in the same activity/cafeteria room a bit away from a deafening game of bingo (yes, really) did swap and both

Results:

One ear less sensitive was best for active listening, in a quiet environment. Gave a little more control, did diddly squat for volume and clarity

One ear more sensitive was a good choice for a crowded diner, could hear myself better and keep awareness of my surroundings without overload

Both was best for extreme sound. Convo clarity was amazing, and it actually made our mood music audible and clear. Highway sound, crowd buzz, and loud drumroll were a soft hum while my friends could barely hear me over the noise. One big awww was that I could hear almost nothing from folks behind or more to the side of me. Works best for face to face convo. Big Note: just like with regular noise cancelling devices overuse will 100% cause more sensitivity over time.

Tl;dr filters voice and music great, crowd stuff is quiet, and wearing only one in certain situations is sometimes more optimal

I will finish with a couple of cons, when both are in you can't hear yourself well, and all day use may lead to headaches (ask me how I know -_-)

 

Does anyone who likes to wear enamel pins have recommendations for where to buy locking pinbacks? Some pins I have come with rubber clutch backs, which are fine, but i want them to be Extra Secure

I know there's Pinkeepers, and they apparently also sell them at walmart but i want to see if anyone had other recs for where to get them

 

I KNOW i’m bound to have an issue with my calf muscle soon. I can feel it tensing up already, and when it goes it’s going to hurt like absolute hell. Is there anything preventative I can do about it?

 

Forgive me if you already know this, I know it’s basic as shit but I went most my life without knowing it, but forcing your foot to bend up as far as possible, getting as close to standing position as you can, really alleviates cramps for some reason.

 

I did NOT know that, thank you!

 

hgg.....ive had my current phone for like 3 years and while she chugs a bit she still technically works. i have the money to upgrade (im looking at a galaxy s10e bc it's on sale) but for some reason i feel really guilty about spending money

current phone is a moto g4, which is still on android 7. sometimes it does a thing where the power button doesn't wake up the screen any more, sometimes i cant have maps and music running at the same time, i wish that the camera were a little better, i only have 16gb of storage bc the sd card i had with more space started causing the phone to freeze.

but it still Works and does most things i need it to and that's making me feel guilty about upgrading :(?

 

I'm going to upgrade my old ass s5 that's stuck on Android 6 to an s10 this week because of pretty much all those reasons. though I can't even run maps without it crashing.

honestly I say try to not feel guilty and do it. phones... kinda simply aren't worth holding onto for this long, if that makes sense? they become obsolete within a year and the longer you hold onto them, the more issues they're gonna give you until eventually they just give up and you would have spent all that time being frustrated

that said, im gonna be getting my new one on a lease that allows me to trade it in and upgrade it every 18 months, which I think is far more worth it than buying a new phone outright for all the reasons stated above. like, why spent 800+ on a new phone when you can rent it for just an extra 10 bucks a month or so on your bill and get a new one every year and a half? so if that's an option for you, I'd honestly recommend that

 

as someone who works in tech sales and repair, this is definitely not true. they don't "become obsolete" until they stop working or until you can't put the new software on them anymore. phone companies kind of scammed people into thinking they need a new phone every 2 years when, unless it's broken or can't do something you need it to, you absolutely don't. in most cases it's a waste of money.

that being said, "power button doesn't work right and the phone freezes a lot" absolutely falls into the "good reasons to upgrade" category! i just wanted to push back agains the idea that electronics are disposable. they aren't. (and, unless you're sure you're trading the old phone back into a place with a good recycling program, potentially contributing to the ever-growing stream of hazardous electronics waste.)

 

personal anecdote, my phone is almost 4 years old. after about 2.5 years the battery started getting noticeably bad and causing problems. so i got a new battery put in it. it cost $40 and the phone is as good as new.

 

yeah right now i can't really lease unfortunately
i think......im going to see tomorrow if my expandable storage is still broken and if it's not then imma keep this phone til it goes absolutely bananas

 

I mean yes, absolutely recycle the old device when you upgrade. Though that was poor wording on my part. Phones aren't worth holding onto for so long that they're no longer upgrading their software, are barely limping along, and if they do upgrade, they either brick or completely become hardly functioning. (My old S5 upgraded to Android 8 at discretion of the phone company and the device wouldn't start and when it did it'd crash about 5 times before it finally booted)

Anyway though, my phone also can't keep a brand new battery functioning, because the hardware responsible is so old that a new battery doesn't make a noticeable difference on charge hold or performance, sadly x.x

 

yeah actually i think im just gonna clear up my storage, get a new case, and maybe buy a new sd card bc 64gb is like ten bucks. if i cant expand the storage any more i might upgrade. thanks for the advice yall!!!

 

out of curiosity, what was wrong with your expandable storage? corruption, or could your phone not allocate that much extra storage? (im not sure if that's a problem for modern phones, all I know is that some devices won't accept past a certain amount of expandable storage, which is stupid but what can you do)

 

agree. it's just that that's usually more than 2 years if you take decent care of your phone. basically, when you need a new phone, you'll know it, because it's not working right!

unfortunately "it seems old" or just "there's a new version out" is the main reason people upgrade these days, and that's a complete scam.

 

lol that's exactly the phone i have! in my case it's more "i have small hands and i can't use your massive goddamn phablets, please someone think of us tiny-handed folks" but i'm gonna run this phone into the goddamn ground.