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

I did a little more investigation and it turns out my computer was lying about already having the right drivers, so I managed to track them down and that fixed it!

edit: of course, now the pressure sensitivity doesn't seem to be working :P

 

ah, it was GIMP that was the problem. I think I fixed it!

 

oof yeah, drivers are really finicky! glad you figured it out! :D

 

TW: animal cruelty

Spoiler

Who do I need to get ahold of to help some animals being neglected and abused? My job has a "petting farm" and instead of trained animal keepers they've stuck a bunch of untrained workers out there and the animals are literally dying

Sorry, I can't find who to call and ASPCA seems like a no brainier but I don't know how to go about actually contacting them or if that's who needs contacted in the first place :(

 

aspca has a report animal cruelty page, which for places outside of NYC seems to boil down to “contact your local shelter/animal control/police.” what kind of animals are at your job?

 

Alpacas, goats, chickens, a donkey, and piglets

The chickens are killing and eating each other, and all the animals only have access to water when someone is up there running it (9-11 and 5-7). They have little to no protection from the sun, and besides that minimum access to water and food are receiving no other care because the people working it simply don't know how to.

 

damn, that is fucked up.

aside from the shelter I might try googling rescue farms in your area. if you can't find any near you, I bet even ones further away would have advice on what to do in this situation and maybe local contacts or something.

 

is anyone else having issues with packages getting delivered via USPS seemingly getting stuck at one location on the delivery route for several weeks? is there anything i can realistically do to check on the package and make sure it didn't end up getting lost and if that info just wasn't communicated to me?

(edited for phrasing)

 

Need help with tablet purchase? I'm thinking of getting a largish iPad (I've no idea what the standard sizes are, but at least 9-10 inches?) for as cheap as I can find, maybe a refurb or gently used one, but have absolutely no idea how apple stuff works.

I basically just want a cheap toy? For streaming, simple game apps, maybe some simplistic doodling apps? I just need to know how far back in the generations I can go and still have an at least semi functional tablet. Mostly looking on eBay but other sites are welcomed if suggested

Now, if it sounds like an iPad is not what I'm looking for, then by all means redirect me to another brand, I'm not picky. Also I don't really have a defined answer on "cheap", but if it at least fits my means then I'll think budget later.

 

Looking at Android tablets and stumbled upon the lg gpad, and it seems it uses a data plan as well as wifi? I don't know how that might work, do I have to be on a plan for the tablet to work?

 

It will have a sim card slot along with the usual expandable memory slot which makes your tablet run on a mobile network signal if you're out and about. It shouldn't interfere with using the tablet on WiFi or offline if you don't have a sim installed, in much the same way you can use a cellphone without a sim on WiFi.

I've got a Huawei Mediapad 10 lite (10 inch) with powered stylus for buggering about with games and a drawing app and it works great still after a year, while my previous Lenovo pad definitely did not. Autodesk Sketch is free on Android and has some nice tools. I couldn't justify the cost of an iPad at my skill level tbh.

 

Does anyone know of resources for a trans woman in the UK who needs a safe place to stay? She is in the country legally for work, but is not a citizen. She does not feel safe in her current living situation. A tip for something like an LGBT+ friendly shelter organization would be fantastic.

 

i have no personal experience with this at all, but I do live in the UK, so i did a quick search and pulled up Stonewall Housing which looks like it could at least be a start

 

anyone in Florida, specifically Tampa area, have any resources for trans-friendly emergency housing? a friend's home life has gone from bad to unsafe and she needs out asap.

 

glasses wearers help me ;0;

My nose has always had those red spots where the pads of the glasses rest, they're annoying but bearable, but for whatever reason- the heat maybe?- not only the spots but the surrounding area on my nose is getting really irritated and peel-y and making it highly uncomfortable to wear my glasses normally, which I do have to do since I'm blind without them. And of course every second I continue to wear my glasses just makes it worse.

Any advice? Stuff I can put on there to help things feel better or something I can do to make the nose-pad things feel more comfortable? I thought of putting a bandaid on my nose but I worry that'd just irritate the skin under it in its own way.

 

Unhelpful advice, but I just kinda... Bought new ones without the pinchy pads off zenni. A bandaid on the nose or a bit of masking tape on the pads themselves might help? Other than that a bit of aloe vera on the ouchy bits could at least help soothe.

I only ended up seeking other glasses because I'm extremely sensitive sensory-wise from those things

 

Oh yeah, I also ended up going with the lg gpad tablet, I got a refurb off of ebay and it doesn't have a ton of memory but it def suits my needs! It has a slot for more room from an SD card too, and is large enough I can comfortably play with a jigsaw puzzle app and doodle (though it is a bit deceptive, it has a large shadowbox)

Def rec it if you just want something cheap and casual but don't shell out more than 150 for it. I just happened upon a freak lucky auction and got mine for 89

 

Uh hmm. This is completely not actual medical advice, but that kinda sounds like contact dermatitis to me? An allergic reaction, which can get worse with exposure or suddenly become a problem even if it never was before. Benadryl (diphenhydramine specifically, not another antihistamine sold under the same name as it can vary by country) might give you a couple hours of mild relief if you tolerate Benadryl. If it seems to help at all, it probably is an allergy. If it doesn't seem to help, it might still be an allergy but one that's a bit more annoying to test for or treat at home. Zyrtec may be an option if Benadryl doesn't agree with you. Topical corticosteroid creams are also used sometimes for allergic reactions, but I really think that's not a great idea on your face, especially not that close to your eyes. None of this would be a long term solution. It would be for easing discomfort and helping your skin recover as quickly as possible.

Whatever it is, cold compresses when you have some time should help with irritation and swelling. Like with a burn, don't make it ice cold, just comfortably cool. Your skin has already been through enough. Gently keep the area clean with soap and water.

If it is an allergy, you would need to find a way to prevent those nose pads from being in contact with your skin. If bandaids are your best bet for making that happen, it may be worth trying. If the gauze pad isn't large enough to prevent the glue from coming into contact with the irritated skin, if you have your own gauze you can cut and stick to the bandaid before applying it, that might help. I've had reasonable luck pulling cosmetic cotton balls apart and creating small wads of cotton, though I'm not sure if that would be too itchy on the face. If the skin is actually broken or there's any oozing, I wouldn't use cotton because it will stick to the wound, which is annoying and counterproductive.

If you can get medical tape to stick to the nose pads, that might work. Anything you put on the nose pads will eventually wear off. At least with tape it's visibly obvious when that happens. I don't know if there really is any effective long term fix besides having the nose pads replaced with a different material, or getting new frames if that's not possible.