Something Random

sedrosken

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Thanks, mubs! Still well before midnight here.

Happy late birthday!

The only sticking point I still have with Arch on this Cloudbook is that Network Manager refuses to autoconnect to Wi-Fi networks I've set up. I had a brief runaround with CUPS and HPLIP (turns out I need Avahi to start before cupsd, rookie mistake) but that's been solved.

As the last weeks of this semester draw to a close I find myself more and more convinced that I don't have the funds to continue where I'm at. Might have to transfer for a couple years while I work up the necessary funding.
 

Howell

Storage? I am Storage!
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Community college is a great and less expensive place to knock out lower level courses and save your dollars for upper level courses. Know the goal and keep your eye on it. Good luck.
 

snowhiker

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I have a dentist appointment for Monday A.M. I hope I survive till then. I've had crowns and root canals in the past, and the discomfort/pain has always ramped up in a slow/linear fashion over several weeks/month. Plenty of time to procrastinate. Not this time. I went from a very, very slight "notice of something amiss" last week to "Oh Fuck!" in just 12 hours. Praying it's only a bad cavity, know it's at least a crown, and dreading a root canal. Fuck me.

DD you know, or have any experience with CEREC® CAD/CAM replacement crowns? Cost? Thanks.

"CEREC® CAD/CAM is the epitome of Modern Dentistry. It means that in just 2 hours you can have a crown! There are no temporaries and no need for a second visit. It's a precise fit. CEREC® CAD/CAM is less invasive and delivers durable, natural looking crowns in a snap. You can say goodbye to gooey impressions, touchy temporaries, and ill-fitting permanent crowns because CEREC® CAD/CAM uses digital imaging so you get a precise fit without all the mess."
 

LunarMist

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If you are a hard chewer, clencher or grinder maybe the synthetics are not the best for the molars.

Couldn't you get an emergency root canal today? I hope the tooth can be saved.
 

Newtun

Storage is nice, especially if it doesn't rotate
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have any experience with CEREC® CAD/CAM replacement crowns? Cost?
I had a couple of those crowns installed a few years ago, and they are still fine, and it's very convenient to have it done in one visit. I don't recall about the cost, since it was covered by insurance.

Good luck with your treatment.
 

snowhiker

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If you are a hard chewer, clencher or grinder maybe the synthetics are not the best for the molars.

Couldn't you get an emergency root canal today? I hope the tooth can be saved.

I doubt I could afford any emergency dental work. The pain is not constant, thank god, comes and goes. If I keep my mouth full of water when I'm in pain the pain subsides, or if I rub my gums vigorously, pain subsides. It's enough that I can't just ignore it but not enough that I'm running to an ER.

I had a couple of those crowns installed a few years ago, and they are still fine, and it's very convenient to have it done in one visit. I don't recall about the cost, since it was covered by insurance.

Good luck with your treatment.

Thanks. Good to know. My insurance will pay 50% with yearly max of $1500 (I think) so if they are way over $3000 I may have to pass.
 

LunarMist

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I doubt I could afford any emergency dental work. The pain is not constant, thank god, comes and goes. If I keep my mouth full of water when I'm in pain the pain subsides, or if I rub my gums vigorously, pain subsides. It's enough that I can't just ignore it but not enough that I'm running to an ER.

Thanks. Good to know. My insurance will pay 50% with yearly max of $1500 (I think) so if they are way over $3000 I may have to pass.

Are you going to a regular dentist on Monday? That tooth has not had a root canal?
 

snowhiker

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Are you going to a regular dentist on Monday? That tooth has not had a root canal?

Yeah I leave in less than an hour from the time of this post. I have not had the root canal yet, I'm just assuming it will be one because of the pain. But who know until they x-ray and probe the tooth.
 

ddrueding

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I still haven't done the dental thing yet. I'm down to ~60% of teeth being functional in some way. When there is significant pain I have a root canal done and skip the crown. Eventually I'll have a full set of synthetics put in, but I'm still gaining weight so it can't be that big an issue yet.
 

LunarMist

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I still haven't done the dental thing yet. I'm down to ~60% of teeth being functional in some way. When there is significant pain I have a root canal done and skip the crown. Eventually I'll have a full set of synthetics put in, but I'm still gaining weight so it can't be that big an issue yet.

You are too young to be messing up your health. Do you not understand the health risks of bad teeth extend to the entire body? :(
 
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snowhiker

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Yeah I leave in less than an hour from the time of this post. I have not had the root canal yet, I'm just assuming it will be one because of the pain. But who know until they x-ray and probe the tooth.

I have good news and bad news.

Good: I went to the dentist 8am on Monday, they did a complete set of X-rays the doc picked, probed, rubbed, tapped and every other damn thing to my teeth and told me, "there is nothing wrong with your teeth. No disease, decay, soft spots, no obvious signs (visual & x-ray) of anything wrong with my teeth." I'm actually in pretty good shape as far as my teeth go.

WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bad: I'm still having waves of pain then mild annoyance, then more pain!

Doc said two possible reasons. 1) A sinus infection/problem, BUT that is usually on the upper teeth not lowers? OR 2) Possible bacteria below the gum-line. But then why the sudden pain?

I'm leaving in 15 minutes for a deep teeth cleaning. More dentist fun.

It's been 5 years since a cleaning so I'm hoping that will do the trick. I almost wish it was a cavity/crown/root-canal, then I'd actually know the cause of my pain.

Any suggestions for OTC sinus infection remedies/medicines?
 

LunarMist

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I have the teeth cleaned 3-4 times a year. Antibiotics are not OTCs in the US. You may still need a root canal even if the x-rays don't show anything. It happened to me.
 

snowhiker

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I have the teeth cleaned 3-4 times a year. Antibiotics are not OTCs in the US. You may still need a root canal even if the x-rays don't show anything. It happened to me.

I'm going to not wait 4-5 years between cleanings ever again. I actually found a good dentist/hygienist less than 3 miles from my house. As far as antibiotics go I figured as much. I haven't been to a doc in decades so now I need to actually find a doctor and get some meds because putting an Orajel-type goo on my gums every 2-4 hours is really annoying.

An infection needs anti-biotics. When my sinuses fill up I neti and zyrtec.

Yep. I'll probably give zyrtec a shot to see if it helps. Thanks.
 

jtr1962

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I haven't been to a doc in decades so now I need to actually find a doctor and get some meds because putting an Orajel-type goo on my gums every 2-4 hours is really annoying.
Interesting to see I'm not the only one who hasn't been to a doctor in decades. After seeing what little help they've been to my parents and most other people I know, I just don't see the point. Not having medical insurance doesn't help, either. Few doctors these days will see a patient without insurance.
 

LunarMist

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Interesting to see I'm not the only one who hasn't been to a doctor in decades. After seeing what little help they've been to my parents and most other people I know, I just don't see the point. Not having medical insurance doesn't help, either. Few doctors these days will see a patient without insurance.

You must be rather healthy. I'd probably be dead by now without medical treatments. In the best case I'd be in poor shape, with low quality of life and limited ability to function independently.
Being over 50 you should be having checkups every year or two. Don't wait until a small, treatable problem becomes life threatening.
 

jtr1962

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You must be rather healthy. I'd probably be dead by now without medical treatments. In the best case I'd be in poor shape, with low quality of life and limited ability to function independently.
Being over 50 you should be having checkups every year or two. Don't wait until a small, treatable problem becomes life threatening.
Generally in my family the ones who get sick abuse their body in some way (smoking, heavy drinking, grossly overweight, not exercising, unhealthy diet). Even then, they typically don't have major health issues until their 60s. My father's mother for example weighed in excess of 300 pounds her entire adult life, ate greasy foods, sat most of the time, and still lived to 87. She didn't really have major health problems until a few years before she died. My father wasn't as strong, but he was overweight, he smoked, his diet was absolutely horrible (i.e. he dipped bread in bacon grease), and he never exercised. He had his first heart attack at 54 but lived to 71½.

As for me, I exercise, never smoked, don't drink much. My diet could be better and I could stand to lose 40 or 50 pounds. I've had a few minor health issues over the years but they've been mostly joint related. Last year I had a rash which may well have been shingles. It cleared up. I had a few recurrences since but they've been of much shorter duration. My main health issue now is feeling blotchy but I'm not sure that's anything a doctor could help with. Besides, a few years ago I tried to get quotes for a checkup. Most doctors wouldn't see someone without insurance at all. Most of the rest wouldn't even give a quote. I had one quote for $3,000 without blood tests. Another was $6,000 with blood work. Way too much money for something which probably would be useless to me.

When people ask me about health insurance, I show them a picture of my bike. As far as I'm concerned, exercise is the best way to stay healthy, with eating right a close second.
 

jtr1962

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What?!?!? No doctor charges $3k or $6k for an annual physical.
That's what they quoted me. You do know that doctors charge a lot more for patients with no insurance on the supposed theory that most out of pocket patients are wealthy? Also, don't forget this is NYC where a lot of things are more expensive to start with.
 

Stereodude

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I had heard cash payers got discounts because the doctors didn't have to deal with the insurance and all the headaches. Besides, why don't you have insurance? It's required by law.
 

jtr1962

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I had heard cash payers got discounts because the doctors didn't have to deal with the insurance and all the headaches. Besides, why don't you have insurance? It's required by law.
Why don't I have insurance? I can't afford it. Forget that I made 6 figures the last 2 and half years. Eventually this gig will end and I may well not find anything paying even close to it. End result is I'll go back to earning less than $10K annually, as I did much of my adult life. Either way, I'm holding on to as much as possible. Cheapest policy for me was over $500 a month. That's $6K annually for nothing. Honestly, even if it were free, I probably wouldn't go to doctors. That's how little I think of medicine in this country. Besides that, there's no penalty if you can't find insurance for less than 8% of your adjusted gross income less you standard deduction and exemptions. I get to write off half the FICA taxes I pay. That's $8K off my adjusted gross income right there. The individual 401K and SEP IRA is another $45K off. Then the personal exemption and standard deduction is roughly $11K. That leaves ~$40K or so on which that 8% figure is based. I can't get a policy for ~$275 a month. So that's why I don't have insurance. Not worth the cost to me and I don't pay a penalty for not having it.

I'm 11 years away from Medicare anyway. 65+ is when the potential big medical bills usually start coming for most people.
 

DrunkenBastard

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jtr, I would suggest visiting the NY State marketplace site and seeing what the pricing for coverage is for you, depending on income you could be looking at $20 per month, it's a sliding scale based on income:

https://nystateofhealth.ny.gov

And you should be able to see a doctor for a general health checkup for less than $200 in cash, if you didn't want to get insurance.
 

timwhit

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I've paid cash at urgent care when I was out of state and it was less than $200 to have a minor procedure done. I've gotten quotes for urgent care in Chicago without insurance and there were also less than $200 to see a doctor.
 

snowhiker

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I went to urgent care tonight and it was a $75 copay. Talked with a physicians assistant (PA) and he didn't think a sinus infection was the cause of my toothache like symptoms because it was the lower jaw and not the upper jaw. I pushed for the antibiotic anyways and got an Rx for some amoxicillin 875mg. He also gave me two other Rx for pain killers, a pill and an oral rinse. The OTC orajel seems to be working OK for now so I won't use the more powerful pain killers unless I need them.

Dentist says nothing wrong with teeth, go to doc. Doc says nothing he can do. If pain persists go back to dentist or an oral surgeon.

I'm getting the two upper molars pulled Monday morning. The matching lower molars never came in so the uppers just keep growing so they need to go and I might as well get it done sooner than later. Hopefully the dentist will have some further suggestions if pain/discomfort persists.
 

jtr1962

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Did anyone check for blocked salivary glands? I've had one of those on and off for the last year. While at worst it's a slight pressure (as opposed to any kind of pain), I've heard it can sometimes be painful.
 

mubs

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The matching lower molars never came in so the uppers just keep growing so they need to go and I might as well get it done sooner than later.
This may be the problem. They may be in-grown and butting into something (roots, nerves, other teeth) causing the pain. X-rays should have revealed this. I think your dentist isn't diagnosing this properly. Can you get a second opinion?
 

snowhiker

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What?!?!? No doctor charges $3k or $6k for an annual physical.

My pop went in for a physical/stress test a couple years ago. Treadmill stress test was under 60 seconds. Cost without insurance was $6k. So yeah, crazy prices (without ins) do exist. Hell, my recent teeth cleaning would have been billed at just under $1900 if I had no insurance.
 

snowhiker

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This may be the problem. They may be in-grown and butting into something (roots, nerves, other teeth) causing the pain. X-rays should have revealed this. I think your dentist isn't diagnosing this properly. Can you get a second opinion?

The overgrown molars are the uppers, while the pain is in lower jaw. The upper molars aren't yet long enough to bump against the lower jaw. I guess it's possible there's a common nerve connection between the uppers and lowers. But since the pain came on rather suddenly I kind of discount the idea. The x-rays did not show anything unusual but it's something to bring up with the dentist.

Thanks for the insight about my issue mubs.

I get both upper molars pulled Monday morning. So if there is a connection, hopefully it will be gone.
 

snowhiker

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Did anyone check for blocked salivary glands? I've had one of those on and off for the last year. While at worst it's a slight pressure (as opposed to any kind of pain), I've heard it can sometimes be painful.

Good insight jtr. My Googling didn't bring up that possible cause. Both dentist and the doc probed the jaw and gums and I didn't feel any pain/swelling so perhaps they were checking for a blocked salivary gland but neither mentioned they were checking for that. If the gland is blocked, or restricted by a stone and bacteria growth has begin, then the antibiotics should help.........I hope.
 

mubs

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snowhiker

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This is absolutely ridiculous! How can it be a stress test at 60 secs?

My pop said they just ramp up the speeds and incline really quickly and get all the test information they need. He's in his 80s so perhaps the Docs just have to see if his heart can take a sudden increase in activity. No need to test for sustained activity as an 80+ year old won't usually be sustaining that level of activity for long.

Or perhaps its just modern technology. Docs don't need to have you run for 15 minutes anymore.
 

Handruin

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I did one of the heart stress tests on the treadmill in the past few months and it does get ramped up really quickly. They take your blood pressure constantly throughout the test and it's very possible if the doc didn't like what they saw during the test they could end it after 60 seconds for someone in their 80s. I don't remember exactly how long I went but I don't think it was more than 8-10 minutes. My arms/wrists were getting sore with sweaty hands from holding myself at the steep incline that they get you to in a relatively short amount of time. I should also add that they never got me to a running speed. By the time the treadmill was at a pace of 4.8MPH the incline was so steep that running would have been a pain. The pace was just at an annoying speed that it was just too slow to start a jog and not fast enough to commit making it uncomfortable.
 

LunarMist

I can't believe I'm a Fixture
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I have not had one in many years, but the worst part was the bunch of electrodes attached to the skin with some super adhesive. It must have been developed by some hairless due or a woman. :lol:
 

sedrosken

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I'm already running out of space on the 2TB. By the way, the I/O errors stopped after i pulled the drive out and reseated it. Surprised it was that simple but it was. Out of the 1863 GB available to Windows, I only have 555 still free. If that sounds like a lot, I'm concerned because I'm using more and more of it at a frankly rather alarming rate. Maybe I should have sprung for a 4TB, or set up that permanent NAS box I wanted to a few months ago.
 

Handruin

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I'm already running out of space on the 2TB. By the way, the I/O errors stopped after i pulled the drive out and reseated it. Surprised it was that simple but it was. Out of the 1863 GB available to Windows, I only have 555 still free. If that sounds like a lot, I'm concerned because I'm using more and more of it at a frankly rather alarming rate. Maybe I should have sprung for a 4TB, or set up that permanent NAS box I wanted to a few months ago.

Welcome to the club...

storage_problems.jpg
 
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