#better to laugh

[clatterbane]

The lovely new orthopedic sandals I just got sent home with, y'all! 🥴

These are actually less grandma-shoe fugly than the first ones they pulled out. My Mamaw wouldn't have gone out in public with those things on her feet, for that matter. I apparently had a severe enough case of Stressed Autistic Face going beyond my control when they pulled those out, that they did bring out another style. Which is something, I guess, embarrassing as it may have been. I don't have the best control over my face at the best of times. Which that wasn't.

At least they went straight for black, possibly after seeing my outfit. I went in halfway prepared to semi-politely try to avoid taupe. 😑

[ETA: Besides just the whole usual "orthopedic shoe" aesthetic, I couldn't help but notice that we were the only people under retirement age in the fairly busy waiting room. Which may not help.]

So yeah, I had an appointment this morning at what appears to be the only orthotic and prosthetic clinic in town. But, not yet on the cooler side.

At the last endo appointment, the doctor for whatever reason decided to put in an urgent referral to orthotics after finding out that I hadn't been there already. I can certainly see the point of trying to keep my one remaining foot as happy as possible, but it hardly seemed urgent when I'm not even walking around right now. Today was actually a delayed appointment, thanks to a collision with another gastroscopy appointment when they were wanting to schedule it.

But, examining my foot the endo also sort of freaked out for whatever reason. My supposed "deformities" were mentioned. That would be through a few layers of communication interference, since she is at best guess from somewhere in the Balkans. Dealing with my dense ass in English, in Sweden. It still seemed like a bizarre thing to say with no further explanation. The best either of us could figure out was that maybe she somehow got worked up over my toes...doing what they've always done with absolutely no comment from any sort of professional before? I really have no idea.

But, today I did go to orthotics. And they openly wondered wtf was up with the urgency. Apparently the information they got was that I had some active foot ulcer(s) going on which needed some special fitting to accommodate--which was very obviously not the case. (?!) No wonder reception there was pushing to get me in much sooner. The actual specialist also did not seem to see anything particularly concerning whatsoever about my foot or the way I stood on it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So, I got sent home with a pair of totally off the shelf orthopedic sandals for around the house, basically because why not.

Did they even see a need to fit me with additional orthotics, as recommended on the box? NOPE. And I did not get the impression that it was out of NHS-style cheaping out.

Just straight off the shelf walking sandals, which actually seemed less comfortable than what I've been wearing. Oddly, this orthotist wanted to put me in shoes at least one size down from what I would normally wear. It wasn't like they didn't have the next size up, either. She thought it looked too big. These looked and felt about like you'd expect on--and with my sensory issues, you can bet that I am careful about how my shoes fit. 😬 And my feet aren't exactly sliding around in them normally. Ah well. Another reason these sandals went straight into the closet after getting home!

Hopefully this won't turn into a bigger issue once I do have an aftermarket leg to stand on, and will really need decent shoes for walking around in.

On that front, when we were discussing why I was even there and what I might need? (And explaining that, yes, I was really hoping to get walking around again ASAP?) My handy live-in Swedish interpreter asked the orthotist about how we might best try to go about getting that underway. Seemed like a good place to ask, since that is also the prosthetic clinic I would be going through.

They honestly seemed a bit surprised that I wasn't already in the system for that--and once again unused to dealing with situations where someone had moved in minus a limb and a Robo Leg, rather than going through the local system from surgery onward. She went to get a prosthetist to talk to us, but they weren't in the office right then. Probably gone to lunch. So, we were advised to get back to the endo about the referral she said she was putting in (which wasn't showing up in their system, and honestly may have gone to the wrong place since it was so far out of the endo's wheelhouse). Also to try primary care, who should be able to refer me there too.

So, at least we do have a little more knowledgeable advice about where to even start with that. Plus some gratuitous too-small granny sandals resigned to the back of a closet.

[spyglassrealms]

had a fucking hilarious dream that tumblr replaced the "block" function with the far funnier "glock" function, which did the exact same thing except whenever anyone blocked you a random bullet hole, like a png of a bullet hole, would appear on your blog. discourse blogs were unreadable bc you'd go to the page and the sheer amount of bullet hole pngs stacked over the blogs obscured everything. I woke myself up laughing

[candycatfalls]

just lucky I guess!

ref + closeups under cut

[chloesimaginationthings]

Why did William get FNAF springlocked? Is he stupid?

[brainrotcharacters]

wade's undiagnosed ADHD (giggling everytime Logan stabs him) is only ever matched by Logan's undiagnosed autism (stabbing Wade with his claws when he's overstimulated)

[jung-koook]

Jungkook’s different types of smiles and laughs ♡

970901 — Happy Birthday Jeon Jungkook! “you're the reason that I smile everyday, so I hope I am your reason to smile as well” — Jeon Jungkook

[diabloku]

I love himmmmm

He's a cutie pie 🥹

I wanna trust him, they were too cute when they were dancing! The way he flew to make Stolas turn? 😭 💜

I still believe in Stolitz being endgame but I want this cute interaction with Stolas and that CUTE INCUBUS to be genuine 🙏

[tea-earl-grey]

The Pantheon of Discord

[hansoeii]

stede bunnet

[parasitoidism]

80s anime dubbing is truly a lost art form

[nobie]

#ineffable idiots

[clatterbane]

[One cave open for touristy purposes, not far from where I grew up. Not my photo.]

I saw somebody half-joking earlier that one of the major drawbacks to living in Sweden was November. In this part of the country, about as far south as it's possible to get? The overcast skies with wind and cold rain are more of a whole winter phenomenon. But, at least it's less likely to happen in July! Which is a damn sight better than what I got almost-used to living around London for all those years. 🥴

It took me long enough, but then it finally occurred to me exactly what the special sort of deceptive harshness to the British climate reminded me of: sneaky cave hypothermia!

Yeah, I grew up on limestone karst and we actually got warned about that a lot. Because kids. Back home, down in caves it tends to stay somewhere around 52F/11C year round--which doesn't sound that bad at first! (Especially in a significantly colder winter climate than anywhere in the UK.)

But, that shit can sneak up and really start leaching the life out of you after a while. Especially with the constant damp and the cold water liable to keep dripping all down inside your clothes and quickly soaking your feet. 🥶 Nothing is going to dry out down there. It's also easy to get disoriented from the darkness, and pay less-good attention to what's going on.

Yep, kinda noticing some similarities there. 😒

[Same cave, same source.]

In fact, the Virginia Tech Cave Club's list of required gear for their outings sounds pretty suitable if you may be spending half an hour or more walking around London under very typical weather conditions:

• Helmet with chinstrap (must be worn at all times)

• Three sources of light

• Water

• Large trash bag (for dirty clothes after the trip, and for warmth in the cave)

Maybe substitute something like the Seattle Sombrero I actually picked up the first winter here in Malmö for the helmet, and you could do worse. Or, maybe keep the helmet too, given how randos chucked shit out of their cars at me more than once. You might also prefer to carry along hot drinks in a Thermos, because yeah.

Further sensible suggestions there, btw:

Note that cotton clothing is not recommended, as some caves can be damp. Instead, try to find clothes made out of polypropylene, nylon, or other synthetic material.

• Boots (preferably with lug soles and ankle support)

• Heavy jeans

• Thick socks

• Long sleeve T-Shirt (extra shirts recommended for more insulation)

Please remember to bring a change of clothes for the ride back! You WILL be dirty!

In this case, you may as well wait until you get back to wherever you're going before you change. Because the whole outside environment is the dank cave. But, otherwise? You could do a lot worse.

They are also NOT factoring in windchill, which is generally not a major consideration down inside a cave. Better make sure to add a windproof layer too, at the very least.

Similar does apply here in the winter, too. Only, it's cleaner and that shit does tend to clear up come late spring or so. Which is something, at any rate.

[buriedintheguts]

The thing about Logan & Wade is that despite how people may think that Logan's always grumpy and 100% against Wade's antics, Logan was also the one who said, Not all of you was asleep. without missing a beat, completely unprompted when Wade asked how long he had been asleep.

[rendevok]

“Take my hand” pages 16-18

1 -> 3 - day 4 - swap

[idontgotopartiesanymore]

the first one: the smile, the pink cheeks, the swoosh of hair? 100% baby boy

one clip later: reclined head, NECK?!!!? half lidded eyes - why are you looking at me like that??? the little uneven smirk and again the NECK?!??! EXPOSED ELONGATED NECK WITH FRECKLES??! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME??

(sorry i don’t know how to download or screen record a video from instagram without all the icons and shit, my abilities are limited to screenshotting and freaking out about oscar)

[midnightcrows]

Matthias Nonius, the greatest swordsman of the Ninth, vs the Sleeper

Inprnt store here!