This may be me? I went to the doctor for an annual checkup (please clap) and finally got the blood work done 3 months after my appointment.

My Vit D is in shambles. Like, my instructions are 50,000 UI/week for a few weeks. My B12 was great because it’s easy for me to take that with my vyvanse but my calcium/Vit D pills say to take with meals and not with other meds so I forget to take them most days. Iron is low too, and thyroid is under active but it could be relation to the vitamin D.

I was worried about pre-diabetes, cholesterol and heart health. I’m in my 40s, fat, and treat my body like a garbage compactor but I guess vegan and gluten free is the cheat code. I’d still like to become more fit again, but it is reasonable to get my D levels up first lol.

I like problems with solutions. I can solution this.

I had an appointment with the endocrinologist at like 820am. Which is done now so I’m back into bed. One more tomato was moved inside, and I’ll have to find a specific blood work company and do different fancier blood work. Yaaay! I’ll drink oodles of water for them only for them to complain about my veins anyway lol.

The smog woke me up in the middle of the night last night. It wasn’t noticeable when I fell asleep, but gradually the AC brought the smog into my room. I was able to fall back asleep on the couch. Getting an air purifier this morning, because AC is not going to be optional in this midday heat.

Several years ago, my wife joined a local philanthropic organization. She eventually became their chapter head.

I had not joined. I would go to things as her guest. Summer cookouts, Christmas and Halloween parties. I helped set up and tear down their Pride booth. We ended up forming a polycule with another couple who met my wife through them.

Today I finally joined. Not because I habe any particular affinity for the organization. Not because I want to be a part of that community. Really just to support my wife. This started as a minor little hobby for her but has ended up being a big part of her life. What “joining” really means is applying for access to their Discord server. It is OVERWHELMING.

I feel old and un-hip. I used to use Discord more often several years ago to occasionally play videogames with friends. During the pandemic I ran a D&D campaign and then a movie night with a friend group, usually like 3-5 other people. I have needed to join a few servers for support for videogames and emulators because, and its already something I really disliked because those things really are better off on publicly-readable, archivable, traditional forums instead of in a bloated chat app.

But this organization’s Discord is on a completely different level than anything I’ve seen before. Hundreds of members, dozens active at all times. Dozens and dozens of channels. Tons of buttons and links and reactions and gifs. I had to mute my desktop sound. All the usernames are in weird, unique, and illegible fonts and colors. Its hard to associate the usernames and avatars with the people I’ve met IRL.

And on the mobile app every time I look at the list of channels I get an ad for Monopoly Go that is somehow getting past our VPN and Pi-Hole. Now every time I look at Discord i have an angry red circle with the number of things I haven’t looked at yet listed. All the channels with new things become bold and get a dot next to them, demanding my attention. My wife said she’ll show me how to mute a lot of it.

The whole thing feels… Gameified. Its a skinner box pulling on my brain, trying to draw me in. Both Discord as a whole and this server in particular feel like they are screaming at my eyes, demanding attention. I miss the old forums that were designed to be accessible at your own pace, on your own terms.

❤️

Fiona cares little for my game of correspondence chess My plan for this weekend is to be on the road until Sunday with back-to-back social engagements. It’s going to be exhausting, but worthwhile.