Duranie

Huh?

"Why does one of the parties fight against people voting?"

In general, high voter turn out leans left.

And each state determines the rules for voting. I'm in Illinois, so when I register I'm assigned a polling place. When I go there to vote, I give them my name (no need for ID) they find it in a book, I sign a thing and they give me a ballot and tear off a receipt that I keep. I'm in a traditionally Democratic/blue State.

Republican/Red states tend to do what they can to make voting harder, like frequent purging of voter registration (and not notifying people that they're not registered anymore) or making it nearly impossible to vote by mail, then require voting in person and limiting the number of places you can vote to the point people stand in line for hours. Oh yeah, then make it illegal to offer people waiting in line a bottle of water.

I've worn contacts for almost 40 years, but got tired of using readers these last several years to be able to, you know, read. After unsuccessfully trying multivocal contacts, I got progressive glasses. My vision? GREAT? The 3 weeks it took to get my brain used to moving my head more and my eyes just right (especially while driving) so that seeing the right part of my prescription wasn't swinging all over the place and making me nauseous? Fucking hell. That was absolute torture. It's worth it on the other side at least.

I do kinda miss contacts. I may get a second opinion for my prescription and try again.

Is the image burning into the screen not a concern on these though?

Therein lies part of the problem. A large number of those places that disguise themselves as legitimate clinics are actually covers for human trafficking.

Depending on where you are, becoming a massage therapist can take a couple years and cost thousands of dollars, require exams, and licensing. Legitimate massage therapists aren't going to risk throwing everything away for a couple extra bucks for a handy. If sex work was legal, people wouldn't have to masquerade as much behind legitimate business.

As for massage being snake oil, I guess it depends on what the person is claiming it's going to do. Like I said, I've been doing this almost 20 years now, and have worked in health clubs (mostly doing sports/injury recovery/rehab stuff), education (teaching massage, anatomy, physiology, pathology), and now working hospice the last several years. Massage can be great for pain relief, relaxation, and general comfort. For some people with circulatory issues like lymphedema, massage can help reduce the fluid settling in their extremities. Unfortunately historically there's a lot of questionable and downright bullshit practices that have been attached to massage, but massage on it's own? If you like to be touched, it can be a good thing.

For the love of God can't we just make sex work legal, take the shame out of it, and STOP associating it with massage? PLEASE?!?

I've been a massage therapist for almost 20 years now and have got the point where the sex jokes hit with about the same impact as asking the cashier if something is free if the item doesn't scan at the register. I work in hospice, and not 3 weeks ago I had a patient's brother in law giggle and ask me if I gave his sister in law a happy ending. My inside voice said "no, sorry, she's still breathing so she has to keep dealing with you" while my outside voice pretended not to hear the comment.

It depends. Might be against hospital policy, but it also depends on the circumstances and staff that catch you.

Get caught vaping nicotine after surgery while on oxygen and an RN catches you? Problem.

Get caught vaping THC, not on oxygen on oncology/hospice? Depends on the staff whether they'll notice it or not.

Jeff Bridges taught me that red means stop, green means go, and yellow means go very fast. He was watching very closely.

(1984's Starman, just so I can feel older today.)

No, it sounds right. There's matcha, but with the acid from the lemonade curdling the milk, it's used to clump shit together so that the drink can be filtered and clarified. I've never tried it, but I've seen the technique used a number of times.

Could be, but I'm going to guess alcohol marker.

Within the context of where he was when he stated that list, 100% it was just what he saw in the moment when looking for inspiration for 5 words. If you sat a child down in a room full of toys and asked them to name 5 things, they would probably name their 5 favorite, or most obvious toys in front of them.

Someone who was more with it would be able to put in the effort to pick random, less related words.

I feel you on that. Full disclosure - I've hit the point in my life where my kids are grown and self sustaining and I'm finally working a job that actually meets my needs. I wish you the absolute best in finding the right job for you and that hopefully life can suck at least a little less.