I never really “got” Bach until I saw the smalin visualizations.

I was going to agree, but I haven’t had Brach’s candy corn in a while, every so often those large companies change the formula to make things cheaper* so it’s hard to be sure.

*latest fad

Mr Auld-Thomas and his colleagues named the city Valeriana after a nearby lagoon.

…

It is “hidden in plain sight”, the archaeologists say, as it is just 15 minutes hike from a major road near Xpujil where mostly Maya people now live.

This archeologist just discovered a Maya city, and they decided to call it “Valeriana” (in the language of the conquistadors) insted of something like “Xpujil” (in the language of the people who still live there.)

They’re not thinking big enough. They should call it “openai.com” and go for corporate sponsorship!

If you have a cat named “Garfield”, you are in big trouble.

Love that Muhammad Ali pose.

FWIW I only ever used those services if they accepted a prepaid credit card. OpenAI didn’t accept prepaid cards when I tried, not sure about Poe. Just something to think about.

Sometimes when you try to subscribe to a community, it’ll just keep saying “request pending” but if you look in your list of subscribed communities you’ll see it there. I think it’s a known bug.

There was [email protected] but people dislike that hilariouschaos instance for some reason.

Xanax would probably help, but be careful using it for the first time because sometimes it can make one just fall asleep.

I think a general anesthetic, where they just knock you completely out, is usually considered unnecessary for a root canal, but you can ask. If you have anti-anxiety pills prescribed, that might work, just let the dentist know beforehand. Some places have movies or some other kind of “patient distraction” because yeah, it can get a little unnerving hearing all those sounds.

Like everyone else, I agree that pain management can be pretty good these days. For me the experience was:

• dentist comes in, says hi, reviews what’s going to happen, asks if you have any questions; tell them if you feel nervous, it’s ok
• doctor puts a “local anesthesia” (something on a q-tip) to your gum, so the needle won’t hurt too much
• then the doctor injects the “real” anesthesia in the gum. (an assistant may do this part - it varies) Depending on how deep they need to put it, you may feel a bit of pain, but not too bad. Pinch your arm moderately hard, and imagine that happening in your gum, and that’s the most I’ve ever felt for a very deep injection for a removal. it lasts about 1 second. (some places might give you nitrous oxide for this part, but I’ve never had that.) They may give more than 1 injection, depending on the situation. From this point on you should feel no pain.
• doctor/assistant goes away for 10-15 minutes to let the anesthesia spread. your mouth starts to feel numb.
• the dentist comes back with an assistant, they get organized (figuring out what tools they need, etc) From this point on they’re mostly just drilling or doing whatever they need, and your job is just to move your head however they want and keep your mouth open and spit when they tell you. it’s a little boring, tbh, at one point I almost dozed off and made a bit of a snoring sound.
• it can be a little weird having saliva pool in your mouth. the assistant should be vacuuming it out regularly. if they’re not doing this often enough, let them know. It is also very very helpful if you can breathe through your nose. if you have a problem with this just let them know.

Good luck, let us know how it goes!

I was gonna complain about the lack of pipes, til I looked at the ceiling.

Link to the article.

This could be a Garfield strip.

IRL clowns are usually hard-working professionals with great people skills. Just sayin.

Something tells me this cat is never still enough to properly photograph.

A bare bear on a bear, bairn.

[email protected] might be a better link to use.

Fun fact: modern Coca-Cola contains cocaine-free coca leaf extract. Do Coke-flavored Oreos?

Yeah, not the same thing and a couple decades earlier but Wilde’s “De Profundis” is a useful contrast.