Happy Days in Random Chatter 10

[Emiliana]

Augh! I have to plan out an entire year's worth of instruction to high schoolers and I have NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING!
(Okay, this is only partially true. I have a very limited idea of what I'm doing, and if I'm doing it correctly. Woohoo. Augh.)

Wooooo! What subject? Are you teaching this year, or is it like a class project?

[bobtheenchantedone]

http://www.duolingo.com/

I'm now studying German and Spanish. With a glance through French.

I actually had that open when I read this! I'm giving it a try to help me get Spanish down, since apparently my major requires French or German.

[Tally M.]

I'm strangely addicted. To learning languages. It's kind of awesome.

[SmurfBlueSnuggie]

I'm heading out to buy my first car in about 20 minutes! It's a gold, 2005 Toyota Corolla. Our mechanic was impressed by the condition. I am not excited about the car loan, but I'm very pleased to have a car of my own to get me to the new job I start next week.

[C is for]

I'm heading out to buy my first car in about 20 minutes! It's a gold, 2005 Toyota Corolla. Our mechanic was impressed by the condition. I am not excited about the car loan, but I'm very pleased to have a car of my own to get me to the new job I start next week.

Mmm, I love Corollas. I ended up buying a Hyundai Elantra (isn't that the kind you wanted) but would've taken a Corolla if there had been one to take.

In other news, I have not been getting my mail. I'm blaming a new mailperson -- I have never in the past had trouble receiving mail even though my name's not in the box, but my sister's wedding invitation got returned (with nothing wrong with it) and stuff that was mailed over a week ago hasn't come.

Well, I did get one important piece of mail today, because she didn't put a return address on it. They had no choice but to put it in the box.

So I just went and put my stupid name in the stupid box. I didn't even know that was a thing.

/mad

[Katya]

I'm heading out to buy my first car in about 20 minutes! It's a gold, 2005 Toyota Corolla. Our mechanic was impressed by the condition. I am not excited about the car loan, but I'm very pleased to have a car of my own to get me to the new job I start next week.

Mmm, I love Corollas. I ended up buying a Hyundai Elantra (isn't that the kind you wanted) but would've taken a Corolla if there had been one to take.

In other news, I have not been getting my mail. I'm blaming a new mailperson -- I have never in the past had trouble receiving mail even though my name's not in the box, but my sister's wedding invitation got returned (with nothing wrong with it) and stuff that was mailed over a week ago hasn't come.

Well, I did get one important piece of mail today, because she didn't put a return address on it. They had no choice but to put it in the box.

So I just went and put my stupid name in the stupid box. I didn't even know that was a thing.

/mad

Are you in an apartment?

[C is for]

Yes.

[Emiliana]

I have a Corolla. It wasn't my heart's desire, but it's very reliable and gets decent gas mileage. (My heart's desire was to have my zippy little red ZX2 back, but it died in a freak accident.)

[Katya]

Yes.

Yeah, I never came across the "name in the box" phenomenon until I moved into my current apartment. I was technically in an apartment once before, but there were only two apartments in the building, so I don't think they were as worried about keeping track of everyone. Plus, I've gotten mail for the previous tenant in my current place, before, so obviously they aren't that picky about the surnames matching. I'm sorry you haven't been getting your mail, though.

[SmurfBlueSnuggie]

I have a Corolla. It wasn't my heart's desire, but it's very reliable and gets decent gas mileage. (My heart's desire was to have my zippy little red ZX2 back, but it died in a freak accident.)

My heart's desire was actually pretty close. I wanted a Camry, but couldn't afford one. Thought I'd have to get an Elantra since they're much cheaper, but then this Corolla came on the market just within my budget and was in perfect condition. I couldn't pass it up.

[Emiliana]

I'm kind of used to being woken up by drunken neighbors at 1am on a Saturday. But this morning I was woken up by a drunken neighbor at 9am on a Tuesday. Sigh.

[mic0]

About a month ago I accidentally drove an hour into Denver for a girl's birthday brunch on the wrong day. Today, I went to help this same girl move - but she is moving tomorrow! Somehow I just can't keep dates straight, despite having a planner.

[Digit]

Four people in the world (who I don't even know) have bought t-shirt designs I made and put up for sale on the site Zazzle. I haven't done anything to promote my storefront (mostly because I only have three designs currently). Funnily (to me), one of the sales was a "third party" sale. Apparently, it's allowed for you to take someone else's product, put a link to it on your site, and if someone buys their product through your link, you get a percentage of the profits that would have gone to them (meaning you and them share the percentage that would normally have gone all to them, close to half looking my earnings history). Seems fair in a way, though, in that the buyer found them through you. The thing I kind of don't like is I have no way to know who advertised my shirt as a third party. I'm just curious who actually found my thing and put an ad for it on their site.

So if you already have a site with high traffic, apparently you can make money off of other people's talent

[Tally M.]

One of the places I'd applied to work changed the way that the desk shifts worked out, meaning that there are no longer any positions available that fit my schedule. I'm a little bit ticked..

[UffishThought]

I found doctor that took me today! And she gave me prescriptions for drugs! And maybe I won't have to live with this bout of awful cankermouth for another month! I am the giddiest!

[Emiliana]

I found doctor that took me today! And she gave me prescriptions for drugs! And maybe I won't have to live with this bout of awful cankermouth for another month! I am the giddiest!

Yaaaay!

[Katya]

One of the places I'd applied to work changed the way that the desk shifts worked out, meaning that there are no longer any positions available that fit my schedule. I'm a little bit ticked..

That stinks.

[Laser Jock]

I found doctor that took me today! And she gave me prescriptions for drugs! And maybe I won't have to live with this bout of awful cankermouth for another month! I am the giddiest!

Congratulations!

I'm also curious, because I always thought there was basically no treatment (and I just suffered, though not as much as you!). What kinds of drugs?

[UffishThought]

I found doctor that took me today! And she gave me prescriptions for drugs! And maybe I won't have to live with this bout of awful cankermouth for another month! I am the giddiest!

Congratulations!

I'm also curious, because I always thought there was basically no treatment (and I just suffered, though not as much as you!). What kinds of drugs?

Here is what I've learned:

Most toothpastes have SLS, which aggravates canker sores. So when I have a few bad ones, I start brushing without the paste. (My dental assistant mom assures me that it's okay.)

I brush my teeth ASAP after eating trigger foods: especially walnuts and pineapple, but also tomatoes and citrus and spicy things

The last doctor told me to mix 1/2tsp Maalox/Mylanta (or their generic forms) with 1/2 tsp Benadryl (or its generic form) and gargle it for a minute straight, and to do that 4x a day. It's supposed to dry out the sores and reduce inflammation, a little.

He also gave me some antibiotics--tetracycline, I think?--since he said some like mine show up in the horrible intersection between a virus, a bacteria, and something else--a fungus, maybe? Anyway, the theory is that knocking out one part of that equation should change the result.

This doctor prescribed me "magic mouthwash," which seems like all the same stuff, but a little more. It's got the benadryl and mylanta, the antibiotics (apparently, they're more effective this way than with the pill. Huh!), and some steroids that she says help reduce inflammation, as well. I'm supposed to gargle with that 4x a day. And it burns like crazy. But if it helps, it's worth it.

She also prescribed me pain pills, which I appreciate. Because man--having a mouth that's essentially one big open wound is not fun times. Even water feels like it's burning me, my speech is slurred, and I can basically only eat if I cut my food up into pill-sized pieces and swallow it whole.

At any rate, I'm feeling great about the prospect of this being over a little sooner. And the mouthwash and the pills together were less than $40, which I think was pretty reasonable. So it sounds like maybe they're learning more about what causes canker sores? or at least what you can do about really bad recurring ones. And I hope the information helps you, a little. Because cankers are the sucks.

[UffishThought]

I did some quick internet research on the magic mouthwash, last night, and found varying reports. Some people claim that it really is magical and helps like nothing else can. Some say it's a hoax and not proven to be any more helpful than gargling salt water. But if it's a placebo effect thing, that's fine. I'm going to believe really hard that it works.