southsamurai
@southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
- Comment on I (M32) gained 140lbs in a year from bad choices, almost all in my belly (now 69-inches) due to rare genetics. With my unique proportions, I’ve outgrown most off-the-rack clothing options. Advice? 2 hours ago:
Kingsize carries up to something like 8x, though not for every single thing they have.
Pretty much every bariatric patient I ever had ended up shopping with them. Hell, some of the guys that would steroid up buy from them. They tend to have designs that are made for men with atypical proportions. Just sizing up a pattern doesn’t take care of that for everyone, you have to adjust how things drape, where they stretch, where seams are, etc.
But, a patient of mine that had cortisol sensitivity was able to find stuff that fit him fairly well, and he had a similar build to what the image you provided shows. Almost all belly, with everything else being proportional.
But, even with king size, a 69 inch waist is going to be difficult to shop for stuff that’s also going to fit everything else well. Like, shirts as a perfect example, there has to be extra fabric across the shoulders and chest in order for the shirt to not ride up constantly. So your chest area is damn near guaranteed to be looser than is ideal visually. Even with stretchier fabrics, there’s a limit to how much difference you can factor in to mass produced clothing.
Since you’re under medical care, chances are that you’ll drop a good bit over the next two years or so, assuming that your body responds to treatment well. So, in general, I’d say focus your budgeting on work clothes, whatever that may mean for you. Pick up enough to get you through a week of work, find someone local that can alter them for a better fit, and then expand your wardrobe slowly after that, and have things taken in as the belly decreases.
That’s also assuming budget would be a concern. If you’ve got the resources to just throw a few thousand at the issue every six months or so, that’s a different issue. I only mention it because the patients I had that dealt with this issue (or similar ones) tended to be elderly or disabled, or very limited in the amount of time they could work. So they ended up very often spending most of their budget on “public” clothing, then just rotating through stuff like sweatpants and t-shirts at home.
Also, focus on natural fabrics. There’s long term “annoyances” that come with even this specific form of obesity. One of them is skin irritation where clothes bind, and it’s pretty much inevitable that some binding occurs. I’d say that with this specific example, it is inevitable. Natural fabrics tend to irritate less in that regard, and also help wick moisture away from places where skin touches skin. That wicking can be vital as we head into summer months. So, anywhere that your body touches your body, like the groin, underarms, and the bottom of the belly when you sit, cotton is the go-to with specialty fabrics the second best choice. There’s blended fabrics that wick better than cotton, but they also tend to chafe more, so they aren’t top pick.
It sucks, but nobody other than king size is likely to have decent button up shirts from what I’ve seen. And you’re still going to run into the fit not being perfect when you get the clothing, it’ll just be better than regular brands that aren’t designed right for big men at all. So, definitely start looking for a place that alters clothing. Expect to pay maybe twenty bucks at the absolute minimum per item. You might run into a tiny place that goes lower, but the last time I had to take anything to be altered at all, it was 20 bucks, and that was just hemming some jeans.
Custom tailored clothes are indeed an option. Maybe the only real option i hif you need a suit. Even Rochester big & tall wouldn’t have anything cut right without altering, and they used to have the best suits for unusual bodies (the roided out dudes shopped there for suits, so it isn’t just obesity). But Rochester, you’d need to have a local store anyway, even if they did have something cut right, just because their best options weren’t ready to wear, they needed fitting.
But, there’s some good news with the button up shirt requirement. Because your exact situation where body changes clash with that mandate happens a lot, you’ll be able to pick pretty much any color and style you like. Stuff like t-shirts and polos or henleys, you tend to have less options in that regard, even with king size.
Ngl, I’m kinda out of date with some of this. While I have sizing issues myself, they’re different, so I haven’t shopped for your body type in a decade. That being said, kingsize has a habit of carrying the same basic items essentially forever. The first patient I had that used them was back in the numerous nineties, and the last catalog I saw a couple of years ago had pretty much the exact same items available, so I doubt that part of things would be different now.
But, hey, even if it isn’t clothing, if you need advice about dealing with some of the other hassles of a body change like that, holla. There’s little things that I’ve picked up over the years, and don’t mind sharing.
- Comment on I (M32) gained 140lbs in a year from bad choices, almost all in my belly (now 69-inches) due to rare genetics. With my unique proportions, I’ve outgrown most off-the-rack clothing options. Advice? 2 hours ago:
I don’t remember. When was this?
- Comment on Rejoice! Carmakers Are Embracing Physical Buttons Again 3 hours ago:
Now, once they embrace not having tracking and data mining in their vehicles, we’ll be getting somewhere
- Comment on Lemmy needs more donations 3 hours ago:
I’m not digging through months of comments and posts to dig things up. It’s so beyond a waste of time I can spend doing something fun that it just ain’t happening.
Both you and dessalines do a shit ton of work on lemmy, and that’s awesome. But you both also turn into absolute jerks when anyone doesn’t toe the tankie line. Dessalines more than you, and you’ve never been a jerk to me personally. I can’t remember which of you it was that I saw most recently calling people children, but it was one of the two of you.
And that’s okay, it’s y’alls instance. If I don’t like it, I don’t have to engage with either of you.
But, please, don’t pretend that it isn’t a very bad habit that exists. Hell, it isn’t all the time anyway, so it falls within the range that anyone can be a jerk and it just be bad days, or whatever, but it’s still not something I’m going to be willing to donate to when my sheets entire yearly budget for that kind of thing is in low double digits to begin with.
- Comment on Lemmy needs more donations 4 hours ago:
That’s why the word hire was in quotes.
- Comment on [deleted] 20 hours ago:
There’s multiple opinions on that. As in why using ai for this specific purpose is a negative. There’s also some for why it is a positive.
The two biggest negatives I’ve seen talked about are supporting the utterly horrible companies behind them, and that doing so removes the human from the process when any given protest movement is about humans.
On the positive side of things is the effectiveness of a given “poster” that a single individual can create with their skills and tools. In other words, not everyone can turn out a poster/meme/sign by hand that isn’t going to be ignored because it’s sloppy and badly executed. That argument tends to be bolstered by corollary that it democratizes production so that anyone, anywhere can take part with a cleaner message.
The other positive I’ve seen argued is that by using the tools of the oppressors, the downtrodden are using their own resources against them. Turning out memes and such would cost some degree of money, power, etc, and the result used to raise awareness against the oligarchy behind the theft of labor that trains the generative ai in the first place.
Which, that one is a damn good argument, imo. Those programs couldn’t do what they do without having human creativity to train from. So using it to attack the very establishment that stole from artists in the first place has a nice bit of irony to it.
I don’t have an emotional stance on the matter. Nor do I have a personal conclusion regarding whether or not AI is an acceptable tool for protest. I’m still thinking about the matter, since I have no pressures to form an opinion quickly.
Now, I have opinions about generative models; since I said they’re a form of theft, I think my opinion is obviously not on the side of the way they were trained. Also, it should be clear that in not in favor of corporate control of a tool like a generative model. However, I also hold the opinion that the existence of them isn’t inherently bad, and that they can be a very effective tool for self expression, even though they aren’t the same kind of tool as a pencil or brush or typewriter. That is tempered by an opinion that such tools should be required to indicate in the output that it was generated rather than created.
- Comment on Lemmy needs more donations 1 day ago:
Unfortunately, this runs into the whole art vs artist issue.
See, lemmy is awesome. The two devs wanting money are not. Now, they can do what they want, but I’m not going to pay them anything. They’re asking for a salary, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But why would I “hire” someone that behaves the way they do towards people?
IDGAF about their politics, so long as it isn’t part of lemmy code, I can separate any disagreement I have there so long as they keep it on their own instance.
But the way they behave towards people just isn’t something I can donate to. Mind you, I’ve never seen either be jerks away from .ml, only there. But even there, they violate their own rules often enough that it isn’t exactly attractive. My donations budget is already tiny, there’s no way it’s going to them as people, no matter how much I like lemmy
- Comment on [deleted] 1 day ago:
Prices never go down for things like that, they only go up.
- Comment on Cardinals most likely to be the pope 1 day ago:
They are not the smartest birds, that’s for sure. Pretty, and entertaining, but not too bright
- Comment on Cardinals most likely to be the pope 1 day ago:
Ngl, I would be happy if the cardinal that lives in our yard became pope. He’s a cool little dude, and much closer to the divine than any human.
- Comment on Pictures of Animals Getting CT Scans Against their Will: A Thread 1 day ago:
Some animals don’t do well on their back. It can interfere with breathing.
- Comment on Does the average person have no critical thinking? 2 days ago:
Critical thinking is a skill, not an inborn gift. You may end up better at it than someone else by virtue of some as-yet-unknown genetic or epigenetic factor, but only if you both learn the skills and practice them.
Worse, even with learning and practice everyone fucks up at least a little. Even if the only place they fuck up is thinking that because they have the skill and practice that they can’t fuck up.
We’re all fucking meat bags filled with hormones and chemicals. That shit will override every bit of common sense and critical thinking that’s ever existed. Not every time, but eventually, and more than once in your life.
Propaganda is only propaganda if you aren’t part of the institution generating it. If you’re a random asshole in fascistan, or whatever, chances are that the propaganda is just noise, the same way commercials or waves crashing are. There’s no need to think critically if all you want to do is coast and get by.
So they “believe” it in roughly the same way that people believe if they work hard, they can achieve anything they want. Even if they know better, what’s the alternative? Seeing reality and still being stuck in the same place? Nah, even the ones that have practiced thoroughly aren’t fucking around most of the time. Why would they bother if they apply that critical thinking and realize nobody really gives a fuck as long as they aren’t too hungry, and the worst stuff is happening in some letter town? They wouldn’t. It’s too fucking depressing.
Also, you assume that critical thinking can overcome a lack of information. The “news” is always the news. If you have no other sources of data, critical thinking doesn’t apply until something contradicts that news. If you control what people see and hear, you control the people. There won’t be enough opposition to matter, if you’ve set up your regime right.
- Comment on Anon spectates a slap fight 2 days ago:
Look, every guy out there has surgery shoved his cock into his friends’ mouths, or shoved his in theirs, after a big win.
That’s just how it is. You take the dick in the mouth, you fondle the balls, stick a finger up their ass, swallow the jizz then pwn them next round. That’s what being a guy is all about. Girls just don’t understand
- Comment on I have a shamefully dark question for firefighters. I'm sorry but I'm just too curious to not ask... It's about the smell and how that affects life. 2 days ago:
No worries :)
- Comment on HBO Boss Insists 'Harry Potter' Show Will Not Contain J.K. Rowling's Anti-Trans Views 2 days ago:
“It’s pretty clear that those are her personal, political views. She’s entitled to them. ‘Harry Potter’ is not secretly being infused with anything,” Bloys concluded. “If you want to debate her, you can go on Twitter.”
I think that’s the telling quote from the article.
He is basically saying that she has nothing to do with them, and that anyone objecting should just fuck off and leave HBO alone.
He’s right, in one respect. Anyone that objects should leave them alone. By not watching the show, or any other shows they profit from. If HBO is an island that demands insulation from their business partners, then maybe, just maybe, don’t dismiss the people you expect to pony up for subscriptions. If you want to be an island apart, don’t expect shipping lanes to land on your shores.
Thing is, he also states in the article that they’ve done business with her for over twenty years. So they know her. They decided to give her more money, and have her as a producer on the show. That’s not an island at all. That’s a party in Prague, celebrating with her.
They can’t have it both ways. If they want the potential profits from the show, then they have to accept that they’re working with an asshole. Same as if they tried to launch a Cosby show, or get Weinstein to helm a series, or hire the KKK to do a dance revue for their Saturday night streaming lineup. You lie down with filth, your suit gets stained.
And it isn’t about her right to her opinion, either. She actually does have a right to it, as does everyone. But, when you use your platform to spew hate, even if it’s only at one group, even if that platform has good aspects, you’re an asshole. And she has consistently not only spewed hate, she’s used her fame to push that hate in ways that I sure couldn’t if I shared her views.
So, the burden is on them. If that’s who they want to work with, have at it. But don’t pretend to have some moral high ground, or some immunity to criticism based on that choice. Only assholes try to do that. Maybe that’s why he’s willing to work with her, birds of a feather and such.
- Comment on I have a shamefully dark question for firefighters. I'm sorry but I'm just too curious to not ask... It's about the smell and how that affects life. 2 days ago:
A side note!
If this kind of question isn’t okay in this community, I do keep !morbidquestions@sh.itjust.works around as an alternative to the original reddit sub. So far, nobody here has objected to dark or ugly questions, but just in case
- Comment on I have a shamefully dark question for firefighters. I'm sorry but I'm just too curious to not ask... It's about the smell and how that affects life. 2 days ago:
Not a firefighter, though I’m related to some and have had discussions about the morbid stuff with them.
From my end of things, I’ve been around burn victims, and close enough to a fire where someone was burned to death to have smelled what you’re asking about.
Like others have said, during a fire, the firefighters are going to be geared up, so they won’t smell it while it’s happening. The lingering smell isn’t as noticeable after because there’s just too many other smells present. That was true for me as a bystander, and my family have said the same.
But I can’t say it smells different in a way that I could sniff it on the wind and automatically know that it was a person, and not someone grilling. I might guess it was pork rather than beef, but I’d say that venison getting over cooked is closer than pork getting over cooked.
It just smells like burning meat. And it wasn’t even that strong at the fire I was present for. I would have guessed it was something in a freezer or fridge at the time.
The remains that time essentially smelled like burnt meat. Damn near all meat smells the same when burnt. Only thing I can think of that stands out is really oily fish. And even that isn’t so different it matters much because the burnt meat smell is still the dominant odor.
Raw human meat smells the same as raw animal meat usually. I’ve been wrist deep in wounds, infected or not, and I’ve processed freshly killed animals. Only time I could tell a difference between mammals is wild vs domesticated. A lot of game animals smell gamy, and domesticated rarely do, and won’t be as strong.
Imo, if you would have a problem with the smell of burnt human being so close to the smell of burnt animal, chances are that the smell of meat cooking would have already bothered you a little. It does bother some people. But I’ve never known anyone that eats meat suddenly give it up after smelling burnt human. I’ve heard of it, but never met anyone that said it.
Now, there’s a pretty damn common reaction to the immediacy of something like that. Like, don’t ask me to eat a rare steak right after I pack a wound, you dig? But a well done burger? Sure. That’s down to individual tolerances though, and mine is more that when I’m packing a wound, it’s usually in bad shape, likely infected or with necrotic tissue.
And the smell of rotting meat, human or not, will put a lot of people off their feed for a while.
So, I’d say that, overall, it’s less about the actual smell and more about how the individual copes with the knowledge that death and horror are everywhere. The more that kind of thing worries you, the more likely you are to see the connection between how much humans are just another kind of meat, and what we eat. The less it worries you, the less repulsion you’ll feel from similar foods.
It’s why, even when I’m trolling vegans, I ain’t mad at being vegan. They just have different set of associations between meat and where it comes from. Can’t be upset about that at all.
- Comment on This Lemmy user's threats are mildly infuriating 3 days ago:
Wow. Just wow.
Drag comes back and that’s who shows up. Horrible “luck”.
Fwiw, while it’s already been said, the threats are laughable. Who would they sue? A user name? Good luck with that lol. And they didn’t suffer any harm from anything to begin with, so by standards in most of the western world, even if they could manage to file suit, they wouldn’t get anything.
What’s sad is that the person in question doesn’t even understand why they’re like that, but have talked about the indulging underlying issues that make them act like a jerk on a fairly regular basis, depending on one’s threshold for what is and isn’t jerk behavior.
Hope drag have better luck in avoiding the jerks of the world.
- Comment on Would you rather have a pet dinosaur or a pet dragon? 3 days ago:
You know, that sounds pretty yummy ;)
- Comment on Would you rather have a pet dinosaur or a pet dragon? 4 days ago:
Awesome user name.
But I can’t agree. While some birds have evolved well away from their roots, others haven’t changed much at all, and should realistically count. Not just the rhea either.
- Comment on Would you rather have a pet dinosaur or a pet dragon? 4 days ago:
I have pet dinosaurs already. It’s pretty fucking awesome.
That being said, Dragon. But only because my kid really likes them.
Not that I would let the kid ever touch the dragon, I just want to point and call them noob when they ask to, then do my “I have a dragon and you don’t” dance, then fly into the sky with it.
- Comment on After ‘Suits’ and ‘Royal Pains,’ It’s ‘Psych’s Turn for a Potential Revival 4 days ago:
Amen to that, psych was a show I could always get some laughs from, even when things were horrible irl. Monk too (and I am a Shaloub fan beyond Monk, so thank you )
- Comment on After ‘Suits’ and ‘Royal Pains,’ It’s ‘Psych’s Turn for a Potential Revival 4 days ago:
The psych movies are fun, so I’m glad they weren’t talking about a show.
But the article mentions the idea of a Monk revival, to which I say no.
The show’s ending was perfect, and the movie was a good enough fit. But Monk deserves that ending. It’s not a show, or a character, that’s going to work if revived, even with another movie. Let us keep that ending.
- Comment on AI Supremecy 4 days ago:
That is disgusting!
Someone needs to link the video so I can determine exactly how disgusting
- Comment on Are your parents "supposed" to be your role models? 6 days ago:
Well, it depends on what you think a role model is.
But, yeah, parents are supposed to be your fundamental guides into adulthood. That means at least partially teaching by example, which is what a role model is; someone in a role that you use as a living example of how to function in a specific or general situation.
Role models can lead by words, but words tend to be meaningless unless backed by matching behaviors. “Do as I say, not as I do” is very difficult to make work unless you’re a completely negative role model. If you really suck at something, using yourself as a model of what not to do, that’s actually valuable. But if it’s more of a mix like most people are, the whole DAISNAID model of guidance fails.
That’s not to say that perfection is required either. But it is how you act when you fuck up that’s going to be most important, not what you say.
Parents fuck up. That’s because humans fuck up. So, even if parents are incredible, you still don’t want to rely on only them as a road map. Same with family in general. Grandparents, aunts and uncles, older siblings and cousins, you watch all of them and do your best to interpret how their choices could apply to your own life.
Age isn’t a guarantee of wisdom. But experience does tend to be a great teacher, and the folks ahead of you in age can be a great source of options. Doesn’t matter if they achieved the thing you’re working towards, if what they did didn’t work out, that’s still useful.
So even a “bad” example can still end up benefiting you. Even the really shitty parents out there, once you realize that they’re the same flawed and ignorant humans that have always existed, at least model things to avoid. The problem is how long it can take to realize your parents are just people, just regular people that had to navigate the same way you’re trying to. Be patient with yourself as you figure that out.
- Comment on How do I decrease acne after shaving my face? 1 week ago:
There’s a problem in answering this. We don’t know what the actual cause is, and we don’t know if it’s acne, a reaction to products, ingrown hairs, or just irritated skin that mimics one or multiple of those. So, be aware that you’re going to see responses that may not address the real problem but is still good in general, even if it doesn’t lead to a fix.
So, I used to be a nurse’s assistant. Shaving people is part of that job sometimes. Back in the day, one of my teachers was even the crazy type that pulls the whole “shave a balloon” thing. Which, while entertaining and slightly useful, doesn’t actually teach what it takes to shave a person.
Anyway, shaving is always a skin irritant. It’s a matter of degrees. Most of the time, if you follow the core principles, that irritation is going to be below the threshold where it’s noticeable for more than a few minutes at most.
Number one rule is that sharp razors cause the least irritation, and are less likely to result in nicks. Doesn’t matter what kind of razor you use, it has a limited range of uses before it needs sharpening or replacement. A straight razor, you strop every time you use it. Safety razors and most of the disposable head razors (no matter how many blades) expect to get three shaves at most before you start feeling the difference.
Yeah, that’s less than what most guides will say. That’s because you can definitely get more shaves in before it turns into a problem. But you’ll feel a change before it gets to the point where you’re losing the ability to slice smoothly and it turns into damaged skin. Most safety razors, assuming your facial hair isn’t absurdly thick and dense, expect to change the razor after five or six uses. Some of the multiblade heads can stretch a little more up to maybe ten shaves total, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to shave myself or anyone else with something for that long.
See, sharpness is only the first factor. Cleanliness is another. As you build up soap residue, microscopic cells, etc; the razor not only cuts more poorly, it’s likely growing bacteria for you. There’s ways to prevent that. Make sure the razor is as clean after use as possible, then dry it thoroughly. Some folks recommend rinsing them in something like barbicide, but I tend to see that as causing extra work for diminishing returns, so I don’t recommend it when this comes up.
If your razor is sharp and clean, you’ll minimize irritation as well as minimize and bacterial growth afterwards, which is what pimples are, and why ingrown hairs look like pimples. It’s bacteria that’s gotten part way into the skin and is being walled off and killed. The pus is dead microbes and your own immune cells (basically, this is the quick and dirty version because this is about shaving, not skin infections).
Next, you do your prep. The skin itself is going to respond best, overall, when it has been exfoliated gently, and is both warm and as hydrated as is reasonable. So wash your face first, with warm water. Not cold, that’s going to cause issues.
Look, my hands are killing me, so I’m going to have to take some meds and come back to this. I will though, and I promise you that it’ll be worth it. If you run across this before I come back, I intend to ping OP once I finish it. If anyone else wants a ping, let me know. It shouldn’t be half an hour or so before I come back to it, but I will come back.
- Comment on Anon missed /pol/ 1 week ago:
Well, that might be useful if Canada lets them in, lets them stay, and lets them both stay armed and arm up with the more aggressive tools of conflict. I don’t exactly see that happening though
- Comment on [deleted] 1 week ago:
I haven’t seen only fans ads tbh.
But there was a point when an average woman could make some spare cash doing it. Not enough to make a serious income out of, but to supplement, sure.
But that’s been over for years. So if they’re advertising that, it’s a thinly veiled attempt to keep their brand relevant. And I doubt it will work for long, because even the really desperate folks out there have figured out that those days are long gone. Yeah, you still run into people that haven’t, but it’s getting less and less.
Like your post said, nowadays you have to bring something in the way of a following just to get started there. It has to serve as a secondary income flow to other similar sex work, or you have to be famous for something else entirely if you want to even hope for non nude content to be worth it.
I used to know a couple of women that did okay at it, and one guy. But by “okay” I mean that they pulled a few thousand in a year.
Some of the bigger name cam models did well there, but from what I’ve heard, it’s no longer reliable for them.
- Comment on [deleted] 1 week ago:
Well, the comment they’re referring to is phrased weird as hell. It reads like something a hack writer would come up with for a blurb on the back of a cheap romance novel or a soft core porn movie.
Top international high-end escort. It’s just a strange way to lead off.
While I’ve heard people irl talk like that, and have seen people online do so in writing, it stood out to me too. If I was going to make an assumption based on it, I would have guessed someone trying to set up for a series of fictional posts for fun and entertainment, not shilling for something, though. But it could just be the way you think, and there’s nothing wrong with that if that’s the case. I’m prone to some pretty purple prose myself, even in my own head.
But I can’t see how this post could be turned into some kind of shilling expedition. Not successfully. That would take a sock puppet account or three to come along just begging for a link to the escort friend’s page, which would be so absurdly obvious on lemmy that it would turn into a running joke in a hot minute.
- Comment on Anon missed /pol/ 1 week ago:
Well, the other side of it is that it doesn’t matter how good your planning and logistics are if you only have rocks to throw when you get there
Nobody with a lick of sense ever said that a civil war against an established and well equipped government was going to be fought on battlefields, lined up and infantry vs civilian infantry.
And it takes more than guns, as the Iraqis and Afghanis showed. But calling guns useless in a revolution or civil war, much less as a resistance or insurgency is just stupid.