Huzzah! I made it through today's appointment with my nephrologist. Although my creatinine level has crept up to 5.35 he's allowing me to stay off dialysis for a while yet. I have to go back for more blood work in another month, so we'll see how that round turns out, but for at least a few more weeks I'm in the clear.

Her comic book collection is extensive, and her family thought it could be used to bring in some $ for the charity. Is there someone local who can look at it and tell us what it is worth? I haven't a clue and don't want to get cheated.

I feel like we gotta know someone who knows this. But drawing a blank.

Spent the evening packing of a less sad, but still poop reason, my friend moving to NC. She needed me to do the china cabinet of things that might make her cry. Only hit one landmine, and one thing that used to make her cry, made her smile this time.

But she did make me cry, that bitch, when she told me that while she loves all of us, leaving me is the hardest because while I'm the newest, we just clicked. Which is true.

3 more days before she departs. Tomorrow night is spoken for. I'm not losing a friend- damn right I'm keeping her- but she's going from someone I'll see at least twice a week and exchanging favors with to long distance. Meh. I meant, CLEARLY it works, just sad.

I don't mean for this to be a rah-rah pep talk. I'm not trying to inspire you to go roast cauliflower. I know all too well what it feels like to not respect my body and not care for it, for...ever, really....I guess I just wanted to say: I get it, so so much, but I've surprised myself with this shift in my thinking.

Teppy, believe me, I do not feel preached at or anything of that unpleasant ilk. I feel like - maybe you connected to what I was expressing, and by expressing yourself, you were hoping I could plug in to what you said. I love you for that. I'm sorry there is too much of a disconnect between me and this body. It does not feel real to me. I don't recognize the thing in the mirror.

Sail, it wasn't a crappy, or even average doctor that I had that conversation with. This was the good guy. This was the one doctor in two decades that earned the right to say his concern was my actual health. It took me zero time to find a doctor willing to prescribe amphetamine-related appetite suppressants. By which I mean, some of them offered without me asking for it. It took 20 years of looking to find a doctor who was willing to test my thyroid function by testing actual thyroid function. (Side note to anyone who wants to have her or his thyroid function tested: don't let them get away with only running the TSH. Thyroid Stimulating Hormone comes from the pituitary gland. Make them run the T3 and T4 as well. TSH is only useful if your pituitary gland is callibrated correctly. If you never get the direct measurements, you don't know whether the pituary gland knows what it is talking about.)

I used to love eating lots of veggies. I still eat more than the average person, I believe. I used to love walking and riding my bike and sometimes trying different exercise classes. I just don't anymore. There is no joy in moving this thing.

Being diabetic I am supposed to always watch what I eat . yeah

that fell apart completely in nov/dec along with not having meds for a few weeks. The good news - getting back on the wagon seems to be working quickly. The bad news - payingattention to food instead of dreaming about food, not so fun

Good news, Morgana!

I guess? I did not know about Shark Tank, I, uh, clicked on a Facebook ad. For some reason Facebook thought I would be interested in wine...anyway, it is really nifty packaging, which I appreciate, and not bad wine. From Santa Rosa, which I also like for sentimental family reasons.

Yeah, it seemed cool, I just didn't think the name would actually play.

Flossing woooo \\m/

Has anyone ever sold gold to one of those We Buy Gold places?

I've only heard bad things. A pawnshop won't give you top price, but if they have a good reputation to maintain, they won't rip you off either. Sometimes jewelers buy gold.

Morgana, yay for no dialysis! May that continue.

I'm not losing a friend- damn right I'm keeping her- but she's going from someone I'll see at least twice a week and exchanging favors with to long distance.

My BFF lives 8 hours away. It's tough sometimes. But you can stay close even so.

I am checking with my BFF's brother who is a comic book collector who has online friends to see if he knows someone he trusts in LA who can assess ita's collection.

I also wonder if the io9 community might be able to help.

I am fat. I generally don't care, but I have a lot of hip pain that I am afraid to have assessed because I think I will be told to lose weight. But I have lost weight, several times, and gain that back plus 20. I think I just killed my metabolism by not really eating during high school to maintain 103 pounds, which was important to me then. Now, I really love to eat, although I do not eat much sugar/dessert type stuff.

My understanding of the cash for gold and we buy gold business model is that they are all scams. If you have the time, take it to a jewelers (they often can repurpose flawed bands into "new" products) or a pawn shop.

Yeah, it seemed cool, I just didn't think the name would actually play.

I wouldn't have bought it off just the name, it's true. The concept definitely has to be explained. But I guess they are doing that pretty well. The cabernet, ftr, not great. I might stick to the whites, which is a very peculiar thing for me to say.

Connie, I'm with, Zen. Probably anything else you can think to do with gold would be better than one of those Cash for Gold outfits, from what I've heard. Super shady business model.

So lovely that you found each other, sarameg, and so hard that you are going to be geographically separated.

Zen I mean, clearly I do it all the time. Just the transition is hard. Moving to this hood gained me a lot of super local good friends (next door! Around the corner!) and that was a new and welcome blessing. Like people I want to get old with. I'm losing that in the one I'm closest to.